Karenocracy Pt. 01

It was at that moment, while I was staring a bit too longingly at her twitching toes, that I felt a twitch between my legs and in my nipples, and I panicked, not fully understanding what had happened. I'd been lingering on her reclined body for a minute or so, my mind wandering to the fact that she was laying there in comfort and at ease, while I was suffering at her direction, working my body to exhaustion and all for her benefit. After all, this was her garden being cleaned up, not mine, and why? Because Carol had objected to me having a BBQ, something that was blatantly no business of hers. Yet, she'd made it her business, and now she was making my business being an apparent lackey for her to pay off an unjust debt!

The unfairness was warping my thoughts, and I seemed to obsess on it; she was just so annoying, opinionated and selfish, and yet, here I was doing what she told me despite her being a thorn in my side. It was like I couldn't draw my eyes away, constantly glancing up to her as she shifted and sighed in total relaxation. The more I sneaked peeks at her flawless soles as I worked, the more it was seeming to act as an incentive to toil harder. I couldn't explain the desire behind my actions, but Carol had been such an irritating intrusion to my life, and now I was being forced to do as she said while she treated me with utter contempt. It was a situation I had never found myself in before, having mostly been treated with dignity and respect. So, perhaps for that reason, with it being completely new and taboo, and a reminder of my lack of power, that I was absurdly finding her arrogance exciting? It felt strangely good to be so casually used and with such inconsideration. To be suffering and aching, so my new worst enemy could relax and enjoy herself.

"What are you staring at?" I heard from across the yard, and I flinched upon seeing that Carol was looking over her sunglasses at me. Immediately, I averted my eyes, my cheeks glowing with embarrassment; had she actually caught me looking at her bare feet? "Stop daydreaming and slacking off," she added. "You're here to work, not stare into space." She then moved her sunglasses back in place and shook her head. "See," she muttered to herself. "I knew your sort needed supervision."

I was mortified that I might have been busted staring at her feet. I mean, how would I even explain that? But, it seemed that she was just annoyed that I'd paused in my work. With the feelings of injustice flowing through me again, I was trembling with excitement as an urge to apologise overcame me. It was wrong, and she certainly didn't deserve it, but I couldn't help it. I was just too curious to see how she'd react if I acted with further deference towards her constant insults and snappy remarks. "I'm sorry, ma'am," I said with a slight bow of my head. "It won't happen again, ma'am."

"It better not," Carol snarled. "Buck your ideas up, girl, and put some graft in."

The more she snapped criticism at my free labour, the more I dropped my head and stewed in this rare feeling of humiliation. I was so good at my job, that I hardly ever made mistakes, so being talked down to or made to feel embarrassed was something completely unfamiliar these days. Even when clients complained, especially ones of Carol's ilk, I'd deal with their problems with patience because I was still in control. Even when they became rude, and had to go out of my way to maintain face, I'd brush it off, because I was being paid. This was different, however. It reminded me of being youthful again, and how I'd feel whenever a boy would catch me looking their way, or if one told me they liked me. My usually tanned skin would immediately take on a crimson flush; I'd shake in a mixture of fear and exhilaration while my tummy would twist and turn. My teeth would chatter and I'd get pins and needles in my fingers and toes. It was both mortifying and yet a sensory overload at the same time; my body seeming to take on a will of its own at the stimulation from an outside force of which I couldn't control. I'd look about in a panic, convinced that others could see the way I was bashfully responding, and that in turn would only compound the experience further. Despite being shy, I lived for those moments back in school as they were almost a reminder that I was alive, and now, bizarrely, I was feeling similar sensations whenever Carol lambasted me, or I sneaked glimpses at her completely at ease while she put me to work. It made no sense, but I couldn't deny the response of my own body to her goading and demands.

"Yes, ma'am," I said a final time, and I finished raking up the grass and moved onto the pond area. There was plenty of leaves that needed fishing out, as well as algae that had collected near the sides and required scraping off.

Carol continued to enjoy her book for the next half or so, before she abruptly stood and headed into the house without a word. Immediately, I breathed a sigh of relief, and it was almost as if the haze I'd been existing in dissipated now she was out of view. No longer was I taunted by her enjoying her book while I worked, and it was almost as if the incentive had been taken away and a clearer mind returned to me.

I screwed up my forehead in confusion. Jodie, what the hell are you doing? I thought. I glanced around the garden and took in how good it looked. I'd been hard at work for hours by this point, and I'd pretty much delivered her a free landscaping. If I'd put as much effort into my own yard then it would have looked immaculate and homely. Instead, I'd wasted an entire afternoon on Carol. This was Carol, for God's sake, that annoying Karen-like bane of my life, and I'd been working for her benefit? All because she had stuck her beak into my private party on my property.

I shivered and stood from my crouched position near the pond, almost feeling disgusted with myself. I'd done more than enough to make up for that stupid fine she'd issued me, and she was taking me for a fool. I was about to down tools and leave, when a throat being cleared from above startled me. I looked up and saw that Carol was now wearing a silk robe, while looking over the balcony. She had an annoying straw hat on above her sunglasses. Typical Carol, I thought. Who doesn't wear a hat in the sun, but then dons one once inside?

"How's the garden coming along, girl?" she asked while stepping up near the rail and leaning on her elbows. She looked down at me while sipping a steaming cup of tea, her eyes moving around the garden while she nodded her head.

Simply being called 'girl' by her was enough to bring back those strange feelings, and my response was shaped as a result. "Very well, ma'am. Almost finished."

"I can see everything from much better up here." She chuckled to herself. "It's like a landowner checking the workers aren't sitting down on the job at a vineyard." She then made eye contact with me before shrugging. "You know what you migrants are like. You need constant observation."

I blinked, barely able to comprehend the casual racism that was being thrown my way. Was she implying I was lazy and an illegal because my skin was slightly tanned? I mean, my grandfather was originally from Botswana, but I was as much a native of our country as she was. She was so blunt that I figured I must have misheard her. "What do you mean--"

She'd already waved her hand to silence me while taking another sip of her tea. She then narrowed her eyes in disapproval, before pointing her foot out between the bars of the balcony fence and turning her ankle to point at various spots of her yard. "Make sure everything is the same length. Rake and bag it all up afterwards, then you get can started on trimming the bits along the edges that meet the flower patches."

"I'm finished?" I said in surprise. I was truly staggered that she was unhappy with what I'd done. I'd spent all bloody morning working my fingers to the bone. "You're not happy with it?"

She grimaced; a bitter distaste evident on her curled lips. "You think that's a good job?" She pointed with her toes towards a particular bush near the far fence. "I can see from here it's completely uneven."

I looked over at said bush and had no idea what she was talking about. It was a bush, after all. "What's wrong with it?" I asked.

"I don't like it. Isn't that enough?" She raised her eyebrow. "Do you have a problem with that? Because you're lucky I don't have you clean inside too." She gave a final grimace around the yard. "I'd hardly say this pitiful work makes up for your fine."

I swallowed, then sheepishly looked away beneath her authoritative stare. Already my skin was tingling even more from the odd sensation of unjust humiliation that she seemed to bring out in me. Immediately, all reservations and defiance abandoned me, and I longed to squirm beneath Carol's expectant demands once more; it was deliciously fulfilling to stew beneath her scornful stare, despite me utterly loathing her. It was like I was trapped in a purgatory, but one that I found immensely satisfying? The work was more than good enough, but Carol still wasn't happy, she never seemed to be happy and nothing I did was good enough for her. I almost felt like I was inconveniencing her by insisting the work was up to standard, and a dire need to bow to her petulant nit-picking arose once more. It was wrong, and not how a Karen should be treated, but I was lured to acquiesce to her unreasonable viewpoint. "No, ma'am. I'll get it done," I said, my breath becoming hot as I shivered with unfathomable excitement. "I'll do it until you're happy with it." I almost fainted at the thought of having to do this sort of work forever because Carol could never be satisfied. What the hell was going on in my mind?

"Good, because I want my yard looking spick and span. Not like that deplorable excuse for a garden of yours. If you don't get that into shape, then I'll be re-imposing your fine and I'm not afraid to drag you through the courts to get it settled." I caught a smirk before her lips disappeared behind the tea cup. "We both know what that means, don't we? Since you can't afford to pay your penalties." She nodded inside her bedroom. "I have plenty of other chores in here for you to make up what you owe."

"That won't be necessary, ma'am," I said while swallowing nervously. "I'll get the garden finished."

"We'll see," she said, before turning and going back into her bedroom.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon groaning and griping as I raked around the garden, levelling all of the grass and neatly trimming the edges so that the entire yard looked pristine. Occasionally, Carol would stroll out onto the balcony and watch me work, making sure to point and chastise me for any area I apparently missed. Each time my body would react in a bizarre way as I clutched the rake, my head dipping as I heeded her criticism and responded accordingly. Even when I knew that she was wrong in her assessment, and I repeatedly had to go over the same patch of grass, I did so, because Carol was up above me and arrogantly instructing me to. It was unfair how she always seemed to get her way, with everyone fearful in the community, but for that reason, a part of me was allowing her to continue to do so at my own expense. It was just so tempting, like looking at something you knew you shouldn't, or putting your finger into a hole where you knew it may get stuck. I knew in my heart that Carol didn't deserve to have me slaving for her, especially with her atrocious behaviour, but I couldn't resist the draw to do so and the odd feelings it brought to the fore. It was like a cut in the mouth that I couldn't stop from tonguing; the worse it got, the more I wanted to do it.

Once finished, I leant up against the tree in the corner of her yard and grimaced, completely exhausted. The garden looked fabulous, and I was strangely proud of my work, yet humiliated that it had all been for Carol's benefit. My garden was already overgrowing since I hadn't had the chance to buy a lawnmower yet, and here I was, slaving under the demanding authority of a woman I truly loathed and who had ruined my experience of my first home. I'd spent all afternoon blushing while I worked so publicly for her, convinced that the other neighbours were watching from behind their curtains and disgusted with what a pushover I was.

"You better be finished." I heard from the balcony while catching my breath. Carol had re-emerged, in all of her annoying majesty. The robe had been abandoned, and she was now wearing some matching sports tracksuit, the kind she always donned whenever she was power-walking around the facility and looking for something to pedantically jobsworth over. It was like her specialised uniform, and she had on that dweeby visor tucked into her hair. "Because I won't tolerate you standing around on the job if there's still work to do."

"I'm finished," I said while silently cursing her.

Carol surveyed the garden, her beady eyes dancing around from behind her glasses. She scoffed at a few areas, before she pointed accusingly towards the drive way. "Look at that," she fumed. "There's grass clippings everywhere." She then groaned and batted both her arms in its direction. "Don't you even know how to do a job properly? I should have got some border jumper to do this. At least they follow instructions properly."

I was shocked at the way she was speaking, and the outrageous bigotry from her lips, but still, I turned surprised and saw that she was correct. One of the black liners that I'd filled with grass must have blown open in the wind, and a few stray clippings had sprayed over the driveway. It was no more than a one-minute job to clean it up, and though exhausted, I sighed and headed over to do it.

"You want me to have a garden as messy as yours, do you? Hoping I'll have to issue a fine to myself, are you?"

"No," I said, while looking up at her confused as I swept the driveway. "It was a mistake."

"You seem to make a lot of those, don't you? If you're going to do something, then you should at least do it properly."

I closed my eyes, before letting out a deep breath at the entitled way she was behaving. Despite the strange feelings that had been spurring me on to do her bidding all afternoon, my body was wrecked and my mind was at the end of its tether. Her pokes and prods were relentless, and despite my best efforts, I uncontrollably snapped, "You know what?" I paused in the sweeping. "You're welcome to do this yourself, if you prefer? I've been more than accommodating in this whole thing."

"Excuse me, young lady? I'm the one that's been accommodating," she snarled, "but, you know what?" She snapped her fingers, already turning back towards her bedroom. "If you're going to give me attitude, then to the office we go. Right now. We need to have a discussion."

I stood there open-mouthed while she marched off into her bedroom. I was still stood on the driveway, clutching the broom and at the point of being finished. All I had to have done was kept silent and swept the last few clippings up and my unfair debt would have been paid off. I'd been on the brink of being free from Carol's tyranny. Yet, she'd been pushing my buttons all afternoon, taunting and goading me while I offered her free labour, and I'd been responding more and more submissively. My outburst had to have been because I was simply exhausted and it seemed like there was nothing I could do to make her happy. She had ridiculous unreasonable standards and it was as if she felt like I just existed to do as she told me, however rude and demanding she was being. Perhaps she had been getting away with this kind of behaviour for years. Maybe everyone tip-toed around her and she was just used to pointing and barking orders to other adults as if they were her underlings.

My mind wandered back to the muffins. Was that why that woman had baked her fresh muffins? It wasn't a nice act between neighbours, but rather one adult sucking up to another which held power over them? I mean, maybe they'd all adopted the strategy that it was better to adhere to this tyrannical Karen than try to oppose and mock her. What had Carol's response been? She'd given the damn muffins away and insulted that sweet lady's baking skills.

I suddenly felt overwhelmed by everything, as if I was completely out of my depth and I'd poked the bee hive by not immediately cancelling my BBQ when Carol had insisted. I'd basically put myself in her cross-hairs and now it seemed like she was going to be petty and annoying to me forever more. I was already envisioning the months ahead, where she'd be peering into my home from the sidewalk and finding any reason to make my life miserable, that stupid Homeowner Association agreement wielded as a weapon. Maybe the right course of action was just tip-toeing around her like everyone else seemed to do. I mean, it had been working pretty well all afternoon, hadn't it? I had even felt strangely good while seeing her relax at my expense; working hard so this Karen could revel in her seizure of my weekend. My day of rest twisted to a day of free labour. I shuddered at the mere recollection of that injustice. God, why did my body keep responding in this way to being unfairly mistreated by her?

Before I could even finish up trying to save the situation, Carol appeared at the front door, and beckoned me with a crooked finger. "Didn't you hear me, girl? Office. Now." Her eyes were narrowed through her spectacles. "You need an attitude adjustment."

Her tone was so commanding and expectant, and her once again referring to me as 'girl' made me feel tiny in her presence. Before I could squeak out a pitiful 'yes, ma'am', she'd already turned and disappeared back into the house, as if she knew I was going to obey. I thought about just slamming the broom down and marching home. I mean, why was I wasting my day off doing whatever this unbearable woman demanded? Ever since I'd moved into this community, she'd made my experience a living hell. She'd pretty much drained all of my enjoyment and enthusiasm from my achievement. Now, to rub salt in the wound, I was being forced to suffer in her presence and basically serve her in order to pay off the make-believe debt that she'd landed me with. Still, with the thought of being dragged to court in the back of my mind, and subsequent fines and fees mounting up, I knew I had no other choice than to do what she said. I couldn't afford a lawyer, and despite being extremely annoying, it seemed that Carol was wealthy and well-connected. That's the only reason I was working for, wasn't it? I tried to delude myself that this was the case. It wasn't because of the way working for her made me...feel, was it? How I became all warm, fuzzy and submissive whenever I caught sight of her relaxing while barking orders at my exhausted self? I swallowed nervously as my mind considered how deep into this I was getting; questioning my very own identity.

To make matters worse, those final words lingered in the air: you need an attitude adjustment. What the hell did that even mean? She almost sounded like some strict principal that was about to dish out a punishment with her trusty cane. I mean, I was a grown, adult woman. I was independent and successful. Yet, this unbearable Karen summoned me inside so she could apparently discipline me for something as simple as talking back. Talking back after working slavishly for her all day? It was ludicrous, and in being so, bizarrely intriguing. Once more, those same feelings of unfairness and injustice came seeping back into me, and I was having visions of just what kind of way Carol intended to adjust my attitude. Was she going to lecture me? Was she going to...spank me? I blushed right there on her doorstep while picturing that scene, bent over Carol's lap while she smacked my ass and scolded me for talking back to her. I was almost dizzy while picturing the utter humiliation of being physically disciplined by a Karen; told that I was in the wrong again and again while knowing I was clearly in the right.