Chapter 35

With Mariana, things were way easier. We didn’t play games. I wanted it, she wanted it, end of story. It was just a matter of our eyes meeting, the place being free, and shit would heat up fast. Five minutes ago I was about to cry, and now here I was, on top of her, nestling between her legs, feeling the warmth of her body under mine.

“You lock the door?”

“Yeah. But don’t get too excited!”

“Why not?”

“You forget, dummy? It’s coming down today…”

“Fuck, Mariana, plug that pussy up, damn it!”

“If only it were that easy, right?”

I laughed and rolled off to the side, getting off her.

“So how does a hooker handle it when she’s on her period? Doesn’t she work?”

“I dunno. I’ve heard they stuff cotton up there.”

“But is that healthy?”

We both made faces together, thinking about it and how it might even work.

“Probably not, huh?”

“Of all days, the one I wanted to try something with you…”

She looked at me with her eyebrows raised, curious.

“What thing?”

I laughed nervously, not sure if I should show her. I was scared she’d freak out, get jealous, ask how I got it. I got up slowly, went to my backpack, grabbed the metal gadget, and before coming back, double-checked the door was locked.

“Think fast!”

I tossed the thing in her direction.

She caught it in the air, her eyes going wide right away.

“An anal plug? Where’d you get this, you crazy bitch?”

I couldn’t hold back the laugh. It was hard to explain without the whole backstory.

“Uh… long story. It was my biology teacher.”

She stared at me, the plug shining in her hand, not believing it.

“What do you mean? What the hell is that woman teaching you?”

And I told her everything. Everything. With details, tone, emotion. I should’ve lied, made up some dumb excuse, pretended the thing was just sitting there. But fuck, I had a burst of honesty and decided to come clean before I got tangled in lies and she figured it out. I just left out one part: that my plan from the start was to fuck her in the middle of the waxing story. That I kept to myself.

She looked at the thing with one eyebrow raised, then turned her eyes to me with that calm that was kinda scary.

“You want me to shove this up your ass? The cucumber didn’t go in and you think this will?”

“This thing was made for it, right?”

“But cousin… sorry, my chest hurts too much, I’ve got cramps, my pussy feels like it’s being punished.”

“Oh no, Mariana! You’re gonna hit me with the ‘I’m on my period’ right now?”

She ignored my freakout and stared at her hands, like she was counting on her fingers. Then she looked up and fired off:

“Jujube… check your app, aren’t you gonna get your period this weekend too?”

The truth? We kinda knew each other’s cycles. It wasn’t planned, but our periods always lined up on the calendar. And worse: she was right. The math checked out. I had stuff planned for Saturday and that shit could drop right in the middle of it. I grabbed my phone and could only curse.

“Holy shit, it’s coming Sunday.”

“You’re something else. How do you not feel it coming? Doesn’t your chest hurt? PMS doesn’t even say hi?”

“Nope! Never felt a damn thing. Thank God… But now it’s fucked. If it comes Saturday, that’s it for my plans.”

“Waxing Larissinha and slapping a pad on top is pointless suffering, cousin. What if he doesn’t like chicken in brown sauce?”

She said it and burst out laughing, straight-up roasting me.

I stood there, frozen, not knowing what to do. It sucked. Some days I hated being a woman. What a hate! Having a pussy is great? Sure. But taking care of it is hell sometimes. Everything complicated, everything sensitive, everything bleeds, everything hurts. An ass that bleeds every month and we have to pretend it’s all good. Makes you wanna return it and trade for a dick — guys don’t even wash that shit right and it doesn’t drop. I sat on the bed like a lost soul, staring into space with a funeral face.

Mariana flopped onto her side on the bed, looking at me with pity and laziness.

“Cousin… it’s not the end of the world. You can reschedule with the teacher. And with him too. Another weekend. You won’t die over this.”

“Yeah…”

I said it kinda weakly.

“And I don’t even know if he’ll want more, right? Forgot about the blowup?”

“That’s true too.”

She shrugged, chewing her words with that cocky calm.

“But why don’t you just call him? Sort it out.”

I stayed quiet for a few seconds, staring at my phone like it would give me the answer on its own. Mariana wasn’t even breathing next to me. Then, out of nowhere, like it was now or never, I dialed. He picked up right away.

“Hey.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line and then he finally answered.

“Hey… I’ve been calling you since early and nothing from you, huh?”

“Yeah, I got upset about what you said… can you come over so we can talk?”

“Of course, babe. Where do you want?”

“Babe,” he said. Son of a bitch.

I took a deep breath. The trap had to be set carefully, right? So he’d fall for it like an idiot and even thank me. I spoke in the sweetest, fakest voice I could muster:

“So… tomorrow. My mom’s going to bingo with my aunt, and I’ll be home alone with Mariana.”

Mariana started shaking next to me, laughing like a maniac, hand shoved in her mouth to hold back the noise. My acting was straight out of a soap opera.

“It’s a deal, then. Tomorrow at eight I’ll swing by.”

“Done. Kiss. I’ll be waiting.”

I hung up and just stood there, letting out the air like I’d just run a marathon. I looked at Mariana and we both cracked up laughing. That was it. If he didn’t wanna fix it the nice way, we’d do it the bad way — with a script, soundtrack, and Mariana as accomplice.

“You’re CRAZY, Jujube! Now you’re gonna have to tell your mom, huh?”

“Yeah…”

I took a deep breath, adjusted my top like it would give me courage, and ran out to the back door yelling:

“MOMMMMM!”

“WHAAAAAT?”

She bellowed from the back of the house, voice like she was already fed up.

“HE’S COMING TOMORROW NIGHT!”

“OKAAAY! HE BETTER SHOW UP!”

She yelled back, a mix of threat and blessing.

I went back to the room laughing. Mariana was already sprawled on the bed, slapping the mattress from laughing so hard.

Now we just had to wait.

“Wait my ass, you’re gonna eat me out, you bitch.”

“Fuck, Jujube, I’ve got cramps.”

“Tough shit.”

I was in that mood, the day had been stressful, and I needed some decent relief, and Mariana was gonna give it to me even if I had to force her!