 


 
 Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 ï>¿Maragana Girl by EC

   Chapter 7 ï¿½ Kim's birthday presents

   Upper Danubia's daily rhythm was changing rapidly by the end of
September.  Farmers were harvesting their crops, school was in full
session, and extra trolleys appeared on the streets, ready to begin
transporting commuters who had been riding their bicycles all summer when
the weather was sunny.  The trees began changing color and the nights
became colder and colder.  Kim and Sergekt began wearing their bright
orange winter boots, as did Danube City's other criminals.  For the first
few days the boots made Kim all that much more aware of the nakedness of
the rest of her body.  Over time she got used to her new outfit.

   Kim's weekly social routine was set by the end of September.  One night
each week Sergekt came over to Dukov's house to eat dinner with the family.
One night per week Kim went over to Sergekt's house to eat dinner with his
family.  Two nights out of the week Kim and Sergekt joined his friends at
the Socrates Club.  Another night each week Kim and Sergekt joined some of
his friends to play cards at one of their homes.  The normal games were
card games from Eastern Europe.  However, Kim contributed to the card
playing by teaching the group how to play Poker, something she had learned
in high school the previous year.

   Criminal # 98945 now was a full member of Sergekt's social group.  No
longer was she just "Sergekt's American girlfriend".  If the women had
something they wanted to do without the guys, they called Kim and asked her
if she wanted to join them.  The language barrier still impeded her
somewhat, but as the weeks went by that barrier became less and less.

   Kim's friendship with Sergekt's female classmates solved one important
problem in her life, her need to get an indoor job during the winter.  The
group's lead singer, a petite blond girl called Eloisa, worked at a music
store owned by a friend of her father.  As the weather got colder and
Christmas loomed ever closer, Eloisa suggested Kim to her boss as a new
employee.  The store owner agreed.  As a result of the music store job,
Kim's last day working for Victor Dukov was September 30.

   Kim dreaded breaking the news to Victor, thinking he would be furious
and give her an unpleasant lecture.  He surprised her with his response:
"Kimberly, you smart girl.  I know winter comes, and you no ride bicycle
with cape.  I know that.  But, maybe, in Spring you come back?  Ride
bicycle for me?  Maybe I no good boss, but I like you.  You good girl and
good worker.  So you come back?"

   Kim responded by doing something she never imagined she would want to
do. She promised Victor Dukov she would work a second summer with his
courier service.  Victor threw a small party the afternoon of her last day.
He drank some wine with his workers and became quite cheerful.  Kim thought
to herself, maybe this guy isn't so bad after all, if he could just loosen
up.

   The next day Kim started her new job at Danube City's largest music
store.  The store had a huge inventory of both traditional and modern
Danubian music.  It also had music from other parts of Europe, and many
lesser-known artists from the United States.  There also was a wide variety
of musical instruments and sheet music.  The one thing lacking from the
store, and from any other music store in Danube City, was music from
popular radio play-lists in either Europe or the US.  Danubians regarded
the radio station play-list concept and billboard charts with utter
contempt.  The entire country rebelled against the global music industry by
officially banning any music that was featured on billboard charts in major
European and US markets.  Danubians took pride in thumbing their noses at
global pop culture and instead developing their own music industry, to the
ire of both the US and the European Community.

   Unlike Victor Dukov's courier service, every employee in the retail area
at the music store was a criminal.  Kim's new boss was convinced that only
criminals understood music and he also wanted to promote the image that his
store was at the forefront of the Danubian music scene.  There even was a
small studio upstairs where employees were encouraged to test and rehearse
songs, and there was access to musical instruments for employees who did
not have their own.

   A few ex-criminals also worked at the store in the stock room or in the
accounting department.  Because they had completed their sentences they
were allowed to work out of public view.  However, the store had the same
rule for all employees that the Socrates Club had for its patrons, that all
ex-criminals in the firm had to show respect to those still serving their
sentences by staying naked during working hours.  Even the store's owner
adhered to that rule, in spite of being in his late 50's and never having
been a criminal himself.

   Kim's nationality placed her in a unique position in the store.  She was
the only English-speaking employee and therefore on-call to attend any
foreign tourist who had entered looking for "typical" Danubian music to
take home.  Over and over Criminal # 98945 found herself explaining about
the Danubian manner of writing songs and the unique role criminals held in
the country's music scene.  Kim quickly became the store's unofficial
tour-guide.  Of course nearly every tourist also wanted to know why she was
in the store, as a naked American wearing a Danubian criminal's collar. 
Kim simply told the truth, giving an abbreviated account of her arrest at
the beginning of July and a stern warning not to possess or use drugs in
Upper Danubia.  "ï¿½unless you want work here and have me train you as a
new employee," she always concluded joking.

   Kim felt quite relaxed being among naked co-workers, many of whom were
friends or acquaintances from the Socrates Club.  However, she noticed a
huge difference in the between the demeanor of the criminals and that of
the ex-criminals working in the store, in spite of the universal lack of
clothing among the store employees.  To the ex-criminals nudity was simply
the store uniform.  As soon as they left work they could get dressed and
return to their normal lives on the street and at home.  They could leave
Danube City, or even cross the border and leave Upper Danubia when they
wanted.  Most importantly, they did not have to think about their next
upcoming judicial punishment.  Their burden of wearing a collar and facing
constant judicial punishments had passed.

   For Criminal # 98945 and the other 23 cashiers and information clerks,
the collars and the ongoing sentences they represented were a reality that
was never far from their minds.  Each week at least one employee, and
usually more, returned from the Central Police Station with his or her
bottom freshly marked from a recent switching.  Kim realized something that
scared her, no matter how many times a person was switched, it hurt just as
bad each time.  The welts were every bit as red, the blows every bit as
painful, the experience every bit as traumatic.  It never got any better,
no matter how many times a person already had faced punishment.  It was
common for co-workers who had held up well during their most recent
switching to come back to work, excuse themselves, and cry for hours in the
break room.  Kim sighed whenever she heard crying coming from the break
room's closed door.  It'll be my turn in January, she thought bitterly.

   ----------

   Kim's 19th birthday was on October 18.  She woke up very depressed,
thinking about her 18th birthday the year before and how much she partied
and how the world seemed to open up to her at that time.  She had gotten
drunk with Tiffany and Susan and a bunch of other friends from high school.
It seemed like it was a lot of fun, althoughï¿½she couldn't remember
because she passed out.  Tiffany got stoned and Susan spent the evening
pulling up her top and flashing the guys at the party.  Kim was sick the
whole next dayï¿½andï¿½hmmï¿½maybe that wasn't such a great birthday. 
Maybe this year would be better.

   Indeed it was, thanks to two presents.  One was from Kim's parents and
the Dukovs, the other was from her friends at the Socrates Club.

   The Dukovs, of course, went all-out fixing their guest an elaborate
lunch and an American-style cake.  The four members of the Dukov family,
plus Vladik's fiancï¿½e and Sergekt, stuffed themselves with traditional
food.  A Danubian birthday party was never complete without singing, and
the three Danubian women sang several traditional songs in honor of the
birthday girl.  Dukov then sent his daughter to the tool shed to get Kim's
birthday present.

   "Kimberly, your parents, and Maritza and I, decided that for your
birthday you should not have anything new.  Perhaps what is old in your
life is what is best for you.  But with an old gift we all wish you much
happiness."

   With that Anyia came in with an object painfully familiar, Kimï¿½s
mountain bike from her parents' house in the U.S.  It was the second time
the bicycle would be presented to her, but the first time she could really
appreciate it.

   "Uhï¿½Spokesman Dukovï¿½howï¿½?"

   "I talked to your parents about what would be best for your birthday.  I
suggested they ship your bicycle to you.  I took responsibility for
bringing it through our customs.  This item is what you most need in our
country, is it not?"

   "Yesï¿½Oh thanks!"

   With that Kim hugged the elder Dukovs and their daughter.  She then
called her parents to thank them and update them on her life.

   That evening Criminal # 98945 proudly rode her bicycle downtown to the
Socrates Club, as Sergekt rode Vladik's old bike, trying to keep up with
her.  At the club there was universal good cheer and jokes about now having
to re-write the song "Nemï¿½t mi biciklï¿½t", given that Kim was reunited
with her mountain bike.  She joined Sergekt and Eloisa at their usual spot
at the table, along with 15 of Sergekt's classmates and three of her
co-workers from the music store.

   Kim was in a very upbeat mood.  The sad songs coming from the singers on
stage made her reflective, as opposed to melancholy.  She actually felt
good about her life, better than she had felt in a very long time.  She
knew this feeling was only fleeting, but she would take Spokesman Dukov at
his word and try to enjoy the small pleasures in her world as much as
possible.

   The group's birthday present to Criminal # 98945 was three songs
dedicated to her, one of which was written by Sergekt himself.  Sergekt's
work was a deeply moving love song.  He knew better than to try to write a
sentimental love song; instead he had written about Kim's strange journey
through life and his own efforts to understand her.  Sergekt played in the
band with his usual balalaika-looking instrument, while he entrusted the
singing to Eloisa and a male classmate.

   The next song was loosely based on Kim's arrest and the fact the arrest
prevented her from going to Prague and dying of anthrax.  The final song
was titled "A question I cannot answer", and focused on Kim's painful
conversations with her mother.  It was sung by 5 women, with Eloisa in the
lead and the others providing back-up voices.  The back-up singers
punctuated Eloisa's singing with the peculiar and complicated deep-throated
vocals that were unique to traditional Upper Danubian music.  The song and
its music was the most complex Kim had heard in the Socrates Club.  The
vocals left her marveling at Eloisa's talent and her ability to organize
and lead four other female voices, all of whom were singing different
notes.

   Criminal # 98945 was deeply moved.  She had given her friends ideas for
their music; in turn so far they had produced four incredible songs
dedicated to her.  How many other people could say that, having provided
the inspiration for such music?

   Kim spent the rest of the night dancing with Sergekt, mischievously
rubbing herself against him and looking into his eyes with a very seductive
expression.  She was totally aroused.  She had not had sex with anyone
since the end of May.  She had waited long enough.  She badly wanted
Sergekt.

   Sergekt now had a bit of a problem.  He was hard, his erection pressing
into his girlfriend.  He could not separate from her, not unless he wanted
to make a total spectacle of himself in front of 200 other people. 
However, he was not the first male in the Socrates Club in that situation,
and he knew exactly what to do.  He eased his partner towards a back
entrance that led to a staircase going upstairs.  As soon as they got to
the door, Sergekt quickly slipped through and pulled Kim through with him.
As soon as the door went shut he separated from her and took her face in
his hands.  He kissed her passionately.  He ran his hands over Kim's
breasts and down her stomach, as she reached for his penis and gently
squeezed it.  Sergekt gasped.

   "Geemï¿½Geemï¿½Ya lubï¿½k tebeï¿½Ya lubï¿½k tebeï¿½" Danubian for "I
love you".

   With that he buried his mouth in her neck.  Suddenly he grabbed her hand
and led her up the stairs.  As soon as they were up the stairs, Kim
realized the Socrates Club, as a service to its customers, had several
small "intimacy rooms".  Each intimacy room had a double-bed with a
nightstand and a small bathroom.  The room Sergekt led Kim into was very
clean and tastefully decorated.  There was nothing tacky about it.

   For a minute Kim and Sergekt stood near the door, passionately embracing
each other.  He sank to his knees and kissed the insides of Kim's thighs.
Yesï¿½oh yesï¿½she wanted this so badly.  He stood up again, and Kim
massaged his penis.  He was so hardï¿½he had wanted this for such a long
timeï¿½and now finally the moment had come.

   Sergekt's next move surprised Kim, but greatly increased her respect for
him.  He reached in the dresser next to the bed and pulled out a condom. 
She had not even thought about that, but he did.  In the movies this detail
was always left out, but this was real life.  Sergekt was a person who
always thought ahead, even in the heat of passion.  He quickly put on the
condom while Kim threw herself on the bed.

   It had been five months for Kim.  Five months of celibacy and she was
desperate.  As Sergekt moved on top of her, she pulled at his head, eager
to draw his face into hers.  She wanted to become one with her lover, to
feel his tongue against hers, to feel his body on hers, to feel him inside
her.  As he entered her and started thrusting, Kim came immediately.  She
gasped and groaned.  Sergekt took his time, seeking to stretch out this
moment as long as he could.  Finally he climaxed and his movements inside
Kim slowed down.  Reluctantly he pulled out of her.

   Sergekt got up and reached down to take Kim's hand.  She really did not
want to get up yet, but she forced herself off the bed.  He led her into
the bathroom and turned on the shower.  Kim stepped in as he disposed of
the condom.  He joined her and began soaping her back.  The simple feel of
her lover's hands on her back aroused her yet again, but in a more relaxed
and peaceful way than she had felt on the dance floor.  Once again Kim had
a moment to enjoy, the warm water from the shower and Sergekt's hands on
her shoulders.  In the shower they kissed each other with a quiet
tenderness, as the water washed away the soap and remnants of their
love-making.

   Once they cleaned up, Sergekt surprised his lover yet again as he
complied with club protocol for the room.  He pulled off the sheets from
the bed and took a clean set from the nightstand.  Kim helped him spread
the new sheets and make the bed.  Sergekt stuffed the bedding into a
pillowcase along with the towels from the bathroom.  Quickly he took spray
cleaner and squirted the shower, cleaning it with a cloth that also went
into the pillowcase when he finished.  Kim put out new towels in the
bathroom.  Within five minutes the room looked exactly like it had looked
when they entered.  The couple left the room and Sergekt put his name on a
sign-up sheet, apparently to charge the use of the room to his account.  He
then threw his pillowcase into a huge hamper full of other pillowcases and
they went back downstairs.

   Kim and Sergekt rejoined his friends at the table, their hair still damp
and their bodies smelling of fresh soap.  Kim expected a lot of jokes from
the group, or at least some knowing smiles and thumbs-up signs.  Instead,
they acted perfectly naturally, as though Kim and Sergekt had just gone to
the bathroom.  Later she learned that in Upper Danubia friends never joke
about their sexual relationships to each other.  What Sergekt and Kim had
done was a natural part of being together and there was no point of anyone
making an issue out of it.

   ----------

   The following day was a holiday, so neither Kim nor Sergekt had to work.
Kim's newly acquired mobility allowed Sergekt to invite her to his family's
garden plot, which was outside the city limits, but fortunately just inside
the boundary of the Danube City collar-zone.  The garden plot was located
completely on the opposite side of the city from the neighborhood where
Vladim Dukov lived, so getting there involved a 20-kilometer bicycle ride.
Fortunately the day was surprisingly warm for it being so late in the year,
promising a pleasant outing.

   Kim raced Sergekt along streets and hills, her fancy mountain bike
easily outpacing the primitive bike he had borrowed from Vladik Dukov.  She
rode with ease as he struggled to keep up.  Finally they turned onto a dirt
road and entered the city's family garden area, an area covered with small
plots of land and dotted with tiny houses that were barely bigger than
storage sheds.

   The area near Sergekt's family plot was completely deserted.  The
gardens had been harvested the week before and there was very little left
to be done until the planting next year.  A few older people remained at
their plots to finish up canning their harvests, but no one remained near
the plot where Sergekt took Kim.

   Sergekt's family plot had a tiny house with a porch, a storage area for
tools, a canning station, some chairs, and a very old sofa.  Sergekt asked
Kim to help him move the sofa onto the porch.  The autumn sun shined gently
onto the porch and cool breezes blew through the nearby trees.  For two
people who had very little privacy in their daily lives, this setting was
ideal.

   Kim was in a very strange mood.  She wanted sex, but she also wanted to
submit to Sergekt.  She rubbed her legs together as she sat with him,
wondering what exactly she wanted.  He had his arm down at her side, gently
caressing her hip.  Kim realized that he actually wanted to caress her
bottom.  She went over his lap, spreading her legs slightly to feel the
warm sun and cool breezes caress the most intimate parts of her body. 
Sergekt gently rubbed his hand over Kim's bottom, exploring the soft brown
skin with his fingertips and his entire hand.  He marveled at the
flawlessness of her smooth skin.  It seemed to him that his girlfriend's
petite bottom was the most perfect, the most beautiful, he had ever seen.

   Kim shifted on her boyfriend's thighs to get into a more comfortable
position and tilted her bottom up slightly.  For a long time she was
content to simply enjoy the feel of his hand gently passing over her
bottom-cheeks.  But then her fantasies returned, and she wanted to do
something more to show Sergekt that she truly belonged to him.  The strong
sexual urge came back.  There would be love-making, but Kim wanted
something else first, something intenseï¿½somethingï¿½and then she
remembered that her birthday had been yesterday.  Sergekt owed her a
birthday spanking.  She went wet with just the idea.  In Danubian she
commented:

   "Sergekt, in my country we have a tradition.  A naughty girl like me
gets spanked on her birthdayï¿½one good hard spank for each year.  Soï¿½you
want to do that for meï¿½spank me for my birthday?"

   Sergekt couldn't believe his good fortune.  This beautiful, flawless
bottom stretched over his lap, and its owner requesting a spanking.  He
could smell her excitement.  He gently ran his fingertips over Kim's
vagina. She was very wet.  He was completely hard, his erection pressing
into Kim's side.

   "So this is the birthday present you really wanted, hmm?  Very well,
Kimberly, happy 19th birthday."

   With that, Sergekt drew his hand up and delivered a sharp SLAP!  to
Kim's right bottom-cheek.  He gently caressed the reddish area, and then
delivered an equally sharp SLAP!  to Kim's left bottom-cheek.  Kim moaned
with excitement.  Slowly Sergekt delivered another sharp SLAP!  to Kim's
right bottom cheek and yet another to her left bottom cheek.  Kim shifted
again on his lap.  The slaps were just the right intensity and she wanted
moreï¿½she was desperate for more.

   Slowly and lovingly Sergekt continued Kim's birthday spanking.  The fact
that Kim would only receive 19 swats made him want to make sure that every
one of those swats would count.  He wanted Kim to feel and appreciate each
sharp slap.  As Sergekt continued to spank and caress Kim, her sexual
desire intensified.  She gasped, arching her back and thrusting herself up,
completely exposing her wet vagina to the warm autumn sun.  She wanted to
feel his hands touch her most intimate areas, to tease her there and
perhaps punish her there as well.  However, he remained concentrated on her
bottom and the increasing the reddish color on her bottom cheeks.

   For the last five swats, Sergekt pressed Kim back down so he could give
her extra sharp slaps.  Kim's eyes were partially closed and she was
gasping, her voice breaking.  When Sergekt finished his 19th slap, he kept
his hand on her bottom for a few seconds and then delivered one final slap,
an extra for her next birthday and good luck.

   Sergekt led Kim onto the grass and ordered his lover on her hands and
knees.  Kim's bottom and vagina were on full display, spread wide and
glistening in the sunlight.  It was a sight that would have tempted any
man, but this lovely bottom belonged to Sergekt's own love, his own
"Geemberglek".  He quickly slipped on a condom and entered her.  She
pressed back into him and he thrust hard, so hard it almost hurt.  Kim
moaned and gasped through two of the most intense orgasms she ever had
experienced.  Sergerkt climaxed immediately, but continued thrusting,
hoping for a second orgasm.  Kim climaxed yet again, and Sergekt finally
got what he wanted, the coveted second orgasm that left his legs shaking
and his body completely relaxed.  It was so good he almost blacked out.

   Finally they pulled apart, their bodies shining with sweat and covered
in dirt.  However, a chilly breeze hit the two lovers at that moment, a
reminder the day was short and it quickly would be getting colder as the
sun dropped in the sky.  Sergekt got up to fetch a bucket of water from the
garden's pump.  Kim giggled as her lover pushed the lever up and down in an
effort to tease some water into the bucket.  Finally some water came up and
the couple was able to sponge off and head home.

   As they rode back to Dukov's house, Kim showed Sergekt no mercy as she
rode her mountain bike.  She easily outpaced her boyfriend as he struggled
on his primitive one-speed.  She lifted up from her seat to tease him with
her bottom, and then shot ahead, forcing him to petal hard just to stay
within sight of her.  She then dropped back, again lifted up to tease him,
and again took off.

   "Kim, I ought to spank that naughty bottom of yours for doing this."

   "Maybe, but you got to catch me first."

   He never did manage to catch her that day, but both knew that there
would be plenty of days next summer, plenty of bicycle rides, and plenty of
opportunities for Sergekt to catch Kim and give her that well-deserved
lover's spanking.



   Chapter 8 ï¿½ Eloisa

   The weather quickly changed a couple of days after Kim's birthday.  Cold
rain and sleet constantly bombarded the dreary streets of Danube City, with
the promise that there would be no let-up until next spring.  The pavement
was covered with cold water and the last of the bicyclists were driven off
the streets and into the city's trolleys.  The entire fleet of trolleys and
trolleybuses was working non-stop, but all public transportation was packed
with commuters at all times.

   In spite of the cold weather, Kim learned from Sergekt that she really
did not need to wear her criminal's cape during the day.  The criminal's
cape was a truly humiliating piece of clothing, to be used only during the
most inclement weather.  Sergekt and most other criminals took pride in
wearing it as little as possible.  At the beginning Kim had thought about
wearing her cape, but over time peer-pressure forced the American to leave
hers at home as well.

   Kim's orange boots kept her feet warm, and she quickly learned how to
keep the rest of her body warm enough to move about in the city.  Of
course, the packed trolleys were so hot that the criminals actually were
more comfortable than the average citizens who stood sweating in their
coats.  As a courtesy, average citizens usually allowed criminals to get on
the trolleys first to let them get out of the cold as quickly as possible.

   As for outdoors, the survival tactic adopted by Kim and the other
criminals was to duck into stores as much as possible, warm up, and then
dash to the next store, warm up, and keep moving.  In Kim's case there
really was no problem, since the music store was right next to a trolley
stop.  The store employees waited at the front door for the trolley to come
by, then quickly dashed across the sidewalk to get in once it had stopped.
The Socrates Club presented even less of a problem during the winter.  The
club had built an enclosed heated trolley stop right outside its main
entrance to accommodate the patrons who did not want to wear their capes.

   ----------

   Kim settled into a stable, peaceful relationship with Sergekt during
November.  They got to know each other better as Kim's ability to speak
Danubian improved, they hung out at the Socrates Club, went to an
occasional movie, ate at each other's houses, and just enjoyed being
together.  They made love every so often in one of the Socrates Club's
"intimacy rooms", enough that Kim considered taking birth control pills to
free Sergekt from the responsibility of always wearing a condom.  Kim had
established her routine with her boyfriend and felt very satisfied with
that part of her life.  Sergekt was the most serious relationship Kim ever
had experienced, very different from the casual encounters and partying she
had done the previous year.

   During November another relationship opened up for Kim, her growing
friendship with the singer Eloisa.  Eloisa was by far the most unusual
woman in the group.  She was deeply philosophical and serious, but she
could talk about anything and made a good conversation partner.  There was
something very sad and haunting about her, a pain in her soul that came out
in both her conversation and in her music.

   Eloisa was dating one of the guys in the group, a very serious young man
called Dima Chernï¿½kt.  It was obvious they were very serious about each
other and they planned to get married.  Dima was with her constantly and
she seemed to rely on him to give her protection.  And yet, not once did
Kim notice the couple ever touching each other.  No hugs, no kissing, no
physical contact whatsoever.  The relationship was not platonic nor a
simple friendship, but it was by no means a normal relationship either.

   Kim asked Sergekt about Eloisa's strange behavior.  He responded:

   "Eloisa has been through a lot.  She has suffered much more than anyone
else I have ever known.  That's why she sings the way she sings.  She has
been to the dark places of life, places I hope I never have to see."

   "But what happened to her?"

   "I can't tell you.  If you get to know her better, maybe she mightï¿½but
that's up to her.  I can tell you that what happened to her is something
that shouldn't ever happen to anyoneï¿½but it does, sometimes even here in
this country."

   Sergekt had given up very little information, but it was enough,
together with Eloisa's obvious dislike of any physical contact, for Kim to
figure out what happened.  She guessed that Eloisa must have been raped. 
That was true, but when she later found out the full story Kim would much
better understand, not only Eloisa, but also Dima, Sergekt, the group of
classmates, and the social values of Upper Danubia.

   ----------

   Kim's friendship with Eloisa began when one of the band's back-up
singers completed her sentence at the end of October.  The young woman was
a fellow employee at the music store, and as a result the store shut down
for a couple of hours to allow the employees to attend the de-collaring
ceremony.  The young woman left the courthouse wearing a traditional
Danubian dress and a raincoat.  She returned to work for a brief party,
bade everyone a tearful goodbye, and disappeared from their lives.

   Kim's co-worker had been accepted to study at Upper Danubia's most
prestigious medical university, which was located at the other end of the
country in the distant capitol of Rika Chorna Province.  She needed to
board a train immediately to attend an orientation and was out of Danube
City by nightfall.  The woman's departure left Eloisa with only three
back-up singers, and for much of her music she needed four.

   The next day Eloisa heard Kim humming a song that she had heard several
times and liked.  She listened attentively to Kim's voice, realizing its
pitch was identical to the pitch of the voice of the friend who had just
left.  During lunch break Eloisa asked Kim to sing some
notes...Excellentï¿½Now deeperï¿½From deep in your throatï¿½Not badï¿½Try
it againï¿½Goodï¿½Now try thisï¿½ By the end of lunch Kim had a new
obligation in life, as a back-up singer for Eloisa.

   It was obvious that Kim would not be able to sing songs with words
because of her accent.  However, Danubian music often relied on a group of
women singing different notes, in the same way a band uses different
instruments.  Each female voice was part of the background music, unique
and indispensable for the entire song to work.  It was the pitch of Kim's
voice that Eloisa needed, not her ability to sing actual words.  It was as
though Eloisa had lost a musical instrument and needed to replace it with
another.



   That night Kim found herself rehearsing with the other three back-up
singers, closely following Eloisa's lead.  The following Saturday night Kim
was on stage at the Socrates club during the group's musical presentation.
She now was more committed than ever to her new life in Danube City.

   Kim spent increasing amounts of time with Eloisa when she was not at
work or with Sergekt.  As much as she participated in the Socrates Club,
her group, and in her personal relationship with her boyfriend, the
internal torments in Eloisa's soul set her apart from everyone else.  She
was part of the group, but at the same time different and somewhat apart.
Kim was in a similar situation, being Asian, being an American, and being a
convicted drug-user.  She was part of the group, but at the same time she
was "different".  As a result Eloisa and Kim gravitated towards each other.

   Eloisa seemed to understand Kim better than anyone else, including
Sergekt.  Sergekt understood Kim from a male perspective, but there were
certain things about her he could not understand due to the barrier of sex.
Eloisa did understand Kim and could even understand why Kim had done so
many stupid things in her life prior to getting arrested.  Even Kim
couldn't understand everything about herself, but it seemed that Eloisa had
her figured out.

   At the beginning of December the morale of Sergekt and his friends began
to decline.  They were more moody, more quiet, and increasingly
apprehensive.  The reason was simple enough, on December 15 they faced
returning to their old school to receive the next scheduled installment of
their punishment.  The school authorities wanted to switch the group at
their old high school to set an example for the younger students who had
not yet graduated.  Since vacation started on the 20th, the punishment
needed to be moved up to the middle of the month, to make sure the younger
students were on-hand to see what happens to criminals.

   Kim sympathized, since the next installment of her own punishment would
be January 2, six months to the date she had been punished in July, Kim was
scared herself, and she was lucky.  She only faced punishment every six
months.  Sergekt, Eloisa, and 26 others faced punishment every four months.

   Just a couple of days before the 15th, Kim and Eloisa decided to have
some Danubian fruit punch after a musical practice.  They sat alone in the
break-room of the store on a sofa, quietly sipping at their glasses. 
Eloisa sighed, thinking about the group's upcoming punishment.

   "It never gets any easier," she noted sadly.  "You think it will, that
somehow you'll get used to it.  But you never do.  It hurts just as bad
every time.  And each time, before, I mean, you just get more and more
scared, because you know, you know how bad they'll hurt you."

   Kim nodded.  Eloisa stared straight ahead.  In a very distant voice she
continued.

   "You know, it's because of me the others have to do this.  I'm the
reason they're serving these sentences.  It's because of me that 27 other
lives got ruined.  I should have just killed myself, and that would have
saved them.  Now I can't.  Now I can't die.  I owe it to the others to stay
alive, even though that's not what I want."

   Kim had no idea how to respond.  She felt horrible about the
consequences of her own decisions, but Kim had no desire to die.  Quite the
contrary, she realized how important it was to be alive.  Kim treasured her
life and the chance to remain on the planet.  To hear Eloisa talk like
thisï¿½

   "You can't talk like that.  Your life is a gift, and you can lose it
real easily.  I almost did.  I meanï¿½we all love you."

   "I know.  But to know what I didï¿½and what happenedï¿½I mean it wasn't
really my fault, but in a way it wasï¿½I meanï¿½it wouldn't have happened
if it hadn't been for me."

   "What happened?  You didn't do anythingï¿½"

   "Kim, did Sergekt ever tell you why we all got these three-year
sentences?"

   "He tried to explain it to me when we first started going out, but I
didn't understand Danubian enough to follow all of what he told me.  I did
get that it was all out of a sense of honor that you guys all stuck
together and you all got punished.  He made a big deal out of that, because
he was real upset about what my friends did to meï¿½you know, when they
told the police they didn't know about the marijuana in my backpack.  But
anyhow, I didn't understand muchï¿½he said something about a riot at your
school."

   "Yes, there was riot.  I guess you could call it that.  It was because
of me it happened."

   "You?  What did you do?"

   Eloisa sat quietly for a few minutes.  Finally she forced herself to
speak.

   "I didn't do anything except just be a stupid kid.  I thought he loved
meï¿½that's what he always saidï¿½but he made meï¿½I mean, for three years
he made meï¿½"

   Eloisa struggled to catch her breath and push back the awful memories
that suddenly had surfaced.  Finally she was able to tell Kim her story.

   It turned out when Eloisa was just 14, she was seduced by a male teacher
at the school.  The relationship quickly became very abusive, especially
after the teacher took a series of pornographic photos and threatened to
show them to Eloisa's parents if she ever said anything or tried to break
off the relationship.  What the teacher forced Eloisa to do apparently went
way beyond ordinary sex, it left her feeling completely degraded and
nauseated by the thought of any physical contact with anyone.  On that
point Eloisa did not elaborate and Kim really did not want to know the
details.  The abuse went on for three years and got worse over time.

   Eloisa's life changed the summer before her final year in school.  The
teacher molesting her was on vacation in Germany, and she began seeing one
of her classmates, Dima, the guy she was currently engaged to.  Eloisa was
completely traumatized by what was happening to her and felt too degraded
to have any friends from the school.  Dima spent time with her, and slowly
got her to realize she did have value as a person.  He fell in love with
her, perhaps in part because she was so distant and he hoped to bring her
back.

   The possibility that Eloisa could have a normal relationship with
someone her own age gave her courage to start confronting her situation
with the teacher.  She quit seeing him after school.  When he threatened
her with the photos Eloisa responded.  "Go ahead and show those photos. 
Then you get to explain why you have them."

   Eloisa thought she had escaped her tormenter because she did not have
any classes with him during her final year.  However, he proctored a series
of tests for the end of the autumn semester that Eloisa had to take.  He
saw the finals as a chance to get revenge against Eloisa for leaving him.
He accused her of cheating and began a series of reports to get her
expelled from the school and charged with insurrection.  As a result of the
accusations Eloisa was suspended from school, pending the resolution of the
cheating charges.

   The male students in Eloisa's class knew the accusations were false. 
They talked among themselves, trying to figure out how to save Eloisa from
being expelled from school and possibly from facing a formal sentence. 
Finally youthful tempers started to flare, and 27 students, male and
female, decided to directly confront the teacher and force him to recant
his accusations.  They filed into his classroom and surrounded him.  When
he tried to get away several students punched him in the stomach and pinned
him against the wall.  Dima struck him hard across the face, breaking his
nose.  Suddenly the teacher realized he was trapped in a room with 27 angry
students who were perfectly willing to kill him.

   The students extracted confession after confession from the teacher,
including forcing him to reveal where he was keeping the photos he had
taken of Eloisa.  They were in a locked filing cabinet in the classroom
with the tests, but the key was not in the school.  That was not good
enough for the students.  The rage among the group was mounting.  While
Dima landed several more hard punches, several of his friends, including
Sergekt, picked up the filing cabinet and heaved it through the window. 
Then several male students ran downstairs to retrieve the packages of
photos.  Sure enough, among the wreckage of the filing cabinet were several
packets of very sick pictures.  They ran back upstairs and waved a couple
at the teacher.

   "THIS IS WHAT YOU MADE HER DO?!ï¿½THIS IS WHAT YOU MADE HER DO?!"

   The police arrived at that moment, screaming and pointing automatic
weapons at the students.  It was a terrible scene; a smashed window, desks
and chairs kicked everywhere, 27 irate teenagers, and one bloodied teacher.
The next few seconds were horrible chaos, as the police shot into the
ceiling to get the teenagers to lie down.  The teacher, hugely relieved at
being rescued, headed towards the door, but the head police officer pointed
his weapon at the supposed victim and snarled, "You're not going anywhere!
Not 'till we get this straightened out!"

   There was a lot to straighten out.  The police were smart enough to
understand that no group of students could have behaved in such a manner
without being severely provoked.  The answer was clear enough as soon as
the police officers started picking up Eloisa's pictures, which had been
strewn all over the room.  The teacher ended up on the floor in handcuffs
along with the 27 students.  Vans arrived and everyone was taken to the
Central Police Station.

   Because Eloisa had been suspended from school pending resolution of the
cheating charges, she did not learn about the riot until that evening.  She
took a trolley to the police station, identified herself, and quickly was
dragged into the case.  It was obvious she was the girl in the photos.  She
had to sign several statements discussing what had happened with her
teacher, which were introduced later that night at his trial and helped
condemn him.

   What happened next was a very Danubian resolution to the case.  Partly
because what was in the pictures was so offensive, the teacher faced the
death penalty for child molestation.  His trial took place at midnight, as
was the tradition for all death penalty cases.  The teacher was dressed in
a black robe and ordered to stand during his trial, even as he nursed his
broken nose and bruised stomach.  There was not much argument over guilt or
innocence, the pictures and Eloisa's statements assured the verdict.  The
police also had searched the teacher's home and found yet more photos of
Eloisa and three other high school girls.

   The execution took place at sunrise.  Still dressed in his black robe,
the teacher was taken back to the central police station and ordered to
stand at the end of the courtyard in front of a thick wooden wall.  He
stood with his hands untied, since any Danubian who faces death by
execution is expected to greet it with dignity, no matter how heinous his
crime might have been.  The 27 students, still dressed in their school
uniforms, were brought out in handcuffs to witness the execution.  Very
quickly five police officers pointed their rifles at the teacher, there was
a whistle, and a second later he was reduced to a crumpled corpse.

   The students then were led to the cement circle in the courtyard and one
by one ordered to strip.  They too, faced trial and punishment.  However,
they faced corporal, not capital, charges.

   Their cases were assigned to Spokesman Alexi Havlakt, who was the oldest
member of Danube City's criminal defense team and on the verge of retiring.
Now Spokesman Havlakt suddenly had 27 new cases thrust upon him and his
retirement postponed indefinitely.  Still, the path of his life was to help
persons facing the Danubian court system and the fate of 27 high school
students weighed on him more that his foregone years of rest.  The old
Spokesman prepared to mount as best a defense as he could, given the
group's bleak circumstances.

   The students faced multiple violations, including assault, attempted
murder, disrespect for authority, vandalism, and insurrection.  The police
brought each frightened student in for questioning individually, but in the
holding cell they all had previously agreed that whatever charges they
faced they would face together.  27 seven times the police asked the same
questions and got the same responses:

   "ï¿½Who punched your teacher?"

   "All of us, sir.  We all punched the teacher."

   "Who threw the filing cabinet out the window?"

   "All of us sir.  We all are responsibleï¿½"

   The police did not push the issue once they figured out all the students
would give them the same responses.  In the US the police would have tried
to get some of the students to testify against the others.  In Upper
Danubia the police understood that attempting to get some of the students
to turn on the others would have violated the society's social norms,
something no one in the police department wanted to do.  The questioning
became a mere formality.  The group would have to be judged by the facts,
not by what any of the students had to say.

   While the 27 students were being questioned, Eloisa demanded that she be
arrested and charged with her classmates.  She was innocent of any
wrong-doing, but the riot had taken place because of her.  Eloisa's friends
had sacrificed their own lives for her, and her Danubian perception of
honor demanded that whatever consequences they suffered she would have to
suffer as well.

   Eloisa explained to Kim that under such circumstances the police chief
had no choice but to arrest her.  Eloisa would have lost honor had she not
stood with her friends, especially in this situation where they had given
up their freedom because of her.  Danubian protocol demanded that, whether
they had been right or wrong, it was her social duty to join them.  Eloisa
quietly undressed in front of the chief of police and was led in handcuffs
to her classmates.

   The students had confessed as a group, and they were tried as a group.
Now 28 with the addition of Eloisa, they knelt naked in the courtroom as
charges were read against them.  The case presented a very difficult
dilemma for the trial judge.  Their Spokesman pointed out that the students
had done nothing more than defend a classmate's honor.  However, as pointed
out by the prosecutor, in doing so they had broken several laws and
disrupted the peace of the community.  As unfair as it was, they had to be
punished.  In the end they were convicted of vandalism and insurrection,
the charges of attempted murder, assault, and disrespect for authority
being dropped.  They received a standard sentence of three years, with a
corporal punishment every four months.  They had to kneel in line as they
were fitted with collars.

   Most of the students in the group were still underage, so the court
ordered they would be punished the following day at their school instead of
in the courtroom.  The police allowed them to get cleaned up and have
dinner at the police cafeteria, and then they were locked overnight in a
large room with mattresses.  Early the following morning they were
handcuffed and loaded into police vans to be transported back to their
school to be punished.  Following the punishment they would be released
back into the custody of their parents.

   Eloisa recalled with horror that second day, when she and the others
were ordered to kneel in the cold school courtyard in front of 400
classmates.  One-by-one they had to stand up and present themselves at the
switching table.  Each of them received 25 strokes, standard for someone
under-age.  As each student turned 18, later switchings would become the
standard adult punishment of 50 strokes.

   At the end of the day the school director gave a short speech, with the
28 students kneeling behind him.  He announced that several serious crimes
had been committed and all of them resolved.  No one in the school, neither
teacher nor student, would be permitted, under any circumstances, to ever
mention the tragic events that led to this group punishment.  The following
day all 28 students would return to their classes and the matter would be
closed.

   Eloisa's parents were devastated.  Over a four-year period they had
known absolutely nothing about what had happened to their daughter.  Eloisa
had suffered in silence, her parents blissfully unaware of what was
happening to her.  Suddenly their bright daughter had ended up with a
three-year sentence in the midst of a massive scandal.  However, her father
tried to make the best out of the bad situation.  That afternoon he sought
out Dima.  Choking back the tears he had cried over what had happened to
Eloisa without his knowledge, he addressed Dima:

   "I would be very honored if you come to our house and sit at my table on
Saturday.  And you, and any of your friends, are welcome, very welcome, to
sit at my table whenever you want."

   Eloisa was allowed to re-take her semester finals and did quite well.  A
riot, an execution, and 28 three-year sentences were all it took to get
Eloisa re-instated in her school as a student in good standing.  The
students considered that a victory.

   ----------

   The riot changed Eloisa's outlook on life.  She had always sought to
avoid any attention and live quietly.  She never trusted anyone except her
boyfriend.  And yet, when the moment came for her to be unjustly expelled
from school, 26 other students had joined Dima to stand up for her.  She
was indebted to all of them.  She had to come out of her world and join the
others who had sacrificed for her.  She always went with the group to the
Socrates Club.  Within two months, by pure chance, Eloisa discovered she
had a natural talent for singing.  Shortly thereafter she discovered that
she had a real talent for organizing other singers and choreographing
groups of other voices.  She began singing on a regular basis.  Just six
months after her initial sentence, Eloisa was the lead singer for Sergekt's
group and the most popular singer at the Socrates Club.

   Eloisa's only release in life was singing.  Standing on stage allowed
her to release the sadness in her soul, a sadness well-suited to a society
that valued music with morose philosophical overtones.  She was a true
Danubian singer, the living incarnation of the expression "to sing like a
criminal".

   There was another tragedy in Eloisa's life, a holdover from the abuse
that she had suffered from her teacher.  Eloisa loved her boyfriend in a
manner that very few women could love a man.  She loved him with all her
spirit, all her soul.  And yet the one thing she most wanted to do, to have
him touch her and hold her, she couldn't.  Eloisa was so nauseated by what
had happened to her that she was repulsed by any physical contact with
other people.  No matter how much Eloisa loved her boyfriend, and no matter
how much he loved her, he couldn't touch her.

   "We keep hoping that, maybe someday it'll be different, that someday
Dima can touch me.  But Kim, I can't see how it ever will be any different.
I'm broken, and I can't be repaired."

   ----------

   Two days later, 28 young criminals reported to the small police station
close to their old school.  Spokesman Havlakt accompanied them to assure
that they would not be injured and that any sexual fondling from the
punishing officers was kept to a minimum.  Fortunately for Eloisa, he had
obtained a psychiatric release mandating that she could not be touched at
all except for the switch.  He vaguely hoped the officer punishing Eloisa
would violate that psychiatric release, because if he did, her switching
could be stopped immediately.

   In spite of the unfairness of what had happened, there was very little
pity for the group from the school officials and police officers assigned
to punish them.  The ex-students were forced to kneel while their collars
were chained together.  The police then handcuffed them and shackled their
feet.  The officer in charge walked down the line, kicking the kneeling
criminals and striking them on the shoulders with his switch.

   "Alright you little dishonored bastards...get your filthy bodies
moving!"

   The line of naked criminals struggled to stand up and slowly shuffled
towards their old school.  It was bitterly cold and most of them were
shivering.  They walked about two blocks and filed into the school's main
doorway.  From there they would go to the gymnasium (a concession to their
Spokesman who had not wanted them to be forced to stay outside in the cold
school courtyard), and one by one, each would receive 50 strokes of the
switch.  The terrible detail was the fact that Eloisa and Dima would be
forced to witness each other's switchings.  For Eloisa and her boyfriend to
see each other suffer was a punishment far worse than being punished
themselves.

   Vladim Dukov and Kimberly Lee, for once dressed in her criminal's cape,
quietly stood on the sidewalk across from the police station, sadly
watching the group shuffle towards the school.  Kim spotted Sergekt, who
was fifth in line.  She did not try to draw his attention.

   "Spokesman Dukov, this is so wrong.  At least I did something to get
convicted.  I meanï¿½Eloisaï¿½"

   "No, it is not fair, but it is the way our justice system works.  Laws
were broken.  Violators are punished.  It has been this way for 1,000
years. In a situation like this fairness is of only minor importance."