"My name is Lucas. Theo and I are brothers and I'm 14 years old. I've been playing since June, but not seriously."
"Why are you here?"
"Just keeping them company."
"You're athletic enough. What sport do you play that you do enjoy?"
"Fighting."
"Boxing?"
"Yah."
"Dream Girl. Are these guys your brothers or what? You have an entirely different bone structure to your face."
"My name is Dreamer, I'm 15, and I've been adopted into their family. Theo and I started playing ball at the same time. His Granny coached me too and I can't beat her."
"What do you like to do when you aren't kneeing dumb-asses in their brains?"
"I manage a chocolate store. Lucas and Theo work with me. I didn't do anything wrong. I was defending myself. I don't see why we can't continue to play here."
"Well, if you want to know what you did wrong, you can't dribble worth a darn with your left hand. But you showed a good high knee lift, so I guess that counts in your favour. You are allowed to continue to play at the U of T. But not in that gym. We let the good players into this gym." And with that, he opened the back door to the U of T main gym.
"Theo and Dreamer, we give small group instruction from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Continuous games start at 1 p.m. and go to 5 p.m. The twenty players who show the most effort in the afternoon are invited to play a full court game at 7 p.m. Everybody here is older than you. They're also better. You'll probably quit after the first week."
"Lucas, if you want to get serious about basketball, you can come too. Otherwise, I'll introduce you to the boxing coach. He runs similar weekend practices."
"Who are you?" Theo asked.
"You can call me Coach."
# # # # # # # #
They arrived back at the ship at 9 p.m. Theo and Dreamer had stayed to watch the game. Three girls made it to the final twenty. Dreamer noticed, but did not comment on the fact that none of them had any boobs to speak of. That made her feel better. She was their height, but in everything else basketball-wise, they were better. They were also older. Lucas had visited the boxing gym and had stayed late to practice on something called the speed bag.
"Amazing day," Dreamer said as Lucas rummaged through the fridge looking for anything to eat. Even a vegetable. "I wish I could tell Wizard."
"No reason why you can't," Theo said.
"You know I can't. He won't talk to me. Besides, just because I didn't freak out when somebody touched me, that doesn't mean that I'm better. You guys are going to continue to help me, right?"
"Could we talk about the topless stuff?" This from Theo.
"She's starting to go around bottomless too."
"No, Dreamer. Please! Have pity!"
"Lucas?"
"I don't care but Theo is starting to vibrate when you walk by – even when he has his eyes closed which he has almost all the time. Besides, you wouldn't want Wizard to drop in unexpectedly and find you walking around without any clothes on."
"OK. Last day showing skin will be tomorrow. Only the top will be bare. You guys have helped me a lot!"
# # # # # # # #
Unfortunately for everybody concerned, the possibility of Wizard dropping by unexpectedly was no longer a consideration. Waterborne or airborne, that ship had sailed. Wizard had dropped in unexpectedly, and invisibly, thinking that he would like to at least talk with Dreamer again. Who knows. Perhaps?
When he saw her in her bedroom, completely naked, and braiding Lucas' hair, that thought had evaporated like a drop of water hitting a hot iron, which Lucas or Theo wouldn't know anything about but Dreamer would. Obviously Dreamer had been having sex with Lucas for some time. They were within a minute of having it right in front of him now. Wizard tried to convince himself that there could be a reasonable explanation, but all he could see was a completely naked Dreamer leaning over Lucas' back and kissing his ear. Wizard left before he had to witness what was coming next.
Then the next morning when he took a quick peek inside the ship, he saw Dreamer half-naked in the kitchen having breakfast with both Theo and Lucas. They had obviously seen her like this many times since they hardly looked at her at all.
Add to all of this what had happened in the gym. After the fight or whatever it was that they almost had, Wizard saw how the three of them were. Dreamer had been very happy and had hugged Lucas tight and kissed him passionately on the lips. She did exactly the same thing to Theo.
Only one conclusion to draw.
Dreamer was having sex with both of Wizard's brothers.
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Chapter 20
It was the last week of September and Pililiani was cutting hair in the salon in Big House #4's basement. Big Momma #4 was currently in the chair. As hostess of the event, she was the first to have her hair done. Also in the salon were her equivalents from the four closest ranches: Big Momma #2, Big Momma #3, Big Momma #7, and Big Momma #10. Twice a month, the five ladies would have Pililiani wash and cut their hair. They'd sit and gossip the entire morning. Pililiani carried on shampooing, cutting, and styling – as well as chuckling and snickering – as the stories unfolded. Pililiani had been around forever; the ladies made no attempt to hold anything back from her. In fact, Pililiani was the oldest slave on any of the ranches. This was a position of seniority that gave her some power within her own group of housekeepers who always accompanied their mistresses to these social gatherings but met separately. Right now, she was focused on memorizing all of the lurid details of the Big Mommas' sexual excursions so that she could tell the other housekeepers over lunch. They'd also share news on everything important that was happening or was due to happen on the ranches in their area. Pililiani had learned about the impending visits of the itty-bitty blondes in this manner. She was anxious to ask if the other little white girls were being drugged and why the other housekeepers thought that was happening.
Karita was also in the salon. Her job was to sweep the floor, bring things to Pililiani, and paint the toenails and fingernails of the Big Mommas. This last task was a new salon service that Pililiani had introduced and she used it to explain why the little girl was there. The real reason for her presence was Pililiani's desire to keep her safe. When she wasn't busy, Karita would use a pair of hair salon scissors to cut out some hand-tracings that Pililiani had helped her make before breakfast. She'd colour them during the afternoon and Pililiani would attach them to the front of the big freezer in the kitchen. Big Momma asked about the safety of the scissors since they were quite large but was reassured when Pililiani said that they were old and dull.
# # # # # # # #
By mid-morning, and with Big Momma #2 now in the chair, Karita had finished cutting all of the hand tracings and was sitting cross-legged on the floor in a corner of the salon by the hair dyes and skin moisturizers. Pililiani had found some small-sized clothes that fit her in the ranch's nursery. These clothes had all been made in the moonlight since the huts where the field slaves lived did not have any electricity. Big Momma thought that keeping the huts dark would force the slaves to go to sleep earlier, wake up earlier, and then work harder in the fields the next day. But Big Momma couldn't turn off the moonlight. She could ensure that they worked hard in the fields though. Field slaves who didn't work hard were declared excess to needs. Any slaves designated in such a manner would take a long trip and not come back.
Karita was wearing gray leggings under a gray shift. Old hand-me-downs tend to lose their colours over the years. These legging fit and they were warm enough for September. She was playing with some discarded paper that Pililiani had found in the trash. (Pililiani always read the contents of the trash baskets coming out of Big Momma's and Big Daddy's offices. This morning those papers had provided nothing of interest.) Karita had brought a set of felt pens with her when she came to the ranch and she was using those to put alphabet letters on the trash papers. Pililiani saw a big W and a
few lower case p's. Even if she had thought about looking at Karita's letters the other way around, they wouldn't have meant anything to her. Pililiani didn't notice when Karita left the salon to go into the nearby washroom. She did hear a clunk at one point that sounded like the heavy toilet top had become dislodged. She forgot about that sound when Big Momma #10 started a story about Big Daddy #10's ugly toes and what lengths he went to hide them. The next time she saw Karita, she had a little spot of blood on her finger.
"I put a Band-Aid on it," Karita said. "But it fell off. It's not dripping any more."
When Pililiani asked Karita how she had hurt herself, it was Maddy who answered. "I got a sliver from a piece of wood. It didn't hurt much."
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Chapter 21
It was early Thursday morning, four days after that great Sunday experience in the U of T gym. Lucas was sound asleep on the deck of the ship. He didn't know that he was sleeping on the ship's deck, but he was. He didn't feel somebody lifting him up off the deck, but somebody was. Nor did he feel that somebody dropping him into the waters of Lake Ontario, but somebody did. He did feel the water rushing into his nose and mouth, awoke at that point, and frantically used his sling to emerge from what was becoming a frothy descent to the bottom of the lake. Lucas hovered in place for a moment to catch his breath and wipe the water from his face. When he looked up, he saw the Wilizy/Asia hovering next to him and Theo leaning on the ship's railing looking at him. "Are you awake now?" Theo asked.
Theo stopped Lucas from boarding the ship, even though Lucas complained about having a splitting headache. He did answer Lucas' question about the time. It was 6:00 in the morning. In response to Lucas' question why Theo had thrown him in the water, Theo replied, "I have to start work at 9:00 and you and I have some things to work through." When Lucas asked why he couldn't come on board, Theo said, "Because you still have puke all over your clothes. Wash yourself off in the lake first."
# # # # # # # #
With Lucas now clean, albeit complaining bitterly about the way he had been woken up, Theo commiserated tenderly about the harsh treatment and the splitting headache. "Shut up," he said. "Get in my sling. We're going to TiTr back to earlier this morning. Don't puke in my sling."
Soon Lucas and Theo were hovering invisibly above a dark Toronto alley. "It's 1:00 in the morning," Theo explained to a still soggy and stupefied brother. "You are leaving the bar that you had been in for three hours. You'll be walking around that corner in a moment. Do you remember walking away from that bar?"
"No. Why? I obviously made it back to the ship alright."
"Really? Let's see. You're coming around the corner now."
Below them, the dark shape of a man staggered down the alley. He was walking in a long zig only to bounce off a building wall to begin the next zag. Or perhaps it would be a zag followed by a zig. The stumbling figure didn't seem to care. Remaining semi-upright was requiring all of his attention. "That's you," Theo said.
"I don't believe you."
Theo dropped his sling low enough that they could look closely at the drunk as he passed under a light.
"I don't remember any of this."
"That's because you were stinking drunk. You're going to meet some friends in a minute." Theo flew Lucas slowly to the corner where the alley met Spadina Avenue. Hiding just around the corner were four men. One man was holding a short whip; the others appeared to be unarmed, but they had bulges in their pocket. "I'll TiTr us back in time five minutes so that you can hear what surprise these men had in store for you."
Five minutes of back-time passed while below them, the four men described what they were going to do to the drunk after he turned the corner.
"You heard them. Three of those guys are going to hold you while a fourth guy whips your clothes off. In your current condition, do you think you'd be able to get away without revealing the secret of the sling?"
"Why are they going to whip me?"
"I was hoping you'd know."
"I don't."
"Do recognize any of them?"
"No."
"What does send the others a warning mean to you?"
"Nothing."
"If you had been sober, they wouldn't have been able to whip you senseless."
"What happened instead?"
"You'll see."
Lucas and Theo watched as the drunk staggered further down the dark alley towards the intended whipping. Then, one second the drunk was there, the next second, he wasn't.
"You grabbed me?"
"Yup."
"How'd you get there in time?"
"I've been following you to your pubs this week. You returned to the ship on your own Monday and Tuesday night but you were drunk both nights. You thought that you had hidden it from me, but I was behind you the whole way, making sure you made it home safely. Wednesday night, you could have died from that beating. Those goons may have been planning to kill you."
"I owe you."
"Yup, and you're going to pay me."
# # # # # # # #
Lucas was leaning over the railing of the ship in his red sleeping shorts and with the rest of his body bare. He was holding an open bottle of beer under his nose with his left hand. His right hand was gripping the ship's rail. Gripping it hard, in fact. A bird flying high over Lake Ontario might have heard the whap of a wet towel hitting flesh and come by to investigate the sound coming from an invisible ship.
"Are you inhaling the smell of that beer?"
"I'm going to barf again."
"Then barf again. That won't stop me from whipping you with this towel."
Indeed, Theo didn't stop all the time that Lucas was retching nothing onto the waters of the lake far below. He continued to wet the towel down from a bucket of lake water, continued to wring it into a thick wet whip, and continued to flail at Lucas' bare back. The towel wasn't thin enough to break the skin, but it was wet and tough enough to bruise. Lucas' back would be a mass of angry bruises in a day or so.
"Turn and face me," Theo ordered. "Smell the beer." Then he started on Lucas' front.
"Ah man," Lucas moaned.
"The next time you smell beer, what are you going to remember?"
"Getting whipped," Lucas said.
"Good."
# # # # # # # #
"Turn," Theo ordered. "Take two more swallows."
"I'm going to barf again."
"That's why you're leaning on the rail."
This time, Theo went after Lucas' legs.
# # # # # # # #
"Turn," Theo ordered. "Last round. Can you take it or do you want to curl up on the deck and hold your tum-tum?"
"I can take it," Lucas said.
"Finish the bottle," Theo said. Then he finished the front of Lucas' legs as Lucas spewed the last of the beer onto the deck.
# # # # # # # #
"I have to go to work. I'll handle the whole day. When you can, clean up the barf on the other side of the ship and here. You gotta think your decisions through more, Lucas."
"I know man. God, I hurt."
"It'll be worse tonight and tomorrow. We'll go camping Saturday. Get out of this stinking city."
"Thanks man."
"Yup."
# # # # # # # #
Saturday morning, Theo and Lucas flew to Kingston, a small city northeast of Toronto. From there, they flew over what had been known as the Thousand Islands. These islands filled the northeastern end of Lake Ontario as it became the St. Lawrence River, which drained into the Atlantic. With the decline of rain in the area, all of the five Great Lakes could now be called five So-So Lakes. With lake levels down, that meant that the St. Lawrence River could be more accurately referred to as the St. Lawrence Rivulet. Where there had been clear, deep-water channels through the islands, now there were places where you could cross from one island to another and not fall into the bottom of a bog more than up to your knees. If the alligators didn't eat you first, that is.
&nbs
p; That's right, alligators. Swamps. Hot humid conditions. Perfect for alligators. With global warming, alligators had spread north from the southern United States. Theo was interested in seeing one or two. But only from a distance. They chose to camp on a small island that was a quick flight to either the Canadian side of the rivulet or to the U.S. side of the rivulet. The island itself was oval, about 4 kilometers long (3 miles), and 1.5 kilometers wide (1 mile). It was covered in vegetation with a mixture of high ground, bog, and some significant swamps. Theoretically it was possible to walk from the island to Canada, but Theo and Lucas wouldn't be doing that because of the alligators.
Alligators typically are 4 meters long (14 feet) and weigh over 450 kilograms (990 pounds). They hide in the murky waters, lunge out of the water to catch their prey, and then drag it back into the water to drown it. Their hunting habits tend to deter people from walking through their territory.
Once an alligator's mouth is open, not much will stop it from closing into its victim. It's theoretically possible to stop an alligator from opening its mouth by just pressing your hand on top of the snout. That assumes that the alligator in in the mood to be petted. Alligators kill large prey by grabbing it in its jaws, spinning wildly in the water, and tearing off bite-sized chunks of its victim. This death roll is good for the alligator; not so good for the prey. Theo knew all of this because he had done the research. His plan was to lounge in a tree overlooking a place that alligators would lurk and see if they could catch sight of one. He wasn't planning on going swimming with one. Theo didn't know that Lucas was planning exactly that kind of excursion. Something that Theo had said the morning of the whipping needed a response.
They decided to fly over the island first before picking a home base. A small primitive camp sat at the northern end of the island where the bogs were worst. They could see house-like structures built on stilts over a bog and wooden suspension bridges going from one structure to another. Two elderly women were crossing over a bridge when they flew by. The walkway sagged badly and these weren't heavy women.
"Why did they set up over one of the most dangerous spots on the island," Theo asked.
"That doesn't make sense unless it's a good fishing area," Lucas replied.