Chapter 16

Friday arrived and things moved inexorably toward evening. The first game of the season would pit Jefferson High against an old rival, Wentworth High. Even in good years, contests between the schools had been difficult; last year had been a blowout, with the Wentworth Tigers eating the Jefferson Eagles alive, 37 - 0. This year, however, Martin had a good feeling about things.

Toby went online and established a bank account for the Alternative Access Social Club, made Candace an officer with signatory powers, and transferred two thousand dollars from an account that Fernando had set up over a decade before and not touched since into it. Candace went to the bank, signed papers, got temporary checks, cashed one for two hundred dollars, and walked out, extremely pleased with the situation. Then she collected Marta and went grocery shopping. Toby wouldn't have been thrilled to put Marta and Fernando's money together like that, since Marta was still under some suspicion, but the FBI and SEC had no real link there.

Beth and Louise arrived after their hospital shifts ended at three. It was decided that a LOT of masks were going to be needed, so Beth was dispatched to one of the local novelty stores to collect some things. The other three women continued preparations.

Under the new format, girls with an 'assignment' were not required to work the floor; instead, they could stay with their partner/owner/boyfriend/whatever. This meant that out of the slave group -- Alyssa, Brenda, Bonita, Trish, Maddie, Tabitha, and Sonya, only Sonya had a commitment to do any general service. This caused a minor uproar along the Teela -- Rick -- Sonya axis, because Teela insisted on joining her 'sister' in a booth, at least. Teela solved it by urging Rick to do as they had done before -- joining them in the booth. "You can compare that rod of yours to the whole football team, Lover. After that, maybe you'll quit worrying." Rick decided to go just to keep an eye on 'his girls.' It never occurred to any of the three of them that Rick could have just claimed Sonya and been done with it... As for the others, they were all happy with their current 'assignments' anyway.

The pep rally gave Toby and Amy an opportunity to let the team know that everyone was invited to the 'Booster Club' post-game party. Amy went through the team making assessments. There were a couple of surprises and a couple of guys just couldn't come (and a couple had girlfriends who wouldn't have been amused), but in general most of the team committed to being there for the party. Amy was also able to discover who knew what, inside and outside of the team -- which set the stage for some setting of inhibitions for security's sake. Fortunately, many of those who knew too much were ALSO at the pep rally; Toby and Amy spent a very busy hour making adjustments. One standout issue was the pair of cheerleaders who felt that the football team was their private hunting preserve, and therefore planned to crash a party. Toby, amused, planted a couple of seeds to see what would sprout.

Bernice was pretty down in the mouth; the first flush of the in-school harassment was over, but her parents had been all over her. "I'm grounded for life!" she related sorrowfully to Trish and Alyssa and Tabitha.

"How are you feeling otherwise?" Trish asked.

"Oh, fine. I was a little sore yesterday, but it was nothing much." Everyone just nodded. "You know," Bernice muttered, "I've been getting a lot of that question -- but usually, whoever asks it wants to know all about how it was and how it felt, and blah, blah, blah -- because they haven't done it yet. You three just nodded."

"Well, we're all fucking..." Tabitha blurted.

"I knew it!"

Tabitha was defending herself from Trish's glare, "You TOLD a BUNCH of people the other night!"

"And nobody believed me!" Trish retorted.

"Um, yeah, okay. Sorry!"

"I'm not!" Bernice interjected. "I'm thrilled to death! How many guys have you...?"

"Me?" Tabitha asked. "Seven or eight, I guess. Some older guys."

"Wow! No shit?"

"Nope. I think the oldest guy I've fucked was maybe sixty," Tabitha declared.

Bernice shook her head. "How about you?" she asked Trish.

"Enough," Trish grunted. "Three or four, anyway."

"You aren't really with that Bobby McCormick, are you?"

"Yes, I'm with Bobby!" Trish replied, huffily. "Just because he's white doesn't make him another species! Besides, he's sweet and gentle and it's, well, GOOD!"

"I didn't have that great a time," Bernice muttered. "Oh, it wasn't awful, and I'm not permanently ruined or anything, but busting my cherry stung, and then there were just too many guys too fast."

"You need to concentrate on one," Tabitha opined.

"Yeah, like THAT's gonna happen!" Bernice rolled her eyes. "I guess I could pick from the losers who have come out of the woodwork to look at me like I'm a piece of meat or something, but..."

"Yeah, well, things will cool down," Trish told her.

"And then there will be nothing again," Bernice sighed.

"Well, maybe not," Trish offered.

"You're doing it, too? Aren't you a Junior?" Bernice asked Alyssa.

"Yeah, well, so is Damian," Alyssa replied.

"Damian Carter?"

"Uh huh. He's not the only one, but he's my guy -- or I'm his girl, anyway," Alyssa replied.

"Oh?" Bernice queried.

"Damian is a little heavy-handed about who is boss," Trish related. "Don't let Alyssa kid you, though -- she likes things the way they are."

"Well, sure, but you know how Damian is," Alyssa clarified. "If he heard that I was making noises about having a claim on HIM..." She rubbed her ass and Trish and Tabitha chuckled.

"So two of you have boyfriends..." Bernice turned to Tabitha, planning to commiserate.

"I do, too," Tabitha grinned. "Pete Phifer! I'm the luckiest girl in the world! Well, for a couple of dates, at least."

"WHAT? You're fucking PETE PHIFER?" Bernice gasped.

"Yup!" Tabitha preened. "Gonna do it tonight after the game, too -- just as many times as I can get him up! Last time, that was three..."

"Is she lying?" Bernice asked.

"No," Trish answered. "They got together last Friday night. She's been sitting with him all week -- didn't you notice?"

"No..." Bernice shook her head; this was just simply amazing! "I wish I was fucking the football team, instead of that bunch..."

The other three shared a glance.

"What?" Bernice demanded.

"Sorry. Never mind," Trish replied. "You know how it is -- the team gets together after the game. It might be something you could benefit from, but..."

"I could get invited?" Bernice asked.

"Well, yeah, maybe," Trish agreed. "Do you know Toby, the trainer?"

"Tolliver? The dark-haired white guy with the eyeglasses?" Bernice asked.

"Yeah, that's him," Trish agreed. "He's the gatekeeper for the party, sort of. If you wanted to go, you'd have to talk to him."

Bernice wrinkled her nose. "What if he wanted to fuck me or something?"

Tabitha cracked up. "I'll take it from Toby any time! He's got the biggest dick I've ever seen!"

"WHAT? You FUCKED HIM?"

"SHHH!" Trish waved her hands. "Pipe down!"

"You're kidding, right? He's..." Bernice shuddered.

"He's packing, that's what he is," Trish replied. "Tabitha's right. I think we've all fucked him, one time or another -- and he's damned good! But he won't press himself on you. You need to get over that thing you have against white guys, Bernice. It's unhealthy. How do you expect white folk not to be prejudiced if you act like that?"

"Daddy would skin me alive..." Bernice muttered.

"That's EXACTLY how prejudices get passed on forever..." Trish argued. "Just like that!" She shook her head. "Do you think Toby would have hoisted you into the air and dropped you on his dick like that bunch of black guys did?"

"I'm guessing not," Bernice muttered.

"You'd be guessing right!" Trish retorted.

"Well, I can't go, anyway -- I'm grounded," Bernice sighed.

"Do you think your folks would let you go to the game with a bunch of girls?" Trish asked.

"I don't know -- they're pretty pissed..."

"We'll tell them you won't leave our sight. It's the first game of the season!" Alyssa insisted.

"Momma MIGHT buy off on it, if there were, like all of you. Daddy won't get home until later, so if we get away..." Bernice mused.

"Come on -- we'll ALL go to your house!" Tabitha offered.

"Well, okay..."

Clarice Higgins TRIED to hold the line, but the pressure was pretty heavy. "After the other night?"

"It's the first football game of the season!" Tabitha argued. "Pleeese!"

"There will be BOYS there! I don't want her exposed to ANY BOYS!" Clarice retorted.

"Of COURSE there will be boys! It's FOOTBALL!" Trish argued, "But she'll be with US! We won't let her out of our sight! Besides, the football team didn't have anything to do with that other thing -- they're gentlemen!"

"Yeah, I bet!" Clarice grunted. She remembered football players...

"They were all in practice!" Alyssa argued. "ALL of them! Nobody on the team ever TOUCHED Bernice!"

"Well, maybe you have a point..." Clarice unbent.

"There are a bunch of us girls going to support the team -- Bernice won't be alone with anybody. Pleeease!" Tabitha hit her up again.

"Your father wanted you grounded, Young Lady!" Clarice warned.

"I'm gonna be REAL safe with the girls!" Bernice argued. "The guys that did that to me don't even WATCH football!"

"No, they probably don't," Clarice agreed. "When will she be home?"

"Midnight? If the team wins, there will be a celebration..." Trish treaded carefully out onto the ice.

"What kind of celebration?" Clarice snapped.

"A victory party. My mom will be there!" Trish declared, remembering.

"Yeah! Mom will, too!" Alyssa chimed in. "And Mrs. Carter, and Ms. Tolliver, and Ms. Carpenter and Mrs. Vasquez..."

"If you're lying..." Clarice warned.

"Hang on..." Trish dug in her pocket for her phone. "Mom? We're trying to spring Bernice -- yeah, that Bernice. Look, can you tell her mother about all of the parents that are gonna be at the party?"

"Now, Trish..." Phyllis objected.

"Well, it's true, isn't it?"

"What's Bernice going to do at the party?" Phyllis asked.

"Same as us," Trish replied.

"I thought so. You don't want Mrs. Higgins to find that out, though, do you?"

"No. But Bernice needs to hang out with a better class of people, you know?" Trish said carefully.

"All right, I'll talk to her." Phyllis related the party line -- that there would be multiple adults present and no alcohol or drugs. Sex, she avoided mentioning.

And that turned the trick. "Your father is probably going to wring my neck," Clarice declared, "but this appears to be pretty safe."

"You can call my mom," Alyssa offered. "She's probably at the party right now, getting things ready."

"No, that's enough, I guess. You two give me some phone numbers so I can call to check on her, though." Trish and Tabitha and Alyssa obediently provide not only their own cell numbers but their mothers'. "I'm going to call more than one at a time, just in case!" Clarice insisted, "and your father probably will, too!"

"No problem!" Trish insisted, hoping it wasn't.

"Go, then!" Clarice waved her daughter off. "Here's a twenty for snacks. Don't think this is going to happen regularly! Your father will probably veto the next game in advance!" The girls got out of there.

The next stop was Toby -- who was taken totally by surprise. Bernice caught him as they were loading equipment on the bus for the trip to the game. "Um, Trish says I should talk to you if I want to go to a party tonight..."

Toby stopped dead in his tracks. "What?" The other three were in the background. "What did they tell you about this party?"

"Just that it's a party -- a victory celebration -- although I don't know what will happen if you don't win..." Bernice mused.

"What did they tell you would go on at this party?" Toby asked.

"Well, I might get to meet some football guys..."

Toby gave the trio in the background the eye, but both Bernice and the other three were indicating that sex as such hadn't been mentioned. "Hank? Can I have a minute?"

Hank, who had heard plenty, nodded. Toby took Bernice off around the corner. "Okay, Bernice. There is stuff about this party that you need to know -- but it's secret. I need for you to authorize me in advance to do whatever it takes to keep the secret if you decide you're not interested."

"Well, like what? You wouldn't shoot me or anything?"

"No, nothing like that," Toby replied. "Maybe something like a solemn promise..." If he repressed her memories of their discussion or put up a mental block that kept her from repeating anything, that was vaguely similar to extracting a solemn promise...

"Yeah, okay. Pinky swear," Bernice muttered.

"Okay. It's a sex party -- sort of a masked ball where everybody goes naked."

"Really? No shit?"

"Yeah," Toby nodded. "The guys wear masks and the girls wear masks. The girls are there to have sex with the guys, more or less upon request. Are you with me so far?"

"Yeah... Sort of an orgy."

"Yeah. Now, of course, the thing for girls is to get noticed by a guy. You don't want to do anything that gets you positively identified, but everybody will be mostly looking the other way, anyway. You're there to have sex -- that's as straight up as I can make it for you. If you get asked, you put out -- period. The other option is to leave and not come back. Are you still with me?"

"Yeah..." This time, it was a lot more tentative.

"We give the girls little cards. If you get noticed by a guy and he asks you for your card, you can give it to him or not -- it's your call. If he takes your card and brings it to whoever is running the card issue, we tell him who you are. Now, this is the kicker -- if we tell him who you are, he MUST date you, twice, in public. No bullshit hidden stuff -- he has to show his face with you." Toby paused. "In your case, you're pretty notorious right now, so it isn't going to be in a guy's best interest to be seen with you -- but it could still happen, I guess."

"What happens if I have sex with some guy and he doesn't ask for my card?" Bernice asked.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," Toby replied. The guys are within their rights not to. On the other hand, if somebody hits you up at three parties in a row and doesn't ask for a card, we're gonna chastise him, you know? Obviously, he's screwing you over while he's screwing you, and that's not fair. But you could give a couple of blow jobs and get fucked a couple of times and not have anybody get interested -- which might mean you need more practice, or might mean they know who you are and don't want the trouble." Toby paused. "Actually, we have a way to get around that and some other problems -- Tabitha used it."

"What's that?"

"We put you in a totally dark room. It works both ways -- you don't know who the guy is, either -- but if he asks for your card, he won't know it is you until he gets to us -- and when we tell him, it's too late. One thing, though -- the dark room is in demand, because a lot of girls are worried about their appearance. You might not be able to use it -- or we might not be able to get anyone to take the risk."

"Okay, I get it," Bernice nodded. "What else?"

"I don't have time. Are you in?" Toby asked.

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll tell the girls they can talk to you about it. Some stuff is new, though, so not everything they tell you will be the way things are now. Talk to Amy Winston about where to be and the latest rules and regulations. And you talk to NOBODY about this who isn't already in the club or cleared by Amy or me -- understand?" Toby applied the block as he described it.

"Yeah, I get it." Bernice stood there for a moment. "About the guys. There are gonna be white guys there..."

"That's right," Toby agreed. "The group is VERY interracial. If a white guy asks you for something, you give it up, just like you would for a black guy."

"I, uh..."

"Team up with a white girl and try to handle it like that if you have to," Toby grunted, "but you need to get your shit together. If you're gonna be stupid that way, try to team with Anita Shepherdson -- she's got a thing about black guys."

Bernice just stood there.

"What?"

"Are the girls kidding me? They said you have..."

"Somewhere in the eight or nine inch range," Toby said shortly. "I don't have time to wave it for you right now, and I'm a little pissed, anyway. It'll be out later tonight."

"Um, yeah, sorry."

"Come on..." Toby strode out to where the trio were hovering. "Bernice has been read in -- you can level with her. Next time, no last-minute invitations, okay?"

"Okay, Toby," Trish said meekly. The other girls nodded.

"I have to go. Get her to Amy when the time comes. Bye!" Toby waved and hurried back to the bus while whipping out his phone.

"Amy," the voice on the other end responded.

"We have a late entry -- a very visible one. Bernice." Toby went on to describe how Trish, Tabitha, and Alyssa had blind-sided him. "She's prepped, though. We don't owe her, but we might want to put her in the dark room. Maybe you should have the girls draw straws. Did you make up cards?"

"Yes, we're all set. I'll handle it," Amy assured him.

"Thank God! You're a lifesaver!" Toby hung up. Ten minutes later, the team bus left the parking lot.

Wentworth High trotted onto the field with every expectation of a repeat of last year's rout. Martin fed that belief by fielding essentially the same roster as last year, with Tad at the helm. They were better, but they struggled under Tad's uneven passing and Ben Ellis' fast but predictable rushing. At the end of the first quarter, the Tigers were up on the Eagles seven to three, thanks to a field goal by Chris Baxter.

As they switched ends of the field for the second quarter, however, Martin put Damian in at quarterback and sent Tad out to the wide receiver's position. On the very first play of the second quarter, Damian hit Tad twenty-seven yards downfield with a perfect pass and the Tigers took another twenty yards to catch him. By third down, they were within ten yards of the goal line -- and the Tigers, intent on the blitz, missed Ben streaking through the line.

The Eagles never looked back.

The final was forty-two to fourteen. The Tigers staggered off the field, shell-shocked. The Eagles boarded the bus jubilant.

Arrival at school brought on a flurry of activity -- the group really didn't have the resources to move over a dozen guys and almost as many girls in short order. Girls went first; Toby rode in front and hovered mentally while Amy and the four volunteers rode in the back, Amy delivering additional instructions and making arrangements. They didn't fool around with transporting any of the 'assigned' girls -- they all had rides, one way or another. Sonya did, too.

Louise had gone around hours before to collect the older women; everyone was present. It was decided that since the party was so large that established couples and non-guests could spill outside -- otherwise, things would just be too crowded. Nudity was an issue with Phyllis, and, to a lesser extent, Adele; no real solution had presented itself to date. "You'll be masked," Beth reminded them, "Nobody will know who you are."

Phyllis looked down at herself. "This is bad enough with just you gals -- I don't know about boys..."

Adele nodded, agreeing. "We'll have to come up with something -- this isn't going to work. There's just no way..."

Beth looked thoughtful, then said, "We'll think of something. I've got some stuff downstairs. Phyllis, why don't you come downstairs with me and help me set up for the demonstration?"

"Okay." Phyllis followed her downstairs without argument.

It proved to be Phyllis' downfall; ten minutes later, she was gagged and locked into the pillory. "This will do until we find someone to fuck you," Beth told her, rubbing her back. "After that, we'll see if it's such an issue." She headed back upstairs, lugging a leather hood, a corset, and some binders, a spiked collar, a wide belt, and several other items.

"Where's Phyllis?" Adele asked.

"She's working on the pillory," Beth said casually. "Why don't you try this on?" She waved the corset.

"I -- Well, okay."

The next ten minutes or so were consumed with getting Adele into the garment and getting it laced up. At the end of it, Beth led Adele into Candace's bedroom. "What do you think?" she asked, showing Adele the mirror.

"Well, it's better than going without a stitch on," Adele mused.

"It needs something -- and I know what. Come with me." Beth led her back into the kitchen and surfaced the binders. They were leather and covered a good seven or eight inches of the forearm and sported snap hooks and rings to be used in latching them together. Wrapping one around Adele's left forearm, she said, "Yeah, that's it -- the touch of leather." She started connecting the buckles and straps.

"What about the links?" Adele asked.

"We'll ignore them for now," Beth replied calmly, continuing to make the connections. Once they were on, she said, "Yes, that's good, although we might want a necklace or collar for decoration. Let's go in the bedroom so you can see the effect." Once in the bedroom, Beth took Adele's arms and crossed them before her. "See how this looks? That's as opposed to this..." And she took Adele's hands and pulled them behind her. "See the difference? I really prefer them up front, but let me make this adjustment..." There was a click -- and then another -- and Adele suddenly realized that her arms weren't free!

"Hey!" she erupted. "What are you doing?"

"Curing your nudity problem," Beth replied, jovially. "Now, I'm going to put this leather hood on you -- if you behave yourself, I won't bother with the matching gag, which will make sucking cocks a LOT easier..." Adele howled and struggled and tried to duck, but Beth pushed her over onto the bed and put a knee on her ass, which severely constrained her. The hood, a lace-up leather item with removable blinders and gag, was momentarily fitted over Adele's head. Opening the mouth opening, Beth shoved an inflatable gag into Adele's mouth and inflated it, then hauled her upright and shook her. "Listen to me, now. Believe it or not, this isn't just me being mean. If you're naked, or close to it, boys won't care about a little extra fat. Since you're blind, it won't matter, anyway. If you're a good girl, I'll remove the gag so you can talk and suck some nice, fat young cocks. If you're REALLY good, I'll re-bind your wrists in front of you, so you can play with them. But if you INSIST on being an idiot, I'll leave you like this -- you can be fucked this way. Now, we're gonna go downstairs; you go where I lead and don't make a fuss, because falling down the stairs bound like you are is bound to get you hurt..."

"Beth!" Candace scolded, "What are you doing?"

"They were being silly, so I fixed things. Now they don't have to worry about what they look like," Beth replied. "They can't see, anyway. A little flab isn't going to keep a boy from sticking his cock in one of them -- this just simplifies things."

"Maybe so," Candace agreed, "but they'll never trust YOU again!"

Beth shrugged. "They needed to know how the other half lives, anyway. Jiang Yi has been in the pillory, and I have -- they should experience it. It's not like they're gonna get hurt."

"Whatever," Candace replied. "Let me know when the girls arrive."

Beth carefully led Adele down the stairs and into the dungeon area behind the curtain, where Phyllis was trying her best to raise Hell through a penis gag. "Okay, Sweetie," she told Adele, "you can see that Phyllis hasn't learned anything. Now, I can connect this to your binders the way they are, but then when I pull on the rope, you end up sort of bent over..." She demonstrated by lifting Adele's bound hands behind her back. "That makes your titties hang down kind of nicely, but it's uncomfortable, isn't it?" Adele made some noises indicating discomfort., and Beth lowered her arms. "If you would prefer, I can shift your bonds to the front -- which won't look as nice, but would be a whole lot more comfortable. Would you like that? Just nod your head..." Adele quit trying to speak and nodded vigorously. "All right -- hold still... Obviously, if you do something stupid, we can go back to the way things were..." Beth attached the binders to the rope, then released the right one and brought the arm around front, turning Adele to the left in the process. When Adele's hands were before her, Beth reconnected the binders. "So, Adele, Sweetie, have you given any thought to the gag?" Beth asked. "Just nod... Would you like it out? Sure you would! Will you be quiet? Just nod..." Adele nodded. "Okay, here we go..." Beth deflated, detached, and removed the gag. "Better?"

"Why are you doing this?" Adele asked.

"I told you already, but I'll tell you again for Phyllis' sake," Beth replied. "Phyllis, Sweetie, are you listening? You two were all worried about your extra poundage -- and that's understandable -- but I'm here to tell you that if you're naked and available, it really doesn't matter! The reason I did this was that it takes the whole thing out of your hands -- you can't do anything about the way you're dressed, so it's not your fault, and you don't have to worry about it. Do you understand? Phyllis, Sweetie, PLEASE stop ranting and raving so we can get some kind of intelligent response from you!"

"I think she's hysterical," Adele opined. "I'm not thrilled, but I think she's lost it!"

"Sweetie, would you like me to take the blindfold off?" Beth offered. Phyllis nodded her head vehemently, so Beth removed the blindfold portion of the hood. Phyllis had obviously been crying, so Beth removed her gag.

"P--please! Don't cover my eyes!" Phyllis begged brokenly. "I can't take that!"

"Okay, Sweetie -- I didn't mean to scare you -- just make sure you did what everybody else does. Are you okay?"

"B--better."

"Okay, try to relax. I'll let you go if you'll stop being silly about being naked," Beth offered.

Phyllis thought about it. "I don't know if I can promise that," she sniffled finally. "This faces away from the door -- is that good enough?"

"Yes, it is, actually. I can take off the leather mask and replace it with a silk one that only goes down to your nose and doesn't cover your eyes -- how's that?" Beth offered.

"O--okay."

Beth made the swap. "Better?"

"Yes."

"I don't suppose...?" Adele muttered.

"Well, I can't restrain you and point you in one direction like I can her," Beth mused. "You didn't want to see reactions. Have you changed your mind about that?"

"Well, no -- but this thing is hot!" Adele complained.

"I know, Sweetie. I could tell you tales..." She mused a moment. "It really goes well with the rest of the outfit, though. If we add the spiked collar, it would be spectacular. I can take a couple of pictures and show you..."

Phyllis cranked her head around as best she could, but Adele was out of view. "Can you step back a little? I'd like to see..." She was still huffing a little, from the hysterics. Adele stepped back. "I see what Beth means -- you look just like one of those leather ladies! The corset looks really nice..."

Beth buckled on the collar. "How's this?"

"Oh, wow!" Phyllis managed a giggle. "Take the pictures. Adele -- you're going to want a copy, I promise!"

Beth collected a camera from the main room where the electronics were cached at the entertainment center and took several shots, posing Adele. Then she removed the blindfold piece of Adele's hood. "See?" She held up the camera for Adele to look at the pictures.

"Well, they're nice -- but it's STILL hot!" Adele complained.

"After the first wave, I'll get you a lighter blindfold -- how's that?" Beth offered. "You really ought to get seen like this, first."

"I guess. How long?"

"Any minute," Beth guessed. "It's nine-thirty now. The game is certainly over."

"I hope so..."

"I'm sure it is." Beth went back over to Phyllis, "Better?"

"Yes, some," Phyllis agreed.

"Tell you what -- I'll let you both beat me during the demonstration -- just pay attention to Robert so you don't do any permanent damage. How's that?" Beth offered.

"It's something to look forward to," Adele grunted -- but Phyllis shook her head, silent.

Ten minutes later, the volunteer girls thundered down the stairs.