Chapter 39: Songs of Injustice

The Album Takes Shape

Late January, 1979

With the wedding out of the way, we got back into the work on the songs for the new album, as well as various gigs around the place. They were starting to take shape, but the real challenge was to ensure that the songs were musically as good as our previous work, and could stand alone as rock songs. We didn’t want the lyrics to be too ‘preachy’ and turn people off. There’s no point in making a protest song, if people don’t like it and refuse to listen to it.

After my talk with Alonzo’s family about the issue of mixed race marriages in the US, I suggested another theme for a song; that of people being able to marry who they wanted to. Mandy came up with a title – “Don’t tell me who to love”, which we all thought was a good one. Somehow we had to extend that to include gay and lesbian rights; as Allison said, simply because of a genetic accident while Jillian was in her mother’s womb, the two of them could never be regarded as a real couple, at least not in the eyes of the law.

“You know, the same applies to you, Megan and me,” Lori said. “As much as we all love each other, the only marriage that would be allowed is for you to marry either Megan, or marry me. I can’t see the law changing anytime soon to allow the three of us to marry each other.”

“I know, but I guess that’s something we will just have to live with,” I said to her. “Now, if you and I had a piece of paper saying we were married, like Ros and Alonzo have, would that mean I love you more than I do now? Would you love me more? We don’t need official legal acknowledgement of what we feel for each other. Now, when we think the time is right, we can have a private gathering; just our close families and friends, and make a private ‘commitment ceremony’, or whatever we might want to call it, and publically state our love and life-long commitment to each other. That’ll be good enough for me.”

“The same for me,” Lori said.

“And me, too,” Megan said. “I don’t give a rat’s arse what other’s might think of our arrangement, if they disapprove, then they can bite their bums!”

“I mean, Jillian and Allison love each other just as much as Ros and Alonzo do; or Wendy and Patrick. Now, Wendy and Patrick can get married, and no one would raise an eyebrow. Some people might disapprove of Ros and Alonzo, because of the mixed race stuff,” I said. “And there’s no way Jillian and Allison are even allowed to marry, because society says two women can’t marry. Of course, for those who oppose mixed-race marriages, I would ask them, ‘just how are you affected by those two marrying?’ Of course, they can’t answer that, apart from saying somehow ‘that’s wrong’. Same as if Jillian and Allison could legally marry – does that somehow make an existing marriage like my parent’s any less, because two women are now married? Of course not. But so many people believe that they had a right to tell everyone else how to live their lives.”

“I guess that statement is the essence of what the new album is about,” Megan said. “We are pointing out things in society where people exercise control over what other people want to do with their lives.”

“I guess the ultimate test is if what someone wants to do isn’t going to hurt anyone, then why should other people be able to stop them?” I said. “I guess that’s the philosophy of the album; with the corollary that if what a person intends doing is going to adversely affect other people, or the world in which we live, then they shouldn’t be able to do it.”

As I was reading through the morning paper, there was another report about allegations of sexual abuse at some Catholic run schools in the Hunter Valley; the article mentioned how complaints had been raised several times in the early 70’s, but somehow each investigation had been shut down, and nothing came of it. It reminded me of a conversation I had with one of the local Party members, about how the Catholic Church had contacts at the highest level of the state Police, and anytime they came under investigation for anything like that, the top brass squashed the investigation, had things covered up, and the church moved the paedophile to another location; giving him a whole new set of fresh pickings.

Mandy, Rachel and I kicked around some ideas for a song with that as the theme; Mandy came up with a tentative title; ‘That Hurts, Father’. We had to be careful not to be too ‘direct’, and leave ourselves open to getting sued. It took us a few days to get the words to the stage where we felt happy with them; meanwhile Mandy and Rachel took a short musical piece that I had knocked up a few months ago, and worked that into a reasonable tune.

We had a couple of weeks to work on the songs; George had booked the recording studio for us for the two weeks at the end of February, from February the 19th to March 2nd. Phil suggested that we wouldn’t want the album to sound ‘over-produced’; while we should maintain the same quality of our previous performances, he said that the songs would have more ‘impact’ if it sounded like we had just turned up for a jam session.

What Phil suggested made a lot of sense; I liked the idea of a ‘jam session’ sound; it would appear as if a bunch of us had just got together to make some music. There were some suggestions on how to achieve that sound; making sure that on the recording, it would pick up someone counting in key changes or indicating a final verse. Bruce suggested that some people start a song or a verse a fraction of a beat late; not so late as to sound deliberately wrong. We practiced that on a few songs; and eventually got the effect that we were aiming for.

With two weeks to go before the studio sessions were scheduled to start, we felt all of the songs for the album were in reasonable shape. We would need to refine them over the coming weeks, but we had the essence of what we wanted.

Getting Ready for the Final Year

February, 1979

As I was working on some songs in the studio, Michelle came to see me, telling me that Doctor Thomas wanted me to come in later this week to discuss the upcoming year, in particular my thesis. We arranged for me to meet with him at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday the 8th. So, that morning I drove over to the campus, parked up on High Street, walked across to the Elec Eng building, and up to his office.

“G’day Will, grab a seat here, he’ll be out in a minute,” Michelle said.

I took a seat on one of the easy chairs in the waiting area, as Michelle called Alonzo, to let him know I was here for him. He came out of his office, and I stood up to shake his hand.

“Will! Great to see you,” he said.

“Good to see you back, how was Tassie?”

“Terrific, there are so many beautiful parts to that State, Ros and I loved it. Do you want to come into my office so we can go over your subjects for the year? Michelle, you got a minute?”

The three of us sat around the coffee table in his office, and Alonzo outlined his suggestions for my subjects in the coming year.

“Now, as well as your thesis, which will take the bulk of you time, I’m suggesting you take a few other subjects. You have to do a general studies subject, that’s part of the Faculty rules, Michelle can help you pick a good one. I’d also like you to sit in on my Computer Networking class again; unofficially, since you’ve already done the subject, but we’ll be covering different topics this year. I’ll run the subject in the same way as I did last year, with group discussions where everyone gets a chance to give their opinions.

“Also, there’s some forth year computer science subjects that Doctor Allen and I feel would be good for you. Now, make a note of these subject numbers, Michelle; there’s 6.606 Computer Science Honours, which is your thesis; 6.607A Computer Hardware Architecture, you’ll have Doctor Dunworth for that subject, and 6.607B Advanced Software Technology, split between Doctor McMahon and Ken Robinson. I think those two level four subjects will round out your knowledge; but they won’t take a huge amount of extra time. What’s the schedule time for the lectures and tutorials, Michelle?”

She pulled out a document from a folder; flipped over some pages until a timetable was shown.

“7A is between 10 and 11 each day; lectures Monday, Wednesday and Friday; tutorials Tuesday and Thursday. 7B is the same time, in second semester. Your Computer Networking times are 11 to 12 Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the same as last year. Provided we can fit in a good General Studies class, you will have every afternoon available for thesis work, plus mornings until 10. Will that work, Zo?”

I thought it was cute that Michelle had adopted using the nickname Alonzo’s family used when speaking with him; I wondered just what Ros called him.

“That will work out,” he said. “All we need now is a General Studies subject; any suggestions, Michelle?”

“You got a credit last year in Economics, Will, did you enjoy that? There’s a follow on subject, Economic Thought, that’s not a bad one.”

“Sure, probably better than some of the more wanky subjects they have,” I said.

“Okay, let me see when that’s on ... it will fit perfectly, there are lectures on Tuesday and Thursdays, 11 to 12. Perfect!” she said. “I’ll enter your enrolment details for those subjects and at those times.”

“Now, with that stuff done, let’s talk about how things work with your thesis,” he said to me. “There’s a spare office up here, you can share that with another of my thesis students; I assume you know Trevor Kelly? His thesis is on various routing protocols; there should be some overlap with what you’re doing. I’ve arranged for desks and computer terminals to be set up in there for you; along with some cabinets and book cases. You’ll be able to work in there without interruption.”

“And I can bring you constant cups of coffee,” Michelle said. “To keep your concentration up, of course!”

“I’ve got some documents here outlining how I see your thesis progressing, and the areas that your research should cover. One thing that I suggest you do is to get into the habit of maintaining a ‘thesis journal’, almost like a daily diary. Let me show you a copy of what I had for my PhD thesis.”

He pulled a thick binder from the bookcase, and flipped it open to a random page. It was filled with handwritten notes, diagrams, and comments.

“What I did was for each day I was researching, I would put down what I planned on working on that day, and what results I actually obtained; conclusions, and suggestions for follow on investigations. When you come to present your thesis, the journal will be valuable at your dissertation. Now, I know you’re probably fairly busy for the rest of the month; I know you’ve got the new album you’re all working on, but pretty much any time you want to come over here and work, your office is available for you. Michelle will see about getting you some keys. What we will also do is arrange a set time each week when we can have a review meeting, and you can update me on how things are going, what problems – if any – you’ve encountered, and I can give you some suggestions, things like that. What if we aim for Tuesday mornings, 8:00 to 9:00? Can you put that into my schedule, Michelle?”

“Sounds good to me; I like the idea of having regular review meetings.”

“The only other thing, and this is up to you, but Murray Allen has asked if you would be interested in being a tutor for some of the first year programming classes. This year there’s a new first year computer science class, 6.620 Introduction to Computer Science. Maybe two hours a week, I think the tutorial sessions for the full time class are late on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons You would get paid for it; not a real lot, but it would just involve being in the tutorial labs, and answering questions from the students, helping them with things they may not understand, that sort of thing. But don’t feel obliged to do it.”

“No, that would be good; two hours a week wouldn’t be too much to take on. Not that I really need the money from it; but it will be good experience for me.”

“Great, Michelle, can you sort out the paperwork for that? Now, I have a faculty meeting to get to, I’m hoping it won’t drag on, since I’m meant to be having lunch with my wife ... you know you can drop into my office anytime, Will, for the rest of this year, treat this area as your ‘home away from home’; okay?”

I thanked him for his time, and shook his hand. He collected some papers, and left for his meeting. Michelle and I went out to the main office area, and she started to enter my subject enrolment information, then printed out a copy of my subject list and timetable information. Finally, she got some forms so I could register as a tutor; I had to give her my tax file number, to make sure the University would deduct the appropriate income tax from my pay; and she put my name on the list for Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

“Paul Baker will be the lecturer for that subject, he’ll have a meeting with all the tutors the week before lectures start, so that everyone knows the procedures,” she said. “I’ll see about getting you keys to the building and this area, they will give you after-hours access. There’s one key to the main building entrance, down near the lecture theatre, and another is for this area; the door out to the main hallway, and this office area. Do you feel like letting me take you out for our standard enrolment lunch date?”

“Seems funny saying ‘we’re going on a date’ when we share a house together,” I said. “But lunch together would be good.”

We headed out to the café under the Commerce building; she absent-mindedly held my hand as we walked out of the Electrical Engineering building. I didn’t mind; it was nice of her to do that; and I didn’t want to make a big issue of it by letting go of her hand; it would only embarrass her.

“So, how was it, sleeping with the buxom Thornese Thomas?” she asked. “She certainly has an abundance of breast material!”

“I shouldn’t be talking about how I fucked your boss’s little sister!” I said. “What would Alonzo think of me doing that?”

“I don’t think he knows, and I’m not going to tell him. I assume you aren’t either.”

“Well, it was fun with her. As you said, an abundance of boobage, but that has some advantages, as you might guess.”

“No, I can’t guess, why don’t you tell me what you did with those large melons?”

“NO! I’m not going to tell you all the intimate details. I’m sure you could use your very fertile imagination, on just what things a guy can do with a pair of big breasts!”

“Well, did it involve sliding a certain part of your anatomy between those big boosies?”

“Michelle! Do you expect me to tell you that, here in public?”

“Of course I do; you don’t have to scream it out, just whisper it to me, and be as explicit as you want.”

She smirked at me, and licked her lips.

“Maybe tell me something to give me some naughty ideas...”

“You are incorrigible, Michelle Jones,” I said to her.

“At your service. Not that I would be able to emulate what you and Thornese would have done; not with these little titties, anyway. Come on, spill the beans!”

“Okay, you want it explicit...” I leant over the table so I could whisper in her ear. “If you want to know what we did; first I sucked both of her tits; while I was doing that I started to rub around her pussy. She then told me I was teasing her, so I went down on her, licking and sucking while I fingered her.”

I could see Michelle’s nipples start to harden and make two little indentations in her top, she started breathing harder, and squirmed on her seat.

“Just in case you were wondering, she’s a squirter, too.”

“Really? You mean, when she comes ... she...” Michelle started to say.

“Yup. She had warned me, so we had an old towel down on the bed.”

“Damn ... I’ve heard of women who can do that, do you enjoy it?”

“Hell yeah! I reckon it’s pretty hot.”

“I wonder if I could learn to do that...” she wondered to herself. “Go on, get into the good stuff.”

“Then, she licked all of her juices from my face, then had me lie on my back while she sucked my cock, and then it was time for the Thornese tit-fuck.”

“Oh ... that’s what I kinda expected you would have done. How did that feel?”

“Well, she spread her juices between her boobs, and I straddled her chest, and she pushed her boobs together around my prick. She told me to ‘spurt all over her nipples’, in her words; which I gladly did.”

“That sounds like it must have been really hot! So, did you actually fuck her?”

“Oh yes, several times; different positions, sometime she rode me, other times I was on top; or we were side by side.”

“You know I’m going to be so incredibly horny all afternoon,” she said. “Greg may not get much sleep tonight; in fact, we may not even be down for dinner. I guess Thornese enjoyed her visit to Australia; she got her own bit of Australia inside her.”

“Just don’t tell Alonzo about what his sister got up to; or even that his brother spent two nights with Allison and Jillian,” I said. “I don’t want him thinking that we were all intent on seducing his family members.”

“You can trust me on that front,” she said. “I know where to draw the line between him being my boss, and also being a friend, and being good friends with my housemates,” she said. “Although Allison and Jillian gave me more information about the anatomy of one of the Thomas boys than I really needed to know, given the similarity between them. For a few days, when he got back from his honeymoon, I had all these very non-professional thoughts going through my mind! I was almost tempted to ask Ros how long it will be before she can walk properly again!”

“Oh, I’m sure Ros has had plenty of time over the last year and a half to get accustomed to Alonzo’s size,” I said. “I can still remember her comments when they started going out, she said something like ‘nature has been generous to Alonzo’. She was teased with ‘once you go black, you never go back’, and stuff like that.”

“Yeah, I can recall sometime last year she told me how big he is; and that she has to be careful in some positions, because he can go in too deep. Having your cervix bashed repeatedly gets painful!”

“You know, Michelle, you and I have some really interesting discussions,” I said. “Cervix-bashing ... something I had never talked about with anyone before.”

“Well, unless you are particularly ‘long’, the problem probably never comes up with you,” she said. “I am probably more prone to suffering from that than most other women; I mean, being a lot shorter than most, other parts of me will be smaller, too. There’s no way I could fit anywhere near half of Alonzo or Jeff inside me; my vagina just isn’t that long! On the other hand, I guess from what Thornese told me you did, she’s comparatively larger than most. Did you really get your whole hand inside her? That must have been pretty weird!”

“She told you about that? Did she say what led up to it?”

“The blindfold, restraints and you using the leather crop on her arse? Of course she did, she told me everything. The stuff with the ropes and blindfold sound ... sound pretty interesting. They really got her turned on, she must have been soaking wet for you to get your whole hand inside. I’m lucky if a guy can get three fingers into me.”

“I didn’t really need to know that, Michelle,” I said. “This is a strange conversation, talking about vagina sizes with you. Now, if she told you everything we did, why did you ask me to tell you everything?”

“I wanted to hear just how you would describe it,” she said. “Besides, it’s a big turn on hearing it in person, from someone directly involved.”

“So this conversation was just some sort of voyeuristic experience for you?”

“No, I enjoy sitting here, and talking with you about all sorts of things. But I guess we should change the subject. Is there anything else you want in the office you’ll be using? If you’ve finished eating, we can go back down there, and we can make a list of stuff you think you’ll need, and I’ll arrange for it.”

We headed back down to the Elec Eng building, with Michelle holding my hand as we walked back to the office. We looked through the office; the room was already set up with two decent sized desks, some book cases and two filing cabinets. There was a table against one wall with two VT-100 terminals set up on it. The main desks were against the two windows on the back wall; not that there was much of a view out of the windows, just the rock face where the area for the Elec Eng building had been cut away from the side of the hill. But at least there were windows which let in some natural light.

The arrangement of the room seemed fine; Trevor had already taken the desk on the left hand side, leaving me with the remaining desk. I looked through the drawers; Michelle had already arranged for some basic stationary items and these were in the desk deawers. Over the next week or so, I would bring some of my textbooks and notes from the previous years in, and they would go into the bookcase. The walls were pretty bare, I would see about bringing in some posters and photos to put up there.

“What would you think about some easy chairs and a low coffee table?” she asked. Or maybe a couch, if you have to work back at night, you would have somewhere to nap; or maybe you and I could have somewhere to have sex on?”

“Michelle!” I protested.

“What’s the problem? Am I not allowed to have sex with you?”

“Well, contrary to popular belief, I just don’t screw any woman who happens to take my fancy and thinks that she is available,” I said. “I do have some rules, you know.”

“I wasn’t saying you don’t, it’s just that I talk with the other girls in the terraces; Allison, Jillian, Lori, Megan, Tracy, and they’ve all told me at various times, just what you’re like in bed. Ros told me a lot about what you did with her, and for her. I can’t help it if I want some of that too.”

“You make it sound like the ‘Legend of Will Morris’ has spread far and wide!”

“Well, something would be spread wide for Will Morris,” she said, leering at me. “I would willingly spread my legs for you, if you wanted.”

“Okay, let me tell you what my rules are,” I said. “Firstly, I need approval beforehand from Lori, Megan, and also Tracy, Allison and Jillian. And if the other person is in a committed relationship, from their partner, too. Otherwise it’s what I believe is cheating, and I won’t be a part of that. So in your case, Greg would need to agree to anything; beforehand.”

“Okay, I can understand that,” she said.

“Then the next rule ... actually, the overarching consideration is the legal age of consent; but we’re pretty clear with that one, unless you are secretly fifteen or so.”

“But I can look thirteen, if you want! If I was to shave my pubes, I could pretend to be your little baby girl!” she said, laughing. “That one is well and truly safe, I’m well over any age of consent.”

“I thought so ... as I was saying the next rule ... I was told a few years ago, ‘Don’t get your meat where you get your bread’. The intent of that was not to have romantic entanglements where you work; it only causes problems in the long run.”

“Well, you and I don’t work together,” she said.

“But you work for my thesis supervisor,” I said. “Say we start a relationship, and things go bad ... how would that affect my working relationship with Alonzo?”

“Yeah, well, I guess so,” she said, sounding rather disappointed. “So I guess having a sofa in this room is not on?”

“Probably not,” I said. “Probably not.”

“Well, I’ll just have to get you to fuck me right here on your desk,” she said. “If I sit on here, it would put us at just the right height for you to slide in. Let me close the blinds so we can’t be seen from outside...”

“Michelle! No! You’re not listening to me!”

“You are so easy to wind up,” she said, laughing. “I lay out the bait, and you bite so easily!”

“I thought you might be worried about me biting,” I said. “I promise to lick and suck, but not to bite you.”

If she was going to tease me, then it was only fair for me to tease her back.

“But there might be some places where I would like you to bite me; only if you promised to be gentle though.”

“Are you suggesting some nibbles on some nipply areas?” I said, licking my lips. “I might be able to do that, coupled with some intense sucking and licking ... Maybe even some under-nipple massaging with my tongue as I suckle...”

“Damn, Will, you’re getting me all ... all dewy and moist!”

“So, maybe you might prefer the sucking and licking to be a little lower? I could sample some hot and sweet Michelle nectar!”

“You certainly could, there’s plenty of it flowing at the moment. But only if I get to sample some hot and fresh Will cream.”

I could see her nipples poking two indentations in her top, they looked as if they were quite large and swollen. I reached forward and squeezed both of them.

“Maybe squirt some cream on those two cherries,” I smirked.

“Yes, please,” she said softly, and pushed her hands over mind, so I was forced to cup them around her breasts, caressing them. I could feel just how hard and erect her nipples were. “They would feel much nicer directly under my top, without all that material in the way. Alonzo won’t be back for a while, we won’t get interrupted.”

She moved her hands, grabbng the sides of her top, and started to pull it up.

“We’re getting very close to going too far, Michelle,” I said. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have teased you so much.”

I removed my hands from her breasts, and moved away from her.

“I’m sorry, Will, I shouldn’t have pushed so hard,” she said. “You’re right, with us working closely here over this coming year, it’s probably a good idea that we don’t go too far. Let’s get back to seeing what else is needed in this room.”

I looked through all of the supplies that were in the desk; I couldn’t think of anything in particular that I would need; not once I had brought in my reference books and notes from home. When we had finished going through all the supplies, she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a big hug. Her head only came up to my chest; and it felt strange, having her breasts pressing against my stomach, just around the level of my waist. She tilted her head up, and I bent my head down, and we kissed.

The kiss started out soft and gentle; I could feel the warm, moist touch of her lips against mine. Then her kiss became more urgent; she put a hand on the back of my head and pressed my face harder against hers. I felt her lips part, and the tip of her tongue darted out, exploring, the tip touching my lips. I parted mine slightly, and her tongue pushed into my mouth; our tongues touched, pulled back, and touched again. She ground her breasts against my body, and I cupped my hands under her backside, and pulled her up higher, so her face was level with mine.

Michelle moaned into my mouth and pulled me even tighter to her. Her face was level with mine; she wrapped her legs around mine. Her breasts, and the two hard nipples, dug into my chest; and she ground her crotch against mine; I was sure she could feel my hard erection; at least the tip of it pressed against her groin.

She pulled her face away from mine; she was panting heavily.

“Oh my God ... we have to stop, Will, or I’ll rip your clothes off, and fuck you right here, on the desk. Damn, I want you so badly ... my body’s aching for yours.”

“I want you too, Michelle...

I lowered her slowly to the floor; and adjusted the position of my erect cock in my jeans, making it a little more comfortable. She saw what I did, and smiled.

“Things getting a little crowded in there? Sorry about that.” she said. “I need to get to the ladies room, and put in a fresh panty liner; there’s only so much wetness these ones can hold!”

I sat back on the edge of the desk to catch my breath.

“Damn, Michelle ... I can feel my determination not to make love with you start to waver ... I think I should head back home before we do something that we will probably both regret.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. If we’re going to take it any further, we need to talk it over with the others first,” she said. “I’m going to tell Greg that I’ll be home a bit early today, and I’ll expect him to be up in our bedroom waiting for me. I’ll fuck him within an inch of his life! You know it’s going to be really difficult once you start on your thesis, and you’re in this office, and I’m out there sitting at my desk ... I won’t be able to concentrate on my work, instead I’ll be sitting there, squirming, imagining your lips on my body ... either sucking my tits, or licking my pussy ... you’ll have me in a constant state of arousal.”

“I’m sure we can both be professional enough to handle it all,” I said. “It’s not like we’re horny teenagers just trying to learn about their hormones.”

“True, but it’s still not easy to maintain control,” she said. “We’re horny twenty-somethings! A least you make me really horny. I’ll be back in a minute, don’t go just yet.”