Mistress holds confession every Wednesday from 4 pm to 6 pm. She never knows who will present. Sometimes no one comes. Sometimes old lovers present asking for forgiveness. Other times it is people who have heard about her methods from a friend and need absolution. Today it is an old lover.
Her former lover enters the chamber quietly, softly, eyes downcast. She looks distraught. She is a young and sometimes timid. She tends to fault herself even when others don't. Mistress asks her to come forward, to raise her eyes, to look into her face.
The young lover is afraid. What could she have done? Mistress tries to calm her. "Sit my pet, and tell me your troubles. I don't judge. I just bring clarity."
Her young pet answers, "Mistress, you know I am not very experienced. I made a misjudgment, and did a terrible thing."
Mistress coaxes her pet, "My little darling, tell me what troubles you."
Her young pet, Delilah, drops her eyes. "Mistress, I can't. You will find me loathsome."
Mistress says, "Delilah, you came here of your own free will. Tell me and you will be free."
Delilah takes a deep breath. She raises her head, then finally her eyes. She says, "Mistress, promise me you won't judge me." She is red faced and whispering. "Promise me."
Mistress answers, "I never judge. I just help you reveal."
So Delilah begins. She says, "Mistress, sometimes I am so trusting. I take people at their word. I want to believe the best."
"Yes," Mistress answers. Delilah continues,
"Well, I met a boy, not any boy, but an extraordinary boy. And I believed him. And bad things happened, and I shouldn't have, and now I am ashamed."
Mistress Marla waits patiently. Then she says, "Delilah that is a very short story. I can't see what shame there is in believing someone. What bad things happened?"
Delilah is burning red as she answers, "bad things." Mistress waits patiently. She has all afternoon. Delilah looks down. She wrings her hands. Then she starts to whisper.
"I met a boy at the coffee house. He seemed so nice. We talked about school and travels. He has been all over the world. He was mesmerizing, absolutely spell binding. We talked and talked for hours. We finally parted and I was sad. The next day I returned, but he wasn't there. Every day I went there, but he didn't come back. Finally I gave up. Two weeks passed. I forgot about him. Then I stopped in for a latte after class, and there he was, sitting at the same table, in the same chair, just gazing at me, smiling. I was thrilled."
Delilah pauses, out of breath. Then she continues. "I tried to act nonchalant, like I didn't notice him. He stood, pulled out my chair, and asked me to join him. Again, we talked for hours. I realized I didn't even know his name. It became late, and I had to go. I asked if we would see each other again. He told me it depended on whether I was a good girl. I didn't know what that could mean, but promised I would be. He told me to meet him the next day, but later, around 9. He told me to be a good girl. He told me to make my excuses, that I would be late. I promised I would."
"Is that what you did wrong?" Mistress asks. "That you told him you would be good?"
Delilah answers, "No, that I wasn't." Delilah then tells the tale of her wickedness. She came to the coffee house the next day, nervous with anticipation. She arrived at 845, just to be sure she wasn't late. She waited and waited. She paced and pondered. At 930, she decided to leave.
As she was walking to her apartment, William appeared at her side. "Did you tell anyone where you were going?" he asked.
"Of course not," she answered.
"Are you ready to be good?" he asked.
"I think so," she answered.
William took her hand in his, smiled down at her, and said, "Oh, I think you will be very good."
Suddenly they were walking at a maddening pace, her heels clicking, and hardly able to keep up. He is pulling her along, down darkened streets, through pitch black alleys, and around abandoned buildings. They stop at an old warehouse, half demolished and fallen down. He takes both her hands, and asks her sternly, "Can you be good?"
She blinked up at his face, her eyes filled with tears from the wind. "I'll try," she answers.
William pulls out a key, huge and old, like a skeleton key. He places it into a lock, and turns it slowly. He starts to open the door. It is pitch black inside. Once again he asks, "Can you be good?"
"Yes," she answers, "I can." He smiles, lights a match, and pulls her inside. The door clangs shut behind them.
William is walking as if he knows the place. She hears voices, maybe music, ahead. She is confused and a little scared, but determined to be good. After twisting and turning, they emerge into a dimly lit room. There are 4 or 5 men there.
William is holding her hand. They turn toward her. They all start to smile. One says, "my oh my, what do we have here?" Suddenly Delilah is afraid. She clenches at William's hand.
He pulls her near, and says to the group, "supper, I think." They all start to move toward her. William says to them all, "Delilah has promised to be good. Do you think she can be?"
One of the men says, "She had better be."
William says, "Delilah is young and inexperienced. She can be good for us if we are good to her."
One of the men says, "Making rules again, William?"