I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 2, 2023] “The Virgin Oyster”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Jessica Anthony.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 2. Jessica Anthony, author of Enter the Aardvark, has time to lean, but no time to clean.

This was an odd story.

It’s about a young man who works in a strip club called XXXX.  Wednesday night is oyster night and they call him Oyster Boy because he has to run across town to get the oysters for the club,

He gets $2.25 an hour plus tips (and the tips are really good on oyster night).

We learn a little about Oyster Boy.  He ran away from home when he was fifteen.  He’s 18 now, living in a crappy dump in New York City.  He has a crush on one of the strippers, Zosa.  Zosa is Russian, in her thirties.  And he likes the way she washes.

One of the things that customers can do is watch the women take showers.  They dirty themselves up and then wash.  Most of the women overdo it, arching their back and moaning.  But Zosa looks like she is simply cleaning herself.

When Oyster Boy gets back, he is sweaty and smells like oysters so he goes in the back to bathe.  But first he watches Zosa for a minute.  When she sees him, she calls him into the shower with him.

A reader probably assumes things are happening but it’s unclear exactly what is going to happen.