Nurse Betty

The window was open that day

Letting the unusually warm January winter breeze to swirl about inside

Flirting with the curtains that shouldn’t have been there

Teasing the tenants of the locked floor

Nurse Betty stood about 5’11”

She was black and reminded me of my grandmother Charlotte

A sharp square jaw

Thin lips

Big rimmed eyeglasses

A bob cut

Nurse Betty caught me more than once

With my pants down

First in the dayroom

Sitting on the couch

Erection in hand

Attempting to break free of the dream

Oma would bring me a banana at her daily visit

We’d sit on the couch

I’d watch the television I didn’t comprehend

Oma would give me back scratches

Her hand on my back

Up and down, a slight tickle, a calming touch

Nurse Betty will scold my Oma

Telling her it was too sexual

My Oma would scold Nurse Betty in return

I’ve never quite seen her so angry

I rotated the hot knob and cold knob in the shower

The running water came to a slow grinding halt

Still wet, I stood there naked, exposed, vulnerable

Nurse Betty opened the door to the bathroom

Called me by name

And said that I couldn’t do that

I couldn’t masturbate

That she knew I’ve been masturbating

She said “I see your penis is all red. I know you’ve been touching yourself again.”

And she told me I couldn’t do that

She told me I couldn’t do that

© 2025 David Greg Harth

25.08.01.17.06.08@130BklynNYC