I registered eleven new hotmails in a week.

I was twelve and had peeked over The Half Blood Prince at an episode of “To Catch a Predator”; peeked at older men lured into family homes with the saccharine promise of teen sex and lemonade.

When desperation hit, the men tried to flee and were cast face flat against manicured lawns, surrounded by SWAT agents—in a display of poetic justice that could have made a case for the police state.

Were any of them my buddies from MSN Chat? These men, captured in night vision, bowing their faces to the ground – had our paths crossed, did any of them know my full name?

Adults had told me I was clever and I trusted them. I forgot it when I typed “sorry” but what did you mean by “cum” or “cock” or “ram?” in flickering chat windows. Chris Hansen led me to compromise—I scraped away my 12/f self and was born again as an 18/f/cali chick who snapped her bubblegum.

“Add me on MSN at gimmesushi@ and sourcandie28@…”

Slimy, sour, tacky like rotting fruit.

*** Purple is often used to denote power. Historians claim that purple dye was originally obtained from the mucous of muricid snails, known colloquially as “snail drool.”