Chapter 181

“I really can’t think about kissing when I’ve got a rebellion to incite.”
—Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire

Donna couldn’t travel on Tuesday because she was still grading papers and had to get everything in by the end of the day. She arrived about noon on Wednesday while we were still in our first run-through. We kept stopping, working with Sophie and Brittany on the dance sequences, and dodging around the guys who were setting up the band shell.

Soon after she arrived, the tech crew for the video showed up. These guys were setting up a whole different level of equipment than we’d used before. We’d seen a sample when we did our last stage performance here in DC but the level was much higher for this performance. There were four cameras, including one that was located just to the side of the bandshell and one at the downstage corner on the same side. Two cameras were stationed in the aisles on dollies.

“Geez! All this camera stuff for our stream?” I said as I saw them setting up. Donna went straight to meet with the camera director. I recognized him from our last DC performance.

“They’ll be recording and broadcasting all three acts,” Remas said. “Remember, the New Year’s Eve performance will be broadcast live on cable.”

“Will we have a chance to see the other acts?” I asked.

“We have a full dress rehearsal that is supposed to run exactly as the show does tomorrow afternoon. I think the jazz ensemble is slated to start playing at three o’clock, which should put us on stage at five-thirty. There are two fifteen-minute intermissions and all the equipment from one act has to be removed from the stage so all the crap from the next act can be set. These guys...” she pointed to the backstage crew, who were still adjusting curtains and lights, “know what they’re doing. It’s a whole field of expertise trained at the school.”

“Do the other acts need rehearsal time here other than the dress tomorrow? Are we hogging the space?”

“No. Even the camera work is easier. They are music groups and there are only so many directions you can shoot them. They can practice anywhere. Our group, with Sophie and Brittany dancing and with the electronic titles that will be displayed and superimposed on the scene, is the most complicated of the lot. That’s why we go last,” Remas said.

I let the tech take care of itself and we started from the top to rehearse our program again.

“I need you, Jacob,” Cindy said. “I can’t believe how uptight I am about this tour. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever done. I need you to fuck me.”

“Cindy, honey, come to bed and I’ll make love with you. It’s a big deal for me, too. You have a lot more performance hours in front of audiences than I have,” I said.

“No, Jacob. You don’t understand,” she said. “I love to make love with you. I love feeling so connected when you are sliding in my vagina. I love looking in your eyes when we make love. But right now, I need you to fuck my ass. I need you to tower over me and dominate me. I need you to own me so I know you’ll protect me and take care of me on stage. Fuck me, Jacob.”

It was a little disturbing for me to hear words like ‘own me’ and ‘dominate me.’ At the same time, having her ask me to fuck her ass was having a decidedly positive impact on my cock. We hadn’t done that since we started vaginal sex after the winter dance. And, honestly, sinking into Cindy’s ass was awesome. I wanted it. I guess that’s what made me decide to give her all she wanted.

“Come here, my Piper,” I commanded. We were still in the living room of the two-bedroom suite—same apartment we’d occupied in September. In order to accommodate all seven of us, we’d pulled the sofa bed in the living room out. It was made up but we hadn’t determined who was sleeping where yet. Everyone paused to look at me, unaccustomed to my tone of voice. Cindy stood in front of me, ramrod straight. I wasn’t going to tear any clothes, but I wasn’t being particularly gentle about removing them from her either. She started to help. I pushed her hands away.

“I’ll undress you,” I said. “I want to see your body revealed at my own pace. Just stand there while I look at the slope of your shoulders and the hollow of your neck. I want to trace the curve of your breasts. I want to pinch your nipples until they are so hard you ache for release. And look at your back. Turn around. I want all your pod mates to see you. I want them to worship your perfection.” I traced her spine down to her panties, the last article of clothing she was wearing. She’d begun to pant and had a rosy flush growing all up her torso and face.

“What are you doing, Jacob?” Donna whispered in my ear.

“Cindy, my little Piper girl, wants to be dominated and fucked in the ass,” I said. “I think our whole pod should see what kind of girl she really is. I think they should all pet her tiddies and suck her nipples while she stands motionless in front of them. You should run your fingers through her slit and feel how wet she is, just thinking about being on display in front of her pod mates. You should watch as I lube up her asshole and fuck it with my cock.”

The rest of the pod started moving closer to Cindy and stroking her. They sucked her nipples. Sophie crawled between her legs, nudging them farther apart as she raised her face and licked Cindy’s crotch. Cindy shook, moving to hold Sophie’s head. I gently removed her hands from Sophie and placed them back at her side, smoothing down her arms.

“I will take care of you, Piper. All you have to do is stand here quietly. I’ll make sure all your needs are met.” Desi moved behind me and got my trousers pulled down, freeing my cock. Cindy jumped when she felt me rub it in her crack. Brittany stopped sucking on a nipple, letting Donna take over as she ran to the bedroom to get lube for me. I dropped to my knees behind Cindy and drew my tongue up her crease, tickling her asshole as I went and pausing at the bottom to touch tongues with Sophie. Remas moved in close to kiss Cindy. I kept her hands held at her sides.

I moved Cindy to the sofa bed and pushed her forward until she knelt at the edge. Desi had her mouth over my cock, making sure I was good and wet as I squirted a bit of lube directly into Cindy’s ass. Remas moved in front of Cindy and pushed the girl’s head down between her spread legs. This caused Cindy’s ass to be thrust even more up in the air. I stepped forward and simply shoved my cock into Cindy’s ass all in one movement. She whined into Remas’s pussy with increasing volume as I sank into her.

“I will take care of you,” I said as I pulled back and slammed into her. “Your pod mates will take care of you. We will all protect you. We will give you what you need. You are ours ... and ... no one ... can take ... you away.” I slammed deep into her ass as I let go a fountain of come. With the volume Cindy screamed as she came, I figure Remas’s pussy is now officially deaf.

And Cindy fell forward off my cock as she passed out.

Since we were the most complicated act in the show, we spent Thursday morning going cue by cue through the program, feeling like we were slabs of meat being pushed around on the stage. But when it came time for the dress rehearsal, everything went like clockwork. I was still surprised, though, that neither Dr. Donahue nor anyone else from the commission showed up to preview our performance. It looked like they were really leaving it all to our discretion. That kept me hyper alert for anything that would mess up our chances of getting assigned here.

At the same time, I wasn’t going to water the program down. They declined the opportunity to preview it, so they could live with what we produced. I could tell Donna was a little nervous, as well, when she met with the recording director. Still, they went through the cue book and the crew functioned flawlessly. Members of the orchestra, chorale, and jazz band watched our performance and cheered. I guessed we were doing something right.

At the crew’s request, we did another run-through Friday morning. Everyone else had already left for their Christmas celebrations and we ran the program twice. By that time, Livy and Rachel showed up. Our school-provided bus showed up and we all packed our suitcases and instruments for the trip home.

Em and I sat with our parents at the midnight service at church that night. Yeah, it was a beautiful service, I suppose. We sang the right hymns. We listened to the right scriptures. I held Em’s hand and she held Mom’s. On the far side, I could see that Dad simply had his head bowed with tears dripping from his eyes.

Christmas without Peyton. It just didn’t seem right.

I remembered her words a year and a half ago at her birthday. “I’m going to change the world so people don’t have to be separated from the ones they love.”

Oh, little angel. How much I feel the separation between us now.

I realized I didn’t believe in God anymore. If he was there, he was irrelevant. I promised my little angel that I would fulfill her vow.

After Christmas morning with Mom and Dad, Em and I returned silently to the farm. They had been invited to have Christmas dinner with Rachel’s family. During the day, we all gathered together. It seemed like everyone was a little subdued. Yeah, we were all there. Joan had come in Christmas morning. We all ate our Christmas dinner together and there were a few little presents exchanged. None of us were into exchanging gifts, but we’d supplied money for a gift exchange from our joint funds. We had money in the bank.

That gave me an idea that I decided to run past Rachel and Beca that evening as we lay together in bed.

“What would you think about us all having rings when we go through our ceremony in Boston?” I asked.

“You’ve decided we’ll have the ceremony?” Beca asked.

“If everyone is willing. I don’t want to do anything unless everyone is in. We can just continue the way we are,” I said.

“I’m in,” Rachel said. “I always figured I’d marry you someday. Having all our pod mates just makes it that much better.”

“Me, too,” Beca said. “I think the rings are a great idea. I’ll collect everyone’s ring sizes. You still need to convince Brittany’s parents.”

“I think when they see us all together in California, they’ll understand,” I said. “I’m sorry you and Livy and Joan have to take vacation time to join us out there, Rachel.”

“Oh, we’re not,” she said. “I talked to Joan. We were all assigned temporary duty with the pod between Christmas and New Year’s. We don’t have to report back to our stations until Tuesday January 4th. The third is an official holiday since New Year’s Day is on Saturday.”

“They really want us, don’t they?” I said. “I hope we don’t screw everything up with this performance.”

“If they thought there was a chance of that, they would have intervened before the live stream Monday,” Beca said. “Not one commissioner has inquired about the program. I’m sure they have something planned, but I have no idea what.”

“What’s the congressional calendar like?” I asked.

“They’ll reconvene on Tuesday, as well,” Rachel said. “Then they’ll recess until the following Monday, calling the rest of the first week of January study days for the next session. I’d guess more than half of them won’t show up for rollcall on Tuesday. Bunch of lazy slugs, if you ask me.”

“We need to change that,” I mused. “I don’t know how, but we need to get congress on the side of reform.”

“As long as Jeffries controls the senate, we don’t stand a chance,” Rachel said.

“Then that’s where we’ll have to start.”