2: Madeline's First Extramarital Blow Job

It took me a week before I could see Skye. I went to her apartment, mainly because I didn’t want to yell about being spanked in public.

She was blushing when I came in. That frightened little girl look she wore while looking like a sex fantasy in a thousand dollars worth of silk. A voice in my head wanted to tell her to undress. She deserved to be punished for what she did and that was the punishment I wanted to deliver.

Instead, neither of us spoke. She got us beers and we sipped them, looking over each other’s shoulders. It was like the worst argument we’d ever had as room mates. I was dating a guy she’d let slip away—somebody I’d asked her about before dating. We, the guy and I, had a pretty good thing going. Then Skye started wearing less when he was over. She’d “accidentally” come out of the shower without her bathrobe fastened. It was all stuff that she’d do if a guy wasn’t there, so there was deniability. We argued bitterly for a weekend and didn’t talk for almost two weeks, just leaving angry notes about dishes and other chores.

Then one morning, she came in my room, collapsed onto my bed, and cried, “I’m sorry.” We’d cried together and that was that.

“Just say it, Skye.”

“What,” she mumbled into the bottle.

“That you’re sorry.”

“I didn’t...”

“Skye ... I forgive you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to. You’re my best friend. But why didn’t you tell me about all of that before?”

“How could I? She only spanked me twice and...” She got up and threw her bottle in the recycling and got us both another beer.

She drank the new one without finishing the thought.

“And what?”

“I can’t.”

“Can’t what?”

“Say it.”

“Skye, you saw me get spanked. You pushed me to her.”

“You said you forgave me,” she pouted.

“I do. But still...”

“Fine. I liked it. She sometimes makes me undress in front of people. Its so humiliating, but...” She bit her lip.

“It turns you on?”

She nodded.

I swallowed. “Now?”

She nodded.

“Did you ever?”

“I didn’t lie about that.”

“Did she try to make you?”

“No,” she said breathlessly.

If we’d been sitting on the sofa, instead of across a table, I would have kissed her. The table either gave me resolve or killed my courage. Fuck resolve. I was almost certain Blake would have encouraged me to fuck Skye.

“Did... ?”

“What?”

“Did you want her to?” At this point, we were whispering, leaning towards each other across the table. It was probably the most intimate moment of my life.

She put the tip of her thumb in her mouth and bit on it, then nodded.

“Like now?”

“Do you think she’d order us?” I asked.

“I don’t know. She never made me, with somebody. Would you?”

I nodded.

“Tell me to.”

I leaned back in the chair and rotated it. “Lean over my lap.”

Her eyes went wide. It wasn’t what she was expecting. But she did.

I caressed her ass through her jeans. She squirmed and I could smell her strongly.

I spanked her once, then twice. She moaned.

“Did she ever spank you bare-bottomed?”

“No,” she panted.

“Well, this will be a first. Pull them down.”

“Oh god, really?”

She got up, awkwardly, stumbling as her tight jeans came down. She left her panties on. I pulled them to her knees.

“You disobeyed.”

“I didn’t mean to...” She said, but then smiled.

I pulled her back over my knee and spanked her softly. She moaned continuously.

“Count fifteen.”

One.

Two. Harder.

Three. Harder.

Four. Harder.

By ten, I was hitting her almost as hard as I could. She was sobbing, but I hit her even harder. Anger I didn’t know I had filled each strike, but she never asked me to stop.

I was full of remorse thirty seconds after I stopped. I’d been brutal. A monster.

“I”m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“I wanted it. It was so good until it wasn’t.” That wasn’t a Skye way of thinking. She had always been more needy and childish.

I caressed her butt gently. “Does that hurt?”

“A little. Don’t stop, though.”

I caressed her for a minute, listening to her breathing become ragged, like I’m certain my own was.

“Can we move? My arms are tired,” she said.

I helped her up and started towards the sofa, but she took my hand and led me into her bedroom. Silently, she sat me on the edge of the bed and laid over my lap. I resumed caressing her ass. She started pushing against my hand, so I slid it between her thighs. She was so wet, my fingers slid into her with out resistance. She bucked against me, coming almost instantly.

Later, we laid next to each other, fingers touching, her naked, me dressed. We hadn’t kissed and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. I was turned on, but I wanted Blake inside of me, or I wanted Tala to watch us.

So I closed my eyes and breathed, letting myself loose the tension. I knew it would come back strong when I told Blake. We’d fuck all night. We’d fuck so much, he’d fuck past the pill and I’d get pregnant, I thought. I laughed.

Skye touched my cheek. “What?”

“Nothing. Just a silly thought.”

“Are you upset? Do you want me to?” She looked down towards my pants.

I help her palm to my lips and kissed it. “No. That was exciting. But I want Blake. Or ... Do you think she wants us to ... in front of her?”

She pulled my hand to her breast. “Do you mind?”

“No, but I don’t think I could do more, okay?”

“No, this is all I want,” she said as she used my hand to explore her breast. “Mmm, that’s nice. I don’t know what Tala wants. I think she just like humiliating and controlling. With you, I knew it turned you on. Are you sure you don’t want me to? I’m kind of curious.”

I shook my head. “No. I’m sure Blake will think this was all very hot, but I don’t want to cheat on him.”

“If she told you to?”

“I don’t know. Part of me never wants to see her again. Maybe the bigger part of me. I might not have said no, but I didn’t consent to that. It frightens me that it turned me on.”

She sighed.

“What?”

She shook her head. “Not now. Do you like this?”

“This? Lying together?”

She pressed my hand into her breast.

“I don’t mind. I guess I do like it. Part of me wants to get home and fuck Blake to death. But part of me is very content right now. You have very nice breasts.”

I took the initiative and started to explore them more. The idea of sucking on her nipples wasn’t at all unpleasant, although I was worried that she wouldn’t want to stop at that. Blake was an excuse, of course. I didn’t want to cheat, but I also wasn’t sure I really wanted to have sex with Skye. Actually, I was certain I didn’t. After I stopped partying, I became the responsible one. She started felt a bit like my kid sister. Exploring her body didn’t seem incestuous, but kissing or going down on her did. It didn’t make sense, but its what how it felt. So I took joy in her breasts and even down her belly, but I stopped my hand before it went much farther.

“Can I take your shirt off?”

“No, lets just lie here, okay?” I pulled my hand away from her belly and took hers. I clutched it by our chins. She pushed towards me and kissed me, but it was more of a peck than a real kiss.

“We shouldn’t.”

“Okay. Are you mad?

“Not at you. I love you, Skye. More than Blake, even. But I’m not sure about Tala. It was so wrong, but part of me wanted it. Wanted it a lot.”

“And wants it to happen again?”

“Maybe...” I bit my lip. She was so mad the last time I’d asked her if she was gay, but now... “Skye, are you a lesbian?”

Her expression switched instantly to one of the most painful things I’ve ever seen. I pulled her against me, just like I would a kid sister. She cried, but didn’t answer my question.

That night, Blake did fuck the shit of me. Or I fucked the shit out of him. He came three times in four hours and was hard enough to ride me for until three a.m. Each time he lagged, I told him some new detail about spanking Skye. Okay, maybe I embellished a bit. He didn’t seem to mind the idea of her making me come so hard I squirted in her mouth. And without it risking turning real, the fantasy was really hot for me, too.

The next morning, as I took the el to work, I started to worry about Skye and my last “maybe.” I shouldn’t have implied I was available like that. I didn’t know if Skye was holding back from admitting she was gay just because her parents fucked her over so much with shame, or if there was more to it. Like me. I wracked my brain for things that might suggest she was in love with me. There were hundreds of things, but all of them could also be us just being best friends. Maybe she wasn’t gay as much as a submissive. Or maybe she was just using Tala to get me in bed ... no, if she wanted me, I was sure it was more than just some making out she had in mind.

Did Skye have any say in what Tala did? Not directly, of course, but indirectly, through suggestion or hints? Maybe it was just a matter of Tala intuiting a secret desire, like she intuited both Skye and I would enjoy being spanked and humiliated. Every part of my mind told me I didn’t want Skye, but what if some part, some powerful part I’d buried away, did and Tala knew that?

That night, Blake and I fucked until I was too sore for more. The next night, we were still too sore, too fucked out, so we cuddled on the sofa watching tv we didn’t care about.

“Do you think you’ll do it again?”

I thought he was asking about making popcorn, which I had just done. My mind was finally away from sex. “We’re not done with it.”

“Really?” He asked excitedly.

“Oh, god!” I threw popcorn at him. “You mean Skye and I fucking. Well, first, I made some of that up.”

“Really?”

“Yep. You do know that having sex with somebody else is cheating, right? Like if you are horsing around at the gym and end up spanking some bro’s ass, you can’t just suck him off or get a blow job, even if you tell me about it.”

He laughed. “Touché. I promise, no blow jobs. Ever.”

“No ass fucking either.”

“Cross my heart. So you didn’t cheat.”

“I spanked her, and, yes, fingered her. So I suppose you can jerk off Mr. Dreamy-ass.”

“Pass.”

“I played with her boobs a bit, too. But no kissing. No oral.”

“But you liked it.”

I explained how I thought of Skye as a sister and all the complications.

“Oh, wow, yeah, that makes sense. You’re not mad that it turns me on something awful thinking about it, though?”

“I see myself as the beneficiary.”

“What about Tala?”

“God, I don’t know. To be honest, I want to see her again.”

“To have her order you around?”

I nodded.

“What if she makes you do something with Skye?”

“That’s what scares me. I might say yes.”

“You have my permission if she does.” He grinned. “You just have to tell me about it.”

“Blake, I’m happy this turns you on, but if Skye really is in love with me, she’s going to try to take me away from you. We’re so close, I don’t think she could just take me as a lover. She craves a life partner.”

“But you wouldn’t—”

“Want to ever have to chose. I love you both so much I can’t imagine being without either of you.”

He nodded, his grin gone. “Good answer. Scary answer, but good answer.”

After we’d gone to bed, he asked, “What if Tala makes you do things to her? Or does more than spank you?”

“That,” I said, finding the will for another fuck, “I would let happen in a second. I need a picture of her. You’ll fuck me twice as hard think of her in leather, fucking me with a strap-on.” Which was all it took to get him inside of me.

It took me three weeks before I was ready to go back to Tala. All three of us had a pleasant lunch, with nothing to suggest the last time I saw her, Tala spanked me. Except she wiped my mouth. She ordered me soup, and when the waiter can to see how our meals was, reached over and wiped off my mouth. I was certain I didn’t need it. I blushed as she traced the napkin over my lips. When she pulled it away, I instinctively ran my tongue over where she wiped. My breath was heavy. Then it was over, as if nothing had happened.

It took two more weeks before she took us shopping, and that was for shoes. Our afternoon meetings were so non-eventful that Blake and I began finding stories online to fill this new need. In bed, we didn’t speak of the roles were were taking on. I think part of it was that he was playing Tala and neither of us wanted to imagine him as a woman. But the longer Tala denied me another controlling, humiliating experience, the more I relied on Blake to fill that role ... and the more I imagined it was her, not him.

We acted out the bathroom as changing room fantasy often and every time, I imagined Tala fucking me. I never spoke her name, but at times, Blake so transformed in my mind that the hands on my body felt petite, bird-like. I actually squirted a bit when her fingers found my clit.

The next weekend, Tala took us to a steakhouse and ordered m a prime rib. It was much too much for me, and I didn’t care for steak at all. I changed my order to a salad. Tala made an angry face, and Skye looked slightly panicked, but nothing else happened. We ate as if I were eating the steak and that was it.

However, the next weekend, I wasn’t invited to lunch. Tala took Skye to Cartier and bought her a diamond necklace. The next week, I was also excluded, and Skye received another absurdly expensive gift. It was then I realized how sad Tala was. She thought not getting gifts was punishment, like our affection was bought. With Skye, that was probably true at first. She was desperate for much of what Tala bought her. For me, owning such expensive things was actually a bit embarrassing. Most of it I couldn’t wear to work, nor did they fit my afterwork life. Some of it I’d quietly donated to charity. Several of the dressed got used a sex props for changing room fantasies between Blake and I, and nothing else. One I was afraid to dry clean because of the fluid stains were too obvious. Tala could pay for nothing and I’d still let her order me about because I’d come to realize I wanted that from her.

Blake told me to take out the trash one night, then told me to make him dinner. We often just said things like, “Honey, take out the trash.” They weren’t orders, just short-hand. But when he told me to clean up the dishes, I realized he was trying to Tala me.

“Honey, when you say it, it just sounds like an asshole man being a dick. Sorry.”

“Sorry. Do you think she’ll go back to the old ways?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she’s done with me.”

She wasn’t. The next weekend, she invited me to her condo for the first time. Skye greeted me at the door in a maid uniform and offered me a glass of wine. Tala sat in a large chair in the middle of an extravagant, 18th-century-looking living room.

“Come here, Madeline.”

When I stood in front of her, she waved to Skye, who took my glass wordlessly. I’d had a sip.

“Madeline, your grooming habits are unacceptable for a professional woman.”

I blushed. Skye was the one Tala corrected. Skye was the slightly-out-of-order friend. I was the polished professional. But Tala’s eye was so sharp. Whatever she felt was wrong, probably was.

“I’ve engaged with a professional to sort this out. Call your husband. You’ll be getting home late.”

I looked to Skye, who bit her lip, but her eyes dazzled. When I called Blake, he asked me if I thought Tala was going to fuck me. I said I didn’t know. I trembled a bit, partly out of desire, but also because now that it looked like it might happen, I wasn’t at all sure I wanted it to.

Skye gave me wine back, then kneeled in front of Tala, holding the tray for us.

Tala drank her glass silently and I couldn’t think of anything to say. When Tala finished her glass, she put it on the tray and waved her hand. Skye stood and took my glass.

“Skye, take Madeline into the guest room and get her ready.”

Wordlessly, I followed Skye, first into the kitchen, which was far more grand than my own or even my parents designer kitchen, then into a bedroom.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“You’re being punished. I need to undress you.”

“For the steak?”

I started to unbutton my blouse. Skye grabbed my hand.

“Yes. I’m to undress you. Just stand.”

If this had happened in front of Tala, it would have been mortifying, but with Skye, it was just strange ... and a little exciting.

“Did you ask her to do this?” I whispered as her fingers grazed my breasts under the pretense of unbuttoning my shirt.

“God no. You disobeyed.”

“Is she going to fuck me?”

“I don’t think so,” Skye said, standing behind me and pushing her lips against my earlobe. “She’d never touched me like that.”

“Did you ask?”

She pulled my blouse off, caressing my arms, then kissed my neck. “No.”

She slid to her knees to unzip my pencil skirt. She used pulling it off as an excuse to caress my ass and thighs. I could feel her ragged breath on my panties. She didn’t feel a bit like my kid sister anymore.

She carefully set my clothes on the bed, then knelt in front of me and put a pair of tall heels on me, caressing my arch. I was literally dripping.

Skye took a box from the dresser and told me to follow her.

“I’m not completely undressed. She’ll be angry.”

Skye put a finger into my panties and tugged, but didn’t pull them down. “She wants to see that.”

I walked behind her, as if on a leash until I was standing in front of Tala.

“Turn around.”

I blushed deeply. My chest probably bloomed.

“Turn back to me.”

I did, unconsciously covering my bra with my arm.

“Finish, Skye.”

Skye stood behind me and unclasped my bra. She slid it off me, rubbing her palms over my nipples. I moaned despite, or perhaps because of my humiliation. Skye put the bra on a side table, carefully folding it while Tala stared at my naked body. I wondered if she liked what she saw. Skye is so lush, a full D-cup. Tala’s breast are full, too. Mine are so small, my palms are thicker.

Skye came back and stood in front of me. She put her hands on my shoulders. I started to bend my knees, thinking she was pushing me down, but she slid her hands to my breasts and pulled on the nipples. Instead of kissing me, like I wanted, she slid to her knees. She kept her hands on my little tits, rubbing them, while she kissed my belly down to my panties. She nibbled the waistband into her mouth and began sliding them down.

Her nose pushed into my wet bush. I wanted to push her head between my thighs, but I left my arms hanging at my sides, waiting for Tala to instruct me.

Skye’s hands left my nipples and she pulled my panties to my knees, pushing a finger into my ass crack as she brought them down. Once I stepped out of them, she folded them in half and put them on top of my bra.

Tala shook her head. “That’s completely unacceptable. I thought after your experience at the lingerie store, you’d realize you must keep yourself neat, but it looks like you don’t even know what wax is.”

I looked down. I kept my bush trimmed, but it was early April, so I hadn’t thought about the sides. I covered it with my hand.

“Hands to your sides, Madeline. This must be fixed.” She took her phone out and sent a text message. Less than a minute later, a doorbell rang.

“Answer the door.”

“But I’m naked.”

“Do you need a spanking?”

“No,” I said as I went to the door. When I opened it, a tiny woman and two men stared at me. The woman wasn’t much older than me and cute. The men were older, rougher. One of them nodded to the other. I blushed to my belly.

“They think you’ve been having intercourse, Madeline,” Tala said. “Invite them in.”

“P-please come in,” I stammered.

The woman ran her finger up my arm as she came in. I shivered and let out a slight moan.

The men leered at me as they carried a table past me and put it down in the middle of the living room. I had the feeling they’d done this before. Skye? I covered myself as best as I could.

“Madeline, stand where you were when Skye undressed you. Hands to your sides. You’re disobedient and promiscuous. I can smell you from over here. You hardly deserve any modesty.”

Instead of complaining that I was a faithful, married woman, I did what she said. Because the truth was, if she told me to go down on Skye or her I would. I was afraid she was going to have me suck off the movers and I wasn’t sure I’d say no.

“This is Alice and her uncles. They’ve never seen a woman get a wax before, so they’ll want to watch very closely as Alice repairs your sloppy personal care. Turn so they can see your messy pubis.”

I bit my lip and turned to the men.

“Straighten up, Madeline. Your posture is atrocious.”

The men laughed. The taller one said, “If you shave that, she’ll like like a very tall child.” His eyes made his point clear, staring at my breasts. I hadn’t felt insecure about them since I was in high school. I groaned when the other man nodded.

“Tom, be quiet,” Alice said, “and set up the table.”

They didn’t ask where, further confirming my suspicion I wasn’t the first person to get waxed in Tala’s apartment. I had to move so they could set it up three feet in front of Tala’s chair. Once they did, Tom went back to the hall and came back with a stool and a box.

“Sit, darling,” Alice said, patting the table.

“You’ve been waxed, I assume,” she said as she opened up the box and began pulling out her supplies. “Spread.”

“Wider, Madeline,” Tala added. “You owe our guests a better view.”

Tom and the other man were sitting in chairs Skye must have gotten them, drinking wine. Skye kneeled by Madeline’s side. She licked her lips as I spread my legs. I closed my eyes, trying to hide from my shame.

Alice began applying lotion, but she didn’t start with my bikini area. She message my thighs. I squirmed with arousal.

“God, she’s a hot bitch,” the man not named Tom said. I think I grimaced. The humiliation as overwhelming.

“Mike, that’s inappropriate language for this house,” Tala said. “Either you’ll behave or you’ll leave.”

“Sorry, ma’am.”

“Madeline, don’t hide your eyes from mine. Look at me.”

I met her eyes. She wore a slight smile, but otherwise gave no indication I was naked in front of her.

Alice had started on my vulva. There was no way she didn’t know I was almost palpitating with lust. I grabbed the edge of the table to keep myself from shoving her face into my cunt.

Tala touched the necklace she wore, directing my eyes to her cleavage. Her blouse was open almost to her bra. It wasn’t anything that would be unusual even in public. But I saw a hint of moisture and could make out the outlines of her nipples. She let go of the necklace and petted Skye’s head. Skye was pressing her thighs together and licking her lips.

Returning my gaze back to Tala’s eyes, my caught a glance of Tom touching himself through his trousers. I could hardly blame him.

As Alice began applying the wax, the intensity of the sensation pushed me over the edge and I had a little orgasm. If she put her finger in me or licked me, I’d fall down from coming so hard. But instead, she proceeded to wax me like a professional. Perhaps it was training from gynecologist visits and salons, but the process dislodged the erotic trance enough that the rest of the waxing went without little tremors from my cunt.

“All done, dear,” Alice said, running the tip of her finger over my labia and sending an erotic chill up my spine.

“Would you like to inspect, ma’am?” she asked Tala.

Tala stood and held out her hand to Alice, who put a latex glove on it and handed her a mirror. Tala sat on the stool in front of me and pushed my thighs further apart. Tom and the other man got up and came stood next to Tala, staring intently at my denuded cunt. I felt like a specimen.

Tala put the mirror under me and studied my ass crack and vulva for any sign of hair. I couldn’t see anything that Alice might have missed. I hadn’t been this naked down there since I was a child. If my lips were’t so inflamed and wet, I might look like a girl. But no girl had such a ready cunt.

Tala nodded to Alice, who smiled as if awarded a trophy for Aesthetician of the Year. Then Tala pulled on my outer lips. I moaned and pushed my pelvis at her, but she didn’t give me more stimulation.

“Be more disciplined, Madeline. You’re not a mare being displayed for breeding.”

Tom snorted. “But she looks like one. A baby, but ready for a nice breeding.”

When I look at him, he spread his legs to show the giant erection tenting his trousers. My blush covered my entire chest.

“I haven’t given her permission to breed, Tom,” Tala said just as she stabbed a finger into me.

I moaned loudly and squeezed my cunt around it, trying to get over the top. Tala pulled her finger out before I could.

“She’s tight, though. You have wonderful vaginal strength, Madeline.”

“She looks like a virgin,” Mike said.

“No she doesn’t,” Alice said. “I’ll bet you fifty dollars she had sex more than once last night. Maybe this morning.”

“Nope,” Tom said. When I looked at him, he stroked his cock through his pants. There was a small wet spot where the tip met the fabric. “She’s no virgin, but her husband hasn’t done his duties for at least a week. Look at how desperate she is.”

The humiliation of them talking about my intimate life like that ... and like I wasn’t there ... was too much. Tears started to flow down my cheeks.

“Shall we make it two-hundred?” Tala asked, lowering her face close to sniff my vagina.

Alice laughed. “And how do we determine the winner?”

“We ask Madeline, of course.”

“No fair, she’s probably told you,” Mike objected.

“Madeline, have we discussed how recently you were intimate with your husband?”

“No,” I mumbled.

She nodded. “So, Alice, what do you bet? When and how many times?”

“Twice, last night.” She took a step closer and reached past Tala to caress my cheek. “Vaginal the first time. She attempted anal the second, but decided to put her husband off with a oral sex instead.”

Tala nodded. “So we must wager on the kind of sex as well as the timing. Mike?”

“Well, she’s married, so I won’t stick with virgin. But I think Alice is onto something with oral. I bet she’s reluctant with penetration. Three days ago, oral with the lights out. She’s too shy for the lights and probably a bit afraid to have her husband look at those little girl tits ... excuse me, breasts. I bet she worries her husband really wants Skye. That girl has real breasts.”

“Interesting,” Tala said. “Tom?”

“Well, first, I think I need to correct Mike. This one’s little tatter tots aren’t much bigger than a grade schooler’s but they’re nice. On the other hand, she’s here, with all of us staring at her, and those tears can’t hide the smell coming from her crotch.”

I groaned.

“So I think her husband isn’t doing his marital duties very well. But I don’t think it’s a lack of frequency. I think it has to do with technique. Or maybe size.”

Alice snorted.

Tom pulled his trousers to outline his cock completely. It was huge. “So, either because he’s a little bit of a pansy or because he’s a just a little bit, she’s not getting what she needs. I bet she woke him this morning, hoping to get off nice and good before she came to get your treatment, ma’am.”

“Just once? Vaginal, oral, anal, combination or something else?”

“Judging by her eyes, she devoured his penis, but his orgasm caught her surprise, so there was no vaginal. She doesn’t do anal.”

“Skye, did Madeline tell you anything that would disqualify you. And don’t touch yourself in front of company. That’s déclassé. You should know better.”

Skye’s dropped her hand from her breast and blushed as deeply as I was. “I’m sorry.”

“Well, did she tell you anything?”

“Not specifics, but I know enough that I shouldn’t wager.”

Tala removed the latex glove and put a finger on my labia, then tasted it. “Last night. She started with exchanged oral...” She looked at my face, bearing into my eyes. “No, that’s not quite it. She and her husband engaged in role play...” She tapped her finger against the tip of my nose. I squirmed.

“It wasn’t in the bedroom. Someplace he could push her against the wall and yank her panties down. He took her from behind, strictly vaginal. She thought of someone else as he penetrated her. Later, they exchanged oral sex, but not to completion. When he was erect, she initiated vaginal sex and again thought of someone else. She orgasmed more than once. Skye, please collect everyone’s wagers before Madeline reveals the winners.”

Skye picked up the serving tray and went to Alice and her uncles. Each dutifully put their bills on the tray. I felt like I was being sold off. Tala took the money and went to a desk, placing it plus money of her own in an envelope. She wrote my name on it, then used yarn to tie it around my neck.