Chapter 14

But Fred didn't leave; two o'clock came and Louise got into her scrubs and collected Brie, "Come on, Baby."

In the car, Brie pouted, "We didn't talk."

Louise eyed her, "We can now, Baby. This is a safe place."

"Who is Randy having sex with?" Brie kicked off.

"If he hasn't told you, Baby, he probably doesn't want you to know."

"Why not?"

"I can think of a couple of reasons," Louise replied. "For one, if you don't know, no one can make you tell."

"Why would anyone want to?" Brie asked.

"I bet your sister would -- and that would make a mess of things."

"Oh." Brie wasn't done. "What other reasons?"

"Well, not telling you protects the other person, too, not just Randy," Louise pointed out. "Besides, he might be embarrassed."

"Why?"

"Baby, to explain, I'd have to tell you things about the group. And then you would know those things, too!"

"You SAID we could talk!" Brie pouted. "You haven't told me ANYTHING!"

"Okay," Louise sighed. "Randy might be embarrassed because he's having sex with older women."

"Why?"

"Why what, Baby?"

"Why is he having sex with older women?"

It had been a long time since the 'why' phase with the boys; Louise steadied down. "The first reason, I guess, is that the older women in the group are more available. We have more older women than girls, right now. The second reason would probably be because it is good for Randy and good for them."

"I don't understand."

"Baby, when young guys and young girls get together, they don't know what feels good to the other person. Sometimes, they don't even know what feels good for themselves. It's kind of dumb, but we don't teach that to our kids, so they don't know. If a young guy learns sex from an older woman, she can teach him how to do it right, so when he's with young girls, they get what they need. Understand?"

"Yeah, that's pretty smart. Why don't we teach that stuff?" Brie asked.

"There are reasons," Louise sighed. "For one thing, there are laws. Laws are designed to protect people -- but sometimes protecting a few people gets in the way of everyone else."

"I'm lost. Teaching sex is against the law?"

Louise laughed. "Lots of times, it is. We're pretty messed up that way. For instance, there are laws that say that boys below a certain age should not have sex with girls above a certain age, and vice-versa. This is to protect the young boys and girls from people they call sexual predators. But those laws do not take into effect the fact that young people are curious about sex and will eventually try it. For instance, those laws are VERY clear in your case -- they say that NOBODY should EVER have sex with you!"

"Oh." Brie mulled this over. "That sucks."

"Well, like I said, the law is there to protect you -- but that doesn't mean it is always right. The law is there to keep Mr. Carter from taking advantage of you, for instance -- but it says that you are too young to make decisions regarding sex -- and that means that whether you want it or not, anyone who has sex with you is in big trouble!"

"Then you're not gonna..." Brie looked sad and started to sniffle.

"Oh, no! The boys are hard at it, right now! But you have to understand that this is all very dangerous. In fact, many things that are done inside the group are considered illegal, even though everyone wants to do them and no one is getting hurt," Louise explained. "But it's why everything is a secret -- we're bucking those laws. You see, it is illegal for Randy to have sex with older women -- they could go to jail if it got out! So we need to be very careful about our secrets. Your sister is a real problem to us right now, because she's bothering you and Randy and she's not a group member. We know her secrets, but she doesn't know that yet; as a result, she could go out and make a lot of trouble for us -- and she would probably start by trying to get secrets out of you!"

"So many secrets," Brie mused.

"Too many, Baby. Too many." Louise sighed. "And all of these new girls are going to make it worse. That's why we're really clamping down. If one of them goes wild, we need to limit the number of people she can hurt!"

"How do you control things?" Brie asked.

"Right now, it's because we know each other's secrets, Baby. Each of us has secrets that the others know that could literally land them in jail. You know what that's called, right?"

"Blackmail." Brie nodded. "I watch TV."

"That's right, Baby. Right now, most of us can blackmail the others. Your sister and her friends are in the same boat -- we have blackmail material on them, too, now."

"Videos?" Brie asked.

"How did you know that?" Louise asked, surprised.

"I... stumbled on it," Brie admitted. "Still, I though that girl sex wasn't illegal."

"Well, Baby, it isn't -- but it IS private, and some of those girls won't want it spread around." She grimaced. "That's not all we have, Baby. Is that all you know about -- girl sex?"

"There's more? Gawd..." Girl sex was bad enough in Brie's book...

"Well, we don't like how your sister treats her girlfriends, and that's an issue -- but, yes, there is more. I don't know..."

"Does whatever you have make the group safe?" Brie asked.

"Yes," Louise nodded. "It's VERY illegal."

"Is it okay, though?" Brie asked.

"That's really a personal question, Baby. Everyone would have their own opinions on that. But most would say no," Louise said gently.

Brie eyed her. "You don't want to tell me, do you?"

"No. I just wanted you to know that there was more -- that we have enough." Louise sighed. "I'm not thrilled about your sister and the other girls -- up to now, membership in the group has been purely voluntary."

"That's nice." Brie left the issue of her sister's fate, because she believed that they were doing the right thing. "So you all want to have sex? The older women want to have sex with Randy?"

"Baby, young guys need sex all the time -- and they don't get it. Older women have the same problem. Some scientists say that boys Randy's age are at their sexual peak -- and women my age are at theirs. Except for the laws, it's a match made in Heaven!" Louise grinned.

"Why wouldn't older women be able to get sex?" Brie asked.

"Well, they're older, for one thing. Or they're shy, or they're too busy, or they're widows, or divorced. Things like that."

"Mama is a widow. And she's busy," Brie pointed out.

"We plan to invite her into the group," Louise replied. "Do you mind?"

"No. Mama needs it, I think."

"We do, too."

"Why are you a member? You have Mr. Carter..."

Louise grimaced. "Mr. Carter and I don't have sex any more. It's an old problem we have, and there have been too many things said and done for us to fix it. I've been waiting for my boys to grow up -- but they have, so Mr. Carter and I won't be together much longer." She sighed. "Part of the problem is how Mr. Carter treats people -- he thinks strangers owe him something, and he takes things he shouldn't. If he WAS a member of the group, he might have been the perfect person to help you with what you want -- but he isn't, because he doesn't treat girls very nice, for one reason." She thought a moment. "There are other reasons -- I think Mr. Carter would try to destroy the group, rather than join it, for instance -- but maybe the biggest reason is that we're not getting along and he wouldn't approve of the group -- or what I'm doing in it."

"Why would he want to ruin things?"

"Well... Some of the members are white. Mr. Carter has a big thing about white people having sex with black people -- especially white men and black women." Louise made a face. "It's okay for him to have sex with white women, though -- or even girls."

"Oh." Brie sighed. "Like that, huh." She'd been exposed to racism -- on both sides -- all her life.

"Yeah," Louise agreed. "In the group, there is some tension, but it has been largely because there weren't enough black members -- especially women and girls. The balance is going to shift totally when six or eight new black girls arrive..."

"Some of Alyssa's friends aren't black," Brie supplied. "One is Chinese, and one is Mexican, and one is half-Puerto Rican."

"That is good news, actually," Louise smiled. Changing the subject somewhat, she added, "The girl we're picking up is white -- but she is very nice. She's going to watch you until the boys go home. There will be a woman at the house, but she probably won't want you to see her, in order to stay secret. Still, if something comes up, she will be there and will help."

"Good!" This thing was a mess; Brie could see why Big Brother wanted to shield her from it. Secrets everywhere... Another question suggested itself, "Have you had sex with Randy, Mrs. Carter?"

Louise gazed at Brie for several seconds before making the admission, "Yes."

Brie smiled. "Thank you." She knew that it had been hard for Mrs. Carter to tell her that. "Is he good?"

"Yes, very good," Louise agreed. "And he's getting better, fast!" Seeing something in the girl's eye, she added, "Brie, we don't sleep with our own relatives -- in fact, the original reason for the group was to avoid that, because it is very illegal and brings a LOT of trouble with it. You shouldn't plan on having sex with Randy -- there are plenty of other boys -- really good ones -- in the group!"

Brie nodded solemnly. Hopefully, Mrs. Carter was right...

They pulled into a driveway, and a HUGE white girl in a sleeveless blouse, skirt, and flip-flops came out carrying a bag. She must have been as tall as Sissy's skinny friend Brenda -- but she was big everywhere, instead of being skinny -- not as heavy as Mama, but she probably had Sissy's tits and ass -- but blended smooth with everything else. She towered over Brie when she came up to the car, but she smiled and said "Hi, I'm Sally," in a very friendly manner and got into the back seat.

Brie turned to Louise, "Is she, um, a member?"

"Yes, Baby. We couldn't really leave you with her if she wasn't, could we?" She turned to Sally. "Brie knows some things, but we're still trying to keep her from knowing everyone -- the secrecy thing, you know? Be a little careful, but use your own judgment about what you tell her -- especially until we get her sister under control."

"Ummm, okay." Sally wasn't sure what this all meant.when it came to talking to the younger girl. "I'm sort of a partial member, really," she volunteered, after some thought. "My boyfriend is a member, and I know a bunch of people, but I pretty much stick with my boyfriend."

"So you haven't had sex with my brother?" Brie asked innocently.

"Ummm, no."

"Are you gonna?"

"Not unless my boyfriend says so."

"Okay." Brie accepted that. She turned to Louise, "Do you guys swap around a lot?"

Louise sighed and shook her head. "Some of us do."

"Do you?"

"I've had sex with just about every boy in the group, I guess -- except mine, of course." She sighed. "This is getting pretty personal, Baby."

"Would Mama be able to do that?"

"If she wants to, I guess. We don't know what she wants -- but in the past we've pretty much let people do things the way they want. Of course, this group won't get much choice, initially." Louise grimaced. "And I'm not sure I like that."

Brie shrugged. "Why don't we wait and find out? Anything has to be better than what Sissy is doing..."

Louise chuckled. "You may be right!"

Louise dropped Brie and Sally off and called Randy, who came upstairs and let them in. "Why don't we go out back?" Sally suggested, and they threaded their way through the house. Wherever Candace was, neither of them saw her.

"Oh, wow! A pool!" Brie was immediately excited. "Damn! I don't have a suit!"

"Hmmm. I brought mine, but I didn't realize you didn't know... Let me make a call." She phoned Randy, who talked to Lon, who talked to his mother.

"Let her skinny-dip, if she wants to," the answer came back eventually. "Who cares? I'll bring some towels out to the slider." A couple of minutes later, Randy waved from the door, a stack of beach towels in his hands. "Don't go nuts, now, Cheesecake."

Sally was looking at her bathing suit and watching Brie happily skin out of her shorts. "I should..."

"He said, 'Get naked,' " Randy related.

"Okay." Sally eyed him.

"I'm not hanging around to watch." Randy turned and left.

Sally stepped out of her skirt. "No panties?" Brie asked, surprised.

"My boyfriend doesn't like them," Sally said simply.

"Do you do everything your boyfriend says?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I like it that way," Sally replied. "It's not for everyone, but I'm not Little Miss Independent Woman. I do what my boyfriend wants because that makes him happy -- and when he's happy, I'm happy." She flipped her top off over her head and toed out of her flip-flops. "Let's get in." She walked sedately down the steps in the shallow end while Brie (of course) jumped.

Minutes later, they were holding onto the pool edge, side by side. "So, does your boyfriend have sex with women in the group?" Brie asked.

"Yes." Sally replied.

"How do you feel about that?"

"Well, he was in the group when we met -- he's an original member," Sally explained. "So he was doing it before we got started. In a perfect world, I'd have him all to myself -- but then, I might not be motivated to do everything I can to keep him happy. Besides, I don't feel threatened by the older women in the group..."

"Why not?"

"They're older -- I guess that's the whole story. They're too old for him to be with -- he can't marry one, or anything."

"Oh." Brie thought about it. "Yeah, that makes sense. What about the new girls, though?"

Sally shrugged. "I'll work harder, I guess."

"I thought guys chased girls, not vice-versa."

"Well, you're right," Sally agreed, "with certain exceptions. My boyfriend is a catch -- and I'm not. That's what experience says. I'm big, and boys stay away. My boyfriend is different -- he likes me -- but he is a popular guy, and likely to get MORE popular, so I need to keep him happy so that someone else doesn't buzz by and collect him." She mused a moment. "Girls tend to be monogamous -- to want to keep one boy. But boys aren't built that way, especially where sex is concerned. Lots of times, for them, sex is just sex -- they don't mix all of the other stuff that we do, like love and commitment, into it -- they're just trying to get laid, because they're always horny."

Brie shrugged. "Girls get horny -- or at least I do."

"You're right," Sally agreed, "but we tend to look for a steady supply of sex -- and hope that the guy will hang around and help us raise children, and stuff. Guys get tired of the same old thing and want something new -- it's built in, a natural instinct -- a way to spread their genes around. If you want to keep one, you need to give him something new, yourself, every once in a while, or put up with him doing other things, or make sure you're important enough to him that he stays around." She sighed. "Most of us opt for option number three, in some way -- and we usually rely on marriage to make it work. But if you're not willing to work at option one or option two, you might find that that is not enough, because marriage -- even with kids -- isn't enough if you're not doing the things that make him happy. I'm not even CLOSE to marriage, so I'm running all three options simultaneously."

"But I've always heard that that's the way you do things," Brie replied, puzzled. "You grow up, you fall in love, you get married."

Sally shook her head. "Marriage isn't a goal -- it's not over once the wedding bells stop chiming. That's the start. He makes a commitment to stay with you -- because you're bringing him things he values. If you marry him, then stop bringing those things, you've cheated him. Women get married, they have a kid, and they fall apart. They think they're all set -- they're married, so they don't have to look nice, or do anything special -- and especially, they don't have to have sex as often any more." Sally shook her head. "If you think about it -- hello -- you attracted him with sex, so how is he gonna feel about it if you stop? What do you think he's gonna do if he finds somebody else more willing to have sex with him?"

"There's a lot of that in my neighborhood," Brie observed.

"I have a theory for that," Sally replied, "and it kind of answers some other questions, too, like why black guys seem to prefer fat white chicks."

Brie laughed. "I gotta hear this! You should hear the complaints!"

"Okay, well, I'm not THAT much older than you and a lot of what I think I know about black culture is only what I see on TV, so if I say something wrong or something that makes you mad, let me know, okay?" Sally asked.

"Sure," Brie replied. "Let's hop out." The pair climbed out of the pool and sat side by side.

"Okay, here goes," Sally began. "First, you have to understand that a lot of things going on today are based upon things that happened to our parents and grandparents -- and the ideas they're based on are out of date today, but they've been handed down from our parents and we're stuck with them."

"Black girls fall in love with a guy and want to get married, so they have sex with them -- unprotected sex, because that makes them pregnant and then they have a hold on the guy. That's the way it used to be 'way back in the forties and fifties. White girls did that, too, back then -- but we stopped, or slowed down, at some point, because there was a downside to having kids -- we couldn't work. Black girls couldn't work anyway, so having babies was a win-win situation -- if a girl got pregnant, either the guy married her, or she had him for paternity and child support and she could get welfare." Sally paused a moment. "I know this probably isn't any too complimentary, but I've seen it..."

"Yeah, yeah," Brie waved for Sally to continue. She'd seen more than her share of welfare moms.

"Black guys don't see things that way. They get a girlfriend, and BAM! There's a kid on the way -- a kid they don't want. Then the girlfriend starts climbing on him about when he's going to get a job and when are they going to marry, and if they GET married, when is he gonna bring home a paycheck and be responsible? And the sex and the fun stuff that brought them together now hinges on whether he's supporting her and doing what she wants him to do and being what she wants him to be. And since jobs are still hard for black guys to get in some places, he's between a rock and a hard place. So he says 'Fuck this', because whatever part of his salary a court might impose on him as child support is gonna be nothing, anyway, if he's out of work; it doesn't cost him anything to just leave and get some peace and quiet -- or move in with the next chick who is sweet to him." Sally eyed Brie, "This is all just guesswork..."

But Brie was turning it over in her head. "It kinda fits the facts..."

Sally nodded. "Black girls are hard on black guys because this has been going on for a while; the guys take the heat for taking the easy way out, but they didn't set the trap, they just walked into it -- and then broke back out. So black girls think they have to ride black guys because they're untrustworthy -- and black guys get the attitude that black chicks are a hassle. Your mama tells you to be careful, because they'll tell you anything, but get you pregnant and leave you, so you set standards for what they can do before they can even talk to you -- and they stay away.

"Now," Sally continued, "we look at the flip side. Fat white girls like me are at the bottom of the barrel for white guys, so we get no attention. A black guy comes by and says nice things to us and treats us nice, and he wants to have sex. No problem -- if we have sex with him, he might come back. There's no trap, because we're on the Pill; if we have kids and he leaves -- and we know that NOTHING is certain -- then we'll have kids and be unable to work. He wants to do something wild and crazy? No problem -- you do it if you think it will convince him to come back next time he wants something. Does he want to go out with the boys? No problem, if he comes home at two a.m. and crawls in bed with you. And if he smells like another woman, you ignore it, because if you piss him off he'll crawl into HER bed and not yours!"

"So," Sally continued, now on a roll, "you look at the thing from his point of view. He tries to date a black chick and she's standoffish and demanding -- or he can go find a fat white chick that'll be happy he's paying attention to her. If he wants sex, the black chick wants all kinds of guarantees and treats him like he's a thief or something -- and the fat white chick says, 'Oh, goody!' and does whatever he wants her to. He wants to move in with a black chick and he has to get a job and pay the rent and try to find something nice in a poor neighborhood and put up with a lot of crap. If he wants to move in with a fat white chick, chances are it's HER name on the lease and the place is in a better neighborhood in the first place. He wants to go out with the boys and the black chick gives him a lot of crap about wasting money and how bad his friends are and don't expect to get laid when you come home. If he tells a fat white chick he's going out, he gets, "Okay, Honey. Please come home when you're done -- I worry so when you're out..." And if he isn't too drunk when he comes home, she'll have sex him and be happy about it. What would YOU do?"

"Wow! That's some theory! Are you sure about it?" Brie asked.

"Well, like I said, for black girls, I'm guessing. But for fat white girls? I KNOW how THEY think -- I AM one!"

"You ain't that fat," Brie argued, "you're just tall."

"It's just as bad, believe me."

"I guess." Brie thought for a bit. "What do you figure I should do about it?"

Sally shook her head. "I couldn't guess. I'm not even sure how we got here. Maybe it describes how your sister acts..."

Brie thought about it. "Maybe. Mama, too -- it's probably why she looks the other way."

Sally nodded. "Maybe. She's safer with girls -- that kind of thing." There was a moment of quiet, then conversation shifted to how warm the water was and how deep it was where, and other mundane issues...

Downstairs, the smell of wet paint filled the air. Toby was inside the booths on a ladder, running electrical cable along the floor joists for lighting and just about everyone else was wielding a paint brush. But since painting isn't a seriously mind-absorbing activity, a discussion about possible male candidates for group membership had broken out. "What about Hank?" Toby yelled through an open door.

Lon grimaced. "He's a perfect choice to replace Dirk -- red on the head like a dick on a dog..." Hank was one of those freckle-faced, carroty-haired redheads you see periodically, complete with buck teeth and a rangy physique. Terence burst out laughing, and Rick snickered. "Besides, he doesn't have a mother -- how are we going to get a lock on his mouth?"

"That isn't fair," Rick argued. "If anyone can keep a secret, it's Hank..." Hank Garber was a good friend of Toby's and more than an acquaintance to Rick -- but basically an unknown to Lon -- largely because his father, Coach Garber, didn't coach the swim team. Hank was a little bit geeky -- but he also had connections in the athletic department at the highest levels -- so he knew a LOT of secrets. And he managed to parcel them out in a manner that helped people, rather than hurting them. Terence knew Hank; Hank was his biology tutor for a semester the year before. Between Hank and Toby, Terence managed to keep his grades up and maintain his eligibility for sports.

"Well, he's got a dad," Damian pointed out. "Maybe we can pull a reverse; if anybody ever needed pussy, it'd be Coach Garber..."

Toby got down off the ladder. "You know, that's not a bad idea," he said. "It would give us two new male members, and we're suddenly pretty flush with young girls, so we can use basically the same kind of evidence that keeps us on the hook. And if Coach gets motivated, we might even win a football game!" The allusion was valid; Coach Garber's wife had died unexpectedly from a reaction to some medicine she was taking two years earlier, and it had sucked the life out of Coach. Somehow, the team managed to finish the season that year, but for the past year, Jefferson High's record was abysmal; Coach was just going through the motions. He had lost his fire -- and with it, his ability to direct and inspire the team. Hank had gone on record with Toby and Rick as saying his father had given up, and that life at home wasn't a lot of fun, either.

"That assumes that we can get Coach to pop a young chick," Lon pointed out. "If not, we've got nothing. And if Coach gets upset, we could be exposed."

Toby shrugged. "We ran that risk with our mothers -- and, frankly, it should have been worse. Coach is a guy -- and if Hank is any indication, lack of sex has got to be painful for him. We'll need to be careful about it, though -- maybe we should start with an older woman, even."

"Maybe we can make do with something less for Hank," Damian suggested. "We're pretty much agreed that lezzie stuff isn't enough for a chick, but gay stuff would freeze Pa in his tracks... What about Hank?"

Everybody kind of locked up. Toby found himself not looking at Terence. Lon frowned. Rick grimaced. Randy looked shocked. "Forget it," Damian said quietly.

The gauntlet was out there, though, so Toby took it up. "We'd have to be careful about the approach -- you don't just spring that kind of thing. He would need to see the carrot pretty clearly, first."

"Well, it takes two to tango," Rick grunted. "Any volunteers?" He looked around. No one came forward.

"There's another option," Randy erupted. "Brie."

"For it to work, they have to be on video -- and know what they're up to," Toby pointed out. "Otherwise, Hank could claim he had no idea. The booth thing wouldn't work."

"Guess we'd better find out if she really likes it or not before we commit her to something like this," Lon mused. There was general agreement. "Well, this place should be ready by sometime tomorrow..."

"For her purposes it is," Toby replied. "It just smells like paint."

"I think we need to put a hammerlock on Alyssa, first, before we do anything that Brie might get in trouble over if it leaks out," Damian opined. "When do we want to move on that?"

"Day before yesterday would've been good," Randy grunted.

"What about her mama?" Damian asked.

"Well, it would be safest if we got a handle on them both," Toby mused.

"Tomorrow?" Terence suggested.

"Probably," Lon agreed. "Where?"

"Separate locations, I think," Rick interjected. "The way it's going to be done is going to be different, isn't it?"

Terence nodded. "I think we're gonna take it easy on Adele -- but not take any shit from Alyssa. We could probably do Adele at Rain Man's -- but Alyssa ought to come here."

"I'll make some CDs tonight," Toby offered. "The two teams can take them with them. Terence, I'll have Adele's ready when you guys come over. What time is good for this?"

"Dunno," Terence replied. "I need to talk to Mama."

"Good idea," Toby replied. "We've been talking about secrecy and stuff. Some people on each team may require those hoods or something. We need to figure out who is going to get seen and who isn't. Damian, can you come over to my house tomorrow so we can plan with Ma around?"

"Yah, no problem," Damian agreed. "Call me and set a time, or I'll just come over about nine."

"I'll go to your house," Lon offered to Terence.

Terence disagreed. "It's the weekend, Man -- we'd be hip-deep in Pa. We'll probably come here." Lon nodded.

Rick looked around. "Aside from paint drying, what's left?"

"I'm almost done," Toby replied. "Maybe a half hour. We need to put the mats in." They had discovered that half of a folding exercise mat fit the booths as a cushion for the knees, just fine. "I still say we need to put in anchor points inside the booths."

Damian chuckled, "We could super-glue their mouths to the holes..." That drew some other chuckles.

"As long as we can lock them in, I guess," Toby withdrew the comment.

"We put the deadbolts on the outside for that," Randy pointed out, "and the knobs lock on the inside. That's covered."

"Someone could kick their way out, I guess," Rick opined.

"Everybody goes in barefoot," Damian grunted. "They won't be trying THAT shit barefoot!"

"If we lock somebody in, we need to have someone out here, anyway," Toby pointed out, "even if they're absolutely silent. It's a safety thing -- if there was a fire or something..."

"Right," Lon nodded.

"Back to Brie," Toby insisted, "and Hank. Are we doing this?"

"After Alyssa is all set," Damian insisted. "All in favor of Hank?"

Everybody but Lon gave verbal approval; Lon waved surrender. "What about the women? Do they get a vote?"

"I say no," Damian grunted. "They want more dick, but they don't know what we've got to work with as well as us. It's a waste of time."

Lon glanced at Toby, who nodded. "At the risk of making them second-class citizens, I agree."

"Most of 'em are, anyway," Damian pointed out. "It's just the way things are coming out."

Rick opened his mouth, thought better of it, and shut it. Teela WAS a second-class citizen, by their definition -- she wasn't having sex with anyone but him. His mother had a full vote, theoretically, but her fixation on Toby nullified that. Candace, Beth, and Sally were all under someone's thumb -- and ALL of the new members would be looking at similar restrictions. Why argue? He filled the silence with, "Let's get those mats moved in. Do you think we need to tack them down?" People started moving.

Ten minutes later, except for electrical work, Phase One was complete. Not knowing exactly what they were going to put in place for toys and such, they hadn't put in any restraints yet -- but the booths were almost ready. People started drifting off. Randy headed upstairs to get Brie, talking to Lon about the handoff. "Have Sally come see me in my room," Lon told him.

Damian headed outside. Terence made to follow, but Toby called to him, "Terence, can you hold up a sec?"

"Sure."

"Look, uh, the Brie thing might not work, you know? This deal," Toby waved at the booths, "is for your benefit, too."

"I figured that," Terence nodded.

"I'm brewing a couple of ideas that might improve things, but they need Hank -- and Coach," Toby added.

"For who?" Terence asked.

"The football team, mostly. Maybe some others."

"So..."

"Well, if Brie can't do this..." Toby hedged.

Terence grimaced. "Trying to push that stuff on Hank might backfire."

"Yeah, I know. It would have to be approached VERY delicately."

"If it comes down to that, maybe. But it would help if I wasn't recognized -- and we didn't make it a circus," Terence sighed.

"I'll bear that in mind," Toby agreed.

"Okay." Terence eyed the booths. "You think..."

Toby shrugged. "It's meant to be anonymous..."

"We oughta stick Pa in one."

Toby froze. "If we had any control over him, it would be a great idea! Let me think about it. Wouldn't it piss you off?"

Terence shrugged. "Depends, I guess. It'd be nice if he volunteered."

"I don't think we want him as a member," Toby cautioned.

"Yeah. Too bad we couldn't offer him some deal, though. He's not gettin' any -- you can see it. So he's drunk or pissed off -- and nosy. Like the other day..." Terence referred to the time Fred had followed him to Beth's.

"Do you think he's gone out and..." Toby began.

"No. I think he's pretty rattled about that... I think he's trying to forget parts of it -- the good parts," Terence rumbled.

"We could -- I don't know -- call him up, or something. Keep him off balance. Remind him how it was..."

"Let's just wait a little," Terence replied. "Maybe he'll go back to wherever..."

Toby nodded. "Maybe. Probably. Eventually. See you tomorrow." Terence nodded and headed out.

"Anyone left?" Randy yelled down the stairs.

"Yeah, me!" Toby yelled back. "I need to go outside, anyway. How long, do you figure?"

"Ten minutes, maybe?"

"Okay, I'm headed out the side door!" Toby yelled. "I'll wait until you guys are gone to finish up."

"Okay!" Randy headed back out to his sister and Sally. "I guess we're all set," he related to Sally. "He's in his room, he says." The previous trip had been busy with getting Brie out of the pool, dry, and clothed; now, she was ready. Sally picked up her things but didn't put them on; it was too late now, anyway. She led the way through the slider. "Okay, Brie, nice meeting you!"

"Yeah, me, too. Thanks!" Brie replied. Sally smiled and turned toward Lon's room.

Randy led Brie to the stairwell. "Anyone down there?" he yelled again. After five seconds of silence, he led his little sister downstairs.

Brie was amazed. "Three?" she asked, looking at the booths.

"Well, there will be other girls," Randy shrugged. "We're thinking that we're going to have to bring in help to keep everyone happy, so this is the easiest thing. Don't touch! Wet paint!"

"Oh, okay. Can I go inside one?"

"Sure. Take the center one -- I think they're still working on the lights on the end," Randy pointed out the door of the center booth.

Brie entered the tiny room. When she came through the door, there was a cheap plastic chair; to the right, the floor was padded. "Why is there a chair?" she asked her brother, who had followed her in and closed the door.

"There are a couple of reasons -- well, one, actually -- there is a lady in the group who sort of specializes in blow jobs. We thought she might coach, or something. Or if you're really into this, you might have to wait or something." He directed Brie's attention to the door. "See? The door locks. It wouldn't stop a bull elephant, maybe, but it should make you safe."

Brie looked at the door lock -- it was just a tab. "You can get in from the outside with a key," she observed.

"True, but only a couple of people are gonna know where those keys are," Randy agreed.

Brie went over and knelt at the wall, looking at the hole covers. "Show me?"

Randy lifted the center one. It was two layers of hardboard -- one the exact size of the hole, under another, bigger circle. This was attached to a narrow piece of metal several inches long, which, in turn, was attached to a hinge. Up above, a simple screen door hook, mounted on a piece of plywood that was glued to the wall to keep a hole from being poked through the hardboard, could be hooked across the bar, holding it up. "You lock it up like this," he explained, hooking the hook. "Now everything is out of the way."

Brie gazed up at her brother. "Go out and stick your... finger through." Randy's warning glance made her substitute 'finger' for 'cock'.

Randy pursed his lips, eyeing his sister doubtfully, then turned and stepped outside. Once outside, he gingerly stuck a finger through the hole. "There are three holes at different heights," he said conversationally, "in case the guy is short or tall..." Then he hissed; a hot, wet mouth engulfed his finger, the lips sliding up and down it. Randy was amazed at how hot that was! He let her go back and forth a couple of times, and felt her tongue working before reluctantly withdrawing the finger. "The paint's still wet," he muttered.

Brie was grinning from ear to ear. She knew from his reactions that Big Brother's imagination was going full bore! Carefully, she lowered the cover, then got up and came out of the booth. "This is going to be fun!" she enthused.

"I sure hope so!" Randy replied. "This setup cost us a mint!" Wrapping his arm around his sister, he led her upstairs and out.

Toby watched them leave from the side of the house; Brie was smiling and chattering and obviously happy. Now it was time to finish up... Toby had deliberately loafed some, so he could go in alone; he had his wireless webcams and a couple of wired cams with him, too. Instinct told him that at some point, video from the booths was going to prove valuable -- so without discussing it with the others (as usual) he was going to install monitoring...

It took another forty minutes, but he had overhead cameras in each booth, a side cam in each end booth, and a feed showing the front of the booths, too, so you could tell who was sucking who. It was all neatly camouflaged in the light fixtures and a couple of screw holes in the walls. Whistling, Toby let himself out, turning on some fans to vent the room through the small open windows.