Chapter 8

"Hey, why the glum looks?" asked Rhonda. "I was the one out late last night and with the early class this morning."

Wendy and Lin Tai glanced at each other, neither yet ready to discuss what had happened last night.

"Uh, we both hit the books pretty hard last night and I've got a test coming up later this morning," replied Wendy.

"And I have paper due," added Lin Tai.

Rhonda had never been happier. Last night, she and Paul had hiked a nature trail and then picnicked on a scenic overlook. They had kissed and Paul had quietly told her he was falling in love with her. She had assured him the feeling was mutual and when night fell and they found themselves alone, Rhonda would not have objected if they had consummated their relationship under the stars, but Paul was still filled with guilt and doubt over Jane, so Rhonda had not pushed. He was worth waiting for, she thought. That part of their relationship would come. She only needed to give him a bit more time.

"Well, bleary eyed or not, I'm off to class," she smiled, wolfing down the rest of her toast and coffee. "See you this evening."

As the door closed behind Rhonda, Wendy quickly looked to Lin Tai.

"Lin Tai, please let me apologize for..."

"Cannot talk now. Must think about Twan Lee."

"I'm sure he's a wonderful man."

"He not want whore."

"He doesn't ever have to know... and you're not a whore."

"Not sure Lin Tai can keep such secret."

"Don't tell him, Lin Tai. It will only create problems for you both. Just make it up to him by being the best wife a man could have."

"Not sure. Need to think."

"Look, I wanted you very much last night. I admit it. I thought you wanted me too. Whatever dilemma I have placed you in... I'm sorry."

The young Asian looked up and their eyes met.

"Lin Tai ashamed. I enjoy last night. That wrong. I promised to Twan Lee. He man I love, want to marry."

"And you will. Please, last night was a mistake on both our parts. It can remain our secret, forever."

Tears moistened the corners of the Asian's eyes.

"I..."

But the words would not come.

"Just think about it, OK?" said Wendy, walking over to hug her roommate, but Lin Tai withdrew, not yet ready for a reconciliation.

"Maybe we can talk tonight, OK?" asked Wendy. But the lovely petite Thai averted her eyes and when she made no response, Wendy, tears forming in her own eyes, grabbed her books and was out the door.

Lin Tai sat in the dorm room all morning, struggling with her conscience. She knew the honorable thing to do was to write a letter to Twan Lee, admitting her infidelity and releasing him from the engagement, for she was sure that forgiveness was totally out of the question. Yet, even as she took paper and pen in hand, she could not bear the thoughts of losing the man who meant everything to her. At last, she resolved, with a great deal of trepidation, to take Wendy's suggestion and keep what had transpired last night a secret, a secret that she would somehow learn to live with, a secret she would make up to Twan Lee by devoting her life to making him happy. Uneasily, she put away the writing utensils and determined to also have that talk with Wendy, forgive her, for after all Wendy had simply played the seductress, it had been Lin Tai who had surrendered her fidelity and her body to the attractive blonde American. Yes, she thought, tonight Wendy and I will talk. We will both begin anew.

Moments later the phone rang.

"Room 311, this is Lin Tai," she said into the receiver.

"Lin Tai, my name is Eric and I think you're going to want to see me Saturday night," said the voice on the other end.

"I sorry. Lin Tai engaged. No date."

"You don't seem to understand," replied the voice. "You'll going to do exactly as I say unless you want your boyfriend Twan Lee to know that you're a lesbian whore."

Her mouth dropped open, her heart feeling as if it had been pierced by a lance.

"I know what you did with your roommate last night. Listen..."

There was an audible click on the other end as a "play" button was pushed and the sound of Lin Tai's screams as she orgasmed came through all too plainly and painfully.

"... How... how you... ?"

"Never mind how. The fact remains I have the tape and unless you want Twan Lee to receive a copy of it along with all the details of how you stripped and then sucked your roommate to orgasm..."

"Stop! Please, stop!" she cried into the phone.

"All right, as long as we understand ourselves."

"... What... you want?"

"The Delts are having a beer party Saturday at their frat house.I want you to be there at eight o'clock, and here's what I want you to wear."

Lin Tai's eyes widened in disbelief as she listened to the description of the outfit.

"But... I have no such things," she gasped.

"Then you better do some quick shopping. I want you there at eight and I want you dressed just the way I described."

"But I cannot..."

"You WILL, or else that tape and a letter will be on its way to Twan Lee by the next morning."

"Please... don't do this," she pleaded.

"Eight o'clock, or ELSE!"

The line went dead. Lin Tai did not even realize she was still holding the receiver until it slipped from her hand and fell noisily to the floor. In a daze, her knees went weak and she slid down the wall into a heap where, her head in her hands, she cried for over an hour.

At last, wearily resolved in her determination to keep last night a secret, she rose, found the bag from which Wendy had given her the negligee last night, noted the name and address of the store, picked up her purse and hesitantly began walking downtown.

"Are you in love with my mommy?"

"Tabitha!" exclaimed Rhonda.

The three were having dinner together at a small restaurant bringing Paul and Tabitha together for the first time. Rhonda had also introduced him to her sister Cathy when they had picked up her daughter for the evening. Cathy had raised her eyebrows a bit since Rhonda had neglected to tell her Paul was White, but his relaxed and easy manner and gentle sense of humor soon had her smiling, at ease and happy that her sister had found a man who made her so happy.

"You don't beat around the bush do you?" asked Paul.

"My mother says I'm precocious."

"I'm inclined to agree," he replied smiling. "But to answer your question, yes, I am falling in love with your mother."

"You're White."

"Ah, you noticed. And I was hoping I could keep that a secret," he said, eliciting a giggle from Rhonda.

"Mommy's never been out with a White man."

"Do you think that my being White is a big thing."

"I don't know. A lot of other grown ups seem to think so."

"Well, do you have some friends at school who are White?"

"Sure, one of my best friends, Mary Ann, is White."

"And does her being White keep you from being friends?"

"No."

"Well, if skin color doesn't matter to friends, why should it matter to two people who love each other?"

"I guess you're right," replied the pigtailed girl.

Rhonda reached under the table and squeezed Paul's hand.

"But you are awfully old," spoke out Tabitha.

Tabitha Leigh Tolan!" cried Rhonda, embarrassed thoroughly.

"No, it's OK," laughed Paul. "Yes, Tabitha I am quite a bit older than your mommy and that means that there will always be some things, ways of thinking and things we like and don't like that will be different and your mommy and I have talked about those, but, we have also talked about the really important things too and we've found that, with them, the difference in our ages makes no difference at all."

"What important things?" asked Tabitha.

"Things like love and respect and our feelings for each other... and others."

"Others?"

Paul picked up on the girl's insecurity.

"One wonderful thing about love, Tabitha, is that you don't have to take it away from one person, to give it to another."

Her head cocked to one side in contemplation.

"I am sure your mommy loves you very much," he continued.

She nodded, smiling at Rhonda.

"And she loved your father very much as well?"

Again there was an affirmative nod.

"So, your mommy didn't have to take anything away from you in order to love your father?"

"Mommy says it's a different kind of love."

"And she's right. She has you, Tabitha, the most important thing in her life, but she also needs and wants love from a grown up and that's where I come in."

"You're trying to make me like you, aren't you?"

Paul and Rhonda both suppressed a laugh.

"Yes, I guess I am, because I'm smart too and I know that unless you like me, your mommy can't ever really love me."

"Gee that makes me pretty important, huh?"

"Yes it does, sweetheart, very, very important... to both of us."

Paul and Rhonda could almost see the young girl relax, confident and secure that Paul was not only not a threat, but actually pretty cool... for an old guy.

"Jane, there's someone here I want you to meet," said Paul to his ex-wife who remained motionless and expressionless in the wheelchair as he stopped them under the shade of a large elm.

They had driven to the home so that, now that Paul had met Tabitha, Rhonda could meet the other love in Paul's life.

He motioned and Rhonda walked up, sitting down on the bench next to the wheelchair. "Honey, this is Rhonda. The young woman I've told you about. The woman I have come to care about a great deal."

There was no change in the expression of the still lovely face.

"Hello, Mrs. Terrance, Paul has told me a lot about you. I'm so pleased we could meet at last," smiled Rhonda.

The expressionless eyes still stared straight ahead, no flickering of cognition at all.

"I hope we can be friends. After, all, we have someone very important in common," she said smiling up at Paul.

"I have a box of chocolates for you," said Paul. "They're in the car. I'll be right back."

When he had left, Rhonda turned back to Jane.

"I... I love him Jane. I know he'll always love you, that you were the first love of his life. I don't want to take him away from you. I only want to share him with you. He has told me he could never leave you and I wouldn't want that either. If he were the kind of man who could turn his back on someone he loves so much, I couldn't love him. But he's so lonely Jane. He needs me too. We both want him happy and that means both of us in his life."

She took one of the woman's hands in hers.

"We both love him, Jane. We both want him happy. Please understand."

For one brief moment, the woman's head turned just slightly, her eyes met those of the lovely Black and she fought through the disease long enough to gently squeeze Rhonda's hand, the faintest trace of a smile crossing her lips before the eyes glazed and she was lost once more, trapped in the mindless void of the terrible affliction.

Paul returned, the three sharing a long walk around the grounds and dinner, Paul lovingly feeding his ex-wife.

As they returned to the car to begin the return journey, Paul held Rhonda's hand.

"I hope, somehow, she understands."

"She understands," replied the other love of his life. "Next week, let's bring her roses. A woman loves to get roses."

For Lin Tai, the week passed all too quickly. Wendy tried, on several occasions, to talk with her, but the Asian was despondent. Never considering the possibility of electronic bugs, Lin Tai could only reason that Wendy, for whatever her perverted reasons had hidden a tape recorder in the room and taped their sexual tryst. Then, for inexplicable reasons, had taken the tape with her that next morning, giving it to this... this Eric who now wielded his power over her. So she refused to talk with Wendy, convinced her roommate had set her up and afraid any further conversations would be taped as well.

Rhonda had noticed that the pretty Asian seemed withdrawn, but assumed it was the pressure of studies, papers and tests. She had asked if Lin Tai needed any help, but the younger girl, not sure who she could trust anymore, politely refused. As the dreaded weekend approached she became even more reclusive and depressed.

"My name Lin Tai. I here to meet Eric," she said to the smiling frat brother, already half bombed, who answered the door.

His eyes roved appreciatively up and down the small but evocative body which stood before him. Lin Tai was wearing a high necked, silk, mini dress of oriental design. It clung to her, accentuating her body in a way she found highly embarrassing. The hemline ended only two inches above her nest, showing lots of her hips and shapely legs, which themselves were covered with black fishnet hose. Her tiny feet were encased in high, metallic, stiletto heels, the thin straps of which wrapped around her legs repeatedly, ending just below her knees.

Lin Tai looked and felt like a cheap whore.

"Hey Mark, someone here for Eric!... must be the girl you were telling us about!" he shouted over the sounds of loud music and raucous laughter. The party was obviously already in full swing. Lin Tai looked in and saw couples everywhere in various states of undress.

A couple came walking by, beers in hand, the young man looking at Lin Tai through alcohol fogged eyes.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" he laughed.

The girl he was with, obviously jealous, took one of his hands and slipped it inside her blouse. He squeezed her breast appreciatively.

"You were saying?" smiled the girl.

" I was saying, let's see if there's somewhere we can be alone," he giggled.

The girl smiled back and the two wandered off. Lin Tai felt a chill run down her back. For a brief moment, she thought of turning and running, but the harsh reality of why she was here kept her feet planted on the doorstep.

Momentarily a rather handsome, muscular, dark haired young man came to the door. Lin Tai was embarrassed the way his eyes looked her up and down twice, undressing her in his mind, before delivering her to the mysterious and evil Eric.

"Follow me," he said, leering, then turning and heading for the stairs. As they moved through the hallway and the large front room, Lin Tai was wrought with anguish and embarrassment as all eyes followed her as she made her way after the man called Mark.

The entire frat house was filled with bodies, male and female, drinking, howling with laughter and shedding selective and strategic items of clothing. As Lin Tai started up the stairs behind the man named Mark, a topless, barefoot coed came running down, shrieking in drunken mirth, followed by a frat brother brandishing her bra and reaching for her panties.

Another couple blocked the stairs, deep in a sensual kiss as the young man's hand made its way up her thigh. Mark and Lin Tai had to climb over the couple to make their way to the top of the stairs. On the second floor, were four rooms, one a bathroom at the far end of the hall. The first door was closed but the unmistakable sounds of passion emanated from the room. The second door was slightly ajar and Lin Tai, despite her modesty and embarrassment glanced in as they passed. She gasped aloud as she saw three men entering an attractive redhead in mouth, nest and anus. Mark laughed at her discomfort and ushered her into the third room, dark except for a single small night light, closing the door behind her, leaving her alone with the young man standing on the far side of the room. She stood transfixed, unable to say anything or even move.