This was just the kind of thing I did that annoyed her so deeply that I was sure she must have felt sick to her stomach in the same way I did when she said things to me that I felt were wrong and unfair.
“You’re right,” I said, smiling foolishly.
“I don’t know why you say things like that. What if I told you your sex face was really hideous? It would be practically the same thing. How the fuck would I know? I mean I hope I wouldn’t know!” she laughed, and apparently had moved into the derision portion of the telling off – “I mean, I could guess how it looks. And…” She contorted her face.
The joke was received as follows: Lucille kept a straight face, according to joking protocol for the executioner of the joke, and no doubt monitored her audience for signs of its success or failure. Alice and Teeb laughed outright and Abigail conspicuously occupied herself with a surgically meticulous extraction of the dry blades of grass within her reach. I remained silent but offered a dry smile (the best I could muster) to show that I was a good sport.