really wasn’t expecting it, but Jonathan is so wonderful with the baby, so helpful. He changes her diaper all the time!’ ”
Hanna: “I know, it’s kind of scary.”
Me: “He probably jerks off into the baby’s diaper.”
Hanna: “Peri! That’s disgusting! He does not!”
Me: “These fetishes don’t go away you know. You can’t change what turns you on. This is actually not terribly uncommon.”
Hanna: “How do you know?”
Me: “Because I’ve read about it. There’s a whole community of these people. They are called ABDLs.”
Hanna: “What is an ABDL?”
Me: “Adult baby diaper lover.”
Hanna: “You’re lying.”
Me: “I am not lying. Look it up. I’m surprised that with the amount of time you waste on the Internet trying to find men and all the freaks you talk to that you haven’t encountered one of them. Would you ever date someone now with a diaper fetish?”
Hanna, without missing a beat: “If he was hot.”
This is another reason why I love Hanna. In spite of it all, she has a great sense of humor, which is a lot more than you can say about most people.
Me: “Good answer. You’re pretty open-minded. I admire that about you.”
Hanna: “Not really. I’m not into bondage or anything. That stuff doesn’t really do it for me.”
Me: “I’m not talking about bondage. I mean in general, when it comes to sex, you’re pretty open-minded.”
Hanna: “I don’t know. Jonathan was your all-around nice, normal Jewish guy.”
Yet another reason I enjoy Hanna—because she is completely delusional.
Me: “Uh, no, Hanna, he was not your all-around nice, normal Jewish guy.”
Hanna: “What do you mean?”
Me: “I’m sorry to report that having a diaper fetish is not normal.”
Hanna: “Well, on the surface he was normal.”
Me: “On the surface Ted Bundy was normal.”
Hanna: “He wasn’t hurting anyone.”
Me: “Ted Bundy wasn’t hurting anyone?”
Hanna: “No! Jonathan wasn’t hurting anyone!”
Me: “I’m not saying he was hurting anyone. People who fuck dead bodies aren’t hurting anyone either, but it’s still pretty kinky.”
Hanna: “That’s not kinky. Kinky is fun and exciting. Diapers and dead bodies are just fucked-up.”
Me: “It’s pretty fucked-up. I’ll grant you that.”
Hanna: “What’s fucked-up is that is how I lost my virginity. But, honestly, I don’t care anymore. I made up for it. After Jonathan, I had a one-night stand in Israel with a South African on a kibbutz because I wanted to just get it over with and be free.”
Me: “How did that work out?”
Hanna: “I got a venereal infection and had to come back to the States to go to the doctor.”
Me: “ What? Are you serious? That really is fucked-up.”
Hanna: “I know. I think God was punishing me.”
Me: “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my life. You think God was punishing you? What do you think God was punishing you for , exactly?”
Hanna: “Having a one-night stand? Being free-spirited in the Holy Land?”
Me: “I don’t think God punishes people for that sort of thing, even if it does take place in the Holy Land. Instead of self-flagellating, it’s probably better to focus on how far you’ve come since then.”
Hanna: “How far I have come? I don’t think I’ve come very far. That’s exactly the problem.”
This wasn’t wholly untrue. Her past was littered with wreckage. And it’s not that all our pasts weren’t littered with wreckage, but Hanna’s pile was particularly high.
Hanna: “I’m a loser in love. Oh God. Are you going to make me look like a loser in love in your book? You better not!”
I wasn’t buying this whole “loser in love” thing. Hanna had shitty luck with men because she picked shitty men. Instead of figuring out why she picked shitty men, she just kept making one terrible decision after the next. She was like a fat person who ate doughnuts all day and then complained that they couldn’t lose