No Sex in the City

No Sex in the City Read Online Free PDF

Book: No Sex in the City Read Online Free PDF
Author: Randa Abdel-Fattah
since she was on the streets graduate from high school one day, help out a woman whose husband’s used a cricket bat on her the next. The good, the bad and the ugly.’
    Ruby pulls a face. ‘Did the bastard get charged?’
    ‘Yes. Sentencing won’t be for a while though. Unfortunately, the woman isn’t pressing charges. The good news is that the DPP has decided to prosecute him anyway.’
    Ruby’s eyes narrow. ‘Lisa, do you ever meet guys who redeem your view of men?’
    Lisa lets out an exasperated laugh. ‘Of course I do. I’m not so cynical that I walk down the street suspecting every male of being a sex offender or wife beater. But I’m not going to start waving the banner for the marriage institution.’
    ‘You’re quite sure that nobody could persuade you?’ I ask.
    ‘The idea of marriage makes me feel claustrophobic.’ Lisa squirms in her seat. ‘I’m moving out of home next year. That’s the plan anyway. It’s bad enough living with my parents; I don’t want to live with someone else who’s going to be asking where I’m going and what I’m doing. When I move out of home next year I want to be free to make my own decisions.’
    I regard her with wry amusement. ‘Your mum is going to flip out.’
    ‘That’s why it’s taken me this long – if I had my choice I would have moved years ago. But she needs to come to terms with the fact that I’m not going to stay at home until I marry one of her hand-picked Jewish bachelors.’
    Ruby cocks her head. ‘Are you a self-hating Jew?’ she says, wagging her finger.
    ‘No, you idiot. I couldn’t care less what a guy’s background is. If he’s the right person and Jewish, fine. It’ll satisfy my mum. But unlike you lot, it’s not part of my obligatory selection criteria.’
    Ruby knocks the end of a sugar sachet against her chin and then, in a tone that suggests she’s reading a list aloud, says, ‘I want Greek Orthodox background, family from the same island if possible. A Sydney Uni graduate, although UNSW will do. Eastern suburbs.’ She pauses. ‘I like things to be complicated, as you can tell.’
    I snort. ‘No, complicated is the wrong word. You’re just a snob.’
    Ruby pokes her tongue out at me.
    ‘I want a Gujarati and a Hindu,’ Nirvana says, ‘because culture and religion are big parts of my life. Especially when it comes to raising children.’
    ‘Oh well, that’s easy because I don’t want children,’ Lisa says, taking a sip of her juice and then setting down her glass.
    ‘You don’t mean that,’ Nirvana says.
    ‘Yes I do,’ Lisa says. ‘I have no desire to marry or be a mother. I might entertain the idea of a serious relationship if I met someone special enough to accept that the thing I’m most passionate about in life is my work, but I have no intention of having children.’
    ‘You can’t be serious,’ Ruby says. ‘The marrying thing I understand. You’ve always been against it. But you’re fantastic with kids. I’ve seen you in action.’
    ‘You’re a natural,’ I add.
    ‘So what?’ Lisa says. ‘Why can’t I be a natural with other people’s kids? Why does the fact that I have no desire to have children mean I’m somehow going to fail to fulfil my
real
destiny?’
    ‘It doesn’t,’ I say. ‘It’s just surprising.’
    ‘I totally respect where you’re coming from,’ Ruby says. ‘It’s your choice. I just hope you don’t regret it one day.’
    ‘I think I can be the judge of what I might or might not regret,’ Lisa says.
    ‘My uterus practically contracts every time I see a baby,’ Nirvana says with a laugh.
    ‘That would be a bit of an occupational hazard in your line of work, wouldn’t it?’ Lisa says.
    ‘How is your work?’ I ask Nirvana.
    ‘Wonderful, actually,’ Nirvana says. ‘But I don’t want to talk about work. I want to vent about home.’
    ‘Vent!’ I cry. ‘That’s why we’re here.’
    ‘You know how my dad’s sister and her husband have been staying
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