Chapter 39

"I do not understand ... I am to present myself to you, but the Master is taking my children to shop for video games and movies?" The possible slight she had just dealt to her new mistress dawned on Kim and she prostrated herself on the floor. "I am sorry, Madam, I did not mean to imply that you were incapable or unworthy to receive me, it is just after living with the Karg-"

"It's just that after living with the Karg for awhile, you instinctively expect women to be in an inferior position, and men to be in charge," Margo answered her kindly. "No need to apologize," she said as she pulled Kim up off the floor, "I understand completely.

Now then, wait for me here and I'll go get the others, then we'll talk about what you want from us."

As Margo left to get the others, she left Kim alone, on her knees. The tiny Chinese woman looked in wonder at the bed before her. She was sure that her new owners were not into much pain play, much less blood play ... neither the bed frame nor the sheets looked to be stained and the frame hadn't been cleaned and polished in awhile, so there would be signs of such if they were.

Margo returned, Carol and Kelly in tow.

"So Kim," Margo began, her voice stern, "tell us what you want."

"I'm sorry Madam; I do not understand the question."

Carol squatted down beside her. "We know that you want pain, that pain is part of your pleasure. Do you require pain to achieve climax?"

"No Mistress, but..." Kim looked down at the floor, failing in her attempt to hide her embarrassment.

"But what, sweetheart? It's alright, it is our wish that you to speak freely," Kelly said.

"Yes ma'am. Without pain as part of the experience, it is very, very hard for me to achieve satisfaction, requiring much work and a long time ... and the climax is ... weak."

"Alright," Carol said, "can you achieve orgasm just through pain alone?"

"Yes ma'am. Quite easily ... so long as it is another who is hurting me."

"So you've tried self-inflicted pain," Carol continued nodding with understanding. "Let me guess, it aroused you, to one degree or another, but you couldn't even get close to coming."

Kim turned her head in Carol's direction, keeping her eyes downcast. "Yes Mistress, how did you know?"

"I had a friend, years ago, who was mentally wired very much like you ... she used to flog herself with a length of knotted rope, sometimes for up to an hour ... of course, she enjoyed the pain and she also enjoyed the sexual feelings it gave her, but she could never orgasm that way. If I picked up the rope, she had no problem achieving climax in a minute or two ... five at the most." Carol smiled. "We made interesting roommates for awhile.

"Now then," she continued, "how do you feel about service and servicing others? Do you feel a need to be degraded? Do you object to serving women, or men? Do you like being used as a sexual object?"

"I live to be of service to my owners in any way they desire."

"We know that," Kelly replied, sitting herself on the floor next to Kim. "We're commanding you to tell us what YOU like." She grabbed the hair on the back of Kim's head and twisted it in her fist. "Now answer Mistress Carol's questions."

"I do not like sex without much pain ... I will serve ... I will serve however is desired, sexually, but it is not my..." she hesitated again, still looking somewhat uncomfortable, "preference."

"Kim, we appreciate your honesty, and your desires in this matter will be respected. You will not be required to interact with us sexually because we will not give you the pain you require. You will serve in a more conventional sense, however, at House functions," Margo said, "with the following exceptions. When your children need you, you are excused and you are expected to be with them. No matter what else is going on, they will always come first, as far as this House and its allies are concerned. Do you understand me?"

Kim looked up at Margo, then at Carol and Kelly. "I ... I thank you. There is nothing more important to me than them," she said as tears welled up in her eyes.

"That's exactly as it should be," Carol replied. "Now then, as I'm reasonably sure that we won't need your services for awhile, why don't you go play with your children, or visit with the rest of the 'staff'." She smiled. "I think you and the family are going to get along wonderfully."

"You know, you've pretty much got to make the living room system the equal of the one in your bedroom," Harry said as they stood near the 'Games' and 'Movies' area of Circuit City. Nearby Kimmy and Timmy were quietly going through the sections, and picking out, by order of the adults, anything and everything they thought might be good.

"Harry ... I understand your reasoning ... but that's a very nice system in the bedroom. Very nice."

"I know, Sappho, I know. But otherwise, there will be conflict. We want to avoid conflict."

"You win ... you've twisted my arm to the breaking point. I ... have ... no ... choice. I must spend the money."

"And I must help you."

"Fine and dandy ... you'll help me buy it. But will you help me explain it to Trish?"

"Of course I will. But if she makes a move towards me, I'm cutting and running. You'll be on your own."

"You're a coward, Harry," Karen replied, whispering into his ear as she hugged him.

"No, I just don't get into fights I absolutely cannot win," Harry said, holding her tightly in his arms. "If I do, somehow my wives end up involved and it's devastation on an unimaginable scale."

"You're right ... we can't risk the three horsewomen of the Apocalypse. In those circumstances, I'll take my punishment like a ma ... well, like a butch lesbian."

"I like that, 'the three horsewomen of the Apocalypse' ... what are their names?"

Karen smiled and said, "'War', 'Ass-whuppin' and 'Slice-n- Dice', for Margo, Kelly and Carol. Of course, we really should add a fourth, to be faithful to the original concept."

"What would you do if someone hurt me, Sappho?"

"Okay ... add 'Rage' to the group and we have our four."

"War, Ass-whuppin', Slice-n- Dice and Rage ... doesn't sound too biblical ... does kinda sound like a steel-cage death-match team-up, though."

"If you start to compare us to wrestlers I will hurt you in ways even Kim wouldn't enjoy."

"Alright then, no mention of wrasslin', let's see what the bosses have picked out in games and DVDs."

Patricia sat in the kitchen, watching the whirl of activity around them. With the rest of the family out or occupied, Nicki had been put in charge and had Lisa and Sheila helping her with the final prep work. Tamara had started helping and couldn't be dissuaded, explaining it was her place. Galena was cleaning the pool and Billy and Kim had taken on the task of straightening the living room, something that was easy for him to do given the rug coverage and bounteous pillows.

"Nicki, really, I feel I should be doing something," Patricia said. "I feel useless."

"Mistress is not being useless," Lisa replied. "You're enhancing the loveliness of the day as your beauty inspires us in our tasks."

"Yeah, what Ms. English Major said," commented Sheila as she added the ice and salt to the automatic ice-cream maker Tamara had brought over. "Fresh peach ice cream ... the concept alone makes Tamara worthy of adoration as well."

"Really, it was Edward's idea ... seems he has a weakness for fresh ice cream," Tamara replied, blushing. "That and ... he likes to..."

"Say no more," Patricia said. "So, you enjoy being an ice cream dish?"

"Patricia, have you ever had a scoop of ice cream eaten off of you, with long and careful licks to get every drop, interspersed with frequent ice-creamy-good kisses?"

"Now that's just evil ... and seductive," Patricia answered, grinning. "Seductively evil ... who'd ever have thought it from such an innocent looking woman?"

"Uh, anyone whose known her for awhile," Carol said as she came into the kitchen. "Much less known her a long while."

Nicki kissed her sister-in-law. "You, my dear adorable one, smell like sex and taste like Kelly. What vile and evil things are going on in that bedroom?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, nosey reporter woman?" Carol replied. "I just came out to get some water ... we may be awhile longer."

Nicki looked around the room and sighed. "Well, we're about finished in here. Give a holler when you're heading for the showers and I'm sure bath-girls can be found to help you."

"ME!" Sheila said.

"ME TOO!" added Lisa.

"Damn ... my life sucks," Carol replied, grinning as she gathered bottles of water in her arms and headed back to the bedroom.

"Yep," Nicki cracked, "you and me both, we're just beleaguered victims of cruel fate."

"Ain't it the truth, sister, ain't it the truth?"

The women of the Karghold crept about the house, never speaking above a whisper unless answering some demand of their Masters. They kept the children, only three since Kim's departure, even more quiet and out of the way, not daring to let them do anything but sit silently in their quarters.

In an absolute fury Karggark strode through the house almost daring anyone to give him a reason to notice them, and the rest of the Karg took their cue from him. He briefly considered taking his anger out on one of the illegals, but decided against it, knowing that if just one of them was pushed too far and decided deportation was worth turning him and his men in, everything would be ruined. He had no doubt the Karg would win in court ... they had more than enough money and influence to assure that, but a lot of official scrutiny would fall on them, and continue to focus on them, no matter the verdict.

He had stalked about, a gathering storm of rage, ever since Eddie and Karen had left with Kim and her children and it was Monday when the storm finally broke. After a fierce workout session that was fated to leave marks on all the participants, even through their pads and armor, he left the others and went to his office.

Owen Jeffreys hadn't thought of Eddie Janak in years, and as he called in some favors he smiled, a thin, tight-lipped smile. He reflected that since Friday night, he could think of no one else.

"CHILD'EN?" Rachel shrieked, her face beaming like a lighthouse of joy.

"Yes Schnicklefritz, children," Eddie replied, "twins, a little girl and boy, twins, five years old."

"Eddie, Eddie, get me out o' bed ... EDDIE," she yelled, motioning her impatience with every inch of mobility she had in her arms. "Got to pick 'em animals. My chai', Eddie, my chai'!"

It was with a profound sense of relief that Eddie brought his sister's wheelchair to the bed and lifted her up to carefully arrange her in it. Wheeling her over to the shelves that covered one wall of the room, he said, "I brought you a picture of them and their mother, would you like to see it?"

"I would," she proclaimed and Eddie smiled as he pulled it out of his pocket. "See, there's Kim, their mother, and that's them, Kimmy, the little girl and Timmy, the little boy."

"Eddie..." she whispered, "they bootiful. Why they live with you?"

"Well Potawattamie, they're livin' with us because they needed someplace to stay and we have lots of room, even keeping a room just for you."

"I tol' you you was a good pe'son, Eddie ... you should listen to me."

His fears and his pain hit him like a forty-pound sledgehammer and tears rolled down his cheeks as he knelt beside her chair and said, "Sometimes I don't feel like a good person, Rachel ... sometimes I feel like ... sometimes I feel like I don't deserve anything good ... because of the accident ... and because of some other things too."

Her arm slowly and carefully lifted from the chair and moved around behind Eddie's head, gently drawing his head toward her. She put his head in her lap and jerkily, but so very tenderly, stroked his cheek.

"Eddie ... I love you ... mo'e 'n anybody ... you good enough fo' me to love. Tama'a loves you ... you good enough fo' huh to love." She wiped away a tear from his face, using all the concentration and control she had. When she finished, she looked down at him and said, "God love you, you good enough fo' God to love. You think we all stupid?"

"No ... no I don't think y'all are stupid ... I just..."

"Eddie ... you got to let go them bad feelin's that ah weighin' you down, jus' like you tell me ... you got all the 'easons in the wo'ld to fly ... I need to tell Tama'a to get you some balloons?"

"No Schnicklefritz," he said, sniffing loudly, "you don't need to tell Tamara to get me balloons ... you just got to come this weekend and have a good time ... and bless Tamara's and my house by visitin' us ... we've never had an angel in our house."

"You silly, Eddie," she said matter-of-factly. "You an' Tama'a ah in the house eve'y day so you got angels in you' house eve'y day." She took her arm from around him. "Now, you sta't handin' me animals ... I got to find animals fo' Kimmy an' Timmy."

Eddie stood up. "Yes, Miss Janak. Which one first?"

Randy Treibor knew that there was a long list of things he should never do.

He should never let slip to anyone that his lover was Niccolo Anthony Philouma. He should never buy heavily scented laundry detergent. He shouldn't spit into the wind, pull the mask of the ol' Lone Ranger or mess around with Jim or Slim; depending on where he was in the song. He should never, ever, even joke about the line 'you are dead to me'.

And he should never, under any circumstances, contact Victor Philouma.

Which meant he could write off his dialing of Victor's private number on his phone as an act of purest insanity.

"Mr. Philouma, this is Randy ... your son's-"

"I know who you are. Why are you calling me?"

"Uh ... we need to talk ... about Nick ... now ... while he's still asleep."

"There will be a car for you outside in twenty minutes."

It was a measure of Randy's love for his partner that he would brave the fiercest monster he could conceive of to get some kind of help for Nick. As he wrote a note for Nick in case he woke up, Randy only hoped he survived the meeting.

The Grimes home was quiet; everyone was out by the pool taking a well-deserved break before starting the final stages of cleaning and preparation. Nobody was saying very much, it had been a busy day and it was time for cold drinks and a semi-siesta.

Until the lightning bolt that was the post-shopping trip Kimmy and Timmy came crashing into their calm, hitting the ground near their mother, filling the air with their excited rendition of the trip ... all in Chinese.

Kim's heart felt like it stopped for a moment. If her new masters were bothered by the outburst of her children, all of their lives could become so very difficult.

And then she saw the faces of those around her, smiling and open, curious as to what the excitement was, but accepting. They, unlike the Karg, were happy ... happy for her, happy with her, pleasantly amused by the flurry of excitement and noise.

Even so, she felt called upon to explain.

"I apologize for their loud and ... boisterous ... arrival."

Margo leaned forward even farther and kissed Kim's cheek. "Nothing to apologize for ... but what has them so giggly, if I might ask?"

"It is the shopping trip with Master Harry and Mistress Karen. They..." She kissed both children and made an inquiry in Chinese. When they responded, she continued. "They were told to choose video games, but they know very little about such things, they tried to explain that to the Master and Mistress, but they were told to go pick out what looked good." She spoke to the two of them again, and after a lengthy response, resumed her narrative. "They wandered around, afraid to choose something for fear it would not be good ... they can read, but only a little ... until Master and Mistress finished their business and came to see what they had chosen. When they realized that Kimmy and Timmy could not read much of the boxes, they apologized to them and Master Harry took Timmy, Mistress Karen took Kimmy, and they split the game ... part ... of the store between the two ... teams ... and read most of the boxes to them."

After another exchange, she apologized again. "I'm sorry, they do speak English ... I think better than me, but they are excited and I had them speak in Chinese most of the time to prevent the Karg ... well ... it was just easier that way." She kissed the two of them. "I will finish your story for them," she told her children, "but from now on, speak English around these people. They are our friends.

"They say that, in the end, Master and Mistress just seemed to pick up a copy of everything that the two of them expressed any interest in at all ... and then went and found a sales helper who aided them in finding more games."

Patricia was up and out of her deck chair, muttering about 'that crazy bitch, spending money we don't have', and heading inside.

"Patricia, honey, is everything all right?" Margo called.

Patricia stopped, turned and looked back at the assembled friends and family. "My partner has a tendency to spend before she thinks sometimes, and I'm about to go put my foot up her ass." She saw the stricken look on Kim's face, and the scared worry in her children's faces. "Kim, kids..." she forced a smile, a smile that became more honest as she saw their spirits lighten, "it's nothing you did, it's in no way your fault. Harry and ... Master Harry and Mistress Karen are just big kids themselves from time to time, and like all children they occasionally step over the line." She smiled again, a much more real smile. "And when they do, well, as you know ... Mommy spanks."

She turned once again and headed through the house for the front door.

As Kim and her children cuddled together, Margo said, "Fly on the wall?"

"Oh you bet," Carol replied. "But there's no way..."

"Of course not," Kelly replied, "wouldn't want to get caught in the blast."

"Think they'll come out of it alive?" Tamara wondered.

"Oh yeah," Margo finished, "Harry can talk his way out of almost anything."

Nick Philouma awoke far later than he'd intended ... and far later than Randy was supposed to let him sleep. He stumbled into their kitchen and noted that his lover had left the coffee machine set up and ready to go. For that, Nick thanked God.

On the counter was a note:

Nick shook his head, smiling to himself. Randy was ever the practical one ... made a good 'wife', perfectly capable of keeping the house on an even keel while Nick ... Nick slumped onto a bar stool ... while Nick ordered people killed.

He had his first drink of the day, adding brandy to his coffee.

Unnoticed, the message light on the answering machine blinked at him.

"Eddie really should be here ... it will kill him to miss this," Harry said as he and Karen rearranged the living room in preparation for the installation of their new purchases.

"Yeah ... don't it suck that he ain't? Just leaves all this power tool and electronic-y goodness for us," Karen replied as she moved the old television out of the way.

The front door opened and Patricia stalked into the living room. "Karen Elizabeth Pinard! The kids told me about your little shopping trip! What the hell do you think you're doing, buying all this?"

"Trish ... I-"

"No 'Rage', I'll take this one," Harry said, moving to intercept Patricia. "Patricia, will you slow down and let me explain our logic?"

Patricia stopped, her mouth set in a hard line, her jaw clenched. "Alright Harry ... I'll let you explain." Her words were clipped and her tone let them know she'd brook no bullshit.

"Alright ... think children. Think children when one place to play is visibly, quantifiably, better than the other."

"Okay..."

"Think about the fights, the disagreements, the tears ... think about the fate of whichever poor soul is doing children-sitting duty. Think about the extreme case where things get so bad, someone's evening must be interrupted to come deal with their offspring."

Patricia's countenance had softened somewhat as she grudgingly said, "I see where you're going, but-"

"Hold on, please ... now, it's true ... this all cost a lot of money ... money you might think y'all don't have because of buying the house and all the money y'all've been spending lately on the house and tons of meat from the butcher and trips to buy clothes and toys for Kim and her family. But I fronted Sappho the cash for y'all's half, since she wouldn't let me cover more of it, and there's no rush at all to pay it back. We let the kids choose anything and everything they wanted because we've got no idea what any of the kids are going to play ... we tried to think like some of the older kids and picked up some more things, got the advice and help of a very nice young lady at the store.

"And finally, although it didn't take much effort, I'm the one who talked her into it, and going to this extreme. If you still need to be furious with someone, be furious with me first, and whatever's left over when you're done you can take out on Karen. Fair enough?"

Patricia smiled ruefully at Harry. "You are altogether too good at this sort of thing, Harry. Are you saying that y'all's juvenile 'new toys' mind-set had nothing to do with this?"

"Fuck no, Patricia, it had a lot to do with it! But that doesn't make any of the points less valid, it merely means we had reasons to go crazy ... and yeah, we giggled our muthafuckin' asses off when we realized we were at least partially justified and our butts were at least partially covered." He grinned at Patricia. "I ain't gonna lie to you about it ... but I'm also not going to lead with it either."

"Besides, Trish," Karen said in a voice smaller and softer than most people who knew her would believe she was capable of, "we picked up those 'Kingdom Hearts' games that you were dying to try ... they're for the PS2 ... the one we're hooking up in the bedroom."

"You're playing on my Disney weakness ... that's low ... it's a low, vile bribe ... and I'll take it. But you, Liz, owe me orgasms ... possibly while I'm playing ... later tonight."

"Okay ... but I'm bettin' the controller slips out of your hand and you forget the game after a bit."

"Looking forward to that most of all," Patricia said, laughing as she hugged Harry. "Okay, I'm going to go see how things are going over there. Try not to drain so much power from the city grid that we have a blackout."

"Nah," Harry said, "shouldn't be more than a slight brown-out ... when we turn everything on ... at once ... okay, maybe a blackout isn't out of the question."

"Yeah Theresa, I'm on my way home."

"You sound remarkably good, sir. Everything work out all right with Rachel?"

"Oh yeah ... like I wouldn't have dreamed ... when I left she was having Hector search online for her. She must have stuffed animals for Kimmy and Timmy. None, and I mean none, we went through every one, of hers are suitable. So he's at the nurses' station, surfin' the web, an' she's right behind him, lookin' over his shoulder.

"Theresa ... I didn't cry after I left ... I'm almost back in town, I haven't broken down yet ... don't even feel like I might need to."

"Then maybe you're getting over that foolish notion that it was your fault."

"Maybe ... or maybe it's just that she's so lookin' forward to comin' down, and so happy ... I don't think I've ever seen her this happy..."

"Well then, it's going to be a wonderful visit ... when you get back, head for Karen's. She and Harry got electronics ... power tools are being used ... game consoles are being hooked up ... and probably tried out."

"Alright, color me there ... after I come sweep you into my arms and hug and kiss ya."

"I rate before power tools?"

"My love, you rate above anythin' else ... with the possible exception of Rachel."

"No rating your love for the two of us. It wouldn't be fair to either Rachel or me. I love you."

"Marry me?"

"Yes sir."

"Have a baby with me?"

"Oh yes sir."

"See you soon."

Victor Philouma received his son's lover in the family den. Randy had been expecting some place neutral, somewhere that wasn't the family home. And when it had become clear that the house was indeed where they were headed, Randy had expected a far more formal area. The old man sat in his wheelchair at a small desk by a window, a cup of coffee at his side, reading the paper in the morning light.

As Randy was shown into the room by the man who'd driven him, Victor Philouma looked up and rang a bell that sat on the desk. After they'd shaken hands, he said, "Have a seat, Mr. Treiber." As a large woman waddled in, Victor continued, "Tell Renee what you'd like to drink."

"Uh ... that coffee smells very good, sir, if it wouldn't be too much trouble."

"Coffee service in here, please, Renee. Cream and sugar?"

"Yes sir."

Randy knew better than to relax too much ... Nick spoke of his father often and Randy knew that no matter how civil and relaxed the meeting, it could still end up going badly all too quickly. He settled into an overstuffed wingback chair. "Sir, I came to talk-"

"Shh, coffee first, son ... in the meantime, let me tell you a story.

"Back in the late 1920's, my father rose to the position my son now holds. The Philouma family was very small, a minor family under the Maranzano family. When Salvatore Maranzano was killed and that fuck Luciano took over, my father was faced with a problem. There was a good chance that Luciano would reabsorb the smaller families into the larger, thereby strengthening the larger and putting a lot of the smaller ones in their place. This my father could not allow. His father had had to swallow a lot of pride to subjugate himself to first the Cappezio family, then to Maranzano. Our family has always been very proud ... too proud sometimes, I think.

"So my father said goodbye to his family, made arrangements for his funeral and went to go talk to Luciano. 'Lucky' agreed to see him and my father marched in to his office and gave him a brief history of our family.

"Then he told the most dangerous mobster in America that if 'Lucky' didn't swear on his mother and the Virgin Mary to leave our family as it was, separate and independent, my father was going to dive across that big desk and break his fuckin' neck. And while he knew he'd die, that wasn't gonna stop him, either from trying or succeeding."

"Holy shit..." Randy murmured.

"Oh yeah," Vic continued, "my old man was a pistol. So Luciano looks him in the eye for a long couple o' seconds, then swears by his own mother and the Virgin Mary that he would leave the Philouma family as it was.

"My father thanks him and then says something like 'I know you can't have men threatening you like I did, so I figure you need to kill me. You've sworn that my family will survive, so I'm okay with it.'

"Luciano laughed his ass off. Said that la Cosa Nostra needed more men like my father ... he needed men who'd stand up to him for the right reasons. He shook hands with my father and sent him back to his family. That's how we ended up in tight with Luciano and his Commission. That's how we ended up tight with the Five Families eventually ... although that was a goddamn nightmare."

The old man seemed lost in thought for a few moments and Randy was scared to disturb him. Then Victor Philouma looked up at him again.

"And that's where my son comes from. For the life of the Family, his own life is not too high a price to pay ... and nothing short of his life is too high a price to pay either."

"Sir, I-"

"Shh, I ain't through tellin' stories. But here's Renee with your coffee. Damn woman, did it take you long enough?"

The woman muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'cantankerous old fart' under her breath as she poured Randy a cup of coffee from the silver service she'd brought in on a tray. She waddled out the door as Randy sugared and creamed his coffee.

"Now then, my next story I'm bettin' you're real familiar with. It's all about a guy who drops out of college in his sophomore year to take care of his mother, who was dyin' from breast cancer. He stays by her bedside pretty much non-stop up to the very end, then he buries her. He doesn't go back to school; he becomes a flight attendant and works his ass off tryin' to pay the bills her insurance didn't cover. Meets a nice young man, falls in love ... and tests negative after his partner comes down with AIDS ... a problem his partner didn't have when they got together, so this guy knows his lover was cheatin' on him. His lover owns up and admits it."