Back to Chapter 6
Chapter 7 � An Understanding
Maria
Elena woke up in the middle of the night. She realized that she was
awake because she heard someone coming through the front door. Still not
accustomed to living in a country where break-ins were very rare, she
silently went into the hallway to investigate. Very quietly she looked
down the stairs, to observe Cecilia and her naked fianc� embraced in the
front entryway. They were passionately going at it, a make-out session
they would not even think of doing if they suspected Victor were
watching. Cecilia was running her hands up and down Jason�s body,
concentrating on his bottom. She spoke to him in English:
�You�re a bad boy� such a bad boy. You know that, don�t you?�
�I�m bad� yes Cecilia� so bad��
Cecilia took his penis in her hand and began massaging it.
�And what happens to bad boys like you?�
�We get spanked. Ohhhh��
�Hmmmm� spanked� Really? Is that what you want, bad boy?�
�I� Oh yes� please� spank me��
�Hmmmm� you really are a bad boy� if that�s what you want� and you do
deserve to be spanked. Well, you know I can�t do it here� but tomorrow
night� I�m gonna spank you good� on the bare bottom� Hmm? You like
that?�
�Yes� please��
She gave him one last squeeze, leaving him very erect. She gave him a
lingering goodbye kiss, and with that he was dismissed. She totally
loved getting him aroused before saying goodnight and sending him home.
Of course that meant he would have to walk instead of taking the trolley
and try to stay out of people�s sight. There was no chance that his
erection would go down anytime soon and his fianc� had forbidden him to
touch himself.
Maria Elena didn�t understand much of what Cecilia had said to Jason,
but it was obvious that she was talking to him seductively. Even in the
darkness she could make out his attractive figure and very erect penis.
She felt a strange longing for him, something that terrified her because
the last thing she wanted to do was cross Cecilia. She knew that the
quickest way to gain the Dominican�s animosity would be to show any
attraction towards Jason. And it was obvious that Cecilia was extremely
vigilant for potential rivals because she was very aware of how
attractive Jason was.
Maria Elena quickly retreated back to her room to avoid being caught.
She curled up on her bed with her back to the door as she heard the
Dominican�s quiet footsteps in the hallway. Cecilia peeked in to make
sure the prisoner was in her bed and doing all right, unaware that she
and Jason had been watched. She quickly got cleaned up and went to
sleep.
Once Cecilia�s door was closed, Maria Elena lay on her back. For the
first time since she had left Panama, she was aroused. Slowly she began
running her fingertips over her breasts and stomach, before gently
stroking the insides of her thighs.
She fantasized about Jason� his lovely body� his shy expression�
imagining herself in Cecilia�s place, with his bare body always within
her reach. Then, in her mind she changed places with him, imagining
herself as he had been over the past four years, never wearing anything�
and then�
She paused and sat up, realizing that she already was in Jason�s place�
just like him she was naked and collared� destined to never touch
clothing again. She got out of bed and looked at herself in the dresser
mirror. Naked and collared� her Path in Life� well, at least she had a
body that was worth looking at� at least that�
She lay back on her bed� her body still aroused as her mind tried to
settle on something, a thought or a fantasy, that would allow her to
climax. Naked and collared� and kneeling�
Suddenly her thoughts returned to that moment when she knelt to offer
Victor a cup of tea. At the moment she had not focused on sex at all,
but looking back, she found the thought of serving the master of the
house while naked, kneeling, and collared, totally erotic. As her
fingers explored the sensitive area between her legs, the idea of being
Victor�s naked servant took hold of her. She would kneel to serve him
his tea and coffee, she could care for him, she would surrender to him.
She would be his� to do with as he pleased, and he would not be able to
live without her�
� just like Cecilia could not live without Jason� Oh yes�
She climaxed, sweat pouring down her body as she imagined herself,
always naked� always kneeling� the perfect servant�
Slowly the spell lifted and her body�s desires released her back into
reality. For a long time she lay awake, realizing that she had just
fantasized about something that could be all too real. It looked like it
was indeed her destiny to live as Victor�s servant, because Cecilia had
openly stated that she wanted Maria Elena to take her place running the
household.
The prisoner pondered how such a life would unfold, and how Victor
eventually would see her. She paused, wondering: is that all I want for
myself? To be a household servant? Her thoughts wandered again, because
she recalled that Kim had told her that she was property of the Danubian
government. Her service would be to Danubia as a whole, not to a
particular person� and yet� she felt that was not the message she was
getting from Cecilia.
Finally she managed to go to sleep� but the memory of herself kneeling
and serving Victor held fast in her imagination.
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Maria Elena woke up early the next morning. She was still very confused
about the tumultuous thoughts and fantasies she had endured just a few
hours before. She went downstairs, wondering if Cecilia was already
awake. When she saw that the kitchen was empty, she presumed that the
Dominican must have overslept due to her night with Jason.
The
prisoner decided to boil a kettle of water while she set the table and
laid out ingredients for Cecilia to cook. She still did not know what to
make for breakfast and would leave that to her translator, but at least
she could help set up. After the water boiled, Maria Elena prepared a
pot of tea and poured a cup.
Now she realized that she had an important decision to make. Should she
take the cup upstairs and offer it to Victor in his room? Yes, she had
fantasized about doing just that a few hours before, but should she do
it for real?
Yes, she would. She determined to test at least one fantasy and was
curious to see what would happen. She would be the first person Victor
would see that morning, and she would offer him the first cup of tea he
would drink that day. Trembling slightly, she went up the stairs, very
conscious of being naked. However, her exposure no longer humiliated
her; instead she was experiencing a much more complicated feeling of
sexiness and vulnerability.
She lightly knocked on Victor�s door.
�Nad budshkt d�k.�
�Doc?�
�Nad budshkt d�k. Doc.�
Presuming that he had given her permission to enter the room, she pushed
past the door. He was almost finished getting dressed; only lacking his
tie and his shoes. Maria Elena trembled as she approached him, not able
to understand herself why she was so scared. She knelt, shyly holding up
the cup of tea.
Victor seemed surprised, but he took the cup and responded:
�Spak�ebo d�k.�
Maria Elena was very nervous, because she had no idea what she wanted or
what she expected to happen next. Part of her was desperate to get the
awkward moment over as quickly as possible, but another part of her
insisted that she was where she belonged, on her knees in front of the
master of the house. Victor took a sip of tea. He sensed her unease and
rescued her by first pointing at his feet and then at the closet.
�Men� ch�rni sc�rpikti t�m dek.�
Maria Elena remembered that �chorno� in Danubian meant black. By
pointing at his feet, Victor had indicted he wanted his shoes, the black
ones. He had issued his first command to her. She immediately got up and
brought him the shoes. She knelt and held them out for him to put on.
Once he finished, he smiled slightly and touched her bare shoulder.
�Har�shna div-j�nok.�
He let out a short whistle and pointed at the door, and with that they
descended the stairs to have breakfast. Cecilia already was setting the
table, with Pedro impatiently standing by, waiting to sit. Maria Elena
pulled out Victor�s chair for him to sit down and quickly knelt,
awaiting permission to join the others at the table. Cecilia glanced at
her with a curious expression, but at the breakfast table said nothing.
After breakfast Cecilia attended to her nephew while Maria Elena cleaned
up from breakfast. She quickly returned to Victor�s bedroom to make his
bed and clean the upstairs bathroom.
----------
At
9:00 Maria Elena started her new job at the university. She would work
under the direction of an older couple who had been groundskeepers for
nearly 40 years. Her new bosses knew exactly how to treat her and make
her feel comfortable, because over the years they had employed dozens of
criminals, including several foreigners. Maria Elena�s first assignment
was very easy to understand; she needed to clear grass that was growing
among some flowers without damaging the flowers themselves. The
gardeners talked very little, but showed her what needed to be done and
what to do with the discarded grass. The work was tedious and
time-consuming, but the only way to do it was by hand.
Maria Elena was still self-conscious about her body, and at first tried
to sit to avoid exposing her naked crotch. However, she was not able to
move through her work quickly and her legs began to cramp. Finally she
gave up on sitting and got on her hands and knees. She realized that
every time she leaned forward she was completely exposing herself, but
her only other option would have been to not have the flowerbed finished
before she got off at noon. It also occurred to her that if the sun
shined directly on her bottom it was likely her bruises would heal
faster. As she knelt forward and started pulling out grass roots, she
felt the warm morning sun shining between her legs and realized that she
liked the sensation. The unimaginable was happening: she was enjoying
the feeling of being naked outdoors, of feeling the warm air and
sunshine on her exposed bottom-hole and vagina. Exactly 48 hours after
the moment she was arrested, her inhibitions faded completely and the
prospect of facing a life in the nude no longer horrified her.
She had an excellent day in class. She was able to fully participate and
keep up with the norteamericanos. She was not any more knowledgeable
than most of them, but she hardly could have expected that after just
one day. Still, her efforts at studying had paid off. For the first time
in three years she was learning something that actually was worth
knowing, something that was a complete break from the futile life of
pleasure pursuit she had led before her arrest.
During the break she talked to the female classmate who spoke Spanish.
The woman�s name was Carmen and she was from Los Angeles. Her Spanish
was not that great, but she spoke well enough to hold a conversation.
Carmen talked a bit about the exchange program, although it was obvious
she was curious to know what had happened to Maria Elena. She didn�t
feel comfortable asking directly and the Colombian was not about to
volunteer any information. It was a strange and uncomfortable
conversation because while the two women talked about the university, in
reality Carmen was trying to figure out how to get the Colombian to
explain why she was collared.
The Californian brought up Jason, hoping to talk about collaring, but
Maria Elena changed the topic to discussing how attractive he was. Then
she decided to get some information on Jason, knowing that Carmen was
likely to know something about him.
�Yeah, we all know a little bit about his story. He and Cecilia came to
Danubia about four years ago. I think what happened was that he had to
testify at some trial� you see� uh� did you ever hear of an American
company called Mega-Town Associates?�
Of course Maria Elena had heard of Mega-Town. Who hadn�t? Their
tentacles had extended throughout Colombia, devastating the country�s
small retailers.
�Well, what happened was they came here to testify in a trial, because
some of their executives got caught here when they tried to overthrow
this country�s government. I guess it was a big deal, a really big deal�
I mean, they had an actual battle with Mega-Town mercenaries about 30
miles south of here� and another one in Rika Chorna� and they were gonna
kill the Prime Minister� I mean, they were really serious about taking
over. It was Jason and Cecilia who helped the government stop �em, and
they had to come here to explain what they did so those guys could get
convicted. Of course, once they did that, they couldn�t go home, so
they�re stuck here.�
�But, what�s the deal with Jason�s collar?�
�His father was one of the guys behind the takeover. I guess he felt
really bad about that� and so he went to their Church� and they told him
he should wear a collar to show everyone he�s sorry about what his dad
did. I think that�s the story.�
�And he�s been naked since he got here?�
�I think so. At any rate, none of us has ever seen him wearing anything.
I think he kinda enjoys being nude, although I don�t know what he does
when it gets cold.�
�Do you ever talk to him?�
Carmen smiled and shook her head.
�Talk to him? Uh� no. If you don�t want trouble with Cecilia, then you�d
better stay away from Jason. A couple of girls from last year�s group
learned that the hard way. I mean� Cecilia�s not a bad person, but you
don�t want to mess with her boyfriend. You just don�t want to go there.�
Maria Elena would have liked to continue the conversation about Jason,
but it was time for the exercise class to start. It was obvious that she
still was not ready to exert herself as much as her classmates, but it
was equally obvious that she had only a few days to catch up with the
others. The sinewy instructor ominously tapped the switch against the
newest student�s inner thigh to force her to do some additional sit-ups.
Later in the class Carmen took two cruel strokes across her backside for
attempting to walk during the run in a hidden part of the path where she
thought the P.E. teacher couldn�t see her. In the shower her face was
flushed with embarrassment and her eyes were full of tears, so Maria
Elena did not attempt to talk to her anymore that day. Two thin reddish
welts had formed across both sides of her bottom and already they were
raised and looked very painful. Carmen would have an uncomfortable time
sitting in class the next day and it was likely those welts would last a
week. Maria Elena shuddered, because her classmate had taken just two
strokes. She remembered that criminal on the stairs of the Central
Police Station who had received considerably more than that, and� she
remembered her own upcoming trial�
----------
Maria Elena went back to Victor Dukov�s house by herself, because
Cecilia needed to stay at the university to council several students and
catch up on paperwork. Pedro wouldn�t be at the house either, because
his class had gone on an overnight field trip. That meant Maria Elena
would be alone with Victor. That was something she looked forward to,
but she couldn�t have explained, even to herself, why. She served him
dinner and, as usual knelt before he gave her permission to sit at his
table. She shyly attempted to engage him in conversation, trying out
some of the new phrases she had learned in class that day. She found
that most of the time she could make herself understood, but still could
understand very little of what he was saying. When he finished eating,
she again knelt to request permission to clear the table. When she
noticed his shoes were dirty, she requested permission to clean them.
Throughout the rest of the evening Maria Elena dedicated herself to
Victor�s needs. She hung up his suit coat, put his shoes away after
showing him they had been shined, turned down his bedspread, laid out
clean towels for him to get cleaned up, and brought him two cups of tea.
She also laid out his black prayer robe, knowing that he probably would
spend part of the evening in front of his dead wife�s portrait. While he
was praying, Maria Elena cleaned up the kitchen and the bathrooms, and
took a bath. She wanted to be presentable, to make sure Victor found no
fault with her�
When she served him yet another cup of tea, he told her to get several
photo albums from a bookshelf, so he could show her some of his past. He
knew that he still could not really converse with her through words, but
there were other ways to communicate. Letting her know about his past
was one way he could open himself up to her.
Showing
his naked guest a portion of his past was an important step in Victor�s
life. He always had trouble communicating with people, especially with
fellow Danubians. And yet, somehow he felt a connection with the young
Colombian, partly because she was so desperate to please him. Victor was
grateful for the attention, something that neither his sons nor Cecilia
were able to provide at the time because of their own responsibilities
in life. Maria Elena was different, because she had nothing to do apart
from having to learn how to speak Danubian. Perhaps it was precisely
because Victor and Maria Elena could not communicate in words that they
felt they had something in common. Perhaps, in their case, words would
have gotten in the way.
Another reason that sharing his past with Maria Elena was important was
because Victor was finally ready to move beyond his wife�s death. He was
not yet aware of that change, but after four months of grieving and
heaping guilt upon himself for her death, subconsciously he was hoping
for something or someone to pull him out of his emotional morass. He
didn�t have the inner strength to escape on his own; he needed something
in his life to change.
The photos ranged from Victor�s own childhood, through his time in high
school and college, his marriage, and his sons at various ages. He
pointed out his older brother Vladim at various stages of his life,
including several photos of young Vladim as a criminal while Victor was
still in high school. Yes, for five years the country�s current Prime
Minister had been a collared criminal. There were photos of a neighbor
girl called Maritza Ortskt, who later because Maritza Ortskt-Dukovna,
and photos of Victor�s nephew and niece. Victor also had photos of his
employees, including several of Kimberly Lee-Dolkivna, back in the days
she was called Criminal # 98945 and she spent her summers riding naked
around Dan�bikt M�skt on a bicycle delivering messages.
What struck Maria Elena was how ordinary the lives portrayed in the
album truly were. Even Vladim Dukov, the Prime Minister, seemed such an
ordinary person, right up to the day he was elected. There certainly was
nothing to distinguish him from the rest of the family in any of those
photos, except that he had worn a collar for such a long time. Yes, even
the country�s Prime Minister had done what Maria Elena was having to do.
Even the Prime Minister�
Maria Elena collected the photo albums and returned them to the shelf.
She knelt, and exchanged glances with Victor. At that moment, something
very important happened. They both realized that they cared about each
other.
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That night Maria Elena spent a long time masturbating on her bed, as her
mind wandered from topic to topic. She visualized Jason Schmidt,
desperately wanting to fondle him in the way Cecilia had fondled him the
night before. She thought about herself, on her hands and knees in the
university garden, her bottom facing towards the sun and the warm rays
touching her exposed womanhood whenever she reached forward. She thought
about the naked norteamericanos during the exercise class, their
sweaty bodies exposed to anyone walking by who cared to look at them.
Her thoughts wandered to her classmate Carmen, standing in formation
after the run, her eyes full of tears as she rubbed her sore bottom�
But most of all, Maria Elena fantasized about herself with Victor� Her
desire to serve him and her desire for him to hold her and comfort her.
There was something about him that she found very desirable� but what?
It was strange, he was not particularly good-looking and he even had
sons who were older than her, but she desired him�
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The next morning, Cecilia noted Maria Elena�s behavior during breakfast.
She suspected that the prisoner might have developed a crush on Victor,
which wouldn�t have surprised her, given her circumstances and traumatic
arrest.
Cecilia had mixed feelings. She was relieved that the Colombian had so
quickly adapted to her new role in the house. She was very happy that
she no longer had to worry about anything other than caring for her
nephew. She also was glad to see the possibility that Victor could move
beyond his wife�s funeral. To be honest, she found her host�s nightly
praying sessions in front of the portrait creepy.
However, Cecilia was becoming increasingly concerned about what was
witnessing at the table during meals because she did not think that any
romantic involvement between Victor and the prisoner was a good idea.
There were plenty of young men at the Socrates Club and as soon as Maria
Elena met some of them she probably would forget about Victor. She just
needed to wait�
More importantly, Cecilia was convinced that Prisoner # 101025 did not
understand what being a collared criminal actually meant. She was not
Victor Dukov�s personal servant; she was property of the Danubian
government. The Ministry of Justice, through Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna,
could reassign her whenever it chose to do so, according to the
perceived needs of the Danubian state. For example, at a moment�s notice
she could be forced to live in a camp at the other end of the country
and participate in a public works project. Cecilia suspected that if Kim
knew what was going on, Maria Elena would be moved immediately. She
didn't want the courier transferred out of Victor�s house, for purely
selfish reasons.
On their way to the university she decided to talk to her housemate, not
about her growing feelings towards Victor, but about what was expected
of her as a criminal:
�� you need to understand that you don�t belong to Victor. You�ve been
assigned to live in his house, but that�s because of me and my Spanish.
It has nothing to do with him.�
�But� I thought you told me that I was supposed to help him out. Isn�t
that what I�m supposed to do?�
�It is, but you gotta look at it this way. You�re being kept at Victor�s
house because, for now, that�s the most convenient place to keep you.
When the government needs you somewhere else, you�re gonna get moved and
no one�s gonna care about what you or Victor think about it. I�ll give
you an example of what can happen. Last spring a canal overflowed near
the river upstream and flooded a bunch of farms. They had to sandbag the
area so the Public Works people could get in there and fix a levee. To
do that, the Ministry shipped in 600 criminals from Dan�bikt M�skt and
kept them there for three months. For three months those criminals never
saw their families, and that whole time their employers had to figure
out how to get along without them. No one: not the criminals, not their
families, and not their bosses, had any say in the matter. The Public
Works Ministry said �we need 600 criminals to fill sandbags� and the
Justice Ministry said �sure, where do you want us to send �em?� Whatever
was going on in any of their lives didn�t matter. They got called to the
Central Plaza, they were loaded onto buses, and three months later they
came back. The point is; it could have been a year. Or three years. Or
the rest of their sentences. That�s what it means to belong to the
government. You have to understand that.�
�But� did they go back home� I mean, afterwards?�
�In that case they did. But that�s not something you can count on. Home
is wherever the government decides to put you.�
Cecilia continued: �I think you�ve done very good adjusting to things in
Victor�s house and helping out. I�d bet had you been from the States
you�d still be crying and moping and feeling sorry for yourself. You�ve
actually adjusted extremely well. You just need to remember who you
belong to.�
A question popped into Maria Elena�s thoughts. She felt it was general
enough to not arouse Cecilia�s jealousy:
�What about Jason? Does he have to do all that stuff too?�
�No. As long as he wears a Church collar, he�s property of the Church.
He doesn�t have to do anything for the government, but trust me; those
Priests keep him plenty busy. Sometimes I wish, if he has to be
collared, that he was just an ordinary criminal, because he�s always
busy on the weekends.�
�But� could he quit� I mean, lead a normal life� if he wanted to?�
�He could, but that�s between him and the Creator. I�ve never said
anything about it because it�s not my Path in Life to question his
conscience.�
Cecilia�s last comment opened up a bunch of new questions in Maria
Elena�s mind, but the conversation needed to end because they had
arrived at the university. Cecilia had to chaperone yet another group
tour, while Maria Elena had to report to the groundskeepers to find out
what she needed to do that day.
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The
rest of the day was typical of what would be Maria Elena�s
routine over the next few weeks: work, lunch, class with the norteamericanos, and
exercise class. Carmen�s bottom still was clearly marked with the two
welts from the day before, but she seemed none the worse for the
experience.
�Everyone�s gotten at least a swipe or two. The instructor watches to
see what you�re capable of doing, and then if she thinks you�re not
putting everything into the workout, you�ll get it. I got lazy
yesterday� can�t argue with that� my fault.�
�She hasn�t hit me��
�� because she hasn�t figured out what you can do� how fit you are. Once
she has that figured out you�ll get hit if you�re not putting 100% into
your workout. But at least she�s fair about it. She knows that 100%
effort for someone else isn�t 100% for you. And if you�re sick or got a
sprain or whatever, all you have to do is tell her before class and
she�ll have you do something else, as long as you don�t try to BS her.�
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Maria Elena thought about what Cecilia had told her, but decided that
she should continue trying to get as close to Victor as possible. Her
efforts that night were crimped by the presence at dinner of not only
Cecilia and Pedro, but also Victor�s youngest son and his fianc�. The
young woman was absolutely beautiful and elegantly dressed, leaving the
naked prisoner feeling intimidated. For some reason she felt extremely
uneasy kneeling in front of that young Danubian, in particular when she
gave her several haughty looks. However, Maria Elena�s unease made her
even more determined to ingratiate herself with Victor.
For the first time Victor was eager to be alone with the naked prisoner.
After dinner he put on the prayer robe that she had laid out, but his
prayer session was somewhat shorter than usual. For the first time in
four months he had something else on his mind besides guilt. His
thoughts were on the naked Colombian and his own desires to� to do what
with her? Hold her? Touch her? Comfort her? Make love to her?
Maria Elena went about her daily chores while he was praying, but she
had the hot water boiled for tea and was vigilant to make sure she was
ready when he finished. She was a bit surprised when he ended his prayer
early, but she was prepared. She quickly poured his tea, knelt, and
presented him with the cup.
When he sat down, their glances met. She stared at him with her intense
dark eyes, thinking: I�m here for you Victor. You can take me if you
want, because that�s what I want. I�m yours. I don�t care what the
government says, I�m yours�
Victor stood up and motioned for Maria Elena to stand up. He wasn�t
ready to make love to her� and yet he wanted to� at least touch her. He
wanted to talk to her, but the language barrier was still
insurmountable. But her expression� no language barrier there� Prisoner
# 101025 was offering herself� there was no doubt about it� and he badly
wanted her�
Without saying anything, Victor shyly reached out to take Maria Elena�s
hand. However, the moment their skin touched they heard a thud upstairs.
That was followed by footsteps running to the bathroom, a door slamming,
and more footsteps. Then they heard Cecilia�s voice in English: �Pedro,
just stay there. I�ll get you some water.�
Cecilia came running down the stairs and rushed into the kitchen. She
glanced at Victor and Maria Elena on her way back up.
�Pedro just threw up. Stomach virus. I need you to help me with his
sheets.�
And that was it for that night. Maria Elena was drafted to help Cecilia
deal with her sick nephew.
However, as she went up the stairs, Maria Elena turned to look back at
Victor. They exchanged a final glance. Victor Dukov and Prisoner #
101025 felt connected, that they understood each other. So much
separated them: language, culture, age� and yet, they felt a bond that
neither of them could have described or even understood.