"A woman can't be raped."
I slowly lowered my glass and stared at Jet after her pronouncement. Her name was... is... Janet, but she likes Jet for some reason I'll never understand. That and her latest pronouncement were just two of the things that had come out of her brain that I didn't get.
"Well, we can't." Jet shrugged.
"You're serious." I shook my head and lifted my glass to take another drink. I was far, far too sober for wherever this conversation was going.
"Damn right, I'm serious." Jet enunciated carefully.
"You're drunk is what you are." I laughed. "Women get raped all the time. It's sad, but true."
"No, victims get raped. Women don't have to be victims unless they choose to."
"Oh, I know I'm going to regret this, but shower your wisdom on me, oh munificent one. What fucked up idea is going through your head now?"
"It isn't fucked up, it's true." Jet's drink sloshed over the rim of her glass. "First, they need to maintain situational awareness. Don't be in places where it might happen. Second, fight. Don't kick him in the balls. Tear those fuckers off. And last... and last... uhm..."
I had winced and crossed my legs on number two but burst out laughing when she couldn't remember three. For over a year, we had been coming here when we got off work on our third day. It was a great way to unwind after three days on at the facility where we worked. I don't know what she did after, since we didn't see each other again until we reported for duty after three off. But, the two hours we sat here drinking and bullshitting were the highpoint of mine.
"Jesus, Jet! No wonder you haven't had a date in three months." I laughed. " 'Rip 'em off.' God! I have to admit though, you kinda have a point. Sort of. I thought you were going to say some shit like 'Do your Kegel's'."
"Yeah!" Jet snapped her fingers. "Last, do those Kegel's. And I haven't had a date because I'm more than any man can handle."
"Now, that I can drink to." I lifted my almost empty glass to her. She stuck out her tongue at me but tapped her glass noisily against mine and we both drank deeply.
"So, you know I'm right, right?" She went on after draining her glass.
"Can we change the subject, please? You know I don't like topics like this."
"God, Mary and Jesus." Jet snickered. "How the hell a pussy like you can be the most hard ass control officer ever, I will never know. You don't like anything that smacks of violence."
"I thought you knew me better than that." I was starting to get a headache. "I have no issue with violence. I just don't like people who use it to take from other people."
"Oh, yeah?" Jet jeered. "So, how come you never come to the rink with me or a football game."
"Seriously?" I sat back and stared at my partner and friend, the woman I thought knew me better than anyone. "I guess I never told you. I had a chance to play ball."
"No fucking way! You?" Jet gasped. "I mean, I know you're strong. I've backed you through enough take downs. But, damn. That's like a whole nother level of bad ass."
"Not really," I shrugged. "It was what it was and is what it is."
"I think you're yanking my chain." Jet scoffed. "So, why didn't you?"
"Too much bullshit," I shrugged again. "It wasn't what I thought it would be. So, I kicked around back alleys for awhile. Underground cages matches. But that wasn't what I thought it would be either. The money was good, don't get me wrong. But, it started getting to be businessy too."
Jet stared at me with her mouth open for several seconds, then snapped it shut. "You are so full of shit."
"If you say so." I laughed and motioned the waitress for another round.
"Oh, whatever." Jet thanked the waitress and looked back at me. "So, you know I'm right, right?"
Fuck! The one thing that I didn't really enjoy about Jet was the way she just wouldn't let something go. She worked it like a junkyard dog with a bone until she got to the meat. And she wasn't going to let this one go.
"No, actually. I don't." I sighed, more at myself for getting sucked in than at her. "First, rape isn't about sex at all. It's about power and domination. Second, everyone lets their guard down sometime. It happens. Third, hitting, kicking, or even yanking on a guys balls is just going to piss him off if he has any kind of pain tolerance. And last, I don't care how many Kegel's you do, if there is a hole, it can be force filled. That's not even counting date rape, drugging, and other manipulation tools. Now, seriously, let's change the subject."
"Bullshit." Jet snapped her fingers and pointed at me. "For example, you couldn't rape me if you tried."
"What the fuck, Jet?" Getting pissed, I started reaching for my wallet. If she wasn't gonna let this go, I needed to go. Before our friendship was ruined. "I would never do that, least of all to you."
"Because you couldn't." Jet beamed at me. "Because I'm right."
"God, Jet. Just... be careful who you say shit like that to. Okay? Someone would take you up on your challenge and I don't want to think about something like that happening to you."
"It couldn't." She sneered. "Tell you what. You try it. Try to take me and I'll try to stop you. I'll bet you a thousand dollars you couldn't."
My heart filled my ears with thundering drums as my hand froze laying down the money and I stared at her with an open mouth.
Jet was beautiful. No two ways about that one. But, she had a workout fetish. She had muscles most guys would envy. But, she wasn't an imitation man. She was a woman, through and through. With a woman's curves. I'd be lying if I tried to say I hadn't had my fantasies about her.
And, though I try to stay on the side of the angels, there is something in me that yearns towards the darkness. Ok, that may have been too poetic, so I'll spell it out. I may have a rape fetish. It's buried deep, under layers of honor, duty, and empathy. But someone once said "a conscience is just a little voice whispering 'someone might see'." They may have a point, since in the quiet lonely dark places of my mind, while my fist is around my cock, I can't help but picture taking some beauty's virtue without her consent. But, I would never, ever act on it. I could never force someone against their will.
But, I read somewhere that a large percentage of women have fantasies... not about actually being raped, but of roleplaying it. Maybe Jet was one. Maybe she was interested in me.
And maybe I needed to get the fuck out of there before I said the wrong thing because I misunderstood her and fucked up.
"Hellllooo." Jet waved at me and I snapped out of it. "So, is it a bet?"
"Hell no." I answered. "I'm not going to rape you and if I did, where the hell would you get a thousand dollars."
"If it came up, which it wouldn't because I wouldn't lose, I have it." Jet waved away my objection. "And it wouldn't be rape, if it did happen, which it wouldn't. It would just be a bet."
Jesus, she couldn't mean...
I stared at her for several long fulminating seconds. Then shook my head and grinned at her.
"If you want some of this, Jet, just ask." I cupped my crotch playfully. "But, I'm not going to force you."