nothing that unusual about the cute envelope that had arrived in the mail that morning in late August. I had almost missed it among the usual stack of bills and other unwanted junk—like the Frederick’s of Hollywood catalogue with the picture of a beautiful young blonde woman in a white negligee on the cover.
I laughed when I saw the catalogue, wondering what the world was coming to for my name to end up on the Frederick’s of Hollywood mailing list. I had to give them credit for advertising muumuus, waist clinchers, capes, bras with cups large enough to hold forty ounces of beer, long flowing nightgowns that looked more like parachutes, and other inducements every now and then to appease us full-figured gals. But almost everything else that the mysterious Mr. Frederick—who probably looked like Buddha or worse himself—sold was for women half my size and even smaller. On the first page inside the catalogue were some “one size fits all” panty hose. Yeah, right. The see-through gowns and low-cut blouses were outrageous enough, and I had absolutely no use for crotchless panties. I’d probably be wearing diapers again before I broke down and put on a pair of crotchless panties.
I was not surprised when I flipped the catalogue over and saw that it was addressed to Jade O’Toole, my best friend’s sneaky teenage daughter. Some of the clothes that the girl wore every day showed just as much skin as the frocks she ordered from Frederick’s that she hid from her parents, so I didn’t know what the big deal was. But I didn’t have a teenager yet, so I couldn’t really judge the behavior of the “in your face” music-video generation. They had their own culture and Jade kept it in my face. I had allowed her to take too many liberties with me so it was too late for me to revise my position in her life. I was no more of an authority figure to her than a cat was. She had started using my address without my knowledge or permission. I shuddered when I thought about what that girl might do next.
CHAPTER 2
The catalogue that had just come in my mail for Jade was not nearly as shocking as the foot-long vibrator that she had had delivered to my address a few weeks ago. It had also arrived on a Saturday morning but in a plain brown envelope and by registered mail, delivered by one of the nosiest brothers in town. My mailman and I socialized with some of the same people, so he took the liberty of greeting me with a sly grin on his face when I opened my front door.
“Good morning, Moshay,” I said, my face burning with shame as I read the return address on the package that he held in front of his wide chest like a bib. One of his sausage-like fingers tapped the return address. There was only one adult toy store in town and most people knew the address by heart. Even me. But only because it was next door to the dry cleaners I used.
“Same to you, Annette. Um…” Moshay paused and nodded at the package, the same grin still on his face, which was covered in beads of sweat. Almost everything on his face was too big: his eyes, his nose, his chin. His short, stout body resembled a barrel. But he had a lot of confidence for such an ugly man. He flirted with me every time I saw him. “You lookin’ mighty nice today. I ain’t seen you in church lately. I guess you been keepin’ yourself busy takin’ care of that husband of yours, huh?”
“I guess I have, Moshay,” I said, reaching for the package. I tapped my bare foot and glanced at my watch so that he would know I was getting impatient.
It didn’t take much to encourage Moshay Dixon. He tried to get too friendly with too many females. Back in high school, he used to crawl around on the floor in the lunchroom to peek up under girls’ skirts. He had a wife and a mistress now, and all the local hookers loved him to death.
Moshay glanced around and even over my shoulder before he spoke again. “You need to sign for this first,” he whispered.
I didn’t know why those companies still bothered trying to hide adult products in plain brown wrappers. When it came to sex, there were very few secrets left anymore. But even though I was a married woman, and what my man and I did in our bedroom stayed in our bedroom, I didn’t want anybody making assumptions about my private life. Especially my mailman!
I snatched the package out of Moshay’s hand and gave him a stern look. It was hard enough to keep secrets in a small town like Richland, Ohio. Before Moshay finished delivering mail for the day, I knew that everybody on the block would probably be wondering what I’d ordered from the sex shop.
Ten minutes after I’d signed for the package, Jade called me up.
“Auntie,” she said, panting like she had just finished running a footrace, or, knowing Jade, fucking her young brains out. She let out a deep breath before continuing. “I’m expecting an important package today,” she informed me, speaking in a low voice. “From that, uh, specialty shop on Sawburg Avenue,” she added, now whispering so low I could barely hear her.
“You mean that dark little place that sells all that nasty shit?” I snapped. If I had told Jade once I’d told her a thousand times, I didn’t feel comfortable discussing sex with her. But Jade paid me no more mind than she did anybody else.
“They’re having a big sale, in case you’re interested,” Jade told me.
“I’m not!” I yelled, forcing myself to sound disgusted. The truth of the matter was, I wanted to laugh. If nothing else, Jade was very entertaining. There were times when she was the only one who could amuse me. “Your order arrived a little while ago.” I glanced at the package on the end of the coffee table in my living room where I’d dropped it. “And what would you be ordering from a store that sells only adult products?” I teased, wrapping the telephone cord around my fingers. I frowned when I realized my nails were screaming for a manicure. I released the telephone cord and balled my hand into a fist so I would not have to look at my tacky nails.
“Huh?”
“Never mind, you nasty little thing, you,” I laughed.
“Oh, Auntie, get yourself on the ball. This is the nineties. Kids grow up a lot faster than they did when you were young.”
Jade’s comments made my thoughts wander but not in a pleasant direction. It seemed like I’d never been “young.” I had spent my childhood dealing with things that a lot of adults wouldn’t have been able to handle. I pursed my lips and shook my head as Jade continued.
“Sex is not what it used to be, Auntie.” She had a way of representing herself that made me feel like I was the child and she was the adult. “You ought to know that by now.”
“Sex is no different now than it was a hundred years ago. As far as I know, people are still doing it the same way,” I said, swallowing hard. I wondered what Jade would say if I told her I’d had my first sexual encounter at the age of seven. Even though it had been rape, sex was still sex. “There is just a lot more of it going on,” I scoffed.
“Well, everybody is doing it,” Jade insisted, with a moan that made me blush.
“Not everybody, Jade,” I said sadly. “There are people my age who still have a hard time dealing with sex.” And I was one of them. I tolerated sex, even when it was good. If I had not married such a patient and passionate man, I’d have kept my legs closed for the rest of my life. “And for the record, a lot of men don’t care if we enjoy it or not. As long as they get what they want out of it…”
“Boo hoo,” Jade sneered. She paused and let out a giggle. “That’s why they make vibrators,” she practically sang.
I let out a disgusted sigh, making sure it was loud enough for her to hear. “Where are you?” I asked, hoping she could tell how impatient and exasperated I was. I didn’t even like to discuss sex with my doctor, my husband, or my adult female friends—let alone a youngster like Jade.
There was a lot of noise in the background on Jade’s end. Car horns blasting, people yelling, dogs barking. The train tracks that divided Richland into almost two equal parts were just a mile from my house. I could hear the train whistle blowing from my end and from Jade’s. It gave me an eerie feeling because I didn’t like trains. Every time I saw or heard one, it reminded me of the segregated train that my mother and I had been forced to ride on when we moved from the South to