Mickey perches himself on the edge of her bed, cigarette in one hand and tallboy in the other, totally engrossed in the episode of Judge Judy playing on Angie's small TV. "These fuckers are so stupid. She's about to lose her shit… oh, man, fuck. He's done it now."
A plastic bag lands next to him on the bed. "Got something there you might like."
He rolls his eyes. Unless Ian's hard dick is in there, what he would like most in this moment is to watch Judge Judy rip this idiot a new one.
When he doesn't move towards the bag, Angie opens it to reveal a small collection of brand new sex toys – a couple vibrators, a dildo, and something that looks like a necklace made by a brain damaged child – a bunch of balls on a string.
The show cuts to commercial and the vibrators pique his interest, though he digs deep for his most unimpressed sneer. "What the fuck is this?" He picks up the string of balls, flips them over a couple times, and tosses them back on the bed.
"Ben Wa beads."
"Some arts and crafts shit?" He takes a drag from his cigarette.
"No, you asshole. It's a sex thing. You put 'em in there and take 'em out real slow. It's supposed to feel awesome."
He chokes on his laugh and the smoke blows from his nose. "You want me to shove those up your cunt? Because that doesn't sound like a fun time for me…"
"Shit, no." She picks them up and offers them back to him. "They're for you." His body recoils involuntarily. Letting Angie put a finger, or two, in his ass during a blowjob was one thing. Banging dudes in Juvie was a different thing. And fucking Ian was something else. But this was a thing separate from any of those things. Like, another thing fucking entirely. "Look, the dude at the sex store recommended them. Said they were a lot of fun."
"Which dude?"
"You know which one."
"Gay dude?"
"Flaming."
"Whatever." He sets the beer down but doesn't touch the beads, instead he just side-eyes Angie, and the toys, until the commercial is over. Two more minutes pass before he admits, "I've seen this episode of Judge Judy three times already."
The whole thing is fucking strange. They haven't messed around in a while, a long while, and even though Angie wasn't shy about her fervor for sex toys, that was one bridge he had not been eager to cross. With her anyway. Now his ass is lubed up like a fucking slip & slide and he is on the verge of hyperventilating.
"Sure you want to do this?"
"Goddammit Angie, just fucking hurry up before I lose my nerve." She draws her eyebrows together and tries not to laugh, gently slipping the first ball in.
"Is it less weird if I suck you off while we do this?"
"No." He takes a deep breath. "Yes. I don't fucking know. Maybe?" Angie moves one hand to hold his dick and then gently licks him. "Nope. Weirder. WEIRDER. Fucking Weirder for sure! I'll just…" She slips another ball in. "I'll fucking take care of the business in…" and then one more "in the front."
In the end, the gay sex store cashier was not wrong. Not wrong at all.
He rinses them off in the small bathroom adjoining Angie's room and shakes his head at his reflection in the mirror the entire time. "Fucking Mickey Milkovich taking Ben Wa beads up the goddamn ass."
"You wanna take 'em home?" Angie calls from her bedroom. "I figured if your dad finds them you can play it off like they're a weapon or some shit. Easier to explain than a vibrator."
Mickey laughs as he steps back in her room. She tosses him a beer and he catches it one-handed while the string of beads dangle from the other arm. "Ah, one for the road." He winks and slips both presents in a paper bag. "See ya Angie."
"Yeah." She smiles. "Happy birthday, Mickey."