Piper's Price

by D. A. Maddox

  Old Bernie looked fit to drop from a heart attack.

  From Officer Kersey: “Just know, if you do this here, if you do it now, I’m going to film it.”

  Robbie dropped his pants and flung off his underwear without even noting where it went. “Good morning, America!” he said, stone-stiff and proud. “Welcome to the best night of my life!”

  Behind him, Maddy cackled with laughter.

  ****

  He lay down with her, on his side, and watched as she unbuttoned his shirt.

  This is nuts, she thought, unable to completely quell her nervousness. This is a big decision, Maddy, and lately, you haven’t made too many good ones.

  She got on her side, too, facing him, wriggling the last couple of buttons free.

  “You sure you’re okay?” he asked.

  “My ass hurts like you wouldn’t believe,” she said, sliding the shirt down his arms, off his torso.

  “Wanna bet?”

  “Jerk,” she said, kissing his chin. Looking down.

  The one-eyed monster looked right back at her.

  “Oh, shit,” she giggled, putting a hand over her lips. “It’s watching me, Robbie.”

  “Not for long,” he said, reaching back for the condom. “In a minute, it won’t be able to see a thing.”

  She took it from him. “Let me do it,” she said.

  “Do you know how?”

  “Do you?”

  “Good point. You do it.”

  She was careful with the wrapping, studying it before tearing it off. But once she had it free, the condom itself seemed pretty self-explanatory. “Are you ready?”

  “Are you kidding?” he said. “Are you ready? Really?”

  “Little scared,” she admitted, but she nodded anyway. “It’s … not the same for women as men, the first time.”

  “You tell me if I’m—”

  But he stopped, bug-eyed, when she took his cock in hand and started rolling the condom down it. “Got an idea,” she said. “Lie down on your back. I want to try this. Don’t know if it will work, but…”

  Robbie obeyed immediately. He lay down. Maddy held his penis so that it stood straight up instead of lying flat against his belly. Lips trembling, he said, “W-what are you going to do?”

  “This,” she said, leaning in. And rolled the condom half the way down with her teeth. I’ve got Robbie’s cock in my mouth, she thought, fancying she could almost taste it through the latex. But she also nearly gagged on it when it hit the back of her throat.

  I’m such a bad girl.

  Robbie’s eyes rolled back, his toes curling and uncurling.

  She finished rolling it down with her hand.

  There. It was on, and then Robbie was fingering her between the legs.

  “Do … you … remember your lessons?” she asked, huffing against his neck.

  He found her clitoris. He massaged it. Teased it. For minutes, he played with it, smiling as she grew wet against his hand. He kissed her and whispered to her and said stupid boy things that made her smile.

  Here we go, she thought, as he took her by arms.

  Gently, slowly, he eased her onto her back, rolled on top of her. She gasped when her backside came into contact with the table, but pre-empted Robbie from speaking when he opened his mouth by putting a firm hand over it. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll let you know if anything’s wrong.”

  He moved his knees between hers, and she allowed him to part her legs with them. He let his body down, his thick manhood resting against her pubic hair. He sucked one nipple, then the other, guiding his cock to her opening. Not rushing it. Positioning the tip, right there, not entering…

  He kissed her neck.

  “What are you waiting for?” she asked, scared half-witless and dripping wet.

  He pushed—not all the way, maybe half the way, forcing an involuntary yelp from her as she felt him against it. A pinch, not a tear … such torture…

  Again, she squinted her eyes, cheeks damp again.

  “Maddy?”

  “Robbie, please,” she said, grabbing him around the waist. “Robbie, fuck me.”

  And pulled him all the way inside her, groaning his ecstasy, and allowed herself to scream one more time.

  ****

  Later, after Robbie had already come once, with the “Eternally Safe” condom still securely in place, his penis came to life again.

  She hadn’t been able to meet his orgasm. The pain inside her, melting slowly to dull discomfort, compounded the pain in her buttocks. It was impossible.

  But, seeing him rise again three minutes later, she softly said, “Let me ride you for a bit. My butt still hurts.”

  And found herself hot and seeping wet again before she even straddled his crotch. There was blood down there, too, but not much. A trace on the condom. Nowhere nearly as bad as she had thought it would be.

  Robbie held her by the hips.

  And she impaled herself on him, fucking him, going up and down on him until she was panting, panting. And there, taking charge again, nearly past the pain completely, she felt the first real swelling of pleasure since he had entered her.

  It was better now, so much better.

  Robbie grunted—utterly out of words, just as she was.

  And there, finally, just before three o’clock in the morning and on the interview table at Huntington Regional Detention Center, before witnesses, they finished together at last.

  Robbie’s penis stayed down after that. It had had enough.

  ****

  She lay against him, on top of him, cheek-to-cheek with their heads averted from the camera.

  I do love you, Robbie thought. I’ll prove it in time. I’ll do the work, if you let me.

  But he didn’t say it. He didn’t want to rush her, and she had given a clear signal that he shouldn’t.

  But now, sitting up again, playing with his chest as though he still had any hair there that she could twirl, she said, “You, um … want to go out sometime?”

  “That’s very forward of you, Miss Piper,” he said.

  She flicked a nipple.

  He winced. He said, “We missed the homecoming game—”

  She flicked the other one. “Fucking hate football.”

  “All right, all right,” he said, laughing. “Ow. Maybe a movie or something.”

  Not far away, the camera clicked off. Together, they listened to Officer Kersey pack it up.

  They listened to the hard footsteps of police officers coming closer.

  “I am sorry, you two,” said Nurse Reyes-Garcia. “It is time for you to get dressed. You will be escorted to your separate cells. You have the remainder of your sentences to complete.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Release

  Robbie buckled his belt. At the doorway, Maddy was drawing the top of her jumpsuit over her shoulders, her back to him. He stuffed his tie in his pocket.

  It won’t be long, he wanted to say. One o’clock will be here before you know it, Maddy.

  Nurse Reyes-Garcia took her by the elbow and led her away. She didn’t make her wear handcuffs.

  “Any chance of holding me until after lunch?” he asked.

  “Not how it works,” said Officer Davies. “Your time is what it is. Hers is what hers is.”

  Officer Kersey zipped up the tripod into a long, leather carrying case. “She’ll be all right, Robbie. Our customers in the pink wing are just as harmless as the creampuffs in your hall.”

  Some of them didn’t seem so harmless forty-five minutes ago, he thought. “Can’t help but worry,” he said.

  “About her?” Officer Kersey said, incredulous. “Seriously, kiddo. Don’t.”

  Officer Davies took his arm. Leaving, Robbie glanced back just once, and found Officer Kersey removing the hard drives from both the handheld and the bigger camera. She cradled them as though they were treasures. But then she looked up from them.

  “Goodbye, Robbie,” she warmly said. “No matter how long this
run lasts, no matter how many transitionals we run through the gauntlet, we’ll never top the Ballad of Robbie and Maddy. You’ve probably ruined us.”

  Somehow, I doubt that, he thought.

  Going out into the hall, he asked, “Who’s picking me up later?”

  “Couldn’t tell you. Might have to call you a cab back to school. Nothing for you to worry about. We’ll take care of it, seeing as you’re a student and all.”

  “Hasn’t my dad called?” But as soon as those words were out, he realized how ridiculous they were. “Maybe my mom?”

  “We haven’t heard anything, son,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

  ****

  Nurse Reyes-Garcia let Maddy take a quick shower before leading her to her room. She had a curtain for privacy. For a few minutes, she was left alone to clean up.

  They had to pass several closed doors before they reached her destination. Fortunately, given the hour, the other inmates were asleep. The red suits who had been summoned to accost her hadn’t waited up, and so there were no greetings or catcalls to celebrate her arrival.

  She’d gotten lucky with her escort, too. Most transitional female inmates, to hear it from Nurse Reyes-Garcia, got their orientation—and much of everything else—from male punishment wardens. But her case had been too short on notice for that.

  It could have been worse.

  She hesitated at the open doorway. It was my decision, she thought. Not like I have a choice now.

  It was the first jail cell she had ever seen in her life, with its plain walls and bedding and floor, with accommodations that could be called spartan at best. And it’s for me, she thought. I’m being locked up.

  And she wouldn’t be alone. There was a figure lying on a cot opposite the one Maddy assumed was hers. Whoever it was had the blanket drawn over her completely, as if she were hiding. The box of tissues on the nightstand they would briefly share was empty.

  “The women’s wing is so small,” Nurse Reyes-Garcia said, making no effort to lower her voice, and the figure under the blanket stirred. “Women do not make so many bad choices as men. And yet we sometimes have to share quarters when the rooms fill up. I did not think it best to bunk you with anyone you have already … met.”

  “Thank you for that,” Maddy said.

  “She is new to the program—the only woman in it we now have, since your service is complete. She has not yet begun hers.”

  Then she nudged Maddy inside.

  “Tell her nothing. In this holding cell you are still on camera. You do not wish to receive a charge.”

  “No, ma’am,” Maddy said. “I definitely don’t.”

  And then Nurse Reyes-Garcia said an odd thing. “Take care of him, Miss Piper. Take care of yourself. You are both very special to us.”

  And closed the door on her. Locked it. The sound of her receding footsteps grew small, then disappeared.

  Maddy sat on her cot, then stood up just as quickly, hissing discomfort. “Well, shit.”

  The woman across from her drew back her blanket. She was older than Maddy by a couple of years. Her hair was straight, as Maddy’s was. She had soft brown eyes that would have been quite captivating if they weren’t so bloodshot. Her jail clothes were rumpled top to bottom, probably from tossing and turning. Maddy hadn’t been planning on wearing her jumpsuit to sleep. She was used to sleeping in her much lighter nightgown, or even her underwear.

  The woman forced herself up into a sitting position, rubbed her eyes with her palms, then held her arms crossed together under her chest, as if she were cold. “I’m Cassie,” she said. “Just got here. Same as you, I guess.”

  Maddy sat again, this time much more slowly. “Maddy,” she yawned, unable to help herself. “I’m only here ‘til the afternoon. Sorry. We can be friends until then, if you want.”

  “Lucky,” Cassie said, but she nodded. She came over and shook hands, then retreated back to her cot. “I’m here until Thursday.”

  “Really?” Maddy said. “But—that’s six days from now. I thought the top … program sentence was five days.”

  “I got four,” she said miserably. “But they only start on weekdays, so I’m stuck here.”

  My gosh, Maddy thought. Get one day in jail, and I’m bunked with someone more frightened than I am.

  “You’ll have visitors, right?”

  “They only have visitors’ day twice a week. Mom and Dad booked a flight already. They’re real upset.”

  Maddy studied her socks. “Yeah,” she says. “I bet. I feel you.”

  “That cop,” Cassie ventured. “She said you just finished…”

  “Yes—but if you heard her say that, you know I can’t talk about it. I’m sorry, Cassie. You’ll never be in any real danger. They’re really careful.”

  Cassie’s whole frame shook. Maddy came to her bunk and held her until she calmed down. Then she laid herself down on her own cot, gingerly, on her side. She decided to leave on the jumpsuit after all, but didn’t pull the blanket over it.

  “We should get some rest,” she said.

  “Yeah. You’re probably beat.”

  You have no idea, Maddy thought, yawning again and almost laughing at the same time.

  “Just—can you tell me what it’s like? Nothing … specific or anything. Maybe an honest adjective?”

  “I’ll give you two, if you want,” Maddy said. “But be sure before you ask for them.”

  “Please,” Cassie said. “Be honest.”

  “It was dreadful,” Maddy said, closing her eyes, already drifting off. “It was amazing.”

  ****

  “And,” Officer Davies said, drawing a basket off the shelf, “here are the rest of your personal effects.”

  His wallet. Eighty-five cents’ worth of spare change. Only that and the clothes on his back had come here with him from court. He hadn’t even brought his Smartwatch or his phone. There was a clock on the wall, though, which he and Officer Davies turned to watch together.

  6:59:58, 6:59:59, 7:00:00.

  “That’s it, you rehabilitated young bastard. You’re a free man.”

  “Thanks, you unimaginable asshole.”

  Nurse Reyes-Garcia poked her head in the door. “Good morning,” she said. She looked decidedly bleary. In her hand a tall cup of coffee steamed. “I have come to show you the way to the visitors’ lobby. If we do not hear from your parents in an hour, we have arranged transportation for you.”

  “Aw,” he said. “You came. You didn’t have to do that.”

  “I most certainly did. Anyway, I am shortly for home, myself. Follow me.”

  Robbie followed her. “Why can’t I just go back out the way I came in?” he asked. The Intake hall led right to the outside.

  “That is for prisoners, Robbie,” she answered, directing him to the clerical office. “You go in that way, not out that way. Besides, you are to be filmed as you are freed. There is quite a crowd outside. Many have been there since Wednesday. There is an abundance of sleeping bags and charcoal grillers and body odor.”

  “And one big-ass movie screen.”

  “Yes, and one big-ass movie screen.”

  The office was in full swing when Robbie passed into it, but quite a number of the worker bee cops took a second to wave at him or call out to him as he went. Absently, he waved back to a couple. “So, if I’m going to be in the visitors’ lobby—well, that’s a visitors’ lobby. I mean, hypothetically, I could wait there as long as I want.”

  “I suppose. There will not be many people there. It is not visitors’ day.”

  “Yes, but, Matron—”

  “I know, Robbie McNeal. I get it. You may wait for her there. It would simplify transportation, too, should you require it. The two of you could go back to school together.”

  Thank you, God, he thought. Thank you.

  There wouldn’t be any classes today or tomorrow, but he and Maddy would be expected to be safely re-cloistered in the secreted bubble of the university’s campus, just as before
. Except in extenuating circumstances, time home and out in the world was limited to holidays. Robbie didn’t think that release from jail counted as an “extenuating circumstance”.

  Yet, angry and frustrated as he was with his parents, it hurt him deeply that they had not called. That they would not be here. It hurt him, and it confused him. And it concerned him.

  Had his behavior—his very presence—on Consequences, Live! so disgraced them that they wanted nothing to do with him anymore?

  I’m their son, he thought. They wouldn’t do that.

  And it was his father’s own fucking show, anyway.

  But they could. Transitional adults, when cut off by their legal guardians, were taken into special work-and-housing programs by the state, if they couldn’t afford their continuing education. Same thing happened to dropouts. It was an excellent study motivation.

  “The people will be disappointed not to see you right away,” said Nurse Reyes-Garcia. “They have waited so long. They love this part.”

  “You can pass on my apologies,” he said. “Not that I actually care, but wouldn’t they like it better if Maddy and I came out together?”

  Nurse-Reyes-Garcia sipped her coffee, never slowing her pace. “Clever little spunk monkey,” she said.

  Last hall, now. Robbie could see the door to the lobby straight ahead. Another door on his right led to the same row of partitions where Maddy had come to visit him. Where his mom had, too.

  There were only a couple people in there that Robbie could see so far, a man and a woman not too much older than himself. The man had a beard and a ponytail. The woman wore a tie dye shirt and bellbottoms. They looked related. Maybe fraternal twins?

  No cops. No media.

  “But there are two fans of yours who simply would not wait.”

  “Matron, please—”

  She stopped, and that stopped him.

  “It would be in your interests to see them, Robbie,” she said. “Do you trust me?”

  They had stood up. The woman pointed at him. Robbie waved. It was the polite thing to do.

  “Yes,” he said. “I’ll always trust you—although I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again.”

  “Then you will let me do this,” she said, and hugged him. Hard. Robbie’s breath was practically squeezed clean out of him, but he returned the embrace. Then she stood back from him, running her hands over his shirt, smoothing wrinkles. “You can see the way from here. Maddy will be along in six hours or so. You will have time to catch up on some sleep.”