Y Tu Lolá También Part V: A Very Open Secret
When the three of them had recovered, they realized something was different. There was a silent pause and the silence was the difference. It had stopped raining. Lo looked out the window flap of the tent and saw that the clouds were clearing up. In the distance she could see a few rays of afternoon sun poking through the clouds. She could hear the drops from the leaves of the trees dripping, but birds were again singing.
Lo suggested that they use the time to get their sopping wet clothes to a laundromat and dry them there.
"What will we wear? Everything's soaked," asked Meri.
"Our bathing suits I guess."
"I'm still starving," chimed in Meri's son.
"You can stay here. The food is dry. Make yourself a sandwich."
Lo and Meri unzipped the tent and emerged from it naked as they day they were born, like twins from the tent-womb. No one else was out or around. They opened the car and rummaged through the clothes to get their suits, put them on and then drove to town together.
I can only imagine what people thought seeing Meri in her thong bikini and Lo in hers dashing into the laundromat to dump their clothes into the wash and then dash back to the car to wait for it to run its course. But, as simple as that plan sounds, it became more complex when, after darting into the laundromat, they discovered the machines only accepted quarters, but they had none.
"Shit! What do we do? The banks are closed," said Lo.
"Restaurants are open," said Meri.
They drove through town and found one diner that seemed like it might have quarters. Meri got out and, wearing nothing but her bikini and a facemask, went in with some bills and asked to exchange them for quarters. She was in luck, despite the looks of surprise she got and the snickers she could hear from the staff.
They then went back to the laundromat and tossed the clothes in the machine. They had an hour to kill and they sat in the car.
The immediate crisis and exhibitionism over, they laughed a little about their situation and then relaxed into an uncomfortable silence, reflecting on everything that had transpired since lunch.
The silence grew unbearable and finally Meri offered, "You know, that's never happened before."
"What?" inquired Lo, since Meri could have been referring to so many things.
"Me. Him. Kissing like that. Him cumming like that. I swear to you."
"I believe you."
"I've only helped him to fall asleep. That's it. Today was different."
"OK," said Lo, not sure why Meri was insisting on this point. "Does Scott know?"
"Know about what?"
"Your bedtime stories," said Lo euphemistically.
"Oh no."
"I guess your plan backfired."
"What?"
"Your plan - to have him become more attracted to me so he'd ween off of you. Seems like the opposite happened."
Meri looked vacantly out the window of the car. "Yeah, I don't know."
"Have you tried to talk to him about it?"
Meri let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Talk to him? This all began because he is so emotionally distant. He retreated into himself after puberty and has remained there ever since. Don't you know, women trade sex for emotional openness."
"Well, he can't be very open about his sex life or sexuality if he's. . ."
"If he's what?"
Lola didn't want to say it, but she didn't know how to avoid it. "If he's being jacked off by his mom."
Suddenly Meri snapped out of her middle-distance stare and her eyes darted directly at Lo. "Are you fucking judging me?"
"No," said Lo, frightened and feeling cornered in the car. "I'm just. . ."
Meri cut her off. "You're one to talk."
"What do you mean by that?" said Lo defensively.
"You know what I mean."
"What?"
"I've read your blog. I've read the entire thing," she said in a menacing tone.
"Yeah, so."
"I might jack off my son, but. . ."
"But what?" asked Lo, nervously. She didn't want to know what Meri knew about her.
Seeing Lo squirm, Meri leaned back and looked out the window. "Entering the dog days of summer," she said as if it were a non sequitur. "Hot, wet, sticky, dog days of summer," she added with a sinister undertone.
Lo's face turned red, as did her chest. She could hear the beat of her heart in her ears like the sound of the bass thumping at a dance club.
There was a loud silence for what seemed like a small eternity. The women just looked at each other trying to read each other's mind. Meri knew she had the upper hand in this based upon Lo's brow perspiring.
"It's ok," said Meri finally. "Your secret - I mean, it's hardly a secret since you posted about it on your blog and in your books - is safe with me."
