The Irony of “But he never called back" - "Inventory”
The narrator recounts, “One man…He bought me dinner. We had sex in his car because he had roommates and I couldn’t be in my house right then, and he slid his hand inside my bra and his hands were perfect, f*cking perfect, and we fell into the too-tiny backseat. I came for the first time in two months. I called him the next day, and left him a voicemail, telling him I’d had a good time and I’d like to see him again, but he never called me back.” The narrator had expected to continue an affair with the man after their intimacy in a car. The man does not respond because he was not keen on having a long time affair with the narrator. Being intimate is not a guarantee for a long term relationship. Manifestly, the man merely desired to have a single sexual engagement with the narrator.
The Irony of “I am a good girl” - “The Husband Stitch”
The narrator’s affirmation about being “a good girl” is ironic because she confesses, “I am at a neighbour’s party with my parents, and I am seventeen. Though my father didn’t notice, I drank half a glass of white wine in the kitchen a few minutes ago, with the neighbour’s teenage daughter.” If the narrator were an absolute “ good girl” she would not drink behind her father’s back. She is underage; hence, her drinking is an indicator of her daring deviance.
