Page 123 of No Merciful Corruption

“Are you done being ridiculous?”

“Oh my Lettie, my Lettie,” I wrap my arms around her shoulders and kiss her cheek. “I’ve been looking forward to this day ever since I gave you your first sex talk.”

Her cheeks heighten with color. “Don’t remind me.”

“Speaking of sex, are you? Having sex?”

“Dahlia!”

“Listen, I’m not a snitch and I won’t tell your brothers. Not like it’s any of their business. But if you are we should talk about birth control and STDs and⁠—”

She opens up the nearest refrigerator door and shoves her head inside, hiding among the milk and juice cartons. “Someone put me out of my misery.”

“If you’re having sex with a man, it’s better to use a condom. At least in the beginning. Once you guys are exclusive and have a serious talk about it, we can put you on birth control if you’d like. You have plenty of options and if you don’t like them, you can always change them.” I tell her. “In fact, I just did a few months ago. It’s really easy but just be prepared for the side effects. The last one gave me a rash. I was scratching at my arms until they bled, it was awful.”

Lettie abandons the fridge and starts walking down the aisles again, trying to avoid me. I don’t care. I follow her the whole way and carry on with our sex ed talk.

“There’s the pill, the IUD, the patch, the injection.”

Lettie lets out a deep, loud sigh.

“The implant in the arm, the diaphragm, the cervical cap,” I rattle them off on each finger. “And don’t forget that if you’re having sex with more than one person then you should get tested regularly.”

She spins around, stopping me in my tracks. “Why don’t you just take a gun, put the barrel in my mouth, and blow my brains out?”

I huff and plant my hands firmly on my hips. “Honestly Leticia, no es para tanto. This is important. Someone has to teach you.”

She scoffs and rolls her eyes before taking off with the cart again. We enter the feminine hygiene aisle which is quite fitting considering our current conversation.

She scours the rows of tampons and pads and something occurs to me.

“Hey, have you ever had a pap smear before? Because if not we should schedule you for one. My gynecologist is great and⁠—”

Lettie grabs a box of pads off the top shelf and whacks me in the back of the head with it before dropping it into the cart.

“Ow!”

“Oops,” she responds with a delicate shrug of the shoulders. “Do you need any?”

“No, I still have some from before…”

I pause for a second and recall the trip I took to the drug store in May. My cycle had come a whole week early and I was freaking out. On the morning of the wedding, the bleeding finally stopped and I prayed every decade of the rosary in gratitude. Menstruating in a massive white gown like mine would’ve been a nightmare.

I had a period in June and one in July but haven’t had one since.

Which is why I still have an unopened box of pads under the bathroom sink.

“If you must know, it’s a man.” Lettie nibbles on her bottom lip as she continues scanning the rows of feminine products. “Oh God…what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to talk to him? I guess it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I could do worse, you know. I’m just awful to him but he’s nice and he’s patient and I appreciate that because I’m self-aware enough to know I can be a handful and⁠—”

“Lettie, what’s today’s date?”

“Honestly, I don’t even know why I’m freaking out about this!” She throws her arms up in frustration. “I’m confident it’s all in my head, I mean, he has to be nice to me. He doesn’t exactly have a choice.”

I open my purse and shuffle around in search of my phone when I remember I must’ve left it charging in the car. Lettie is rambling on about something—someone—but I start scouring the aisles. There’s a whole display dedicated to tourist items. Porcelain cups, fans, magnets shaped like Casa Batlló, and lighters. On a nearby twirling display are keychains, postcards, small journals, and themed calendars. I snatch up the first one I see and flip back a few months.

If my last period was in July and we’re in September…

“Besides, I’m not sure my brothers would approve and—” Lettie barrels to a stop when her cart crashes into my hip. I barely feel the pain. “Hey! Are you even listening to me?”