It was what Rae referred to as a "lazy Sunday." The week's work was over; Saturday when the household jobs left during the week were done, and Sunday was the day for doing whatever she fancied.
She sat at the breakfast table wearing only her comfortable dressing gown and between gazing at nothing in particular she sipped a cup of lemon tea.
Opposite her Clay (Clayton) her son, sat on one chair and had his feet propped up on another as he idly flipped through a soft porn magazine, pausing occasionally when the picture of a particularly decorative and nude female appeared. Rae would peruse the magazine later when Clay had put it aside and she thought he wouldn't see her reading it. Between his flipping Clay spooned cornflakes into his mouth.
A fly buzzed around the kitchen and Rae followed its progress from one place to the next and considered getting up, fetching the fly swat and pursuing the insect, but decided that was something for later, if the fly was still around.
The magazine Clay was reading claimed to be serious, with articles about how to find your "true self, or "get in touch with your deep self," usually written by psychologists. It also offered, for a price, how to become a millionaire in a month. Rae wondered why, if they could tell you how to become a millionaire in a month they needed to charge for the information.
"Adultery," Clay suddenly muttered.
"What?" Rae asked, not sure if she'd heard him correctly.
"Adultery," Clay repeated, "it say here that 73.6 percent of men have committed adultery at least once before they're fifty."
"I don't believe it," Rae said.
"Well it says it's based on university research."
"What does it say about women?"
"Oh...er...ah yes, 62.2 percent women have committed adultery at least once before they're fifty. What do you think point six percent of man and point two percent of a woman looks like?"
"Don't be silly Clay," his mother replied, "it's just an average like saying the average family has 2.3 children or whatever it is."
"Yes, I suppose so, but what about this; if 73.6 percent of men have committed adultery and only 62.2 percent women, it must mean that the women have committed adultery with several men."
"I suppose so," Rae said, turning her attention once more to the fly.
Clay, pursuing his theme said, "It says here that adultery is on the increase, why do you think that would be mum?"
"You'd better ask your father that," Rae replied cynically.
"I would if I had a father."
"Of course you've got a father, how else do you think you came into the world?" Rae snapped."
"You know what I mean mum," Clay protested, "when did we last see or hear from him, six...no seven years ago."
"No need to remind me," Rae muttered, "now finish your cornflakes I want to wash up."
Clay was not to be deterred; "I suppose the advent of the contraceptive pill and all the other contraceptive things, tube tying and vasectomies, might have something to do with more adultery, you know, all pleasure and no consequences."
Rae gave up fly watching and replied, "Possibly, but there can still be consequences."
"Like what?"
"There are all sorts of nasty diseases and infections you can get if you play around, sexually I mean."
"Yes, I suppose so," Clay said thoughtfully. "Do you suppose dad got a dose of something nasty?"
"Frankly I don't know and I don't care, I only know he didn't give me anything nasty while we were married but what's happened since..." She left the sentence unfinished, her voice fading away.
"You've never played around have you mum?"
"Certainly not," Rae said indignantly.
"Mum, I know I shouldn't ask but why not?"
"Why not what?"
"Why haven't you played around...well...I mean, why hasn't there been another man in your life, you're a really good looking woman?"
"Huh, you should know the answer to that; there was one man but look what happened."
"He stayed over for one night but why only one night?"
"Don't be a hypocrite Clay. He wanted to marry me but you had tantrums and he said he couldn't cope with that, and don't try buttering me up with your "good looking" flattery.
"But you are good looking mum. I suppose what you're saying is that I spoiled things for you?"
"You can say that again," Rae replied sourly.
"You know mum, I was as jealous as hell, I can see that now. I wanted you all to myself."
Rae seemed to soften a bit and said, "I understood that, it's often that way with a mother and son."
Clay seemed to consider this for a few moments, and then said, "Yes, I've read about that, sons actually fancying their mother and hating their father because he's getting what they want, and I suppose the same applies to any man that comes into their mother's life, it's called Oedipal something or the other."
"Complex," Rae said.
"What?"
"Oedipal Complex," Rae repeated, "I can read too you know."
There was a pause in their conversation until Clay said, "We had a kid at our school who suffered from that."
"Suffered from what?"
"Oedipal thing, or I suppose it was that."
"What do you mean, he suffered from it?"
"He used to boast that he was having sex with his mother."
"He was lying. How old was he?"
"Thirteen, same age I was then, and it was true."
"How do you know it was true?"
"His mum got arrested and they put her in jail for three years and he got taken into foster care."
"That's terrible," Rae said grimly."
"What, getting caught you mean?"
"I mean incest, and it just goes to show, it's like adultery, it nearly always comes out in the end. One of them involved wants more than the other wants to give, or they have to boast about their conquest, or they just get too confident and careless and get caught.
Clay grinned and said, "Well he did boast about it so I suppose someone reported him, and she was pregnant to him."
"My God," Rae gasped, "She could at least have taken precautions and just think of the psychological damage she did to that poor boy."
"I've read about the psychological damage, but this kid said it was wonderful with her, and he swore that when she came out of jail he was going to get together with her again."
"And did they?"
"I don't know, they took him to another school and we lost touch with him after that. It'd be..." Clay considered for a moment and the went on, "He was thirteen then and I'm nineteen so she'll have been out of jail at least three years now, and so they might have got together. They were a single parent family of course and..."
"Careful what you say," Rae cut in sharply, "we're a single parent family."
"I know that mum, but what I was going to say was that it started when she told him he ought to know about sex, and she'd teach him, and it took off from there. He said she was so hot for him she wanted him every day."
"Well he must have been hot for her," Rae said, "and I don't need to teach you about sex."
Clay took his feet off the chair, the conversation was getting interesting. "A pity," he chuckled.
"What do you mean, 'a pity'?"
"Well, you know mum, the Oedipal thing."
"Complex," Rae added, "and you're not telling me you've got an Oedipal thing - I mean complex - about me."
"You said you've read the literature, and that says that boys have this thing for their mothers, so what do you want, do you want me to be abnormal and not have an Oedipal complex about you."