Legal and Tender Payment Pt. 01

Her husband faltered and stammered, but finally got the story out. He had run up a gambling debt he couldn't pay. He was embarrassed to tell her that and even more embarrassed to tell her the solution. The guy he owed wanted her as payment.

Lynn wheeled around with a fury that surprised him. Before she could open her mouth, he was quick to say that she could leave after 3 hours, and during their time together she wouldn't have to do anything she didn't want to do. He just wanted to be with her.

She stomped out of the room in a confused swirl of emotions. What a dumbass to get himself into this mess, and what kind of pussy would even consider this solution? Part of her wanted to ask how much the debt was. In a way, it was flattering that the guy valued her so greatly.

She remained apart from her husband for the rest of the night. When he approached her again, head down and feet shuffling, she gave him the answer.

"I'll do it."

She couldn't stand to look at him or speak to him for the next three days. Her contempt for him had risen to a level she would have previously thought impossible.

As the day of her "date" drew near, she found herself considering it almost constantly. It was clear this was the beginning of a new chapter of her life, but how would it end?

-The Night-

Her husband gave her a raised eyebrow when he saw her outfit, but the fire in her eyes quickly made him look away. She thought, "How dare he even begin to question what I'm wearing!"

She wasn't dressed in anything slutty, but there was no doubt she had made an effort to look nice. He looked her over and wondered how he had forgotten what a treasure she was. Her silky brown hair flowed down her back so soft and inviting. He would give anything to stroke it now and feel her close. But instead, someone else was going to hold her tonight and...

"Stop!" he said to himself for the hundredth time today. She wasn't that kind of girl, and the whole thing would probably just be one long embarrassing dinner.

For him, it would be one long embarrassing year probably, but hopefully she could forgive him. It's not like he went out and tried to get into debt. He was just trying to make more money so they could have nicer things, do nicer things. Hell, in a way, it was her fault too, he thought as he tried to rid himself of his guilty conscience.

It was these thoughts that allowed him to let her walk out the door. She stepped into their car and drove away. He watched until she disappeared from sight.

Now he just had to wait.

Lynn gave the valet her keys. It was a wonderful property and it would have been a thrill to visit otherwise. Her heart was in her throat as she walked to the supper club.

He saw her. She was radiant in her clean, simple beauty and he was very happy she had dressed up for him. She was the kind of beauty that didn't need a lot of make-up, jewels, fancy clothes, she was just naturally wonderful.

His smile encouraged one from her, although a bit nervous. He walked to her and brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. "Thank you. I know this was difficult for you, and I know how awful the circumstances are that made it happen. If we set aside all that ugliness, can we enjoy an evening that could otherwise never have happened?"

His gentle smile and easy way disarmed her and she felt herself relaxing. This was a very public place so yeah, why not, let's make the most of this since we're here.

The hostess led them back to their table. When they settled in, Jack tried to lighten the mood. "Tell me about your home town."

Lynn was surprised, but complied. There wasn't much to say about her small town, but she found a few amusing or interesting things to say. He listened and laughed with her at the memories that brought her such happiness. He ordered for them both, and as the courses began to arrive, she loved the things he had chosen. The romantic atmosphere, wonderful food, and, she had to admit, wonderful company, were making this a very special night.

"Lynn" he began, "I must tell you, I'm not a man who does this type of thing. You know me. I have money, I have things, I have NICE things. I know how to recognize quality when I see it. I've only know you from afar, but I appreciate how wonderful you are."

He reached for her hand and continued, "That wonderfulness shows when you stay committed to that weasel of a husband you have. It shows when you walk down the street and are kind to others. Thank you for sharing some of that with me."

Lynn looked down and toyed with the food on her plate. Obviously her husband didn't treat her like this or speak to her like this. She realized there weren't many people like the man in front of her. He had money, but more than that, he had class. She had never been with a man like him.

"Thank you, Jack. You've been, wonderful." Her eyes twinkled as she said this and he knew it was true.

After a pause she looked up, "Jack, what exactly did my husband do?"

Jack frowned at this unexpected frankness and unpleasant topic, but he responded to her. "He began placing larger and larger bets and when he had problems making them good, he asked me for credit. Lynn, I'll be honest with you, I always tell people not to ask for credit in this business. It doesn't do me any good or them. Gambling is one thing. You may not agree with it, but a man that wants to gamble ought to be able to-when it's his own money. Borrowing to gamble, that's not a good idea."

"I asked him not to do it, but Lynn, I'm not his dad and I'm sure not his mother", he smiled and she smiled back.

"He got himself into trouble, and the people I deal with thought it was 'leg-breaking trouble.'"

Lynn cringed but Jack continued on, "I don't like doing that, but sometimes a man has to be motivated by strong things. This isn't a business for small men, and frankly, your husband isn't made for it."

"I thought about you and the pain it would cause, and I flat couldn't do it to him, even though he deserved it. Lynn I'll tell you this, if we called him right now and offered to go double or nothing with him, he'd take it. He's weak."

Lynn knew it was true. She had seen it in his eyes when he told her about the problem. Lynn figured he had won some before and wouldn't stop while he was ahead. He kept going until he was a loser. And now he had lost her.

Jack's hand covered hers, "Lynn, don't let this weigh on your mind. I have precious few minutes with you and I promise this problem will still be there for you to solve afterwards." His mischievous smile warmed her and she resolved again to make this evening a good experience.

The mood lightened. They talked and talked, and she enjoyed some of the finest food, drink, and company she had ever had. Lynn was afraid to look at her watch. She was afraid the time was slipping away too quickly. Jack however, was a man of his word.

"Lynn, it's been 4 hours. I think I've stretched 'a few hours' as liberally as I can. Shame on me for not demanding tougher terms, but I was afraid of scaring you. Who knew how you'd react to some gangster's demand that you spend the night?"

Lynn didn't think of him as a gangster and that was why he could joke about it. Reluctantly, she had to nod her head and smile. "Thank you Jack. You've been very kind to me and I've had a wonderful time with you."

Jack walked her to the front of the hotel. As they waited for the valet to return with her car, he turned to her. She looked into his eyes, wishing for all she was that the night wasn't ending.

"Lynn, may I presume upon you a bit more?" .

"Of course Jack."

"May I kiss you?"

"Yes, of course."

Jack drew her to him and with a touch as soft as angel's wings he pressed his lips to hers in a lingering soft intimacy. Lynn wanted to press her body fully against him and kiss him back. Her lips parted slightly, wanting, inviting him to kiss deeper.

Instead, Jack broke their kiss as the valet had arrived. The grin on the valet's face made it obvious he knew these two were lovers. Married people don't kiss that way.

Jack stood on the sidewalk for a long time after her car disappeared. He mirrored the stare Draper had given her earlier in the night as she left their house.

Lynn drove without the radio and relived the evening. Unfortunately, thoughts of her husband kept intruding. She dreaded seeing him and dealing with this. She had zero respect for him.

She saw the curtains part as her car pulled into the drive and her husband raced outside. "Did he fuck you? Did he? Did he?"

"Why yes, I'm fine, thanks for asking. So nice of you to be worried about me." Lynn replied with contempt, her rage just under the surface.

"Oh hell, Lynn, you know what I mean, of course I want to know if you're ok, but I was just wondering, you know, what all he made you do and stuff."

"We had a very nice dinner and drinks and we made small talk."

"Yeah, and then what?" he asked suspiciously.

"That was it."

"Hah hee! Are you kidding me! I skate out of $5000.00 worth of bets and he takes you to dinner AND pays the bill to punish me? Are you freaking kidding me? Hell yeah!"

"You had no idea what he was going to ask when you agreed to this." Then, "You had no idea what could have gone on." The scorn in her voice was lost on him. He thought she meant what Jack could have asked or made her do. He had no idea she meant what SHE wanted to do, what she nearly asked Jack to do.

"Aw babe, c'mon. It all ended up well. Why don't you come on in and watch some TV with me."

Lynn looked around the room. One full and five empty beer cans were lying on the floor, his pants and shoes piled by the front door. What a pig. Finishing the night watching some trashy tv show wasn't going to happen.

Lynn wondered what Jack was doing.

-The next week-

"Let him have the credit."

"But Boss, he's slime, he's not gonna be able to pay if he loses."

"I know Dave. I know."

"Run you stupid son of a bitch!" Draper's hands were gripped tightly on the edges of his recliner as he leaned forward screaming. Lynn could tell by his intensity that he had money riding on the game. Even as far away as the kitchen, she couldn't escape his fervent play-by-play.

"Yes, yes, yes! It's all over baby, woo hoo!" The sounds of celebration rang down the hallway signifying the end of the game. She wiped a tear that escaped down her cheek.

He was still gambling and she knew it was only a matter of time before he lost. It was only a matter of time before he lost her too.

When he came to her shortly afterward with the stench of cheap beer thick on him, he suggested they go out and eat barbecue, his treat. The difference between the two men couldn't be more obvious. Barbecue, more beer, and ogling the waitresses would be the perfect end to his night. Oh wait, doubtless he'd try to fuck her too. There was no way she could call it lovemaking.

It wasn't the first time Lynn had thought about how Jack would make love. Their dinner together had shown her that he was a man who knew how to fully focus on someone and make every moment count. He would be a wonderful and sensitive lover, and would be tremendously...effective. That was an odd word to come to mind, but she knew he would achieve anything that he attempted. In bed, that would be a wonderful quality for a man to have.

Lynn had gone to bed early, but sleep eluded her. She lay in bed and trashed the covers with her wriggling. She couldn't make her mind stop racing with all these thoughts and that tingle between her legs was driving her crazy,

Lynn was so ready for release that she put up only a nominal fight when Draper hopped onto her. Something had to take this gnawing ache from her body before she went crazy.

-Days later-

He was in a foul mood. When Lynn asked what was the matter or how his day went, she got nothing but angry mumbles. He was on his 6th beer, and although that wasn't that unusual, the speed and way he was drinking them was. Realization set in and Lynn knew.

Lynn picked up a magazine from the table to hide the tears that welled to her eyes all too easily lately. Damn these tears! She was angry for caring, but unable to stop herself.

The magazine was about college football, so she couldn't be less interested in it.

Wait a minute- a plan started to form.

Lynn scoured page after page looking for the right one. There, De'Andre Johnson with Texas was from her cousin's home town, although any familiar town would have done. She looked through the article one last time to memorize the details and set her trap.

Pressing the send button on her phone, she waited until she heard Katie pick up, then she disconnected. It wasn't long before the return call came.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lynn, it's Katie. I guess we got disconnected or something."

"Oh, Hi Katie."

-awkward silence.-

"Well, did you need something?"

"Oh, it's good to hear from you. I was thinking about you just the other day."

-awkward silence-

"Are you using this phone call as an excuse to get out of a conversation or something? Is someone boring you?"

"Something like that."

"Ahh, i get it now. I was thinking you had lost your mind!"

"No, I don't guess I know him. Kevin might have heard about him. Why, what is up?" At this, Kevin looked her way and mouthed "What?" at her. Lynn silenced him with a finger to the lips and the "little bit" sign with her thumb and forefinger.

"Oh girl, what are you up to? You've got to call me back later and tell me what you're doing."

"That's so crazy when a kid like that throws away his whole life for nothing." Kevin mouthed "What?" at her again.

"Hey, I've got to run, but keep talking to the dead phone if you need to."

"No problem, I need to go anyway. Kevin's about to wet his pants to know what we're talking about."

Lynn invented a story about De'Andre getting caught with drugs and how he wasn't going to be able to play in the next game. In her story, her cousin had heard the gossip in their little town although the team was trying to keep it quiet in the media.

The lie had the effect Lynn had hoped for. Kevin's mood brightened immediately and he jumped up and left the room.

He was gonna be furious when he saw the kid suited up and ready to play on Saturday. Oh well, that's what he gets for believing everything he hears.

The phone rang. "How the fuck do I know? Oh shit, oh shit. Hold on, there's another call coming in."

"Hello? Yeah, I just saw. Just calm down, hell, they may lose the game even with him in. Dude, I don't know, call and see if you can back out if you need to. I've got to go, I've got someone else on the line."

"Okay, I'm back. Ok, look. Let's call and see if we can cancel our bets. They haven't even snapped the ball yet, C'mon, let's give it a try."

Ring...... Ring......... Ring

"Fuck!" the sharp word rang through the house and Lynn was careful to wipe the smile off her face before he came back in the room. "Lynn, what the hell is De'Andre doing in the game?"

"What game honey?" she answered sweetly.

"The fucking Texas game, you said your cousin said he would be out."

"Oh, that was his brother that got in trouble. You know how ditsy she is. She's always messing up her stories. His little brother plays for the High School there. You know, he's the one who..."

"I don't fucking care what his brother did!"

"Well, Mr. Grumpy Pants, you can just make your own dinner now." Her playful anger was calculated to make him even more angry and sure enough, being called Mr. Grumpy Pants nearly made his blood boil. She had said it in that condescending baby voice and it really pissed him off.

When he heard the engine start on her car, he didn't think about it too long. He turned back to the game and opened a beer. Hell, let's just see how this thing turns out.

Lynn enjoyed her leisurely drive into town and the dinner she had by herself. The bar had the game playing in the corner and she watched with much more than her usual interest. Sure enough, Texas lost. The bar was full of griping armchair quarterbacks, but Lynn knew someone who was even more upset.

The dummy hadn't just bet on the game himself, he had encouraged others to bet on it based on his inside information. They were really going to be pissed.

Lynn stayed at the bar much later than she normally would but she wanted to make sure Draper was asleep when she returned. He would never touch her again.

The phone rang again and Lynn sighed and picked it up. A pause, a click, and a dial tone, just like the other 30 calls over the last two days. Draper looked over at her and she nodded.

"Fuck"

The next morning, Lynn was surprised how late it was when the phone woke her. Why hadn't he gotten her up to cook his breakfast?

"Lynn?"

She recognized Mr. Timmon's voice from his job. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Well, you tell me, he's not at work today. I thought he might be sick or something, but it doesn't sound like he's there either, is he?"

"No. I'm very sorry. I really don't know where he is."

The bastard was running for it.

When the shiny black Escalade slid into place in front of his beat-up blue truck, Draper knew he was fucked. Why hadn't he filled up with gas last night?

"Hey, um hey guys. That's some crazy driving you did there. Heh heh." His nervous laughter had a thin tinny sound to it and convinced no one.

"Umm, what's going on?"

Three mountain-sized men slid out of the truck and stared wordlessly at him. The gas pump shut off. He looked away from them and tried to make his exit.

"I uh, know I owe you a bunch of money, but I'm good for it, and you know, I'm late for work, so it won't ...do me...any good to ...be late, umm, so I can... make money..." The last few words were barely a whisper. They had him by each arm leading him to the back seat of the Escalade.

Whack! Damn that hurt. At least the police said, "Watch your head!" Their truck left the gas station in a cloud of dust and no one said anything on the ride.

The resort was hidden way back in the mountains but it did a brisk trade in the tourist season. This time of year it was probably half full. Seasonal businesses survive that kind of thing if they manage their money well but this particular resort served as a front for the various criminal enterprises that Jack headed. Gambling, drugs, prostitution, theft, fencing stolen goods, arson, murder, Draper tried not to think about that lasts one too much, but over the years he had heard all sorts of stories about what went on up here.

There was nowhere to run but the urge was almost impossible to resist. He furtively looked side to side for a possible escape.

The three hulks made sure that didn't happen. They marched him down a maze of administrative-looking hallways and into a room with very thick walls and door. They chained his feet to two rings in the floor then wheeled in a massage table/gurney looking contraption. Strong hands pushed him down and his face rested on the cold vinyl surface. His arms were handcuffed to the sides.

If you grow up in the country, you learn the sound of a knife being opened. Draper tried to lift his head from the table and look behind him. He began to cry like a little girl and begged them, "Please don't kill me. I'll do anything!" He expected the cold sharp steel to enter his back at any minute.

Someone laughed. "Remember you said that." They cut the waistband of his pants and tighty whities in one long slice and they fell silently to the floor. His small cock was puckered up even more from the fear. He was keenly aware they all saw it.

It was because they were laughing.

Seventeen men had him that first day. He found that the front part of the table folds down leaving his head dangling off the front edge. It was just enough freedom of movement to bob his head.