Bought and Sold

Bought and Sold 1 to 3

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This work is intended for ADULTS ONLY. It may contain depictions of sexual activity involving minors. If you are not of a legal age in your locality to view such material or if such material does not appeal to you, do not read further, and do not save this story.
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Chapter 1

Simultaneously with Rance’s guffaw came the tug on her skirt and the cold air which let Helen know the back of her panties had come down with it. She yanked both up quickly and glanced around behind her. Some of the boys were turning around to the back of the room. From their expressions she could tell they hadn’t see her. Except for Rance. Understanding what he had done and seen made the blood rush to her face. She slapped him across the face.

“How dare you, you pervert!?” she shouted.

Now the boys’ expressions changed as they realized what Rance had done and what they had missed seeing. The teacher’s expression changed as well, to one of fury.

“Rance, to the principal’s office! Now!” he shouted. After the door slammed behind the boy, he asked solicitously, “Miss Fisher, do you need a moment?”

Fighting back tears, Helen nodded.

“Go right ahead. When you’re ready, you can go to the principal’s office and let him know what happened.”

“May I go with her?” Tammy asked. “I think she can use some support.”

“Miss Fisher? Would you like Miss Ryder to go with you?” Helen nodded. “Very well.”

Helen maintained her composure until she was in the girls’ restroom. Then she broke down in tears.

“I should have listened to you! I should have worn jeans! But I didn’t think Rance would do it again after all the trouble he got into last time!”

“And I told you he acts first and thinks second. He doesn’t consider the consequences.”

“I figured the worst that would happen is he’d flip up my skirt, like he usually does. I never thought he’d pull it down and my panties, too. He saw everything! You have no idea how humiliating that is!”

“I believe you know I do.”

“Oh, yeah. But that wasn’t in class.”

“Like it makes a difference! I hope he thinks it was worth it. This time they might actually expel him.”

“Right,” Helen scoffed sarcastically. “How many times have they threatened it? He knows they can’t do that because then he’ll just be out on the street all day doing who knows what. So he’ll get another lecture from the principal and be sent back to class, which is basically a free pass to do it again.”

“Which means you’d better wear pants and a belt,” Tammy advised. “He can’t flip those up or pull them down.”

“But pants make my butt look big!”

“I hate to point this out but it isn’t the pants doing it. Maybe wearing them will give you the incentive you need to lose weight.”

“Easy for you to say.”

Tammy stood just under five feet tall and weighed about ninety pounds, She was often mistaken for an eleven-year-old. With her dark hair and eyes, she bore a strong resemblance to the actress, Alyssa Milano. Helen was five inches taller and almost forty pounds heavier. She had shoulder-length blonde hair, blue eyes and a snub nose. She had the largest chest development among the eighth grade girls but also the largest derriere. When the other girls took to wearing belted pants as a protective measure against Rance Boyd and his predilection to flip up skirts, Helen had opted to continue wearing skirts because they better camouflaged her generous asset. Today she had once again paid the price.

“How did we go from discussing Rance de-skirting and de-pantsing me to a diet?” Helen asked. “I can’t believe I’m standing here talking about it. Rance stripped me naked in front of the whole class!”

“One, you weren’t naked. It was from the waist down and from the back. Okay, not a fun experience but nowhere near as bad as full nudity. Two, it wasn’t in front of the class, it was in back of it, so I doubt anyone saw.”

“Rance saw. How can I live with that? I’ll be seeing him every day. Do you think Mr. Harkness saw?”

“I doubt it. He was answering a question at the time and Rance was standing behind you so he would have blocked the view. I don’t think Mr. Harkness realized anything was wrong until you shouted.”

“Thanks for putting it in perspective. I feel a bit better. If Rance actually gets expelled for it this time, I’ll feel a lot better.”

Rance Boyd had been the terror of the school ever since his father had gone to prison several years before for one too many bar fights. Rance had responded to the taunts of classmates with his fists and to their surprise, often won. They hadn’t expected to find muscle beneath the layer of fat he had carried. He discovered he enjoyed their fear and eventual subservience. He collected a generous amount of lunch money from students who paid him not to be assaulted.

As he grew taller, the pudge melted away and eventually he became the strongest boy in school. Blessed with the same deficient intellect as his parents and a poor student to begin with, he had been left back twice and was now the oldest in class at fifteen. He spent almost more time in the principal’s office than in class for fighting, disturbing the class or flipping up girls’ skirts. He had been suspended twice for a day, the last two weeks ago for doing it to Helen. At the time he had been threatened with suspension if it happened again. His beleaguered mother, who worked as a waitress almost sixty hours a week, couldn’t control him any more than she had her now incarcerated husband.

Right now he sat in the principal’s office mentally kicking himself. What had he been thinking? Collecting protection payments put money in his pocket. No one dared snitch on him. But lifting girls’ skirts gave him nothing more than a second’s pleasure followed by detention, suspension and threats of expulsion. Last time, the police chief had gone to his home to explain that he was old enough to be charged and sent to juvenile detention. He could also end up with a record as a sexual predator which would follow him the rest of his life. He resolved to control himself. But when he saw all the girls wearing pants, he realized this was their way of thwarting him and it became a challenge. He thought about yanking down a pair, but they were also wearing belts tightly cinched around their waists.

Then Helen Fisher entered the room wearing her usual skirt as if she couldn’t care less. She was not his first choice for a victim. She was cute enough with her blonde hair and blue eyes and would even be pretty if she lost about twenty pounds. But when she stood at the pencil sharpener with her back to him, her generous derriere all but on display, he couldn’t help himself. Then, instead of flipping up her skirt as he originally intended, he yanked it down, as he had been rehearsing in his mind all morning to do to a girl in pants. To his surprise, her panties came down with it and he had stared in shock at an image straight out of an R-rated movie. Helen had shrieked, yanked her clothing back up and slapped him hard. His second of pleasure earned him at least a minute of pain and now he was about to face the penalty for his action. He hadn’t yet gotten around to admitting what he had done when the girls entered the office and did it for him.
“So, Mr. Boyd, you not only ignored my previous warning, you escalated to removing a female’s undergarments?” the principal thundered. “You must understand that there is no other action I can take except for permanent expulsion.”

Rance knew he couldn’t win an argument. “Yes, Sir. Can I go now?”

“You can’t leave during school hours unless an adult calls for you. I assume your mother is still working. You’ll have to sit in the hallway until dismissal. Girls, you may return to class.”

Rance seated himself in one of the chairs outside the office pondering his situation. All in all, it wasn’t bad. He was getting nowhere in school and was only biding his time until he turned sixteen and no longer had to attend. He had just been reprieved a year early. Now he was free to do whatever he wanted. Even if he wasn’t in school, he could still wait along the road and demand his lunch money payments. What happened was actually a good thing!

“He’d better not get away with it this time!” Stuie Lassiter said.

A short, slightly pudgy boy with dark hair and glasses, he was one of Rance’s many victims. The bully usually waited for them along the road about a block away from the school. It was impossible to avoid him for too long. They never knew if he would be on the north side or south side. Sometimes he even jumped out from behind a tree. He demanded money from those who he knew carried it. Stuie had tried hiding a dollar in his underwear. Rance had wrestled him to the ground, and then, while he was on all fours, mounted him like a pony and gave him the choice of paying or carrying him to school. Stuie had been forced to reach into his underwear and hand over the money. Rance had said now that he knew where Stuie carried his money, next time he wasn’t paid immediately. he would take the boy’s underwear off. Thereafter, Stuie paid fifty cents daily, as did many others.

“He was expelled this time,” Helen was delighted to report.

“Which means he’ll be back in two days. If not, he’ll just start up with us outside school.”

“I don’t think so,” LaDonna said. “I heard he left in a police car.”

LaDonna was among the taller and prettier girls in the class, with a mature figure, classic cheekbones and a light coffee complexion. She was also one of the girls in class who still wore a skirt. Other than insulting her, Rance kept his distance. Like most perpetually drunk troublemakers, Rance Senior was also a racist who blamed others for his troubles. Minorities topped his list. According to him, the reason he was constantly unemployed was because they “stole” all the good jobs. This contrasted sharply with his other rant about how they never worked and were all criminals. In any case, Rance Junior had been raised on a diet of bigotry. He was afraid that LaDonna’s father was involved in a drug gang and could come after him if he touched her. LaDonna didn’t care about his reason. She was just glad her dusky skin protected her.

“You think he’ll go to juvie this time?” Helen asked hopefully.

“What exactly did he do to you? It looked like he did more than flip up your skirt.”

“No, this time he pulled it down and my panties came down with it.”

“You mean he saw you naked?” Stuie asked in shock.

“He saw my butt.”

“Do you think anyone else saw?” LaDonna asked. “What about Mr. Harkness?”

“Rance was standing behind me, so I doubt it. But it was still humiliating.”

“I wonder if it’s more or less humiliating than being ridden like a horse,” Stuie said.

“Having gone through both, it’s more humiliating.”

“I agree,” Tammy said.

“He stripped and rode both of you?”

“Not exactly.”

Unlike the others, Tammy’s tribulations with Rance mostly took place out of school. Tammy’s widowed father was a handyman. He had been given a lucrative contract to be caretaker in a summer resort, maintaining the cabins and looking after them in the winter when the place was vacant. Housing was provided. So Tammy got to live on premises which included a lake with rowboats, miniature golf, basketball and tennis courts. The disadvantage was that it was located at the edge of town, half a mile from the school down a narrow road the school bus would not travel. The only one further away was Rance, who lived in a cabin just beyond. His close proximity meant that he often came over to spy on her or tease her.

Helen’s father was a plumber who often worked with Tammy’s. She lived a short distance away from them. In the spring and fall, when the weather was mildly warm but there were no guests, Helen came over to swim in the lake or play ball.

One day while they were both swimming, they heard a loud splash some distance away. It sounded too large to be a bullfrog. They assumed it was some other animal like a raccoon which they knew wouldn’t bother them. A minute later, Tammy felt something come up behind her and yank down her swimsuit bottom. As she shrieked and pulled them back up, Rance ran away laughing. Her father told the chief who had words with Rance.

A few days later, they were both laying face down on their towels drying off in the sun when a sudden weight landed on Helen’s back. Rance shouted “Giddyup horsey!” as he bounced on her behind. Helen thrashed beneath him, trying to dislodge him, while Tammy attempted to push him off. Rance grabbed her and threw her on top of Helen. Then he straddled her back and sat on her, effectively riding both of them together. He slapped her behind, which was clad only in a swimsuit. It felt like being touched naked. At one point he leaned forward and pressed himself against her. Something which felt like a hard stick prodded Tammy in the rear and she realized with revulsion that it was his manhood. She shrieked even louder and saw one of her father’s workers come running. Rance saw him too and ran away.

Tammy’s father was furious. He told the chief that the next time he saw Rance on his property, he would beat him within an inch of his life. The chief was thoughtful for a moment, then agreed that was a possible solution.

“Just don’t go overboard,” he cautioned. “Use your hands, not your feet or a weapon. Don’t hit him in the face or break anything. If it’s just a standard beating, I’ll look the other way. Lord knows that boy deserves it. And I’ll let him know exactly what he’ll face if he comes back and that I won’t do anything about it.”

“So you see, we know exactly what it feels like, even more than you,” Tammy concluded. “And after that day, Rance never came back so Daddy didn’t get the chance to beat him.”

“Let’s hope he doesn’t come back here,” Helen said.

Chapter 2

Rance sat in the chair in the hallway for several minutes. Other students passed by and smirked. After a few minutes it dawned on him that nothing was keeping him there. What could they do to him if he left? Expel him twice? He rose and walked to the exit. As he got there, someone barred his way.

“Going somewhere, Rance?”

It was Police Chief Harrison, the only person in town who truly frightened him. The chief was over six feet tall, broad and with a weatherbeaten face which reminded people of John Wayne. He was the only person to ever take on Rance Boyd Senior and win. Rance knew instantly that he wasn’t here by coincidence.

“I’m going home.”

“Weren’t you told to wait for an adult? I’m the adult. Get in the back of my patrol car.”

Rance knew better than to resist. He entered the back seat and the chief shut the door, locking him in. The next stop was the station. He had been brought here before for warnings. This time he was fingerprinted.

“I see you’re getting the picture,” the chief said. “This isn’t fun and games anymore. You’re not getting off with a warning. What you did to Helen Fisher is a crime and you’re going to be charged with it.”

He was locked in a cell by himself where he waited until his mother arrived. They brought him out in handcuffs, which was more than they had done in the past. Usually his mother just sighed and whined that she couldn’t control him. This time she cried.

“I work so hard to give you a nice home and you hafta do this! Is this what you want - to be a worthless piece of garbage like your father?”

For the first time, Rance felt tears come to his eyes as he realized this time he had gone too far. But it was too late to change things. The chief explained that he would be arraigned in the morning before the judge. Because he had a long history of malfeasance which had escalated and it was obvious his mother could not control him, he was being held until then. He spent a lonely night trying to sleep on the bench in his cell with an itchy woolen blanket.

The next morning he had to take a cold shower under the eyes of a deputy and then dress in the same clothes he had worn the day before, which had not been too clean then. He was handcuffed again and driven to the courthouse where he met his mother and a court-appointed defender. There was another man present, overweight with a ruddy face, and a slender man in a dark suit. There were a number of whispered conferences between the men and his mother. Finally his defender approached.

“I’ve worked out the best deal possible,” he said. “You will plead to misdemeanor sexual harassment and sentenced to thirty days in juvenile detention. At the end of that period, your case will be reassessed. If you are deemed eligible, you will return home and your mother will work out a plan to continue your education. Otherwise, your stay could be extended. If all goes well, your record will be expunged. You are extremely lucky. You could have been charged with felony sexual assault, sentenced to several years and be branded a predator for life. This deal is a gift. I suggest you take it.”

Rance and his mother agreed. Some time later, he stood before the judge and confirmed his acceptance.

“Due to your youth, you are being assigned to a low security location. You won’t be confined. You will attend a local school. This is your chance to convince me that you are still salvageable. At the end of thirty days, we will be speaking with your carers and your teachers. If you show significant improvement, you may be permitted to return home. Otherwise you will remain there for an indefinite period or possibly confined to a more secure location where you will not have the freedom to leave. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Young man, for someone your age you have amassed quite a record of misdeeds, some of them serious. This is your last opportunity to turn your life around. If you appear before me again, it will be prison.”

His mother handed the knapsack she had packed to Howard Jensen, the ruddy-faced man who had been assigned as his case worker. Rance got in his car, an old Dodge Charger with more than its share of dents.

“As the judge told you, the place you’re going is not quite a prison. There’s a curfew and bed check and you have to let the folks in charge know where you’re going but you won’t be locked up. Mess up and you’ll be moved somewhere where you will be and for a lot longer than thirty days.

“Now I’ve seen your record and it’s not pretty. You may think you’re hot stuff in Podunk but where you’re going what you did is third grade. Running a penny-ante protection racket? Try that here and you’re the one who’ll need protection. Flipping up girls’ skirts? There are bangers here who’ll stab you for looking at a girl the wrong way. So you’d better control yourself.”

They turned off the highway and soon they were in a place which to Rance, looked like a set straight out of a TV show. He saw dirty streets with heaping refuse cans and rusted cars, filthy, feral children, crumbling building covered with graffiti, much of it obscene. At every corner, a ragtag group wearing bandanas and other identifying symbols of the gangs to which they belonged, stared at the vehicle in suspicion. Howard pulled up in front of a building just a little cleaner than the others on the block.

“This is your new home for the next thirty days,” Howard said. “If you keep your nose clean, that’s all it will be. Screw up and your stay will be extended or you may get transferred to a place which makes this paradise in comparison. Your call.”

He followed Howard into the building where he was introduced to the man in charge, Lamar Hicks, a tall, skinny black man with a shiny bald pate. Rance had to fight down his revulsion as he shook the dark hand and called the man ‘Sir’. Despite being told that his bag had already been searched at the courthouse, Lamar insisted on searching it again.

“He might as well get used to how things are done around here,” he said. “Remember that this is a government-sponsored home for troubled boys. It’s not your private property. We can search you or your room at any time. There is no expectation of privacy here. Naturally we’d prefer not to, so don’t give us a reason and you’ll be okay. I see that your list of crimes doesn’t include anything drug-related. That’s good. However it does include liberties taken with females. That’s bad. Boys here tend to take a very protective attitude toward their sisters or girlfriends. Give the wrong one a sideways glance and you could wind up with a cap in your ass.”

“I already explained that,” Howard said.

“Good. Now there are eight boys in this place, two to a room. George and I run this place. You’ll meet George later. I don’t know what you’re used to but there’s no maid service. You’re responsible for keeping your room neat and you’ll be assigned chores to cover the rest of the area. You earn privileges for doing a good job and lose privileges if you don’t. Do a good job and you can be home in thirty days. Mess up and you’re here for the duration. Mess up bad and you get transferred to a worse place. Get what I’m putting down?”

Rance swallowed. “Yes, Sir.”

“The boys are all at school, where you’ll be expected to attend starting tomorrow. You don’t need to get A’s to get out of here. We know everyone can’t be a brain. If you were, you wouldn’t be here over this stupid nonsense. All we ask is that you do your best. Your teachers have to say you’re at least trying. Cut class, act up, and you know what happens. Touch a girl without her consent and no one can predict the results except that it will be bad. Got it?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“I think this might work out. Howie, we’ll be in touch. Come on, Rance, I’ll show you to your room.”

It had enough space for a dresser and a bunk bed. Rance started feeling claustrophobic. His room at home wasn’t much larger but the window opened to the outdoors, reminding him of how much space was available just beyond it. Here he had nowhere to go except for the uninviting streets. Since the lower bunk was obviously taken, that left him the upper one. He had never slept in a bunk bed before. Now he had to worry that he would roll over in his sleep and fall out. With nothing else to do, he lay on the top bunk and stared at the peeling paint on the ceiling of the room which would be his for the next month. He resolved that he would do everything possible to make sure he would be going home after that time.

Chapter 3

With Rance’s absence, the change in school spirit was dramatic. Students walked to school unafraid. More of them were buying lunch since no one was stealing their money. Teachers did not have to interrupt class as often to send a particular miscreant out of the room.

“I never realized what a tremendous impact Rance had on this school,” LaDonna remarked. “It’s sad to think that one person can ruin it for everybody.”

“One person usually does ruin it for everyone,” Tammy pointed out. “What would Iraq have been without Saddam Hussein? Germany without Hitler? Russia without Stalin?”

“You can hardly compare Rance to Hussein and Hitler.”

“Okay, Ted Bundy and Charles Manson.”

“Not fair either.”

“Only because it’s early in his career. There’s hardly a kid in school who hasn’t been bullied, insulted, humiliated or robbed by Rance. At least fifty kids lived in fear of one. I predict that some day we’ll be hearing about his exploits on the news.”

“Let’s hope that happens far away from here.”

On Friday evening, the chief stopped by the Ryder home.

“Tammy, have you heard from Rance?” he asked.

“No, why would I? We’re hardly Facebook friends, though I don’t think Rance knows how to turn on a computer.”

“I meant in person.”

“I thought he was in juvie.”

“He was sent to a group home but he ran away. The place is forty miles away but it’s right down the highway. He could have hitched a ride here. To my knowledge, he’s never been out of this town before so I can’t think of any other place he would go. We left word in the diner where his mom works to have them call us if he shows up. We’re also spot-checking his house. Unless he has a friend in town who’s hiding him, we’ll find him soon.”

“Don’t worry. Rance doesn’t have any friends.”

“That’s pretty much what we’ve been told. So I assume if you see him, you’ll call me immediately?”

“Of course. And what will happen to him? Will you take him right back to the place he ran away from?”

“No. That was a low-security home where residents were allowed outside. Now he’ll go to a juvenile facility where he’ll be locked in. He was warned. Actions have consequences.”

On Saturday Helen came over. Though the sun was still shining brightly, it had gotten a bit too chilly to swim in the lake. They played miniature golf, rowed a boat and lay on blankets at the lakeshore, enjoying the remaining few days of late September sunshine. Tammy couldn’t relax. She kept sitting up and looking around.

“You act like you’re expecting Indians to be sneaking up on us,” Helen observed.

“How very P.C. You know they’re native Americans.”

“Not if they came from India.”

“I certainly don’t expect someone from India to sneak up on us - or native Americans either. Maybe just one.”

“Come on! Rance is probably miles away. Even if he made it here, he has more important things to do than sneak up on us and get caught. Though this would be the perfect day for him to try. Your dad is around with his whole staff.”

Mr. Ryder was closing the place down for the winter. Screens were being replaced with storm windows. The water was being shut down to the units to prevent the pipes from bursting in cold weather. Refuse was carried out to avoid rodents. Then each unit was carefully checked for water leaks and other damage which had to be repaired quickly before it worsened. The men started with the units closest to the lake which usually needed more effort and were rented by the more affluent guests, then moved further back.

Tammy always felt a sense of loss when this was taking place because another summer was over and the place would be quiet for nine months. She had made friends with some of the vacationers, particularly regulars who returned each season. She and Helen also earned money running errands and babysitting. Best of all, Rance stayed away when the guests were around.

Since most of his crew didn’t work on Sunday, Mr. Ryder spent the day doing repairs in private homes. Helen would be away visiting family which meant that unless she decided to drop in on someone, Tammy would be alone for the day. She didn’t mind. She had schoolwork to do and a smart phone to keep her connected to the outside world. She stayed up later than usual on Saturday, knowing she could sleep later the next day.

Something woke her at the crack of dawn. Outside it was still mostly dark. The sun was just barely peeking its face above the horizon. Except for some early morning songbirds, the air was still. So what had woken her? She recalled the sound of a splash. She moved to the window.

As caretaker, Mr. Ryder had been given the main cabin right at the entrance, which was on higher ground. Once a car passed through the gates, the road continued on a downward incline. From her window at the rear of the cabin, Tammy could see most of the property, including the lake.

Now she looked but in the dim lighting saw nothing unusual. Then a movement caught her eye as something emerged from the water. It was way too large to be a raccoon but too small to be a bear. In fact, it was Rance-size. She picked up her cell phone which had a camera with a zoom feature. Though it was still too dark to be a hundred percent sure, she was fairly certain it was Rance and he did not appear to be wearing a bathing suit. Then she saw a flash of white and surmised that he had removed a pair of underpants from his bag and was putting them on. She watched the figure approach the cabin closest to the lake, one her father had locked just the previous day, and do something at the door. It opened and he slipped inside.

Tammy was about to shout for her father when another thought occurred to her. Rance had nowhere to go. He must have realized that the police were watching his home and his mother’s place of work. He was taking refuge in a cabin without running water or electricity, since these had been turned off. This also meant he would have no heat and soon the cold season would be on them. And what would he eat? He had obviously not thought this through.

A plan formed in her mind. She would offer him the help he so desperately needed but exact a price. He would have no choice but to acquiesce. She knew that his eventual capture would be inevitable, but while he had his freedom - or so he believed - she would get the revenge she had been seeking.

She had a hard time falling back asleep as different ideas flowed through her mind. When she awoke again and realized she was up for the day, it seemed to take forever for her father to leave. Finally he was gone and she was alone - except for the uninvited guest in the nearby cabin. The time had come for a confrontation.

What if he became violent? In all the time she had known him, Lance had never hit a girl, even when they hit him in response to one of his pranks. But now he might be desperate. She paused to take a weapon in addition to the key to the cabin.

She walked around the cabin peering through the windows. In the bedroom, a blanket lay on the floor between the two beds. Tammy knew that all the blankets had been washed, folded and placed on the beds. Looking more closely, she could make out the shape of someone lying under it. If Rance was asleep, it would be even easier. She turned the knob slowly. As she expected, the door had been locked from the inside. She inserted the key and carefully turned it, opening the door silently. She tiptoed inside. Rance lay on his belly, covered by the blanket with only his head showing. She walked quietly to where he lay, straddled his sleeping figure and then dropped suddenly, landing in a sitting position on his back. He awoke with a start. She pressed her weapon against the back of his neck.

“This is a stun stick capable of producing three hundred thousand volts. If you make any sudden movements, I’ll press the trigger. It’ll scramble what’s left of your brains and you don’t have any to spare.”

(End of File)