When the Cat's Away, the Mice Will Play

Chapter 21

After that, we couldn't get much peace, you know? The house seemed to wake up out of nowhere in the middle of the afternoon, a bunch of people starting to show up and walk down the hallway outside my room, like it was a damn train station. And like that, we couldn't relax, even if you know the door's locked tight and all. There's always that feeling like someone's gonna burst in suddenly or, worse, hear everything. Like, I'd imagine Aunt Beta knocking on the door and yelling "what the hell are you two doing in there for so long?", and boom, the horniness would go down the drain along with the shame that came after.

And we learned another hard lesson in all this fucking around: even being two women and cousins, people got a little suspicious when we locked ourselves away for too long. Because, in general, we were social with the family, always in the middle of the chaos, laughing at the aunts' gossip or helping in the kitchen. But now? A ton of weird questions came up, like "why are you two hiding so much?", with that look like they're already picturing the worst. As if two girls couldn't just want some time to talk without it being about boys or cake recipes. Fucking irony, right? The family that's full of scandals thinks it's weird for two cousins to hang out alone.

Since we couldn't chill anymore, we calmed down – which meant keeping our hands off each other's pussy, at least for now. We cleaned up as best we could, with wet wipes I kept in the drawer, the kind that smell like baby but work to mask the scent of sex. Discreetly, one by one we went to the bathroom to wash up properly, me first, feeling the cold water run and wash away the last of the heat that was still throbbing between my legs. It was like my body still wanted more, but my brain was screaming "stop, you idiot, this is gonna blow up in your face".

We both went downstairs to see who was down there. One was Aunt Beta, who was just stopping by to say hi and then bounce, she lives way the fuck out there and always shows up like a hurricane, kisses everyone and vanishes. And the other? The neighbor next door, that damn gossip. "I hate that woman!". If she was in my living room, it was definitely for some chit-chat. The lady had a whole network of informants in the neighborhood, it was impressive. Nosy seamstress playing prayer group sister, always with a bunch of women at her house, praying and spitting pure venom. She looked at us with those owl eyes, like she knew everything, and I'd think "if that bitch knew what went down upstairs, she'd spread it all over the neighborhood that Jully's a naughty little incest slut". But she just yapped about the price of beans and left with Aunt Beta, thank God.

They took off, I made dinner with Mariana, nothing fancy, rice, beans and some leftover ground beef from lunch. We sat at the table: Mariana, my mom and me. My mom was acting weird, more than usual. She was still fighting with my stepdad, one of those fights that last days, and she'd even argued with my dad over me — some serious shit, I don't know, but I was the reason, like always. She ate slow, with that face like she was chewing on anger, and I figured it wasn't smart to poke her on days like that. I treated her with the good manners of a well-behaved daughter, which I wasn't. "Yes, Mom", "no, Mom", "can I help with the dishes?".

Deep down, I was dying of fear that she'd pick up on something in my eyes or Mariana's, like a whiff of guilt mixed with lust.

I was babbling about nail polish and Mariana insisting that her mom had this brand at the salon that hadn't even hit the market yet and my mom, quiet, watching and paying attention to details until out of nowhere, she dropped it without mercy:

"Julia, who's the boy you were in the car with?"

I almost choked on my rice. My heart was already racing and now my mom comes with this. I did the math quick, and it added up to no other way, the gossip had come over here to tell on me being in the bus guy's car. Now I just had to find out what she'd spilled.

"It's a guy I've been seeing, Mom." Mariana's eyes went wide at me, nervous, right away.

She didn't say a word when I spoke.

"I want you dating in this house, you hear me? When are you bringing him here?"

My mom leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, finished chewing, a pose that challenged me and scared the shit out of me.

"Aw, Mom! I don't know! He's out of town, when he gets back I'll bring him here. Okay?" I tried to dodge, grabbing my water glass and pretending it was no big deal.

"You better!" she shot back, giving me a sharp look before going back to cutting her meat.

I thought the interrogation was over, but then she hit me with another one.

"Mariana, you're sleeping over here with Jully tonight, okay?"

Mariana looked up right away, surprised.

"Why, Aunt?"

"I'm going out with your mom and your dad's on night shift."

The second she said that, me and Mariana exchanged a naughty look. Mariana cracked a little smile and didn't waste time:

"Oh man, Mari, your mom's got a night out voucher! The old ladies are gonna party!"

We three laughed, but my mom pretended to be indignant at the end.

"Show some respect, you little brat! I'm not your mom, but I'll whack you with a slipper!" she laughed, but you could tell she was trying to hide something.

I raised my eyebrows. She was lying. My mom was always bad at it. When she got nervous, she turned red as a beet.

"Mom, where are my brothers?" I asked, already sensing the vibe was off.

"They're with your dad, back Monday. And I don't want anyone in this house, so don't even think about saying you're gonna be alone here, you hear me?"

"Where are you sleeping?"

"At the motel, you dummy!" Mariana blurted out, sassy.

My mom's eyes went wide and she pointed her fork at her.

"Watch that attitude!"

Mariana just laughed.

"But it's true, Aunt, spill the real tea!"

My mom rolled her eyes, finished chewing before answering:

"I'm sleeping in your bed! We're going to a show."

Me and Mariana exchanged another look. I was about to say something stupid, but she beat me to it:

"I know what kind of show you're gonna see!"

My mom turned red on the spot. Almost caught in her lie, just like me when I tried to hide shit. I almost felt proud of her.

We let the topic die there, but what got me was Mariana. She was looking at me different, like she was trying to send me a telepathic message. She had something in mind, and I had a pretty good idea what it was. My heart skipped a beat. The night was looking promising.