Karla contacted me a few days later. It was too early for me to have forgotten her words last time. Naturally, I was very reluctant to meet her for another rendezvous while feeling this hurt. Or so I thought. Karla's words had made me even doubt what I truly felt for her.
"Come over and bring condoms."
I felt foolish for even expecting something subtler or more complete than this. No reference to her previous words. No apologies and no sweetness to get me back. In all my years, I never thought being this objectified by a woman would sting so much.
Unsure of how long I had to have sex with Karla, I discarded any doubts of mine rather quickly. With or without the painful words, I had already accepted having sex with Karla was an enjoyable experience. If anything, as I grabbed the box of rubbers, I made up my mind that I wouldn't expect anything from my friend's mother apart from good sex from now on. It was yet another trick I played on myself.
The first anomaly I noticed was how long Karla took to open the door. Normally, I'd have hardly rung the bell before I'd be buzzed in. This time, she took long enough for me to consider ringing again.
You may think these thoughts petty and paranoid, but by now I knew it best to pay attention to everything I could when dealing with Karla. My first instinct was to push the box of condoms further into my back pocket. A pathetic measure, in retrospect, but I had to feign agency to myself, if no one else.
I was granted the same motherly innocence that I had seen during the hike when Karla opened the door. Wearing glasses and a light pink shirt, with that smile that lacked perversion of any kind, one could be forgiven for believing Karla to be a loyal housewife instead of a redheaded, vicious demoness. Even her curls looked more tamed than usual.
"There you are," she smirked with some restraint. Another anomaly. "Come in, make yourself comfortable."
I hesitantly stepped into the house, like so many other times. Her behavior felt off, and not just a little. Not that my alertness was the only source of caution. I could still hear the damn words she'd told me.
You love cuckolding my husband and your friend. You love me because you are no less evil or degenerate than me...
"Awww, you look a bit glum, sweety," she hummed softly, her tone as innocuous as it was distant. "I think I know
just
what will cheer you up. Make yourself comfortable."
I was thrown a wink before she hastily stepped away from the entrance. In disbelief, I watched as Karla left me alone inside her house after an apparently needless charade on her side. It was only when she started talking in the kitchen that I stopped heading in that direction and instead chose to listen in.
"So... more tea?"
"I'm good, thanks. Something tells me you'd rather have some time alone with your visitor now."
The second voice was familiar to me. It was a blurry kind of familiarity, like the kind of voices that belong to people you know, though you've never bothered to care much about. I like to think I'd eventually find out whose it was on my own, but Karla handed me the solution with what I do not doubt was complete intentionality.
"Betty!" she chuckled loudly. "Get your mind out of the gutter."
Karla's sister was there. Never had my friend's aunt made me so nervous with her presence. Now, however, I found myself frozen in the corridor, struggling to decide if I should step into the kitchen or retreat from the building altogether. During this hesitation, naturally, the two women kept their chat going.
"Hard to assume anything else. You've done nothing but talk shit about George ever since we sat down," Betty had a zesty lightness to her tone. I never heard her speaking this comfortably when she interacted with my friend or his brother.
"So
I
clearly express my sexual frustration, and still
you
accuse me of cuckolding my husband. Usually it's either one or the other."
"
Cuckolding
," chuckled her sister. "You really do like dramatic words, Karla."
"Oh, I like the word," I heard Karla giggle. "It's just the right amount of viciousness and mockery, isn't it? Not to mention it takes a married woman to really make the word felt. You ever tried saying it in a group conversation?"
"I'm not you," I heard someone lowering a teacup. "I have a basic concept of shame. Why would I want to just try to force a stupid word into a group conversation? To make everything awkward?"
I'll admit it made me smile to hear Betty spar with Karla. It was a relief to finally see someone normal interacting with her, while also knowing how rotten she was. Without even noticing it, I found myself nodding along to her sister's words.
"Oh, Betty... You'll never know the joy of making a scene until you try it. Feeling the rising tension, the pulsing hearts, the dirty thoughts suddenly popping up... There is a world of conversational pleasure you've never tapped into."
And just like that, I found my smile wavering. I even got downright angry at myself for feeling aroused with Karla's words. I certainly remembered cringing through the previous dinner thanks to this stupid philosophy. For the life of me, I couldn't understand why those words still turned me on the way they did.
"You're really fucked up," snorted Betty. "I really hope George's brother lets him bitch about you too."
"Did you forget how much you participated when it was your turn to talk shit about Bernard?"
"The difference is I love Bernard, Karla. You fucking hate your husband."
"I don't hate George, Betty."
"Right. Of course not. You just treat him with the same cruelty as you treat nearly everyone else. So much fucking better."
"You're cursing a lot," I could hear Karla smiling through her words. It was always unsettling when her words smiled.
"I am, aren't I?" Betty's voice sounded slightly jaded now.
"Oh, carry on, though. I like it!"
I heard the sound of more tea pouring into a cup.
"So you say you love Bernard?"
"I'm not playing this game with you, Karla."
"If I were married to the love of my life I'd fuck him every chance I got..."
"I'm serious. Shut the fuck up."
I winced. I could feel Karla winning against Betty already. Her nerves, I could tell by her voice, were giving in. Whatever Karla's goal was it seemed to me she was close to reaching it.