Chapter 54

There was a knock on the door that Vince and Antoine were occupying on the first floor. Abigail stuck her head through the door and said, "Kids are starting to come in from the dance. I'm going to be busy, although I hope to have help. Most will be headed for the second floor, so if you stay down here any contact should be limited."

Vince thought about it. "What if we want to go upstairs? Our shit is up there..."

Abigail thought about it. "Well, you might want masks. He still isn't a member, but he comes under the heading of 'volunteer, ' I guess. Volunteers have rules, though -- at least, female ones do." She turned her attention on Antoine. "Basically, they put out on demand -- even if they're considered to be 'hooked up' -- although we don't just make demands of the hooked up. We tend to ask first -- and we'll have a reason."

Vince was down a couple of loads and feeling mellow -- but he had more available and Antoine hadn't gotten a full workout maybe -- and the whole Dark Room thing held some fascination. "What if I want to use a Dark Room?"

Abigail eyed him. "What for?"

"A party, I guess. Something open to gays. My little black bitch needs a workout." Vince grinned as Antoine gazed at him, wide-eyed.

"I don't know how many solid gays we have," Abigail mused. "You might want to allow bisexuals."

Vince nodded. "They'll know what's there and who's hosting by the lights, right?"

"Right." Abigail really hadn't worked her way through the whole set of implications for the different sexual orientations using Dark Rooms. Pursing her lips, she said, "If you're going, I guess you'd better get up there. I'd use Dark Room One or Two. That way if somebody sets up something in the other room, people can go into the light lock and not out themselves, since no one will see their choice."

"It's a plan," Vince agreed.

"Better get up there, then, if you don't want to be seen," Abigail pointed out. "Traffic will be heavier on the second floor."

"Let's go!" Vince waved Antoine in front of him. Antoine gave him a look of mixed fear and anticipation and followed Abigail out.

Abigail called Toby, who was still at the restaurant. "I think I'm going to need help," she announced. "Janice and Tabitha both have dates and neither is home yet. The gay couple are still here and going to use Dark Room One for a party, apparently, and I need more shepherds."

"Let me see who I can get..." Toby muted the phone. "Traffic at the clubhouse is turning out to be heavier than we thought – and someone is having a party in Dark Room One..."

Terence pulled at his lip. "Mama just got off the three to eleven shift..."

"Yeah, so did Ma..." He unmuted the phone. "I'll make a couple of calls. We should be able to get Ma or Louise, with a little luck."

"Thanks!" Abigail gushed.

"Can you call your mother?" Toby asked.

"Sure..." Terence fished out his phone.

"Mama?"

"Terence?" Louise answered. She'd been thinking about going to bed, but wasn't tired, having been on shift all week.

"There are a lot of kids going to the club after the dance to hang out -- and Abby is swamped. Are you busy?" Terence asked.

"Well, no, actually..."

"Can you help her mind the store?"

"Yeah, sure -- why not?" Louise turned to Fred, who was snoozing in his chair. "Fred, Terence says they need some babysitters at the club."

"Babysitters?" Fred grunted in surprise.

"Well, people to direct traffic. I'm going -- want to?" Louise asked.

"Yeah. Hell, why not? Think I can bring beer?"

"For your own consumption, maybe," Louise replied.

"Yeah, good enough."

Louise returned to the phone. "Your father and I are both coming."

"Great!"

Terence relayed the news -- and Toby was pleased, because his mother's response had been, "I'm at Robert's..." Toby called Abigail and relayed, "The Carters are coming -- both of them."

"Great!" Abigail exclaimed. "I'm not sure I really want to brave that room ... They have this gay BDSM thing going on."

Toby merely chuckled. "How did that whole thing work out?"

"If the black guy was supposed to be on the bottom, I'd say fine..." Abigail opined.

"Well, that's how I understood it," Toby related. "They should be fine, then."

"The white kid seemed to have it all under control..." Abigail mused.

"Good. Try to handle things until the Carters get there. Amy and I will be along soon, too." Toby hung up.

By one-thirty, the outbound trickle from the diner had turned into a flood, but Big Jack Osborn was pleased with the results. The diner had done a week's worth of night-shift business and the two black hookers had made Jack and their young pimps a small fortune. A number of boys had 'settled' for Ginny, too, at her somewhat cheaper rate, when he could release her from waiting tables -- which wasn't until after one.

Marcel showed up to settle up. "Guess that's about it," he mused, as he and Jack went over the take.

"Well ... The truckers and the late-night party bunch will start pretty soon. There won't be a ton of them, but if you guys hang out for a couple hours more you might gross another thousand."

"No shit? Hey, Slick!" Ultimately, the three of them negotiated a reduction in Patty and Simone's rate that would make them more affordable while maintaining their 'premium' position, with Ginny offered at her regular rate. The girls would stay on, napping between johns until four a.m.

In the meantime, couples went here, there, and yonder. Chris and Misha went home to Misha's -- her mother had gotten her fix earlier in the week. Donna and Mac went to Donna's -- because Noreen and Harmon were at Harmon's, trying to see whether sex was all they had in common.

Other couples were taking advantage of the clubhouse. Bobby and Trish MIGHT have gone to Trish's, but Luis was there (they didn't know about Gabriel, which was just as well). Terence and Bonita could have gone to Terence's, but it wasn't as comfortable as a bedroom in the clubhouse. Damian DID take Alyssa home, Big Ed or no Big Ed -- but Randy took Bernice to the clubhouse.

Tad and Anita were too much in the spotlight, so Tad reluctantly took Anita home -- only to discover that the Shepherdsons had done an about-face and he was welcomed like a son! Ellis invited him in when he and Anita arrived on the porch and Leslie got an ottoman and a pillow for Tad to rest his injured leg on -- and after a short period during which Ellis complimented him on the game and made inane conversation, Leslie got both Ellis and Butch out of the den so Tad and Anita could neck in peace! Tad had no idea how to deal with it, but Anita had a few ideas, starting with hustling upstairs to get into something 'more comfortable' ... A nightgown was out, but she managed a tank top and a short skirt -- and nothing underneath ... Sex was out, too, but they enjoyed themselves, anyway, for a couple of hours before Tad had to go home.

Clint took Brenda to the clubhouse; he had no interest in having Brenda and his mother in the same room. In fact, he had no interest in seeing his mother at all...

Isaiah and Pete and Jasmine and Tabitha rode to the clubhouse together -- and basically took over the library. They could have gone upstairs, but no one was going to bother them, anyway, and Pete and Tabitha were going to end up in Tabitha's room up the hall.

Lucy O'Donnell felt like she'd gone to some effort to attain her privileged member status, so she more or less insisted that Eddie Ray and Nicky head up to the second floor, where initially they took up residence in the steam room.

Louise and Fred arrived and it was decided that Louise would guard the stairs to the second floor from the upper landing with Fred patrolling the halls and acting as backup while Abigail handled the first floor. Toby and Amy arrived just before the main group and took up residence in the control room.

Tina deliberately waited until Amy and Toby were packing up at the diner to tell Alonzo, "I think I ought to see the clubhouse." There was more to it than that -- she'd settled down and thought things over and decided that she would probably want to let her hair down -- but she wanted a little quality time with Alonzo first. It wouldn't do for her to put herself out there and get wild if she and Alonzo weren't going to make it...

Alonzo eyed her dubiously for a moment, well aware that the club had been a stumbling block and that there had been no obvious reason why that situation should have changed. Tina understood and explained, "I've ... absorbed it now. It's okay. I was just off-guard."

"Well, we don't have to go anywhere that isn't public," Alonzo replied.

"Let's just go and see."

The house was impressive; Tina had to admit that. A somewhat anorexic woman met them at the door and addressed herself immediately to Tina, "I'm Abigail. I'm sort of the house mother here. This is your first visit, is it not?"

Tina nodded, "Yes."

Abigail turned to Alonzo. "What do you want?"

"Somewhere quiet, to start," Alonzo replied.

"There are some couples in the library, wrapped up in each other, if you know what I mean," Abigail replied. "For more privacy, there are a few rooms along this, the north hallway, and some along the south hall. Here in the north, please don't go beyond the stairway -- beyond are the staff quarters." She flicked a glance at Tina. "Use of the second floor is a membership privilege."

"We may look into it later," Alonzo replied.

"Very well. I know of one room along the south hall that isn't made up; beyond that, things should be wide open. There are games and such in the main parlor, and TV in just about every room. Basically, if something is there, you may use it. Questions?"

"No." Alonzo answered for the pair.

"I'll be available if any come up. There will be a brunch in the morning in the dining area." Abigail turned her attention to the next couple while Alonzo tugged Tina up the hall.

The more Tina saw, the more the place impressed her. There were video games and pool and TV and a big dining room and quiet places where couples huddled in the semi-darkness to make out -- and bedrooms where the beds actually smelled brand new! The sheets were fresh and crisp... "I guess I don't understand," Tina mused. "Why do this?"

Alonzo shrugged. "Why not?"

"Do you pay for it?"

"No. It was explained to us that it is kind of a booster club -- I pay for it by winning games, I guess. But the more you know about this place, the more you realize that it is just meant to be a safe place to be with friends..."

"And have sex," Tina pointed out.

"Yes. That, too," Alonzo agreed.

"Wild parties?"

Alonzo pursed his lips. "Orgies, maybe. Swing parties. I've never seen booze or drugs. Just sex. Sometimes lots of sex."

"This looks pretty subdued..." Tina mused.

"This isn't a normal Friday night after the game," Alonzo replied, "and this isn't the members' area." He pursed his lips. "We didn't HAVE a non-members' area before..."

"No?"

"No. The original place was someone's basement family room, I think. This is several steps up," Alonzo explained. "We would use upstairs bedrooms for privacy -- but more often than not..." His voice trailed off. "What did Amy tell you?"

"Lots of stuff," Tina replied. "And I made promises not to tell any tales out of school. You're safe, I think."

"Lots of times, couples would just throw thin mats on the floor or the pool table and go at it in plain sight. People would get fired up and the next thing you knew, everybody was doing somebody."

"Sounds wild..." Tina mused. "But somebody has to have paid for all this. I don't know how comfortable I'm going to be until I know more."

"Toby and Amy should be around..." Alonzo mused.

"What about -- I dunno -- adults?"

Alonzo sighed. "Let's go look."

Tina's worries colored the mental landscape -- and were therefore easy to pick up. Toby did so and trotted up the stairs to see Louise. "Tina Bettinger is new. She's with Alonzo. She has questions -- including who is paying for all this..." He pursed his lips. "Once she's happy, she'll want to be a member -- but she wants to talk to an adult."

Louise nodded, sighing. "I resemble an adult, I guess, Baby. I'll handle it."

"Thanks." Toby padded back downstairs to be with his girl.

Alonzo and Tina showed up a few minutes later. "Tina has questions," Alonzo began, "and..."

"And she wants to hear the answers from somebody besides the nerdy team trainer?" Toby asked, smiling crookedly.

"Yeah." Alonzo was thoroughly embarrassed.

"Go up the stairs. 'L' is up there. She can answer Tina's questions."

So Alonzo trudged up the stairs with Tina on his heels. Louise was sitting in a chair at the top, wearing a bathrobe and a mask; Fred was out patrolling the halls. "Can I help you?"

"Um, 'L', this is Tina," Alonzo began. "She has questions..."

"What kind of questions, Baby?" Louise cocked her head at Tina.

"I think I understand most of what goes on around here," Tina began, "but..."

Louise interrupted with a chuckle. "If you do, you're better off than I am! Who did you talk to?"

"Amy."

Louise pursed her lips and nodded. "Maybe you do, then. Amy isn't an original member, but she's joined at the hip to Toby -- and if there is a heart and soul of this operation, it's Toby."

Tina blinked. "Really?"

Louise smiled crookedly. "I'm an early member -- but not an original member. There are three original members -- and Toby is one of them. In fact, Toby didn't come up with the idea, but he's the one who made it work. And if the club has management, it's Toby."

"But he's..." Tina protested.

"Your age?" Louise filled in the gap. "Maybe that's what it takes. People my age tend to tell people what won't work -- while people your age make it happen! But go ahead, ask your questions -- and I'll try to answer."

"Okay, well, the big question is 'Who pays for this?' There's a lot of money invested here..."

"Um, I think we're a non-profit -- maybe a charity. A while back, we did someone a big favor, and they funded us with quite a bit of money. I guess you'd call it an endowment. Then when we bought this house, we found some really valuable antiques, and that added to things; it's why we have an antique store next door, actually. There was some really valuable old stuff -- and because this place used to be a boarding house, there were several copies of some of the more valuable items. As I understand it, the house was paid for from its contents."

"Really? If I was the old owner, I'd be embarrassed..." Tina mused.

"Well, Baby, one man's junk is another man's valuable artifact," Louise said blandly. "If we didn't have a member who recognized a possible goldmine, we would probably have sent it all to the dump."

"So it's all free..." Tina mused.

"For now," Louise agreed, nodding. "Nothing lasts forever, although I bet we could go on for some time as we are."

"I feel a lot better..." Tina mused.

"Actually, it might be smart for us to charge a small fee -- something you kids could afford, like five dollars, maybe. It would extend things and given the benefits, it's more than worth it," Louise mused.

Tina covered her mouth. "I hope I didn't start something!"

"Well, we'll see," Louise replied. "We don't want to price access out of the budget for you guys or it'll just be us old folks around here!" She grinned. "But we DO have a couple of employees who aren't making much more than food and housing right now."