Chapter 25

Ten minutes later, Toby and Hank were over on the defensive line's end of the bench.

"You know, it's been a few days since we let anybody get anything from the Booster Club," Hank said, loud enough to carry. This got the attention of several people -- including Vince and Eddie Ray.

"Yeah, well..."

Vince never liked being left out of anything -- but of course, he couldn't appear to be interested. "Probably nothin' we would be interested in, anyway."

"Yeah, well, we'd probably be hunting over here," Toby said, "But we've kind of got a special project going and it's closed everything else down."

"Yeah, right. You guys all coddle the offense," Eddie Ray piped up.

"No, no, the plan is for equal time -- but we got sidetracked," Hank insisted, "and we couldn't just ring you in on something like this..."

Vince scowled. "Like what?"

Hank glanced around conspiratorially and waved Vince and Eddie Ray over. Vince glared around, making it clear that no one else was invited. "We got our hands on this dude that beats up on his wife and kids and we're trying to teach him a lesson. But you know how it is -- nobody really wants to get deep into that kind of thing."

"So, what? Dickhead needs an ass-whipping. What's so hard?" Vince asked.

"We can't just kick the shit out of him," Toby related. "Eventually, we've got to turn him loose -- and we can't have him looking like a punching bag -- or at least, not any worse than he already is. We need something that doesn't leave a lot of marks, but gets deep in his head."

"Some kind of 'Deliverance' scene, maybe," Hank opined.

"Fuck him? Make him squeal like a pig?" Eddie Ray's eyes shone.

"Yeah, something like that..." Hank made it seem that the idea was a new one. "Who's gonna do that, though? It might reflect..."

"Not if it's for the purpose of makin' a point," Vince opined. "Fuckin' somebody or stickin' your dick down his throat don't make you queer -- it's takin' it."

Toby rubbed his face. "So teaching the guy a lesson isn't, like, gay?"

Vince grunted and shook his head. "It's about why. If it's fucking for fun, that's one thing..."

"Well, still, it doesn't mean we've got anyone available," Toby sighed.

"Well, hey -- you busy tonight, Eddie Ray?" Vince asked his partner in crime.

"Nope. Too bad, too, it bein' a Friday night," Eddie Ray returned.

"Why don't you pick us up out in the parking lot at, say, seven-thirty, and we'll throw a party with this fucker as the guest of honor?" Vince offered.

"Are you sure?" Hank asked.

"Lookin' forward to it."

"Well all right, then!" Hank glanced around. "This is super hush-hush, guys -- people could go to jail, you know? We've got masks and everything..."

"Okay, cool," Vince agreed. "We don't want to get thrown in jail. It'll be our little secret." He nodded at Eddie Ray and they moved off. Hank and Toby could hear Eddie Ray whining, "Hey, what's this about if you're on top you're not..." Hank ducked his head and grinned.

"Well, there's a night's entertainment..."

Louise and Beth arrived from work at three-thirty and Candace briefed them. It was decided that they would handle Marta first...

"I hear you have questions," Louise took the lead.

"What are you doing to Fernando?"

"Teaching him not to beat up on women and children," Louise replied.

"How?"

"We're breaking down his ego," Louise replied. "We're doing things designed to belittle and humiliate him -- make him feel small, inadequate."

"That was perhaps Fernando's original problem," Marta pointed out.

"Well, he's overcompensating. It's past time that he dealt with the consequences," Louise replied. "You and your son and daughter have to be safe from him. If we have to, we can provide an ongoing external threat. You're safer though, if you participate, and he sees you as someone he has to show respect."

"I do not know if I can do that," Marta replied. "The habits... I have always answered to him, not vice-versa."

"You could be placed between him and us as his protector, but gratitude is short-lived," Louise pointed out. "If you rely on us, the system could break down -- we can't guarantee your safety. He could pull some kind of trick..." Louise sighed. "The safest thing would be for you to leave him."

"Divorce is not an option," Marta began.

"But you can choose to live apart," Beth interjected. "What you SHOULD do is turn him over to the police -- but I know you won't do that. Unfortunately, he does, too."

Louise sighed. "All we can do is make the price too terrible to contemplate -- and that might not last. But it is what we're doing."

"We may need more time," Candace pointed out.

"If you do, I can provide it in the way you suggested," Marta replied, "but I would rather not."

Candace shrugged. "It's your life. And Maddie's. And Pietro's."

"I would like to go home soon," Marta said quietly.

"You really can't until we're ready to turn him loose," Louise pointed out. "If we have to go beyond the weekend..."

"Ah. I understand."

"I would rather that you didn't think of yourself as a prisoner, but we need for you to stay out of sight and away from your house. The best place to do all of that is here. We will do all we can to make you comfortable here," Louise promised.

"I am fine," Marta replied. "Television would be nice."

You can come out and use the one in the living room just about any time," Candace told her, "but we've been using it to keep an eye on him occasionally. I can turn that off -- we don't let Pietro or Maddie see it."

"Thank you," Marta said quietly.

"Anything else?" Louise asked.

"I would like to hear about specifics..."

Louise bit her cheek. "Spankings. Some intervention in bathroom functions..."

"What?"

"Enemas."

"Ah."

"Some sexual abuse. We want him to knuckle under -- and for him to see women getting even with him for wrongs done them. We're trying to break him down. We could show you, if you like..."

Marta shuddered. "No, thank you."

"Then we probably shouldn't describe much more."

"All right." Marta threw back the covers. "I would like to go to the TV room, if I may."

"Certainly." Louise led her out. When she was settled, Beth headed out and Candace and Louise discussed feeding Fernando. "Oatmeal or something -- and water. That's it. It shouldn't be fun to eat," Louise recommended.

"I'll take care of it -- but I'll need help delivering it. We need a plan," Candace advised.

"I'll come up with something."

Eventually, the narrow black woman and the narrow white woman brought Fernando food; they put a spreader bar between his ankles and cuffed his hands before him and ran a chain from a collar around his neck to the ceiling -- and watched him eat. Fernando was too busy eating to let it bother him too much. It was some pretty sticky oatmeal and not enough water -- but he didn't let such considerations stop him. He cleaned the bowl -- but he knew better than to bother to ask for more. When he was done, they stood him up and bound his wrists together behind him and hooked them to the chain, leaving him bent and stressed.

There seemed to be a dozen people involved in making certain he was miserable -- and they were doing a very good job of it!

Toby collected Bobby at about the same time. Bobby felt bad -- he knew that he was getting an excess of attention. "You sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"You'll be doing me a favor," Toby replied. "This one likes her sex; this way we don't have to chase down somebody else to make her happy."

"Well, okay."

They got stopped at the house, however; Louise waved Toby down and reminded him what was going on downstairs. "The other side of that curtain isn't private enough. If Fernando makes some noise..."

"Yeah." Toby thought about it. "I'll take them to our house. Is Ma here?"

"She just left."

"Okay, I'll call her."

Tabitha was already downstairs, masked and naked. Toby had to get her into clothing and talk to his mother -- leaving Bobby to be restive in his car. Then there was trying to ensure that Tabitha didn't screw up the situation... When Toby showed up with Tabitha, Bobby said, "Man, this is a lot of trouble, apparently. Why don't we hold off?"

"Hey!" Tabitha complained.

"Oh -- sorry!" Bobby apologized. "It just seems like this whole thing is a lot of trouble!"

"It'll be fine," Toby assured him. Tabitha was disgruntled, but she got into the back seat and tugged on Bobby from behind.

"In the car?" Bobby complained.

"No, my house. But you might as well get to know one another," Toby replied.

"Um, yeah, okay." Bobby got out and got in the back. Tabitha went for his fly immediately -- and would NOT take no for an answer! Bobby surrendered -- even to the point of dropping his jeans to his ankles -- and Tabitha started making love to his erection with her mouth.

When Bobby complained, Toby told him, "Since she's wearing a mask, she has to keep her head down -- so she might as well play a little..." Tabitha had meanwhile taken one of Bobby's hands and placed it on a bare breast under her blouse. That made it really hard to whine about things, all told; Bobby settled back to enjoy Tabitha's somewhat aggressive attentions.

Given that Tabitha knew what she was doing and had almost fifteen minutes to do it, Bobby found himself spraying a fountain of semen into her mouth in relatively short order. After that, Tabitha seemed content to lay with her head in his lap, lipping his erection and making soft sounds of pleasure while he fondled her breasts.

Beth was out of sight -- she'd gone to bed so she could do the third shift at the clubhouse -- but she knew what was going on. Toby brought them into the house and led them to his room, then went to watch TV while they got it on.

From his mental vantage point on Tabitha, the next half-hour or so was highly satisfactory -- but then Tabitha seemed to enjoy sex with just about anyone. When the pair of them came out, both seemed to be in good moods. Toby took Tabitha back to Carpenter's so she could get rid of the mask and then pointed the car in the direction of Bobby's place. "Well?" he asked, finally.

Bobby grinned. "If you were trying to prove to me that black girls don't know how to fuck, you screwed up! She was pretty damned good!"

"I was trying to show you that your first wasn't necessarily anything special," Toby replied. "So, about the upholstery..."

"She's a little overstuffed below and lacking above -- but it would be pretty easy to overlook," Bobby replied, then he cocked his head. "Tabitha Hart, right?"

Toby sighed. "Yeah. How did she screw up?"

"She didn't -- I think it was the ears." Bobby settled back in his seat. "She's a little slow -- except when she's fucking. She's pretty good at that. I couldn't really complain about the other girl, either, but..."

"Well, I've got another black girl that's so close physically you might not be able to tell the difference," Toby told him, "but maybe I'll wait and see if I can turn up something close in another color."

"I'm loving the sex, but it's not worth all this," Bobby told him. "Either we'll get together or we won't -- stop killing yourself over it."

"Okay," Toby sighed. "See you Monday." He let Bobby off and headed back to Carpenter's.

People had generally cleared out, which was probably a good thing. Hank was there, sitting on the couch with Maddie - and her mother -- watching TV. Louise was in the kitchen with Candace, who was grumbling about having to wear a mask all the time. Lon and Sally had apparently gone out in order to avoid similar issues. Toby caught up with the goings-on downstairs and filled in some of the blanks Hank left when he told Candace that Vince and Eddie Ray were coming. "So he's going to get worked over again," Candace chuckled. "For the record, I think he's about toasted."

"Good, maybe we won't have to mess with him much longer," Toby grunted.

"Yeah, that would be nice," Candace agreed. She eyed Louise. "Where are your boys?"

"Frankly, I don't know. Damian is most likely home or at Alyssa's; Terence is probably home," Louise replied.

"He might not be," Toby interjected. "I think I saw him with Clint and Bonita and Brenda. They were headed out somewhere, from the look of things..."

"Well it won't hurt him to be well away from this," Louise opined. "And it's good that he's kind of settling in with his friends."

Toby wondered if she had any idea how far that 'settling in' might go...

It had all happened about noon -- Terence and Clint were up in the bleachers munching sandwiches when Bonita appeared. When asked where Brenda was, she said, "Showering and changing. She's done for the day."

"Wish I was," Clint grumbled.

"Soon, maybe," Terence muttered. "Don't get too close, Nita -- I stink right now."

"It's man stink," Bonita smiled. She settled next to him. In a few minutes, Brenda came out and climbed the seats. "Hey."

"Hey," the other three intoned.

"What is this, a choir or something?" Brenda grinned.

"We're tired -- only usin' one brain between us," Terence jibed, "Bonita's."

"Hey!" Bonita whacked Terence on his shoulder pads, "Ouch!"

"See?" Terence grinned. Clint and Brenda burst out laughing.

"Well, I'm done. Now I get to go home and sweat," Brenda grumbled. "Monday, we go back at it and Wednesday school starts. You'd think they would wait until after Labor Day..."

"They plan for snow days," Clint told her. "You get to pay in advance for those mid-winter holidays..."

"Shoveling snow is a holiday?" Brenda snorted. "No thanks!"

"We'll be done in a while," Terence said. "Why don't you sweat here while we finish and we'll get cleaned up then maybe we can go find somewhere air-conditioned."

"It's an idea," Brenda replied. "But I'll probably need another shower by the time you guys are ready -- and I don't have any more outfits with me!"

Terence shrugged. "So go hang out in the showers! What's the worst that could happen? Somebody might offer to lick you?"

"Hey!" both girls erupted. Terence laughed and hopped down a couple of rows of seats to escape. Clint, grinning, went with him. Once out of reach, Terence got serious.

"I was serious about goin' out. We could eat somewhere -- maybe hit a movie. Why don't you two see what's on? Nita, you better call your mama and get permission -- but you can say we're doubling, right?" Terence's glance shuttled between Clint and Brenda.

"Yeah, you could say that," Clint allowed.

"Yeah," Brenda nodded.

"Okay, cool. Let us know what's on when we get back," Terence told them. He and Clint turned away and headed off down the bleachers. "Hey, I didn't put you on the spot or anything, did I?"

"Nah. Brenda's all right," Clint grinned. They headed out to the field to check on Coach's plans for the afternoon.

They took a while. Martin let everyone go a little before three, which meant it was three-thirty before the guys were out of the showers -- but the girls were waiting, anyway. Everyone piled into Terence's car and headed for the mall.

While they could have seen a show that started in the four to five timeframe, they went to the mall arcade instead, opting to wait until after six. Clint was deadly at shooting games and Terence at joystick-type games -- and the girls were hilarious on the game where you mimic whatever pattern of dance steps the machine came up with. Bonita ran out of energy early so Clint moved into the competition and did quite well.

Finally, it was movie time. Everything went well until it came time to take seats -- then confusion set in. Should the girls sit together? Should the guys? Eventually, they settled on boy - girl - boy - girl with Terence between Bonita and Brenda and Clint on Brenda's right. It worked -- sort of. The girls tended to lean across Terence to whisper -- which let Terence and Clint take the high road, talking and gesturing and making faces above them. Finally, Terence slid a hand under Bonita's blouse and hissed, "Hey!"

"Ooo!" Bonita yelped, then giggled. "What?"

"Keep it down! I thought we were here for the movie!"

"Then why is your hand in there?"

"It got your attention, didn't it?"

"What's going on?" Brenda hissed.

"Terence says we're too loud..." Bonita whispered -- then Terence tickled her, producing another snorting giggle.

"What are you doing?" Brenda asked Terence. Terence looked at Clint and waved his arm, out of Brenda's sight.

Clint got it. He snaked a hand under Brenda's blouse. Brenda snapped around, wide-eyed -- and Clint's hand slid over the spiky tip of a breast. Clint made to remove it, but Brenda clamped her arm down, pinning his against her. "What's this?"

"I was just going to tickle you," Clint said defensively. "You two are making a racket and disturbing people."

"Oh." Brenda let up on Clint's arm -- but clapped a hand over his, pinning it to her breast. "Okay." She shifted back into her seat -- and released Clint's hand -- but not without a significant look. Clint got it -- the hand was welcome. He shifted it down to her ribs but left it under the blouse. Brenda shifted closer to him in her seat, so Clint shifted hands and draped an arm over her shoulder -- and his hand over her left breast. Brenda, now very close, turned to him and whispered, "I'm gonna give you forty-five minutes to stop that."

Clint grinned; her expression was tough to make out, but he felt pretty safe, from the sound of her voice. She settled against him and rubbed his forearm.

Bonita leaned up to get Brenda's attention, but she wasn't looking. "Terence, get Brenda."

"No."

"Why not?"

"She's busy."

"What?" Bonita leaned up and took in the other couple's positions. "Oh." She looked up at Terence. "You can do that."

"You're tellin' me something I don't know?"

Bonita giggled softly. "No, mi amor." She settled against him, took his hand, and guided it to her breast. Things were quiet for the rest of the movie.

When the movie was over, Bonita held Terence's hand on the way out -- Brenda and Clint didn't do anything that demonstrative. But when they were in the hallway, Clint stopped Brenda. "I was surprised you let me get away with that."

Brenda eyed him for a moment. "Look, I won't chase you like Brenda does Terence -- I don't think you would like it and I'm not sure I could do it, anyway. But I won't run, either. We seem to get along okay -- so if it feels good, do it. If I don't like something, I'll let you know. Besides, aren't you in the group? You don't even have to ask!"

Clint grimaced. "Let's say I DO have to ask, okay? I'm not comfortable with the whole ownership thing. I can't figure out how it would lead to a relationship."

Brenda nodded, her expression serious. "Okay, you have to ask. But I don't have to say no just for show, so I probably won't. You're about the third boy to ever lay hands on me -- and you're the first to give a shit how I felt about it. Well, I like it, okay? I like YOU! I like the feelings you give me. I enjoyed what you did back there -- and I hope you'll do it again sometime!"

"Uh, okay..." Clint was at a loss for words.

"I hope I didn't scare you," Brenda said humbly. "That wasn't the point. We're -- I dunno -- doing okay. Easy, even. Both of us have issues, but they don't seem to involve each other, you know? Let's just go with it."

"Okay." Clint nodded. "I agree with you. You don't set off my bitch alarm. I don't know what I do or don't do for you, but that's big with me. So, okay -- let's go." He nodded at where Terence and Bonita had stopped down the hall to look back at them.

Brenda nodded and headed for the pair, and Clint followed. "Everything okay?" Terence asked when they caught up.

"Yeah, fine," Clint answered, putting a hand on Brenda's hip as he stepped up beside her. "Time to eat, I think."

"Yeah." Terence nodded. "Food court?"

"Uuh, no." Suddenly, it was way too public for what Clint felt like doing. "Somewhere with booths."

"Okay..." From Terence's point of view, the date was starting to get expensive -- but if Clint wanted a booth... "Where?"

It turned out that the mall had this combination family restaurant and ice cream place with reasonable prices. They settled into a back booth and the girls hopped up to go to the Ladies' Room. Terence eyed Clint. "Why here?"

"Brenda and I are, I dunno, trying to get comfortable with one another. We wouldn't have gotten any further in the food court." Clint cocked his head. "I'll pay."

"Nah, it's okay."

"Look, I asked for it -- and it's your gas, man."

"Okay, cool." Terence sat back. "You looked pretty tight in the movie."

"Yeah." Clint nodded. "We went back and forth a couple of times and I accidentally ended up with a nipple -- and Brenda said she was cool with it. But we haven't really negotiated things, you know?"

"Is she bothering you?"

"No. That's the cool thing. Nobody's pushing and nobody's pulling, but we're ending up there, anyway."

"Sounds cool."

In the Ladies', Bonita was asking her own questions. "So, was Clint feeling you up in the movie?"

"Well, it was sort of accidental. He was going to tickle me or something but I moved. Once it was done, though, I let it ride."

"Why?"

"You know why," Brenda shot back. "I like my nipples played with. I like Clint. So..."

"So what were you guys talking about?"

"He was worried that I might not like it but let him anyway. He's so skittish -- I have to be careful."

"I'm surprised you let him."

"Why?" Brenda cocked her head. "You let Terence have anything he wants."

"I didn't think..."

"What?" Brenda frowned. "I won't chase him like you do Terence -- but I like him. If he decides that he likes me..." She shrugged, glancing around. "I already know that I like how he fucks."

"Um, you know he likes guys, right? Or Terence, at least," Bonita said carefully.

"He doesn't act gay around me."

"Well, he's not sure -- and you're the reason why," Bonita related, "I guess he's had girls, but they all wanted something."

"I want something, too," Brenda muttered. "What have he and Terence done?"

"They've both been in the booths -- for each other. They both know it now, I think -- Terence said something. At the time, whoever was outside didn't know..."

"So how are you dealing with this?"

Bonita shrugged. "We do each other. Terence likes both, he thinks -- but he doesn't have a lot of experience with guys. Clint doesn't know. He doesn't trust girls because his mother treats him bad -- he calls her 'The Bitch.' She leads guys on to get money from them and then dumps them. He was all set to be gay -- that's why he's skittish."

"So, what are you saying?"

"Does the Terence thing bother you?" Bonita asked.

Brenda shrugged. "Like you said -- we do it."

Bonita nodded. "I think you're doing the right thing. If you chase him, he'll run -- and this is the one race you can't catch him in. Let him make the moves."

"I plan to -- but I already told him that."

"That's probably good," Bonita told her. "As long as you're honest and don't press, he'll probably be fine."

"That's the plan." They headed out.

The waitress returned soon after the girls, took their orders, and left. Clint sat back in the booth, looking around warily. Terence and Bonita were whispering to each other, apparently in their own little world. Clint leaned over to Brenda and whispered, "What are we doing?"

"Having a good time, I hope. Waiting for dinner," Brenda replied.

"I mean in general," Clint asked, eyeing the other pair. "How far are we going?"

Brenda shrugged. "Until one of us quits, I guess."

"And when that happens?"

"I'm hoping it won't be a problem. You still like Terence, and I still like Bonita. If we get all mad at one another, it'll mess up our other friendships. I kind of like this foursome thing."

"Should we just be friends?" Clint asked.

"It's an option, but I'm willing to go farther than that if you are."

"Most times, people don't want to be just friends after they've gone farther," Clint pointed out.

"If neither of us does anything stupid then we won't have to go back," Brenda said, "And even if we do decide we shouldn't go that far, it'll be okay if we just don't do anything unforgivable."

"What if I...?" Clint began, then paused.

"Decide it isn't working out?" Brenda finished for him. "I'll try to act like a grown-up. What about you? What if I decide it isn't happening?"

"I'll be okay..." Clint whispered back.

"Okay, then." Brenda managed to look smug. Clint rubbed his face; her asking him what he would do put the shoe on the other foot for him and reminded him that she wasn't chasing him around and looking for anything from him -- or at least, she wasn't looking for the usual things. Actually, when he thought about it, she was GETTING the usual things -- like being seen out with him -- but the difference was attitude. She wasn't angling for it -- it just was. No doubt she was pleased about it -- but she wasn't taking advantage of it by being loud or making herself highly visible or wheedling him for things. They were just together; Clint was instinctively certain that if the two of them were somewhere totally private, Brenda wouldn't act any different -- or if she did, she would probably be more approachable instead of less. He slid a hand along her ribs under her blouse; she slid a hand under his shirt and rubbed his side. Brenda was tall and narrow, but there was tough muscle over her bones -- and Clint liked that. In some ways, she and Terence had things in common -- hard-muscled frames, a simple, easygoing attitude... Black was there, too, but they didn't seem to be normal for black -- the attitude was different. Clint relaxed -- and stayed that way while they ate and talked and had a good time.

It was Bonita who pushed things, wanting more from Terence. "Can we go somewhere quiet, mi amor, before you must take me home? I want to feel your arms around me -- I want you to love me."

Terence grimaced. "Nowhere to go. The clubhouse is tied up with that shit that's going down. Your place is out. Pa is probably home at mine -- and even if he isn't, he could COME home."

Clint wrinkled his nose. "The Bitch is probably out -- but my house is a pig sty; she doesn't clean and I've been at practice all week. Brenda?"

Brenda looked at the floor. "My folks are probably home, too -- and while they would probably be thrilled if I brought a guy home, they wouldn't be thrilled to watch us making out."

Terence pursed his lips. "I'll call home."

"Me, too," Clint offered.

Terence called Damian. "I'm goin' to Rain Man's to get Alyssa, then to the clubhouse. Mama's there until eleven and they're hooking up some kind of show for that fucker in the basement, then I'm gonna drop a load in Alyssa and one in Candace and go to sleep with one of Candace's tits in one hand and one of Alyssa's in the other!"

Terence chuckled. "That's a plan. Where's Pa?"

"Out. Drinking, I think."

"I might bring Bonita home."

"Use our room. I'll be gone."

"Thanks, Bro." Terence hung up. "I guess we can use my place. Damian and Mama are out until eleven at least, and Pa is out drinking."

"What would your Pa do?" Clint asked.

"Complain because he ain't getting any."

Clint nodded. "The Bitch is out -- but my place is nasty. I really don't want to leave that kind of impression, you know?"

"My place, then," Terence sighed. "We should be okay -- there ain't nobody who would have a fit if they found us there." He got up and waved. "Let's go."