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Subject: {ASSM} Mornings on Horseback 21/22 by Rachael Ross (mmf, Rom, Cons, Bi,  Oral, Anal, Caution)
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Date: Fri, 15 May 2009 14:10:03 -0400
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Mornings on Horseback
by Rachael Ross

Chapter Twenty One



"Where are you going?" Mark asked Bryce, who'd brought us back to the
hostel.

"The room next to yours," Bryce said, climbing the stairs with us. "It
was available."

"Derek and Elsa," Chris said and I frowned at that.

"We didn't even get to say goodbye," I said.

"Well, we sorta did," Chris offered me a little smile.

"Maybe Germans aren't real big on saying goodbye," Mark said, but I
knew we'd all liked to have seen them one last time before they left
for Montreal.

"Maybe," I sighed and that's the way it is sometimes. You don't always
get the closure you want from life and I dearly hoped we would see our
friends again someday.

"See you kids in the morning," Bryce said as we went into our room and
we didn't really answer him. I think we were just glad he wasn't
sleeping in the hallway or something, like guarding our door.

"I love your hair," I said, lying on my side between Mark and Chris
later. "God! What did she do to it?"

"I don't know," Chris was on his side too, looking at me. "It took
forever though."

"Feel that," I turned my face and Mark was right there. "It's like
cashmere or something."

"Heh," Chris giggled and rolled his eyes as Mark reached over me,
petting the other boy gently. Amanda had washed and rinsed Chrissy's
hair with something and I didn't know what the woman had used, but I
wished I could get some. He was still blonde, but just soft and silky
like you wouldn't believe. It was like petting a Persian cat, I
swear!

"Isn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah," Mark agreed and I could feel him hard against me. They both
were as we lay there naked.

"You don't think it's kinda...Girlish?" Chris asked us, but especially
Mark as they looked at each other.

"Nope. Not at all," Mark said, moving his hand to Chrissy's cheek.

Mark's thumb found the boy's mouth, moving over Chris' lips slowly,
pulling at the bottom one so that Chrissy's mouth opened and then he
was sucking Mark's thumb. I just watched them play like that, Chris
working his tongue around Mark's thumb like it was a cock, and I was
so close to him that I could hear it and see the movement in his
cheeks.

I brought my own mouth closer to Chris and after half a minute Mark
let me have him, my tongue replacing Mark's thumb and we kissed
lazily, just slow and deep like we had all the time in the world. I
felt Mark lifting my leg, making room as he adjusted his body to mine
and he was pushing his cock inside my too small pussy slowly, just the
head stretching me at first, then more and deeper as Mark fucked me. I
moaned and moved with him, unable to do anything else. I was opening
for him quickly, already wet inside and it just felt good when Mark's
big cock found the bottom of my sex with an electric jolt that made me
shiver.

Chris pulled his mouth from mine, kissing my cheek and along my jaw,
up to my ear and he was whispering, telling me how much he loved me.
Mark was there too and I turned my head just enough so I could see
them kiss. Mark reached over me and clutched at Chris, digging his
strong fingers into the other boy's back and pulling him tightly
against me. I was trapped between them, happy and content, feeling
Chrissy's stiff manhood pressed between his stomach and mine.

We found ourselves kissing all at once a moment later, Mark and Chris
facing each other and me beneath and between them, extending my tongue
to find theirs. It was an open kiss, playful and deliberate as our
three tongues slid over and under each other, wriggling and tickling
and now and then one of us would turn to kiss someone else deeply.
Chris found my mouth and then Mark had me, and then the two boys. We
went at it like that all the while Mark fucked me, making love to me
as slowly as he could, resisting the urge to take me as hard and fast
as he desired.

Even so, Mark was getting close and before he could cum inside me, he
pulled himself out. It was Chrissy's turn and I had my leg over his
thighs, nodding and smiling and catching my breath when he filled the
hole Mark had left. They were going to do this as long as they could,
my two lovers, taking turns with their hard cocks fucking me until
they were ready to cum. It could go on for hours and it did, and my
own orgasms didn't wait for theirs. I was being loved completely and
they were spoiling me, making me forget about everything else. There
was only us in that bed and the world outside didn't exist.

Only after I was exhausted and giggling and wet with tears, begging
Chris to cum inside me finally and let me feel him in my womb, did my
boyfriends relent. Chris stayed inside me, kissing me hard as he
thrust quickly now, rocking my body against Mark who was holding me
tight. My pussy burned and I wanted his sperm inside me. My feverish
mind surrendering to the fantasy of being filled and impregnated
finally, of witnessing the miracle only the men I loved could give
me.

When Chris came I felt it, the warmth of his seed spreading through me
and he was so beautiful with his blue eyes open and staring into mine.
I was cumming too and then kissing and then smiling. We whispered and
kissed and just looked at each other while the rapid pulsing of his
cock slowed and finally stopped altogether. I held him there for
another minute, refusing to let Chris pull out until my orgasm was
finished and I could breathe again.

Mark took me once more as soon as Chris pulled out of me. His cock
driving into the spermy confines of my cunt. He was bathing in
Chrissy's orgasm, in our combined juices, and mixing it all up inside
me. I imagined he was pushing the other boy deeper, the two of them
working in concert now to make me pregnant and that was bringing me
off again. I turned my head to find Mark, needing his kiss, wanting
his tongue to fill my mouth the way his cock filled my pussy. He was
going to cum quickly, adding his own sperm to Chrissy's, filling me
completely as they vied for my eggs. I was cumming hard and my
clasping sex trembled around Mark's cock until he joined me.

I was filled with them completely, my two boyfriends, my lovers. They
completed me and I could barely remember a time when I didn't have the
both of them. Mark had been right, he was always right, but even he
hadn't imagined how much we would fall in love with Chris. How badly
we would need him. I pulled Chris to Mark, wanting to see them kiss
while Mark was cumming inside me. We were joined then, all three of us
and it was perfect. Nothing else mattered.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Mark had called Frannie as we'd promised and we had an appointment
with her at three o'clock. The agency's offices weren't far, being
located in Manhatten, and we were a little surprised that Frannie had
sent a car for us. A big one.

"This is weird," Chris said and he was sitting across from me because
the backseat of the limousine was like that. It was soft and quiet and
comfortable.

"Want to watch some TV?" I giggled nervously because I'd never been in
a limo before in my life.

"It would be faster to walk," Mark said and we weren't going very
fast.

"There's a phone too," I said. "Do you think they'd get mad if I
called my mom? She'd never believe this."

"Heh!" Mark grinned at me and he was trying to act unimpressed, I
thought, but I caught him rubbing the corner of his jaw and he did
that when he was nervous sometimes.

"You should call Stacy Martin," Chris suggested and I gasped happily
at that idea.

"Oh yeah! I could call the school," I laughed. "Tell them we're gonna
be late cause our limo is stuck in traffic."

"You think Frannie saw our pictures yet?" Chris wondered.

"I don't know," Mark shrugged. "For fifteen hundred bucks or whatever,
I bet she didn't want to wait."

"I wonder if she liked them." I leaned back in the seat and it was
like sitting in butter, sorta, except not as messy. I was going a
little crazy.

"Ms. McClaren saw them," Bryce answered and he was sitting next to
Chris. "She liked them too."

"How do you know?" Mark asked.

"If she didn't, you'd be riding in a taxi right now," Bryce chuckled.
"Or more likely, sitting in your room and wondering what to do next."

"Oh." I licked my lips and I guess that made sense. A limousine had to
be a good sign, right?

"She wants you," Bryce decided.

"You say so, man," Chris sighed, but like all of us he was probably
afraid to hope for too much good news.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Frannie's office was near the top of a rather tall building surrounded
by a lot of other tall buildings, but she did have a nice view of the
city even so. It made me feel pretty tiny and I swallowed hard as her
secretary showed us inside. The room was big too, large enough for not
only Frannie's modern desk and some designer chairs in front of it,
but a whole living room set as well. A big sofa and matching chairs,
coffee table and all that stuff. She had pictures on the wall of
models and famous people and magazine covers and awards, and I didn't
know what all.

I'd pretty much decided I was in the wrong place, being the little
girl from a little town like I was. Frannie didn't think so, however,
and she greeted us warmly.

"I want you," she smiled and we were sitting in her living room, for
lack of a better term for it.

Chris, Mark, and myself were on the sofa while Frannie sat across from
us. Her assistant was there also, sitting to our left and she wasn't
the secretary; that woman had just opened the door for us and asked if
we wanted anything to drink before leaving us. I didn't really get her
name.

"You photograph beautifully. All of you," Frannie continued as we
looked through some 8x10 photos of ourselves that Sophie, her
assistant, had produced from a leather satchel, like a soft briefcase.

"These are great," Sophie said and she liked to smile. She was young
and pretty, with little round glasses that made her look smart. "The
three of you together are fantastic. You're gorgeous; everyone thinks
so."

"Okay," Mark said for us and we were just looking at each other and
not used to being called fantastic or gorgeous or whatever. We didn't
know what to say.

"So, what we have are some contracts..." Frannie looked at Sophie and
the woman was pulling out a thick wad of paper, "...There's one for each
of you."

Sophie smiled at me as she gave me mine and I just blinked at it.
There were like twenty pages to it and the type was small. It wasn't
like there were any blanks either, not even filled in blanks, it was a
document just for me with my name all over it, if that makes sense,
and I was wondering if I was supposed to read through the whole thing
or what. I guessed I was, because Mark was already turning a page and
Frannie didn't seem to mind. She just sat back with her legs crossed,
sipping a cup of tea.

"Um, we agree to model exclusively for three years?" Chris brushed his
hair back from his forehead as he looked up. "What if we don't like
modeling or whatever?"

"It doesn't mean you have to model for three years," Sophie explained.
"Only that if you do model, it will only be for this agency."

"Models are an investment," Frannie said. "You have a lot to learn and
we're going to teach you. We have to spend money on you so that you
can make money for us. It's a business and to protect ourselves we
have to make certain stipulations, one of them is that you won't take
our investment and make money for someone else."

"Okay," Chris nodded. "But like, we can quit if we want, right?"

Sophie kind of smiled at that and maybe it was because she'd never
heard of someone who wanted to quit being a model, I didn't know.

"You can quit," Sophie said. "This is just a general contract between
you and the agency to accept work. A lot of the work you do, like say
a fashion shoot for a magazine, will require a specific contract. If
you agree to the assignment, then yes...Basically you have to do the
work or you could be sued for breach of contract."

"Jeeze," I giggled and I hadn't even got past the first page. "I don't
understand any of this stuff."

"Nobody does, dear," Frannie laughed lightly. "Go to page..."

"Seven," Sophie said and we did that with little looks and shrugs.

"Pay schedule?" Chris said and I was just looking at the numbers,
feeling suddenly very dizzy.

"It's five hundred thousand," Sophie said. "As you can see, we're
offering one hundred forty thousand upon acceptance of the contract
and the balance paid in monthly installments of ten thousand dollars
over the life of the contract, thirty-six months."

"The one forty is contingent upon fulfilling at least one full year of
the contract," Frannie said. "If you decide you don't want to be a
model before the year is up, you'll have to repay the full amount."

"You can't take the money today and quit tomorrow," Sophie smiled at
us and I just stared at her.

"This is for all of us?" I asked her. "Or just...me?"

"For each of you," Sophie said, maybe wondering why I didn't
understand that. "You all have separate contracts with Ford."

"You'll be earning the money," Frannie said. "Make no mistake about
that. It isn't a gift."

"This is in addition to your modeling fees, which are negotiated
seperately." Sophia explained, without explaining anything.

"Right," Mark was smiling. "Look, we don't know anything about this
stuff. Do we have to live here or what? We're still in high school
and..."

"We'd prefer it if you lived in the city," Frannie nodded. "Obviously
there are a lot of details we need to work out, but we're used to
that."

"There are a number of good schools for people like yourselves..."
Sophie started saying.

"Like us?" Chris almost laughed.

"People like you, yes," Frannie said seriously. "Things are going to
change for you and some of those changes will be drastic and
difficult, others not so much."

We just looked at each other and down at the contracts and none of us
knew what to say or do. The idea of being paid half a million dollars
was making my stomach hurt because I didn't understand how a picture
of me, or even a thousand pictures, could be worth that much to
anyone.

"Do we have to sign these now?" Mark asked.

"I have to call my parents," I said, mostly to myself.

"No! Good heavens!" Frannie laughed. "Don't sign anything. Sophie has
a list of agents..."

"There's six of them here," Sophie said, sliding a sheet of paper
across the table. "They're all very good and they all represent a
number of our models. Call their offices and they'll be very happy to
talk with you, believe me."

"Visit all of them before you decide," Frannie advised us. "Pick the
one you're most comfortable with, or you can find someone else, it's
entirely up to you."

"Once you have an agent, we'll negotiate with him on your contracts,"
Sophie said. "We require that all of our models have representation."

"It's good for everyone concerned," Frannie said and she was looking
at her watch. "I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me, I'm already late
for a meeting. Sophie will take care of you and you have my number.
Don't be afraid to use it if you have questions."

As the woman stood up, so did all of us and Frannie shook our hands
with both of hers, telling us how happy she was that we were joining
the family, as she called it.

"I understand you might be on..." Sophie's face took on an apologetic
look as she spoke to Chris, "...limited funds?"

"Huh? Oh, um..." Chris glanced at Mark.

"We're okay," Mark said.

"Well, if it's alright with you, I'd like to make arrangements for you
to stay at a hotel," Sophie said and she was trying hard not embarrass
us. "The Hyatt is convenient, close to Central Park and our offices
here."

"Oh. No, that's..." Chris was shaking his head.

"We want you to be comfortable and you have some important decisions
to make," Sophie said. "And truthfully, it would make us feel better
if we can take care of you."

"Take care of us?" I asked with a little smile.

"We take care of our models," Sophie smiled back at me. "You'll have
to get used to it, so why not start now?"

"Well, I guess if we have to," Chris laughed and Mark shrugged.

"Good. I'll let Bryce know," Sophie said. "Is he working out?"

"I guess," Chris answered, but we weren't sure what she meant.

"Great." Sophie was gathering her things off the coffee table. "I
guess were done for now. Would you like to look around? I can give you
a little tour, or if you want to get to your hotel..."

"Uh, I think we just really need to think," Mark chuckled and Chris
and I both agreed with that.

"Alright," Sophie nodded. "Here's my card and my home and cel numbers
on the back. Frannie gets real busy, so..."

"So call you before calling her?" Mark asked and the woman nodded.

"I'd appreciate it," she said. "If you need anything, anytime, just
call me."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"I need to wake up," I said. "God! I must be dreaming."

"No doubt," Chris said and he was sitting next to me as we made our
way to the Hyatt Regency in the back of the limousine.

"Five hundred thousand," Mark said and he was looking through his
contract. "I don't even know what half of these words mean."

"Well, you can afford a good dictionary," Chris grinned at him.

"What we need is a good lawyer," Mark sighed and he looked at Bryce.
"You sure about that emancipation thing?"

"Look at me," the black man chuckled. "You think I'd lie about
something like that?"

"So we can stay here if we want to," Chris said. "My parents can't
make me go home?"

"As long as you have a place to live and a means of support," Bryce
agreed. "You get your petition in front of a judge; he looks at it and
gives it a big rubber stamp."

"Oh, so it's not like automatic," Chris frowned.

"Ain't nothing automatic in this life, kid," Bryce said. "But if
you're pulling down ten grand a month, you're about as free as you're
gonna be."

"I don't want to be free," I said and I understood Chris' interest.

I wouldn't want to go back to his parents either if there was some way
out of it. But I was missing mine and I didn't want to live in New
York City and go to some school for people like us, whoever we were. I
wanted to go back home and finish school and get married and live
happily ever after. Five hundred thousand dollars would buy a lot of
happiness though, no matter what people said. That was a farm all by
itself and we'd have three times that much. It was college for our
kids and freedom from a lot of the worries that other people suffered.
It was freedom for Chris from his parents.

Could I really say no to that? Would it be selfish of me? I wanted us
to be happy, but like the spoiled girl I was, I wanted it right now.
Three years wasn't a long time. I'd be nineteen then, the same as
Chris. Mark would only be twenty. We wouldn't even be able to get into
a bar, but we'd be set for life. Three years did seem like a long time
though, if I had to stay here, in this city. I needed my family close
by, the same as Mark did. We couldn't survive without them.

"What's wrong?" Chris asked me, reaching my leg and rubbing me.

"I don't know," I said. "I just...I don't want to live here for three
years, you know?"

"I'm sure you can go home," Chris said. "I mean, it's not the army.
Right? We can go home every week probably, it's not like we live a
long ways away."

"Yeah," I sighed, but it wouldn't be the same thing as living there
either.

"I don't know," Mark said. "We might like it here after awhile. We can
get season tickets for the Yankees."

"Heh!" Chris grinned at that. "Get your mom down here for some
shopping?"

"Hell yeah," Mark laughed. "You guys only have two years of high
school left, that won't be bad."

"You really want to be a model, huh?" I looked at Mark.

"Me?" he shook his head. "I want to buy a farm. If they want to pay me
for saying cheese all day, I'll do it."

"Jason would slap you silly if you ever said cheese," Chris grinned
and I giggled at that, knowing it was probably true.

"We could be together here," Mark said and he was suddenly serious.

"What?" Chris tilted his head slightly.

"That's what I was thinking about," Mark said. "Some of it. Like back
home, me and you? It won't be easy."

"I don't care," Chris said.

"I don't either," Mark told him. "But I'm just saying, people are
going to know and even if they don't, I'm not gonna pretend like I
don't love you."

I glanced at Bryce and he was looking out the window.

"Look," Chris leaned forward, just like Mark did so that they were
looking into each others' eyes. "This is real easy for me. I don't
have anything to go back to except you and Stephanie, you know?"

"Yeah," Mark nodded.

"I grew up in the city, not a big one, but a city, so this is fine for
me. I like it, but we have to think about Steph too," Chris said.

"I'm thinking about her," Mark said. "I'm always thinking about you
guys and people are gonna talk about her too. It's not just me and
you, I know that."

"Okay," Chris said. "I just want to make sure, you know? If she's not
happy, we're not gonna be happy either."

"Yeah, I know," Mark said.

"I'm still right here," I said, since they were talking about me like
I wasn't there.

"So, I'll do whatever you guys want," Chris said to Mark, ignoring me.

"I'll do whatever you guys want too," Mark agreed.

"So..." I was staring at them and Chris was nodding.

"So, we'll do whatever Stephy wants, right?" Mark asked Chris and then
they both looked at me.

"What?" I shook my head. "You can't make me decide."

"You have to," Chris said. "Mark and me will do whatever you want."

"Mark and I," Mark said with a smile, but I wasn't biting.

"I can't decide that," I said. "I don't know what I want. I want to do
what you guys want."

"Well, we can't all do that," Chris grinned. "Can we?"

"Someone has to make a decision," Mark agreed. "I vote for Steph."

"Me too," Chris held up his hand. "Majority rules. You're the
President."

"God! I hate you guys sometimes." I crossed my arms and sat back in
the seat.

"Hmmm..." Chris frowned and Mark shrugged and we hadn't decided on
anything except that all of us were afraid of deciding.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Hi, Mom?" I said into the phone and we were in a suite about ten
times bigger than our previous room at the hostel New Berlin.

"Stephanie? Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, sitting on the edge of a bed. The suite had
two bedrooms. "I'm still in the city with Mark and Chris."

"I've been so worried about you! Have you been eating? Where are you
staying?"

"I'm eating, yeah," I said. "We're in a hotel now, it's nice."

"A hotel? How can you afford a hotel? Are you using the credit card?"

"Mom, I'm fine. I swear, I'm okay," I sighed, knowing she'd just ask
question after question. "How are you? How's Daddy?"

"We're okay. You don't have to worry about us. You can come home soon;
the lawyer said you won't have to go to jail or anything. The judge
will let you stay at home."

"Really?" I felt a big sense of relief suddenly fill me. "What about
Mark and Chris?"

"I don't know. If they turn themselves in the judge might let them out
on their own recognizance or whatever they call it."

"He might?" I blinked at that. "Or they might have to stay in jail? Is
that what they said?"

"Maybe. I don't know, Steph. Chris' dad got out of the hospital today.
He won't drop the charges and he's suing us and Mark's family for
hospital bills and pain and suffering. I just don't know."

"He's suing us?" I felt like I was going to be sick. Georgie was the
man who had raped me and now he was suing me?

"It's all complicated, but there's a man from the state attorney
investigating it. He wants to talk to you, Stephanie. You should come
home."

"I can't," I said. "Not without Mark and Chris."

"I know, but you have to think of yourself too. I'm so worried about
you. You don't have any money. You're missing school. You're so far
away from us."

Mom was starting to cry and that was going to make me cry in a second.

"Is Daddy there?" I asked, knowing he wasn't or else I'd have already
been talking to him.

"No. He's talking to the lawyer. Mark's dad is there too. Please, just
come home. Tell us where you are and we'll come get you."

"I can't leave them," I said.

"Stephanie..."

"I love them, Mom," I told her. "I'm going to be fine, okay? I have a
job already. We all do. We have money too."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"We're going to get a lawyer here too, Mom," I said, making these
decisions as they popped into my head. "We'll get a good one and, um,
we'll make statements and stuff. I don't know."

"You can't stay there, Stephanie."

"Yeah, I can," I nodded into the phone. "You'll see. We're going to be
fine. Mark and Chris aren't gonna go to jail. I won't let them."

"Stephanie, no..."

"I love you, Mom," I said quickly, before I could really start crying.
"Tell Daddy I love him too."

"Wait..."

"Bye." I hung up the phone just in time.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"What did you parents say?" Mark asked me and he was watching the
television while Chris took a shower.

"My dad wasn't there," I said, hoping my eyes weren't as red as they
felt. "Mom cried a lot."

"Yeah." Mark turned off the TV and looked at me. "You did too, huh?"

"A little," I shrugged. "Georgie is suing us to pay for his hospital
bills."

"Yeah," Mark said and I stared at him.

"You knew about that?" I asked.

"My dad said something about it the other day when I called," Mark
told me. "I just didn't want to worry you."

"I'd rather know about stuff like that," I frowned. "Anything else?"

"No," Mark said into my eyes and I believed him.

"My mom wants me to come home," I said after half a minute. "She said
I wouldn't have to go to jail."

"But me and Chris would, huh?" Mark shrugged. "Do you want to?"

"Go home? Yeah," I said and rolled my eyes. "Of course, but I told her
I wasn't going to go home until I knew everything was gonna be fine."

"That might be a long time," Mark said.

"So?" I decided to let him hold me cause I could tell Mark wanted to.
"I told my mom we had jobs."

"You did?" He looked down at me, curled up under his strong right arm
now.

"Uh-huh," I agreed. "I said we had jobs and a lot of money and we'd
hire a lawyer, a good one, and let him sort it all out."

"Ummm..." Mark was nodding slowly.

"You guys said it was up to me, right?" I looked up at him.

"Yeah, we did," Mark said. "Are you sure?"

"No," I smiled. "But what else are we gonna do? I'm not gonna go home
until we all can and we need money, right?"

"Yeah," Mark said.

"Well, okay," I sighed. "Besides, it's kinda dumb not to be rich and
famous, right?"

"Heh!" Mark kissed the top of my head. "Nobody ever accused us of
being smart, Stephy."

"Ain't that the truth," I giggled. "So...Maybe it's fate or something.
Like if that stuff hadn't happened we never would have come here in
the first place."

"Or just luck," Mark said. "We had good luck and then a whole lot of
bad luck, so maybe..."

"Maybe it's time for some more good luck," I said and that almost made
sense. It sounded good anyway.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

We liked Gloria right away and I think she liked us. She was a senior
partner at a firm called AMI and the woman knew what she was doing,
that was for sure.

"Okay, let's put these over here for now," Gloria said, taking our
contracts and putting them in a little pile on the big conference
table.

We were the only ones in there too, Mark, Chris, myself, and Gloria,
but there were twenty chairs at least. Gloria was old, like Frannie
was, and just as smart, I thought, and probably tougher. I wouldn't
want her mad at me. She had short black hair and bright brown eyes and
a thin smile. She would have made a pretty good man in another life.

"Tell me why you ran away from home," Gloria stared at me. "You
start."

We'd told her part of the story already, but now we told her
everything. We didn't lie or hold anything back either and it took a
little time, but not too much and Gloria was taking notes.

"Okay, first thing is we have to take care of these police charges,
right?" Gloria said. "Ford finds out about that and they're going to
drop you quick. If you get convicted, the deal is off too. If you go
to trial it's bad, even if you're acquitted, okay? OJ was acquitted,
remember? Nobody is knocking on his door asking him to sell toilet
paper."

"Uh..." Mark looked at Chris who shrugged. "So what do we do?"

"We get the charges dropped," Gloria said. "You're minors anyway. We
can make sure your names aren't even mentioned in the same breath as
whatever unfortunate accident befell this...Georgie...while he was fixing
his roof."

"Oh, you don't know my dad," Chris said unhappily.

"You don't know my lawyers," Gloria said. "People fall off roofs all
the time, believe me. He raped a sixteen year old girl and I'm not
exactly sure what the issue is here, how that's getting buried, but we
like that too."

"The sheriff, probably," Mark said.

"Sheriff Stover," Gloria looked at her notes and nodded. "Right, we're
going to move on this, okay? It's not who you are, it's who you play
golf with. AMI plays golf with a lot of people. We're going to make
this go away and then we'll be able to negotiate your contracts. Until
then, we don't go back to Ford with anything. You don't call them,
okay? If they call you, just tell them you have representation through
AMI and until the contracts are signed, they go through me."

We sorta stared at her for a few seconds because Gloria liked to talk
fast and she had a real New York accent, the city I mean, not rural
like ours.

"Next. You want emancipation, right? We can do that too, but only
after these charges go away. You can't step in front of a judge
petitioning for emancipation today and I'll tell you why. First,
you'll be arrested as soon as they run a background check on you,
which they will certainly do. You have warrants out for your arrest.
Second, if a judge does grant your petition for emancipation and you
go to trial back in Iroquois County, you'll face the charges as legal
adults. The judge there won't even have to rule on that because the
issue was already decided, see? No emancipation until the charges have
been dropped."

"Okay," Mark agreed and I think we were all reasonably sure that we'd
come to the right place.

"The lawyers come out of my pocket. We have a bunch of them locked in
the basement for emergencies like this. Your accountants and managers
come out of yours. That's a separate deal and we don't have anything
to do with them. I'm your agent, I deal with you and the people who
want you. Do you have managers or a manager?"

"No," Chris shook his head. "Do we need one?"

"No," Gloria smiled. "I didn't think you did, but that's good. We get
a lot of kids coming in her with their mom or dad playing manager.
It's a nightmare. You have contracts with Ford and they'll manage you
just fine until you know what you're doing. That's part of their job
and they'll give you someone good. How about an accountant?"

"Nope," Chris shook his head again.

"Well, you'll want to find one. What Ford wants to give you sounds
like a lot of money, and it is, but it's easier for most people to
spend a thousand dollars they can't see than it is for them to break a
twenty in their wallet. Don't ask me why, I only know it's true. You
get an accountant and set up an allowance for yourselves. I'm not
kidding. Everybody is going to want to help you spend your money. Lock
it away, give yourself a little every week, and invest the rest. I
can't do you any good if you can't pay me, so my fifteen comes off the
top, by the way."

"Do you know a good accountant?" I asked her and Gloria just smiled.

"I'll get you a list and you can shop around," she said. "Contracts..."

"I thought we weren't going to talk about those," Mark said.

"...They're nice and cute and pretty, just like you three, but we can do
a lot better. Ford wants you in the city, right? That's a place we can
nibble. They want you here; they can pay to keep you here, see? We get
them to provide you with a housing allowance, tuition for a decent
school, per diem for your food, that sort of thing. They'll do it,
just because it'll be easier than having to limo you back and forth
three or four times a week. It comes out of a different budget too;
makes it real easy for them to say yes."

"They're going to pay for all that?" I asked.

"Absolutely," Gloria said. "Next thing..."

The meeting went on for quite awhile and there was a lot of paperwork
for us to sign and fill out, but we had an agent and she was going to
take care of us.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Watch out! Oh! Stephy!" Mark was laughing. "Jesus, you're like the
worst driver ever!"

"Shhh oh!" I said and then I crashed again. I really was pretty bad at
Mario Kart, but man, it was so much fun! The Nintendo Wii had come
with the hotel room and as soon as I got some money, I was gonna buy
myself one.

"Ouch!" Chris laughed too and I gave him the steering wheel thing. I'd
lost again and the phone was ringing anyway.

"I'll get it," I said and bounced over the sofa. I loved that hotel
room. "Yello?"

I listened for a minute or so, kind of blinking and nodding and then I
hung up.

"Steph? What's wrong?" Mark asked me and Chris turned his head to look
at me. "What is it?"

"We can go home," I said.

"What?" Chris paused his game.

"That was Gloria. She said all the charges were dropped," I told them,
feeling kind of numb for some reason. "Your dad's not even suing us
anymore."

"Really?" Mark was already reaching for the phone so he could call
home.

"And um, she's got a meeting this afternoon with Frannie. She's on her
way over there right now and probably tomorrow she'll have new
contracts for us to sign," I said. "So, that's...Good. Right?"

"He just dropped the charges?" Chris was scratching his head. "How did
they get him to do that?"

"I don't know," I shrugged.

"Maybe they put a horse's head in his bed," Mark grinned and then he
was talking into the phone. "Pop? It's me..."

"That was fast," Chris was just looking at me and I nodded. "Two
days?"

"Not even that," I started smiling. "We can go home!"

"He did?" Mark was turning white, all the color draining from his
face. "But...What's going to happen to him?"

We listened to Mark's half of his conversation with his dad, but he
was mostly listening too, so Chris and I didn't know what was going on
until after Mark hung up about fifteen minutes later.

"What happened?" Chris asked.

"What did your dad say?" I stared at Mark. "Can we go home or not?"

"Chris," Mark looked at our boyfriend. "Your dad didn't drop the
charges."

"He didn't?" Chris looked as confused as I felt.

"But Gloria said the charges were dropped," I protested.

"Yeah, they're dropped, but..." Mark cleared his throat, "...Your dad's,
um...he's..."

"What?" Chris held out his hands. "Just say it, Mark. What did he do
now?"

"He's dead." Mark blinked like he couldn't believe what he was telling
us. "Um, Rollie...He, uh, he shot him."

"Rollie shot him?" I felt dizzy all of a sudden and then I felt like
throwing up, but I wasn't sure why. I wasn't sure of anything.

"What?" Chris kind of fell down on the floor, on his butt and then
back against one of the chairs.

"Pop said Georgie was at the VFW, kinda drunk and talking about how he
didn't have to rape you," Mark said to me. "That, uh, that you wanted
him to do it."

"He was saying that?" I closed my eyes and I was so conflicted inside,
I thought for sure something was broken.

"Rollie was there and they started fighting, or something," Mark
continued. "And, um, Georgie had a gun and Rollie got it and...Shot
him."

"But..." I shook my head, trying to clear it. "What happened to Rollie?
What are they doing to him?"

"He's in jail," Mark said and I wondered if this nightmare was ever
going to end. "They said it was self defense though, so maybe..."

"He was in jail before though," I was crying now and I had to call my
dad. "That's bad, isn't it?"

"I don't know," Mark said. "Probably."

Rollie was in jail because of me. He was defending me. Defending my
honor, so to speak, and now he'd killed Chrissy's dad? I looked at
Chris and he was just sitting on the floor, looking off at nothing. I
wanted to touch him so badly. Hold him, but I was afraid. I was crying
and looking at Mark and he was afraid too. This was so bad.

"We never should have left," I breathed. "I gotta call my dad."

"He deserved it," Chris said softly as I was dialing the phone. "I'm
glad he's dead."

"Don't say that," I said. "Please, don't say that."

"It's true," Chris was moving his jaw like he was chewing something
bitter and his eyes wouldn't look at me, but he was crying too.

"Talk to him, Mark," I said and I could barely get the words out.
"Don't let him be alone like that."

"Yeah," Mark jerked liked I'd slapped him and got up quickly.

He was going to be okay. Mark was going to be strong, he was coming
out of his shock and we needed him. Chris needed him and Mark sat down
on the floor beside the younger boy and took Chris in a gentle hug,
whispering in Chris' ear. Chris might have been mad at Georgie. And
maybe the guy wasn't even his real dad, but he was the only father
Chris had ever known. No matter what he'd done, Georgie would always
be that and it was going to tear Chris up if he wasn't careful. If he
wasn't strong enough, or if we weren't strong enough for him.

"Daddy?" I scrunched up my face, trying to stop the tears and mostly I
just listened.

"You aren't crying for that son of a bitch, are you?" my dad asked me
at one point. "I was going to shoot him myself. Soon as he got out of
the hospital, the only reason I didn't was thinking about Chris."

"Oh Daddy," I sobbed because there was so much hate in his voice. I'd
never heard him sound like that.

"I should have been the one to do it," my dad said. "Raping my little
girl. Rollie did me a favor. Both of us, Stephanie. That bastard had
it coming so don't you cry for him, understand me? He's not ever going
to hurt you again."

He was talking to himself as much as he was talking to me, I realized.
I barely recognized my own father's voice and it made me hurt inside.
I didn't want any of this. I was still alive. I was okay. The man
didn't deserve to die for what he'd done.

"When are you coming home?" my dad asked me and I had to think about
it. It didn't sound like home anymore.

"Ummm...This weekend," I said slowly, glancing at Mark and Chris. "I,
uh, we have to do some stuff tomorrow and um...I don't know. We have to
talk, Daddy. This weekend. Sunday, okay?"

"I could come get you," Daddy said. "Get you tonight. Your mom's
awfully worried."

"I know." I wiped my nose on my t-shirt. "Sunday. I promise."

"Okay." My dad didn't sound too happy with that answer.

"He, um...Does Rollie have a lawyer?" I asked, thinking we'd get him one
maybe. Or something.

"Don't you worry about that. He isn't going to need one." Daddy
actually chuckled and I closed my eyes. "There's seven of us that saw
it happen. It was self-defense. Georgie pulled the gun out and Rollie
was just protecting himself."

"You were there?" I winced.

"Oh yeah," Daddy said and the way he said those two little words told
me everything I needed to know.

"Mark's dad..."

"He was there too," Daddy said. "Don't worry about a thing, Steph.
Stover's got him in jail, but Rollie won't be staying there long."

"Right," I nodded and the phone was slipping out of my fingers. "I
have to go, Daddy."

I looked at Mark, holding Chris with the boy's face against his chest.
Chris was shaking and this wasn't what we wanted. I joined them
slowly, carefully, pressing my body against Chrissy and Mark held both
of us there on the floor. I was crying, Chris and me both, and our
cheeks were flushed and wet against each other. Our tears mixing
beneath Mark's soft lips and tender kisses. There was nothing we could
say to make it go away.

They'd killed him. Rollie might have pulled the trigger, but my dad
had helped. Mark's dad too, probably. They'd killed Georgie just as if
they'd been a firing squad and I knew they had their reason. Me. I was
the reason, not anything else, not really. So far as those three men
were concerned it was all about Georgie raping me and thinking he
could get away with it. Mark's dad was like my second father, he was
going to be my father-in-law someday, we all knew it. And Rollie, he
was my friend, like an uncle to me and especially Mark. He wouldn't
hesitate, not if it would protect our families. My father couldn't
kill Georgie, neither could Mark's, but Rollie could. It was like the
reason he'd been there all along, just waiting for it all those years.

For a few minutes, between those two phone calls with Gloria and
Mark's dad, I'd imagined that we could go home. We could forget this
city and everything in it. We could go back home and be who we'd been
before. Not rich or famous, not beautiful or anything else, but only
ourselves. We could be small town kids making our little plans and
stealing kisses at the pond.

But all that was gone and the only real home we had was with each
other.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
end of 21

The End

end of Mornings on Horseback
rache696@yahoo.com
http://www1.asstr.org/~rache/index.htm

For you ASSM/ASSTR readers, there is no part 22/22 since I started
counting with zero...My apologies for the confusion. -rr

-- 
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reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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