THE SEX REBEL OF JESUSLAND, mini-chapter 55

55. A MAN OF POWER

“I’ve met a man,” said Rachel.

“What do you mean?” Eve noticed that Rachel seemed a trifle changed, as though she had just walked through confetti.

“I’ve met a man who’ll take care of me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’ve met a man of some power. He’s a Blessed. He is going to set me up in a nice apartment. He will pay for Mary to go to a private nursery school when she’s old enough. He thinks he can get me reclassified.”

“Let’s be precise. You mean he wants to marry you?”

“No. But he thinks he can get me reclassified anyway.”

“But you have a child and you’re single, aren’t you?”

“There are exceptions. I will have a special status as his concubine. I will be protected.”

Darn it, Eve thought. That was going to be my job. I was going to be the one to save you. She felt as if a prop had been kicked out from under her, but at the same time, she felt strangely relieved.

“What’s he like?”

“He is nice and kind. He’s older.”

“How old?”

“Late sixties.”

“I see.” A classical dirty old man living out his classical old-man fantasies. Maybe he was one of the men at Joshua’s party. “How did you meet him?”

“In the street. We bumped into each other and he smiled. He didn’t withdraw in horror like everyone else who sees the A on my chest.”

“You have sex with him?”

“Of course.”

“What’s it like?”

“Oh, Eve.”

“No, what’s it like?”

“Terrible. But he seems to enjoy himself.”

“Your focus is to make sure he does.”

“Yes.” Rachel looked a little shame-faced. Eve felt guilty for making her friend feel that way.

“So things are looking up, Rachel.”

“Oh yes, they are.”

It was true. Rachel had a new air about her. She wasn’t bent over her “A,” as though its weight pulled her down to the ground. Her backbone had stiffened, lifting the angle of her head, so she looked like she could start looking the world in the face.

“When will you lose your A?”

“He seems to think quite soon. He’s started the ball rolling. Oh, Eve, it would be such a relief.”

Two steps away from V-doll status, Eve thought. An incredible relief.

Eve smiled. “We could double date, couldn’t we?” she said, and Rachel laughed, out loud, for the first time since her classification.