Story: The Adjusters #8

8 - The New American Deal Association Bash

"You ready for the party tonight?" asked Jenn, relaxing on the couch
with a book and a mug of tea, freshly showered and her long dark hair
still wet, having just returned from an early Saturday afternoon
workout session.

"No, but I doubt that'll change anything. Partying with the New
American Deal Association." Daniel shook his head. "My advisor may
just kick me out of the program and take my degree away."

"You haven't got your degree yet."

"I know. That makes it even worse."

He looked out the window, waiting. He had no idea what the evening
would bring, and the uncertainty was making him nervous. Serena had
managed to trick him into attending a party of what was essentially a
neo-Nazi organization on the basis of information she had received
that the elusive Marjorie would be making an appearance. How or why
was unknown, but Serena did not want to miss a single chance of
finding her friend. Daniel was glad she could not go herself -- being
a black girl would have seriously put her in danger. He knew exactly
what kind of folks gravitated to NADA, the New American Deal
Association. He really did not want to go himself, but Serena had
convinced Radhu to go, and Daniel had serious misgivings about Radhu
going there alone. Not only was he Indian, but he was
different. People often reacted strangely to his behavior. Daniel had
reluctantly offered to go in his place, but Radhu had been elated to
be able to help Serena, and was taking his assigned duty seriously. So
Daniel was accompanying his friend to keep him out of trouble. But he
felt no compulsion to have to like it.

"It'll be fine," said Jenn. "Don't worry."

Daniel grunted. "Why should I worry? NADA -- they're idiots, and
dangerous idiots at that. If Marjorie wants to hang out with them,
that's her business. She's a grown-up, isn't she? I mean, she's
half-Asian, right? And we know what NADA thinks of Asians, never mind
the mixed race ancestry."

"We don't know what's going on. Serena couldn't find out anything else
about the party besides the fact that Marjorie would be there. We
don't even know if she's going to be there willingly. And at the first
sign of trouble, you all take off, we agreed."

Daniel muttered under his breath that it was all good and well as long
as they actually had time to take off at the first sign of
trouble. Then he sighed and turned to Jenn. "By the way, next
Saturday, I'm taking you out. Dinner. Nice place. It'll be a
surprise."

"Sure. I'm always up for nice dinners. What's the occasion?"

"Talking about our future. It'll be three weeks next weekend."

"Oh." Jenn grew quiet, serious. "I see. Okay. Next Saturday. Sounds
good. Tell me when and where?"

"I will."

There was a pause. "I want you to know, I really want to ask you what
your thoughts are about next year, but I know that I said that I
wanted to wait..." She let the unspoken implicature hanging in the
air, the one that told him that if he wanted to talk now, it would be
fine with her.

"It's all right, waiting for Saturday is probably a good idea
anyways. Gives me a chance to make sure everything is perfect."

The door bell rang before she could question him further.

Radhu and Serena were at the door, and ushered themselves in.

"I wish I could go with you tonight," Serena said before even saying
hello.

"And I wish you'd quit asking. No way. You're not going. I'm not going
to have your death on my conscience, young lady."

Serena turned to Jenn. "He's kindda cute when he gets all parental,
isn't he?"

"Sorry about that." Daniel amended. "But I really think it's a bad
idea. Even Radhu going's a bad idea, frankly. It's all a bad idea."

"So are you going to restrain me here?" Radhu replied. "Put me, like
Serena, under the watchful eye of Jennifer the Enforcer?" There was a
subtle hint of challenge in his voice. Daniel sighed in defeat.

"I just want you to know that Serena is here so we can spend some
quality girl time together tonight while you boys are out playing."

"Anything good on the menu?" asked Daniel.

"We haven't decided yet," said Jenn.

"Perhaps we should call up some friends, make it a party of our own,"
added Serena. "What's that girl's name, Tannaka, or something? She's
fun, and she's definitely cute." Jenn reddened slightly, and Daniel
wondered how much she had revealed to their friend.

"Okay," Daniel turned to Radhu, "let's go before I am reminded just
how utterly stupid we are to be going. Bye, girls."

"If you see Marjorie, don't let her out of your sight, and try to get
her to come with you. And call me if anything happens, okay? Anything
at all."

"Do not worry, Serena," replied Radhu. "We shall keep you informed
should anything pertinent arise."

Leaving the two girls to their evening together, Daniel and Radhu
walked to their destination, a large house off of College Drive, home
of NADA. They stopped along the way to purchase a case of beer, the
informal price of admission to such events. During the walk, Daniel
explained to Radhu what he knew of the history and background of the
association. It had been formed fifteen years earlier as a splinter
group of the local ultra-conservative association, and had managed to
attract the extreme conservative intellectuals of the University. It
also appealed to the more plebeian elements who saw the increase of
immigration and desegregation in America as heralds of Armageddon, and
were very vocal about it. NADA had organized several manifestations on
campus, and had found itself in trouble with the law on more than one
occasion.

The NADA house, which turned out to be one block from the apartment
building where Lake the drug dealer lived, was easy to find. It
greeted them with the unmistakable sounds of partying. Several houses
on the street were leaking a similar kind of invitation, some having
seen their party breaking out into their front yard. A typical weekend
night in the Ghetto.

Walking up the front steps of the NADA house, Daniel and Radhu were
stopped by a mountain of a man sitting on a stool by the door. His
arms were three times the diameter of Daniel's head, and he looked
like he had swallowed a barrel whole. He wore a tight-fitting black
shirt with "Don't Worry, Be Happy" stenciled in yellow.

"And where do you think you're going?" he asked, holding up a hand
large enough to swat a rhinoceros.

Daniel lifted the case of beer. "We're here for the party, my man, and
we come bearing gifts."

"Give me one good reason why I should let you inside." He looked
directly at Radhu, his face unreadable. Radhu remained impassible.

"Because I've got a standing invite from Steve, a fellow student in my
department, and I believe one of your directors or something?"

The bouncer looked ready to retort with something caustic but was
preempted by a figure behind him at the door.

"Well, well, well... I'll be fucked! Daniel Malcolm! What are you
doing here?"

"Speaking of the devil..." Daniel's smile was uneasy. "Hey Steve. You
told me last year that I should drop by one of these days. Didn't feel
like sitting home alone tonight, and figured it was high time I took
you up on your offer to drop by. Do you mind?"

"Not at all. Come in, join the fun. You're probably the last person I
expected to show up, but hey -- the more the merrier. Speaking of
which..." He turned to Radhu, as if he had only then noticed him. "You
brought company. Nice. Steve Bissonette." He extended a hand. Radhu
shook it.

"Radhu Krishnamurthy. Pleasure."

"Indeed, indeed. Well, any friend of Daniel here is a friend of
mine. Come in, enjoy yourselves. And I hope you will be able to join
some of our games later. Good clean fun."

He nodded at the scowling bouncer and turned to reenter the house, but
not before flashing a somewhat calculating look in Radhu's direction,
a look that worried the hyper-sensitive Daniel. Nonetheless, he
followed Steve inside, Radhu in tow.

The NADA house was in full-on party mode. The crowd consisted mostly
of students from the university, as opposed to locals that NADA had
recruited over the years. People were clustered into small groups,
spread across the many rooms of the first floor of the house. The
upper floors, Daniel guessed, housed the offices of the association,
along with possibly bedrooms for the officers that elected to live in
the house proper. Most people were holding and drinking beers, a few
something stronger. Daniel found his way to the kitchen, and unloaded
his case of beer next to the available supply, exchanging greetings
with a group of kids that had posted themselves at a strategic point
near the alcohol stash.

Radhu had followed Daniel, all the while looking around with the
conspicuous air of a detective on the hunt for his quarry. He was
drawing attention, much of it still subdued, but bound to become more
blatant as people grew more inebriated. Daniel could not help but
notice that everyone was white, and the majority were male. The
partying girls were clearly dates, hanging on the arm of the boy they
came with. Daniel doubted any of them were actually in the
association.

Radhu seemed oblivious to the attention. He was busy examining
carefully every girl they encountered, both the dates and the catering
staff. The latter ones were walking around carrying small trays loaded
either with appetizers or with drinks, and were clearly meant to lend
a hint of class to the party. They were all beautiful, and were
dressed to emphasize their beauty. They wore uniforms reminiscent of
those Halloween versions of the typical cocktail waitress uniform, a
white shirt and painfully short black pleated skirt with black nylons
and very high heels. They were all thin and curvy, and flirted freely,
smiling at everyone, thrusting their chests out, swaying noticeably
when they walked. All of them, Daniel noted with interest, sported a
silver charms bracelet on their wrist similar to the one that Marjorie
had dropped behind the strip club.

Radhu was not in the least distracted by these beauties, despite their
flirty smiles and come-hither wiggles of the hips. He was looking at
them intently, certainly, but looking at their faces. He was searching
for Marjorie, and seemed exceedingly serious about it.

Daniel struck a few conversations to try to get a feel for the party
mood, and try to feel less alienated. He shied away from topics he
knew would lead to violent arguments, focusing instead on the
eternally neutral subjects of sports, girls, and -- oddly enough --
German philosophy. Radhu, meanwhile, finished his circuit of the rooms
and, having picked up a drink, was sipping it quietly in the arch of a
hallway, keeping an eye on every girl that passed by.

A cocktail waitress approached Daniel to offer him a new beer in
exchange for his empty one. She was a thin redhead with short pixie
hair, mischievous green eyes, and a perfect smile. And she had the
body to die for of all the girls working the party.

"Sorry to bother you with this," he asked her as she handed him his
beer, "but you girls are not part of the association, are you?"

"The group having the party? Oh no, not at all. They hired us for the
night, for catering and entertainment. My name's Kyra." Her voice was
crystalline and happy, sounding like she was about to burst out
laughing at any moment. She leaned towards Daniel when she spoke and
he could hardly help but be aware of her proximity. Her left breast
brushed against his arm.

"Huh, nice to meet you. I'm Daniel."

"Hi Daniel. How about you, are you in this association?"

"No, no. I'm just passing by. Partying, you know, having a good time."

She flashed a large smile. "I know exactly what you mean. If I wasn't
here to work, I'd be partying my little ass off. And I might even be
hitting on you, too." She gave him an unmistakeable glance, still
smiling.

He smiled back, somewhat apologetically. "I doubt my girlfriend would
appreciate that, though."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, if she was cute, perhaps I'd hit on
her as well. Maybe we could have had a party, the three of us."

Before Daniel could respond, an elated shout erupted from the other
end of the room. "Dan? Oh! My! God! Too much!"

A blonde streak jumped in front of him and swallowed him in a
hug. Cindy. Of course. She hugged him and gave him a big kiss on the
cheek, although she did seem to hesitate and almost kiss him on the
lips.

She was dressed as a cocktail waitress just like Kyra was, but she
filled her uniform like Kyra could not, even though she was shorter
than the pixie-haired redhead. Cindy had pulled her blonde hair into a
ponytail that exposed her neck, and her shirt was stretched over her
chest in a way that drew the eye to her breasts like little else
could. And her skirt -- shorter than Kyra's, with a touch of a flare,
reaching just below her crotch, and exposing her delicious legs, which
Daniel had of course seen before, but never sheathed in sheer
nylon. And she stood perched on impossibly tall stiletto heels, giving
her an additional four inches and bridging half the height gap that
usually separated them. Daniel made a concerted effort not to
stare. The visual was a bit much for him. The analytical part of his
mind wondered where this rush of libido came from, lately. It couldn't
be just from this silly game that he and Jenn had played, could it?

Cindy had kept on talking throughout Daniel's examination.

"What are you doing here?" she was saying. "I thought you didn't go
for this NADA stuff? Hurt your democratic sensibilities or something."

"Just dropping by to see some friends. I was looking for someone,
thought they might be here tonight."

Kyra was looking at Cindy appreciatively. "She your girlfriend?"

Cindy laughed, shaking her head. "I wish! No, sadly, this stud Dan
here is taken. In fact, is Jenn here tonight?". She looked around the
room.

"No," replied Daniel, "she decided to stay home."

Cindy's eyes flashed. "So I got you all to myself tonight, then?
Amazing. This night keeps getting better and better. Perhaps I can
finally convince you that blondes do indeed have more fun." And she
put her hand on a cocked hip when she said that, drawing his eye to
her waist, her hips, and of course, her legs. Cindy exuded sexiness
that night, and several guys around them whistled at her. This was way
beyond her usual teasing, thought Daniel.

"Huh, we'll see," he replied, ever diplomatic. "Why are you here,
Cin?"

"Oh, the frat sent me and the other girls to cater and entertain. The
pay's pretty good, too."

"The frat?"

"You know, Delta Iota Kappa. They often help out with parties."

Daniel's eyes stole to the silver charms bracelet that Cindy wore
around her left wrist, whose charms he knew spelled out the
fraternity's name. Kyra's write sported such a charms bracelet as
well.

Before he could ask Kyra about her bracelet, though, she was called
away by a group of boys clamoring for drinks, and with a nod to Cindy
and a smile and a wink to Daniel she turned and walked away. Daniel
admired the way her body swayed as she balanced herself expertly on
her heels.

"She's cute, isn't she?"

Daniel could not deny it, and did not. Instead, he asked, "Cin, what
are you doing here, really?"

"I told you, just helping out, making a bit of pocket money, and
having a little bit of fun." She looked around then leaned in
close. Daniel felt the heat of her body, the press of her breasts
against him, and he knew Cindy was not trying to avoid contact, quite
the contrary. She whispered conspiratorially:

"In fact, keep your eyes peeled. There's going to be a little special
treat for everyone later, and you'll want to be quick and pick me up."

"What are you talking about?"

"Can't tell you yet. Just remember: come and find me."

Pulling back from him, she gave him a big dramatic wink, kicked her
hip up a little bit, a move that send her short skirt flying, then she
giggled and practically skipped away from him, her ponytail bouncing
with ever step. Daniel's imagination supplied the visual of Cindy on
her knees, leaning forward, her diminutive skirt flipped over her
back, presenting and offering him her ass. Fuck, he thought, what's
wrong with me?

He shook his head, took a deep breath, and remembered that he was here
to make sure that Radhu stayed out of trouble. Daniel looked around,
but did not see him. He started circulating, nodding to the few people
he knew, responding politely to the flirty smiles of the sexy cocktail
waitresses, fighting hard not to imagine Cindy or Kyra stripping out
of their skimpy costume, or even Jenn, his beloved Jenn with her long
legs and slim dancer's body that would be perfect for it.

He was stopped by yet another beautiful cocktail waitress who was
carrying a large cookie jar, and who handed him a pad with an attached
pen.

"Hi there! Please write down your name and drop it in the jar. It's
for the raffle later tonight."

"What's being raffled?"

"Oh, it's a surprise. But it's nice, I can promise you that. You
really want to participate."

Daniel shrugged. As he dropped the folded piece of paper in the jar,
he saw the charms bracelet around her left wrist. He pointed to it.

"That's pretty," he said. "What is it?"

She lifted her arm, hand in the air. "Just a little something I got a
few weeks back. I really find it highlights my skin tone, doesn't it?"

"That it does. But where did you get it? I... huh... I'm looking for a
gift for my girlfriend, and something like that might just do the
trick."

"It's not something you can buy, I'm afraid." She nodded to the jar,
and smiled. "Thanks for participating!"

She moved on to a group of partygoers, repeating her raffle spiel, and
never responding to his question about the bracelet. It matched what
Cindy had told him a week earlier about the girls reluctance to talk
about it. The mystery was vaguely starting to annoy him.

He finally found Radhu in one of the back rooms of the house, still
sipping a drink in a corner, quietly watching everyone like a
hawk. Daniel noted with a nagging worry that people were giving Radhu
a wide berth, as if he were diseased. Radhu acknowledged Daniel's
arrival with a nod.

"So," Daniel said, leaning against the wall next to his friend. "All
good?"

"That depends strongly on your definition of good. Insofar as our
mission is concerned, I have to confess to utter failure. I have not
managed to identify Marjorie Duquesne at this party. We might wish to
entertain the possibility that the information Serena unearthed was
erroneous."

"True. So what do you suggest? I'm tempted to call it a night. To be
honest, this party's starting to give me the creeps."

"I propose we give ourselves another hour or so. It is but early, and
our quarry may not have arrived yet. In the meantime, I would like to
direct your attention to the fact that the serving ladies, all
fourteen of them, all wear a bracelet reminiscent of the one we
hypothesize Marjorie had been wearing."

"I noticed. I tried to talk to a few of the girls about it, but they
all avoided the question."

Before Radhu could give his analysis, everyone in the room started
filing out. Daniel and Radhu exchanged a look, then followed the
throng.

A crowd was gathering in one of the larger living rooms, in which a
small platform had been built, fronted by two tables on which what
looked like olympic bronze medals each with a leather string were laid
out and aligned.

A man that Daniel recognized as one of the officers of NADA jumped up
on the platform and, after surveying the assembly, waved to ask for
silence.

"Friends, welcome to the end-of-year NADA bash, one of our more
cherished traditions. Have no fear, I will not make any long speeches
tonight." Everyone laughed on cue, and Daniel guessed that this was an
old joke. "So let me get to the good stuff. We have a few activities
planned for this evening, activities that I believe you will find
eminently enjoyable. The first one, and the one we are the
most... ahem.. excited about, is this. I hope that you have all
noticed the friendly and dare I say beautiful staff that has been
waiting on us tonight." Applause, whistles, and catcalls erupted, the
speaker joining in the applause.

"Well, you'll love what's next. What you see in front of you on these
tables are fourteen medallions, each inscribed with the name of one of
our charming waitresses. Each of our fourteen beauties has agreed to
obey whomever is wearing the medallion bearing her name. And what I
mean by obey, you bunch of sick perverts, I'm sure you can guess. The
idea is simple -- grab a medallion, slip it around your neck, find the
corresponding girl. The fun is in the chase, right? When you get in
contact with the girl whose medallion you're wearing, you'll
know. Now, we've made plenty of rooms available upstairs on the second
floor, feel free to use them. I will ask you to respect a twenty
minutes limit with each girl. They will enforce it themselves. I will
also ask you to only wear one medallion at a time. Finally, no hiding
medallions -- play nice. To ensure everything goes smoothly, some of
our security folks are here to help. Trust me, you do not want to have
to explain your actions to them." Uneasy general chuckle. "Any
question?"

The cheering was so loud that any question was drowned out. Daniel was
getting worried about the turn the evening was taking. In the back of
his head, he thought about leggy Kyra. And then he remembered what
Cindy had told him earlier, and wondered if this was the treat to
which she had been referring.

"Are there any limits to what we can do with the girls?" asked one
boy, managing to shout over the general clamor.

"Folks, please. Could we have a bit of decorum? Thank you. To answer
your question, the only limit is that you are not to mark the girls in
any permanent way, so no deep bruising, no cutting, no scarring, that
sort of thing. Aside from that, all is fair fame. People, these girls
are here to satisfy your deepest, nastiest, most perverted desires. I
suggest you try them out. Enjoy yourselves. And don't forget,
additional activities are planned throughout the night, including our
raffle at midnight. Which, believe me, you will not want to miss."

There was applause and hooting, all followed by a mad scramble for the
tables. A few fights threatened to break, and Daniel could not shake
the foreboding feeling that the evening would end badly. In his own
way, Radhu agreed:

"This is inherently suboptimal. If they wanted to maximize fairness,
they should have instated a form of lottery, perhaps one that takes
into account personal preferences. Mmmm... That's an interesting
problem. What are the algorithmics at play here?"

Daniel looked at his friend, fascinated by Radhu's ability to absorb
himself in a problem in the midst of any situation. He almost
explained to his friend how having guys fight for possession of those
medallions might in fact be considered a form of foreplay for the NADA
crowd, doubly so if the intent was to gain access to girls, a not
entirely unexpected development from a group that championed a male
racial supremacy. How NADA had managed to convince these girls,
though, was beyond him. He had not perceived any hint of coercion when
chatting with Kyra and Cindy earlier, and Cindy at least had seemed to
know more or less what was going to happen. Then again, Cindy seemed
special, as evidenced by the fact that she talked to him freely about
being a dick girl.

All around Daniel, boys that had managed to snatch medallions were
looking for their partner. Daniel followed one of them, a tall boy
exuding confidence and that had no need of trick medallions to pick up
girls but that nevertheless was wearing one around his neck. He was
whistling as if trying to catch a bird or squirrel's attention. He
caught the eye of every cocktail waitress that passed him by, but none
reacted.

Finally he ran into a tall blonde with a generous chest. When she saw
him, she put her arms around his neck and spoke to him, staring
straight into his eyes. The boy responded. Daniel was too far to hear
the exchange. The girl kissed the boy, gently, the kiss rapidly
turning more aggressive. She pushed herself against him, and he
enlaced her. She leaned into him, wrapping one leg around his. He
responded by running a hand up her raised thigh, lifting the short
skirt to reveal her stocking top, and bringing his hand to roughly
caress her rear. That only seemed to make her hotter, and she started
to slowly hump him, her hips shifting against his crotch. It was a
blatant display of wantonness, repeated around them with other
waitresses and other boys.

Then the tall boy spoke to the blonde girl again, and they both turned
and headed to the staircase that led to the second floor. They had
their arms wrapped around each other's waist, and the boy's hand was
still on the girl's ass, lifting her skirt, giving everyone a perfect
view of the G-string she was wearing. They went up the stairs that
way, the girl nuzzling the man's neck and cheek and ear.

A few other couples headed up the stairs as well, every girl a
cocktail waitress, every girl with a charms bracelet. Daniel's gut
told him that the bracelets were important, but the why eluded
him. What kind of girl would do something like that, give herself up
for whatever sick desire those NADA bastards might have? What about
Cindy? Kyra? What about Marjorie? Where was she? She used to have a
bracelet. He looked around. Radhu was gone. The party had radically
shifted. The lights had been dimmed while Daniel was not paying
attention, and couples were kissing and making out all over the
place. The rest of the folks were drinking and watching, often
commenting rudely.

Daniel pulled out his cellphone, and looked for a quieter spot. He
called home, where Jenn answered.

"Hi lover. How's the party?"

"You know -- bunch of bigoted sexist neo-Nazis. So just peachy. Is
Serena there?"

"Sure. Why didn't you call her cell?"

"Just wanted to hear your voice. Makes me feel better. The place is
creepy. You guys having a good time?"

"We are. We rented a couple of chick flicks, made some popcorn. Very
high school. It's fun. You should know," and here Daniel could tell
Jenn was grinning through the phone, "we're both in our bras and
panties. And you should see the little number Serena has on. It's
practically see-through, and whatever little material there is would
just evaporate if you breathed on it. That girl has a body to make you
drool."

Daniel groaned. "Now you're just messing with me."

"Maybe you should just come back home and find out. I'll get
Serena. Bye!"

Daniel sighed and shook his head. With Jenn in such a teasing playful
mood, no wonder he had sex on the brain all the time.

"Daniel," he heard Serena on the phone. "What's up? Marjorie?"

Daniel told her they had not seen Marjorie yet, and summarized the
evening. Serena was quick to pick up on his unspoken insight.

"So those girls with the bracelets are offering themselves. You think
they're doing it of their own volition?"

"I didn't get the feeling they're being forced into it. You think
they're being threatened in some way?"

"Could be. But it's just one more weird uncharacteristic
behavior. Remember Marjorie at the strip club? She was acting weird
too, not at all forced. Same with these girls you're describing."

"So they're acting weird, but not forced into it. I mean, this ain't
Kittens' Den."

"If you asked Radhu, I'm sure he could give you a slew of conspiracies
that belies what you just said. Okay, can you find out as much as you
can why those girls are so ready and willing to act the way they are,
while looking for Marjorie?"

"While also keeping an eye on Radhu to make sure he doesn't get in
trouble. Sure. All in a day's job."

"Fuck, I wish I was there."

"Down, Miss Reporter. I don't like the vibe of this place right now,
and would hate it way more if you were here. Go and finish your quiet
girlie evening with Jenn."

Serena mumbled something. Daniel was not sure he wanted to know what
it was. "I'll call you later with an update."

He pocketed his cell phone and looked around. Radhu was still nowhere
to be seen. A few boys with medallions around their neck were making
out with cocktail girls, taking the kind of liberties with their
bodies that Daniel found difficult to believe those girls would
tolerate. One girl, for instance, had her white shirt unbuttoned and
spread open, breasts out in the air, evidently not wearing a bra, and
was letting a boy with a medallion suck on one of her nipples, while a
group of boys clustered around them were hurling epithets at her. She
seemed completely oblivious to them, limiting her reactions to moans
in response to the attention given to her chest.

Further down, another cocktail girl was leaning forward against a
wall, bent at the waist, her short skirt flipped over her back, her
legs spread, and a boy -- again with a medallion around his neck --
was fingering her. The girl seemed to be enjoying herself, if the
expression on her face and the movement of her ass against the
invading fingers were any indication. She was also completely
unaffected by the cheering and hooting of the circle of boys that had
formed around them.

As he was nearing the stairs, Daniel saw a figure he recognized up on
the steps. He could not immediately place the man, who was older than
the average partygoer, and just stared at him, trying to remember
where he had seen him before, and why his subconscious kept screaming
that this was important. It was only when the man turned as if sensing
that eyes were on him that Daniel flashed: this was the man who had
pushed Marjorie into the limousine in the alley behind The Spirited
Flesh. The man, either recognizing him or tipped off by Daniel's
reaction, jumped and sprinted up the stairs. Daniel started after him,
but was slowed down by the throng between him and the stairs. When he
reached the bottom of the steps, the man was long gone. Daniel raced
up, intent on finding him.

The second floor of the NADA house consisted of a large hallway
littered with doors and scores of people. Daniel could not see his
quarry. Nor could he see Marjorie.

A couple emerged from one of the rooms, a cocktail waitress and a big
guy, both with a look of having had supremely satisfying sex. The guy,
in particular, looked like he was about to collapse, his face drenched
in a sheen of sweat. Daniel had a momentary feeling of revulsion as he
pictured the big flabby body jiggling about and pounding the sexy
little thing next to him, which was perhaps unfair, but the night had
irritated Daniel's sense of appropriateness and turned it into
snarkiness.

He tried to open some of the doors, ignoring the disapproving looks
from people mulling about in the hallway. What they were doing there,
he did not know; they seemed to be talking and drinking. The first few
doors Daniel tried were locked.

When the knob of the fifth door turned, he peered carefully
inside. The sight stopped him in his tracks. The room beyond was a
small bedroom common to dormitories everywhere, equipped with a
minuscule bed against one wall and a desk on the other, with a few
shelves lining the remaining walls. College-boy posters throned over
everything.

On the bed, Kyra, the pixie-haired redhead he had talked to earlier,
was on her hands and knees between two reed-thin college boys. She was
naked save for her black heels, and she was busy sucking the cock of
the boy in front of her while the boy kneeling behind her was fucking
her with long deep thrusts. The boys had their tee shirts on but were
naked from the waist down. They also had kept their socks.

Daniel wanted to close the door, since neither the man from the stairs
nor Marjorie was in the room, but he hesitated. His eyes were drawn to
Kyra. His initial assessment had been on the nose -- she had a perfect
body, lean and toned and without a single ounce of extra fat
anywhere. She was buffeted between the two boys, pushed forward by the
thrust of one onto the cock of the other. Both cocks sank deep on
every thrust, Kyra seeming to have no problem accepting them. She was
drooling, and a small pool of spit was forming on the bed beneath her
face. She seemed completely oblivious to it, her eyes closed, a moan
of pleasure escaping her throat on particularly hard thrusts from the
man fucking her. The man shoving his cock in Kyra's mouth wore a
medallion about his neck that swung in time with his own thrusts.

Daniel realized in a flash why Kyra intrigued and attracted him so --
she reminded him of Jenn, of course, her toned body, her sleekness and
elegance, her impish smile. And that realization made the scene he was
witnessing that much more troubling. He had but to squint to see Jenn
being taken at both ends on that bed, a vision that enraged and
aroused him at the same time. He shook his head -- he would have to
address this stupid voyeuristic tendency of his before it got him into
even more trouble than it already had.

"Come on, you little cunt, time for some serious fun now." The boy
with the cock in Kyra's mouth, bearer of the medallion, pulled her
head up and got off the bed. The boy behind her started to protest
that he was not finished, but was told to shut up.

"We're not done, you dumbass. We're just trying something different."

He lay on his back on the bed. His cock was sticking straight up,
still shiny from Kyra's attention. He jerked himself off a few times
to keep himself hard, then motioned to Kyra.

"Sit on top of me, you cunt. Facing my feet."

"Of course, sir."

It came out perfectly submissive, a far cry from the teasing and
playful Kyra Daniel had met earlier that evening. Good acting, he
thought.

She climbed on top of the boy, crouched above his cock, and holding it
in her slim hand lined it up against her pussy.

"Not there, you dumb fuck. Put it in your ass."

"Yes, sir."

Without any hesitation, she shifted position slightly. Holding on to
the cock now presumably lined up with her rear opening, slowly, ever
so slowly, she sank down on the hard shaft.

"Fuck, yes! Oh man, that's one tight hole you got there. Oh fuck!
Fuck!"

With relentless effort, Kyra pushed the cock inside her, until at last
it was completely embedded in her ass, and she was sitting on the
boy's hips. The boy seemed ecstatic, all groans and moans.

"Fuck yeah, you cunt! That's good. Now move that pretty ass of yours
up and down. Fuck me like the dirty whore you are."

And Kyra obeyed. Leaning back with her hands on either side of the
boy's body, and with her legs pushing off against the bed, she lifted
herself off his cock, before pushing back down, and again, and
again. The boy countered her thrusts with thrusts of his own, trying
to push even deeper into her.

The other boy, on the side of the bed, was taking in the scene with
trepidation. "Can I go next?"

The boy fucking Kyra's ass snorted. "Why wait? Just get on board and
shove it in that slut cunt of hers. She'll like it, you'll see."

"But..."

"Just think how tight she'll be. Go on. Besides, we're running out of
time here."

The boy hesitated, then climbed between the couple's legs. The first
boy addressed Kyra. "You're going to let him fuck you while I fuck
your ass. And you're gonna make it good for him."

"Yes, sir," was Kyra's only reply.

The second boy put his cock against Kyra's slit, and pushed. "Fuck,
you're right! It's like... it's fucking amazing!"

"Told you. Come on, you cunt, kiss my bro here like he's the most
wonderful lover you've ever had -- I told you, make it good for
him. And move that ass of yours. It's not 'cause he's there that you
can forget about me."

Kyra put her arms around the second boy's neck, holding on to him to
avoid falling back on the boy underneath her, and kissed him, deeply,
almost languorously, pulling her body up to his in a lover's
embrace. The boy kissed her back, roughly, and sank his cock deep
inside her, groaning as he did so. Kyra shifted her hips, pushed back
against him, then shifted again to push back against the cock in her
ass.

The threesome on the bed soon found a rhythm, alternatively fucking
the pixie-haired girl with deep thrust that made her quiver. Daniel
closed his eyes, and silently shut the door. He did not know how to
feel about what he had witnessed. Seeing Kyra letting herself be
abused like that made him wonder how he could have misjudged her so
much.

People in the hallway looked at him when he closed the door and were
ready to tell him off for peeping or cutting in line or something, but
Daniel shot them a dark angry look that appeared to cow them. They
returned to their conversation, and he headed down the hallway trying
the remaining doors, looking for either Marjorie or the man from the
alley. All the doors were locked. He went back to the stairs, back to
the first floor.

He was searching for Radhu when he felt a light tap on his
shoulder. He turned to find Cindy behind him, her typical bright smile
on her face. He immediately saw that her hair was disheveled, her
makeup was just a bit smudged, and her costume had small suspicious
stains on it. He wondered how often she had been taken upstairs.

"Hey Dan! I've been looking for you."

"Really? I've been looking for Radhu myself. And Marjorie. Have you
seen either of them?" He would have asked about the man from the alley
as well, had he had a better description than tall and broad
shouldered with short dark hair, a not very distinguishing portrait.

"Saw Radhu a few hours ago, but haven't seen him since. And I didn't
know Marjorie was supposed to be here. Haven't seen her either." Cindy
looked bashful for a second, then continued. "Huh, Dan?"

"Yeah?" Daniel was scanning the crowd, by now almost inured to the
kissing, groping, and blatant making out going on around him.

"Here." And Cindy tossed something at his head, and he felt a weight
slam against his chest. Looking down, he saw a medallion hanging
there, big and heavy.

"What the hell?" he started, but stopped when he looked up and saw
Cindy. She was staring ahead, not quite at him, but rather through
him. Her face was completely blank, her eyes expressionless. "Cindy,
you all right?"

Her eyes refocussed slowly. and looked at him, a fire behind them. Her
smile grew naughty, one that he had never seen on her face. She took a
step towards him, stood on her toes to be closer to his height, and
looked at him directly in the eyes, her voice low and throaty:

"I'm perfectly fine, sir." She put a lot of emphasis on that last
word. "I am just awaiting instructions."

"Come on, Cin, cut it out. I've got no time for games. I'm worried
about Radhu."

"This is not a game. You are wearing my medallion, and that makes me
your obedient servant. And I can be very obedient. Whatever do you
wish?" Her expressions made what she meant clear.

Daniel shook his head. This was getting crazy. "Why did you put this
thing around my neck?"

"Because I want to be yours. I have had a crush on you for a while
now. But you seem completely infatuated with your girlfriend, and I
can't really compete with her, can I? I'm not as pretty, I'm not as
elegant, I'm not as experienced at satisfying men. I thought by making
myself available to you like this, you might just be a little bit
interested. I mean, I'm happy to do things to you that no one has ever
done before, if you want." Her lips brushed his ear, her voice barely
audible over the noise of the party. "Is there anything that your
cherished Jenn will not do? Does she deep-throat you? Does she
swallow? Does she let you come all over her face, her tits? You can do
all of that to me, and more. Does she let you fuck her ass, Dan? Does
your pretty and elegant Jenn let you ream her ass with your big cock,
Dan? I will, and believe me, my ass hole is tight, tighter than
anything you've ever had around your cock. I'll beg, Dan, if you
want. I'll beg and plead for you to fuck me." Her breath was hot in
his ear. His cock had hardened in his slacks, and Cindy could
undoubtedly feel it against her hip. She wiggled her pelvis against
him. "I saw you looking at that other girl, the leggy one, Kyra? I can
help you get her medallion too, and you can have us both. I've never
fucked another girl before, but I'll do it for you. What do you say,
you want to get yourself a little double-team action?"

He took a step back from her, and lifted the medallion from his neck
and pocketed it, breathing hard. Cindy's face went blank for a few
seconds, then she refocussed again, and looked at him with a quizzical
expression on her face. She smiled, tentatively, the small smile of
hers that he was used to seeing. "Dan? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just... I don't know. This is all too fucking weird for me."
Before he could continue, people started gathering and filing away
back to the room with the platform, and Daniel followed them, Cindy in
tow. Daniel looked around for Radhu. The sooner he found him, the
sooner they could leave this madhouse.

The same speaker that had told them about the medallions was back on
the platform, enjoining everyone to file into the room. There was a
small table in the middle of the platform with a cookie jar in it, the
same jar in which names had been collected earlier in the evening.

The speaker called for attention. There was a buzz in the air; given
how satisfying the previous announcement had been, everyone seemed to
have great hopes about this one.

"Folks," began the speaker when the noise had reduced to a murmur, "I
am pleased to see that you have been enjoying our gifts this evening,
and I trust that the girls have been performing to everyone's
satisfaction, yes?"

A great cheer rose up to that proclamation. The audience was volatile,
thought Daniel, who was growing nervous. He wanted to leave.

"Excellent. Thank you. As you know, we're holding a raffle tonight,
and we're about to pick the winner's name out of this jar. But first,
I should show you the prize!"

The speaker pulled out a medallion. It looked like all the other
medallions David had seen that evening, except gold instead of
bronze. The speaker held it up high, and it swung slowly on its
string. "Folks, this medallion here is similar to those you have been
playing with for the last few hours and controls one of our old
friends here at NADA. You remember, of course, the article that came
out last year in the Daily about our little organization, the one
where they accused us -- shamefully, I must add -- of violence towards
so-called minorities. The crux of the article, which you'll recall
launched an investigation that forced us to spend a lot of political
capital, was a series of pictures snapped by a nosy half-breed
photographer. Well, tonight, I am delighted, utterly delighted, to
present to you the prize of our end-of-year bash raffle: a week in
full control of our little half-breed photographer, who will do
nothing less than submit to every sick fantasy your perverted mind can
come up with. And to pick our raffle winner, here is Miss Half-Breed
herself, our nosy photographer in the flesh, I give you, MD!"

Incongruously, a cheer went up, all around Daniel, as a figure draped
in a trench coat joined the speaker on the platform. A woman, with
long brown hair, perched on stiletto heels, she stopped next to the
speaker and turned to the crowd. Daniel recognized her from her stint
at The Spirited Flesh. It was indeed Marjorie, heavily made-up, and
sporting wilder hair. He also spotted the man from the alley standing
next to the platform, quietly keeping an eye on the proceedings and
never letting his eyes stray from Marjorie.

The crowd went wild again, and Daniel turned his attention back to the
platform. Marjorie had taken off her trench coat and let it fall to
the floor. She was decked in a diminutive black bra and thong set,
complete with a black garter belt holding up sheer black stockings and
black spike heels. She was the ultimate teenager's fantasy. And Daniel
had to admit that she had the body for it. The boys in the audience
seemed to share his assessment, judging by the cheers, hoots, and
catcalls that erupted. Insulting epithets and racial slurs accompanied
those cheers in equal measure.

The speaker, who by this point was wearing the golden medallion, did
not calm things down when he moved behind Marjorie and cupped her
breasts with his hands, caressing and squeezing them roughly. Marjorie
closed her eyes and moaned, to everyone's roaring approval. He trailed
his hands down her body, and slid one of them down the front of her
panties, cupping Marjorie's crotch, again fairly roughly, and she
responded by thrusting her pelvis forward against it. She humped his
hand a few times before he pulled it out and lifted it to her face,
palm out. Marjorie did not hesitate and licked her own juices off his
hand. More screams of approval at this display of wantonness,
punctuated by shouts of "Take it all off you fucking slut!"

The speaker then indicated to Marjorie the jar on the table, and she
slowly made her way there, flashing the assembly a perfect view of her
rear barely marred by the thin string running between her cheeks. She
paused by the jar, put her hand in, and pulled out a small piece of
paper that she presented to the speaker.

"Folks," he said, over the noise of the crowd, "our lucky winner
tonight, winner of complete and utter control over the delightful MD
here, who will get his most perverted desires satisfied over and over
again in the coming week, is... Georges Taylor! Georges! Where are
you?"

A loud whoop arose from somewhere on the left, and a young man ran
towards the platform as if he was on The Price Is Right. The speaker
beckoned him up. The winner could not have been more than a
freshman. He was not bad looking, but his hair needed washing, and his
clothes -- jeans and a tee shirt, what else? -- were too baggy for his
thin frame. He joined the speaker on the platform, who took his hand
and raised it above his head in sign of victory.

"Folks, our winner, Georges Taylor. Claim your prize, Georges." The
speaker motioned for Marjorie, and she slowly walked towards Georges,
putting an extra wiggle on every step. Poor Georges, who did strike
one as being overly suave around beautiful females, stood mesmerized.

Marjorie wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her body against
his, and kissed him, a long hot kiss that involved her whole body
squirming against the poor boy. The crowd cheered and hooted
throughout the kiss, which left Georges flushed and panting. Marjorie
grinned, took one of his hands and lifted it up to her chest before
pressing it against one of her breasts.

"Wow! What an amazing start to Georges' week," the speaker intoned,
putting his hand on Georges' shoulder. Georges still has his hand on
Marjorie's firm flesh, caressing it reverently. "Folks, before we send
Georges on his way to enjoy his prize -- the lucky bastard! -- I have
something else for you, a bonus to cap the evening. Georges, if you
could step down, we'll turn MD and her medallion over to you as soon
as this is done."

Georges, still in a daze, obediently stepped off the platform,
high-fived and slapped on the back by aroused and slightly envious
partygoers. Marjorie remained where she was. From the left side of the
platform, two impressively large men came on carrying something bulky
between them , covered with a wide blanket. "Folks," said the speaker,
"I give you a prime example of just what it is we are fighting against
here at NADA. As you all know too well, we are inundated by foreigners
who come to our great country to acquire the world-class education we
are so famous for, siphoning off tax-payer money from deserving
Americans, only to return to their country and foment anti-US
sentiment, or worse stay and impose their fucked up traditions and ask
for special treatment, all the while using precious resources. Nowhere
is this plague so visible than on our great campus. Darnell's student
population is more than half foreign, and you're more likely than not
to hear some weird-ass language when you walk around. And don't get me
started on all those foreigners hooking up with our women. That is the
scourge it is our duty to flush, folks. And here is, as I said, a
prime example."

With a flourish, the speaker pulled off the blanket from the bundle
that had been put down in the center of the platform, revealing Radhu,
gagged and bound naked in a chair. He looked stunned, and bruises on
his face spoke of a beating. He could not move but for his eyes, which
had difficulty focusing.

Daniel screamed Radhu's name upon seeing his friend -- through his
scream was drowned by the booing and hissing that greeted Radhu's
unveiling -- but before he could jump forward and storm the platform,
a big hand landed on his shoulder, holding him in place. It was the
bouncer from the door, with his "Don't Worry Be Happy" tee
shirt. Beside him stood Steve Bissonette.

"Daniel, Daniel, Daniel," said Steve. "You are about to do something
stupid. I suggest you reconsider."

"Steve, what the fuck are you doing?"

"What am I doing? You're funny. I'm not the one that crashed this
party, bringing along a curry muncher. You, and especially your friend
up there, are reaping the fruit of your carelessness."

"What are you talking about? What are you doing to him?"

"Oh, nothing too too bad. Just giving him a little lesson about
American hospitality. He'll live. Probably." Steve's smile was
unpleasant. "Watch, now. This is going to be fun."

On the platform, the speaker was waiting for the screamed insults
directed at Radhu to quiet down. He turned his head towards Marjorie,
still standing impassively to the side, and nodded. She immediately
took off her bra, letting her breasts go free, and the crowd went from
booing to cheering in the space of two seconds. Then she slipped her
thong down her legs and tossed it into the crowd. Wild cheering
greeted that action. She was now clad only in her stockings and heels,
the classic pinup with her long dark hair. And just like that, Radhu
was all but forgotten.

Just when the crowd was threatening to get out of control, the cheers
turning into screams of "Dance, you slut!" and "Come fuck this, you
whore!", the speaker gestured for everyone to quiet down, and pulled
something out of his pocket that Daniel did not recognize.

"Folks," the speaker picked up again, "this here is a little gadget
inspired by a South Africa invention called an anti-rape device. Think
of it as a roach motel for dicks. Women in South Africa slide it up
their pussy so that when a man tries to fuck them, it clamps down on
their dick and can only be removed by surgery. Eminently practical in
a country filled with crazed niggers itching to stuff their cock into
anything with a hole. Well, this here is our NADA variant. We call it
the Cock Shredder. Instead of clamping down on a dick, it is basically
lined with criss-crossing razor blades that slice through flesh like
butter. Like this."

There was no pause as he wiped out a cucumber and pushed it through
the bottom of the device. Effortlessly, the cucumber was sliced into
long strips of vegetable flesh as it went through the device. The
crowd gasped then cheered; Daniel felt sick. He turned, and Cindy was
still next to him. He was glad to see she was not cheering.

On the platform, the speaker had turned to Radhu. "So, you fuckin'
darkie, here's how it's gonna go down. MD here is going to put this up
her cunt. Then she's gonna make you hard, the way only she can. And
when you're stiff and aching for release, she's going to sit on your
dick and shred it up. Then if you survive you can go back to wherever
the fuck you came from and tell them all about good ol' America."

The gag muffled Radhu's protests. The speaker smiled, then handed the
device to Marjorie. She took it, and slowly worked it up her vagina.

"Folks," shouted the speaker, "I give you the ultimate Vagina
Dentata!"

The crowd had been stirred into a frenzy, screaming and shouting and
threatening to stampede the platform. But then music started playing,
and Marjorie started swaying and dancing to it, and Daniel was
reminded of her stint at The Spirited Flesh.

Arousal may have been furthest from Daniel's mind with his friend a
prisoner on stage, but the crowd ate it up. Marjorie danced, cupping
her breasts and squeezing them hard, running her hands down her
perfect body, turning around and presenting her ass to the audience,
the consummate pinup girl, the professional exotic dancer.

And then she turned her attention to Radhu. He was watching her, fear
etched on his face. Marjorie approached him, and in a campy overacted
way pointed to his shriveled penis, mimed a disappointed face for the
audience, then smiled as if she just had an idea and after an
exaggerated wink that drew a wide cheer, she proceeded to give poor
Radhu a lap dance. She did it expertly, conveying in every movement of
her body that she was a cock-craving ball of lust, turned on by
dancing and arousing her man. She pressed Radhu's face between her
breasts, licked the side of his face, sat on his lap and shimmied and
wiggled and thrust and rubbed.

Poor Radhu, so inexperienced, never had a chance. When Marjorie stood
to kneel down between his legs, the audience cheered because they
could see he was getting hard. Marjorie never gave Radhu's cock a
chance to go soft, and in one swift motion took him deep in her
mouth. Radhu's eyes almost popped out of his head, and despite the
situation he was in, he moaned. It seemed incredible, but Marjorie had
managed to make him forget where he was. His eyes closed. And Marjorie
went on to give him a world-class blow job, taking him deep down her
throat on every thrust, pushing her head down into his pubes, her lips
wrapped past the base of his cock. Daniel could see his friend push
his hips forward, fucking against Marjorie's face, lost in his own
world.

Daniel realized with a shock that this was likely Radhu's first
nontrivial sexual experience, and it was forced on him with an
audience of angry haters who would have liked nothing more than take
pleasure in his humiliation. The hand gripping his shoulder reminded
Daniel that he could do nothing.

Marjorie finally let Radhu's cock pop out of her mouth, and she stood,
gasping for breath, her chin coated with a film of saliva. Radhu's
cock was hard and erect and glistening, waving slightly with every
tiny movements of his hips. Marjorie straddled Radhu, legs on either
side of his body. She paused, grabbing his cock. The crowd was going
wild, smelling blood, wanting to see Radhu suffer, probably wanting to
see Marjorie suffer just as much. Chants of "Fuck him! Fuck him! Fuck
him!" competed with those of "Shred him! Shred him! Shred him!"
Marjorie lowered herself onto Radhu's cock. Daniel closed his eyes.

There was a terrible scream of pain.

The crowd went wild at the sound. The scream continued
unabated. Daniel did not want to open his eyes, and felt tears welling
up underneath his eyelids. And then it sank in -- slowly. It was a
girl's scream. Not Radhu's. A girl's. He opened his eyes. On the
platform, Radhu was still sitting in his chair, looking at Marjorie
who had collapsed on the ground, pain distorting her features,
clutching her head. Then pandemonium broke.

The crowd went crazy, shouts and screams and sounds of broken
furniture coming from everywhere. Marjorie was writhing on the ground,
still screaming. Daniel saw the man from the alley rush up to go to
her. The speaker was looking around in wild confusion. Daniel could no
longer feel the hand of the bouncer on his shoulder, and he rushed the
platform. In the general melee no one stopped him, and he reached
Radhu unimpeded. It took a while to untie the knots holding his
friend's down, and Daniel kept expecting someone to knock him out and
finish the job on Radhu, but the partygoers seemed more intent on
property destruction and random fighting than a concerted attack on
Radhu.

As Daniel pulled a shaky Radhu up from the chair, he spotted the man
from the alley carrying a now limp Marjorie away. Daniel hesitated a
second before grabbing the blanket and pushing Radhu ahead of him in a
mad dash for the front door. They emerged in the cool night without
anyone stopping them.

Story: The Adjusters #7

7 - The Third Card

The sun was high in the sky and managed to warm up the air despite the
late November date. Trees looked derelict, all their leaves gone, and
whenever the sun hid behind a cloud the temperature would drop
considerably.

Daniel barely noticed any of that, despite sitting on a bench in the
middle of the Arts Quad amidst what was usually the most verdant part
of campus except for the botanical gardens. He was leaning back,
staring up at the sky, not seeing it either.

He was thinking back to the phone call he had received that morning. A
phone call that amounted to a job offer. Professor Schmidt's contact
at the Advanced American Institute for Democracy had come through,
brilliantly. In an astonishing example of synchronicity, it turned out
that the Institute had acquired a civil-rights group with which Daniel
had interned a few years earlier in Chicago, one of the enjoyable
experiences of his life. The conjunction of Professor Schmidt's
recommendation and his internship experience had convinced the
appropriate people at the Institute that Daniel Malcolm, soon to
graduate from Darnell University, was their guy.

They had called him to ask whether he would be interested in a
position in the new office they were opening in Temple, of all places,
within spitting distance of Austin. Daniel had been dismayed at the
coincidence, until his interlocutor revealed that they had heard
through the grapevine that he was considering moving to the part of
Texas. His references had been busy, marveled Daniel.

And so, after a short conversation, and an appointment for a longer
conversation later in the week, he was looking at the perfect
opportunity to follow his girlfriend to Austin where she could pursue
her dream while doing exactly what he enjoyed doing in an environment
that sounded just right for him. Everything was falling into place
just so, an unexpected turn of events. Jenn will be ecstatic, he
thought.

This line of thought led him directly to a related concern. If the
last few weeks had taught him anything, it had to be that his
relationship with Jenn was serious. She was the one, if one wanted to
be melodramatic about it. Truth be told, he would have gone to Austin
no matter what -- he would not have let Jenn refuse the scholarship,
and he would not have accepted living apart for any extended length of
time. He knew himself enough to recognize that he was indeed hooked,
that he was in it for the long haul. Which made him wonder whether he
should just come out and ask Jenn to marry him before heading out to
Austin.

He smiled to himself as he tried to imagine Jenn's reaction. They had
talked about marriage in the past, the way every couple did, as a way
to test the waters, to assess and gauge each partner's hopes and
perspectives. And he had been surprised to discover that he was more
attached to that institution than Jenn was. She was neither for it nor
against it. Not that she did not want a committed long-term
relationship, she had hastened to add before Daniel could read more
into the statement than she had intended, but she simply did not
believe that an assertion before church and state was a
requirement. They had spent a long evening debating the history of
marriage and its religious, political, and sociological implications.

Daniel, after all had been said and done, had been left with the
knowledge that Jenn did not care strongly about marriage one way or
another, and the indefinable sense that she would appreciate being
asked nonetheless. For all he knew, of course, that feeling was just a
projection of his own belief that marriage was important by forcing a
clear statement of commitment, even before going into possible
economic and societal benefits.

You know, he told himself, I might just be convincing myself that I'm
going to ask Jenn to marry me. Funny that.

His surprise must have shown itself on his face, because a voice
pulled him out of his reverie.

"Hi Dan! Penny for your thoughts?"

Cindy. He recognized the voice even before he opened his eyes and
lazily turned his head to see the blonde bombshell from his communism
class. She was holding a penny in the palm of her outstretched
hand. She giggled when she saw him looking at it.

"Hey Cindy. I suspect you don't really want to know about my thoughts
right now."

"Ah, come on. You had such a sweet smile just now, must have been some
very pleasant thoughts. I love pleasant thoughts."

"Just daydreaming, Cindy. And enjoying this wonderful day. I'm just
sucking up this sunlight."

"You should move down south, then. They got extra sunlight down there,
they tell me."

"Perhaps I should, Cindy. Perhaps I should." He smiled again. "Huh,
Cindy, I know it's still somewhat warm, but it is nearly
December. Aren't you cold?"

Cindy looked down. She was wearing a denim jacket that looked warm
enough, but otherwise only sported her omnipresent short skirt,
apparently without any hose. She ran her hands over her legs, an
undeniably flirty gesture that Daniel could not help but be enticed
by. Cindy giggled again.

"I'm used to it. I've always worn skirts. I think my legs have just
given up and don't register cold anymore. I might wear tights under my
skirts when it's super cold, but that's about it."

Daniel shook his head. "You'll never cease to amaze me, Cindy. So,
what's new with you?"

She sat down next to him, leaning in close, grabbing his arm. "Oh,
nothing much. Couple of papers to write, exams to study for -- you
know, end-of-classes sort of things. Kindda fed up of that stupid
communism class, but at least it's almost over. No more politics for
me -- I hate the stuff."

Daniel was tempted to ask her why she had taken the course in the
first place. Cindy was a bit of a mystery. She acted like the perfect
bimbo, an impression helped by the short skirts and the curves and the
blonde hair and especially her giggling, yet he knew that she had
absolutely no difficulties on the academic side, and had earned
herself a few Dean's fellowships over the years. Everything seemed to
come easily to her. She just didn't seem to have any specific
interest. It sounded like such a waste of raw talent that it was
almost infuriating. But then she would look at you with her baby blue
eyes and you would forgive her anything.

Before he could think of a segue, Cindy perked up and lifted her arm,
practically bouncing in place on the bench.

"Oh, oh, here's something new -- I'm a dick girl!"

"You're a what?" Visions of Cindy with a penis dangling between her
legs flashed before his eyes and were too incongruous to contemplate.

"A dick girl. Look!" She pointed to her wrist on her raised arm, where
Daniel was astonished to find a little charms bracelet that looked
exactly like the one they had found in the back alley of The Spirited
Flesh, the one that they believed Marjorie had dropped and that Serena
had ben so far unable to identify. And there it was, hanging on
Cindy's wrist, sparkling in the sun. He raised his hand to touch it.

"So that's what it takes to get you to touch me, then? I wish I had
known this earlier."

"Cindy, where did you get this?"

"I told you, I've become a dick girl. That's what the guys at the
Delta Iota Kappa frat call us. Every week, they vote for the most
attractive girl on campus, based on a whole bunch of criteria. The
winner gets this bracelet, several hundred dollars donated to the
charity of their choice, a small cash prize, and an automatic invite
to all the frat events, even the restricted ones. Isn't that great? I
chose Toys for Tots as my charity. I just love kids!" She paused,
frowning slightly. "Huh, Dan, don't tell anyone I told you this. It's
kindda meant to be a secret. I don't want to get in trouble."

"No worries. It'll be our secret. But you're telling me why?"

"Because I like you, silly. But we're not meant to talk about it at
all. They told us it was all hush-hush, I guess to make sure that we
wouldn't cause jealousy or stuff. They said we'd get punished if we
talked to anyone about it. It didn't make an awful lot of sense, to be
honest, but who cares? I mean, the other dick girls seem to take that
secret pretty seriously -- I've tried to speak to a few of them about
it, but they kind of dismiss me and act like they don't know what I'm
talking about and it's like they don't even acknowledge the bracelet
they have on their wrist -- but I get to go to the frat parties, and
they do throw the best parties. I wonder if they'll let me bring a
friend," she added, looking at Daniel with a twinkle in her eyes.

Before Daniel could think of a polite way of reminding Cindy of his
girlfriend, Cindy piped up again. "Speaking of the devil, here are
some of the guys coming over! Woohoo, guys!" She was waiving her arms,
trying to attract the attention of a small group of boys cutting their
way across the Quad. They saw her, and angled towards the bench where
she and Daniel were sitting.

"Remember," she said, "I didn't tell you anything about this dick girl
thing, okay? Please?"

Daniel nodded, watching the group of five boys approach. They were
fairly unremarkable, in jeans and tee shirts and light jackets. Their
bulk did suggest some sporting interests, or maybe just copious gym
time. Daniel also picked up on the fact that they seemed deferential
to the biggest member of the group, a tall boy with longish blonde
hair that walked with an odd sort of swagger, like he was not quite
managing to pull off a James-Dean demeanor. Daniel disliked him on
sight.

"Hey Cyn, what's up girl?" The big guy addressed her while looking at
Daniel with challenge in his eyes.

"Nothing much. Just hanging out with my pal here. Dan, meet
Biff. Biff, Dan. Dan's in my communism class. He's one of those little
geniuses in that course."

Biff? Daniel had to suppress a laugh. He wondered for a second whether
it was a nickname.

"Hey," he said, nodding at the big guy. "Nice to meet you. It's
Daniel, actually."

Biff merely nodded, before extending an arm and glancing at Cindy. She
giggled and leaned into him and he wrapped his arm around her
neck. She looked utterly frail next to him. He bent down to whisper
something in her ear. She seemed to shiver, her eyes closed, and then
she hugged him tight before flexing up on her toes and tilting her
head up and offering him her mouth. He obligingly bent down and kissed
her, hard, deep, not caring that he had an audience, perhaps even
spurred on by it. The act was so clearly an exhibition that Daniel was
embarrassed and did not know where to look.

Cindy responded to the kiss with a passion of her own, her hands
lifting up to cradle the side of Biff's head and pull him to her while
she arched her back and slid a leg up his. Biff, meanwhile, ran a hand
down her back to her short skirt, and put his big paw on her rear
without Cindy protesting, pulling her tighter against him.

Biff broke the kiss -- Cindy practically swooning by that point -- and
tossed Daniel a dismissive glance, before starting for a low wall on
one side of the Quad, an arm around Cindy's waist, his posse in
tow. Cindy seemed to have completely forgotten about Daniel. Not that
Cindy had ever been the most empathic of people, but she had never
been so casually insulting either.

"Sorry about your girl."

Daniel looked at the boy that had just spoken. He was the one member
of Biff's group to remain behind.

"It's okay, she's not my girl. Just a friend. Still..."

"I'm Jackson," he said, extending a hand. "Biff can be a bit... how
should I put it?"

"A bit of a Neanderthal?" Daniel suggested.

Jackson flashed a grin. "I was going for abrasive myself."

"Yeah, that works too. So, you in Delta Kappa Iota as well?"

"Joined a few months back. I'm just a freshman here, this is all very
new."

"Well, welcome to Darnell, Jackson. I'd say watch out who you hang out
with, but it might just be a bit late for that particular warning."

Jackson shrugged. "You mean the frat? Oh, they're not all bad. Some of
the brothers are a bit difficult, but most of the time, it's good
fun. Most of them are helpful with getting adapted to this place, I
can get some sort of tutoring with harder classes, and frankly, the
girls are just... wow!"

"Yeah, I can imagine." He almost asked about the dick girls, but
remembered Cindy's request. "So," he asked instead, reverting to the
backup conversation topic of students the world over, "what's your
major?"

"Sports physiology, most likely. I'm still undecided."

Before Daniel could question Jackson further, Biff shouted from his
spot against the wall. "Jackson, get your pussy down here pronto."
Cindy was in his arms, nuzzling his neck, and as far as Daniel could
tell, Biff's hands were under her skirt.

"Oops, gotta go. I'm still the newest brother, and that puts me pretty
low on the pecking order. Nice to meet you, Dan."

"It's Daniel, actually," said Daniel, watching Jackson jog over to the
rest of his gang, sprawled about on the grass and against the wall,
drinking and laughing. Daniel shook his head. They were doing nothing
wrong, really, but they were annoying him nonetheless. I'm getting
curmudgeonly in my old age, he thought.

He sat back down on the bench, pulled out his cell phone, and called
Serena. She picked up after two rings.

"Hey Serena. It's Daniel. Bad time?"

"No, it's good," replied the reported, clearly attempting to stifle a
yawn. "I must have dozed off there for a second. What time is... oh
fuck. I got a lecture in twenty minutes. Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Okay then -- bad time it is. I won't keep you long. Just wanted you
to know that I found out about the bracelet."

"What? The one we found at The Spirited Flesh? What'd you learn?"
Daniel could hear Serena shuffling papers, probably getting ready for
her lecture.

"According to my source, it's a bracelet handed out by the Delta Iota
Kappa frat every week or so to a different girl as an appreciation for
something, beauty or some such, and the chosen girl gets some cash,
some money donated in her name to a charity of her choice, and she
gets invited to all Delta Iota Kappa parties and activities. And every
girl's sworn to keep it all hush-hush, under threat of some
unmentioned punishment."

"Wow. How'd you find this out?"

"Someone I know was chosen as such a dick girl, and she just spilled
the beans."

"The old Malcolm charm at play! So Marjorie was chosen to be
a... really, a dick girl?" Daniel could hear Serena's grimace. "Can
your source tell us more about those girls? Do they really just go to
parties? What's in it for the frat? They probably can get all the
pretty girls they want without resorting to suck gimmicks."

"Maybe it lets them get girls that wouldn't otherwise be interested in
frat parties? Between the cash and the charity, that might just be
enough to overcome someone's reluctance."

"Maybe. Except they're not actually forced to go to the parties, are
they? Okay, let me sniff around then. If you could keep your eyes and
ears open, that'd be great." She paused. "Huh, Daniel? Talking about
parties -- I have kind of a favor to ask of you. There's one this
weekend where I was told Marjorie might show up. Unfortunately, I
can't go. Prior commitment. So I was kind of hoping you could go and
be my eyes and ears?"

"Huh, sure, I guess. What's the deal?"

"It's the end-of-semester party for this group called NADA, The New
American Deal Association --"

"No way! I'm sorry Serena, but there's no way I'm going to hang out
with those... racial bigots. The NADA, are you crazy? And let me add
that it's a good thing you can't go either -- between the fact that
you're a girl and an african american, you'd probably get raped and
lynched, and it's not clear in what order."

"I think you're exaggerating a bit --"

"I wish I was! Look it up. You work at a paper, no? There should be
plenty of material. Stay away from them, Serena, I'm not kidding."

"Okay, okay, fine. Sorry I asked. I gotta go get ready now. Daniel?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for calling me about the bracelet. And for helping me. It
means a lot to me."

"We aim to please. Talk to you later."

Daniel sat back, staring at his phone telling him the call had ended,
not really seeing it. In the distance, Cindy was laughing at something
one of the frat boys said. She was still being pawed by Biff, and did
not seem to mind in the least.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

He smiled. "Sorry, but we had a clearance sale fifteen minutes ago,
and all thoughts have been purchased."

"What are you talking about?" Jenn made her way around the bench and
sat down next to Daniel. She kissed him, then leaned back to look in
the direction he was staring.

"Nothing," he replied. "Just a stupid joke. How's your day going?"

"Pretty good. Got ditched by my lab partner, so I decided to take a
walk. You're a pleasant surprise along the way. You?"

"Tired. Long day. Figured I'd take in some sun while I have the
chance."

"It is a gorgeous day, isn't it? Say, is that that Cindy girl from
your class, up there, with that gorilla?"

"The same. And the gorilla's name's Biff, by the way."

"No way? That's hilarious! What were his parents thinking?"

"Lord knows. Oh, look, he's looking at us."

Daniel gave in to some dark impulse, and waved at Biff. The boy did
not move in reply, but instead shifted his gaze to Jenn, and let it
linger on her form for longer than was entirely appropriate. His eyes
traveled slowly down and up her body, taking in her long legs in tight
blue jeans, her black boots, her short jacket that did little to hide
her shape. His expression stopped just short of being lecherous,
although it came sufficiently close to annoy Daniel, who already
disliked the frat boy. Daniel generally enjoyed when someone admired
his girlfriend -- typical male behavior that he had accepted -- but
Biff really rubbed him the wrong way.

Jenn did not seem to notice Biff's blatant undressing of her, or if
she did, did not mind it. She was looking at Cindy.

"She is cute, definitely cute."

"What? Who?"

"Cindy. I love the skirt. Don't know how she can wear one so short
this late, but it definitely shows off her legs. I can see what you
see in her."

"Huh, she's cute and sweet, but that's all I see, honest."

"Don't be so defensive. I'm not upset or jealous. I just agree she's
cute. And of course she clearly has that huge crush on you. Maybe we
should invite her to play. I wonder what it would feel like to run my
hands under that short skirt of hers."

"What?"

"What what? You sound surprised. Maybe, just maybe, that experience
with Tannaka last week was a bit more intense than I was expecting."

Daniel had to swallow before he could respond. He remembered all too
well the scene of his girlfriend brought to a shuddering orgasm by the
tall Asian girl in the back room of The Tropicana. He and Jenn had
talked about that experience since it occurred, but this was the first
time that Jenn hinted at it being more than a one-time thing. "It
certainly was a sight."

"How do you think it would look like if it was Cindy instead of
Tannaka eating me? Or me eating her? Or maybe both of us in a nice
sixty-nine? You could watch. I'm sure Cindy wouldn't mind. In fact,
she'd probably beg you to join in." Jenn was leaning towards Daniel,
her hand on his thigh making its way up to his crotch.

"Okay, okay, okay," he said, stopping Jenn's hand before it went any
further. "I'm all for public displays of affection, but let's not push
things too too far, love."

Jenn laughed, then cuddled up against him and directed her gaze at the
group once more. The guys had started to toss a football around,
except for a few, including Biff, who remained congregated by the
wall. Cindy was with them, sitting on Biff's lap, nuzzling his neck
once again, trailing kisses up the side of his face, once in a while
being swept up in a frenzy by Biff to be kissed roughly. Her skirt had
ridden up her thighs by then, and exposed her lower body to the group
gathered around Biff.

"It seems like Cindy has no such compunction about going too far with
her public displays of affection," said Jenn. "Wow. Is she always
that... I don't wanna say trashy, but that's close to the only word
that comes to mind here."

Daniel shook his head. "Not in the least. She's always been quite
proper, if a bit too flirtatious, as you've noticed
already. Supposedly she doesn't date much, doesn't hook up, doesn't
sleep around."

"Well, at least she seems to be enjoying herself -- whoa!" Jenn ducked
as a football flew over her head.

"Sorry! So sorry! Went a bit off, that one did. You okay?"

Jackson was running towards them, and retrieved the ball.

"Yeah, we're fine, thanks."

"Good," he said, tossing the ball back with a fluid motion that
betrayed a long acquaintance with the pigskin. He did not jog back to
the spot he was occupying earlier, however. Instead, he motioned to
his friends and stayed back. Daniel nodded to Jenn.

"That's Jackson, of the Delta Iota Kappa crowd, and future sports
therapist. Jackson, this is Jenn, and this one is in fact my girl."

"Ah! Good to meet you Jenn, and may I say you're lovely."

Jenn smiled. "Well, thank you. Very sweet of you to notice." She
turned to Daniel, nudged him with an elbow. "If you're not careful,
he's liable to charm me away. And I might just let him -- he's cute."

Jackson flashed her a huge smile, unconsciously straightening himself
up and puffing his chest out. He then seemed to realize what he was
doing because he stole a guilty glance at Daniel before grinning
sheepishly.

"It's okay, Jackson. Don't worry about it. Jenn can be a flirt,
sometimes. It's all in good fun. Just pray you never meet our friend
Serena. She puts Jenn here to shame in that respect."

Jackson looked like he was ready to ask to meet that lady when Biff's
voice rang out from afar. "Jackson, quit ogling the bitch and get your
ass back here."

Jackson shrugged his shoulders as a way to convey his apologies then
took off at a jog. Daniel was incensed, Jenn merely frowning.

"Okay," she said, "that Jackson boy, cute, but that big brute there,
annoying."

"Yeah. Wait, you really think he was cute?"

"In an eighteen-and-innocent sort of way. Good body, nice butt, killer
smile. That boy's gonna break hearts."

Daniel looked at Jenn for a few seconds, hit by a variant of what had
gripped him when he saw her making out with Tannaka. He could not
deny that it had turned him on. He had spent the days following the
event reflecting on the feeling, and accepted that part of him simply
enjoyed being a voyeur. It was an uneasy realization, but it explained
many of the various experiences he had had growing up. That Jenn
seemed happy to go along with it just added fuel to the fire.

He sneaked a glance at the group of Delta Iota Kappa boys, noted that
Biff was once again undressing his girlfriend with his eyes while
letting his hands roam all over Cindy's body. Daniel was aroused by
the memory of his girlfriend getting it on with Tannaka and had this
irrational desire to make Biff jealous. Thus he made his faithful
decision, the one that much later he would come to regret bitterly. He
turned to Jenn.

"So if I were to ask you to go and flirt with Jackson, really flirt
with him, you wouldn't mind?"

Jenn turned her head towards Daniel, surprised, but stopped the
question that was bursting from her lips upon seeing the small card
that Daniel was holding between two of his fingers right before her.

"You're kidding me, right?"

Daniel shook his head, tilting the card towards her. "Your rules,
remember?"

Jenn took the card, read it out loud. "Order a player you control to
seduce a person of your choice." She looked at Daniel. "And what do
you mean by seducing here?"

"All I want you to do is go out there, flirt with Jackson, be nice,
inviting, suggestive, make him really think you've got the hots for
him. Kiss him, touch him, whatever you feel comfortable with, but
please don't let any of the other guys in on the action."

Jenn gave Daniel a curious look, trying to figure out what was going
on in his head. "You're sure about this?"

"Funny, you're usually the one hesitating and me the one asking if
you're sure."

"The other times were different." She shrugged. "Okay, if that's what
you want."

Jenn took her jacket off, handed it to Daniel, and unbuttoned two
buttons on her blouse, pushing her breasts up to produce some
additional cleavage. She licked her lips to make them wet, then winked
at Daniel. Her voice was throaty. "Wish me luck."

She stood and walked towards the spot where Jackson was tossing the
ball, which was well away from everyone else. Daniel watched her go,
fascinated by how she moved. Her hips had more of a sway to them than
usual, and gave the distinct impression that she was on the prowl. He
had to admit she looked exceedingly good doing it.

She reached Jackson just when he caught the football and he tossed it
back before smiling at her. Daniel was too far to hear their exchange,
but he could see their faces. Jackson kept smiling and was saying
something, while Jenn was standing a pace away from him, a hand on her
hip. Daniel smiled when he saw Jackson eyes dart down, presumably to
take in the cleavage that Jenn was undoubtedly offering him. Daniel
tried to imagine their conversation, the sillinesses that a young
couple flirting would typically exchange, the glances, the coy looks,
the subtle body movements.

Jackson caught another football and tossed it back, and Jenn closed
the gap that separated them, reaching out to touch his shoulder and
throwing arm. Jackson struck a pose, and Jenn, under the guise of
touching his now presumably bulging muscles, let her hands caress his
body. They kept on conversing, and before too long the football came
back his way -- he caught it, tossed it back, then shouted that he
would be sitting the next few throws out. Then he and Jenn sat down on
the grass, close to each other.

They talked, with Jenn laughing frequently, tossing her head back,
always with a hand hovering by Jackson's arm or knee. At some point he
sneaked a worried glance at Daniel, who lifted a hand in a silent
hello, before Jenn put her hand on Jackson's cheek to turn his head
back towards her, saying something that Daniel expected must have been
along the lines of "don't worry about it, he lets me hang out with
other guys all the time." Daniel noticed that Jenn was moving closer
and closer to Jackson, their bodies touching, and her demeanor was one
that he recognized from his having spent the last several years with
her -- she was getting excited. Daniel was not sure whether it was an
act or not. That uncertainty both aroused him and made him jealous of
the good-looking football player, and part of him wanted to go over
there and shove the rival away from his girlfriend.

Jenn, in the distance, had found a way to touch and caress Jackson's
face, and Daniel wondered what exactly led to Jenn pushing her chest
out and pointing to something at the base of her throat. She
definitely had Jackson's attention, and Daniel did not notice that he
was holding his breath until Jenn leaned towards Jackson and put her
lips on his and kissed him. Jackson at first seemed taken aback, but
any doubts he had were cast away by Jenn's hand pushing its way under
his tee shirt. Daniel's cock was rock-hard, and his desire to scream
and hit someone increased correspondingly. He realized his fists were
clenched and forced himself to calm down. It had been his idea, after
all, however misguided it might have been.

The first kiss Jenn and Jackson exchanged seemed light and tentative,
but the second was more intense, their mouths connected for half a
minute, Jenn's head tilted, Jackson's more forward, already taking the
lead. By the third kiss, Jackson either had pushed Jenn to the ground
or she had pulled him down with her, one of her long legs folded at
the knee. They stayed down in the grass for a long time, Jenn's arms
around Jackson's neck, him lying down on top of her, between her legs,
his groin clearly pressing against hers. Daniel was just about to
stand and go split them up when somebody else took care of that for
him.

While Daniel was distracted by the frolicking pair, he had not noticed
Biff approaching the couple. Cindy had remained behind, Biff's place
at her side taken over by another boy who was pawing her just as
unceremoniously as Biff had been -- and Cindy was responding with the
same enthusiasm, kissing and rubbing and caressing.

Jackson must have sensed Biff getting near because he hurriedly
straightened up and stood to face his approaching bulky brother. Jenn
sat up on the grass, looking at the boys with curiosity. Her cheeks
were flushed, Daniel could not help notice.

When Biff reached Jackson he gave the younger boy a big slap on the
back that almost sent the boy flying, then wrapped his arm around
Jackson's neck, seemingly the best of friends. He said something to
Jenn, at which point she stood up to face him. Biff was laughing,
Jackson looked vaguely uncomfortable, and Jenn was frowning. Then Biff
grabbed his crotch, and Daniel decided that enough was enough and
walked towards the group to intervene, when all of a sudden Jenn let
her arm fly and slapped Biff so hard he stumbled. It was like David
taking on Goliath -- Jenn was easily half the size of the large
man. Jackson seemed to be fighting hard to refrain from laughing.

Jenn spun on her heels and walked in Daniel's direction, shaking her
head. Biff had recovered, and was looking at Jenn, his gaze squarely
on her ass, a huge grin on his face that Daniel wanted to wipe off
with some highly caustic agent.

Jackson was looking on quietly, exchanging a look with Daniel before
shrugging apologetically. He glanced at Biff to make sure he was not
seen. Biff never looked at Jackson, or at Daniel for that matter,
despite Daniel's dark glances, and maintained his gaze on Jenn's body.

"Love, are you all right?" he asked when Jenn was near him.

She did not stop. "I'm fine. Come on, let's get out of here."

Daniel got in step next to her, and they made their way in silence to
the small cafe in the Arts Quad where Daniel had reconnected with
Serena a few years earlier. Jenn bought herself a drink and they sat
down at an isolated table.

"Sorry," said Jenn, after a long silence. "Just needed to decompress a
bit. That Biff guy really got to me."

"Are you up for telling me what happened?"

Jenn looked at Daniel for a second, her expression unreadable, then
nodded. "I guess you could see but not hear. Well, I went up to
Jackson, as you asked me to, and we talked and I flirted with him. He
was weary at first, not knowing how you'd react, and I reassured him,
and told him we had a special understanding you and I, not going into
details but suggesting certainly that it was some sort of open
relationship and even that you liked to watch. That relaxed him quite
a lot, and we had a fun time. He's actually quite a nice guy, and with
some of the softest lips you wouldn't believe. And nice strong hands
that hold you and don't let go." Jenn was seemingly unaware of the
effect she was having on Daniel, who was torn again in equal measure
between jealousy and arousal.

"He was severely turned on," continued Jenn, "I could feel his dick
press against me, and to be honest, it felt good. And then, then Biff
showed up. Jackson saw him first, and shuffled to get up. He was
scared of Biff. He said he was a rather junior member of the frat,
while Biff was older, had a pretty bad temper, and was related to the
president -- a cousin or something. Basically, everyone walks
carefully around Biff. And he has the reputation to be mean. So when
Biff got near, Jackson jumped. Biff did this big show of being
friendly, but his eyes never left me. It was like he was undressing me
with his eyes, and not in a pleasant way. He was undressing me like
kids pull wings off of flies --- slowly, deliberately, wanting to
inflict maximum suffering. He really seemed to like my legs, and I
shuffled to move them under me. And he was telling Jackson that he had
scored a cute little bird, and why didn't he present me? Jackson
hummed and hawed, and I jumped in to help, standing up to tell Biff
who I was. He asked if Jackson was my new boyfriend, I said no, we
were just playing, nothing serious. I tried to keep my tone
light. Biff laughed and said that he was a much better playmate than
little Jackson here. Perhaps I wanted to try some pure Midwestern meat
for a change? Not really, I said, and he laughed again, then grabbed
his crotch, a leer in his eyes, then told me that he had something
here that would satisfy me, that Cindy over there can't get enough,
and that if I'd just spread my fine legs for him, he'd fuck me until I
came so hard I'd see stars and that he'd completely ruin me for that
little fag of a boyfriend -- he nodded towards you when he said that
-- that after he was done with me not only would I not be able to feel
your little cock when you were inside me, but I'd crawl to him on my
hands and knees begging to have him split me apart again and again
until I couldn't walk. And perhaps then he'd go find you and get you
to beg him to fuck your ass until you bled, like the fag you were. And
that's when I slapped him. And he just laughed, and told me again that
I'd beg him."

"Fuck," said Daniel, and he started to rise before Jenn put her hand
on his arm.

"Don't do anything stupid. Let it go. It's not worth it."

"He insulted you."

"Yes, and he insulted you too. I suspect he's insulted plenty of
people. Big deal. He's an asshole. An asshole and a pig. And he's not
worthy of your time. And besides," and there Jenn's face darkened,
"you kindda deserved it."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on. I know you, Daniel Malcolm, and frankly you can't put on
a poker face to save your life. Sending me off to flirt with Jackson
was really just a play to make Biff envious, wasn't it?"

"No, not..." Daniel hesitated, then sighed, defeated. "Okay, maybe a
bit. I guess. It was many things. I did want to see you flirt with a
guy. That whole thing with Tannaka last week, it just started things,
and I just... I just wanted to know what it'd feel like, to see you
with someone else, a man. Jackson seemed nice enough, and yes, if done
the way I could stick it to that Biff guy, well, all the better."

Jenn nodded. "Didn't quite work out as planned, did it?"

"No, not really."

"That's what you get for using me for your petty revenges."

Jenn finished her drink, then looked carefully at Daniel, who was
staring out the window.

"So," she said, "did you like it, then?"

"Like what?"

"Seeing me make out with another guy. Did it soothe your little
voyeuristic fantasies?" Jenn saw Daniel react, and lifted a hand to
forewarn any protest. "It's okay -- the point of that little game of
ours was to explore fantasies, remember? If I wasn't okay with it, I
wouldn't have done it. You were right, Jackson was nice, and it was
very interesting to kiss a new guy after all this time only with
you. But it's you I love, of course. Nothing changed there. It was
sorta fun -- well, except for the Biff part. But you, did you like
it?"

"To be honest, no, I didn't. It was a turn on at first, but it veered
ugly pretty quickly. I wanted to go and punch the guy's lights
out. Scared me, really. Not something I particularly want to
experience again. I'm... I'm sorry I put you through it, made you do
it."

"You didn't make me do anything, it wasn't real mind control, you know
that. I did have some agency. Told you, Jackson was actually nice. And
how you're feeling now is probably punishment enough. And Biff, well,
Biff, sadly, is kind of an occupational hazard when you're hot like
me. You learn to dismiss them."

"If you say so."

"I do. And we did learn one thing today -- no swinging for us. Right?"

"Right..." Daniel laughed uneasily.

"That does leave threesomes, though." Jenn grinned wide, a smile with
an edge of naughtiness to it, and Daniel quickly looked around to see
if anyone had heard. So much for being cool and in control, he
thought.

"Come on," said Jenn, laughing and tossing her empty bottle in a
recycling bin, "let's go, my little easily frazzled boyfriend. You
look like you need some downtime."

They headed home, and the rest of the day was remarkably quiet.

The only notable event of the evening was a call from Radhu. Daniel
picked it up in the bedroom, while Jenn was in the shower.

"Hey Radhu, what's up?"

"Nothing is in fact up, but it appears I require some information that
you are presumably in a position to supply."

"Shoot."

"Serena contacted me this evening to ask me if I could go to this
party organized by a group here on campus called the New American Deal
Association, where the Marjorie girl, whose disappearance Serena has
been investigating, will reportedly make an appearance. The
information I require pertains to the most appropriate manner of
approaching the members of that group, with which it has come to my
attention you have some familiarity."

"The best way to approach the NADA folks? Run the other way, as fast
as you can. They're a crazy bunch, Rad, basically a neo-nazi group,
although they attempt to tone down their extremist rhetoric in
public. Their parties are technically open to all, but in practice
only like-minded folks go. Rad, they're anti-immigration,
anti-non-whites, anti-anything that shakes their view that this
country, if not the world, ought to be run by them. If you go, you'll
be lynched. Possibly literally."

"I believe you are exaggerating, my friend. This is the twenty-first
century, such polarized bigotry has no place on the campus of an
enlightened institution like ours. I shall be fine."

Daniel shook his head. "Rad, it's not because we're in a university
that close-minded idiots aren't around. Look, I know those guys, some
of them are in my program. They're bad news. And frankly the only
reason why you're doing this is because Serena asked you and your
brain just shuts down when she's concerned. What did she do, did she
sweeten the deal for you? Please go and get yourself killed and if you
come back I'll give you a kiss on the cheek?"

"Calm down, Daniel. Serena would not stoop so low --"

"Yes she would. You know her, anything to get to the bottom of a
story, especially one such as this. Fact is, I'm stunned she's not
trying to get into that party herself, somehow. Of course, she'd be
looking at being raped and maimed and possibly even killed, but I
can't see that actually stopping her. Then again, maybe she read about
them, checked them out a bit online, you know, like you should do?
They're dangerous, Rad. Especially for you."

"Now you are getting upset, Daniel. Therefore I apologize for
upsetting you. But Serena asked me for a favor, and I will help her to
the best of my abilities. If you do not want to help me with
information, that is your prerogative. I shall let you know the
outcome of my field trip. Good night."

"Rad, wait!" Daniel took a deep breath trying to calm himself
down. Radhu was right, he was getting worked up. "Wait. Look, sorry if
I'm snarky tonight. It's been a rough day. I do think it's too
dangerous for you to go. Let me go instead. I may not like them, and
they know that, I'm sure, but at least I'm more... huh... racially
acceptable."

Jenn came into the bedroom at that point, and despite Daniel's
emotional commitment to the conversation with Radhu, he was suddenly
distracted. Fresh out of the shower, her long black hair still wet,
she only wore a white tee shirt that barely covered her ass, exposing
long legs that Daniel could never get his fill of. And when she picked
up a brush to brush her hair free of tangles, her back to him, the act
of lifting her arms pulled her shirt up and revealed a pair of
perfectly formed ass checks. Daniel got an erection on the spot. Then
he noticed that Jenn was watching him in the mirror above the dresser,
a little smile on her face. She continued brushing her hair.

Daniel realized that Radhu was still talking.

"Sorry, sorry, can you repeat that? I
was... huh... distracted. Sorry."

"I said, I appreciate your concern for my personal safety, but Serena
did enjoin me with this particular mission, and I owe it to her and to
myself to see it through to its ineluctable conclusion. I will go to
the New American Deal Association party and report on any possible
Marjorie whereabouts."

Daniel sighed. He should have known better than to try to derail
Radhu's plans to impress Serena with his alacrity. If you can't beat
them, join them, he thought.

"Okay, okay. Then how about we go together, you and I? I'll be able to
smooth things out, and you'll be free to investigate all you need to
investigate, all right?"

"That is acceptable. Thank you."

"It's okay. Just do me a favor -- read up a bit on NADA before the
party. I want to make sure you know the mess we're going into."

"I will. See you tomorrow, Daniel. Good night."

Daniel tossed his phone on the nightstand, shaking his head.

"So let me guess. You've been bamboozled into attending a NADA party?"
Jenn finished brushing the last tangles out of her hair, then turned
to look at Daniel, her back against the dresser, her arms crossed
under her breasts.

"Yup. Another hare-brained scheme of Serena's. Seems like Marjorie's
gonna be at that party, and Serena got Radhu to agree to go, so I'm
going to make sure he makes it out in one piece."

"At least she had the sense not to want to go herself. Can you imagine
that?"

"Thank the powers-that-be for small favors. Though I don't put it past
her to change her mind at the last minute and show up anyways. Fuck,
I'm going to have my hands full keeping Radhu out of trouble."

Jenn took two steps towards the bed. "I wouldn't worry too much about
Radhu. He has this uncanny ability to appear completely inoffensive,
and to win people over even against their better judgment."

"That's because no one can understand him."

Jenn only smiled, and climbed onto the bed, kneeling at Daniel's feet,
standing straight, arms to her sides.

"Huh, love, what are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm here to offer my apologies."

Daniel was torn between looking at Jenn's face to figure out what she
was talking about, and admiring how the position she was in tensed her
thighs and offered glimpses of what her tee shirt was hiding.

"What are you talking about? What apologies?"

"This afternoon, when I went to flirt and practically make out with
that Jackson boy."

"Again, what are you talking about? I'm the one that asked you to go,
pushed you out there, and frankly, for all the wrong reasons. I'm the
one that should be apologizing."

Jenn crawled up Daniel's leg, still on her knees. The contact of her
bare skin was having an effect. He was only wearing his boxer shorts,
as well as a tee shirt of his own, and his cock's response was
unavoidably apparent.

"That may be," she replied, "but I more or less guessed that you sent
me out there to piss off that Biff neanderthal, and I did it
anyways. You need to be protected from yourself sometimes, lover, and
I think today was one such occasion. And I apologize for not doing
it."

"You're being silly. You have no obligation to keep me from making a
fool of myself."

"All the same. Whatever can I do to earn your forgiveness?"

"What? Nothing. I told you, there's no reason --"

"I said, what can I do to earn your forgiveness? I feel really
bad. Anything I can do? Anything at all?"

If her meaning had not been clear already, the small movements of her
ass on his cock would have lifted any
fog. "Oh. Right. Forgiveness. Oh. Mmm... That's a tough one. What
could you do?"

"Perhaps a kiss would do it?"

"It's a start. It'd have to be a great kiss though."

Jenn's response consisted of her leaning over him, barely touching
him, except for her lips making contact with his. That light touch
deepened, and soon Jenn's tongue was searching his. She remained
hovering half a foot over him, undulating slightly over his body, and
he fought the urge to rise up to meet her. The kiss deepened, and
Daniel was lost in the sensations. He did permit himself to run a hand
down Jenn's body, settling on the side of her hips, itching to move
over and grab an ass cheek, the need to press her down upon him and
grind her down on his cock quickly becoming overwhelming. Jenn must
have accurately gauged his level of arousal because she interrupted
the kiss just when he was about to surrender himself to lust. She
pulled off, then looked at him.

"Was that good enough as an apology?"

Daniel was still reeling. "I don't know. It was certainly a grave
offense."

"That it was. What would help? You do seem a bit
uncomfortable. Perhaps we should remove these boxers. They look so
constraining."

The look on her face was three quarters coy, but a good quarter pure
lust. Daniel nodded. "Sounds like a great idea. Though I have every
intention to trade the tightness of these shorts with some other
tightness, if you catch my drift."

"Of course. What better way to seek forgiveness?"

Jenn straightened up, then pulled Daniel's shorts off. His cock sprang
up, already hard from the kissing. Jenn eyed it hungrily, after
tossing his undergarment at one end of the room. She made as if to
grab the shaft with one hand, stopped and looked at Daniel. She smiled
and, bending over at the waist, leaned down and slowly, teasingly, ran
her tongue from the base of his cock to the very tip. She then
repeated the maneuver three times, each time lingering longer and
longer at the tip, her tongue seemingly drawing more and more
complicated figures on his erect shaft. Her eyes never left Daniel's
the whole time. Again she stopped just when he felt he could not take
any more, and was about to do something harsh, like grab her head and
pull her mouth down on his cock.

She straddled him again, lifting her hips so that she hovered right
above him, and without using her hands, lowered herself onto his
erection. The sensation of sinking into her like that, after so little
direct stimulation, was powerful, and he gasped. Jenn remained silent
as she let him penetrate her, and he saw that she had closed her eyes,
concentrating on her own feelings. She looked beautiful, the merest
hint of a furrow between her eyebrows. Her mouth opened slightly when
she engulfed him completely, when he felt her ass against his hips,
and he could have sworn he felt her pussy twitch and grab him, deep
inside.

Jenn slowly ground herself onto him, shifting her hips back and forth,
without pulling herself off. Daniel felt her push down and rub her
clit against his pubic bone, and he arched his back just enough to
increase the friction and help her. He put his hands on her ass,
softly caressing the exposed cheeks. Jenn seemed to enjoy the touch,
and hummed happily.

"You know what?" said Daniel, "I think I'm ready to accept your
apologies."

"I don't know." Jenn's voice was barely breathless. "What I did was
pretty bad. You shouldn't forgive so easily."

"It was just a bit of flirting, a bit of making out. Nothing much
there. Besides, it was kindda hot." In the safety of the fantasies of
the bedroom, Daniel was much more comfortable with the afternoon's
events.

"I'm glad you think so, but..." Jenn bent down, leaning on his chest,
her head beside his, her lips by his ear. She dropped her voice to a
whisper. "It's not just what I did. It's what I was thinking. I was a
naughty, naughty girl. I really deserve to be punished for that."

"Oh? And what were you thinking that was so bad?"

"You really want to know?" Jenn's breath was hot in his ear, the feel
of her body on his impossible to ignore, the feel of her pussy on his
cock even more so.

"You remember when I pulled Jackson down on top of me, when we were
kissing? I had my legs spread, and he was between them, and I could
feel his cock rock hard against me, and I imagined for a moment that
we were both naked and that his cock was pressing hard against my
naked cunt, and that he would slip inside -- I was dripping wet,
slobbering juice all over the place -- and push deep, deep, deep
inside me, filling me up completely, and I'd be there with my legs
spread as wide as they would go so that he could shove his cock into
me, fucking me hard, fucking me like this little bitch in heat that I
was."

"Jesus," muttered Daniel, who felt his hips push against Jenn's crotch
of their own volition. "Okay, that's pretty bad..."

"Oh, you haven't heard half of it. You know what else I was imagining,
as I lay there wishing I was getting fucked out of my mind? That you'd
show up next to me, looking down at me, Jackson between my legs
rutting like a starved man at a buffet, and that you'd strip out of
your pants and that you'd kneel and just feed me your cock, pushing it
into my mouth, fucking in and out in time with Jackson's thrusts,
grabbing my hair, guiding me, pulling me. Fuck I was salivating just
imagining that."

"I do love it when you suck me off." Daniel had started moving under
Jenn, pushing into her, and she was obliging him, lifting her ass up
to give him room for his thrusts. She ground herself back down onto
him on every upstroke, time after time. Her breath was getting
harsher, yet she was still whispering in his ear.

"You were so hard, so big, you just filled me up, fucking in and
out. Jackson was relentless, stabbing his cock into me like a fucking
machine. I was coming, hard. Jackson got off me, rolled onto his
back. I straightened up, got on my knees next to him, sucking him back
to life, throwing my mouth onto his cock. You took advantage of the
position to slip your cock into my cunt, giving it to me from behind."

"I do love taking you from behind."

"You just like looking at my ass, you little perv. Well, Jackson got
hard again pretty quick, and I got this naughty idea, and sat on top
of him, you know, reverse cowgirl, my back to him, facing his feet,
and I slid him inside me, and I started riding him. Then I called you
over. I told you I wanted you to fuck me. You didn't understand,
couldn't figure it out.

"So I lifted myself off of Jackson's cock -- he protested -- and put
it back inside me, but in my other hole, you know, I put his cock in
my ass and pushed down. Fuck it stretched me out, it felt fucking
wonderful. I pushed down, then pulled back up and pushed back down and
he was fucking my ass, slowly, 'cause it was way too tight to go
fast. Then I told you I wanted you in my cunt, and you lay down on top
of me and slipped your cock into me and I felt so full, from the back
and from the front, that I thought I'd explode from the sensations,
and indeed before too long you both were fucking me and I was coming
and screaming and you were coming and I felt your cum spew inside me
and it felt amazing and Jackson was still in my ass still fucking me
and my orgasm was not stopping."

"Fuck," Daniel said, "that's so hot -- you're just fantastic." He was
driving deep inside her now, meeting her downward thrusts with equal
strength, and Jenn had started shaking slightly, and he himself did
not know how long he could hold off coming. The picture Jenn had
painted in his mind was crystal clear, and he could just see the guy's
cock sliding into his girlfriend's ass.

Jenn kissed Daniel hard. He ran his hands down her back, grabbing that
ass figuring so prominently in his mind's eye. He could feel himself
getting closer and closer to climax.

Jenn put her lips back near his ear, whispering anew. "But that's not
the worst. Not by far. Do you want to hear the rest, lover? Do you
want to hear what your girlfriend was thinking down in the grass when
that Jackson boy was kissing her, beyond imagining that she was
getting double-fucked?"

"Yes," groaned Daniel, "please!" He was getting closer. He was
starting to lose control of his hips.

"Fine. Well, you just came, right? And you pulled out, and Jackson was
still under me, fucking my ass with gusto, and then, and then, there's
this large shadow cast over me, and there's Biff, naked, his huge cock
sticking straight out, as wide as a fist, and he's stroking it, and
he's looking at me. And he's smiling. And he gets closer and as he
lies down on top of me, lining his impossibly huge cock with my cunt,
he tells me that he's going to fuck me like I've never been fucked
before, that he's going to fuck me hard and stretch me out and ruin
me, ruin my cunt for anyone without a monster cock like his, that he's
going to fuck me and that after I wouldn't ever be able to feel my
boyfriend's dick inside me when he'd fuck me and that I'd be forced to
troll around geek shows to find cocks big enough to satisfy me. And
then he pushed his cock into me and it filled me up so much that there
was room for nothing else in my mind and I came instantly, around that
huge cock that was invading me and opening me up so fucking much and
--"

"Oh god!" Daniel came, hard, his pelvis pushing into Jenn's who ground
her ass onto him in response, and before he had finished spurting she
came as well, a long wave-like shiver that made her collapse against
him, hugging him, holding on to him.

They remained like that a long while, past the time when their
breathing returned to normal, past the time when Daniel's deflating
cock slipped out of Jenn, past the time even when his cum started
leaking out of her pussy. They lay, enlaced, content.

Eventually, Jenn rolled to her side, and looked at Daniel. He looked
back.

"Okay," he said, "that was unexpected. But pretty fucking good. How
did you..." He did not know how to complete the sentence.

"Let's just say, again, that you should never play poker, lover. At
least not with me. But I'm glad you liked my story. It was fun."

Daniel hesitated. "Huh, I have to ask though. Did you...? I mean, was
it...? I mean..."

"You mean, did I actually think any of that this afternoon?" Daniel
nodded. Jenn smiled. "No. That was just, shall we say, spur of the
moment inspiration."

"Oh. Good. I mean, it was great, but only as a fantasy. If this
afternoon's experience taught me something, it's that I don't think
I'd deal well with sharing you for real."

"Yeah, well, no fear of that -- I have no intention to be shared. But
yeah, as a fantasy, I can definitely deal with it."

Daniel smiled, leaned his head back against the pillow. "You know, you
were right."

"Of course I was. But about what specifically this time?"

"About that game. The board game. That it'd get me in touch with my
kinkier side? It worked. Although I've kind of reached quota on
kinkiness for a while. But it was definitely enlightening. Thank
you. And perhaps... you know... perhaps we can play again at some
point? After we've... huh... recovered?"

"Sounds like a plan. And I also learned stuff."

"Oh. Like?"

"Like maybe I shouldn't be so quick to dismiss or joke about having a
threesome with you and another girl. I mean, Tannaka was hot."

"You're fucking with me, right?"

"Maybe," Jenn replied, smiling enigmatically. "We'll see."

David shook his head, and kissed her on the forehead "I love you."

"I love you too."

She put her head against his shoulder, and they fell asleep in that
position, on top of the covers.