The next morning, Mamma woke Richie up and brought him breakfast. She
talked to him while she fed him at a table in one corner. She then told
him that he was to stay in the nursery and she would send children to play
with him later on in the afternoon. Richie spent the morning watching the
children work in the garden. They cut the grass, pulled weeds, watered,
and planted. A couple even got into a water fight with their hoses.
Richie wondered how anyone could be so happy being a slave. But it was a
nice day outside. the sky was clear, the sun was out. Richie suddenly
wanted to go outside. It had been over a year since his kidnapping
according to the guy in the hall. A year since he had been outside. Hell,
it had been a year since he had seen the outside. Richie looked past the
children and noticed that they were on the coast somewhere. He could see
the ocean from his window. The ocean. it had been forever since he had
been in the ocean. Richie heard the door to his room open and looked to
see who it was. It was Master and two children carrying trays. Richie
looked at him.
"Ahem?" Master cleared his throat. Richie paused then crouched on the floor. "That's better. I have brought lunch. Would you like to join me?" Richie craned his neck to look up at the man. "This is where you say 'Yes, Master'," he prompted.
"Yes, Master," Richie repeated, still fumbling over the words.
"Then come here." Richie got up and walked over to the table. The two children put the trays down and Master shooed them out of the room. "Now when you sit with the rest of the children, you will all join hands to say your prayers. But since it is just you and me you get to do it by yourself." Richie looked at him. "Go on. I know Mamma has taught it to you." Richie recited the prayer. "Very good. Now you may eat."
For the first time since Richie had been let out of Time Out, he got to feed himself. Master sat beside him and ate his lunch. When they were done, Master called for the children that had apparently been waiting outside the door to take the trays away.
"Stand up and let me see what I can do with you," Mater ordered. He hit Richie in the head when he didn't immediately move to get up. "When I tell you to do something, you do it. No questions asked; no thinking involved and no hesitation! Do you understand?" Richie took too long to answer and received another blow to the head. "Yes, Master."
"Yes, Master," Richie quickly repeated.
"Now stand up and let me see what I can do with you." Richie jumped to his feet. "That was much better," Master said giving him an approving pat on the head. He cupped Richie's cheek with his hand and looked him in the eye. "I don't like having to be so rough with you. But you must learn to obey. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Master."
"See? You've already learned your lesson. Now, you have a nice face. body's not bad. could use less baby fat, need toning," he murmured as he walked around Richie cupping and grabbing. "Now this." he smiled, stopping in front of Richie and taking his exposed penis in his hand. "You will make a good chamber boy."
"What the fuck, man?!" Richie barked jerking away. "Don't touch me!"
Master grabbed Richie by the arm. "Do not EVER use that tone with me!" he yelled, backhanding Richie. "I am your master. I own you!" He threw Richie to the floor. "I may touch what I want of my property!" Richie huddled into a ball as he tried to protect himself as Master beat him and yelled. "I own you! You are mine and I will do as I please with you!"
"Master!" Mamma scolded from the doorway. "What has boy done?"
"He must learn to be complacent," Master said as he continued to hit Richie.
"Did Master warn boy he was going to touch him?" Mamma asked pointedly, putting a gently restraining hand on Master's shoulder. "Boy is new. He will learn his place. Give him time."
"Handle him," Master said before he turned and left.
"Boy," Mamma said shaking her head fondly at Richie who lay sobbing on the floor in a pool of his own blood. "You must learn. Master will not hurt you."
"Yeah, right," Richie scoffed.
Mamma landed a solid whack on an exposed butt cheek. "Manners!"
"I'm sorry," he apologized quickly.
"Good." Mamma helped him to his feet and sat him on his bed. "Boy will stay here and Mamma will fetch children to draw him a bath."
She left and came back a few minutes later with four children behind her. Two went straight to the blood and began to clean it up and one began to fill the tub with warm water. The fourth knelt by Richie's bed and openly stared at him.
"What did you do?" the girl asked.
Richie blinked. None of the children had ever addressed him before. "Nothing," he answered looking away.
"Mamma said you refused Master's touch. Is that true?"
"So what? He had no right to do that."
"Of course he does. He owns you."
"Nobody owns Richie Ryan," he told her.
"Who's Richie Ryan?"
"I am!"
"But Master owns you. He bought you."
"He kidnapped me," Richie told her.
"He takes care of you; he feeds you."
"No one asked him to."
"Boy!" Mamma scolded, popping him in the head. "Boy must not speak of Master that way."
"It's true," he challenged, earning him another smack in the head.
"Boy must learn his place. Get in the tub." She looked at him with a look he had seen before. A mother's no nonsense look.
"Yes, ma'am," he mumbled, getting up.
The boy who had been filling the tub laughed. "Why does he call you ma'am, Mamma?"
"Because he knows no better. Boy will tell him what to say if boy is so smart," Mamma said with a smile.
"That's Mamma," the boy told Richie. "Ma'am is what you call guests. Unless they're boys, then you call them 'sir.' Everybody knows that. You must be really."
"That's enough," Mamma interrupted. "Boy may go."
"Yes. ma'am," he giggled and left the room.
Mamma washed the blood off of Richie and Richie watched the other children clean the room. The bed was stripped and remade and the floor was spotless by the time Mamma let him out of the tub.
"Now," she told him patiently. "What has boy learned today?"
"That I'm supposed to call you Mamma," Richie answered.
"And?"
"Do what I'm told," he said after a minute.
"And?"
"Answer. Master. when he asks you something."
"And?" Richie shrugged. "What was the big lesson boy learned today?" Richie still didn't answer. "Boy learned that Master will not hurt him when he touches him."
"I don't like people touching me.'specially not like that."
Mamma smiled. "That is because boy is a baby still. When he is older he will not mind," she said steering him towards the bed. "Now it is time for all good boys to take a nap."
"I haven't done anything!" Richie protested. "I haven't left this dumb room! How am I supposed to be tired enough to take a nap?"
"Then boy will lie quietly until Mamma comes to wake him." Not knowing what else to do, Richie got into the bed and let Mamma tuck him in. "Good boy," she smiled at him. "Lay still and quiet. Mamma will be back soon." She kissed his temple, closed the curtains blocking out the sun, turned off the light and left.
Richie started at the curtains. He wanted to get up and open them so he could watch the other kids, but knew better than to get up when he had been told to lay still. When Tessa had forced him into bed for a nap he had always gotten his walkman or.
'STOP!' his mind screamed. 'Don't think about it! You have to forget them! Remembering will just make it worse!'
Richie didn't know when he had fallen asleep, but the next thing he knew Mamma was waking him up again. "Mamma has brought boy a playmate," she told him when he rolled over to look at her.
"A what?" Richie repeated in confusion.
"Children play nice," Mamma said as she left the room, closing the door behind her.
"Hello, boy," a soft voice said. Richie sat up and saw a girl getting up from the floor where she had been kneeling. "Do you want to play?" she continued in a childlike voice.
"Play?" Richie repeated.
"Yes," she pulled back the covers on Richie's bed and got in next to him. "How do you like to play?"
"What are you talking about?" Richie asked, scooting into the wall.
"Don't you want to play with me?" she asked, slightly hurt.
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Play. like grown-ups do."
"I am a grown-up," Richie insisted. "I'm 18; that makes me an adult."
"Silly boy," the girl giggled. "You are Master's child. We all are."
"What? Are you nuts? That guy kidnapped me!"
"Master would never kidnap anyone. But I saw the men who brought you."
"Well, they kidnapped me," Richie insisted. "I don't belong here. I have a home!"
"Your home is here, with Master. Unless you get sold."
"He sells you guys?"
"If a family needs a child, Master will give us to them."
"You do realize that slavery is wrong, right? I mean, there was a whole war over this!"
"The children gladly serve their master."
"Why? Why don't you run away? Call for help?"
"Because Master doesn't allow us to use the phone. It's not a toy."
"No shit! Look, I have a number I can give you. If you call, Mac will come get us all. I know he will." It was his last attempt to find a way to be rescued.
"Master says we are not allowed to use the phone. Why do you think I will go against him?"
"Hell, I won't even pull back the curtains," Richie mumbled to himself. "And I've barely been around."
"What?"
"Look, you gotta tell me what the hell is going on here. What is this place?"
"This is the nursery. Where the young children sleep until they are old enough to sleep with the big kids."
"Not here. here. The house. What do you guys do all day?"
"We serve."
Richie groaned. "How? What do you do exactly?"
"I am a chamber girl," the girl answered proudly.
"And what do you do?"
"I keep my guests' rooms clean, unpack and repack their bags, and make sure they have everything they need."
Richie swallowed. Master had mentioned putting him in chambers. "You don't.'play' with the guests, do you?"
"If they wish me to," she answered without missing a beat.
"And you're okay with that? I mean, you're like what? Fifteen years old? That's statutory rape!"
"What's statutory rape?" the girl asked.
"Having sex with a minor too young to know if they want to have sex or not," Richie told her. An old girlfriend had been sent to jail over him because of it.
"But Master says it is okay to play with the guests. They have to ask him first."
Richie rolled his eyes; there was no convincing this girl! "Okay, I've seen the slaves in the yard and kitchen. What else do you guys do around here?"
"That's it. And we're not slaves."
"Then what's with the chains and collars? Just kinky props?" Richie's chains had been off since his first bath and while he was curious, he didn't want to bring it up to Master or Mamma in case they just forgot to put them back on.
"It is what all children wear."
"What's with the numbers?" Richie asked, fingering the small tag that hung off his collar.
"Master has far too many children to name us all, the numbers are how he keeps us all straight."
"So what do you call each other? Boy or Girl?" he half joked.
"Yes."
"Doesn't that get confusing?"
"It will confuse you at first, but in time it makes sense."
"What if I don't buy into this?" Richie asked. "What if I refuse to be a slave?"
"We aren't slaves."
"Well, what if I refuse to be Master's child or whatever you are?"
"No one has ever refused. Master would be angry, I suppose. He may ground you."
"What I can't leave my room?"
"No, when Master grounds someone. well, I've only seen it happen once. It was scary."
"What happened?"
"Master took the girl for a walk. then there was all this lightning out by the water. and she never came back. He said she had been grounded."
"Lightning?" Richie swallowed. That made up his mind for him. He had been going back and forth on just going along with what was happening and trying to escape. Despite what he told himself, he knew he would never be able to give up his head when all he had to do was keep his mouth shut and do what he was told to live.
"Children do not wish to play?" Mamma asked coming back into the room.
"You never told me that he'd kill me!" Richie accused. "How can you leave that part out?"
"What is boy talking about?"
"He killed that girl! By the water!"
"Girl," Mamma said turning to the girl in the bed. "Go see if the kitchen children need help."
"Yes, Mamma," the girl said, getting up and leaving the room.
"Now, boy, calm down. Tell Mamma what boy is talking about?"
"She said some girl made him mad and he took her by the water and took her Quickening."
"Boy, Mamma has said not to speak of such things."
"But."
"Mamma knows what girl told boy. Behave and Master will be kind," Mamma assured him. "But boy should be happy. Master has decided on his job."
"I already know. He's gonna put me in his stable, isn't he?"
"How does boy know of Master's horses?"
"We're talking about two different things. He's gonna make me one of his whores, isn't he?"
"What is boy talking about?"
"Look, just tell me, what's he gonna do with me?"
"Master likes boy and has decided that boy will serve Master."
"But what do I gotta do?" Richie asked, not understanding what Mamma meant.
"Boy will serve Master."
"I know that part. I got that, all the children serve Master blah blah blah. What am I gonna do? Sex, cleaning, cooking, yard work. what?"
Mamma smiled. "Boy will follow Master and do as he is told."
"So I gotta like. carry his junk around for him?"
"If he asks."
"What about.'playing'? I don't gotta do that, do I?"
"The children do not play with Master. But if boy serves a guest, he may be invited to play."
"What if I don't wanna? He gonna kill me?"
"Boy will not have to worry about that for some time. Tomorrow Master will come to speak with boy."
"He's not gonna beat me again is he?"
"As long as boy behaves himself he will be fine."
"Okay."
"Now, Mamma has decided boy will help her today." Mamma stood up and picked up the discarded chains off the shelves and fixed them to the cuffs around Richie's ankles and wrists. "Boy will behave?" she asked, picking up a gag.
"Yes. Mamma."
"Master has taken a special liking to boy," she told him as she took hold of his leash. "Mamma sees great things for boy in the future."
"Ahem?" Master cleared his throat. Richie paused then crouched on the floor. "That's better. I have brought lunch. Would you like to join me?" Richie craned his neck to look up at the man. "This is where you say 'Yes, Master'," he prompted.
"Yes, Master," Richie repeated, still fumbling over the words.
"Then come here." Richie got up and walked over to the table. The two children put the trays down and Master shooed them out of the room. "Now when you sit with the rest of the children, you will all join hands to say your prayers. But since it is just you and me you get to do it by yourself." Richie looked at him. "Go on. I know Mamma has taught it to you." Richie recited the prayer. "Very good. Now you may eat."
For the first time since Richie had been let out of Time Out, he got to feed himself. Master sat beside him and ate his lunch. When they were done, Master called for the children that had apparently been waiting outside the door to take the trays away.
"Stand up and let me see what I can do with you," Mater ordered. He hit Richie in the head when he didn't immediately move to get up. "When I tell you to do something, you do it. No questions asked; no thinking involved and no hesitation! Do you understand?" Richie took too long to answer and received another blow to the head. "Yes, Master."
"Yes, Master," Richie quickly repeated.
"Now stand up and let me see what I can do with you." Richie jumped to his feet. "That was much better," Master said giving him an approving pat on the head. He cupped Richie's cheek with his hand and looked him in the eye. "I don't like having to be so rough with you. But you must learn to obey. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Master."
"See? You've already learned your lesson. Now, you have a nice face. body's not bad. could use less baby fat, need toning," he murmured as he walked around Richie cupping and grabbing. "Now this." he smiled, stopping in front of Richie and taking his exposed penis in his hand. "You will make a good chamber boy."
"What the fuck, man?!" Richie barked jerking away. "Don't touch me!"
Master grabbed Richie by the arm. "Do not EVER use that tone with me!" he yelled, backhanding Richie. "I am your master. I own you!" He threw Richie to the floor. "I may touch what I want of my property!" Richie huddled into a ball as he tried to protect himself as Master beat him and yelled. "I own you! You are mine and I will do as I please with you!"
"Master!" Mamma scolded from the doorway. "What has boy done?"
"He must learn to be complacent," Master said as he continued to hit Richie.
"Did Master warn boy he was going to touch him?" Mamma asked pointedly, putting a gently restraining hand on Master's shoulder. "Boy is new. He will learn his place. Give him time."
"Handle him," Master said before he turned and left.
"Boy," Mamma said shaking her head fondly at Richie who lay sobbing on the floor in a pool of his own blood. "You must learn. Master will not hurt you."
"Yeah, right," Richie scoffed.
Mamma landed a solid whack on an exposed butt cheek. "Manners!"
"I'm sorry," he apologized quickly.
"Good." Mamma helped him to his feet and sat him on his bed. "Boy will stay here and Mamma will fetch children to draw him a bath."
She left and came back a few minutes later with four children behind her. Two went straight to the blood and began to clean it up and one began to fill the tub with warm water. The fourth knelt by Richie's bed and openly stared at him.
"What did you do?" the girl asked.
Richie blinked. None of the children had ever addressed him before. "Nothing," he answered looking away.
"Mamma said you refused Master's touch. Is that true?"
"So what? He had no right to do that."
"Of course he does. He owns you."
"Nobody owns Richie Ryan," he told her.
"Who's Richie Ryan?"
"I am!"
"But Master owns you. He bought you."
"He kidnapped me," Richie told her.
"He takes care of you; he feeds you."
"No one asked him to."
"Boy!" Mamma scolded, popping him in the head. "Boy must not speak of Master that way."
"It's true," he challenged, earning him another smack in the head.
"Boy must learn his place. Get in the tub." She looked at him with a look he had seen before. A mother's no nonsense look.
"Yes, ma'am," he mumbled, getting up.
The boy who had been filling the tub laughed. "Why does he call you ma'am, Mamma?"
"Because he knows no better. Boy will tell him what to say if boy is so smart," Mamma said with a smile.
"That's Mamma," the boy told Richie. "Ma'am is what you call guests. Unless they're boys, then you call them 'sir.' Everybody knows that. You must be really."
"That's enough," Mamma interrupted. "Boy may go."
"Yes. ma'am," he giggled and left the room.
Mamma washed the blood off of Richie and Richie watched the other children clean the room. The bed was stripped and remade and the floor was spotless by the time Mamma let him out of the tub.
"Now," she told him patiently. "What has boy learned today?"
"That I'm supposed to call you Mamma," Richie answered.
"And?"
"Do what I'm told," he said after a minute.
"And?"
"Answer. Master. when he asks you something."
"And?" Richie shrugged. "What was the big lesson boy learned today?" Richie still didn't answer. "Boy learned that Master will not hurt him when he touches him."
"I don't like people touching me.'specially not like that."
Mamma smiled. "That is because boy is a baby still. When he is older he will not mind," she said steering him towards the bed. "Now it is time for all good boys to take a nap."
"I haven't done anything!" Richie protested. "I haven't left this dumb room! How am I supposed to be tired enough to take a nap?"
"Then boy will lie quietly until Mamma comes to wake him." Not knowing what else to do, Richie got into the bed and let Mamma tuck him in. "Good boy," she smiled at him. "Lay still and quiet. Mamma will be back soon." She kissed his temple, closed the curtains blocking out the sun, turned off the light and left.
Richie started at the curtains. He wanted to get up and open them so he could watch the other kids, but knew better than to get up when he had been told to lay still. When Tessa had forced him into bed for a nap he had always gotten his walkman or.
'STOP!' his mind screamed. 'Don't think about it! You have to forget them! Remembering will just make it worse!'
Richie didn't know when he had fallen asleep, but the next thing he knew Mamma was waking him up again. "Mamma has brought boy a playmate," she told him when he rolled over to look at her.
"A what?" Richie repeated in confusion.
"Children play nice," Mamma said as she left the room, closing the door behind her.
"Hello, boy," a soft voice said. Richie sat up and saw a girl getting up from the floor where she had been kneeling. "Do you want to play?" she continued in a childlike voice.
"Play?" Richie repeated.
"Yes," she pulled back the covers on Richie's bed and got in next to him. "How do you like to play?"
"What are you talking about?" Richie asked, scooting into the wall.
"Don't you want to play with me?" she asked, slightly hurt.
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Play. like grown-ups do."
"I am a grown-up," Richie insisted. "I'm 18; that makes me an adult."
"Silly boy," the girl giggled. "You are Master's child. We all are."
"What? Are you nuts? That guy kidnapped me!"
"Master would never kidnap anyone. But I saw the men who brought you."
"Well, they kidnapped me," Richie insisted. "I don't belong here. I have a home!"
"Your home is here, with Master. Unless you get sold."
"He sells you guys?"
"If a family needs a child, Master will give us to them."
"You do realize that slavery is wrong, right? I mean, there was a whole war over this!"
"The children gladly serve their master."
"Why? Why don't you run away? Call for help?"
"Because Master doesn't allow us to use the phone. It's not a toy."
"No shit! Look, I have a number I can give you. If you call, Mac will come get us all. I know he will." It was his last attempt to find a way to be rescued.
"Master says we are not allowed to use the phone. Why do you think I will go against him?"
"Hell, I won't even pull back the curtains," Richie mumbled to himself. "And I've barely been around."
"What?"
"Look, you gotta tell me what the hell is going on here. What is this place?"
"This is the nursery. Where the young children sleep until they are old enough to sleep with the big kids."
"Not here. here. The house. What do you guys do all day?"
"We serve."
Richie groaned. "How? What do you do exactly?"
"I am a chamber girl," the girl answered proudly.
"And what do you do?"
"I keep my guests' rooms clean, unpack and repack their bags, and make sure they have everything they need."
Richie swallowed. Master had mentioned putting him in chambers. "You don't.'play' with the guests, do you?"
"If they wish me to," she answered without missing a beat.
"And you're okay with that? I mean, you're like what? Fifteen years old? That's statutory rape!"
"What's statutory rape?" the girl asked.
"Having sex with a minor too young to know if they want to have sex or not," Richie told her. An old girlfriend had been sent to jail over him because of it.
"But Master says it is okay to play with the guests. They have to ask him first."
Richie rolled his eyes; there was no convincing this girl! "Okay, I've seen the slaves in the yard and kitchen. What else do you guys do around here?"
"That's it. And we're not slaves."
"Then what's with the chains and collars? Just kinky props?" Richie's chains had been off since his first bath and while he was curious, he didn't want to bring it up to Master or Mamma in case they just forgot to put them back on.
"It is what all children wear."
"What's with the numbers?" Richie asked, fingering the small tag that hung off his collar.
"Master has far too many children to name us all, the numbers are how he keeps us all straight."
"So what do you call each other? Boy or Girl?" he half joked.
"Yes."
"Doesn't that get confusing?"
"It will confuse you at first, but in time it makes sense."
"What if I don't buy into this?" Richie asked. "What if I refuse to be a slave?"
"We aren't slaves."
"Well, what if I refuse to be Master's child or whatever you are?"
"No one has ever refused. Master would be angry, I suppose. He may ground you."
"What I can't leave my room?"
"No, when Master grounds someone. well, I've only seen it happen once. It was scary."
"What happened?"
"Master took the girl for a walk. then there was all this lightning out by the water. and she never came back. He said she had been grounded."
"Lightning?" Richie swallowed. That made up his mind for him. He had been going back and forth on just going along with what was happening and trying to escape. Despite what he told himself, he knew he would never be able to give up his head when all he had to do was keep his mouth shut and do what he was told to live.
"Children do not wish to play?" Mamma asked coming back into the room.
"You never told me that he'd kill me!" Richie accused. "How can you leave that part out?"
"What is boy talking about?"
"He killed that girl! By the water!"
"Girl," Mamma said turning to the girl in the bed. "Go see if the kitchen children need help."
"Yes, Mamma," the girl said, getting up and leaving the room.
"Now, boy, calm down. Tell Mamma what boy is talking about?"
"She said some girl made him mad and he took her by the water and took her Quickening."
"Boy, Mamma has said not to speak of such things."
"But."
"Mamma knows what girl told boy. Behave and Master will be kind," Mamma assured him. "But boy should be happy. Master has decided on his job."
"I already know. He's gonna put me in his stable, isn't he?"
"How does boy know of Master's horses?"
"We're talking about two different things. He's gonna make me one of his whores, isn't he?"
"What is boy talking about?"
"Look, just tell me, what's he gonna do with me?"
"Master likes boy and has decided that boy will serve Master."
"But what do I gotta do?" Richie asked, not understanding what Mamma meant.
"Boy will serve Master."
"I know that part. I got that, all the children serve Master blah blah blah. What am I gonna do? Sex, cleaning, cooking, yard work. what?"
Mamma smiled. "Boy will follow Master and do as he is told."
"So I gotta like. carry his junk around for him?"
"If he asks."
"What about.'playing'? I don't gotta do that, do I?"
"The children do not play with Master. But if boy serves a guest, he may be invited to play."
"What if I don't wanna? He gonna kill me?"
"Boy will not have to worry about that for some time. Tomorrow Master will come to speak with boy."
"He's not gonna beat me again is he?"
"As long as boy behaves himself he will be fine."
"Okay."
"Now, Mamma has decided boy will help her today." Mamma stood up and picked up the discarded chains off the shelves and fixed them to the cuffs around Richie's ankles and wrists. "Boy will behave?" she asked, picking up a gag.
"Yes. Mamma."
"Master has taken a special liking to boy," she told him as she took hold of his leash. "Mamma sees great things for boy in the future."