Things aren't easy as a single mom. I work hard at the office every day, then come home and work hard until my boys go to bed, then work hard getting things ready for the next day before I go to bed to rest up before the morning comes and I do everything all over again. The only respite I get is the occasional weekend the boys go to stay with their father, and even that takes a lot of work to prepare for, packing and homework (he won't bother with that) and whatnot. It's exhausting.
Don't get me wrong: I love my boys. They're my whole world. When I became a mom, I stopped living life for me and started living for my children. My ex-husband, on the other hand, continued on as he always was, loving his sons but never making them the priority over himself. Male prerogative, I suppose.
Between work, school, sports, homework, and meals, my time was pretty much accounted for, so forget about dating. I had my rabbit to keep me company when I needed it, and that was enough. I had no time for men; it was all I could do to find time to exercise and stay healthy. That was the only me-time I had.
One summer weekend, I took my sons to the waterpark. Their father was supposed to have them that weekend, but he'd gone out of town for work at the last minute. I understood, but it was still frustrating. The boys, being 9 and 10, were predictably devastated, so I wanted to do something special to help them get over their disappointment.
It was a beautiful Saturday at the park, warm, sunny, but crowded as all get-out. Lines were long, shade was scarce, and much of our time was spent dripping in a large group of people, waiting our turn to go down another slide. The three of us were having fun, though, so it was worth it.
My bathing suit was a conservative two-piece bikini, a holdover from my married life. There was full coverage on my backside, although the top showed off my ample cleavage in what I found to be a very flattering way. My breasts, if I'm being honest, had always been a highlight of my physical appearance, one of my better qualities. Gorgeous c-cups before becoming a mother, double-d's now. A little saggy from breast feeding two hungry boys, sure, but that's what the bikini top was for: hold them up and cover them up.
After a few water slides, my suit was soaked. This kept me cool, no doubt, but, as some of you women reading this can probably attest, walking around in an old, wet bikini can result in wedgies, especially when stairs are involved. Going down a water slide first requires climbing stairs, so I spent a good portion of my day waiting in line and digging wet bathing suit out of my crack.
One wedgie in particular felt particularly deep, and I was just over it by this point, so instead of pulling it over to recover my cheek, I tugged it straight out, stretching it out several inches away from my body. The warm air rushed in, feeling cool on my wet bottom.
It occurred to me as I was doing this that I was exposed to the people behind me in line, so I quickly covered myself up. I glanced behind me to see if anyone had noticed, and it seemed like no one had, except, maybe, for the guy right behind us in line. He didn't say anything, but he was looking at me with eyebrows raised. I quickly turned back to my children and tried to move on.
More stairs to climb, and more wedgie picking, was leaving me quite frustrated. Whether it was in my head or not, I could feel eyes on me. I tried to ignore it, but having bathing suit stuck in my crack wasn't something I'd normally tolerate. Then something horrifying happened: the next time I got a wedgie, the guy behind me picked it for me, digging his finger gently between my cheeks to fish the fabric out and carefully covering me up.
I whirled around and glared at him. "I've got it under control," I informed him angrily, not wanting to cause a scene.
He said nothing, but merely shrugged and continued to stand in place, the next in line after us. I wanted to block it out, but I was pretty upset that a stranger would touch me like that, in front of my kids, no less. As the line advanced, sure enough, my suit started riding up, working its way between my cheeks. I resolved to let the wedgie go, not wanting to draw any more attention to it. Soon, though, both sides had wedged between my cheeks, with me standing in line wearing an impromptu thong. I just knew he was staring at me, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction and pick it out again. So I didn't. I made it through the rest of the line with both cheeks showing, just to prove some dubious point.
I saw him everywhere throughout the day. It didn't seem like he was following me, because I didn't notice him behind me in any more lines, which I almost took as an insult. After seeing my bare butt that close, I thought, he
ought
to follow me around like a puppy. Unless, of course, he didn't like what he saw. But why wouldn't he like what he saw? I manage to stay fit. I'm not
that
old. My butt isn't saggy. In fact, I'd say it's pretty shapely. Most guys would kill for a look at a butt like mine.
He
was
kinda cute, though, in a Hallmark movie kind of way: mid-twenties with short, dark hair, brown eyes, deliberately groomed stubble, angled jawline, and abs. An eight-pack. Maybe he thought he could do better, I guess. Any time I saw him he was either alone or with another guy, so maybe he was gay. Hard to say.
Why was I giving him so much thought? I mean, it
was
kind of exhilarating to be touched like that. I hadn't been touched by a man since my divorce. And I'd be lying if I said I hadn't noticed the bulge in his swim trunks a time or two, the lewd protrusion catching my eye anytime I looked his way. But he had
assaulted
me, so I shouldn't be attracted to him; I should be disgusted by him! Or maybe he was just a nice guy who genuinely wanted to help me with my malfunctioning wardrobe.
No. He assaulted me. And I resolved to lay into him if given the opportunity, to let him know that what he did was wrong and that
this
woman wasn't going to stand for such behavior. Just my luck, he was a few people behind in the next line we waited in, and I was going to get my opportunity to let him have it.
As soon as my boys and I had gone down the water slide, I sent the two of them around to get back in line, telling them I'd be waiting for them when they slid back down. Then I waited, not for them, knowing it would be at least an hour before they got to slide down again, but for
him
, the man I'd been noticing all over the park, the man who'd had the audacity to reach into my crack to pick my wedgie.