Chapter Four: Bondage Fetishes

"We've got to do it!"

"No."

"I said I need the history on the area, reports and any maps."

"And I said 'no' bitch!"

Nami tightened her chokehold on Zoro's neck. She was straddling him now that she had managed to deck him in their little spat. He coughed loudly and one of her eyes began to twitch.

"I'm going to pretend that's a pack of cigarettes."

"Yeah," he snorted, "Cigarettes."

"You're doing it!"

"NO!"

Chokehold tightening.

See, Nami had common sense, something that the rest of us seem to lack. And her common sense was telling her that if we were going to back on the prowl for this treasure out in the hainted holla, then she would need background material on the area itself.

Now, before she headed to the library, Zoro let something slip. This something would be the fact that he had dated ( and cheated on ) the youngest librarian there, Robin-Nicolette. She was from our graduating class and seemed the quiet type. Until you cheated on her, apparently.

Now Nami was ready to take her life in her hands and attempt to beat Zoro into submission so he would talk Robin into letting her into the back rooms where the oldest stuff was kept. After all, she did have a sense of direction and could probably lead us well.

Luffy and I were watching them roll around on the floor.

"Are they making babies?" He asked me, completely unabashed. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I drew out a cigarette and lit it.

"No, Luffy, they're just into S and M."

"What's that mean?"

o-o-o

It can be said that even on the best of his days, Zoro isn't the most agreeable person in the world. Face him with a girl he's screwed around with and, then, all of a sudden, he's ready to flee. So much for being the tough guy, the muscle, the rebel without the cause.

Robin-Nicolette had him wrapped around her little finger.

The tall, strapping, bondage clothing loving punk was quivering at the doorway of the library and once again telling Nami 'no'. No. She was Evil, Evil with a capitol E. He was stubborn Yankee, he was.

Nami was not to be deterred, however, she grabbed him by his earrings and dragged him in, kicking and screaming. This, of course, attracted the attention of the person he last wanted to see. I smirked at the petite, black haired girl who filtered in from somewhere in the dark shelves.

I'd never guessed Zoro would go for the smart types. She was our valedictorian and president of the Brice NHS chapter, as well an extremely well-rounded track athlete. But, for all her achievements, she could still be a raving bitch. So Zoro claimed, and, from the look on her face, I was inclined to believe him.

"You." She said in a poisonous tone, staying eerily calm while Zoro composed himself.

"You." He said in returned.

Nami poked Zoro. He shifted under the gaze of both girls and began to shake again.

"I need," Zoro sucked in his breath and braced himself. "A favor."

Robin-Nicolette blinked, as if to say, that's it?

"What?"

"We need to use the . . . find the . . . "

Nami knocked him out of the way. "Anything on the abandoned area off Cole Street. History, maps, anything."

The two faced each other with narrowed eyes. I could see the gears turning in their heads. Robin-Nicolette would think that this was Zoro's new girl and Nami just didn't seem to like Robin-Nicolette. Zoro was now bracing himself for an explosion.

Calmy, the black-haired girl motioned for us to follow. I trailed behind, keeping Luffy quiet to the best of my abilities.

It had become clear earlier this morning what Nami was putting into him every day, which was everything from supplements to B-12 to narcotic pain killers that half explained his quirky natures. She even knocked back a few pills for energy before stretching and going back to her coffee.

I was thinking that it would have solved all our problems to just give Luffy riddlin.

We caught up with the three in the archives, where the tension seemed to have abated slightly. The two girls were pouring over a map and giant book while Zoro sat in the corner, half asleep.

"It's just a legend, it's been proven."

"Well, then we'll unprove it."

"There's nothing there but ruins and danger. You'd have to be mad to-"

"You haven't met the captain yet, have you?"

"You mean that delinquent with the sandals?"

"Yeah."

"There's nothing there."

Nami rolled her eyes and unfurled a large sheet of graph paper. "It's chance that's going to have to be taken.

Robin-Nicolette's face scrunched up into that look that said she was going to be smart now. "The Cole Manor burned down in eighteen sixty four, during the Civil War. The property was abandoned by surviving slaves, considering the master and mistress were killed in the fire, considered to be an arson, as well as their select house servants. The property was passed onto the township of Brice to divide into sharecropping lots under a Special Field order made by General William T. Sherman.

"The actual legend begins with the fact that none of the black sharecroppers had any sucess and were noted for their easy loss of supplies, as well as their tales of spectral figures being seen in the area. Since the land had been given to them, they could do with it what they wanted, even if that included deserting it. According to the town's records, they moved West."

Nami, in the meantime, was penning all of this. She paused and waited for more. "I need, I repeat, everything."

The other girl began to sweep around, pulling ancient books and files off the shelfs and piling them in front of Nami. She gave a nod of goodbye and exited like a ghost herself.

Nami thrust a book into my hands. "Get reading."

o-o-o

"I thought I was done with this."

"Well, you're not . . . you never did any schoolwork, anyway."

"Will you two stop?"

"When you let me out of this fucking room."

"That's no way to speak to a lady."

"Wouldn't you know?"

"I'm gonna rip that tattoo right off your arm."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise."

"Bring it Soccer-Boy."

"Pick a time, pick a place."

"Cut that out!"

"Sure thing."

"Git off me!"

"I told you that tat was coming off."

"OW!"

No, that utterly ridiculous anarchy sign had not come off, but rather Nami had knocked together the unsuspecting heads of Zoro and myself. She took her seat again primly and asked in a controlled tone what I'd found.

I sifted through the marked pages of the three books I'd been pouring over. "Sixteen something or other, the first land grant is recieved to build Bryce, this grant was given to one Lord James Bryce. He erects the original manor structure about ten years later. It's destroyed during Tory occupation in the Revolutionary War. After that, better documentation begins. There's a map of the original lay outs, as well as slaves' quarters and the original town."

She nodded, taking her notes and then glancing pointedly at Zoro. He sighed and rifled through the old book. "There's an uprising, eighteen-oh-three of the slaves on the restored Cole estate, there's an attempted arson, town's militia is called in and then put it down. Over the next fifteen years, there are four more uprising attempts, but they are all put down and there's nothing until the Civil War."

"Ah, yes, South Carolina was the first state to pull away from the Union, you know." Interrupted a chill voice. Robin-Nicolette was standing in the doorway, Luffy behind her. "You're still missing important details."

"Yeah!" Luffy was pushing his way forward. "But Robin knows all those things because she's smart. She said she'll help with that part. Nothing with the woods though."

Zoro blinked incredulously as the girl blushed slightly.

"It's better than running the children's program all summer. Besides, I can submit as a research project when I head to university. And Zoro . . . "

He picked up his head.

"I want my handcuffs back."

o-o-o

"That is an uncanny talent you have, my boy." I said to Luffy as I slid a plate of ribs under his nose.

"What talent?" He asked, his mouth full of food.

"Getting everyone together like that."

"Pfff." He waved his off. "You all needed something to do for the summer, and I need a crew. See? Not so amazing."

"Ah, and yet is it." I said to him. He was an amiable fellow once you got around the annoying bounciness and loud voice. Besides, he postively adored any dish I put in front of him, which was more than I could say for customers I'd had before.

"Oh well." He shrugged. "So, you never told me, what isS and M?"

Note: After the next chapter, any character that hasn't been introduced probably will not be on the grounds that I don't feel I can write them well enough or they don't have a purpose. I hope I'm getting all my history correct! I'm an Honors student specializing in American History, with particular interest in the Civil War. So, if you see something that doesn't click, feel free to say something.