Sera Ch. 15

"You don't?" I asked, a little surprised at this.

"She shakes her head and goes on to tell me that she came here from Romania on 'vacation' over four years ago, and had been making a decent living for herself under the table since then. Of course, it was a lot easier to do that back then.

"Pinch your arm," I tell her next. "Stick your hand up your sleeve and pinch."

"She does this and jumps, but only looks at me with that spaced out stare afterward, so I tell her to do it again, but harder. She does, and I have her keep it up, I mean I'm making her hold that pinch until she starts to cry, but she keeps it up until I tell her to stop. Meanwhile, I'm freaking out. I'm doing this right out on the street in broad daylight, and nobody can tell. Everybody's just walking right on by, never making eye contact with strangers, as it is in the big cities.

"I ask her if she has any money and she tells me she does. I ask her how much, she says just over one hundred dollars. I tell her to give it to me and, sure enough, she takes her brown satchel purse down from her shoulder and gets out her wallet. Out comes the money and she holds it right out to me."

"Ask me to take it," I tell her, because I have to push it.

"Please take my money," she says.

"Public disinterest or no, this is really pushing it because there are certain laws about doing business on the streets. They were put in place to keep prostitution, drugs dealing and other things under some control, and I'm getting pretty antsy with her standing there, holding her cash out to me like that.

"So, having taken it as far as I dared, I told her that I didn't want her money and to put it away. She does, then I tell her to forget all about everything that happened after I complimented her coat. I break eye contact, she blinks at me a bit, then tells me where she bought her ugly coat. I politely thank her and quickly move on, looking back only once. She just walked on down the sidewalk, herself never looking back, exactly as she was before she ran across me.

"I kept walking, heart pounding, face flushed. It felt like everybody knew. The impersonal glances of strangers seemed full of suspicion, but I knew I got away with it. The Eaton Center had just opened that year and, having already been there many times with my friends, I knew it'd be crowded. After I got there, I was able to mostly get over the initial thrill of my first experiment, but I was still elated with my success and a little more particular this time.

"She was in the beauty section, an average looking woman in her late thirties, wearing a wedding ring. After some quick thought, I walked up and asked if I could help her. I wasn't exactly dressed like one of the store employees, so she looked right into my eyes with her question before she ever got it out of her mouth. In fact, she never got it out of her mouth.

"I told her in a low voice that I was her best friend. She agreed and I told her that we were hanging out. She actually repeated it back to me like I should know better than to think I'd have to tell her. We walked around for quite a while. She bought me some makeup, a nice outfit and a good meal. We parted ways outside over two hours later, me waving and telling her with a big smile to forget all about me the second she turned her back.

"I went back into the store, got a refund on the outfit and went to the nearest liquor store. My friends and I had other ways of procuring our booze at the time but, as you can imagine, I now had a more efficient way. With my pint of rum, I went back to my rented room to reflect on my success and evaluate my next move.

"I went out again that same evening, dressed more provocatively despite that it was late November. Again, I went a bit heavier on the eye makeup than usual, and also dressed more provocatively. I'd drunk most of the pint so, along with the day's earlier successes, I was feeling a lot more confident. At least I knew I could support myself should I have had to stay in that crappy, filthy little room until the right person came along.

"It's Friday night and I'm moving down the sidewalk, the nightlife streaming around me, men checking me out and all. My fear was diminishing as I moved through a life that I was beginning to see quite differently. I was free and I had an advantage over the herd. I was the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing and I was a lot bolder about getting practice on the sheep than I had been earlier that day.

"I couldn't legally get into bars, but I knew that this was where I needed to be because that's where my ultimate mark would most likely be found. Not just any bar either, but a particular establishment that attracted a specific type. I found one pretty quick by asking around, and flashed my OHIP card at the big dyke guarding the door."

Here, Auntie started laughing a little as we all joined in without knowing exactly why. Even my drunken Stevie smiled in return at this sincere display that was somehow catching.

"Understand here," she explained around her mirth, "that, while I was tall, my hips and chest weren't quite what they are now and I was often mistaken, like you three girls, for being much younger than my age. Already being under nineteen as it was, that didn't help my case at the door.

"So yeah, I showed her my OHIP, she looked into my eyes to see if I was kidding and that was it for her. I told her it was a driver's license that said I was twenty-five and, the next thing I know, I'm in and looking for my mark.

"With my new talent for reading people's demeanor, I found what I needed right away. She was early middle aged, big boned and a bit chubby with dark hair. She stood at about my height, pretty enough in her own dowdy little way with tits about the same size as mine, but I could tell they were a bit saggy. I undid another button at the top of my blouse and watched her from across the room, quietly sipping at a drink while I waited for her to notice me looking.

"Well, she did. I had this little smile on my face and her reaction was suddenly widening eyes and parting lips. She looked away, but looked back again moments later. I smiled right at her, a friendly smile that she returned, then looked away again.

She kept looking off and on, trying to be casual about it and the polite smiles she offered while I wondered if she could fulfill the rest of my requirements. The fact that she was there alone told me that she was a closet lesbian and probably from out of town where nobody would catch her, looking to gratify latent desires. As long as she made a half decent wage, wasn't married, or from Toronto after all, she'd be perfect.

"I screwed up my courage and went to find out, telling myself that she probably wouldn't meet my requirements and that I'd only be walking away anyhow. Wrong. I said hello and, after some small talk, found her warming up a little. I was able to drag the shy woman to a quieter area where we could talk further and she asked me how old I was. I told her the truth, smiling with a little played up guilt and asking her not to tell anybody. She told me she wouldn't and asked me if I was still in school. I told her I was and she told me she was a high school teacher in Sault Ste Marie, and that I was much prettier than all the girls in her school."

"Um, had you been with a girl before that, Auntie?" I asked.

"Apart from Mum, no, but... I'd been looking at my friends, especially one of them, Courtney. She seemed to like looking at my tits when she didn't think I was looking, but I'd never done anything. I certainly had no problem with it in terms of kink, though I did prefer men, but this was about survival. I much preferred a woman for the role of my protector over a man because of trust issues. No offense, Steven, but I could never have turned my back on a strange man at the time, not in the predicament I was in. I had to be as sure as possible of the person who would support and protect me and that meant a shy, spinster closet lesbian.

"Anyway, as soon as she told me that, I took her under my influence. Right then and there. The first thing I told her was that I was her naughty little schoolgirl and that I'd be living with her for an indeterminate amount of time. She, of course, agreed with this, also agreeing when I told her that said naughty little schoolgirl was in charge from then on.

"My assumption that she'd travelled there in her own car was correct. Since it was still relatively early and neither of us had any reason left for staying there, I told her to drive me to my room so I could collect my few belongings, and then to take me home. About eight hours later, I'm in her apartment, opening my suitcase on her bed while she watches with an overjoyed smile.

"In a sense, although she was only a figurehead and I was the real power in that apartment from then on, Laura finished raising me. Along with my powers of persuasion, she was able to help me enroll in the high school she worked at, telling them I was her niece. The story was that I was from out of town and staying with her because my mother was an abusive alcoholic. So, not only was I able to finish my schooling, but she even helped with my studies. Fuck, I was actually in her English class. In return, I helped her with the chores, marking her student's work and, of course, I sucked her pussy till she screamed orgasm whenever she wanted. She loved how I'd hang around in schoolgirl outfits and, when I joined the cheerleaders by influencing the coach to let me on, she went to every game, hurrying me to her bed as soon as she got me home to strip off my sexy little uniform and live out all her perverted little fantasies with me. Yeah, Laura was great."

Auntie Ashleigh smiled and took a drink of her glass, looking at the empty container afterwards with a slight frown. Auntie Kathleen responded to this, getting up with her own empty glass and holding out her hand for her big sister's.

"Always full of surprises, Kathleen," Auntie commented with a smile while handing her glass over.

"I know you think I'm an ignorant little bitch," the well-endowed blonde stated in a cool, but easy tone, "but it just so happens that I do have some class."

"No, sweetie pie, I never thought you were ignorant. Definitely a bitch though, and way too much class."

"It's gotten me this far," she replied as she took note of everyone's drinks, excluding Sheila's. "Kitten, would you please help me serve?"

"Yes, Auntie," I agreed with a smile, wanting to help out so we could hear more from Auntie Ashleigh. This was awesome.

Steven

It never ceased to amaze me, the crazy circumstances that just got crazier. I mean, less than three months ago, I was graduating from high school, looking at Mum's proud smile with the camcorder as I took my diploma, she gesticulating in an effort to make me wave back for posterity. That was before I learned that Dad had disappeared, before Mum and I were raked over the coals by the authorities, before we found ourselves with nothing but each other's warm bodies and forbidden desires. It was before I found out that there was something very wrong with her side of the family and that she'd in fact killed my father and thirteen other people. Now here I was, not even really myself as I sat drunk with two long lost aunts and one estranged cousin, all of whom I'd already had some form of sex with. I laughed a bit at the craziness of it all while I watched Kitten's tight little ass follow my mother's to the wet bar.

"No more booze for your son," Ashleigh tersely ordered as she looked sideways at me. "Where in hell were you, anyway?"

"I had an important meeting with a translator," I answered without being able to help a smirk. "I had to send her home early on a full day's pay for this."

"Shut up."

"Oh, don't be like that," I told her, checking out her cleavage as Sheila looked at me like I was crazy. "Not when I'm like this."

Kathleen, tell your kid to shut up!"

"Shut up, Steven," she toned.

Her command utterly lacked any authority, weight, attention or even caring as she busily prepared drinks, the empty verbal gesture nothing more than that. Me and Sheila laughed, Kitten giggled and Ashleigh was visibly upset. She probably thought she had everyone's total respect because she had the floor and was telling her admittedly fascinating story.

"Oh, we're sorry," I slurred, still smiling but actually meaning it. "We'll leave you alone. You know, we only does it cause we loves ya. Heh."

"Please shut up."

Between them, Mum and Kitten refilled all of our drinks, actually honouring Ashleigh's request of no more booze for me. When they finished, Mum slapped the back of my hand with a smile and told me to behave before taking her seat.

"Yes, please do behave, you drunken chimp," Ashleigh glowered. "Okay, so where was I?"

"(Ahem) uh, you were with Laura," Sheila reminded as she got up to get her own drink.

"Right, thank you, sweetie pie. Yes, so it turned out to be great," she continued, "Sault Ste. Marie was far enough away that I knew I was safe from Mum, but it also made things easier in terms of explanations to friends who I sooner or later would have run into in Toronto. I made new friends, especially after I made the cheerleaders and, by the time I graduated, I had a whole new life.

"After graduation, I got a job selling vacuum cleaners. Of course, all my customers bought and I made great sales bonuses, but the fucking things were such a pain in the ass to carry around- Yes, Kathleen, I swore- to carry around in those stupid bags. I quit that job and went for a managerial position that opened at a nice local restaurant. By then, I was more comfortable with influencing people and, as you can imagine, I only needed to get in for the interview. It was a good job and I actually did very well, but I didn't like the forced social situation that came with it and the money wasn't good enough to ensure my survival, let alone provide the luxuries that I felt were within my grasp.

"The problem was that I was too young and inexperienced for any serious position, both in appearance and capability. I wasn't kidding myself based on my success with the restaurant and I knew that, in any really profitable career, the bigger the money, the higher my profile, and therefore the more dangerous it was to use my special abilities.

"In time, the attention I received for being a successful eighteen year old restaurant manager started to get to me so, despite the fact that my employers were very happy with my performance to the point of offering me a raise to stay, I quit. For the next week, I sat around depressed. Laura was worried and fawning, telling me that she could support the both of us and all.

"As for her, I'd come to love her almost as much as she loved me, and this was part of the problem. See, I knew it was inevitable that I leave... and I think that she somehow did too. I became more depressed, supporting myself and padding her account with smalltime schemes that my persuasion made fool-proof and drinking most every evening away. By the time I was drinking almost two pints of rum every day, I think Laura was glad to see me go, despite both our love and our tears. She never knew about why it was that she found me so unique and addictive, never knew about my past and, in the end, I didn't even have to keep her under my influence to ensure her loyalty. Yes, I loved her, and not just out of gratitude. I never cheated on her once, no matter how horny I got and no matter how many times I was tempted to go do something off the wall in order to satisfy my perverted drive. However, the reality was that she'd served her purpose and she was now holding me back.

"I'd gained a driver's license and a car so, travelling light, I took off down the highway, headed to god only knew where. Well, it turned out to be Saskatoon. Why Saskatoon? Why the hell not? First of all, it was a big enough city for me to operate in; secondly, nobody there knew me. I rented a small, furnished apartment near a liquor store, then went out to find an 'old friend' to hang around with, show me the town and tell me which way the wind blew. That didn't take too long and, after 'borrowing' a fair sum of money from her, I told her to forget about me and go home.

"And that's more or less what I did for months, drinking and influencing people for fun and profit up until early summer. It wasn't much, but it was all I needed to sit around thinking depressively of home and what I could ultimately do with my life. Up until then, I was dealing with my mounting sex drive the way I always had, this being masturbation. I'd had a few boyfriends before, had even had sex with one of them but, after I left home, the thought of having a boyfriend seemed unrealistic and unimportant. Furthermore, the prospect of that type of relationship made me nervous because of my abilities. Once again, my greatest strength was also my greatest weakness, my fear of being discovered too great to allow any kind of equal relationship, regardless of whether my partner was male or female. This was actually one of the many things that had me down a lot of the time.

"Now, it happened that, along my way home from the uptown area, through a less than uptown area, one might say, there was this big old two-story house. It was just off the sidewalk with an adjoined garage, along a street that looked like it was slowly being rezoned for commercial businesses. It looked like a nice enough house, if a little ramshackle, but it was obviously of some quality to begin with and got livelier as the weather warmed. Over the winter, there was usually a vehicle in the short driveway in front of the garage, but now it seemed reserved for Harleys, and it became commonplace to see people hanging out on the long front deck, or inside the open garage door with music playing.

"I'd look in, checking this place out because I'd come to figure out that it was a biker club, and I was curious. They seemed to be having a good time, drinking and laughing, yet not shooting or throwing people through windows. They looked a lot like regular people. My attention was noted a few times but, beyond a casual double-take, they left me alone. Until one evening.

Ashleigh paused, clearing her throat and taking a drink. As though this were a signal, we all did too, Sheila included now that she'd gotten hers and had returned to her seat, each of us waiting for what came next.

"It was my nineteenth birthday and I'd been out celebrating most of the day. I was in a great mood and horny as all get out. I'd even just collected over a thousand Dollars from someone and was swaggering down the sidewalk the way I used to back then, cocky as hell and wearing a tight pair of jeans that had been cut off far enough to expose the bottoms of the white pocket liners. Above those, I wore a T-shirt I'd left home with. It was white and featured Popeye on the front. What with my height, hips and bust line, I didn't want any more dimension than I already had, so I chose my usual black, flat soled shoes. It being the late seventies, I'd been letting my hair grow almost halfway down my back in natural, loose ringlets for want of anything else to do with it at the time.

"Anyway, I'd already been to the liquor store, and some of it never made the trip home. I was actually screwing the cap back on one of the pints as I approached the biker house.

"There was a man and woman on the porch, sitting on the railing and kissing. It wasn't anything heavy, actually quite romantic, and I could tell they actually cared for one another. I remember smiling a little as I watched, thinking that it was sweet how even people like that could have something so nice. I didn't even notice the guy in the driveway until he stood, stepping from the bike he'd been working on by the sidewalk and into my path."