Ganger (Ball Lightning)
By Nalo Hopkinson, first published in Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora
When an electrostatic apparition appears in their bathroom, product of two electrically charged sex toys, Cleve and Issy must work together to destroy it before they're both killed.
Author
Year
Words
Genres
Plot Summary
Cleve and Issy are having sex in their suits, skinlike wetsuits meant to amplify pleasure. They've recently fought, which always arouses them. Cleve suggests they switch suits, so each can feel what the other feels during sex. Issy eventually agrees, and having an organ to push into him delights her. But suddenly Cleve screams and pushes her off, mumbling ashamedly that it felt like his dick was turning inside out.
The ganger reaches toward Cleve's heaving body on the floor, and Issy desperately distracts it by talking about the fudge she made.
Issy comforts Cleve as they take the wetsuits off and snuggle in to sleep. She masturbates to finish herself off before settling in.
Issy keeps rambling about the fudge she made, trembling when the ganger touches her mouth and delivers another electric shock. _ _ Suddenly, as Issy drifts off, something rubbery creeps up her leg. It's the wetsuit, still charged and responding to the electricity in Issy's body. Cleve tries to joke about it, says he'll discharge them in the morning. He throws them in the closet where they wriggle on top of one another. Issy is disgusted.
Issy wakes in the unbearable heat to find Cleve has gone off, likely sulking in silence on a jog. She proceeds downstairs and gathers all the ice in the freezer to make herself a cold bath. Sitting in the tub with relief, she ignores the thumping suits in the closet. _ _ The ganger stood rapt by Issy's sultry voice, still desperately going on about her failed fudge that didn't set. Its light cooled to electric blue, its mouth hole yawning. _ _ Suddenly an apparition appeared before Issy in the bathroom - a human-shaped, ghost-like figure, crackling with colored lights and black holes for orifices. Touching itself, it reached in the toilet bowl and sparks flew. It was electric, Issy realized, and she was sitting in a bath. She saw the logo of the suit-makers on it and realized it was the product of the overcharged suits. She made noise and the apparition touched her, shocking her violently. Cleve came in the bathroom and the thing flew toward him, knocking him down. A duppy, Cleve says, it was his fault for leaving the suits on. Issy said the first thing that came to her: "Do you like fudge?" She used the fudge lines as long as she could, and when the duppy came too close, Cleve started talking too. They went back and forth, talking about the fudge and the fight that ensued, working out what had gone wrong between them. Eventually they reached out to touch hands and the duppy standing between them vanished. Relieved, they reaffirmed their love, and fell asleep.
Tags