The Scarlet Letter Society (16 page)

Maggie agreed. “Exactly. I mean, there we were, and you were so open about being bisexual and then me with my big mouth, asking you what it’s like to be with a woman, because I was dating a guy who wanted a threesome with a girl, and I had never done that, and the next thing you know…”

“Yeah, the next thing you know we’re completely naked in the stairwell of the town parking deck,” said Kate, laughing.

“How did that even happen?” said Maggie.

“It’s a good question,” said Kate. “Clearly, since we have homes with bedrooms and beds, we could have chosen a more comfortable location. It was just the heat of the moment. The roof of the parking deck is so gorgeous with the view of the church spires and we had chatted for like two hours after that play was over. The moon…”

“I blame the moon,” said Maggie.

“It’s always the moon’s fault,” said Kate. She put down her tea and slid closer to Maggie on the couch. Maggie took a sip of her tea, smiled mischievously at Kate, and put down her tea as well.

“This setting is a little more comfortable, with the same great view of downtown,” said Kate. She reached up and placed her hand on Maggie’s curly hair, taking a single curl and twisting it gently between her fingers. Her dark blue eyes stared intently into Maggie’s green ones.

“It is a great view,” said Maggie, grinning as her eyes swept down across the cleavage of Kate’s v-neck pink t-shirt. It was Sunday, Maggie had just closed her shop, and they were both in late summer garb of capri pants and t-shirts.

“So how are things with the Scarlet Letter Society?” asked Kate.

“Well, I love that we’re reading books now,” said Maggie. “Or at least pretending to.”

“As your friendly neighborhood literature professor,” said Kate, “I love that you’re reading books with the infidelity theme. What a great way to explore the issues you’re facing together as women.”

“I think it really helps to see how women have handled their, um, ‘flings’ across the years, in books, anyway,” said Maggie.

“Well, it is certainly true that they haven’t fared very well when they cheat on their husbands,” said Kate, smiling.

“I know. The poor things. It’s really the reason our club exists. I hate that there are women out there, holding onto all this shame and guilt, feeling like they’re alone in wearing the symbolic red “A” shirt 24-7,” said Maggie. “I actually wish I could somehow find new women to join the group, but that would be a pretty awkward Craigslist ad.”

“I always see it this way: for an affair to take place, three people are involved. There’s the spouse who is having the affair, because their needs are not being met at home, the spouse who is being cheated on, and the affair partner who was in the right place at the right time,” said Kate. “Our society blames the cheater, often hates the cheater. The person being cheated on is the victim in our culture, and often the hero in literature. But I don’t think the cheater is always the bad guy. They
can
be, but many times, let’s face it, the cheater wouldn’t have cheated if they’d been happy in the first place.”

“Well, I obviously don’t think the cheater is always the bad guy either,” said Maggie, “especially since I’m not only the president of that club but also a member.”

“American society is so puritanical when it comes to fidelity,” said Kate. “We act like we’re this bunch of Victorian churchgoers with only the highest moral values. But our media and advertising, Internet porn habits, sex clubs, you name it, everything points to the truth of what Americans can often basically be, which is pretty kinky.”

“That we are,” Maggie agreed. “That we most certainly are. It’s like we’re a bunch of nuns walking around nodding reverently to one another, but under our habits, we’re wearing slutty lingerie, garters, and nipple clamps, with Ben-Wa balls in our hoo-has.”

“You know, I think those nipple clamps would totally show through Sister Elizabeth Anne’s habit,” laughed Kate.

“Hey, before I forget to mention it, your lovely daughter has been most helpful in acquiring copies for us,” said Maggie, “and even likes reading the books herself.”

“Zarina was always a reader,” said Kate. “I mentioned our friendship to her. Are you worried she’ll figure out we’re having a fling?”

“A fling,” laughed Maggie. “What a great word. Yeah, I gotta admit to thinking about it when I’m at Zoomdweebies. Great shop name by the way, 80s girl. I’ve talked to Eva and Lisa outside the shop about being sure not to mention anything incriminating in front of Zarina while we’re at meetings.”

“You know, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal if she found out,” said Kate. “She knows I have been with women, and she’s open about experimenting with her own sexuality. She likes that adorable Stanley, but she’s isn’t sure she wants to be in a committed relationship with a guy. She said she’s been thinking about girls lately.”

“Really?” said Maggie. “Huh! Well I guess that apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Kate let her right hand leave Maggie’s soft curls and trail gently down her neck. Maggie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Kate’s fingers swept across Maggie’s clavicle.

“I love this spot,” she said, touching the small, soft pocket between Maggie’s clavicle and her neck.

“I know just the one,” said Maggie, and she reached out her right hand to touch the exact spot on Kate’s neck. Kate sighed softly. She leaned over and kissed the soft pool of flesh on Maggie, leaving the spot with a gentle lick. Maggie traced her hand across Kate’s shoulder and down her arm. She felt the goosebumps form on Kate’s arm.

Kate reached over and touched the two bottom edges of Maggie’s worn, vintage REO Speedwagon concert shirt and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Maggie smiled. Kate gently lifted the t-shirt over Maggie’s head.

They had time. There wouldn’t be the rush of a frenzied passion and fear of discovery in a public parking deck—as much fun as that had been. This time, they’d be able to really enjoy each other.

Kate looked down at Maggie’s black lace bra. “Beautiful,” she said.

“So are you,” Maggie said.

Kate ran her fingers slowly down from Maggie’s clavicles and across her breastbone. Her hands gently found their way across the peaks of Maggie’s breasts, bringing both to attention. Maggie sighed in pleasure and reached behind her back to unhook and remove her bra.

“You, too,” she said, motioning towards Kate’s t-shirt.

“In a minute,” said Kate, smiling, and she leaned down and brought her mouth to Maggie’s newly exposed breasts. Maggie put both of her hands in Kate’s long, dirty blonde hair, appreciating her soft hair.

Kate bit down gently, looking up at her for permission. Maggie moaned out loud and said, “That feels incredible.”

Kate attended to Maggie until Maggie couldn’t take it anymore. She reached over and grabbed at Kate’s t-shirt, which Kate whipped off and tossed off the couch, revealing her seamless red bra.

“I love the color scarlet.”

“I love the way you say “scah-let,” said Kate.

Maggie leaned over and kissed Kate full on the mouth.
Kissing a woman
, she thought,
there’s another thing that is completely unlike being with a man
. Their smooth, supple lips came together. Minutes went by where they did nothing but kiss, their hands exploring each other’s hair, wrapped behind each other’s necks. Maggie reached down and found Kate’s bra strap, unhooked and removed it, realizing this was the first time she’d done this on another woman. There hadn’t been time for this level of nudity back in the parking deck.

Kate wore a smaller cup, but her breasts were already fully engaged by the time Maggie’s thumbs found them. Maggie gently circled her hands around Kate’s nipples, then more firmly, sometimes stopping to squeeze them between her thumbs and her index fingers. Kate groaned.

“Let’s just get naked,” said Kate.

“Right on,” said Maggie, laughing.

They did. Pants and panties were on the floor in a matter of seconds. Kate tossed her head in the direction of the bedroom. Maggie followed. They flopped onto the bed.

“You’re beautiful,” said Kate, gently running her hand down Maggie’s back. Maggie shivered. Kate gently rolled Maggie over to her side, and they lay facing each other, on their sides, each appreciating the feminine silhouette of the other.

Maggie looked at her. She was amazed at how much less self-conscious she felt about her naked body in front of another woman versus a guy, she’d thought it would be the other way around. But somehow maybe women just naturally accepted each other more easily than they were even able to accept themselves.

“You are a very lovely woman as well, professor,” said Maggie. She’d been nervous about the whole “what do you do with a girl” thing the first time they’d been together, but this time she knew not to be nervous. She’d let her instincts take over.

Kate brushed her fingers down Maggie’s side, across her arm, down her waist and hips, and around to her rear, which she squeezed gently.

“Your curves are amazing,” she said.

Maggie placed her hand on Kate’s hip bone, tracing the valley there between her side and her tummy. Kate was thin and small in figure, but she had a shapely ass, which Maggie now ran her hand across.

“I’m completely jealous of your ass,” said Maggie, smiling at Kate.

“You know, it’s not a bad ass,” said Kate. “I don’t love all my features, but the ass has come in handy for filling out the jeans.”

Maggie slid toward her for a better feel. Kate slowly dragged the palm of her hand across Maggie’s chest, raising goosebumps on Maggie and eliciting a sigh of pleasure. They kissed again, gently at first, then more firmly, their tongues exploring each other’s soft mouths. Kate let her hand travel down Maggie’s middle and between her thighs. Ever gently, she circled her fingers around Maggie’s center. Maggie gasped in pleasure.

Kate shifted her position on the bed, straddling Maggie on all fours, so that their mouths could explore one another.

Maggie said simply, “Mmmmm…”

Zarina lounged across the brown leather couch in Zoomdweebies. It was a luxury she didn’t normally allow herself, but it was a slow day in the shop and no customers were in the store. Her head was on the huge orange suede pillow, her leg was draped over the top of the couch, and she figured if she heard the
ding-a-ling
of the bell above the door, she could sit up quickly and not look like a total slacker.

She lounged because she was enraptured by Judy Blume’s
Wifey
. Her mom had bought her all of Judy Blume’s books when she was younger. She devoured
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
and
Tiger Eyes
and
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
like they were candy. Blume’s conversational writing style always made her feel like someone was just sitting next to her telling a story, and she was a funny writer. Zarina had never made her way all the way up to the ranks of
Forever
(“THE SEX ONE!” middle school friends had proclaimed) and
Wifey
, but here she was. She vowed to go back and read
Forever
after finishing this one.

She wondered how the Scarlet Letter Society gals were going to like
Wifey
. It was written in 1978, five years after
Fear of Flying
, so you’d think it would be drenched with the same bra-burning feminist enthusiasm as Jong’s book. And yet once again, here they were with the slut shaming. The bored New Jersey housewife/mom Sandy (who slept in a separate bed from her husband!) had an affair, and then she got a sexually transmitted disease and went back to her amazingly boring spouse.

What the fuck, Judy!?

At least,
what-the-fuck
was how she thought Maggie and Eva and Lisa would respond to it. How couldn’t they?
It’s no different than the nineteenth century shit where the “whores” die in shame. Jong gives us a strong woman who is going to demand that her sexual needs be met if she returns to her husband. Blume gives us…an STD?
It was a bummer, because Sandy was a cool cat up until she didn’t choose herself…again.

She couldn’t wait to hear what the girls had to say, or whichever ones read it, and wondered if she was becoming sort of an unofficial club member. But just as she thought this, a text message came in to her phone:

Joy: Hey there Z! What up?

Zarina: Not much. How are things at your shop?

Joy: Boring. Wanna hang out later?