Chapter 21

A pop of a smelling-salts capsule below his nose and Fernando Reyes awakened, to find himself bound, lying on his stomach on a cold floor. He hurt quite a bit; the last thing he remembered was storming out of Maddie's bedroom at some masked punk -- and a series of impacts. There were a pair of bare feet standing before him; he cranked his head back enough to determine that the owner was naked, chunky, and female; he could see her pussy and the undersides of her breasts, but not her face. "Where am I?" he croaked.

"Does it matter?" the woman answered. "You're in a place where you can be made to pay for your crimes. Since you've been injured, you've been left in my care, temporarily. You can call me... Nurse... for lack of a better term."

"Why am I naked?"

"We needed to see the extent of your injuries."

"Why are YOU naked?"

"It's easier to wash the blood off," Beth said nastily.

"I need help!" Fernando blustered.

"No, you don't," Beth replied blandly. "You've been seen by qualified medical personnel and you will recover. Aside from being bashed around some, you have a broken nose -- that's about it." Beth squatted and grasped the damaged organ and gave it a shake. "See?"

"OWWW!" Fernando howled. "You can't do that!"

"I just did," Beth said complacently. She did it again. "See?"

"AAAAH! I have rights! That's torture!"

"You have no rights here," Beth said frigidly, "and as for torture, you should know ALL about it, from the looks of your family! Well, the shoe is on the other foot now -- you're going to get to enjoy some of OUR discipline!"

"People will come looking for me when I don't come to work tomorrow!" Fernando lied desperately.

"Funny -- that's not what you told your wife," Beth shot him down. "We'll have her call in any case, but we have you for days. Days and days. A couple of calls and it'll be days and days and days..." Beth kicked him deliberately in his left shoulder and strode regally out of the room while he howled.

Beth came quietly over to the entertainment center, where the others had been watching the proceedings on video. "He's fine."

"I agree," Robert nodded. "He's just a whiner."

"Bullies usually are," Hank grated.

"I don't think it's a good idea for me to watch any more of the entertainment," Robert mused. "What's the plan?"

"Twenty-four hour surveillance, obviously," Beth sighed. "I can take it until midnight or so, but I need to work tomorrow. Same for Louise."

"What do we need, exactly?" Toby asked.

"For him? Probably nothing. We can move on to making his life miserable, I should think," Beth replied. "The mother needs a real nurse, but we're going to have to make do until after our shift tomorrow -- then Louise and I can each take a shift." She eyed Maddie. "The daughter needs to be looked after, too. I bet that's covered, though, isn't it?" Beth grinned at Hank.

"Well, I have football, but yes," Hank agreed.

"I'll put Sally on during the day tomorrow," Lon offered. "We can ring in some of the other girls, too -- but they're not nurses, so we'll need a quick way to get a hold of everyone."

Candace came down the stairs. "That woman looks godawful! I hope someone beats the shit out of the bastard that did that!"

Hank grinned ferally, "He's next door -- wanna help?"

"We need her to be the head nurse tomorrow," Beth argued. "Are you up for that? Talk to Louise..." she directed at Candace's nod.

"I can help!" Maddie lurched up, grimaced at the slash of pain in her ribs, and settled back.

Beth shushed her. "We don't want him to know you're close! He'll try to manipulate you!" Turning to Hank, she directed, "Take her upstairs!"

"House guests. All hours of the day and night," Candace complained.

"Too late, Mama -- it's done!" Lon told her. "Sally will be here to help."

"We can get more, too," Randy added.

"Let's keep the numbers down," Beth admonished. "If this backfires, we want as few people in on it as possible!"

"Yeah, good idea!" Toby nodded. "By the way, use this whenever possible." He demonstrated the little voice-disguising box. "It'll be right here." He put it on the coffee table.

"We need to tie him off to something," Damian opined. "We don't want him wandering off if he gets his feet under him."

"Good point," Lon agreed. "Beth?" The three of them pulled their masks back down and went off to observe their prisoner. After a whispered conversation, they settled on a plan...

After a protracted muttering of several voices in an adjoining room -- Fernando thought he might have heard Maddie at one point, but he couldn't be sure -- Fernando found himself looking at two pairs of shoes. "We're going to get you up and change your position," a distorted voice told him. "Don't give us any trouble, or else!" Hands took him by both upper arms and pulled him to his knees.

"This is illegal!" Fernando sputtered, "I--"

SMACK! Fernando's damaged nose took another lick. "So is wife-beating and child abuse!" the distorted voice told him. "Shut up!" Fernando got to his feet on automatic, his attention on very little besides his abused nose. "For someone who likes to beat the shit out of people, you sure are a pussy!" the voice added. They sat him on some kind of exam table, then someone popped a bag over his head. "Hey!"

"Want to bet I can still find that nose of yours, Pussy?" the voice taunted. Fernando shut up in mid-syllable.

Next, they unlinked his wrists, but did not unbind them -- apparently, whatever his bindings were, they were not handcuffs. They stretched his arms out to the side and linked them to a bar that passed behind his neck; his attempt to break free bought him another shot to his battered face. Next, they took his feet and buckled them into something that left his legs up and spread; struggling got his thighs bludgeoned until they no longer were capable of controlled movement. (Beth used a hunk of broom handle for this; the boys did the manhandling). Finally, they pushed the cushioned top of the table into a semi-reclining position, then rolled the table to another location. After some strange noises, there was silence for a moment, then: "Okay, Pussy, we're gonna leave you for the night like this." Someone snatched off the bag, and Fernando looked around wildly. His feet were tied to the stirrups of the exam table, and he could see that his wrists were attached to a metal bar. He had at least two persecutors in the room with him; they looked to be young males, but they wore hoods and gloves. "If you behave yourself," the voice went on -- Fernando could see the person speaking holding the microphone for a small device that distorted his voice, "You can sleep comfy like this. Piss us off, though, and THIS will happen!" There was a thump and the backrest fell away, leaving Fernando suspended bolt-upright by the bar that ran from his left wrist behind his neck to his right wrist. Fernando screamed -- the pain in his left shoulder was like a blade of fire! The backrest returned; Fernando collapsed against it, moaning and sweating. "By the way," his tormentor added, "about the old family jewels..." he gave Fernando's balls something enough heavier than a friendly pat to cause Fernando to yelp in pain. "We haven't decided whether you're gonna get to keep them or not. Bear that in mind when you act up." The two of them disappeared behind a curtain -- and the woman referred to as 'Nurse' came from behind Fernando and followed. Fernando collapsed, groaning, trying to get control of the multiple places on his body reporting pain.

"His nose is out again," Beth muttered as they cleared the area.

"So? Look at his wife!" Lon retorted.

"Still, we don't want complications."

Lon sighed. "Take the doc in, then, but don't let shithead see him. Go around behind. If Doc can work through the bag, so much the better."

"I agree," Beth nodded, and padded off to get Dr. Rankin.

Damian scratched his head. "You wanna tell me why she's buck naked?"

"Distraction," Toby grinned. "He won't remember a thing about her above the neck. Ma is no fool and she's been playing rough games for a while -- she knows what works and what doesn't, first hand!"

Damian chuckled. "You've got a point there!"

They adjourned to the living room -- everyone except Marta Reyes – to find live video of Fernando in his present predicament displayed on the TV there while they talked. Randy called Jiang Yi and ordered take-out for twenty -- but he took money, rather than telling her to suck it up. When he left, he took Brenda, finally dropping her off at home on the way. Lon called Sally (who had just left when all Hell broke loose) and briefed her and told her she would be needed the next day to help nurse the women back to health. "Tell your mom you have a friend in the hospital and you volunteered to help out," Lon suggested. Sally pitched the tale and reported that all was well.

"Okay, so what are we gonna do with him?" Terence asked.

"Emasculate him," Toby replied, "physically and mentally." He turned to Louise. "I think we'll ask Fred to play."

Louise frowned, then had second thoughts. "Tape it," she insisted.

Toby grinned. "I thought you'd see the light."

Terence frowned. "Why Pa?"

"There are a bunch of reasons," Toby told him, sighing, "not the least of which being that he asked to be included in certain activities. I know this bothers you -- maybe you want to go elsewhere. But we're not looking at abusing your dad in this case -- more the other way around."

"Then why is Mama goin' along?" Terence asked. Then he thought about what she'd said. "Oh."

"Give us a minute," Toby told the group and took Terence by and arm. "Come on, let's talk about it."

Once away from the others, Terence rasped, "Why don't she just have you guys shoot him and get it over with?"

"It's not that simple," Toby told him. "Your dad called us looking for, well, more, if you know what I mean."

"More guy stuff?"

"Yes. We told him we're not pimps for gay sex, but he's concerned about doing what he wants to do in safety and secrecy."

"Won't be secret," Terence grunted.

"No, it won't -- but it WILL be safe -- at least from diseases and stuff. We didn't really have anything to offer him, except the vague possibility that we might end up doing something like this -- but he bought in to it, in advance," Toby related. "Obviously, we can't offer him you, or Clint; Clint suggested someone, but he would have to be recruited..."

"Clint suggested someone?" Terence blinked.

Toby nodded. "He said he'd never done anything about it, but that he'd been approached. If you think about it, you'll probably know who it is."

Terence thought about who was a 'known queer' at school. Nobody was out for certain, but there were two or three who were stereotypical. "Uhh, Nicky Mangia?"

"Right the first time," Toby agreed. "Clint says Nicky outed himself to him a while back. But we would have to ring him in and it seems like a lot of trouble to go to..."

Terence pursed his lips. "You never know. There are a couple of guys on the team that ain't that pure -- besides Clint and me, I mean. I caught a couple of the guys on the defense fucking around in the showers. They didn't see me, but I saw plenty. There was no way I was gonna say anything to them -- they're both, um, mighty white, if you know what I mean..."

Toby nodded. If you're big enough and mean enough, you CAN still be white and prejudiced in this day and age -- but you need to be able to carry it off. Toby wondered if they weren't talking about the white version of Terence's father. "Do I guess?"

"Coach Richards does some wild shit to keep the wrestling team pumped up," Terence rumbled. "I figure it backfired."

"Vince and Eddie Ray!" Toby laughed. The pair met all of the criteria -- big, bad-tempered, and on both the football and the wrestling teams.

"Yep. I heard Coach Richards had the wrestling team oil up and go nekkid once or twice, figuring the shit they'd get for getting their nose stuck in somebody's crotch would be an incentive to hang tough. Vince and Eddie Ray musta practiced a few times without a ref, from what I heard Vince say in the shower." Terence shrugged. "Won't be an issue if we don't invite them to a party," he opined. "But if we do a team thing, we might need to keep them, uh, segregated..." he grinned, "and entertained."

"I've wondered about Coach Richards," Toby mused.

"Keep wonderin'," Terence grunted. "Nobody is sure, but..."

"Well, it doesn't matter, I guess -- I just wanted to talk to you about your father," Toby replied.

"I can't be in on anything you do to or with Pa," Terence sighed. "I just can't."

"Nobody expects you to," Toby told him soberly. "But I figured you should know that we don't just do things TO him."

"What does Mama want, exactly?" Terence asked.

"Revenge. Revenge for how you've all been treated. Revenge for being blamed about Damian when your Pa was apparently pushing her off on the other guy they were swinging with to get favors. Revenge for being cheated on all the time. And she wants to make sure that when the divorce happens, your Pa doesn't put her or you -- or especially Damian -- out in the cold."

"She's got video..."

Toby sighed. "It goes beyond that. She wants him to see her standing there watching while he does gay stuff. She wants him humiliated. She wants to be on top."

Terence pictured it. "Is it gonna happen?"

"Yeah."

"Will that be enough, do you think?"

Toby ran his hand through his hair. "You know, it might even fix things."

"Huh?" Terence blinked.

"Think about it for a while. You might begin to see it."

"Well... Tell 'em I'm going home -- this isn't my thing." Terence turned away and headed out.

"If you see your dad, will you have him call?" Toby asked.

"Yeah," drifted back over Terence's shoulder as he went through the door.

Toby returned to the living room. "What happened?" Louise asked.

"I think I squared it, but Terence isn't up for any of it, really, let alone anything involving Fred," Toby related.

"Gonna happen anyway," Louise grunted.

"Yeah, and he knows it -- but he doesn't have to participate, and he's chosen not to," Toby replied. "I respect that."

There was a general nod; nobody even mentioned the idea that Terence might expose the whole thing -- they knew better. Terence was loyal; that was one reason he couldn't be involved -- he was loyal to his father.

The next thing to happen was an interruption. On the screen, Fernando started yelling, "Nurse! Nurse!"

"What the Hell does HE want?" Beth groused. "Lon, can I borrow you?" Lon nodded and they headed downstairs.

"Nurse, I have to pee!" Fernando announced when Beth passed through the curtain.

"Of course you do," Beth said, disgusted. "Hold your water for a moment..." She ducked outside the curtain. "Any ideas?" she asked Lon.

Lon pursed his lips. "The table rolls, right? We roll him into the bathroom and he can cut loose there and we can spray it off in the showers..."

"Perfect!" Beth agreed. "You know he thinks he's gonna get a chance to try something..."

"Yeah. We need to make him more uncomfortable, I think," Lon replied, grinning.

"Leave the nose," Beth cautioned. "We need to send Robert home at some point."

"Right," Lon nodded. "Can't we torture him some, though? Do something nasty?"

"Yeah..." Beth grinned. "I have just the thing! Let's get him to the bathroom..."

Fernando eyed Nurse and her companion hopefully. At first, the sole urge had been for urination, but then he realized that an opportunity to escape might come his way. Now, he was biding his time, waiting for an opening.

There wasn't one. Lon bagged Fernando's head before releasing his spreader bar from the overhead hoist it was connected to, leaving him still bound to it, then he and Beth pushed the table through the curtain, across the main room, and down the short hallway to the bath. Once on the tile under the shower heads, Lon removed the bag and Beth directed, "Okay, piss."

"B--but..." Fernando sputtered.

Beth didn't wait to hear. "It's up to you. Meanwhile, you've reminded me that you'll have other needs, so we'll take care of them here, too."

"Wh-what needs?"

"You'll see." Beth went off to collect her enema kit.

Fernando pissed himself when he saw what she returned with. "NOOOO!"

"Oh, yes! We're gonna clean you out!" Beth told him.

Lon, who had recovered the voice disguiser, taunted Fernando, "You are SUCH a pussy! I'm gonna call you Pussy Boy! You can't even come CLOSE to handling the pain you dish out to others! Your kids and your old lady have to be braver than you are just to live under the same roof with your sorry ass!"

Beth hauled Fernando's butt over the table edge and Lon pinned him there -- and they proceeded to fill him with a quart of cold water. Fernando moaned and groaned and begged and whined and pleaded -- and spewed all over the place! Lon laughed at him and derided him and belittled him and generally maximized his humiliation.

And when it was over, Beth added some oil to another quart of water and they did it again!

In all, they went four iterations. Fernando pissed himself a second time during Round Three and was totally exhausted from the cramps by the end of it. Then they hosed him down, table and all, with cold water from the shower heads while he screamed hoarsely. He got no sympathy -- only derision from Lon and silence from Beth, who counted Lon as her better at taunts.

When it was over, they bagged Fernando's head again and wheeled him back to the area behind the curtain; Fernando was almost happy to be there. But Beth wasn't done -- she fetched a six inch butt plug -- one that tapered from a blunt point to a circumference of around three inches before pinching back to a neck one inch in diameter to seat it in an anus -- and proceeded to grease it up from a tube. "Wh-what are you doing?" Fernando panted breathlessly.

"Now that you're all clean, we want to avoid any further messes," Beth told him. "Besides, you can think of this as a trainer. Don't worry -- I'm lubing it..."

Fernando clenched and fought, of course -- which made things worse -- but Beth had added an additional dimension. The introduction of the dildo brought Fernando burning agony -- that didn't go away when it was seated! Beth grinned at him under the mask. "Stings, doesn't it? I lubed it with Ben-Gay so you'd tighten up good around it -- we don't want any leaks!" She waived gaily and walked out; Lon followed, laughing his ass off, the sound amplified by the distortion device.

When they got upstairs, Louise turned them right back around. "Gag him, willya? You're disturbing the patients!"

Beth's eyes lit. "Okay!" She and Lon hurried back down. Beth dug in the toy box and surfaced the item -- an inflatable penis gag. The item featured a metal ring to keep the user (or victim, if you prefer) from biting through the rubber, and a rubberized penis shape that went into the mouth -- all attached by rubberized straps. An inflation bulb on a short hose completed the device.

"We're ba-ack!" Beth announced, coming through the curtain. Lon followed circling behind Fernando. "You're too noisy -- disturbing the other patients. Besides, we have an opportunity to provide you with another trainer!" She flourished the gag.

"NOOOOOO!" Fernando wailed -- but he spent too long with his mouth open! Lon slapped a palm onto his forehead and grabbed his jaw and Beth poked the rubber cock into his open mouth. Lon mashed it there while Beth did up the rubber strap and then squeezed the bulb a few times. "Isn't that fun?" she asked brightly. "Now keep it down!" The pair of them left Fernando again to his misery.

Hank was laughing, watching the video feed when they returned. "You guys are GREAT! I don't see how I could top that!" he chuckled. Maddie, watching from the couch, was obviously conflicted but she said nothing. "Only his pride is hurt, Sweetie," Beth assured her, "He's better off than you are, physically." Then she turned to Hank, "Of course, you missed the enemas..." Lon burst out laughing.

"Enemas? Gawd! No wonder you guys took so long in the bathroom!" Hank burst out. "So now what?"

Beth glanced around at Louise. "The patient downstairs needs less attention than the other two, but someone ought to check on him periodically. Unfortunately, Louise and I are both going to need sleep, especially if we're going to watch things tomorrow after work. Louise?"

"I'll take three to eleven here tomorrow, but that mean's I'll need sleep. Marta is resting fairly comfortably. Maddie needs TLC, but she's getting it," Louise said, grinning at Hank. "Candace and Sally will be watching during the day, and we'll get somebody out here for emergencies, but there really shouldn't be any..."

"That leaves tonight," Beth noted. "I can spend some time here, but will also need sleep. Hank, are you staying the night?"

"I plan to -- let me get on the phone." Hank hurried to the next room to call his father.

"We need to bring someone in -- maybe two, so they keep each other awake," Louise mused. "And they can't be busy tomorrow..."

Randy grimaced. "I'm here already. I can go get Sissy and have her keep me up..."

"It's a plan," Louise agreed. Randy went and got on his phone.

It took some explanations -- and intervention from Louise when Adele balked -- but eventually Randy was dispatched to pick up Alyssa.

Martin's first comment was, "You caused this, you know."

"Yeah, I know. But it was gonna happen, anyway -- you should have seen her before this! He's..." Hank retorted.

"I don't want to know," Martin told his son. "It appears that you have plenty of assets. Am I correct in assuming this isn't just any girl?"

"Yeah."

"I figured as much. Stay the night. I'll bring you fresh clothing. You'll be at practice." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes."

"See you then."

While Hank got organized, Beth and Robert discussed the situation and decided that they would stay the night and sleep on the fold-out couch in the playroom. There, they would be immediately available to Randy and Alyssa throughout the night. Louise headed for home with Damian in tow.

Randy and Alyssa would need the living room, so Lon agreed to assist Hank in hauling a mattress upstairs and jamming it into the sick room beside the bed Marta was using. Hank and Maddie were to stretch out on that... Pietro would sleep with his mother; he was too worried about her to be separated from her and it gave them both comfort.

Halfway up the stairs, the throwaway cell phone went off in Lon's pocket. Lon signaled a halt and answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Terence said I should call." The voice on the other end held a mixture of emotions.

Lon put his brain in gear, "Boy Lover?"

"Uh... Yeah." Fred went with the flow.

"Yeah. Well, it turns out we can offer you some man-pussy. It's not a boy -- sorry about that -- but he's got holes that need poking. In fact, we want him to remember the experience as something he'd rather avoid, if you get my meaning -- something like our first little meeting. You understand?" Lon replied.

"Yeah. I get it. What do you want, like, specifically?"

"This dude beats up on women and children -- not just an occasional slap, but ass-whippings and broken bones and shit. We want this guy to know that if he ever even THINKS about doing that shit again, we're gonna shove a stick of dynamite up his ass and see how big a hole it makes," Lon related. "We want you to drop a load in both ends and not be lovey-dovey about it -- maybe more than once. Can you deliver, there, Boy Lover?"

"Yeah." 'I wish to fuck he wouldn't call me that...' "When?" Fred asked.

"What's convenient? He's available as of now..."

"Tonight?"

"How about tomorrow?" Lon offered. "Get a nooner, or something."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay."

"I'll send somebody to get you. Let us know where you are."

"Okay."

"Later, Boy Lover!"

"Uh, yeah. Later." Fred hung up. 'That fucker can make me feel lower than shit without even trying,' he sighed to himself. It didn't help that the guy had him by the balls... He got ready for bed; if Terence was right, Louise and Damian would be along any time from their emergency meeting of her fucking sewing circle or whatever it was. Terence looked grumpy, like he hadn't been laid -- apparently the boy's club wasn't in session -- or maybe this thing with the wife-beater had fucked things up... That Fred didn't connect the two at all closely was a testament to prior preparation, since it should have all fallen apart at that point. On the other hand, Fred was somewhat distracted by the phone call.

Lon and Hank resumed lugging the mattress up the stairs.

By the time Randy returned with Alyssa, only Beth and Robert were up and around. They briefed them on how to check on the patients and walked them through it and parked the pair of them in the living room with the TV; they were to check Fernando periodically on it, stopping whatever they were viewing to do so. "Can we fuck with him once in a while?" Randy asked.

"Suit yourself, but we'll be trying to sleep in the next room," Beth told them. "Try not to get him screaming or anything."

"Okay." Randy looked disappointed.

Fernando awakened a little while later to a rhythmic pattern of muted sounds coming from the next room. Eventually, he determined that it was probably a couple having sex -- but it seemed to go on forever... Perhaps they wanted him aroused... His gonads didn't know any better; he managed to produce an erection without desiring to. Nobody fucked for this long, did they? Fernando had no way to tell time, but the sounds rose and fell and rose and fell, seemingly for an hour... 'Maybe it is a tape loop or something,' Fernando mused. In his experience, sex lasted five minutes, maybe...

Perhaps that was the case for Fernando, but it was NOT the case for Beth, and it was NOT the case for Robert! Beth brought Robert to orgasm twice, while taking in a good dozen and a half of her own over a period of forty minutes before they fell asleep in each other's arms, exhausted from their bout of lovemaking.

Alyssa checked on the beaten woman at two a.m. to find her eyes open. "Help," Marta said faintly.

"What do you need?" Alyssa asked, nervously.

"The bathroom," Marta replied quietly. "I can't move..." Pietro was lying on her left arm. Alyssa nodded and went out; in a moment, a masked black male joined the masked black female and gently removed Marta's son from her arm and helped her up. The pair of them helped her to the bathroom and the young male left them alone so she could urinate.

"Where am I? " Marta asked.

"I don't think I can tell you, but you're safe. We're treating you for the beating your husband gave you," the girl replied.

"Did Fernando arrange this, then?" Marta asked. Perhaps this was his way of keeping them out of the hospital...

"No. He is being held somewhere else," Alyssa whispered. "He's in big trouble. What do you remember?"

"Being beaten senseless," Marta replied. "A doctor and a nurse..."

"You have a concussion. The doctor and nurse are on call, but resting. I'm filling in," Alyssa finished proudly.

"Thank you," Marta said solemnly. "Who is the boy?"

"What boy?"

"The boy sleeping with Madeline?" When Marta had awakened, she'd had several minutes to take in her surroundings -- and discovered her daughter sleeping on a mattress on the floor beside her bed, bandaged, in a T-shirt and panties -- in the arms of a not terribly handsome boy in nothing but tented boxer shorts.

"Oh." Alyssa bit her lip. "Um, the simple answer is that he's her boyfriend."

Marta's eyes widened. "Really?" Maddie was seeing a boy?

"Yes."

"How long...?"

"A couple of days."

"Are they...?"

"Please..." Alyssa held up a hand. Maddie could explain her sex life to her mama any way she wanted to -- but Alyssa wasn't going there.

Marta changed the subject. "How did we come to be here?"

"Maddie called when your husband started beating on people. A bunch of us came and stopped it."

"Where is Fernando?" Alyssa raised her palm again. Marta changed tacks. "What will you do to him?"

"I don't know, exactly. Not my department. Are you done?"

"Yes."

"Back to bed, then. He can't hurt you -- I'll tell you that much."

Alyssa waited for Marta to wipe gingerly and then called in Randy to assist in the return to her bed. "Pietro shouldn't be here," Marta murmured.

"He needs to know you're okay," Randy replied. "You ain't having sex. You could probably use the comfort, too."

Marta decided to pump her new source. "Are they...?" She waved at the pallet where Hank was softly snoring into Maddie's hair.

"Lady, I ain't telling you shit at two in the morning. Go to sleep. Somebody in charge will probably come by tomorrow. As for them, you can ask 'em yourself," Randy replied. He waved Alyssa out and followed her, closing the door behind him.

Marta took some time to get back to sleep, due to her discomfort. By the time she did so, there was no question in her mind whether Madeline and the boy were involved; intuition said they were lovers. Marta didn't know whether to be pleased or horrified -- there were too many open questions...

Fernando had trouble sleeping, too. A black girl and a black boy seemed to take turns poking and prodding him awake at any time he succumbed to exhaustion despite his injuries and the bindings and the awful device in his ass and the gag in his mouth...

Actually, it was pretty simple -- whenever he contrived to snore through his broken nose, Randy or Alyssa would go down and poke him awake. It passed the time...