“Yeah,” I said. I tried not to act like a big baby. I tried not to be mad at her. My emotions were a wreck.
“The clothes fit you good. Better than the priest,” she giggled.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Wow, what do you have shoved up your butt all of a sudden?”
I gave her a glare. “Nothing is up my butt, but thanks for asking.”
“Are you mad at me?”
I sighed, “No, I’m sorry; it’s this stupid jealousy again. You seemed so chummy with his girlfriend.”
“Oh, come on!”
“I know, I’m sorry. I’m an idiot.”
Carla smiled. She really was a good friend. That quickly, I was forgiven. “It’s fun arguing with you. I forgot how much I liked it. What’s really wrong, baby girl?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I do have something ‘up my butt.’ I just walked in on Jace in the bathroom when he was changing. He was completely nude.”
“Shut up!”
“No…I can’t. I just saw my priest naked…again.”
Carla grinned. “How was it?”
“Terrible.”
“What?” she looked confused.
“Not him. He’s like a sculpture or something; he’s so perfect that he makes everything in my body go crazy — everything. But, it was terrible because he had an erection and I stood there for God only knows how long, staring at it.”
Carla busted up laughing. “That’s hilarious.”
“No it’s not! Stop laughing. It’s horrible, Carla. This whole situation is horrible.” I was on the verge of tears. She finally stopped laughing and said,
“I’m sorry, Daph. You’re right, it’s not funny. It’s not funny because you’re so upset about it. Honey, God is going to forgive you for this…for all of it. You’ve been the best Catholic I know for as long as I’ve known you. My mother pushed me to be friends with you specifically for that reason.”
“Really? We’re friends because your mother wanted us to be?”
“Well, at first, but you know I grew to love you. My point is that you’re the kind of girl that mothers love and mothers don’t love just anyone.” I let my mind flit to my own mother and then I tamped it down again and said,
“Just because I was good in the past, doesn’t give me a free pass to keep sinning now.”
“Keep sinning? What other sins have you committed?”
“I dream about him every night and wake up all sweaty and…”
“Horny?”
“Shut up. But yeah, I guess.”
“Horny is not a sin. It’s an actual undeniable human emotion. He was obviously feeling it, too; he was sporting that big old erection because you turned him on.”
“That doesn’t help me knowing that. It makes me more so. I’ve never really felt it before that night. And now, I’m a raging pervert. Then, there’s the jealousy; I’m committing that sin all over the place. This chick that’s hanging all over him, I’m so jealous of her that I can’t see straight.”
“She’s his ex-” Carla started.