Tribal Unity

"This 'ere is a team sport, mates. You can choose yer partner, whoever ya want to spread this salve on."

"Why can't we just do it ourselves?"

"Because ya can't reach everywhere that is exposed. And because people tend to do a real crappy job of covering themselves. Ah made that mistake the first year of bringin' visitors 'ere. 'Ad to run the poor bloke to the hospi'al before he died of second degree burns. This isn't up for debate. So, who do ya choose Ms. Connell? Danon, here? Myself, or yer husband?"

"My husband, of course."

"Alright. Watch Danon for a couple seconds. It doesn't take much, just a bit, like that. Ya just rub it into yer 'ands and then go to work."

Christopher described what Danon was doing as she scooped up handful after handful of the special balm to distribute over Christopher's skin. She was meticulous. She ran her delicate fingers into the ridges and crevices of his ears, his brow, under his chin, his armpits.

"G'ahead, ya go' it."

I dipped my fingers into the goop. It was cool and silky smooth. I dropped my nose toward my hand to take a sniff. There was a very subtle odor that I didn't recognize; not unpleasant at all, I decided.

Starting with Rick's face, I ran my paw-pui fingers across his forehead, massaging his brow with my thumbs and flattening my palms down his cheeks. He looked up at me from his sitting position and smiled. It was a sweet smile. He's always had such a kind face. I rubbed my hands together and decided I needed more goo before moving to his ears and neck.

The veins running down the sides of his muscular neck column felt interesting and I traced their lines until they disappeared into his clavicle. I glanced over to Danon. She had moved behind Christopher and was just reaching his lower back. I knew it wasn't a speed contest or anything but I felt compelled to at least try to keep pace with her. These people must be the Type A tribe of all time. I mean, seriously, for living on an island, these people sure don't waste any time kicking back. I quickened my pace across Rick's chest, shoulders, arms, and back. Christopher was now standing to provide easier access to his legs. I motioned for Rick to do the same and stepped back stunned. I looked up at him for an explanation and he just shrugged and smiled.

Pointing directly at me as if it were deliberately ratting out the culprit, was Rick's very aroused member. I felt the heat climb up my cheeks and something else...no, I'm imagining it. I'm not turned-on by this.

I glanced over at Danon to see how they were reacting to Rick's shameful state, but they didn't seem to notice. Or to care, I should say. It was impossible not to notice. Just as I was about to turn back to my task at hand, so to speak, Danon's hands cupped Christopher's semi-hard penis and began slathering it with cream. She handled it a bit rougher than one might if they were trying to seduce, but not rough enough to be stroking it. She was simply doing her job, covering his skin with paw-pui, nothing more or less. She covered his scrotum, handling that area a little gentler. Christopher's body was reacting the same as Rick's. His once flaccid penis was now fully erect from her ministrations.

My eyes averted as soon as I had come to my senses and realized I was staring. Oh, hell! What is Rick going to think? My cheeks grew hot with embarrassment. I smiled guiltily up at Rick and then proceeded to start on his legs. Squatting down to cover his calves and feet presented a challenge I hadn't thought about. It placed my face in line with Rick's pelvic area. Apparently, this introduced some thoughts in Rick's mind as well, because his firm dick stood up even more, straining for attention.

A buzzing sensation traveled through my body, sending my hairs on end. I don't remember him being that big. Dayam! Random images of us in college flashed before my eyes briefly. I bit my lip to stay grounded. Just get through this, girl. Don't lose your head. My hands traveled back up his leg, marking the completion of that section. This left only the region south of his navel and north of his thighs. Oh, my! And his condition hadn't tampered a bit. He was fully erect, waiting for my hands to finish the job I started.

The bowl of paw-pui was nearly empty, just enough to finish the job before a new batch could be made. I might have had Danon and Christopher's undivided attention at this point since they had finished their task, but they seemed only mildly interested in us. They appeared to be chatting casually about a topic of interest, gesturing to the thicket and trees as they conversed.

I sucked in a lungful of air and held it as my well-oiled hands reached for his hard cock. He let go a low guttural groan at my touch and my eyes darted across the table briefly and then back to what I was doing. Using both hands to spread the cream along his shaft, I tried to avoid stroking him repeatedly. It would just make matters worse for him, I decided. I circled his bulbous head with one palm and dragged my thumb over the slit just for good measure. Okay, maybe that one wasn't necessary, but I enjoyed it.

Taking Danon's lead, I very gingerly reached for his sack below and massaged cream all around it. I might have taken an extra stroke than what was absolutely necessary. Last week I'd rather have gotten a root canal than touched his private parts. This is kind of fun. Safe, because he can't really do anything about it. He's not going to beg me to give him a blow job or offer to do some household chore so he can fuck me from behind. He won't do any of that in front of these people. He just has to stand here and take it with a raging hard on. I contemplated going farther for a few moments, pretending to inspect the area for missed spots when a competing thought entered my mind. That was a long time ago. When was the last time he even wanted to have sex with me?

"I'm done."

Danon nodded and disappeared with the empty bowl. There was no mistaking the finality in my tone. Rick sat down on the stool. A perplexed expression, complete with wrinkled brow covered his face. I reacted with a forced smile and a slight shake of my head. It was an old argument and I could hear all the damaging words and phrases thundering in my head as if they'd just been bellowed moments ago. Rick zeroed in on my face, piercing me with those hazel eyes that turned green when he was really angry. I could feel his stare even as I was avoiding direct contact. Not here. Not now. There's nothing left to say about it. There was just too much history between us.

Danon returned with the paw-pui and I put on my best expression of indifference that I could muster. No one said I had to enjoy this.

"It's yer turn to choose, mate. Did she do a good enough job to reciprocate, or shall we trade?"

Rick paused maybe a few seconds longer than was necessary before answering. Probably to punish me for the attitude I displayed at the end. Or because he's tired of me and would really like the opportunity to get his hands on another woman. A less frigid woman.

"I think I'll stick with my partner. It may be my only chance to torture her today."

Rick stood up as he finished delivering his little speech and glared down at me. I could have sworn that a rush of heat radiated off his body at that moment, reminding me of his strength. I stood, but did sneak a peek toward his pelvis as I did so. He had softened considerably.

Rick started by asking me to hold up my hair so he could cover my upper back first. I twisted my blonde locks into my fist and rested my hand on my head while he went to work. The cream was cool on my warm skin but seemed to heat up quickly under his massaging fingers. I released my hair and he went to work on my arms for a few moments, first one and then the other, taking long sweeping strokes with his massive hands.

I took in a cleansing breath and released a long sigh. I wasn't even conscious of doing it at first but Rick's upturned lips brought it to my attention. Okay, so it's relaxing. So what.

He fumbled around my ear canal, unable to fit his fat fingers in my tiny ears. He used the fatty part of his palm to massage the balm into my ear instead and decided that would just have to do. It felt like it worked to me so I didn't argue. His fingers trailed from my face down to my neck and it sent a chill down my frame. My neck has always been so sensitive.

Rick smiled at my reaction and I could see a million memories flashing across his eyes as we locked gazes. He knew exactly how sensitive I was there. He'd discovered it on our first date, outside the commons. It was totally innocent, I remember. You brushed a whirlybird leaf off my shoulder and I shivered in shameless delight. I remember. It felt like I was whispering my thoughts to him through my eyes. And then later, the next week maybe, you kissed me there, over and over again until I melted in your arms. I remember.

"Put your hands on your head," Rick spoke in a low scratchy voice.

I complied without even thinking. Still caught up in the memories I hadn't dared think about for so many years. He massaged fresh balm into his hands and pressed them both to my armpits at the same time, and without stopping, slid directly to my breasts. His hands cupped both of my breasts at the same time while my arms were raised in silent offering. I bit back a groan but he missed none of it. He knew what he'd just done, too. He'd reenacted a portion of one of the best nights of sex in our lives. And he did it in broad daylight, outside, in front of strangers.

I relaxed my arms and let them fall to my sides. Rick made one last pass over my breasts and it was readily apparent to me at that moment that my nipples were solid points, tight, hard, and sensitive as hell. They seemed to be reaching out to his fingertips as they lingered past, and there was nothing I could do about it. Then I felt it. Down below. The unmistakable shifting of flesh, swelling, opening, moistening with anticipation. God, I'm so glad no one can see this. It would be so mortifying.

Rick's hands moved down my torso and along my hips. Rather than walking behind me to slather my butt, he reached around my sides, massaging my cheeks in a more suggestive way, and slipping his fingertips into the crack of my ass for good measure. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten him so worked up before. I was beginning to realize just how worthy an adversary he was in this little game we were playing.

I lowered my eyes to check his arousal meter. It was standing at attention again. The mere sight of his stiff cock created tension for me because it added to my problem. I knew if this game lasted much longer, if Rick continued to invoke old memories, my little secret arousal wasn't going to be a secret, anymore. It wasn't at all uncommon when we first dated for Rick to reach down into my panties to discover a hidden river. True, it hadn't happened lately, but that didn't mean I was incapable. Just not wanton.

He moved his hands skillfully over my feet, calves, thighs. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he was nearly finished but I should've known better. On his last sweep over my upper thighs, he managed to casually brush his fingertips along my labia. My wet labia. A smirk settled on his lips and knew I had lost the match. Damn him.

"Finished?"

Christopher's voice snapped me out of the inner dialogue that was chastising me over losing my head.

"Are we?" Rick eyed me suggestively and I nodded, turning my head away in shame. Rick's low chuckle climbed up my spine.

****

Chapter Five: Mothers and Martyrs

We spent the next few hours observing the villagers at work. There were all sorts of tasks being performed. Many of the elders, men and women alike, worked with their hands from a sitting position, grinding herbs and seeds, and making various implements, from baskets and urns, to arrows and paddles. Some people gathered fruits, berries, herbs, flowers, and plants for a variety of purposes while others gathered water, making trip after trip from the lagoon to the holding well near the huts. There were the less pleasant tasks of sewage control, and general cleanup like you would expect in any society, but these individuals were not regarded any lower or higher than any other contributing member. All tasks seemed to carry the same status.

At the end of each day, the tribe gathers to discuss what, if anything, needs to change for the next day, and to make decisions that will affect the livelihood of every individual living there. It is not mandatory to attend the meeting but everyone is invited. We watched from the edge of the circle, and although we couldn't understand what they were saying, the dynamic of the group was readily apparent. I think I was most amazed by how respectful they were to one another. Each idea, or point of view, or whatever they presented, was considered thoughtfully. They listened, they deliberated, they discussed, and at the end of the day, reached complete consensus as to what their goals were for the following day. It was utterly astounding to me.

I began to see these people in a different light. At first, it was easy to just label them as primitive and leave it at that, believing that there could be nothing to learn from them. I was starting to think that maybe I was wrong about that. That maybe the way I defined civilization was all messed-up. In a lot of ways, maybe in every way, the Hikis were far more civilized than my own countrymen. And their sense of community was so strong, so embedded in their very nature, I couldn't help but want to be a part of it.

It was totally different; a complete departure from anything I'd ever imagined could exist. Their sense of community was like a living thing to me. Nothing happened between two people that everyone wasn't a part of. If a dispute rose between parties, everyone discussed it and solved it together. If a man and a woman weren't talking, everyone intervened. The concept of individuals, couples, family, were all expanded to include every single member of the village. To drive this point home, Christopher described their parenting philosophy to us as something like this:

The concept of mother and of father applies to every woman and man in the village, respectively. When a baby is born, it spends the first two days in it's birth mother's arms, nursing from her breast and learning her scent. On the third day, the infant is moved to another woman who acts as a wet nurse for the next several days. There are no less than two, sometimes three wet nurses who rotate infants and children between them. This allows the birthing mother to stop producing milk and go back to being productive amongst the people. Usually two days isn't long enough for her body to produce real milk so this is a relatively short period of time. It was all very practical; all in the spirit of maintaining maximum productivity and minimal vulnerability for as many women as possible.

After this point, the child belongs to everyone, and he/she will refer to every woman in the tribe as 'Chaka', or mother. Children live with the wet nurses until they come of age, but spend a great deal of their time with every villager. All adults are responsible for the care and discipline of every child equally.

Fathers are a bit of a different story since it is conceivable that any male could be the paternal father. There is no concept of marriage or fidelity, although strangely, most of the people remain steadfastly faithful to whomever they share a hut with. Women who are 'of season' will lie with any unattached male in order to increase her chance of conception. This isn't, however, necessarily always the case. If there are too few unattached males or if an attached male believes he can get the job done, anyone is likely to step up to the task.

I immediately understood Christopher's statement about inbreeding becoming a problem with overpopulation. It becomes a mathematical equation of proportions, calculating the probability of reproducing a single line across multiple generations. In the simplest terms, the fewer offspring, and the longer gap between inceptions, the less likely they are to experience problems with deleterious alleles. What was really interesting to me, was that not a single one of these people had ever been to college and studied genetics. They just knew it would be problematic.

On the other hand, a much sadder realization came to my mind. The symptom of limited fertility may actually be a product of recessive genes, and an early sign that their civilization is facing extinction. It depressed me knowing that they probably realized this, too. But in reality, how much longer before a disease, or some other disaster, a tsunami maybe, would come and wipe out their entire village. I suddenly felt very fortunate to be spending this time with them and witnessing this miracle, before it was lost in the South Pacific forever.

We spent the hour or so after dinner visiting with various people. Christopher remained on hand to translate their welcomes, their well-wishes, and other niceties. It was good to feel welcome, to feel a part of this place, but by the time we reached the door of our hut, I could barely keep my eyes open. We hardly exerted ourselves, but the anxiety over the experience, the heat, and all the stimuli, was taking a toll on me. I was beyond exhausted; I was spent.

We crawled into bed where I fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.

I think I heard it a second before Rick did. I opened one eye to peek, and there she stood. She was six, maybe, and standing just inside the door of our hut. Rick shifted his body slightly toward her, unwittingly blocking my view, so I scooted toward him, placing my chin on his upper arm to peer over his massive frame.

Her eyes were like brown saucers, filling her entire face. And they were full of mischief. She was, no doubt, a handful for even an entire village, I was certain. Her arm lifted and I thought she might wave, but then she just hooked her fingers in her mouth and giggled.

"Good morning, little one."

Rick's voice startled her a bit and her body flinched. She stepped backward until her heel touched the edge of the doorway and then spun and ran off. Rick and I looked at one another and laughed. I started to settle back on my side of the bed but Rick swung his arm across my pillow and pulled me onto his chest, instead.

I hesitantly relaxed onto him, a bit stiffly at first. It felt strange to be close to him; and yet right, at the same time.

We didn't say anything. My mind was busy replaying the events of the previous day, trying to avoid the whole paw-pui incident for fear of what that might do to my body. I didn't know why, but I wasn't ready for that. For sex; for intimacy. I wasn't ready to open myself up to that level of vulnerability with him again. But I was already starting to feel more open to him; more able to like him, again. I was ready to stop hating him, anyway. It's a step in the right direction.

The day began in much the same fashion; breakfast, hurried mingling. Rick asked Christopher if he thought I needed another coating of paw-pui. My elbow may have accidentally come in contact with his ribs. There was, however, no room for paw-pui nonsense in our schedule so the jab was completely unnecessary. Felt good to do it, though. Felt like old times, actually. When we used to joke around with each other.

"Can we see where the children live?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure. It's just on the other side of those trees. Ah was plannin' to take ya by there latah t'day but we can go now."