Craved (Twisted Book 2) (17 page)

‘Doctor.’ She’s all cold and businesslike. ‘I admire your integrity. Running a clinic like this is a hard business for sure. But my sister is asking you to make an exception for her, not because she is an impatient person, but because her looks directly influence the amount of money she can earn.’ Natalia pauses, looks at me, and takes my hand. ‘Let me, please, explain how I see this situation from a business perspective, and who knows, maybe you will reconsider your decision.

‘You have nothing to lose, because my sister just agreed to give up her R15 000 if she can’t keep her end of the undertaking. In that case, it will be a matter of a few phone calls to find someone to agree to move their surgery sooner, taking Julia’s slot. The main reason you should reconsider, doctor, is that my sister is a great opportunity for you to advertise. Do you know how many girls work in the club? A hundred. At least half of them, I can assure you, will confirm that they are not completely happy with their looks. At least fifty well-earning potential clients will witness Julia's transformation in just a few weeks. They are going to want to know who is responsible for that. I have a feeling that a living example of your work will be a better advertisement than the dull blonde with the cheesy slogan in the magazine you are spending fortune on.’

Oh wow!

He looks at Natalia blankly then at me. He’s thinking.

‘Okay, Julia, you have one week. I’ll schedule you for surgery in,’ he checks his calendar, ‘in two and a half weeks. Please make sure you pay the money before the 23rd of this month, otherwise no deal.’

‘Yes! Thank you doctor.’

As we walk out of the clinic I hug Natalia. ‘Thanks sister! Wow! You nailed him! No, you ripped him apart!’

Natalia smiles, contented. ‘My pleasure, sister.’

31

I work like crazy for the next two weeks. I manage to pay the balance of the surgery in time, give some money to Natalia to send to Ukraine towards Dad’s medical bills, and even put away a few thousand for food and cigarettes during my recovery.

We arrive at the clinic at six in the morning.

Natalia hadn’t even slept, driving me here straight after work. I couldn’t sleep either, shivering in anticipation all night, still in disbelief about becoming a busty miss, and worrying about ‘what if something during the operation goes wrong…’

The friendly nurse takes me to the ward. She asks me some questions about allergies and other medical conditions. Then doctor walks in. He confirms, one more time, my chosen size and reassures me, again, about the safety of the procedure.

Finally, two nurses come to take me to the theatre. Natalia leaves for home with hugs and a promise to come back as soon as she’d had some sleep.

It all happens quickly. The nurses take me to the operating theatre. The doctor, dressed in scrubs, marks my chest with a red felt-tip pen. The anesthesiologist does his job by sending me to the heavenly kingdom... I fly... fly... fly...

I wake up drowsy but, to my surprise, without any pain. I lift my head a little, check out the two mounds on my chest, smile and drift back into a pleasant slumber.

Oh yes! I am a busty miss now.

After a few hours of check-ups and doctors’ visits, they wheel me to the small hotel for patients in recovery.

It's a cozy room with a double bed, TV and en suite bathroom. I finally get to eat, swallowing a bowl of pea soup, and go back to sleep.

Natalia arrives at about four.

‘Oh wow, look at you! I should have this surgery too! They look amazing!’ she exclaims as soon as she walks in, bringing a packet of sweets, my laptop and a few DVDs.

‘You don’t need it. Yours look better than any silicone.’ I let her kiss me and move up so she can sit on the edge of the bed.

‘Oh well, maybe one day after breastfeeding three kids or something,’ she winks. ‘How are you? How did it all go? Does it hurt?’

‘Unbelievably painless and comfy! I was just thinking about it. Remember the dentist visits at school? The torture we had to go through every year?’

‘Remember it?’ Natalia laughs, shaking her head. ‘Are you kidding? I still have nightmares about her drilling without painkillers! That woman was definitely some kind of secret Gestapo agent!’

‘She was a scary-looking woman, that’s for sure. Those glasses, with the huge +5 lenses? I’ve been thinking about it the whole day! How come they never used any painkillers, or whatever they used didn’t actually work. Why couldn’t they use proper medication, especially on the kids! It’s not like it was the 19th century. Everything was so vicious. The doctors with zero compassion. The obsolete equipment, that didn’t even have the cooling system. I will never forget the smoke that came out of the mouth, followed by the smell of burning bone and flesh. Did you know that the drills were produced in a tractor plant in Belarus? A tractor plant!’

Natalia laughs. ‘Welcome to USSR: Что бы у нас болеть надо иметь лошадиное здоровье
[3]
. The realities of free healthcare. Even Novocain was scarce and was either not available or simply stolen by doctors to use on the patients who had the money or other goods for bribes.’

‘And I was unfortunate to have pulpitis in the seventh grade. That Gestapo bitch removed it without anesthetic. And she yelled at me because I was screaming and couldn’t bear the pain!’ I quiver. ‘Here, the doctor cuts my chest, pushes two balls inside me and sews me back up and I feel nothing! How’s that possible?’

The nurse knocks on the door and walks in with the food tray.

‘Your dinner, Miss Lazar.’ She places the tray on the bed. ‘How do you feel?’

“I feel fine, thank you.”

‘Let me know if you need anything.’ She smiles and leaves the room.

I point at the tray and then at the door. ‘You see what I’m talking about?’

Natalia laughs again. ‘What can I say? Загнивающий капитализм.
[4]
’ She leans over the tray and sniffs. ‘But it smells so nice.’

32

It’s a Sunday afternoon. Lena and Mark have invited us to Mark’s birthday party. Casual barbecue. Besides Natalia and me, Mark has invited a few of his buddies from work and two cousins with their spouses and kids.

‘So, how did it go?’ Lena asks, pointing towards my chest.

We’d finished preparing the salads in the kitchen and had finally landed in the lounge: Natalia and me with sodas and Lena with a glass of wine that she hadn’t put down once since we’d arrived, and a vacant expression on her face.

‘It was quite an experience,’ I say, not sure if she wants to hear the detailed story or is just trying to be polite.

She bows. Distracted, she gazes outside towards the braai area where all the men are gathered. They’re drinking beer and loudly discussing a rugby game over the barbecue fire.

‘How is your fertility testing going?’ Natalia asks.

Lena looks at her with wandering eyes. ‘Oh that, no results yet.’ She gets up and leaves the room.

Natalia and I exchange glances.

‘What’s up with her?’ My sister looks at me, puzzled.

‘You also noticed. She is weird today, maybe too much...’ I gesture to the liquor.

‘It seems more than just the booze. She is just... I don’t know. Even the pregnancy issue doesn’t seem to bother her any more. Something is going on and I want to find out what it is.’ Natalia gets up, ‘I’m going to the kitchen. Do you want another Coke?’

‘No thank you.’ I look out of the window, lost in my thoughts. The kids are playing and laughing in the pool, splashing around and wetting their moms. The joyful scene doesn’t reflect in my grimace. Tomorrow is my first day back at work after the surgery. How will it go? Will anything change for me with the new boobs? Or was my flat chest just an excuse for not doing my job successfully? Maybe I just don’t have it. Maybe my balls are not that big, and I am just a brat when it comes to real life, which I can’t face without drugs or booze.

A while later, Lena walks back with a guilty smile. Boiling with anger, Natalia follows her.

‘Are you fucking out of your mind?’ Natalia hisses, grabs Lena’s arm, turns her around, and faces her.

‘Mind your own business,’ Lena spits back, slurring. ‘I don’t have to explain anything to you! It’s my house, and you can get out of here!’ She waves towards the door, shakes Natalia’s hand off hers and turns around to walk away.

I jump off the couch to get between them, not understanding what has happened but realizing that they both are so mad that the situation is about to get out of control. But before I can reach them, Natalia swings and slaps Lena hard on the back of her head. Lena falls right into my arms. She hugs me and bitter tears cover her face.

Natalia’s face is distorted. She points at Lena. ‘She was fucking her husband's friend in her husband’s bathroom. And you are right. I should leave because I have no desire to watch you destroy your life while blaming everyone else!’

I pull away from Lena, ignoring her tears. ‘What? Is that true?’

She gives me an innocent look but says nothing.

‘Unfuckingbelievable!’ I take my handbag from the couch and walk out after Natalia.

‘Can you believe it? What’s got into her? I don’t understand!’ Natalia utters as soon as she starts the car and takes off.

‘Me too.’

‘He was fucking her on top of the basin. And they didn’t even bother to lock the door. And you know what she did when I caught her?’ Natalia throws her hands in the air, letting her anger take a full swing around the car cabin. ‘She laughed! She laughed, then pulled her panties back up and left the bathroom, as if nothing had happened.’

‘Just like mom... no wonder.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Do you know what she was up to in Turkey? It was before you went there with her.’ The heavy mixture of anger, shame and denial are pressing onto my chest.

Natalia looks at me and then back at the road.

‘What is it? Does it have something to do with that phone call, when you were crying?’

‘I wish she’d never told me. But our mom decided that she had to save me from this cruel world by telling me that she used to whore in Istanbul. Did you know that?’

‘God no! I had some suspicions when after one of her first trips she arrived home with bruises on her arms, neck and face. She said she’d fallen down the stairs. Father believed her, or just pretended to. But he would do anything not to face the truth. I remember the doubts, but after all we were still young and didn’t really know anything.’

We stay quiet for a while, each loaded with thoughts about Mom and Lena.

‘It must have been awful for her,’ Natalia says, her voice filled with sorrow.

‘Seriously?’ I look at Natalia and then turn away, ‘Unfuckingbelievable. She was cheating on our dad and you feel sorry for her? Maybe we should feel sorry for Lena as well, then?’

‘I think you are wrong. Mom did it for us, don’t you understand? Times were tough, and God knows what she had to go through to pull our family through.’ She glances at me. ‘Of all of us, you should be more sympathetic to the choices she made. I don’t say they were right or wrong, but at least she was trying to do something. Maybe you’ve forgotten, Jul, but in those days we didn’t even have food. What was she supposed to do?’

‘I can’t believe my ears! She was a married woman, our father’s wife! I can’t believe you’re defending her!’

We fall silent and don’t exchange a word until we get home.

33

It feels amazing. The only way I can describe this feeling is that it’s as good as a cocaine high. I no longer walk into the club – I glide. I no longer work in the club – I gracefully accept the attention.

Together with Natalia’s useful tricks and strategies, which come to me more and more effortlessly, my new boobs complete my
ne plus ultra
.

I walk through the Monday-night club. It’s pretty quiet but I’ve managed to make some money already. I still prefer the downstairs crowd to the VIP. Only now, after a few songs in private with me, the clients beg for more. They agree to spend extra to upgrade to a VIP pass and splash out a grand on a touching dance. I produce my own, custom-made VIP clients who are less pretentious and arrogant: clients for whom a few minutes spent with me in an intimate set-up is a precious gift.

‘Hey, sexy?’ I stop in front of the guy, who is anything but sexy. ‘Would you like to join me for a dance?’ I bend forward then recline on the armrest of his chair, making sure that his stare can't escape.

He blushes like a teenager. I stay quiet for a moment, letting him enjoy the scenery. He realizes he can’t stop staring and gets even redder.

These moments of absorbing power are so intoxicating.

‘Come on, handsome, today’s special is ripe and tangy sweet melons. Are you going to try?’ I smile, squeeze my breasts and rub them against each other, moving them up and down.

He laughs and I see his face relax.

‘That’s funny. You are funny, and very beautiful,’ he mumbles, unable to look away.

Here we are, my big fat boy. Don’t fight it. You’ll come with me anyway.

‘I’ve spent too much money already. I’m broke. You should have got to me earlier.’

I lean forward again, this time tickling the back of his neck with my nails and looking him straight in the eye. Ignoring his repulsive sweat on my hand, I give him my you-are-the-sexiest-man-I-have-ever-seen look and whisper, ‘I want you to see my pussy – it’s wet and really naughty.’ I move and my sharp nipple, sticking up under the fabric of my dress, brushes his face. ‘We
are
going to have a dance. The question is, which one would you prefer?’

He fidgets in his chair, nervously sips his brandy and Coke, without taking his eyes off my nipples, then sluggishly gets up.

‘I want to touch.’

I take his hand in mine, turn and walk him up the stairs.

Disgusting. His is so big and so sweaty. Because of his pregnant stomach and wide hips, it's impossible to get on top of him. It’s almost like going to a public toilet with a dirty seat, squatting over to make sure you don’t touch it. That is how it feels for the long fifteen minutes with fatso on the couch.