Chapter 16: Saturday, August 7, 2010

Saturday, August 7, 2010

“Your ability to hear thoughts should have started to emerge by now,” Jake said to the assembled class of new mind readers. “Is there anyone here who is not catching at least some thoughts from other people?”

“I’m not sure that I am,” Nina said.

“Then let’s test you under optimum conditions. I’ll think of a number, keeping my mind clear otherwise. If you can’t pick this up, then you aren’t yet ready for today’s lesson. Here’s the first one.”

Jake pictured a die with three spots. He repeated the number to himself slowly.

“Three,” Nina said.

“Right. Now again, but this time without the spoon-feeding.”

“One hundred and eighty-three.”

“Correct. You’re doing great.”

“I guess so. I guess I just didn’t realize that those thoughts were coming from outside me.”

“Soon you won’t be mistaking other people’s thoughts for your own,” Jake said. He turned to the class in general. “Let’s work on this for a few minutes. I’ll think of a city name. I’ll point to one of you, and you tell me which city I’m thinking of. This will help you get a better feel for when the thoughts you sense are your own or come from an external source.”

Jake went through the exercise for a couple of minutes. He included Donna even though she had no problem distinguishing the source of thoughts, just to bring her into the classroom routine. After 50 city names, Jake returned to his lecture. He was pleased that Carol and Julie were doing fine, picking out his thoughts. It had only been four days for them.

“When people learn that I read minds, the first thing they usually ask me is why do I still ask them questions instead of just reading the information directly from them. Let’s go over why that is. It won’t be long before you’ll be able to easily scan my thoughts. By that, I mean the thoughts that are currently residing in my consciousness.

“You’ll also be able to catch thoughts that may not be quite conscious but are close. By that, I mean anything the mind thinks is important to the current subject and has, for want of a better term, pre-staged it so that it can be accessed quickly. The strategies that the mind uses to manage thoughts and memories so that they are available when needed are quite complex.

“The upshot is that most of the contents of a person’s mind are not immediately accessible to the mind reader. If I want to know what you ate for dinner last night, I either have to induce you to bring that fact into consciousness — perhaps by asking you about it straight out — or I have to dig into your mind and ferret it out myself. It’s actually a lot easier to let the other person do it.

“Besides, it’s just more natural to do it that way. It’s a normal part of having a relationship. No matter how proficient you get at reading thoughts, you will still probably get most of your information from conversations.

“Now, for the next few minutes, I want each of you to pick someone in the house and follow his thoughts. Don’t pick someone in this class unless no one else is in range.”

Donna, you’ve got the shortest range. Can you pick out anything?

Kara gave me a treatment yesterday, but I’m still only catching people out to about 30 feet.

Jake looked over at Annabelle. Like the other servants, her thoughts were bland and focused only on the business at hand. No, she needed more of a challenge than that.

“Focus on Nina, Donna. Nobody’s thoughts are more entertaining than hers. I just hope she doesn’t singe your gray matter.”

“Heh!” Nina said. “You make it sound like all I think about is sex.”

“Just about all the time,” Julie said. “I’ve been looking forward to reading you.”

Nina smiled wickedly. “Then I’ll just think about Jake last night. You should have seen him with your mother.”

Julie looked off into space for a few moments while she concentrated on Nina’s thoughts. Then her eyes opened wide.

“No! You finally nailed her ass, Jake?”

Jake sighed. “Let this be a reminder to everybody. The phrase, ‘in the privacy of your own thoughts,’ has no meaning among us. In the long run that’s a good thing. In the short run, well, we all find it a bit of a challenge.”

Just then Leanne walked through the kitchen on her way to the garage. She was wearing a nice dress. Nina and Julie giggled. Leanne looked over curiously and scanned them to see what was so funny. She rolled her eyes and kept walking.

I’m meeting the Broadmans for breakfast and shopping, Jake. I’ll be back by noon.

You look beautiful, he sent as she closed the garage door behind her.

“Back to business,” Jake said to the class. “Focus on your subject. Identify the surface thoughts. Follow the train of those thoughts. Don’t be surprised if they jump from subject to subject. It turns out that thinking is not a pretty process. It’s chaotic and disjointed, and one train of thought is continually getting interrupted by other thoughts or by intrusive emotions or desires. Try to see those interruptions as they occur. Try to make out the subsurface thoughts and see how they dovetail into the topic that is currently the focus of consciousness.”

Jake spent time with each student, looking into the same mind, pointing out factors that influenced the stream of thoughts. Finally, after working on the exercise for an hour, Jake brought their attention back to him.

“That little interlude you witnessed earlier where Julie blurted out certain details about my sex life foreshadows something that is about to happen in your own lives. Living with mind readers means the end of your privacy.”

He gave them the lecture on how being around mind readers would change how they got along with each other. He told them how the openness between them would deepen all their relationships and hinted that the result would be a different way of life. He didn’t really expect them to understand all the implications. He didn’t understand them all either.

Then Jake dismissed the class. It was 10:30. Alice gave him a quick kiss.

“Saturdays are my busiest day. I have to run off. I won’t be home until late.”

“Try to look me up when you get home,” Jake said. “I’ll miss you.”

As Alice walked away, Donna came up.

“Can I get another treatment?” Donna asked.

“Sure,” Jake said. “There are people around who can give you one.”

“I want to be supercharged.”

“Oh. Let’s check with Kara and Ellen.”

“No, I’m not a lesbian.”

“Oh,” Jake said. “I see where this is going.” He tapped his fingers on the kitchen table. “It actually takes several mind readers to give a supercharged treatment, at least when I’m involved. The sex distracts me from the telepathic part. That means we have to have a second mind reader there, a third if the treatment is a double.”

“You mean we would have to have sex in front of other people?”

“We’re pretty casual about that around here.”

“I don’t know if I could have sex with you if someone was there watching.”

Jake smiled at her. “It’s really nothing to worry about. You’ll be safe. One of them would be my mother.”

Donna’s eyes opened wide. “I couldn’t have sex with you in front of your mother.”

“Would you prefer to have sex with my mother while I give you the treatment? From the way you’ve been talking I didn’t think you’d go for that.”

“N-n-no, I don’t want to do that.”

Jake started laughing. “We’ll work it out, Donna. But first I want you to stop trying to manipulate me to get me into bed. Remember what I just said. We have no real privacy between us anymore. The more you hang around us, the more thoroughly we’re going to know each other, the good qualities as well as the bad. Now hold on a second.”

Ellen, Kara, Donna has asked for a supercharged session. Are either or both of you available sometime today?

I have no plans, master.

Just stuff around home, Jake. Nothing I can’t work around.

So you both can help with a double treatment in, say, an hour?

Yes, master.

Yes, Jake.

“Why wait an hour, Jake?” Donna asked.

“Because, darlin’, I’m not that easy. You’re going to have to sweet talk me a little before you get into my pants.”

“C’mon, Jake, you’re a guy. I’ve never met a guy who wasn’t ready to go when he got the invitation.”

“Maybe I would just charge ahead like that if I didn’t care about you. I have to worry about how it will affect you.”

“What’s there to worry about? We’re just going to have sex.”

“I’m not sure what you mean. We’re just having sex?”

“Sure, it doesn’t have to be a big deal. I’ve had casual sex before. When your only way to meet men is at a club, it’s sometimes that or nothing.”

“Donna, I don’t see how sex can be casual unless you don’t care about your partner and don’t plan to ever see him again.”

“It’s not that hard. Sometimes the sex is the first part of a relationship. The rest comes later.”

“So you have relationships with men you met at bars and slept with them right off?”

“I haven’t had much luck with the men I’ve met that way. Some of them took me out for breakfast the next morning. A couple even called me later for dates, but nothing really came of it.”

“I can’t be that cavalier about something like this, Donna. I have to know that if we go down this path that it’s going to be good for you. Good for me, too. Our paths have become intertwined. If I hurt you, I hurt me, too.”

“You’re saying that those other guys didn’t care what happened to me?”

“I’ve read a lot of people, darlin’. Most guys see no-commitment, no-intimacy sex as a nice treat, a chance to satisfy an appetite. They really don’t know better. They can’t look into your mind and see the impact it has on you.”

“So what? There was mutual consent. No one was hurt.”

“It’s not that simple, Donna, and sometimes the hurt that gets done is subtle.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about the effect these encounters have had on you. Especially on your self-esteem. Donna, you had to settle for quick sex to have a relationship, however brief it was. You weren’t dealing with men who cared for you.”

Jake could feel distress starting to rise up in her.

“You mean that I couldn’t attract a man any other way.”

“That’s not what I think. I’ve been attracted to you from the beginning. I loved the relationship we built when you knew me as 23.”

“But I couldn’t get a man unless I offered to sleep with him.”

“I think that the issue is not with yourself, but where you went looking and what kind of men you were dealing with. Look at them. They were generally single, horny, and drunk.”

“So you’re saying they just used me.”

“That is what I think,” he said. “I’m sorry, darlin’. It wasn’t anything personal. Just the way of the world. Isn’t there a philosophy that says that the only thing that’s real is what’s in your head?”

“Yes, it’s called solipsism. Our self is the only reality we can experience.”

“That’s how you and I are different from them, Donna. For all they know, for all they can know, solipsism is true. They’ll never know what it’s like to be in someone else’s head. If one of those guys hurt you, he never felt it. Maybe there are a few sensitive souls out there, but most guys just want to make things nicer in their own heads, at least for an hour or two. I can’t say that I really blame them.”

“I know they were hook-ups. But I was sure there was some connection there.”

“Maybe there was. I couldn’t say without reading them. In the future, you’ll know for sure.” Jake took one of Donna’s hands. “But I can’t be like that. I can’t be cavalier about your feelings. In a while, we’re going to be intimate. If we are careless then you or I could end up hurt. There’s a lot I need to know about you first if I’m going to do this responsibly. You might want to know me better, too.”

“You’re saying hooking up like that was irresponsible. How come nobody ever talks like that?”

“Would it do any good? When men and women go through the build-up to sex they spend their time posturing, trying to impress each other. It’s all they know. No one’s ever taught them that the trick is to open themselves up. It takes something radical like telepathy to make honesty and openness feasible.”

“Then we’re wasting time. What do you want to know about me?”

“Have you ever been in love?”

“You mean before you?”

Jake smiled at her. “Are you sure about me?”

“Yes. I have been since Monday. Now, after talking to you today, I can see that it was right that I did so. I’ve never met anyone who really cared about me like you do.”

“I’ve never made anyone loyal to me before. I don’t know all the ways it will affect you. We’ll have to see what happens between us. It’s a little soon for me to give you a declaration of love. I’m going to want to get to know you better first. Meanwhile, spill. Have you ever been in love?”

“Maybe. I’m not sure anymore. I had a boyfriend in high school. There were some guys in college that I gave benefits to. In the three years since graduation, I’ve been focused on my career. Sometimes I get out to the clubs, but that’s only led to brief liaisons.”

“Tell me about the boy in high school.”

“His name was Lucas. We were both on the school newspaper staff. In my senior year, we went to all the dances together. We went our separate ways when we graduated.”

“Did you sleep with him?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ll just dig it out of you if you don’t tell me.”

“He was the second guy I slept with. The first was a neighborhood kid when I was 15. But that guy just fucked me once and ignored me after that. I made Lucas wait until the night of the Christmas formal before I gave it up to him.”

“How was the sex?”

“Okay, I guess.”

“Did you climax?”

“I’ve never climaxed with a guy.”

“Do you masturbate?”

She blushed. “Maybe once a week or so.”

“How do you feel about women that can come early, often, and hard?”

“I’d give anything to be like that. But I don’t get that many offers from men. I’d just waste it.”

“If a beautiful woman wanted to have sex with you, what would you do?”

“I’m attracted to men. But a really beautiful woman? I don’t really know.”

“What if you were very horny?”

She laughed. “She might be able to talk me into it.”

“We have a lot of sex here. Do you think you can accept that? It’s not always hidden decently behind closed doors, and some of it would manage to scandalize most people.”

“Would I have to do it, too?”

“Of course not. You don’t do anything here you don’t want to. But with everyone else doing it, it’ll probably be just a matter of time before you get drawn in, too. Especially when it comes to mind-reader sex.”

“What’s that?”

“When you can read other people’s minds and control what they think, feel and desire, it creates opportunities for really, really good sex. At the risk of sounding like a braggart, I’ve learned a few techniques that women seem to like.”

Donna laughed. “When you say it like that, it’s not exactly like you’re bragging that you are God’s gift to women.”

“Whether I am or not will be seen in a little while,” he said with a smile. Then he became more serious. “Forgive me, but I have to ask. Should I worry that you might have a disease?”

“It’s been four months since my last time. I haven’t noticed any symptoms. I’m sure I was tested at the hospital.”

“Do you insist that men use a condom?”

“No,” she said, embarrassed.

“We’re not promiscuous outside our circle, at least not so far. Controlling disease is important for us because it could easily spread to the entire family. I hope you won’t mind if I wear a condom until you’ve been tested specifically for STDs.”

“No, I suppose that would be a sensible precaution.”

“I haven’t had a shower yet today. I’d feel better if I took one before we started. Would you like to join me?”

“That’s pretty sudden, just getting naked like that.”

“Even if you don’t, I’m going to be getting you naked soon anyway. But I hope you will. It will be a chance for us to get used to each other before the big event.”

“If that’s what you want.”

He stood and smiled at her, holding out his hand. Donna stood and took it. He led her to his bedroom. She broke out in laughter when she saw his bed.

“What in the world is this?”

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Jake said. “It was a present to me from one of the women.”

“Which one?”

“Leanne. I may be a mind reader, but it took me by surprise when she gave it to me.”

“She seems so proper.”

“That’s the kind of life she came from, but she’s getting more, let’s say, flexible. I gladly put up with her somewhat old-fashioned sense of propriety. She’s very special to me.”

“So you sleep with her?”

“Yes,” he said, leading her to the bathroom.

He started taking off his clothes. He was matter of fact about it. After a few seconds, he was naked. He stood in front of her with his hands at his sides.

“You have a very attractive body,” Donna said.

“I have a boy’s body,” Jake said. “I’m skinny. My cock is still small. I’ve hardly got any body hair.”

“Yes, it’s a boy’s body, but it’s very nice.”

“Thank you. Are you going to take off your clothes?” Jake said.

He didn’t wait for an answer. He turned to the shower and started the water. Donna faced away and began to undress. Jake went to the linen closet for fresh towels, keeping his back turned so Donna would feel less self-conscious. Soon the water was up to temperature.