Humpers | Lil

Cassie looked at him — really looked — and for a second, she was nine again, afraid of everything. Then she smiled. “Then I get back up and hump again.”

It was a sweltering Tuesday afternoon in late July when the sign first appeared, tacked to the telephone pole outside the Piggly Wiggly: lil humpers

Leo tugged Cassie’s sleeve. “That’s too high.” Cassie looked at him — really looked —

She climbed onto her battered BMX, the one with the bent left pedal and the rainbow streamers frayed to threads. The other Lil Humpers formed a tunnel of flashlights. Someone started a drumroll on a bucket. she was nine again

“But what if you fall?”

The Lil Humpers gasped. Leo started crying.