Hypnotist

"You were dancing the gogo up there."

"No, I wasn't. All I did was stand there?" She looked at me strangely.

I decided to just let it go, no harm done at all.

That night, I again asked her to tell me what Ken had said.

"He just thanked me and told me I couldn't be hypnotized. Only really dumb people can be, I guess."

I had to think about that one for a minute.

Oh, well. Later, the four of us went out for a late meal, we were chatting about his act. I asked how a few of the things he did were managed, and got no real answers at all.

When I mentioned that the cage part of the act was really beautiful, Kirsten looked over at me. Her hand came up to the jacket she had on, she pulled it off. Ken said something to her I didn't quite catch, she stopped.

"Feeling warm?" He asked her.

"Yes, I am feeling warm." Was all she said. He took the jacket and hung it on the back of her chair.

"Pretty outfit." He said to me.

"I guess Marsha helped her pick it out, she has nice taste."

"I wish I could wear clothes like that." Marsha smiled at me. A look passed back and forth between them, then the conversation went back to normal.

+++

"Come over here." I told her, patting the bed. We had barely walked in the door at home. Kirsten had removed her jacket and just hung it up carefully.

"You are so beautiful!" I added. Her dress really was sexy as I had ever seen her. She looked at me, reached up and unhooked the gown at her shoulder. It dropped to the floor. Then she hooked her thumbs in the matching bottoms, slid them down and off. She walked over and slid on top of me, began to kiss my neck.

Doing that wasn't too much different but I glanced over at the gown and thong lying on the floor. I had never seen her not carefully put everything away as she got undressed before.

Still, I wasn't going to complain much. We had a wonderful session of lovemaking, I always enjoyed the way she used her powerful legs to press up to meet me. She was extremely excited, it had been quite an evening.

Later, she slipped off the bed, went over and picked up the clothing and carefully put it away before coming to bed again.

That Sunday we went to a backyard cookout at Ken and Marsha's. I mentioned to Ken again about how we liked the show, and how Kirsten had really gotten into her dancing. Normally she is slightly shy and reserved in public, it was amazing how he had transformed her with a few simple words.

"It's pretty easy, first I let them slip into a mild trance and then just plant the suggestions. Nearly everyone will respond, not always but most of the time. A few aren't really under, I can always tell, but they do the funny stuff anyway since they feel they are part of the act."

"Was Kirsten really under?" I asked him.

"Oh, yea! She went down "bang" just like that. She is a great subject."

"It isn't dangerous, is it?" I asked him.

"Oh, no, not really. I can't make anyone do anything they don't want to do, or anything they would not do anyway, although I can trick them sometimes."

"How is that?"

"Well, if someone is doing something that would really embarrass them, I tell them they are all alone with no one around to see."

"I never really believed in hypnosis." I told him.

"Oh, it's real and works, all right. My Dad was a hypnotist, he taught me. Once way back in college I hypnotized a teacher and got her to take off her panties right in front of the class, that was a gas. I just suggested that she was in the bathroom all by herself. I got her stopped before she could take a dump in the chair."

He broke out laughing like something like that was hilarious.

I let that slide, went back to mixing with people. At one point I looked over and Ken was talking to Kirsten, she seemed to be hanging on every word. I saw Marsha talking to a tall older man that was at the party by himself, that conversation was animated, I noticed several times she reached out and touched his arm, her head tipped back in laughter at something he had said. When the man reached out and put his palm on her waist and she didn't protest, that really wasn't a surprise.

"Open marriage," She had told my wife.

It popped into my head that later they just might be pairing off, then I looked again for Kirsten. She had wandered over and was talking to two other ladies so I relaxed.

Deep down inside I had one of those uncomfortable feelings, one of those things that tell a person something isn't quite right but you can't put your finger on it?

That evening as Kirsten and I readied for bed, I asked what she and Ken had been talking about.

"Oh, he was explaining how he got people to do silly things on stage. He said it was all just an act, supposed to be funny."

"Oh, that is all?"

"Yes, except his bookings are down a little, he asked me if I was interested in being part of his act. Just when he is in town, or close by."

"Part of his act? Doing what?"

"He said he sometimes has people in the audience that he calls on, they are part of the show."

Well, I had already figured that part out.

"What would he want you to do?" I asked her.

"He said that since he can't hypnotize me, I won't fall under the spell. He needs people that know what to do." She sat down on the edge of the bed, all she had on was her bra.

I couldn't stop myself from helping her out of it.

"He said that? I wonder why? I am pretty sure he actually did hypnotize you."

"No, he didn't." She said simply. Then she reached over and ran her hand down my chest and I forgot about that for a few minutes.

Later, as we lay cuddled up, I told her I didn't really want her to be part of Ken's act. I was thinking of the way she had looked up on that stage, while that really hadn't been too bad, I just didn't like the idea.

"I won't, honey. I have enough to keep me busy taking care of you." She had her tongue in my navel so I forgot all about that again.

Two days later I got home and Kirsten wasn't there. In a half dozen years together it was the very first time. For a moment I panicked, then just as I was reaching for the phone to call her Mother to see if she was over there, the front door opened and she rushed in.

"I'm sorry, honey. I lost track of the time!" She began to turn on the stove burners and drag out some pots and pans.

"Where were you?" I asked.

"I was over at Ken and Marsha's.", she said, pulling things out of the fridge.

"Forget cooking, let's go out to eat." I told her.

"Oh. OK. That sounds neat, what should I wear?"

"Oh, just something simple, I was thinking we could go to Carl's Steakhouse, maybe have the Shrimp and a T-bone?"

"OK. I will hurry." Kirsten was back in 60 seconds, wearing nice slacks and a blouse.

"How do I look?" She asked, reaching for her purse.

"You look beautiful!" I told her.

Kirsten stopped and looked at me, she set down her purse, pulled the blouse off. Reaching back, she unfastened the bra, then undid her slacks, pulled them and her panties off in one motion. She walked over to me, stark naked, slid into my arms.

I stood there in complete shock.

"Kirsten! I said.

"What, honey?"

"What in the hell are you doing, we were going out to dinner?"

"You said you wanted to make love?" She answered, looking up at me with a smile.

"No, I didn't. I just said you looked beautiful?" I told her.

She dropped to her knees and began to fumble at my belt.

"Kirsten! Stop!" I lifted her by her shoulders, looking at her I realized her eyes looked odd.

"What, honey?" She said again.

"Get dressed."

"OK." She walked over and began to tug on her clothes.

One quick phone call and I had her loaded up in the car. Minutes later we pulled up in front of my friend Doctor Harburg's house. We had rebuilt his garage and saved him a solid 5 grand, he appreciated that and told me if I ever needed a favor, to just give him a ring.

I unloaded Kirsten, Doctor Harburg took us into one of his back bedrooms he had converted to a home office. He was getting along in years and preparing to retire, but wanted the home office to keep his skills up, since he had several local clients.

I explained what had happened, he got a puzzled look on his face. Then he went over and shined a light in her eyes. She sat there demurely, her hands in her lap.

"I don't see anything at all wrong with her."

"Tell her she is beautiful." I said.

"What? She is beautiful, but..." He came to a stop.

Kirsten already had her blouse and bra off, and was in the process of pulling her slacks down. Doctor Harburg stood there in surprise.

Kirsten walked over to me and slipped into my arms.

"See what I mean?"

"Yes, I do. It's some kind of spell or something. I have never seen anything like it in my life." He reached out and touched her shoulder, she looked at him. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh!" She said suddenly, her arms coming up to cover her breasts.

"This is Doctor Harburg, relax honey, it's all right." I told her. He had already reached for a gown, handed it to her. She tugged it on quickly.

"You didn't tell me anyone was here, honey!" She complained.

We got her sat down on the edge of the table he kept in his spare room, I told her to just sit there and not do anything. She appeared to be completely confused. Then Doctor Harburg checked her over, she sat there meekly as he did it. He even checked her vagina when I asked him if she had been raped.

He found nothing at all really, but explained that if someone had used a condom then there would be no evidence. He did mention that she did look mildly inflamed down there but that could simply be from a state of arousal.

"What is your opinion?" I asked, a sick feeling pouring over me.

"She very likely has recently had normal intercourse." He told me.

I went into detail about what I thought had happened, explaining my asshole neighbor was a hypnotist and it appeared he had her under some kind of control.

"I am going to prescribe some pretty strong medicine, it's going to make her sleep for awhile, OK? Then if she isn't normal in the morning, take her to the hospital and call me."

"OK." He went into another room came back with a glass of water and two pills. He had Kirsten take them.

"I think you should call the police." He said.

"And tell them what? That we THINK she was maybe raped?" I answered, getting her to her feet.

By the time I got her home, she was out so I carried her in to bed. I sat up the rest of the night, checking on her every few minutes.

She woke up around eleven the next morning.

"Hi, Honey! Wow did I sleep." She sat up, still appearing groggy.

"You look beautiful this morning.", I told her.

"Thank you, Honey. Do you want some breakfast?"

"No, I am fine." I was really relieved when she didn't just start taking off her clothes again.

"What did you do yesterday?" I asked her.

"I trimmed the Rose bushes out in the yard, why?"

"I was curious. Did you see anyone?"

"Just..Ken? He came out and talked to me, then you came home and...?" She suddenly looked completely confused.

I felt my face flush, rage poured over me. At that point I was reasonably sure that Ken had done something.

Downstairs, I called her mother. She asked a lot of questions but I sidestepped them, just told her we had some serious trouble so she came right over.

"Whatever you do, don't let Kirsten out of your sight." I told her Mother.

"What's going on, Danny? What's wrong?"

"I will explain it all later." I told her.

Then I went out the front door and walked over to Ken and Marsha's. She looked a little frightened when she saw me, probably from the expression on my face.

"Where is Ken?" I asked her.

"He is out on the deck, why?"

"He hynotized Kirsten, apparently molested her. Probably raped her."

"Oh, God! Not again, I told him it was only a matter of time...."

"He does shit like this?"

"Just once, a long time ago. It was all supposed to be just a joke but..." She looked really upset.

"You weren't here yesterday?"

"No, I was down getting my spa treatment all afternoon."

That was all I needed to know. I pushed by her, headed for the deck. On the way I spotted an old Lava lamp sitting on a counter, I picked it up.

Ken was just getting up out of the deck chair when I pegged him right upside the head with the Lava lamp.

I was trying to break it over his head.

Those things are pretty tough, it didn't break.

His head was pretty tough, it didn't break, either.

But he did go down flat. Looking up at me advancing on him he started screaming that he hadn't hurt her.

I heard Marsha screeching in the background as I drop kicked him in the balls. The shorts he had on didn't offer much protection. Then I was on top of him.

Ken was a pretty big and fit looking guy, but so was I. He never had a chance. I don't know what would have happened, but Marsha managed to tackle me and get me stopped.

That was probably a good thing.

I was back at the house sitting in a chair talking to Kirsten's Mother when the police pounded on the door. They actually pointed guns at me, I gave up quietly.

I did start to try and explain but Cops don't normally listen to any of that. "Tell it to the Judge!" One extremely burly Cop growled.

There was no point in resisting, anyway. I saw the ambulance next door loading Ken as they dragged me out, throwing me into the rear of a squad car without much fanfare.

He wasn't moving any that I could see.

+++

So that is how I ended up there, my life pretty much fucked up. The lawyer managed to get my bail reduced to $50,000, but that might as well have been a million. I had everything we owned tied up in material and equipment.

We did try for being released without bail but some prosecutor, a kid that looked to be about 14 went into a half hour long tirade about "home invasion" and "aggregious" injuries and how I was a "threat to the community" so the sour faced old bastard just left me locked up.

I knew we had lost that round when after explaining to the Judge what was little more than a suspicion that my wife had been hypnotized and raped just brought a raised eyebrow and a disbelieving look.

+++

It was nearly four weeks later when the guard I had told the story to and became friends with came over and unlocked the cell door. Jack Mercer, my lawyer was right behind him.

"You are being released." The guard grinned at me.

+++

I had seen Kirsten every day, she was staying with her Mother who wouldn't let her out of her sight. But I had seen my lawyer even more.

Kirsten had actually seen to it that my crew went ahead with working on the last contract, it was almost finished. She even paid the bills, banked the checks. I laughed when I looked at one check, the bill was $1106.55 so she wrote it for $1107.00.

Hell, she even did the payroll checks, everything in round numbers. Just one check had been short by about a quarter, when the worker mentioned that, she simply handed him a dollar bill. She even wrote down and accounted for the dollar.

Then she had written up a bid and got a contact on another one?

That one surprised the hell out of me. Kirsten? Running a job site? Doing bids on construction work?

I quickly ran the numbers, worried at first.

She had nailed it.

When Stan, my framer called asking about a delivery, I listened in amazement as he told me "That wife of yours is smart as a whip!"

Later I found out she had dug out my older bids, studied them, then looked at the new job. All she did was transfer the figures, the material costs, and the hours from one to the other, written out in her perfect handwriting.

Just like she did when she cooked dinner.

Everything was so perfectly neat that it impressed the homeowner and she got the job. For a moment I thought maybe it had something to do with the way Kirsten looked, but the homeowner turned out to be a 64 year old little old lady.

I asked her much later on how she had managed to do all of that.

"I just asked a lot of questions, and read everything." She said.

"Didn't anyone say anything, when you asked dumb...err..I mean, questions?"

"My Mom told me there are no dumb questions, only people too dumb to ask." She gave me a little smile.

The difference between dumb and smart is that smart people do ask questions, I guess.

++++

"The charges have been dropped." My lawyer told me.

"How did that happen?"

"It seems your neighbor didn't want to face the rape charges...or the two million dollar civil suit." He grinned.

"How were you going to get rape charges to stick, there wasn't any evidence?"

"We weren't, but a trial would mean publicity."

"Still, why would he? I hear I hurt him pretty badly."

"Probably something to do with around half of his bookings being canceled. And you hurt him a bit more than pretty badly, it seems they ended up removing one of his testicles."

"How did that happen? I mean, him losing bookings?" I asked as we walked out into the sunshine.

"Why, I guess I just don't know." He grinned at me, I could see every one of his teeth.

One thing about my Jack Mercer, he had a well deserved reputation for being just plain mean.

He had also dug into Ken's past and found an old case where he was charged with rape after hypnotizing a 21 year old female. Jack explained that it might not have been allowed as evidence in court since he beat the charge, but mention of it in phone calls to possible bookings appeared to have an effect.

I could again see almost every single one of his teeth when he grinned at me.

I saw the for sale sign stuck out in front of the house next door as Jack dropped me off. We shook hands, I told him that we would have the crew over at his house to build the new addition he wanted there in the next few weeks.

I stood there and watched as he drove away, thinking I wished we could afford a nice new Mercedes just like that one. It would be a couple of years, though.

Kirsten was sitting on the couch, her Mother was in the chair. She had her hands folded meekly in her lap. Her Mother got up, patted me on the shoulder, then she kissed me on the cheek and left without a word.

"I'm sorry, Honey. I was stupid, I really did think it was you. I trusted that man, and he...are you mad at me?" Kirsten looked like she was about to cry.

That was the very first mention she made of anything that had happened, of course with guards and others around she wouldn't discuss it at the jail.

"No. We are all right. I love you. Do you...remember any of it?"

"Yes, I do now..I think. I thought you were there and I..then something was wrong and I didn't know what. I remember Ken telling me I would forget everything, and I did for awhile."

I didn't answer for a moment.

"You said something was wrong? What was that?"

"While he was...It was way too..small? Then I thought you were using one of our..toys." A tear trickled down her cheek.

I stifled the sudden flash of anger I felt pour over me again.

"Do we...you.. need to talk about it? It really upsets me." She told me.

"There is nothing to even talk about. I love you, that is enough."

That brought a welcome smile to her lips.

"You really are beautiful, honey." I added, waiting to see what she would do.

"Thank you. I love you too." First she hesitated for a moment, an odd twitch in her eyes, then she got up and hugged me.

Thank God. I hugged her right back, it felt good to have her in my arms again.

"Want some dinner?" She asked.

"Sounds good, Babe."

I sat down in my own living room for the first time in weeks. Everything was neat as a pin, but then it always was. I grabbed the remote, clicked on the news.

"Are steaks and some Cole Slaw all right, honey?" Kirsten called out from the kitchen.

"Sure!" I leaned back in my chair, glanced into the kitchen. The first thing I saw was a blouse on the floor.