Rebecca returned to the couch, crossed her legs and pulled some papers out of her bag. Owen looked at her for a minute before grabbing Hannah’s arm and pulling her to the back of the studio. The silver stud in the cleft of his chin flashed at her, and the small ring around the right corner of his bottom lip moved slightly as he breathed heavily in frustration. She concentrated on his chest, the muscles a suggestion pushing through the soft cotton of his old Misfits t-shirt.“Are you okay?”
“I’m—I’m fine.” This was so obvious a lie that there seemed no point in adding to it.
“Are you going to talk to her?”
“I guess.”
She shrugged and then reached up to massage her temples where a harp new headache had taken up residence. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to.”
She looked away and thought about what Rebecca had said: ‘several counts of child and sexual molestation.’ Several counts. Jesus. Owen was watching her, and exhaled when she caught his eye. He looked worried for her.
“It’s slow now. Go eat lunch with her, find out what she wants and come back in time for the rush.”
“I can’t you leave alone here. As soon as I’m gone five people will come in.”
“I’ll call Blade.” Their least favorite coworker was always asking for more hours.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Hannah considered protesting more, but then nodded.
“Fine.”
She went to the back room to clock out and pick up her old messenger bag and cellphone. Automatically she glanced in the mirror to see how she looked, smoothing out her black tank top and the cherry red short skirt she had chosen too quickly while Owen told her again to hurry up, that their boss would be pissed if they opened late. Her hair at least looked good, cut short and dyed peacock blue for the past year. At first she had been secretly scandalized by it, momentarily shocked every time she caught a wisp of her reflection in a store window or on the closed circuit camera that broadcast everything that happened in the studio. But she had finally acclimated, and now anticipated the loud statement her hair made to the world.
When she came back out to the studio, she stood next to Owen for a minute while he moved things around on a shelf. He tucked some of her hair behind her ear and the gesture was sweet. Still, she felt a kind of hollowness she wasn’t used to. For a moment she gripped a few of his fingers with her own, searching his face for something that would save her from whatever conversation she would have to have with Rebecca.
“Pretend you have amnesia?” he offered.
“I don’t think she’d buy it.” But Hannah cracked a smile.
“I can write you a doctor’s note?” He was smiling, but looked sad.
“’Dear Ms. Janssen, Hannah can’t talk to you about her past because it would cause adverse effects to her piercings?’” Hannah grinned despite herself.
“That would be a pretty great way to respond.” She sighed then, allowing her expression to become blank again, and let go of his fingers.
In the waiting area Rebecca was bent over her work, thumbing a message into a sleek Blackberry.
“It turns out I have some time now,” Hannah said awkwardly. “So…”
“Oh, wonderful.” Rebecca sounded surprised, but she put her things together quickly and stood up, looking very businesslike.They walked out the front door and into the August sunlight. Across the street Norman was opening up his used bookstore, and one of the waitresses from Clarke’s walked by and waved at Hannah. She waved back weakly, and looked at Rebecca.
Celebrating 10 Years & Marking the End of An Amazing Project
Celebrating 10 Years & Marking the End of An Amazing Project
Bedside Reading with Jewrotica was funny, sexy, and hot all at once. The readings were honest about all kinds of sexuality, but the highlight of the evening was definitely the confessions, written by audience participants. Nobody knew who wrote them, and most were tell-alls that would make your bubbe blush. Unless your bubbe was very, very cool. Then maybe she’d make YOU blush!
While many people fear the “sex talk,” Jewrotica offers an opportunity for writers and audiences to speak about sexuality in a open and safe space. When I attended a Jewrotica reading, I heard stories that reminded me that love takes many forms, and that expressing it is a vital part of who we are as a people.
My opinion on Jewrotica is: It’s sexy. It’s awesome. It’s Judaism to the next level. It’s what we should all be getting into!
What an incredible night Jewrotica was!!!! There was this fantastic moment, in a sea of Jews of all sexualities, ages, backgrounds and denominations, that I realized we were all in this together! I hope that there are many more events coming to Austin soon!
At Jewrotica’s Evening of Bedside Readings, students declaimed monologues on sexual encounters that had a Jewish twist. At Columbia/Barnard Hillel, the speakers pushed their own boundaries by performing a range of explicit narratives that challenged how the audience thought of the relationship to Judaism and sex. During the speakers’ preparation, the arguments about which narratives would be appropriate forced students to take a stand and voice their opinion on their own beliefs about Judaism an… Read more
I’m into Jewrotica. I went in for my second circumcision.
I love the inclusiveness – there is something for everyone, in and out of the Jewish community.
Such an amazing experience! The Sarah Lawrence Jewrotica workshop was more than I could have ever expected – a comfortable, safe, sultry environment where participants clearly felt good about sharing or listening to each other’s intimate experiences and relating them to sexy stories from the Torah. From the moment the workshop began, Ayo had a sweet presence that was kinetic and spread around the room; her storytelling abilities had everyone enraptured and made the conversation topics relata… Read more
Jewrotica is a great way to ask interesting questions about the interplay between sensuality and Jewish wisdom. Check it out.
Jewrotica is something that the community has needed for a long time so that people can actually learn, express and share and have good relationships without having to stumble through life. Check out the site and learn something. Have fun!
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