Chapter 2

Janice had no idea how to work through the conflicts assailing her, but she knew where to turn to for help -- it was imbedded in the inhibition. "Amy?"

"Yes?"

"It's Janice. Help!"

"What's wrong?"

"I need to tell Momma -- everything."

Amy frowned. "That's dangerous!"

"I know -- but I must!"

"You can't!"

"Help me!"

Amy looked at Toby; they had been lounging at the kitchen table after having breakfast with Beth. "We will have to come to you. Where do you live?" Amy merely touched Toby and he was briefed. Amy scribbled the address and assured Janice, "Hold tight -- we'll be right there!"

"Got to go, Ma -- club business!" Toby kissed his mother on the cheek and followed Amy out to his car.

Ten minutes later, they were knocking on the door of the Fremds' run-down ranch. Janice let them in, "Oh, thank God!"

Toby stood holding Amy's shoulders; the house gave off this ... miasma... "Oh, my..." Amy breathed.

Janice tugged her arm; Toby followed, apparently invisible to Janice. "This is Momma," Janice announced, bringing the pair into Abigail's presence.

Amy just stood there, her head cocked, looking sad. "Toby..."

Abigail looked back at the puffy-looking red haired girl before her whose eyes seemed capable of staring into her soul. There seemed to be a boy behind her -- he came and went and came again ... Why she couldn't pin him with a glance was unclear... "Please, sit. Would you like some wine? My daughter seems to need your permission to tell me things..."

"Thank you, but I don't drink," Amy said softly as she sat in a nearby chair. She touched her shoulder -- was there a hand there? The boy again? Abigail couldn't be sure. Turning to Janice, she said, "You can go ahead, now."

So Janice began again -- and it worked this time. She told of watching her girlfriends suddenly collecting eligible boyfriends, and of gathering her courage and confronting Donna. She told about being invited to the party -- and discovering the price of admission. She told about riding with the girls to the strange clubhouse -- and hiding in a booth and watching through a hole as Gina the cheerleader was surrounded by boys and terrorized and abused. She told her mother about the big black boy shoving his cock through the hole in front of her face, and her embarrassing fit of hysteria -- and the marvelous thing that happened to her when they went to the showers to clean up! She told her mother about Mark -- his stocky Hispanic good looks, and his tapered cock and heavy balls that tasted of man-sweat and produced HUGE amounts of the white fluid of life, his gentle touch and his promise that they would be together again...

When it was over, her mother sat back and drained the dregs from her wineglass. "You're right, Sweetheart -- that was a MUCH better story. It's too bad that I can see the end approaching..."

There was a grunt and Abigail turned to look -- and there WAS a boy standing there! Then he put his hand on the girl Amy's shoulder and was gone again. "How do you do that?" Abigail asked.

"What?" Amy cocked her head.

"The boy..."

"We don't want to make you uncomfortable..."

"It's fine," Abigail insisted.

... And the boy was standing there -- slight, dark-haired, wearing eyeglasses -- a studious sort ... Amy recaptured Abigail's attention by insisting, "Mark really IS a nice boy."

Abigail sighed. "It doesn't matter."

The boy went "Ugh!" and appeared to be nauseated; he put his hand on Amy's shoulder and she, too, turned green. "We can fix this," Amy announced. "Not ... physical damage, but we can help you keep your husband in the dark."

"I don't see how," Abigail sighed. "Janice will probably just blurt it out at the first opportunity!"

Amy smiled and cocked her head. "Did she do that for you?"

"No, but she hinted. All he will need is a hint to wrest it from her."

"Then he won't get one." Amy stood. "Thank you -- it's been an ... interesting visit."

"You are welcome," Abigail returned formally. "Someday, I would like to see this ... clubhouse. Tell me -- what happened to the cheerleader?"

The boy spoke up. "The hazing looked a lot worse than it was. She's fine. In many ways, the whole incident was more about appearance than reality." He rubbed his face. "You've endured worse -- much worse."

"Really?" Abigail tried to pass it off -- but the boy's eyes were worse than the girl's; she knew that he knew everything.

Outside, Amy shuddered. "Ugly. No wonder Janice is the way she is! Hatred, indifference, abuse..."

Toby nodded. "Did you notice that the mother didn't hold the father as much to blame for it as you might expect? There was anger, resentment -- and Janice's mother felt that it was justified. Some external force pressed those two together and held them until the adhesive took. She really thinks she couldn't have done any better, but they'd have been better off going it alone, I think. The only love that's ever been in that house is between Janice and her mother -- and it has been crushed some by that environment."

Amy nodded. "We're going to have to keep an eye on Mark."

Miriam stewed all morning before gathering herself and calling Bernice. "Hello?"

"Bernice? It's Miriam."

'Uh oh.' "Hi."

"Can we talk? About Randy?"

"Well..."

"Come on..."

"It's not about me," Bernice insisted. "He told me that. I was just convenient, you know? I was doing my new thing, being Slut Bernice, everybody's party girl and cum dumpster."

"It still seems like..." Miriam began carefully.

"Oh, there's trouble, all right," Bernice replied. "He tried to explain it to me. He says that when you guys got together, he did some things and said some things that were -- I dunno -- a game? An experiment? Anyway, for him, it was something he could do at the time -- but he can't keep it up. But from what he says, you're going to want it or need it all the time..."

"Oh." Miriam sat staring at the floor, the phone to her ear.

"He feels bad. He said things seemed perfect -- but then he realized that some stuff that is extreme for him isn't for you..." Bernice paused. "Do you like, you know, being told to do stuff? You know -- stuff that's a little out there?"

"Yes," Miriam replied tonelessly.

Bernice sighed. "I do stuff -- but I don't know that I like it. I just do what I'm told. That's ... bad enough..."

"It's like taking a dare," Miriam explained. "Kind of a feeling of accomplishment."

"Oh. I get it," Bernice replied. "But that's not how I feel about it." Thinking about it, Bernice guessed that it made Miriam kind of an adrenaline junkie -- and left Randy holding the bag for finding her new thrills. It wasn't exactly right, but it bore a speaking resemblance to the reality. Sometimes, Bernice didn't even know why she did as she was told -- but it came down to that; she did as she was told.

"How bad is it?"

Bernice sighed. "I think I've said too much already."

"I need to know. He's pushing me away!"

"He ... doesn't know how to tell you." Bernice sat a moment, thinking. "He feels REAL bad. He didn't know what he was getting into. You ... did things for him -- stuff no one else could. Up at the camp..." Bernice remembered the incident VERY clearly! "But now ... He can't pay -- and he doesn't know how to tell you."

"What does he think I want?" Miriam asked.

"He says you need a real bastard -- someone who makes demands, and who will make you, I dunno, toe the line. He was angry and he was carrying a lot around..."

"But that isn't him," Miriam finished for her.

"Right. He's not -- mad any more. Or less so, anyway," Bernice agreed. "While he was, you guys were headed in the same direction..."

"What do I do?"

"I dunno," Bernice sighed. "It's busted. I'm sorry. But, like I said -- it isn't my fault."

Unseen tears trickled down Miriam's cheeks. "Maybe it should be."

"What?"

"Can you do what he wants? Can you give him what he needs? You know you can't argue with him, right? You have to listen, at least, before you do..."

"Well, I might need duct tape -- but I understand 'Yes, Randy.' That seems to be big..." Bernice mused.

"It is. It's all about validating him -- respect. Letting him be the boss."

"I can do that. So?"

"Do you want to?" Miriam pressed.

"I..." Bernice stopped and thought about it. Big was that interlude the night before. She'd wanted to be cuddled and valued -- and Randy had put up with it, at the very least. That was a first, more or less. She'd gotten grudging approval, at least. "Well..."

"Be honest."

"Yeah."

"Okay. If we're not going to work, I can at least pass him to someone who will try..."

"Jeez, Miriam!"

It was the ultimate sacrifice; Randy was Miriam's first love -- and those ALWAYS hurt! But Miriam was up for such things, more or less by nature. Sacrifice came naturally to her. "If I'm going to lose him, I'd rather he go to someone who values him."

"Miriam, I can't!"

"You're not taking him from me -- you know that. You're merely ... inheriting."

"That's up to him," Bernice pointed out.

"Yes it is," Miriam agreed. "But you have the inside track, don't you?"

"Well, maybe..." Bernice thought about it -- wouldn't THAT be a switch?

Saturday afternoon, Candace's complaints -- seconded by Lon -- prompted a gathering about a subject that Toby had already discussed with a couple of people -- getting the 'clubhouse' out of Carpenter's basement. Candace and Lon were there, of course, and Beth, and Louise came in, bringing Terence and Damian. Hank was also in attendance, carrying his father's proxy, as well as Randy; Toby asked that Marta be present and got Maddie, too. Amy was also in attendance, to help Toby deal with the various factions. Once everyone was in place (ironically, in the playroom), Toby opened with, "I think we need to be out of here."

"Amen!" Lon erupted.

Toby shrugged, and continued his presentation. "This place has security issues -- and a number of things have gone down here that we wouldn't want traced back to this location. It's getting to be too small, and it can't handle groups with diverse sexual interests. Finally, constantly being a hostess is driving Candace nuts and Lon has to put up with the flood of us through here all the time even though he isn't deep into things any more."

There was a murmur, largely of agreement.

"Now for the downside," Toby continued. "We need to be able to move quickly, or else we have to keep coming here until the new place is ready. Frankly, football season only lasts so long -- and after that, I don't know how we're going to branch out -- if we even want to. Then there is money; we have money from Fernando and I've set up a company to filter things through, but I can't run it; we need a bookkeeper -- in the club -- and someone to watch the place from day to day once it is up and running. We need to be as legal as we can be. This place will probably have to be out in the open -- or maybe we need TWO places, one of which is secret -- but in any case, it's a lot of crap to be dealing with." He turned to Louise, "Undoubtedly, we'll need construction assistance."

"From Fred?" Louise looked like she'd bit into a lemon.

"Well, there's Rico -- but I think Fred's ready to deal. Why don't you just get whatever it is you want from him and get it over with?" Toby replied.

"I don't know -- it's almost too simple. I'm not sure what I want will be enough. For one thing, I keep finding other people he's burned," Louise replied.

Toby sighed. "I don't see Terence getting anything from this -- and I'm not sure about Damian. Why don't you just walk out and get it over with?" He stood watching her, poker-faced, but Amy, who was rubbing his back, smiled crookedly at Louise; through the feed from Toby, it was obvious that Louise just couldn't do that -- she had too much invested in Fred. Maybe, if Rico wanted her, she might make the break -- but that was asking some of Rico...

After a pregnant silence, Louise mumbled, "Not yet."

"We don't need to be tied in knots, here," Toby pressed.

"I'll talk to Fred," Louise promised. "We'll work out something."

Toby nodded. Amy sat there wondering how it was that nobody ever seemed to notice that Toby could make ANY woman in the group stand down...

"Money, we have," Toby continued, "although we need to be very careful about it. I think I can bring in some of what we stripped from Fernando -- but Marta needs to stay far away from our financial transactions. As a result, she can't help us much. It would be nice if she could be a club employee of some type -- but she can't control money. We will need a hostess -- and that's a problem. We've been abusing Candace -- and while the benefits have been substantial, so has the work. But if we set up somewhere else, we'll have to put someone on staff -- and she will probably HAVE to be a club member." He turned to Candace, "At least you can sleep in at this point..."

"Anybody given any thought to what the place ought to look like?" Damian asked.

"Lots of rooms," Terence mused.

"Probably," Hank agreed. "A public area and private areas. That way we can break things up -- maybe have an inner sanctum or something."

Lon nodded. "Just parties, sex parties, private sex parties, weird shit..." He carefully avoided looking at Terence.

"Three floors," Beth mused. "Public stuff on the ground floor, club stuff on second and third. Maybe a basement..."

"A pool would be nice," Lon opined.

"Big bathrooms, maybe a sauna -- or a Jacuzzi," Louise mused.

"Private, on a big lot, so if we want to do stuff outside it isn't a problem," Toby added.

"Or if -- God forbid -- we need to do something like what you did to Fernando..." Marta mused.

"Clint wants his mama's ass kicked, "Terence rumbled.

"It's a tall order, obviously. Any takers?" Toby asked.

"I think we women ought to pick it out," Beth declared.

"No kidding?" Toby queried.

<That was slick... > Amy chuckled mentally.

<There is a lot of resentment over the guys running things, > Toby shot back.

"I think it is a good idea," Candace agreed. "Marta and I can go over the real estate pages..."

"Marta can't be on the front end," Toby reminded her. "She needs to get hired as an employee after things are running."