Chapter 5

The bottle with piss was almost empty, and Zoey was turning it upside down to get the last drops out before handing it back to Steve. He gave her a crisp twenty-dollar bill in return.

She used the time she spent drinking to talk about some of the stunts from Fear Factor of the episodes she recently watched. The contestants would have to do scary tricks where they would be afraid to fall or were attached by dogs or dragged by horses, so there was always the fear of pain or death.

“Are you afraid of pain?” Steve asked, “Would you do it?”

“Maybe. I don’t like dentists,” Zoey answered, “But I think I can handle pain.”

“What if I gave you twenty dollars to slap one of your boobs?” Steve suggested, “Or forty for a slap to each boob.”

“Ouch,” said Zoey. Steve hadn’t hit her yet, but just the thought of it had made her scream out in pain. She grabbed both her boobs instinctively to protect them.

Steve laughed. “Not so easy when you have to say yes, isn’t it?” he said, challenging Zoey.

Zoey looked at Steve momentarily and said: “Fine, I will do it. What do I need to do?”

Steve told Zoey to take her shirt off. These days, she was quite comfortable with that as she had taken off her shirt with other stunts to avoid it getting wet. Once her shirt was off, he told her to lean against a tree with her right arm and lean on that arm, and to keep the left arm on her back.

This position was advantageous for Steve. He placed himself on Zoey’s right side, and since she was leaning on her right arm, she could not stop him, or she would faceplant on the tree. By leaning against the tree, he also has a clear path to hit her boob with his right hand.

Zoey looked at Steve, realizing her vulnerable position. The dogs were not going to rescue her; they were chewing on the bones Steve brought every day for them. She felt fear, but she figured that was the point of this stunt. It was not. Steve enjoyed making her do humiliating things for money.

“Ready?” Steve asked, “It will hurt and probably is going to leave a mark.”

Zoey wasn’t sure, but she didn’t want to quit.

Steve brought his hand close to her boob to aim but backed off. Zoey had closed her eyes but opened them again when no hit was coming. She noticed Steve digging in his backpack and took out a rubber dog toy. He told her to open her mouth and placed the toy between her teeth.

“Bite on this,” he said, “It is to protect your teeth and tongue, and so nobody can hear you scream.”

It sounded reasonable, but the truth was that he had been thinking about how to make a stunt for her with that toy in her mouth. It was one of his dog’s favorite toys and had absorbed quite a bit of dog slobber.

Steve placed his hand near her boob again to aim. It was so close that she could almost feel the heat of his hand. Zoey closed her eyes and bit down on the toy. Steve saw some slobber squirt out. Some must have come out on the other side as he saw her swallow.