Chapter 27: Class Struggle

“Twenty-four hours ago, I was at the lowest point in my life.”

Julián found himself sitting in the turbulent waters of his housemates’ backyard spa. The water temperature was a toasty 103°, just below the maximum possible setting (104°). As always, Lucia sat in the “head” position; her molded seat had the most emitters, directing the impelled mixture of water and bubbles to pummel her sore back. On her right, their new “tenant,” and on her left, in adjacent seats, were Mia and Gabe.

“I like this, sitting next to you, Gabe, instead of opposite.”

“You’re right, Mi—urk!”

“Now you’re within easy reach. Did I hurt you?”

“No, but that was not my dick that you squeezed.”

“Oops! Sorry.”

With a sympathetic smile, Julián continued.

“Now, 24 hours later, I’m in this magnificent hot-spring-slash-pool thing with family, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m so emotional, I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Jul, how did you get into so much trouble?” asked Lucia.

“Well, it all began when I married Sara. I was working for a nonprofit teaching martial arts to at-risk kids and making just enough to barely get by. Sara found me and paid for private lessons for her nephew, who was being bullied; that’s how we met.

“Especially back then, I was getting so much fulfillment from helping, well, turn boys into men and girls into women,” you might say. Two of my girl graduates defended themselves from rapists, inflicting heavy damage. I was so proud of them.

“Sara and I hit it off, and after about five months, we got married. I didn’t quite realize until then just how wealthy she was. We had 350 wedding guests; it was exhausting. But we started out enjoying a good marriage.

“When the nonprofit lost most of its funding, I stayed on. I continued working with the kids as an unpaid volunteer, which Sara encouraged me to do. Any income I might have from a job was a mouse fart compared to her thundering wealth.

“But I think, now, when looking back on it, she became more and more embarrassed by my not being a professional with a career and a big income. And she became disrespectful in small ways with smart-ass remarks. She would go out socially on her own so that she didn’t have to explain for the umpteenth time that, no, her husband was not a doctor, a lawyer, or an executive.

“Long story short, eventually she exiled me to another bedroom, refused to have sex with me, and more or less left me alone.”

“Sounds like a terrible way to live, no matter how much money she had.”

“Oh, yeah, I was pretty isolated. I was living in a huge house with staff and all kinds of comforts. Except, no wonderful spa like this. It would probably kill my skin, but I could stay in here 12 hours a day if I could.”

“That’s true, the chlorine is harsh on your skin,” Lucia agreed. “Otherwise, I call being in here a reverse orgasm. It feels amazingly wonderful, but without the muscle tension that you feel in regular sex. In here I get lots of relief from tension, especially afterwards.”

“After...”

“Yes, Jul, exactly. But the main thing is that it’s very helpful for my back. I had so much trouble sleeping before I moved here, and they bought me the new orthopedic bed in that bedroom you’ll be using.”

“Oh, no, wait. I’m chasing you from your orthopedic bed? I can’t do that! You guys have a sleeping bag or something I can use instead?”

“Gabe, we need to take your uncle to the emergency room. Apparently, the impact was severe enough to cause mental confusion. Mia, back me up.”