The Spoils of Sin by Rebecca Tope Page B

‘For your wife,’ she said. ‘With my humblest regards.’
    If making friends were always as easy as this, she reflected, they would be top of the popularity stakes. As it was, the majority of the townsfolk acted as if they did not exist.
    Over those early months Fanny learned a very great deal from the men who availed themselves of her body. Their shapes and sizes varied more than she could have guessed. One man had a tiny organ, even when at its most engorged. Another had such length that she feared for much greater injury than John had inflicted.
    And then there was Charlie.
    About thirty years old, pale-skinned and hesitant, he had sidled through the door late one evening, just as the girls were thinking of closing up. Fanny and Carola exchanged a practised glance, which resulted in the younger girl taking him on. Wearily, she sent him ahead, according to their routine, while she went out to the privy for the fourth time that evening.
    The man undressed with his back to her, peeling his clothes slowly down his legs, and pulling them off awkwardly. ‘You need to look at me,’ he said thickly.
    A thrill of apprehension gripped her. This was unusual and potentially troublesome. Men liked to look at
her,
but very few demanded that she feast her eyes on something she had come to regard as unlovely and unexciting. ‘As you wish,’ she said.
    He turned towards her, arms crossed over his chest, face shadowed as he ducked his chin. His naked belly and hips were smooth and lean. His body was washed and entirely acceptable. But at the base of his torso was a monstrosity. Ridged with scar tissue, bent and dry, it resembled nothing Fanny had thus far witnessed. ‘What happened?’ she gasped.
    â€˜A botched circumcision as an infant. It went septic and a sawbones had to remove some of it.’
    She stared, first at the deformed stump of an organ, then at his face. ‘Circumcision?’ The word was not new to her, appearing as it did in the Bible, but she had yet to witness its physical effects. ‘Can you…? Does it…?’
    â€˜I can piss,’ he said shortly. ‘For the rest, it remains to be seen.’
    â€˜Why did they do it to you?’
    He shook his head in disbelief. ‘A woman in your business must surely be aware of the practice. Do you not have any Jews amongst your visitors?’
    She remained bemused. ‘Jews?’ She thought again of the references in the Bible. ‘Oh. I guess not.’ She took a closer look. ‘What were they intending to do?’
    â€˜They remove the foreskin, when the child is a few days of age. My mother is a Jewess, and insisted upon it. She by rights ought to regularly implore my forgiveness. But instead she behaves as if nothing is amiss, and runs from the room if she suspects the matter might be mentioned. Which of course it never could be. It merely hangs in the air like a smell.’
    â€˜She should be consumed by guilt,’ said Fanny with feeling. ‘The idea is barbarous.’
    â€˜I agree,’ he nodded, and lifted the mangled organ with one hand. ‘I have been years summoning the guts to do what I am doing now. You are young and soft, from the looks of you. I ask you to permit this attempt, this
experiment.
There is no hazard to you. It might be that I require more assistance than you would normally provide, but I trust that will not discommode you.’ He forced out the words, without meeting her eyes.
    Her heart grew soft and she lay back invitingly. It was unclear as to the degree of readiness in the man. There was a certain redness she thought might indicate excitement.
    â€˜Could you…handle it?’ he asked.
    â€˜Gladly.’ She worked it with gentle fingers, awash with pity and concern for the disappointment he was sure to suffer. And yet, she supposed he must occasionally handle it himself. This much he would have already essayed. ‘But I guess we need to try