Mary drove away from the sex specialty shop in Westboro and headed toward her home. It was lying on the car seat next to her, in a plain paper bag. Her face was burning and she was filled with shame. She'd never been so embarrassed in her life. It took her an hour to work up the courage to go in the store in the first place, then when she did, things got worse.
The clerk, a pimply faced, smirking young man not much older than her son, sported a leering look on his face from the minute she walked in. "Can I help you, ma'am?" he asked when she entered the store.
"I...um...I...ah...one...um...of my, ah, friends, um, she's, you know, um, getting married," Mary stammered. "And, uh, we're...you know, giving her a, um, shower, with, um, gag, ah, gifts."
She looked down into the glass case in front of her and felt her face getting even hotter. On a shelf in the case lay at least a half-dozen realistic-looking fake penises, ranging from huge to gigantic. There were even black ones!
"What were you thinking of getting for your, ah, friend?" the young man asked smugly.
Mary was so embarrassed she almost turned and ran out of the store but, somehow, she managed to tough it out. She took a deep breath. "One of those...that one...there..." she stammered as she pointed into the case, at one of the dildos.
The clerk bent, brought out a long, slim box, and laid it on the counter. "Are you...excuse me...is your friend going to need batteries?" he asked.
Batteries! Pixie hadn't said anything about batteries. "Ah...I...I guess so," Mary stammered.
The clerk took a package of batteries off a shelf behind the counter and laid them next to the box. "These are the long-life kind," he leered. "Our customers say they're a lot more satisfying. Is there anything else I can get you?"
Mary, near the point of tears, shook her head.
The clerk moved to the cash register and rang up the sale. "That will be thirty-one ninety-five," he said.
Mary fumbled two twenty-dollar bills out of her purse and handed them to the leering clerk. Her hands were trembling.
The clerk took the money, rang up the sale on the cash register, then he gave her the change and a receipt.
"Would you like a bag?" he asked.
Mary gulped and nodded her head. "How can he make such a simple question sound so obscene?" she wondered as she watched the clerk to put her purchases in a paper bag. He handed it to her, she grabbed it and hurried out of the store, not looking back.
"I hope your friend enjoys her gift," the clerk said as she left. "You can tell her I'd be happy to drop in and give her some pointers on how to use it if she needs them."
Mary sat in her car for a few minutes after she left the store, shaking, the package on the seat beside her. Sobs and tears began. She couldn't remember when she'd felt more humiliated. People walking by looked at her but, thankfully, nobody stopped. At last she pulled herself together, started the car, and headed for home.
Her heart sank when she saw Ricky's car parked in the driveway. She looked at her watch and realized she was later than she thought. The trip to that horrid shop in Westboro had upset her so much she'd lost track of time.
Clutching her package, she went into the house, sure Ricky would know what was in the bag, and would be ashamed of her for having it.
"Hi, Mom," Ricky said when they met on the stairs.
"I...I'm sorry I'm late, honey," Mary said. "I'll put something in the microwave. You must be starved."