Chapter 38: Ron's Experience

Ron took a deep breath and began. "You know that Kim has a certain, international celebrity?" Monique nodded. "She isn't huge because she doesn't really work at it. But if some paper-nazi…"

"Paparazzi," Monique corrected.

"Whatever. If some such manages to catch a picture of her it will probably show up in one of the 'look who showed up at the club tonight' kind of magazines. Since she isn't a party girl she hasn't had trouble with negative press."

Monique nodded, she knew all about this.

"Late last summer, just before the school year started, we took a mission in Samoa against Dementor. We did the usual thing; she completed the mission while his henchmen chased me all over a hillside. It was late by the time we finished and Wade was only able to get us in to LA before a storm came in from the Pacific and shut down all air travel."

Monique nodded again, Kim had told her about the mission when they had gotten back.

"Anyway, the manager of this really high-brow hotel was more than happy to put her up in a first-class room, free of charge, for the night. He was kind enough to also put me up for free in a more modest accommodation. Kim wanted to complain about it but I got her to calm down."

Monique sighed, Ron almost always seemed to be overlooked.

"It was no big," he continued. "I mean even their economy room totally rocked. Anyway we had a room service meal up in her room then I went back to mine so that we could get some sleep. Security in my wing was a little more lax than the security up in the celebrity section. Later that night a couple of her fans showed up at my room, eager to meet Kim Possible's sidekick."

"Hold up a minute, Ron." Monique interrupted. "I've got a hunch that I know where this story is heading. Are you sure you want a self-proclaimed 'mistress of gossip' to hear this?"

Ron smiled back. "Do you know why everyone is willing to confide in you?" Monique shook her head. "Because we all know that you'll only use the gossip you collect in the right way. You only cut down and embarrass the people that really need it." Monique smiled.

"Anyway, here I was, at midnight, with these two incredibly hot girls who were wearing clothes that I couldn't believe were street legal. They were acting like I was the greatest thing they had ever been near and man was I feeling good about myself." Ron shook his head in self-disgust. "They wanted autographs, of course, so I was more than happy to jot down something like 'you can do anything' in their books. Then they wanted pictures so I let them take turns taking pictures of each other draped over me."

Monique steeled herself. Did she really want to know what was coming?

Ron took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was obviously forcing himself to go on. "Then they suggested some…other…activities. There I was, a sixteen-year old male faced with the ultimate male fantasy, two absolutely gorgeous girls, ready and willing and no adult supervision. I accepted."

Monique's eyes were very wide.

"Before you jump to conclusions, I asked them just what we were going to do and we agreed to a make-out session, nothing more. So we head into my room and I'm thinking that this is great and that I hope that they know what they're doing since I sure don't. Then one of them reaches in her purse and pulls out a little bag of white powder saying that it would get us all in the mood. I called a halt right then and there. There was no way that I was going to snort coke and no way I was going to tolerate it in my room. I literally shoved the two out of the room, locked them out, and called the front desk. They called the police and sent a security guard to escort the two out of the building. I trailed the girls."

"They left the hotel and went strait to a Camero with some really weird looking guy at the wheel. I wrote down the license plate number just as the LAPD shows up. Turns out the guy had been caught sneaking into hotels, himself; to get the 'inside scoop' pictures before. He had made some sort of deal to avoid trespassing charges but he was on probation. One of his terms allowed the police to search his vehicle, without a warrant, if they had probable cause. The hotel's call gave them probable cause. They all had priors so they were all arrested and in-processed."

Ron was looking as miserable as Monique had ever seen him but he pushed on. "Wade was able to hack into the details that came up during their in-processing. It turns out that it was real coke, one of the girls was very recently pregnant, and the other girl had Syphilis." Ron looked up and his voice trembled. "And the digital camera they had just happened to have a very expensive, low-light adapter."

"Meaning," Monique prompted. Her blood felt like ice.

"Meaning that that guy nearly had Kim Possible's sidekick in one massive scandal. I have no doubt that if I hadn't been scared off by the drugs, someone would have called the police during the…activities. The police would have found me involved with two girls and in possession of cocaine. Of course the girls would have claimed that I had provided the drugs, that we had had intercourse and they would have had pictures of the 'foreplay' to prove it. The scandal rags would have had a field day and Kim would have been guilty by association. Not only that but the sleazebag could have stretched it out big time. First there would have been the initial feeding frenzy, then it would flare up again when the VD was revealed and then there would have been the paternity tests."

Ron leaned back in the chair, sweating, with his eyes closed. His voice was very weak as he continued; "The only thing that saved me was that the sleazebag had tried for the grand slam. If he hadn't involved the drugs, he could have nailed me with the rest. Kim would have probably been out of the 'helping people' business and she would have hated me for the rest of her life."

"So that's why you're suspicious now?" Asked Monique, "I mean, that was bad but it was just one incident-"

"That wasn't the last time," Ron interrupted her. "Scandal rag types have tried to catch me with the same type of scam three times since then. I guess the sleazebag had some sort of sleazefest with all of his sleazy friends. They didn't realize that almost getting burned taught me my lesson. I avoid photographers and fans whenever I can."

"Ron, why did you almost…in the first place?" Monique asked. "That's just not like you!"

"I know," he said. His head was back down in his hands and his voice was pure misery. "Anything I say will only be an excuse but I'll try to explain. The mission had gone well but I wasn't feeling very good about myself. I had spent about a half-hour running away from henchmen who were calling me a coward the entire time. When the authorities showed up and took all the bad guys away, they didn't even ask me for a witness statement. The ride that Wade scared up only had one seat, for Kim. I wound up sitting in a cargo hold. Then there was being overlooked by the hotel. I was feeling invisible and those two made me feel like the most important thing in the world."

"How many people know the story?"

"Aside from those actually present, Rabbi Katz, Wade, and you."

"Why the Rabbi? You didn't intend to have intercourse, did you?" Ron shook his head. "Just some tonsil-hockey?"

"If that much, I had forgotten my toothbrush."

"Then why the Rabbi?"

Ron looked up. "Rabbi Katz is a lot more than someone to discuss…transgressions with. He was also able to talk to me about how I felt, what I did, and why I did it. After talking to him I realized that what I had almost done wasn't exactly proper but wasn't the horrible thing that I thought it was. It was only the possible fallout that was terrible. He helped me come to the conclusion that I wasn't going to set hearts aflame with a wink, and to accept that. He also helped me to accept the fact that my association with Kim would leave me vulnerable to extortion attempts and that I should beware of them."

He looked at her closely. "That's where my suspicions about Dessie come in. I am suspicious that this mystery girl, interested in me, has something else planned. Now I have an option. I can ask Wade to hack into the school's system, pirate her information and do an exhaustive search. If she's just a normal girl, I will have initiated a major invasion of her privacy. If she's up to something and I don't take action; I will have enabled whatever she does. That's my dilemma."

Monique sat wide-eyed. She wouldn't have dreamed that Ron's motivations could be so serious. "I have an idea." She said. Ron tilted his head.

"Give me one more day with my bunch." She said. If we can't come up with any background, unleash Wade.

"That sounds reasonable, and I'll try to talk to her as well. But if by this time tomorrow we haven't come up with anything, I'm calling Wade."