Chapter 16 Facade
Amy’s Saga
Amy finished the meal that Darren’s mother prepared for them, and thanked her. Darren’s parents seemed nice enough. They asked a few general questions about her but nothing too deep. They probably already thought they knew a lot about her, commune raised and all. It was fairly common knowledge what all went on in the labor communes.
Darren’s father, Merlin, kept staring at her throughout the meal. It made her feel a little uneasy, especially now knowing that it was his father’s idea to buy her. It was his money that bought her too. She hoped he didn’t have some sort of owner entitlement issue, even though she was married to Darren.
Dawn, Darren’s mother, asked many polite questions but had a disapproving look most of the time. No doubt, they knew the reputation of the Marriage to Freedom program and how it was used by the rich to buy a pretty, slave whore. Dawn probably wondered how it could ever work with her eighteen year old son. Or maybe she was not pleased that Merlin had bought his son a whore. Or maybe she thought Merlin wanted a whore on the side. Whatever the case was, Dawn was little more than polite to Amy and not really too interested in her personally.
Glad to finally be done eating and hopefully done with the parents’ questions, Darren and Amy excused themselves and went to the living room.
“So what do you think of my parents?” Darren asked.
“They seem nice enough, though I think they both think I’m some kind of whore. They didn’t seem to take a real interest in me, other than your father looking at me like a piece of meat and your mom seeing me as a threat.”
There was that firecracker again. Darren found it hard not to be drawn to her wit and cut-to-the-chase attitude, especially coming from such an attractive package. It was so refreshing after growing up in a bland, milk and toast family. His parents rarely raised their voices. Everything was always calm and predictable. And kind of boring. That’s one reason why Darren found it so irresistible to create a lot of excitement in his youth. That was the same reason why he found Amy so compelling.
“It’s not you,” Darren said. “My parents are just nice, superficial, boring people. That’s how they always talk. They don’t seem real interested in anything. Even me. I think they love you. They just don’t know how to express it.”
Amy smiled. She wasn’t sure whether to believe him. But his answer sure sounded good. She was beginning to see a persona of Darren that she found likeable. He was a risk taker and a rebel, the opposite of his parents. She enjoyed that. Maybe this thing with Darren was going to work in some way.
But if she was going to give it an honest go, she thought she’d better come clean about something. She took a moment to gaze at this innocent, dark hared kid with the hunky build and attractive good looks. Sorry Darren, she thought.
“I’m four months pregnant.” Boom!
Darren was shocked. “What? How can that be…”
She didn’t wait for him to finish. “I must have had sex four months ago, that’s how. Did you think you were getting a virgin? Are you that naïve? Do you think that anyone that ever comes out of the communes for the Marriage to Freedom program is a virgin? Nope. I’m sorry, Darren. That’s just not reality.”
“I’m sorry, Amy. I didn’t mean it that way. I wasn’t complaining about that. I know that the communes want everyone to have babies so I would expect virgins to not last very long in there. I’m just surprised that they let someone, you, leave when…”
Cutting him off again, she finished the sentence. “When I’m knocked up? Come on, Darren. Do you think they really care one way or the other? They get their money just the same. At least they’re not doing some bait and switch for an ugly girl. Now that would be a big surprise wouldn’t it?” She smiled big at Darren.
He laughed out loud. Man, she was good. He’d never met a girl like this before.
“Besides,” she continued, “one of your baby criteria will be met early, so that’s a plus.”
Darren’s father had actually filled him in on the baby criteria so he wasn’t surprised by that piece of information. But he was stunned at her candor. “How can you say that? Doesn’t the idea of giving up your baby bother you at all?”
“No it doesn’t,” she said without emotion. “No one ever raises their children in the commune. Mothers don’t even see them. They’re born behind a curtain and taken immediately to the Baby Ward. That’s just life. We’re raised that way. It’s not cold.”
“Hmm,” grunted Darren. “I’ve heard there are no marriages or relationships either. Is that true?”
“There are no marriages. But there are relationships, just not exclusive ones. We can see anyone we want. We just can’t have any kind of exclusive relationship with anyone of the opposite sex. Our SIN Chips keep track of who we’re with. We’re punished if we go against the rules, rewarded if we comply.”
“What are the punishments and rewards?”
“It’s all about work. Punishments are more work. Rewards are less work. That’s what people live for in the commune—ways to work less.”
Darren seemed real curious now. “What do people have to do to be able to work less?”
“For guys it’s mostly having sex and doing great at their jobs. For girls it’s having sex and having babies. It doesn’t matter how bad or good they are at their jobs as far as rewards go.”
Darren looked shocked again. He was silent for several moments. “How many guys have you been with?”
“How many girls have you been with, Mr. Perfect Darren? Huh? Without someone standing over your shoulder twenty four seven telling you what and what not to do, how many girls have you boinked for nothing?”
He was silent again. “Sorry, Amy. That wasn’t fair of me. I kind of knew it was like that in there. I just never heard exactly how it worked from someone…”
“Someone who’s been played like a trained slut?” She grinned again. “Is that what you were going to say?”
“Amy, you know I wasn’t saying that! Why did you say that?”
“Just teasing you. Any more questions, Mr. Curious?”
Darren thought for a moment. “Yeah, one more I guess. We’ve always heard that commune raised women don’t make good wives because of what you were talking about. You’re not allowed to be married, or have exclusive relationships, or a family, or…”
“And that didn’t stop you from wanting to marry me anyway, did it?” she said. “So it’s really about having a pretty girl to yourself. Darren, don’t be a dumbshit. We’re human you know. Just because we’ve not allowed to have exclusive relationships doesn’t mean we don’t want to.”
He was speechless again. She was good. He looked at her beautiful face and thought, I’m in love already.
Then came bombshell number two. “I really want to be honest with you in every way, Darren. I’ll never play any games. So here it is. I hate to break this to you, but…I like girls.”
“Doesn’t everyone? So?”
“Only girls.”
Darren’s lower jawed dropped. “Oh, my gosh. Are there any more surprises? Are you really a guy that’s had a sex change? Because that would just bring a nice conclusion to this wonderful day!”
She giggled. “That’s good, Darren. No, I’m not a guy. At least not yet,” she said, grinning. “I’m kidding.”
She paused a moment and then took on a more grim tone. “Let me be serious about this, though. I haven’t been with but a few guys, and none by choice. I sometimes wish I was ugly, because then I wouldn’t have been a target. Pretty girls are always a target in there. And there are plenty of guys who will take advantage of them and no one cares. Women don’t matter. They’re just seen as baby machines and workers. That’s it. So I’ve never liked guys in general very much at all as long as I can remember.”
She continued, “It’s so very strange. Now, I’m married to a guy all of a sudden
. You must know how glad I am to be away from all that commune life, Darren. I’m relieved that you’re decent, funny, and not boring at all. And cute. But I’m pregnant and into girls. So what are you going to do with that?”
You’ve got to hand it to Darren for not totally losing it. Imagine being eighteen and full of hormones. You’ve had a hard on for a week waiting for your beautiful sexy mail order bride to come. She’s finally here and you can hardly take it. Then you find out she’s not a virgin, probably has been with many guys, has had guys force themselves on her, now she’s pregnant, and really into girls and not the least bit interested in giving you your long awaited birthday present! Talk about bring on the cold shower! But Darren, somehow, kept his cool.
He simply replied, “Maybe you’ll come to be good friends with me after we hang out for a while. Once we’re great friends, maybe you’ll start thinking of me as something more. It’s worth a try, Amy. Because so far, I’m really liking what I’m seeing and hearing. You haven’t scared me off at all.”
Amy was more than pleased and gave Darren a kiss on the check, teasingly close to his lips. “Maybe you’ll be right. But tonight you’d better be happy with a girly magazine and your right hand. Or are you left handed, Mr. Darren?”
Magazine, smagazine, he still had her hologram image on his palm screen!
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