Chapter 52: State of Repair

“You could not have showed up at a worse time, Sin. Where were you by the way?”

“Out. Out and about. Why? What’s it to you? As far as interrupting your fun, never mind me. I don’t whisper tales, I don’t sneak peeks, and I don’t listen in. Just pretend I’m not here. Like usual.”

“It’s not me that needs to pretend. Teresa is embarrassed to be seen with me, I think. Truthfully, I don’t know what Teresa’s problem is.”

“Why don’t you ask her?”

“When the time seems right, I will.”

“No you won’t. The timing is never convenient for asking a delicate personal question like, What’s the matter with you? But you could practice on me, if you like?”

“Practice on you, Sin?”

“Sure. Ask me what is the matter with me. What’s my problem?”

“Okay, what?”

“Nah, unt-uhn, nope, you don’t get off that easy. Ask me right.”

“What’s the matter with you, Sin?”

“Oh, nothing much. Nothing a little attention, a little affection, and some sex wouldn’t go a long way towards fixing. Did you even notice me last night, in that squirming pile of oozing sweaty flesh?”

“It’s all a blur this morning. Sorry.”

“Lucky you. Are you sure you don’t remember oh, never mind. Do you really want to know where I went when I was out?”

“Where were you?”

“At the estate. Exploring the store rooms and tunnels.”

“Uncover anything interesting?”

“Me. Spent the night wandering around naked in total privacy. Nobody to spy on me or be shocked or repelled by me. I felt free. Even with all the peepholes. I discovered something interesting. Peepholes. Hundreds of them. There are multiple store rooms connected by secret passages throughout the manor house. There are ten bedrooms at least. Some other rooms appear to be convertible into extra bedrooms, if needed. All can be observed from various angles through peepholes in the store rooms or passageways. The servants quarters were of particular interest to the peeping engineer. A greater average of peepholes looked in on servant’s bedrooms. What do you make of it. Besides a voyeur lived there at one time?”

“Curious. More expense for us. We’ll have to plug the peepholes and always wonder in our innermost thoughts, if we might have missed a few.”

“We should intentionally leave a few discreet ones.”

“Discreet peepholes? What an odd concept, odd juxtaposition of words.”

“You should take Teresa exploring. Find a quiet nook and satisfy your curiosities once and for all.”

“That’s an excellent idea. Not the dusty nook part, but maybe a romantic picnic in a pretty spot overlooking the sea. Thanks.”

“What about my bid for some of your attention?”

“I have been remiss haven’t I? Please accept my apology?”

“Apologies don’t help, when what I want is cock! Are you addled? Dense? Do I have to beg you to fuck me? What’s YOUR problem?”

“Lot’s of things. Lot’s of problems weighing on my mind. I felt I really was in need of a vacation, and What do I do FOR vacation? Bought that rundown dilapidated estate. Another huge complicated and expensive project. I should have my head examined.”

“You made new conquests. Seduced an entire family in two days. A mom and five daughters. I think that’s a record for even you!”

“Well, I didn’t seduce the entire family.”

“Pull down your shorts and examine your cock.”

“What? Oh, shit. Who did I fuck in the ass?”

“Those dark brown stains aren’t shit.”

“Not ... then what?”

“Dried blood.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Do you remember yesterday morning and afternoon? You said last night is a blur. When do your memories start to blur? How early in the day?”

“Well, I remember Ava leaving in the morning and returning with Maeve, then Penny showing up at lunch time and Leticia a little later. Then Mr J, the solicitor arrived. We made the deal and went to dinner to celebrate. I must of drank too much at dinner. It gets blurry after that.”

“Does Ava have a hairy pussy?”

“Very.”

“And Maeve and Penny?”

“Yes, both have hairy pussies.”

“Leticia?”

“Leticia has a jungle in her crotch. I’m going to suggest she trim it.”

“Do you remember any of your night time partners had bald pussies?”

“Oh, well I’m sorry my thinking was muddled. I remember you now. Now that you remind me of your prepubescent bald pussy.”

“Wasn’t my nineteen year old freak pussy you had. I spent all night at the manor house.”

“Then... ?”

“There’s two fewer virgins in the world this morning.”

“But Ava assured me... ?”

“She lied to save you from worrying about it. What’s done is past.”

Some things, some situations, can’t be repaired. What can I do?

“What can I do?”

“Be kind and affectionate. Don’t play the victim. You only imagine yourself traumatized. You aren’t. Take it from a trauma expert.”

“If anyone should know what trauma feels like, it’s you Sin.”

“Then snap out of it. How many days do you expect we’ll stay on the island?”

“Can’t estimate yet. Maybe weeks or months. Depends on repairs.”

“Then cheer up. At the rate you’re collecting them, you could have hundreds of new notches on your belt by the time we leave. Whether you realize it or not, your hobby is collecting women. Vacation for you means free time to pursue your hobby uninterrupted by business considerations. Enjoy your vacation. Go get em, Tiger.”

“Maybe, just maybe, you know, I think you might have something there. Sounds good to me.”

“Well then? Go clean up and let’s go prowl amongst them.”

What I can’t understand is, if I was drunk out of my mind last night, why don’t I have a severe hangover this morning? I don’t feel hungover at all! My mind is a little cloudy, I’m not thinking clearly or rapidly, it’s taking too long to understand things said to me, but I’m not suffering like I do with a hangover. Was I drugged? If so, by whom? With what? Why?

Unlocking the front gate, we enter the grounds. In the far distance, I can see another gate. Wonder what’s behind it. It’s chained and padlocked. Trying all the keys, none fit the rusty padlock. There’s a personnel door in one of the massive solid steel gates. These aren’t grilled gates you can see through like the front gate. One of the keys unlocks the deadbolt on the personnel door and we pass beyond.

Horrible slums exist just the other side. Some actually built up against the gates. I presume the gates act as rear walls for some of these rough shacks and lean-to structures. Who owns this mess? A slum lord wouldn’t bother with these poor people. Clearly there’s no income potential! The haggard women, the dirty urchins, and the arthritic old men existing in these hovels can’t pay even cheap rents.

Sin and I return through the portal to the relative sanity of the neglected gardens on our own side of the wall.

“Sin? In your explorations, did you see any furniture, a small table or anything usable as a table? I want to look at the plat of the property. Maybe there’s information or some clue to whom owns that shameful mess outside those rear gates.”

Sin leads me to a store room piled full of furniture. Rather, pieces of furnishings, broken chairs, cracked mirrors in ornate frames, other now useless objects. Maybe not entirely useless. Pulling it free of the tangle, I extracted a two legged deal table and carry it out, propping the missing pair legless end of the table on top of a cracked empty concrete birdbath in the garden. Almost a level surface results. Level enough to unroll maps on.