Chapter Nineteen
The week of Paula's "trial marriage" went wonderfully. For one thing, the old saying "you CAN have too much of a good thing" is true. I was about at the limit of my physical capacity as a couple of more guys showed up, Lance and Maurice if it matters, bringing the total in residence to eleven. But with Paula there, the demands on me eased.
And she damn sure seemed to enjoy the attention. She didn't QUITE have that Jo Ann Pflug smile all the time, but she smiled a lot. That big ass of hers peeking out from under a T-shirt became a common sight. If anything, she was even less modest than I was, and, remember, I'm the one who had spent about a week out of commission involved in regular bukkake parties.
She was positively glowing. Hell, you would have thought she was pregnant.
And yes, Paula and I shared a bed from time to time, often with the guys watching. They seemed to enjoy the show and we both enjoyed performing for them. I learned that a woman truly does understand another woman's body better than any man ever could although, as they watched as each of us reacted when the other found a special spot or touched in a special way, they did learn.
Friday morning I more or less knew what was coming but still watched, fascinated, since it had happened to me once.
A big breakfast was prepared when Davey knocked on my door and walked me down the stairs. Aaron and Paula were right behind us.
She looked at me, the question in her eyes obvious.
I just smiled and mouthed, silently, "you'll see."
The breakfast was abundant and good. Charlie, one of the more recent returnees, worked part-time as a short-order cook. There were eggs and pancakes and bacon and sausage and biscuits and gravy and orange juice and coffee.
Breakfast was fun, the talk was light, Paula made everyone laugh as she explained why she knew, knew mind you, no question possible, that God existed. She went on for a solid five minutes, keeping us all laughing, as she explained that she accepted evolution, she accepted the "accident" of first life on the planet, doing a pretty good imitation of Carl Sagan saying "then one day, quite by accident, a hydrophilic molecule and a hydrophobic molecule joined up and the building blocks for the first cell wall were formed" She outlined life forming, amoebas dividing, chlorophyll being included and the first photosynthesis forming, as a side effect poisoning the atmosphere of the early earth with that nasty oxygen (to the laughter of all as she rolled out that little gem).
We were all watching and listening as she reached her conclusion.
"But," she said and then giggled and added, "and it's a but so big it makes my butt look small, there's the question of sex. And here's what those of you who deny God want us to believe. You want us to accept that one day, about a billion and a half years ago, not only did a mutation occur that made one proto-eukaryotic creature a male, but the complementary mutation made another female."
Here she paused for dramatic effect, looking around the room, meeting each pair of eyes.
"Anndddd," she went on, "this all had to happen within a few feet, in all the quadrillions of cubic miles of water, so creatures that move a few feet in lives measured in days could hook up."
Another pause.
"And that, my friends, is a leap of faith no greater than assuming Mohammed communicated directly with God, that Jesus was the son of God, or that Buddha knows the way to ensure a better next life," she concluded with a deep flourish and bow.
We applauded.
She sat.
