Chapter 14

Several interesting things happened over the next month. Sarah Bernstein was released from the hospital two days after Raul’s visit. Ken Early flew to Bucharest to do some research for his story. Raul was sworn in as a citizen of the United States. Dr. Widener invited Horst Schuler to spend a (intimate?) weekend with her at her cabin. Rhonda was given permission to spend a fateful weekend with Andrea, Eric and Anton.

When she got back to town, Sarah called Raul at the home and offered an apology for her rude behavior when he came to visit. Raul calmly explained that he wouldn’t accept any more of her apologies because he truly believed she didn’t have a sincere bone in her body, and that she was so obsessed with her own needs that he couldn’t imagine that she would even offer an apology unless she was planning to ask for something in return.

He was right of course, but she swore her only thought was to make amends and to start their friendship over again, hinting that they might even repeat the great sex they had enjoyed in the motel room. Raul wondered aloud how an otherwise intelligent woman could be so transparent in her motives as to once more attempt to manipulate him into doing something he would most certainly regret. How stupid did she think he was? He told her bluntly that he’d sooner fuck a man than dip his cock into any pussy even vaguely associate with her brain. He was in the midst of inviting her to stay the hell out of his life when she ended the call with, “Fuck you, spick!” He smiled and immediately sent her a text saying, “I get the last word, PUTA!”

A week later Sarah finally admitted defeat, pulled up stakes and moved to Boise, Idaho, hoping to start with a clean, untainted image. She would learn over time that bad reputations tend to stick like super glue and follow you to the ends of the earth.

The national police force in Romania and the municipal force in Bucharest turned out to be far more helpful and forthcoming than Ken expected. Both agencies had already done a considerable amount of investigating into phony orphanages and traffickers of homeless and kidnapped children to sex peddlers around the world. They provided him with more information than he had a right to expect, including the names of some of Anton’s and Sophia’s relatives still living in the area. None of them had any interest in speaking to him, especially the uncle who sold them to the phony orphanage. Ken found it incredibly sad that none of them seemed to carry any remorse or even concern over Sophia’s death or Anton’s wellbeing.

But while he was saddened and disappointed over what he learned, it really shouldn’t have been such a great surprise. Romania, like so many former SSR’s, was still pulling itself up by its bootstraps after shedding its disastrous former Communist regime. It’s growing but still struggling economy left a lot of its population wanting, doing whatever it took to pay the bills. As it was in South America, southern Asia, and many other parts of the world, children were a readily available and renewable commodity for those of little conscience to exploit.

Before he flew back home, Ken rented a car and drove around the countryside to take in the beautiful landscape. Overall he found the Romanian people to be quite friendly, generous and welcoming. That experience raised his spirits considerably, and in spite of the nature of his investigation, he left the country with a more positive attitude than the one he arrived with.

Attendees at Raul’s swearing-in included most of the people he now considered to be his family: Dr. Widener, Eric, Anton, Rhonda and even Horst Schuler. Ken was still in Romania and Andrea couldn’t get the day off. By way of a celebration, Widener insisted on treating them all to lunch at a restaurant of Raul’s choosing. He went with the Mongolian Barbecue. Anton was so taken by the variety of foods that he nearly ate himself into a torpid state. Even at that, he walked out with a full doggie-box.

When they got back to the home, Widener presented Raul with a totally unexpected gift. She just happened to be acquainted with the head of the music department at the University, and she had been touting Raul’s skills and background as an academy-trained musician and instructor. She handed him the professor’s card with a date and time for his interview on the back. There was no guarantee of a position, of course, but it was a step toward getting his chosen career back on track.

Eric had to do some fast talking to convince Dr. Widener to allow Rhonda to spend the weekend with him, Andrea and Anton. Rhonda promised to be on her best behavior, and when Anton threw his own plea into the mix, she finally caved. Rhonda would leave with Eric and Anton that afternoon and be back at the home in time for classes on Monday morning.

Widener pointedly asked about sleeping arrangements and was assured that Rhonda would stay in the guest bedroom. Even though there was little doubt that Anton and Rhonda would be engaging in sex at the first opportunity, and that Eric and Andrea were anything but tight-assed about such goings-on, she gave her permission, accepting the reality that nature would not be denied.

For her part, Rhonda’s behavior was all they could have hoped for. She was pleasant and cooperative, insisting on helping with dinner, both the preparation and the cleaning up. She wasn’t consciously trolling for praise, but since her sixteenth birthday, she knew she was at the top of the list to be placed in a foster home, and she didn’t want to do anything that might hasten that decision — that is, unless she could somehow convince Eric and Andrea to do for her what they were doing for Anton.

After dinner, they got into a brutal, cut-throat game of Monopoly, now Anton’s favorite board game. Within a couple of hours, he had maneuvering Eric and Rhonda into bankruptcy without so much as a pang of conscience. Andrea remarked that if he chose not to pursue a career in music — perish the thought! — he’d surely have a great future in the financial industry as a corporate raider.

When bedtime rolled around, Rhonda momentarily slipped back into her bluntly aggressive nature. She took Anton’s hand and pointedly asked Andrea and Eric, “Can Anton and I just get right to it, or would you rather I wait until you guys go to bed before I sneak into his room?”

Andrea hadn’t missed Anton’s squirming around, pulling at his jeans and trying to hide his half-staff, anticipatory erection. She laid her arm over the girl’s shoulder and said, “Let’s dispense with any pretense, shall we? I put some condoms in the drawer of Anton’s nightstand. I know you’re supposed to be on the pill, Rhonda, but have to insist. Enough said?”

The raw brutality of the life each of them had endured negated any value in false modesty, and it said a lot about Anton’s and Rhonda’s forced maturity that neither of them were the least bit embarrassed by that exchange. It was a toss-up who was in greater need as they practically raced down the hall toward his bedroom.

A bit later, stimulated by the bumps, thumps and guttural vocalizations coming through the thin bedroom wall, Eric and Andrea enjoyed an intense session of their own, starting out with an enthusiastic soixante–neuf, and climaxing with her riding him like a rodeo bull across her king-size bed. Judging from the cessation of noise from the next bedroom, they’d outlasted the kids by a good twenty minutes.

As they lay side by side cooling down, Andrea floated an idea that had been rattling around in her head since they decided to ask Widener if Rhonda could spend the weekend with them. She asked, “Since she’s sixteen now, doesn’t that mean Rhonda’s going to be placed with a foster family pretty soon?”

Eric rolled onto his side and brushed some loose strands of hair from her face. “Yeah, that’s the way it usually works. Exceptions are allowed sometimes, but there’s a long list of kids the courts want to place with Widener for treatment, and the home only has a certain number of spaces available.”