Gotta Pay the Piper Ch. 14

I stepped to the end of the main counter to take a number and gestured the others towards the waiting area. Turning, I watched Lenore sit with the group of men and women talking. Some had slaves still with them but several did not. The three slaves we brought found seats to one side close enough to listen to the conversation.

"We were told to wait until after everybody checked in their slaves." one man offered as explanation when I joined the group. "They have something 'special' for us. Probably another way for the parish to get more money out of us." He smiled. "I wouldn't mind doling out some extra cash if they spent it fixing the damn roads." That was a common theme state-wide. A running joke as everyone knew roadways were one of the last parts of the infrastructure to get attention yet the main talking point for a candidate seeking election. When a road development project did begin, it would linger for years before completion.

One slave sat with her head down, sniffling. Her owner nodded toward her blonde head and grinned as she said, "My other slave came home last week and scared her with horror stories of what happens here at slave camp. I warned her to keep her shit straight or she'd spend a weekend here, too. I thought that would be enough to straighten out her behavior but I underestimated her stupidity. It's her own fault she's here today. She showed a little too much attitude and here she is. If she doesn't learn from this lesson, I'll sell the bitch and she can be somebody else's problem. Hopefully she'll go to somebody with a strong arm and a mean whip. I don't think she respects my paddle."

"Please, ma'am. I respect you and your paddle. I tried to behave. Jennifer goaded me into that fight. She wouldn't leave me alone. She pushed me until I reacted. Then she flopped on the ground and screamed like I was the one attacking her. She totally set me up." the muscular blonde slave whimpered. "I'll be good. Please just take me home."

"No way. You need the training. A little slave camp indoctrination will do you good. It didn't cure Jen but it seemed to help her attitude apart from your infighting. And you know what I promised if you mess up and I get a single bad report from the staff here." the woman said.

"Please, Gretchen." the woman's sniffling increased. "I'll do my best. But please, don't do that to me."

I looked at the slave. She was very cute with shoulder length, highlighted hair. She wore a light jacket and loose sweat pants so I could not tell her shape but she appeared thin with broad shoulders. Her hunched over posture concealed the rest.

Lenore asked how long she had the slave. The blonde turned to look sharply at Lenore when she spoke. Did I see a flash of recognition in the upset slave's face?

"Just shy of a month. Both the girls I have are stupid bitches. Not unintelligent, just no impulse control. They fly off the handle at the slightest thing. They were single women from a nearby apartment complex who I had seen around and said hello to a few times. I was hosting a backyard party for several of my friends. Both girls are pretty hot so I invited them. I didn't know there was a standing conflict between them. They once got into an argument over a man they both knew and it turned physical. That shows you how dumb they are."

"Instead of staying away from each other at the barbecue, they started arguing. Next thing you know, the grill is knocked over on my wood patio deck which caught fire and they are throwing shit at each other. Some of the stuff they threw were bottles of liquor. That really got the blaze going. By the time the rest of us got them separated, restrained and the fire under control, the deck had been badly burned and the back of my house scorched. They got four years each for negligent damage over twenty thousand dollars. The damage was accidental but the fight was not. That made it criminal according to the parish. They'd have got off with a fine if they hadn't run their mouths in the court room. And despite having good jobs, neither had any money to pay damages so I got their butts as restitution." The woman grinned. "To tell the truth, I came out ahead on the deal. I own their asses for the next four years. I kept their clothes so I didn't have to buy new stuff and I get to put them to work and collect their paychecks."

The slave glared at her owner sourly at the last comment despite her obvious fear of the woman. "I don't blame either one for being totally pissed she got enslaved. They got a raw deal." the woman continued. "But their anger should not be directed at me. I did not engineer their fight nor push for enslavement. But when a house burns, somebody wants restitution. I could have let the insurance company take them which is what the company really wanted. The insurance lawyer actually asked for them. As hot as they are, both girls would have wound up over in Texas at one of the big slave markets, strutting her stuff like a whore to be sold as a sex toy. I sucked up some of the repair costs and got them instead. They should be grateful. Instead I get drama and attitude. They apparently don't like my lifestyle, not that I really care. I guess they'd rather be sucking cock than licking pussy." The other free people chuckled. I personally wondered how fair the arrangement really was. I started to say something about a look between Lenore and the blonde. Lenore caught my eye and shook her head. She whispered she would explain later.

A few of the other slave owners said they bought their girls at a slave sale or from an individual online. Only a couple got theirs as restitution. "I thought owning a slave would be fun." one man groused. He looked to be in his mid to late twenties. I recognized a geek when I saw one. I could identify. "You know, a girl at home ready to service you whenever you want with whatever you want, sex, food or just taking care of the cleaning. But it is a pain in the ass! One of my friends told me I have to make sure I feed her and all that. Take care of her. This is an adult woman right? She should know to fix food if she gets hungry and I am not home! ""

"I work a lot. I come home late three or four nights a week. She calls me to make sure she knows when I'll be there so she can fix dinner for us. "The other night, I tell her to just cook whatever we had and she grills a couple fifteen dollar a pound steaks I had in the freezer. Forty bucks worth of meat, she cooks. It's cold by the time I get home. The salad is warm and wilted. The potatoes, inedible. She says she just did what I said. That was the only food left because I was too busy to buy groceries. I'm hoping I can get her to understand her role by bringing her here or something!" I looked at the woman seated demurely next to him with her face down. A slight smile flashed before she hid it. I glanced at my own girls. They were all working hard to conceal their smirks.

"How did you come to own her?" Lenore asked.

"I wanted a slave. You know, a pretty female. I live by myself and don't have a girlfriend. So I went to the auction and bought one." the guy said. Lenore asked what the girl did to get enslaved. The man looked at Lenore blankly like he did not understand the question. Then he said he never thought to ask. He turned red as he said, "I just wanted to own a pretty girl."

"My supposed best friend, my roommate, was screwing my boyfriend when I was at work." the slave offered quietly. "I poured some gas into her car and torched it. When she came running out half naked, I started beating the shit out of her. I got charged with destruction of property over twenty thousand dollars, plus assault with intent to do bodily harm." The slave giggled, "It should have read facial not bodily harm. I pounded the bitch's face as hard as I could. I didn't do that much damage since she was still able to walk when they pulled me off her but she is gonna have to find a good surgeon to put her nose together. At least to get her nose sort of in the right place. I was sentenced to twenty years. At first it looked like they were going to give me to her as restitution but when she announced loudly she was gonna fuck up my face as much or more as I did hers, the parish sold me at auction instead. My main regret? If I'd been smart and not blew my top as soon as I caught them, I could have done it carefully and beat the shit out of the bitch without witnesses. I might not have been caught and convicted." She pointed at her owner. "I told him I would do my best to be a good slave, but I can't just sit on my ass at home waiting for him to come home to fuck me on occasion. He barely pays me any attention. I need more. I'm not allowed out of the apartment so I have to wait for him to even buy groceries. He is just too busy at work, 'working on his career'. He has no concept how to treat a girl, slave or otherwise." Her owner blushed scarlet. A few of the other observers bit their lips to avoid making comments about her taking him to task but they were obviously amused at the exchange..

"Wait a minute." Lenore said. "You said you bought your slave through the auction." Rick, the young man nodded. "Didn't you read about what slave camp is supposed to teach a slave?"

Rick looked at Lenore like she was stupid. "Yeah, it's supposed to teach a new slave how to be a better slave. Teach them the rules and how to be better and more obedient."

"No. It is intended for slaves who never went through the induction center. Teach them the laws and indoctrinate them to what slavery entails so they understand how to adapt to being a slave. Slave camp is focused on the slaves who skip that process, mainly the ones who are given to a person as restitution for some kind of loss. Like Gretchen here who had damage done to her house. She was awarded her slaves. As soon as they were collared and processed, she took them home. They never heard the details of even how a collar works. I bet, what is your name?" Lenore turned to the slave. The girl answered Teri. "I bet Teri here told you how she needs to recharge her collar and how you can track her location through her collar."

"I made sure I had a charger." Teri reported. "I did not want my spinal column fried because of his ignorance. I told him a little about what the collar did but he was not interested. He said as long as I did what he told me, it would be fine. Then he told me to strip so he could screw me. I never dared leave the apartment by myself even to take a walk in case he really did know and shocked me for disobeying. I thought it could be a test. It wasn't until he signed me up to come here that I realized he really did not know." A few of the others were chuckling. "I begged him not to bring me. I know what they are going to do to me. The same thing I went through before they put me on the auction block. But he just read the bullet points on the brochure, not the details. I knew when to shut up. I don't want multiple punishments for the same offense."

"So you paid fifteen hundred bucks to have your girl go through the same training she already got when first enslaved? one of the men asked, barely hiding his amusement. Rick looked at him surprised and nodded.

"It said it would indoctrinate a problem slave to know her place. So I signed her up. I don't have time to read all the details. I wonder if it's too late to get my money back." Rick said, looking like a kid who was regretting a toy he begged for and now found it did not do all the cool things like the commercial on television showed.

I almost missed hearing my number called. My three slaves and Lenore had been just as engrossed in listening to these stories as I. I stood and turned to wave at the clerk. "BAS! Is that you?" the clerk hollered across the lobby. The clerk was none other than Lucy Cormier, Carol's mother. I walked across to greet her. I assumed my girls would follow.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. Lucy explained she worked a few overtime hours each Friday morning checking in 'Slave Camp' attendees. She also worked one or two Saturdays a month at the parish slave auction.

"I'm a full-time parish court employee but I can get some extra time any weekend I want. The parish tries to balance the work with part-timers but they still need experienced clerks. The over time helps me make ends meet." Lucy's mouth almost fell open when she recognized Beth. "Beth Atwell? What are you doing here? Well, I mean that is obvious but how did you get enslaved? Bas mentioned owning Robin and told me he owned her younger sister, but we did not go that far into details. He never mentioned you."

"I did not know you knew Beth." I said. "I guess I should have realized since you knew the other girls' mothers. You can ask Carol to explain all about it when she visits in the morning. I hope you are not working this weekend? If you need to we can reschedule the girls' visit." Lucy shook her head.

"Oh, no! I want to see my daughter. I took tomorrow off. I know Beth, but we were not close, not like the other mothers. Our daughters were friends and then moved in together so naturally we had some contact. Being a lawyer's wife, members of the country club and all that, Beth was just a little above us socially and acted like it. So it gives me GREAT pleasure to say this.... STRIP SLAVE!"

"Here, in the open?" Beth sputtered, turning red. Somehow she did not notice the slaves standing nude at the counters while being signed in. Lucy laughed and asked her if she was blind not to notice the naked slaves. "I was facing the other way and listening to what those people were saying."

"Well, get your ass in gear and get it bare. Fold your clothes neatly for Bas to take home. You other two. Naked. NOW! Sometimes I get a little charge out of this job. This is the highlight of my day!" Lucy said, with a giggle. "Bas I know who you are but I still need to see your driver's license and have you put your hand on the scanner to confirm your identity." She quickly confirmed I was really me, as she expressed it. Then she picked up a hand scanner. "I need to scan their collars. Slaves, I want your hands behind your back, legs spread. Basic present pose." She smiled as she made a point to look directly at Beth's naked breasts as the woman quivered. "You must be happy to see me! Your nipples are on high beam. It's certainly not that cool in here." Lucy announced with a grin. Then she checked the collars of all three girls.

"Out here, I will call you by name, but beyond that line, you are only a number. We use the last three digits of your slave identification number. Do you know it?" All three shook their heads. "Let's see, Beth you are 441, Robin you are 386 and Joanne, you are 387. Consecutive numbers? I guess you were enslaved at the same time. It says here your last name is Landry, Are you and Bas related?" I told her Joanne was my step daughter. I said I would explain when I brought her daughter over or Carol could tell her the story. She nodded. "Let me warn you, if a guard calls your number and you do not answer immediately, your butt will pay. They do NOT mess around."

"Okay, next order of business. All fees have been paid. It looks like you are hairless. Any stubble?" Lucy asked as she reached between Beth's legs. Beth reflexively jumped back and closed her legs. "Get back in position, slave. Move again and that guard over there will give you five with her strap. Nope, I don't feel any, but I am not the one who usually inspects. And they look VERY close." Lucy turned to me and grinned. I knew she added this just to enhance Beth's indignity. "Any stray hair will be removed. If only a few strays are found, they will pluck them with tweezers. More and the slave gets waxed. We also offer laser service for a slight fee. Our techs are pretty thorough. Laser hair removal isn't permanent, but it does last a while and the hair is pretty sparse later. They will do a repeat treatment on the last morning as well. You can always send them to a spa later for follow-up to make them smooth permanently. So do you want them just waxed or lasered if they find hair?"

"I told them to get themselves smooth." Lenore said. "I even suggested they help each other but I did not inspect them carefully. I just brushed my hand over their pubis when I took the chastity belts off these two." Lucy giggled at that. I knew she was enjoying this. I smiled and told her I would also explain about the chastity belts later. Lenore continued. "If any of these three did not take my recommendation to heart, it is on them. Use the laser. You said the techs are thorough?"

Lucy said, "Oh yes, VERY! Since they are dealing with slaves and skin irritation is not a concern, they use a higher setting than at a salon. They go over the whole area down there a couple times. You can tell the slaves who get the laser. They looked like they are wearing pink panties afterwards. Their skin looks like they have been out in the sun too long, just like a bad sunburn." Lenore said they better hope they did a good enough job to pass inspection then."Okay, breakfast is being served in the dining hall. The guard will escort them. Bas, if you and Lenore will stay around for a few minutes, please." The three slaves were ushered away.

Once all the slaves had been processed, Lucy approached the group of slave owners. "We are offering something new. That is a chance to observe your slaves' first morning here at slave camp. You will also be given a video for you to review later. We have a catered breakfast waiting for you. Of course this is optional, but those who have taken the tour so far have given us good ratings. Ms Dubois will join you before she sees the attendees for the first time." Lenore had already planned to go to work late. She decided to call in to tell Wanda she would be taking the day off. I wanted to watch as well.

We were escorted to the staff lounge where food warmers containing scrambled eggs, grits, waffles, bacon, sausage and other breakfast foods awaited along one wall. As we began to serve ourselves, a uniformed guard turned on the big screen television. "If I can have your attention for a second as you serve yourselves. This scene is the dining room. We have several cameras showing the table reserved for slave camp attendees. We also have hidden microphones although the sounds might be a little confusing and unclear." She moved a toggle and and the scene changed showing several more tables all filled with naked collared women.

"These are the women who were convicted and collared in the past week or so. We service three parishes. Slaves arriving Friday through the following Thursday are housed and attend daily classes. The classes are repetitious and designed to orient, well indoctrinate, convicts to their new lives as a judicial slave. Slaves awarded as restitution do not get this orientation. That is why many have trouble thinking of and accepting themselves as slaves. The women who spend a few days here have no doubt about their new place in society." That got laughter around the room. "These other women will be sold tomorrow on the parish auction block."

Lucy approached me. "Uhh, Bas. If I can have a few minutes." I agreed and she took Lenore and me to one side. "I'm not sure if you heard rumors about what happens here in the staff lounge after shift change." Lenore said she was fully aware, having heard accounts from slaves who had been used and she had told me about it. "Well, the reason I ask is this. Since I help out here Friday mornings, I am allowed to come in here and indulge myself." She blushed scarlet and gave a nervous giggle."I am straight but I don't date much and well, you know, I get the itch and this is one way to scratch it." I started to smile. I thought I knew where this was going. "Guards and techs tend to select a girl or two out of each group who catches their eye. Well, I cannot keep any slave off the list, and since Robin and Joanne are very pretty they will likely be selected. I saw you did not sign the place that said they could NOT be used by other women. Contact with males is strictly prohibited as you know." I nodded. "I wanted to make sure you understood that so when your slaves go home and tell stories, it does not blow back on Carol and cause her trouble."