The Brothel

THE PRO

       Gantry was trolling for another mark. 

The first was a young hooker new to the streets.  He offered her twenty dollars for a blowjob in a junkyard not far away.  She was nervous and not experienced.  A runaway, she said.  She’d come to the city with a bus ticket and sixty dollars in tips she’d saved.  She’d only been there a month and was working for herself.  He could tell because she was standing off by herself hugging herself against the chill.  He could tell the other girls had run her out of their territory.  She climbed into the front seat of his van and he drove to the designated spot.  He made her undress completely in the back of his van before he had her take him.  It pleased him that he humiliated her.  If it weren’t so cold he would have made her do it outside.  She had the body of a child.  Her chest was flat.  She had little pubic hair.  When she finished he pushed the tazer against her back and then gave her an injection.  He was out the back door before the shock wore off.  After twenty minutes of driving the drug took effect and she stopped pounding on the panel separating the back from the front of the vehicle.  Naïve.

The second mark was a young junkie sitting cross-legged against the fence at Washington Square Park.  He asked her if she turned tricks for drugs.  She didn’t even see the other girl unconscious on the floor until he had the door closed in the back of the van.  He offered her the makings and watched her shoot up.  Desperate.

The third was a little more difficult.  Gantry had to follow him for a while because he wasn’t alone.  He didn’t want the mark’s companions to see his vehicle.  Not that it would make much difference.  A non-descript white van.  No markings, no windows in the back.  The tags were stolen and he changed them after every harvest.  But the fewer mistakes the better.  Mistakes were what caught you in traps.  Traps like Miss Naïve and Miss Desperate were caught in now. 

This one was young too.  The younger the better.  The bosses paid him a cut of the profits and the longer they could work, the more money he would make.  He took the risks and the bosses were willing to pay well for his silence.  They expected silence even if he were caught.  But he hadn’t been caught.  He just had to keep it that way.

Finally the mark said goodnight to his two companions and was walking alone presumably to his home.  He had just come from a party of some sort and was under the influence.  He was giggling to himself as Gantry pulled into the next alley.  He got out of the van and leaned against it pulling out a cigarette as the mark approached.  He was probably nineteen, but not college material.  Tall and lanky, dark hair.

Gantry lit his cigarette.  “You wouldn’t happen to have the time would you?”

The mark smiled.  “A little after two.”

“You want a lift?”

“Thanks.  Maybe I will.”

That was easier than Gantry thought.  In the front seat of the van he pretended to offer him a smoke, but it was the tazer again and the guy never had a chance.  What kind of idiot would take a ride from a stranger after midnight in New York?”  Invincible.

The fourth he wasn’t planning on, but she was begging.  She looked like she had been beaten and she was flagging him down in the street with her blouse torn and a bloody nose.  She couldn’t wait to get in the van.  He promised her a ride to the police department.  Serendipitous.

And now he was looking for one more.  One last mark before he met the taxi man.  He went through one of the red light districts.  There were so many and he knew them all.  He was looking for someone who was standing far enough off that no one could describe him.  He parked the van a little way off and stood outside it with the hood of his jacket drawn up.  Finally a girl approached him.  Well, girl was a loose description.  This one was mid forties with a blond wig.  She was “buxom” and at risk of spilling out of the costume she was wearing.  She had obviously lived hard and looked older than her age from close up.

“You got an itch you need scratched?”

“Maybe.  How much?”

“Twenty for a blowjob.”

“I got a young girl for that the other day.”

“Old girls know more about pleasing than young girls do.”

“I don’t have twenty.”

“How much you got?”

“Ten.”

“Damn.”  She looked over her shoulder at the other girls down the block and then turned back to him.  “Okay, but right here.  I’m not going anywhere else for ten bucks.”

He shrugged.  “Back of my van?”

“Alright.”

He backed into the van first and she followed him in.  Tazer.  Injection.  Should have known better.

He climbed into the front of the van and pulled onto the now quiet street.  Not even three hours work and he had kidnapped five people.  Maybe two would be missed.  Maybe the police would be looking hard for one of them.  Twenty minutes later he pulled into a parking lot near Fulton Street.  A taxi was waiting and followed him into an empty warehouse.  The cab driver was already pulling an unconscious girl from the back seat of the car by the time he got the back door of the van unlocked.  A tall blond whose head was lolling to the side.  He helped put her in the van and then went with the driver to unload the other girl.  Miniskirt and no underwear.  She looked like a college student.  He took hold of her knees and spread her legs to carry her.  He knew better than to do anything other than look at her before bringing her in even though he considered it.  That one would go for a high price.  Reluctantly he loaded her into the back of the van and secured the door.

“I got discs too.  I’ll get ‘em.”

He watched the driver go back to his car.  They knew each other only by sight.  No names.  It was better that way.  He just got a call on a prepaid cell telling him when to meet and he would show up.  The taxi was like his van.  It was purchased used from a hack and looked like one of the business cabs.  The ID number and tags were changed after every harvest as well.  The driver returned with several CD cases and a manilla envelope and handed them to Gantry. 

Forty-five minutes later he made a phone call on the prepaid cell and then backed the van through a rolling garage door into the last bay in a storage facility that rented out space.  It was adjacent to a warehouse next to the Hudson River that stored and distributed liquor.  The bay he backed into had boxes stacked up against both walls.  The back wall looked solid, but once the exterior door was closed he pushed a series of buttons on a keypad on his visor and it lifted back to reveal a ramp into a lengthy concrete tunnel.  He backed through and closed the second door and backed to yet another door then waited until that door was opened for him only moments later.  He backed through the last door and shut the vehicle off as that door also rolled shut.  There were fluorescent lights and multiple cameras in the ceiling of the cubicle he now found himself in.  He heard the magnetic locks release on the double doors as he approached the back of the van.  He opened the van doors as the double doors opened and a male in street clothes entered.  Gantry knew him as Joseph, but he knew it wasn’t his real name.  No one knew anyone’s real name here.  This was not the real world.  Joseph nodded to him and together they carried the seven unconscious people through the double doors and into another room off to the side.  The room had ten cots and multiple cameras.  The lighting was low.  The floor was concrete.  The walls were cinderblock painted white.  They deposited the people on the cots and Gantry followed Joseph into an adjoining room.  Gantry hadn’t seen a room in the place that didn’t have multiple cameras and magnetic locks on heavy steel doors.

Julia was shuffling papers in a small office when Joseph pecked on the door and entered.  “The first one is waking up.  Are you ready for me to bring her?”  Julia didn’t even look up from her paperwork. 

“Yes, Joseph.”

It was Serendipitous with her torn blouse.  She was awake but disoriented as Joseph led her in and invited her to sit in a chair across from Julia.  Joseph introduced Julia.  “This is Detective Becker.  Detective Becker this is Stephanie Chase.  She wants to report an assault.”  Joseph left the room and Julia smiled.

“Tell me what happened, Stephanie.”

Stephanie looked around her, confused as to why she would be asleep on a cot.  “How did I get here?”

“A citizen brought you in, but you must have passed out while you were waiting.  We waited for you to wake up again.  Who was it that assaulted you?”

“My… my friend’s brother.  His name is Andrew McCarthy.”

“Was he your boyfriend?”

“No.  He wanted to date me, but I said no.  He was giving us a ride but he was drunk and almost got in a wreck.  I got out of the vehicle because I was mad at him and he followed me and grabbed me by the wrist.  He wanted to drag me back to the car, but I struggled against him and he punched me in the face.  He hit me in my ribs and stomach too.  I finally broke away from him, but he tore my blouse.  I just flagged down the first vehicle I saw… a white van.  I don’t even remember how I got here.”

“Are you willing to press charges against Mr. McCarthy?”

“Yes.”

“You will have to write a statement now and meet with a magistrate to take out warrants against him.  You would have to testify in court against him.  Are you willing to do that?”

“Yes… He’s tried to force himself on me before and he beats my friend too.  She’s afraid of him.”

“All right then.  I’ll need to have Officer Bruce take pictures of your bruises for evidence.  Will you be okay with that?”

Stephanie studied her for a moment and then nodded slowly.  Julia stood and opened the door and Joseph appeared.

“She says she is willing to testify and press charges.  Take her into the other interview room and have her write out a statement and then she has agreed to let you take pictures of her bruises for evidence.”  Joseph nodded.

Gwen was in the pleasant land between sleep and waking.  She was standing in the middle of a long deserted stretch of road bordered on both sides by endless fields of corn.  It was dark with a quarter moon waning and she watched as headlights approached.  It was a dark three quarter ton pickup with a toolbox across the back.  A working man’s truck.  The driver rolled his window down as he pulled up alongside her.

“Can I help you?”

“My boyfriend and I just had an argument… he made me get out of the car.  You wouldn’t be able to give me a ride, would you?”  She felt her heart race in anticipation as the driver studied her.

“I might be able to help you out.”  He made no further invitation.

“Could I have a ride?”

“I don’t know.  Do you have money?”

She looked up and down the road.  It could be hours before another car came by.  “All I have is the clothes on my back.”

The driver studied her and then slowly smiled.  “Then in return I’d like for you to take off all your clothes.”

Gwen gasped in shock.  “Here?”

The driver made no response and didn’t even smile.  She looked up and down the road again and deflated.  She removed her clothes and handed them through the window.

Then the driver smiled.  “Everything.  Your underwear and shoes too.”

She looked up and down the road again and then took everything off and handed it to him.  “Can I get in now?”

“When I come back, if you want a ride, you’d better be in the middle of the road waiting.  No hiding in the corn fields.”

She nodded as she watched the truck pull away and take the next turn and drive out of sight.

She was still in the middle of the road fifteen minutes later as headlights approached from the other direction.  She could tell it was a truck, but no more than that.  Everyone in Nebraska farm country drove a truck.  She tried to cover herself hoping.  The driver stopped short of her and she was still blinded by the headlights as the door opened and he got out.  She sighed in relief and went to the passenger door.  It was locked.  She watched as he locked her clothes in the toolbox.  He motioned with his head and slowly she approached him on the driver’s side of the vehicle.  She saw in the overhead light of the cab that he was holding a digital camera.  She was still covering herself and he smiled again.

“Just what would you do for a ride?”

She shrugged her shoulders and waited for him to speak again.

“Will you pose for me?”

She shrugged again.

“I would hate to have to leave you out here with no clothes.”  She exhaled to gather courage and then nodded agreement.  He closed the door to the truck and locked it, putting the keys in his pocket.  “Lean back against the truck with your hands behind your back.”  She complied slowly and he took a number of full shots with the flash.  He took her to the front of the truck and took full shots of her in the headlights and then had her turn away from him and touch her toes with her legs spread.  He kissed her on the lips when she came back toward him, but didn’t touch her.  Her heart was racing by then.  Back at the side of the truck away from the road he had her face the truck with her arms resting up on the side of the bed.  He took a full profile from the back and then one from the side that showed all but her nipple.  He was showing her the results of his shots when she realized headlights were approaching from her side of the vehicle.  He whispered as she panicked.  He had to have known the vehicle was approaching for some time.  “Don’t move.  Stay exactly where you are.  The headlights are shining in his eyes.”  She froze as the vehicle pulled alongside theirs in the road.  Her heart jumped even further in her throat as she realized it was a deputy’s vehicle. 

“Evening officer.”  The driver’s voice was even and calm with a hint of a smile in it.

“Evening.  Everything okay here?  You’re not broke down are you?”

“No.  Everything is fine.  We were just out enjoying the warm weather and watching the stars.”  Gwen nodded dumbly feeling like a deer caught in the headlights. 

“All right, then.  Don’t keep that young lady out too late.”

“I won’t sir.  You have a good night.”

Gwen exhaled slowly as the deputy began pulling away.

“Don’t move.”  The driver stepped behind her and to her other side leaving her fully exposed once again to the deputy’s vehicle.

“Please.”

“Don’t… Don’t move a muscle.  If you don’t move, you won’t attract his attention.”

She held perfectly still with her heart racing and feeling every nerve in her skin exposed and naked.  She felt a thrill as he touched her nipple and ran his hand over her as the deputy’s vehicle grew smaller in the distance.  Finally she flew into his arms kissing him.  He caught her and laughed as she jumped and straddled his waist.  He set her on the tailgate and she spread her legs as he took a number of pictures.

“Can I have a ride now?”

He pulled back and smiled.  “Not just yet.”

“Why not?”

He smiled and unlocked the vehicle.  He tossed the camera in the cab and came back to her with a Ziploc bag.  She looked at the contents and then hugged him and kissed him again.  He had to push her away and her eyes were filled with desire as she offered him her wrist.  He pulled a piece of twine from the bag.  He wrapped it three times around her wrist and she put both hands behind her back as he wrapped it three times around the other wrist.  He ran the left over ends of the twine around her waist and tied them securely in front of her.  He knew her well enough to know she would do anything he asked now.  She stood still as a statue as he touched her breasts and worked his thumbs in circles on her nipples.  She was tanned dark and had no tan lines.  They had spent hours at the pond that summer.  She groaned softly in expectation and he kissed her deeply.  He loved the anticipation.  He pulled her buttocks toward him as she moved against him.  She allowed herself to be led back into the headlights and watched him as he pulled the last item from the Ziploc bag.  It was a pair of swimming goggles, but these he had painted black on the inside.  She would be left completely blinded.  She writhed in anticipation as he put them on her.  He left her then and she thought he was going to drive away, but when he came back she could smell the sharp aroma of marijuana.  She felt it touch her lips and took a slow, but deep hit.  She resisted the urge to cough and kept the smoke in her mouth as he had shown her before.  It was only the second time she had smoked.  It made her queasy, but strangely euphoric.  He kissed her and she exhaled slowly into his mouth.  He let her take another hit and she held it as long as she could as he ran his hands across her body and between her legs.

“Stay in the road again.  Stay in the middle of the road.  When I come back kneel down and open your mouth.”  She smiled and he held her close.

“What if someone else comes first?”

“Then they will have a treat.”  He kissed her again and she heard his boots on the sand in the road as he walked back to the truck.  She tried to memorize the sound of the engine as he drove away, but it was non-distinct.  It would offer her no help.  Her heart was pounding like a drum.  She couldn’t see anything.  Time slowed as the pot began to work through her.  The feeling of euphoria increased.  It seemed like forever before she heard the sound of an engine approaching again.  Her heart began beating faster, but she stood still waiting.  She faced the sound and spread her legs.  She hoped it was Brian, but there wasn’t anything she could do if it wasn’t.  The vehicle stopped in front of her.  She heard a door open and close and then a second door open and close.  That made her heart jump.  She smelled alcohol and turned to run, but she found herself held fast in a bear hug.  Slowly she was released and she turned.  Someone grabbed her breast and exhaled, then grabbed the other roughly.  She sank to her knees in the headlights.  She heard the rasp of a zipper and a belt being undone.  The smell of alcohol was strong.  She knew Brian rarely drank.  Still she hoped it was him.  She found the tip of his stiffened organ at her mouth and took it in.  Then he groaned and she knew.  She didn’t even feel the asphalt under her knees as she pleasured him until he couldn’t hold back any longer.

When she finished he helped her stand and the familiarity of his touch returned.  He stuck his tongue far into her mouth.  She could still taste the joint and feel its effects.  He cut the engine on the truck and led her to the tailgate laying her back on it.  She spread her legs for him again raising her feet to the edge of the tailgate and felt his tongue slip into her and over every private inch.  He slipped his arms under and around her thighs to pull them even farther apart.  She moaned in pleasure just before she came.  He kept at her even after the waves stopped crashing and she made no move to stop him.  After some time he pulled her to the edge of the tailgate again and she felt the tip of his organ moving against her.  She arched her back as he played with her breasts and then entered her.  She raised her knees and could smell him and feel the dampness of his skin against hers as his hips moved in rhythm while he continued to fondle her.  Her hips moved against his until he came again. 

After he recovered she heard him fasten his pants and then felt the edge of his pocketknife on her stomach as he cut the twine.  Still she was helpless and he had to work to release her rolling her slightly from side to side and working the twine from her wrists.  Then he lay beside her and she removed the goggles and snuggled into him.  They lay like that for close to an hour watching the stars in the dark night sky and whispering quietly to one another.

Joseph took the yellow legal pad from Stephanie and set it to the side with the pen on top of it.

“Detective Becker told you we need to take pictures?”

Stephanie nodded close to tears.

“I’ll make it as easy as I possibly can.”

The interview room had a mirror/window common in police departments.  It was painted cinderblock as Detective Becker’s office had been.  Metal table and utilitarian chairs.  There was a filing cabinet in the corner.  Joseph opened the top drawer and took out a digital camera.  He returned and took a head shot and then a profile of her bruised cheek. 

“You’ll have to take your blouse off.”

Stephanie nodded and turned her back as she removed her blouse.  She had no bra on.  She held the blouse crumpled in front of her as she turned. 

“Can you back up against the wall?”

Her eyes filled with tears as she backed up and bumped blindly against the wall.  Joseph approached her and stood just in front of her and then touched her chin.

“I’m sorry.  I know this is hard.  I may have to take several pictures.  Just wait a minute if you need to and then lower your blouse when you’re ready.  You can close your eyes if it helps.”

Joseph backed away and then after sighing, Stephanie lowered her blouse.  He snapped as many photos as he could before she brought it up again.

“Is it enough?”

“Probably.  Put your blouse back on and I will see if I can find something else for you to put on and make sure the pictures show the bruises.”

She nodded smiling wanly.

       Julia was watching the monitors when Joseph entered.

       “Well, that wasn’t too difficult now, was it?”

       Joseph smiled and looked over her shoulder at the screen showing the interview room.  The girl was sitting straight facing the camera with her hands in her lap waiting for him to bring her another blouse. 

       “Let me see the pictures.”

       Julia studied the pictures of the girl.  They were good enough for their purpose.  In a few days they were sure to get better pictures.

       “Wake the pro up next.”

       

       Julia was back at her desk when Joseph brought the pro in.  Julia indicated that he should stay and he closed the door and leaned back against the wall nearby.  She gestured to the chair and the pro took a seat.  She was looking much worse for the wear, disheveled, with make-up smeared.  She sat splay-legged and unconcerned.  She was still groggy from the shot she had been given.

       “Where am I?”

       “You don’t remember being arrested?”

       “Arrested?  This isn’t like any police station I’ve ever seen.  Where am I?”

       “You’re right.  I’ll tell you where you are.  You are in a whorehouse.”

“A whorehouse?”

“It is your new home.  There is no escape.”

       “No escape?”  She repeated everything, not comprehending.  She would comprehend soon enough.

       “No escape.  Joseph will show you around in a little while so that you can see for yourself.”

       “I got a kid.”

       “I’m sure your child will do fine in the foster care system.”

       “But she’s mine!  She’s all I got!  She needs me!”

       Julia studied her silently for a moment.

       “How long have you been working the streets?”

       “What?”

       “How long have you been accepting money or goods for sex?”

       “Ten years maybe.”

       Julia laughed incredulously.  “Try again.”

       “Since I was sixteen.  My mom kicked me out of the house when I got pregnant and my boyfriend dumped me.  I had a miscarriage, but I refused to go back.”

       “And you’re how old now?  The truth please.”

       “Forty-two.”

       “How old is your daughter?”

       “Eleven.  Please… you have to let me go.”

       Again there was a silent pause.  “Does she know what you do?”

       The pro shook her head in disgust.  “No!  She thinks I’m a cocktail waitress.  No!”

       “Do you use drugs?”

       “No…”

“Drink?”

“Yes.”

“Are we going to have to detox you?”

“I won’t get anything to drink?”

       “We’ll see how things go.  If you’re an alcoholic, no.  If you aren’t, we might consider it as a reward.  How often do you get checked for STD’s?”

       “Every six months unless I have symptoms.”

       “What are you willing to do?”

       “It depends on how much the john is willing to pay.”

       “Bondage?”

       “If he’s not too weird.”

       “Girl-on-girl.”

       “Yeah.”

       “Torture.”

       “Not on purpose.”

       “Have you been beaten up?”

       “Hasn’t everybody?”

       Julia acknowledged.  “But you don’t like it.”

       The pro shook her head studying Julia.

        “As I said, there is no escape.  You will come to see that as Joseph shows you around.  You will not be paid.  You are our prisoner, but there are rewards for good behavior.  Your tricks will definitely be better.  The sooner you accept things as they are and realize it is to your benefit to cooperate the easier it will be for you.”  Julia studied the expressions that crossed her face.  “Take your clothes off.”

       The pro glanced from her to Joseph and back again.  Julia gestured and waited.  The pro stood and disrobed.  Her eyes never left Julia’s face.  Julia got up from the chair behind the desk and approached her.  She didn’t meet the pro’s gaze, but studied her body.  She ran her hand over the pro’s breast and nipple.  She walked around her looking her up and down.  She was merely checking out a new horse for the stable.

       “Put your hands on the desk please and spread your legs.”

       The pro did as she was asked and Julia studied her.  She was a good sixty pounds overweight and had rolls of flesh across her stomach, back and inside her thighs.

       “Give her the complete tour Joseph.  Then turn her over to Christopher for processing.  What is your name?”

       “My street name is Bonnie.”

       “And your real name?”

       “Pamela Ward.”

       “We’ll call you Bonnie for now.”

       The pro stooped to pick up her clothes, but stood again as Julia spoke.

       “You won’t need those anymore.  When you go through processing people may ask you to do things.  Whatever they ask, do it.  They will all report to me.  Take her away Joseph.”

       Julia was watching the DVD of Gwen at the bar when Joseph returned.  He watched over her shoulder for a moment.

       “How did she like the tour?”

       “She was very impressed.  I think she will be extremely cooperative.  I explained to her that we would only have a limited market for her.  She said she would be willing to teach others what she knows.”

       “I want her on a diet.  She could be beautiful if she lost weight.  Did you see her eyes?”

Joseph remained silent.

“I know.  She’s not your type.  Look at this girl.  Have you watched these?”

       “No.”

       “She has no inhibition.”

       “Dominique slipped Ecstasy in her drink.”

       “Adam comes tonight.  If she doesn’t wake before, get her up around two and we’ll make sure she gets some food in her and is feeling well.  We’ll let him help you with her lingerie shoot.”

       “There’s another one stirring.”

       “So there is.  I’ll be here.”

       Joseph nodded and a few moments later he led a girl into her office.  They all had that dazed expression at first, then blank disbelief and shock followed by any number of emotions.  Eventually they all came to accept being there, though.  Her methods of persuasion were very effective. 

       Julia gestured to the chair and the girl sat down.

       “Name?”

       “Lori Burke.”

       “Len says you turn tricks for drugs.  How long have you been using?”

       “Since I was fifteen.  Four years.”

       “Have you been on the street all that time?”

       “No.  They sent me to rehab a couple times.  My parents.  The last time I ran away.  I tried to go back to them, but they said I had to get my life together first.  They said I couldn’t live with them if I was using.  I’ve been on the street for a year and a half.”

       “Do you make your tricks use condoms?”

       Lori shook her head.  “Sometimes.  Sometimes I’m too out of it.  What is this place?”

       “When was the last time you were tested for STD’s?”

       Lori shrugged.

       “You haven’t been tested since rehab, have you?”

       “No.  What is this place?”

       “It’s rehab.”

       Lori’s eyes widened in fear, “I have to agree.  I didn’t agree to this!”

       “Unfortunately this time it is compelled.  You were taken before a magistrate last night.  She could see that you were far beyond the capability to help yourself and so you have been committed.  We are here to help you.  We’ll kick this together.”

       Lori just looked at her.

       “I know it won’t be easy.  I think by your reaction that the reason you are doing the drugs is to escape from something even worse that was going on in your life.  We can get someone to talk to you who will be able to help you.  Then maybe you will want to conquer this.”

       “I don’t want to though.  I feel sick when I can’t get the drugs.  I don’t like feeling strung out.  And I always go back.  Even when I get off them, I can’t stay away.”

       Julia approached her and pulled another chair close.  She took the girl’s arm and examined the tracks. 

       “I know it’s not easy.  I’m not saying it is, but look at what you have become.  Do you like what you have become?”

       Lori broke down in tears and Julia took her hand and watched her for a moment.  She knew most of it was because she was afraid.

       “We won’t leave you alone.  We’ll assign someone to be by your side constantly until you get through the worst of it.  After that there will be individual and group therapy sessions.  You can do it.  I know you can.  There are others here who have been through what you have and they lead productive lives now.”  She held Lori’s hand until she was able to pull herself together a little.  “Joseph, will you take Lori to the infirmary and have them do a full exam and panel of tests?  Tell them to change her out of her clothes and into a gown.  Once they are done tell them to assign someone to be with her.  They can take her to the showers and get her a clean change of clothing before taking her to a room.  Tell them to let her have all the chocolate and juice she wants until the worst is over.”  Julia stood and pulled Lori to her feet.  Lori couldn’t meet her gaze, but she nodded in apprehensive resignation before following Joseph out of the room.

       Julia smiled.  Joseph was as much a chameleon as she was.

       Julia turned back to her desk and began jotting notes.  There was a good chance the girl had AIDS.  They would have to wait for the test results to come back before putting her on the market. 

       Gwen was lying on her stomach on a beach towel near the pond.  The first hot day of the year Brian had suggested cooling off in the pond, but Gwen didn’t have her suit.  Brian smiled and told her she didn’t need one.  He wasn’t too upset when she declined.  He had probably expected it of her even though they had gone parking several times.  He still hadn’t tried to push her and had backed off when she pushed his hands away from her breasts.  Patience had its rewards.  She wore her suit under her jeans the next warm day though, and they had splashed around for more than an hour before going back to work.  They had worked together on the farm since February when the lambing began.  She stayed at the house almost from the start since it could be all night work.  His father had been pleased that she had pulled her share and asked her to stay on through the summer.  He had been the one to talk to her mother and her mother agreed.  He realized that Brian and Gwen were getting closer but told them as long as the work was done in a timely manner he didn’t object to them going for a swim at lunch or out for a drive in the evening.  And so after the first swim at the pond Nora had given Gwen her string bikini.  She had also given her almost a year’s worth of birth control pills.  Nora didn’t need them.  She was pregnant again anyway.

       Gwen felt a tickle across her shoulders.  Brian tied two or three pieces of twine together at one end and feathered the strands to make a soft brush.  He played it over her back and down the back and inside of her thigh.  She felt a thrill go through her.  He slid his finger just under her swimsuit bottom at her hip.  “You’re getting dark.  It’s too bad you’ll have all these tan lines.”  She had lamented just the night before about the lines that showed when she wore a round neck blouse.  “Can I kiss your back?”  She made a noise that was an assent and another thrill went through her as she felt his tongue on her back.  At the same time she felt the tickle of the twine again on her leg.  She lay still enjoying the feelings and didn’t object when he untied her top and set the strings to the side.  She felt him sit up next to her and she lay still as he continued stroking her with the twine.  He continued kissing and licking her back.  She spread her legs further when he pulled slightly on the inside of her thigh and he began concentrating with the twine on the backs and inside of her thighs.  That was the first time she had truly become aroused and he noticed the difference in her breathing.  He straddled her with his arms and leaned to whisper in her ear.  “Where can I kiss you?”

       “Anywhere that isn’t covered.”  She felt a thrill and twitched involuntarily as his tongue touched the inside of her thigh just at the line of her swimsuit. His breath was harsher in her ear as he straddled her again.

       “Are you okay?”

       “Is this what it’s like, Brian?”

       She could feel his smile.  “It gets even better.”  She felt him as he rubbed against her.  She felt her resolve fading as he continued to kiss her thighs and his tongue reached between. 

       She rolled over suddenly, forgetting that he had untied her top.  He stopped and looked at her and she saw the same need she knew he could see in her eyes.  He looked at her exposed breasts and at first she thought to cover them, but then she wanted him to see them.  She came to him and he cradled her in his arms and they kissed as he fondled her.  “You’re right.  This is better.”

       He smiled.  “It gets even better than this.”

       He sensed her hesitancy and stopped to look at her.  She knew his need was urgent and she felt guilty bringing him to that point only to disappoint him.

       “You’re not ready.”

       “I love you Brian… Are you angry?”

       He kissed her again slowly and deeply and then sighed.

       “I’m not angry.  I love you.  It is a gift you should give only when you are ready.”  He picked up the twine and she closed her eyes as he played it over her breasts.

       “I’m afraid I’ll get pregnant.”

       “After Nora…”

       Gwen nodded. 

       “I have condoms.”

       She shrugged and he understood.

       “There are other things that we can do.”

       He taught her how to give him a hand job and then he had held her in his arms for a long time to reassure her that it was enough for the time.  He continued stroking her and when she tightened up he encouraged her to relax and enjoy the feelings.  She told him about the birth control pills and promised that she would start taking them.  That night they had gone to the old barn at the back of the property.  At her request he began to teach her what pleased him.  He found that her guilt for not being ready to complete the sexual act made her willing to do more than he expected.  She went topless again, but still wouldn’t remove her underwear.  She knelt in front of him completely aroused as she brought him into her mouth.  He thought he could have removed her underwear then, but he was satisfied to wait.  He knew it wouldn’t be long before she took them off herself.  He did take the rest of her clothes and refused to give them back until she had run around the outside of the barn three times.  She jumped into his arms straddling him laughing when she was done and then straightened her back until he had no choice but to take her nipple into his mouth.  It was hard as a rock.