Slave For Rent

by Samantha Cayto

  The two men shook hands. As introductions were made for McGill and Deidre, Danny snuck a small wave at Oliver. Oliver returned the gesture before refocusing on Master Ben, the slave’s devotion to his master/lover obvious in the look he gave him. Danny tried to catch the eye of the other boy, but with his head down, the new slave didn’t notice. Up close, Danny could see the boy better. He was skinny with a stomach so flat it was practically concave. A silver hoop adorned his bellybutton. He had skin slightly lighter than Danny’s and dark hair. The latter being straight and hanging in his eyes in an uneven way that indicated to Danny that he was growing it out. Probably his master liked it long. The strands didn’t hide the livid bruise showing high on his right cheek, however.

  “You’ve leased out Danny?” The high-voiced question came from an animated Deirdre. Obviously he’d missed some kind of exchange among the free people. He looked over at her with a shy smile and nodded. “Jeez, how come I’m the last to know everything?”

  “If you’d work at the company more, you wouldn’t be,” Master Tanner intoned.

  Deidre made a face. “Let’s not start that discussion now, Dad.”

  “Of course not, sweetheart.” Master Tanner kissed her on the top of her head and went to flip steaks over. The guests would have that and chicken and shrimp, while the slaves would have hamburgers and hotdogs. Danny didn’t mind. The simple food reminded him of being a kid and besides, Paul had indulged him with a steak already.

  “Nice having a boy of your own, isn’t it Graham?” This came from McGill and the guy had not lost his creep factor one bit. He snagged a handful of his slave’s hair and gave a yank. “’Course even the expensive ones aren’t as well trained as the brokerage houses would have you believe. I’ve had my work cut out for me with this one, let me tell you.”

  After another yank, he shoved at the boy in what looked like a playful way, but Danny could see the poor kid had to struggle to stay in place.

  Paul tugged Danny closer and wrapped his arm around Danny’s waist. “I wouldn’t know,” he said in an icy tone.

  Master Tanner chuckled. “Jesus, McGill, you get a patent approved for one little medical device worth millions and suddenly you know how burdensome money can be.”

  McGill chuckled at the jibe. “It’s a problem I’m willing to deal with.”

  Master Ben stepped closer to Paul suddenly. “Say, why don’t the boys head into the kitchen with the other slaves? I’m sure Mary would like to see Danny in particular.”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Paul replied.

  Master Tanner grunted. “Whatever.” He once more turned to the grill and fussed with the food he cooked.

  Oliver let go of Master Ben and sidled up to Danny. With a quick squeeze of his hand, Paul let Danny go. McGill’s slave didn’t move a muscle, however, no doubt having learned to stay put until his master said otherwise.

  McGill heaved a big sigh. “Sure, why not. Go with them,” he ordered his slave with a gesture toward the house that came close to clipping the boy’s chin. The kid still didn’t move as if having also learned not to duck a blow.

  “Yes, Master,” the boy said in a soft voice.

  “And don’t eat too much. You’re getting fat as it is.”

  Danny exchanged a quick look with Oliver. Seriously, where could fat be hiding on that skinny body? The slave just replied with another “yes, master” before turning to join Danny and Oliver. As they headed for the kitchen, anticipation popped up. Danny hadn’t seen his mother in a few weeks and his father would be waiting for him in the house, too. Best of all, with Paul staying outside, he might never have a chance to meet Mary formally.

  The sights, sounds and smells of his childhood home hit Danny square in the face the moment he entered the kitchen. He barely had time to register the experience, let alone savor it, before his mother let out a muted cry of happiness. She raced over to pull him into a tight hug. He curled into the embrace, wrapping his arms around her. Although he wasn’t very tall for a boy, he stood a few inches above her, a fact he still had trouble accepting. For the first sixteen years of his life, this one person more than anyone had been his touchstone. She couldn’t always keep him out of trouble, but she was always there afterward, holding him close, soothing away his hurts with her words alone. Not for the first time, he took a moment to appreciate how relatively rare his upbringing had been. Not many slave women were given the choice about having children let alone given the opportunity to bond. He’d been lucky.

  His mother rocked him while they hugged. “Oh, my precious boy. It’s been too long and I thought I wouldn’t see you this weekend.”

  Danny wriggled out of her arms enough to kiss her on her cheek. “I think maybe Oliver had a hand in my being here.”

  His mother let go finally and glanced over at Oliver who was already chowing down on one of the hotdogs laid out on the kitchen table. The guy just smiled and shrugged, but Danny was sure that he’d put a bug in Master Ben’s ear. Paul had seemed too surprised by the invitation for it to be anything other than a way to get Danny back home for the holiday.

  “Hey, son, good to see you even though it’s only been a day.” Big John came over to give him a quick hug before sliding his arm around his wife’s waist. Even though slaves couldn’t legally marry like free people, everyone in this house had always thought of the couple that way, as well as acknowledging that Big John was Danny’s father.

  “Thanks, Dad, you too.” When his parents stared past him, he remembered that they’d brought in the McGill slave. Given the looks on their faces, they’d obviously never seen the boy before. Danny turned to one side and gestured to the guy, who stood against one wall just inside the kitchen door, his hands behind his back.

  “This is….” His voice trailed off. He didn’t actually know his name.

  “Diego,” came the quiet reply.

  His mother flashed a warm smile. “Welcome, Diego. Come and sit down and have some food.”

  The slave took a few tentative sidesteps toward the table. His gaze took in the hotdogs, cheeseburgers and potato salad all laid out. “Thanks, but I have to watch what I eat.”

  Feeling bad for the kid, yet too hungry himself to stand on ceremony, Danny slid past his parents and joined Oliver, Joe and Freddie at the table. Grabbing a cheeseburger, he took a large bite. Damn, as much as he appreciated the nice food Paul had been giving him, this simple meal tasted like home.

  His mother hadn’t given up on Diego, however. She looked him up and down, her thoughts obvious as she took in his overly thin frame. “Go sit down. I have salad and baked chicken I can get you.”

  Diego winced. “Thank you, but I don’t want you to go to any trouble. I’m fine.”

  His mother flapped her hands at him. “It’s no trouble. Master’s on a healthy diet, so I have it already made. Now sit.”

  “Best not to argue with her, boy,” Big John advised with a hearty grin.

  Diego gave up his resistance and joined Danny and the others. Every move was slow, a clear indication that the bruise on his cheek wasn’t the only place he’d been hurt recently. Danny’s mouthful of food stuck halfway down his throat. He poured a big glass of iced tea and downed most of it in one slug. Jesus, he was one lucky slave to have kind masters like Ben and Paul. Even if Paul had been inclined to hurt him, he knew Master Ben would have killed the leasing arrangement in a heartbeat. He exchanged a knowing look with Oliver before spooning up some potato salad.

  His mother placed a plate brimming with a salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, cukes and diced chicken. The smell of vinegar and lemon wafted across the table. God, his mom was awesome. Diego now had a large meal with few calories. She also poured a glass of iced tea for him and plopped a couple of pills down next to the plate.

  “There’s no sugar in the tea and these are ibuprofen.” Yeah, nobody could miss that the boy was hurting, at least no slave could.

  Diego looked up at her from under those too long bangs and slid the pills awa
y. “Thanks, but I’m not supposed to take anything for pain. Master says a lesson isn’t learned if it doesn’t hurt afterward.”

  Another lump formed in Danny’s throat, having zero to do with food. He downed some more tea anyway. His mother used one finger to slide the pills back.

  “He doesn’t have to know about it now, does he? No one here would ever say a word. Go on and take them and eat your dinner.”

  After a brief hesitation, Diego picked up the pain reliever, popped them into his mouth and chased them with a long swallow of his iced tea. Then he picked up his fork and tucked into his salad. As soon as the first bite disappeared into his mouth, the silence that had reigned in the kitchen while the debate over the ibuprofen had been waged broke and various conversations began.

  “So, how’s your new master working out, Danny?” Freddy asked with his mouth partially full of cheeseburger.

  His mother having taught him better manners, Danny chewed and swallowed his bite before answering. He grinned back at the other slave. “Great. Master Paul is a really nice guy.” Although he spoke directly to Freddy, Danny intended for his mother to hear as well and hoped he alleviated any concern she had.

  “Huh.” Freddy licked ketchup off his thumb. “Does he have a nice house?”

  Danny shrugged. “Yeah. It’s not as big and grand as this one, but it’s big enough for us and Master’s done a lot of work on it. He has his own construction company, you know.”

  “He has a reputation in the industry for doing good work,” Big John piped in.

  “Not only am I cooking for him, I’m sprucing up his yard.” He gave Freddy a playful punch in the arm. “I actually remember everything you taught me.”

  “Good teachers turn out good students,” Freddy replied with a cocky grin.

  Danny’s mother came over, her arms filled with side dishes for the free people. “Doesn’t sound like you have much time to rest over the weekend.” She made the statement in her usual quiet way, although her concern leaked out. Danny went into immediate spin control.

  “Oh, but I do, Mom. Really. Master Paul has taken me out to dinner a couple of times.”

  His mother frowned. “You mean at a restaurant?” When he nodded eagerly, her frown deepened. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

  “There are lots of restaurants that allow slaves to eat with their owners.” Perhaps lots was a bit of a stretch. “And, he took me to a club where this guy named, um, Packwood, gave a concert.”

  “A freeman? Never heard of him,” his mother said with a shake of her head. Danny’s spirits dampened. She didn’t seem as pleased as he’d hoped that Paul was taking him out to do fun things.

  “He’s widely viewed as one of the greatest living jazz guitarists.” All eyes turned on Diego. He glanced up from his salad and looked around nervously. “I was trained as a drawing room companion,” he explained, then took another small forkful of salad. The way he slowly ate his food, he was obviously trying to make it last.

  After another second, everyone stopped looking at him and concentrated on their own food, or in the case of Big John and Mary, left to take stuff outside. As he scooped more potato salad into his mouth, Danny thought of how weird it was that Diego had been trained as a body slave for primarily older women and had ended up with a man like McGill. Drawing room companions were supposed to be slaves well-versed in entertaining things like music, theatre and card games, capable of keeping women company for hours outside of bed as well as in. Danny doubted very much that Master Tanner’s friend cared anything about the kinds of knowledge and skill that Diego had been trained in. Then he took a moment to appreciate again how lucky he was to be allowed to do work that he loved and spend time with a man he desired.

  ****

  Paul tried not to gape too obviously, but the Tanner home, even just the backyard with the in-ground pool, made his little house seem like a shack. Never a gifted conversationalist to begin with, he stood around feeling especially awkward given that he didn’t really know anyone other than Ben, sort of. Checking out the house presented him with the best choice of how to spend his time while he sipped on his frosty bottle of imported beer. The stately home sat on what had to be two acres of impeccably maintained lawn. Not only was the pool huge, it had a hot tub at one end and a cabana for lying out in the sun without actually risking a burn. Although he hadn’t had a chance to see much of the inside of the house, what he had seen had been an impressive display of tasteful wealth. He was so out of his comfort zone and league. Even in his good pair of khakis and a button-down, he felt like he should be hanging out with the slaves.

  This was where Danny had grown up. He hoped the boy didn’t find his new home with Paul disappointing. Danny had said he liked Paul’s modest home better. Of course, being the sweet, unassuming kid that he was, Danny would never say otherwise and probably meant it. Still. Maybe someday, if his business kept growing, he could provide Danny with a home like this. The thought made him chuckle inside his head because yeah, after only a couple of weeks, he was already thinking long term with the boy. He really needed to rein himself in. They hadn’t even finished with this little gathering, let alone the thing with Paul’s family the next day. Paul really should focus on one day at a time.

  “So, Graham, steak, shrimp, chicken or a combo?”

  Paul shifted the gears in his head over to Tanner senior who had asked him the question. “Um, how about a little of each?”

  “Good man.” Obviously, Tanner appreciated the gluttony of Paul’s choice. “John, take this plate over to the table.”

  Danny’s father had joined the group and Tanner handed him a plate with a good six ounces of steak, a crispy barbequed chicken thigh and two jumbo shrimp. The slave took it and another plate his master gave him over to the nicest picnic table Paul had ever seen, all dark, glossy wood with chairs, not benches. A woman with light brown skin and a closely cropped afro stood next to it, placing platters and bowls of side dishes in the middle of the table. That had to be Danny’s mother. Paul took advantage of the others placing their orders and disengaging himself from the group, he sauntered over to the table.

  “Thanks, John,” he said, nodding at the slave who placed Paul’s plate near what Paul hoped was the end of the table Ben might sit at. The younger Tanner would be the only person Paul would feel comfortable conversing with. He didn’t know Deidre at all, who had left them anyway to join her friends by the pool. They were a handful of shrieking women at least ten years younger than he. Being gay, he had no interest in chatting up any of them regardless. Of the men, he hadn’t met McGill before and yet hated the man on sight. The guy had slick, smarmy bastard written all over him from his greased-back hair, to his white woven loafers. Lounge lizard much? Plus the shiny bruise on his slave’s cheek would have been enough to put Paul off the man. The comment about not eating much in the face of his slave’s too thin body made Paul’s fist curl with the itch to break the man’s nose. Fucker.

  John stepped back from the table and gave Paul a brief nod. “My pleasure, sir.”

  Paul waited until the slave left, to get more food maybe from the grill, before he approached the woman. She’d just turned to go back to the house, when Paul reached out to stop her. “I’m sorry, it’s Mary isn’t it?”

  The woman stopped dead in her tracks and turned. Her face held wariness. “Yes, sir.”

  He tried to alleviate any concern she had by shooting her his most disarming smile. “I’m Paul Graham, the guy who leases Danny.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he cringed inwardly. Why did he suddenly feel like he was doing something sordid? Something about facing Danny’s mother made him uncomfortable in a way he hadn’t been with John or anyone else.

  Gee, could it be because you basically just said I’m the guy who fucks your baby boy?

  The slave’s expression became even more guarded, if that were possible. “Yes, sir.” Her tone was neutral, as if she worked to keep her emotions battened down.

  Paul cleared
his throat. “Ah, yeah, so I just wanted to introduce myself and thank you for teaching Danny how to cook. He’s taking good care of me in the food department.” Shit, what had he been thinking? This woman didn’t want the details of his domestic arrangement with her son.

  Mary surprised him by smiling. There was a sadness to it, but pride showed through as well. “He always liked helping out in the kitchen, sir. I’m glad to hear he’s putting what I taught him to good use.”

  Paul tried to mimic her expression. “He is, and Mary? Please don’t worry about him. He’s safe with me.” He said this last bit softly for no other reason than his throat had suddenly clogged with emotion.

  “Thank you for telling me that, sir. Even a slave mother always worries about her babies. If you’ll excuse me?”

  “Of course.”

  She had work to do, no day ever being a full holiday for a slave and he’d taken up enough of her time. Besides the others were heading toward the table.

  “Let’s eat!” Tanner barked out. Paul forced himself to stop watching Mary’s retreating figure. Not that his heart was into the party surrounding him. He wanted to follow the slave woman back to the kitchen. Back to Danny. This was not the place for such sentiment, however. Not even Ben had Oliver eating by his side. Tomorrow would be different. With Paul’s family, he and Danny could be together like a real couple.

  As it turned out, Ben did sit next to him, a move that put Paul more at ease. Eating also alleviated some of his social awkwardness. It gave him something to do with his mouth other than making small talk. The four men ended up having the massive table all to themselves. Deirdre and her friends swarmed around only long enough to add side dishes of potato salad, coleslaw and hot rolls to their plates of meat before returning to the pool. That meant there was nothing to temper the raunchier inclinations of McGill. What started out as an innocuous question by Tanner about McGill’s new home quickly veered into a recitation of McGill’s slave acquisitions and his liberal use of them and his well-equipped punishment room.