A Middle Class Slave Revisited By Steam Train (steam_t2000@yahoo.com)
Chapter 6:Into my life.
One of the few things I really remembered from my College years was that in Randall Austin & Ruben Milstein's classic text on slave handling they gave a very clear opinion on the difference between slaves and freemen, thereby clarifying status, and making it quite easy for a master to take a firm hand with a slave.
Their famous example is that of "schedules". Freemen follow Schedule A, which is a list of everything freemen do in their lives, some difficult, some less so, some pleasurable. The difference with slaves is that they follow Schedule B instead of Schedule A. Schedule B is just like Schedule A, it has some difficult tasks, some less difficult, and some pleasurable. The only difference is that freemen make up their own schedules, and slaves have their schedules made up for them by their owner or masters.
My own feelings were that my life on Schedule B had become about as good as a slave's life could. My evenings with Master were wonderful. The other slaves at the residence were all articulate dedicated slaves to Master. I found the experience of working as a part of such a team very rewarding. I was rostered by Mr Morris to help Bentley most of the time. I learnt all the skills of being a butler. Mr Morris and Master said I would make a very good head slave when the chance arose.
Even at Piney Hills my life was good by slave standards. The Slave Master now trusted me totally and I was soon unofficially the Senior Alpha Slave. Mr Woods had me train any new caddies that were promoted into the ranks of the advice caddies.
However that stabbing fear still gripped me when one of the caddies was removed.
One night in bed I asked Master what happened to them.
He confirmed Matt's fears that most were sold off to the mines. Their body tattooing and out of proportion bodies making them useless for anything else, except one other thing. The organ banks. This news did nothing to quell my fears. Being sold to the Organ Banks was a death sentence, short and sweet. The mines well you may just survive for a few more years.
I guess Master could feel what I was thinking because he said, "Given the choice Steve I would choose the Organ Bank. At least you are leaving this life knowing you are going to help some free person's quality of life and the length of their life. The mines well imagine a coffle confined to tight spaces with perpetual semi darkness. You know how mind destroying a normal farm coffle can be, let alone one working under those conditions".
"Don't worry Steve even if I cease to be your Master I am certain I can protect you as much as possible from that fate" Master reassured me.
"Master I know you care for me and will try to do as you say, no I was more worried about Matt" I said.
"Don't worry Steve; it spoils you when you start worrying. Slaves should never worry, that's one advantage you do have over a free person. I have already ensured nothing ever happens to Matt before I get the chance to decide his fate. Ok?" Master said.
"Yes Master but how Master?" I asked.
`Question, questions Steve, who made the bedroom rules?" master asked with a smile.
"You did Master" I replied with an equally broad smile.
"More the fool me. Well to answer your question, I bought his title off the McAlister brothers at Green Bay Farms".
"They were happy to sell. In fact I now own all of the caddies at Piney Hills. It gave the McAlister brothers some much-needed cash flow. Calhoun has his head well and truly screwed on as far as managing the farm but his brother Billy-Joe is a real worry to Cal and too me".
I know Cal wishes his brother would disappear back to Europe again. Billy-Joe has no concept of a budget it seems. Their daddy left them very well off but their assets still need to be managed properly. The weather has not been kind to crop production on their farm the last two seasons, they need to be careful or they will end up in bankruptcy and enslaved themselves. If Billy-Joe had any sense he would leave all the finances to Cal.
I thought to my self that there would be poetic justice as far as I was concerned if the McAlister brothers were enslaved. They would soon learn the horror and pure fear of how it feels to be a slave after being free. I didn't say this to Master though; some thoughts are better left hidden. Instead I said, "Thank you for buying Matt Master" as I reached over and gave master a huge hug and a kiss.
Every second Tuesday I would caddy for Master then return with him to the residence till Friday. Then it was caddying at Piney Hills till the cycle repeated. Life went on in this routine till summer was almost over.
Near the end of summer changes occurred.
I was doing my usual Wednesday assistant butler duties at the residence when the front door bell rang. Brett whose job it was to answer the door was not around, so Mr Morris sent me to open the door and when I did, there stood Mr Woods the Slave Master from Piney Hills. Behind him I recognised his wife, their daughter and the two sons from the picture on his desk.
"Your looking good boy" Mr Wood remarked.
I guess he had never seen me dressed fully as I was at the residence.
I escorted them all into the main lounge room and offered them refreshments. They asked for coffee and a soda for the youngest boy, Josh.
I informed Mr Morris who the guests were that had arrived. He was obviously expecting them because he had arranged already for coffee tea and a freshly baked sponge cake that cook had baked to be ready for the guests. Mr Morris rang Master to advise the guests had arrived then went to be of service to the guests.
When the coffee and tea were brewed and the sponge cake, soda, cups and saucers arranged by cook on two silver trays, Bentley and I took them to the lounge room.
Master was now in there with Mr Woods and his family.
We knocked and entered when called. Mr and Mrs Woods were seated on one lounge, their daughter in a single lounge chair, Master in another chair and the two boys were standing looking very uncomfortable to the side of their parents lounge.
I served the coffee as Bentley passed around with the cake.
"Wait in the nook Steve in case we need more service. Thank you Bentley that will be all for now" Master instructed.
I placed the coffee pot back on the tray and went and stood in the nook. It was an indent in the bookcase that lined the far wall of the lounge. Standing in the nook the slave was inconspicuous but available whenever service was required.
Master continued talking mainly with Mr Woods, though some times with his wife Sylvia. The children were just observers. The daughter Ashleigh was a mature but somewhat plain looking girl who I remembered from an earlier conversation would be starting College around this time.
The older boy Ben was of medium height and build with dark hair. Not skinny but not plump he still had that intriguing half boy half man look about him that adolescence brings. The youngest son Josh was quite skinny and still very much the boy, being little more than five foot tall and like his brother having dark brown hair.
None of the Woods family seemed particularly happy and there was an air of tenseness permeating the room.
I though back to Masters offer to Mr Woods about his son Josh and the cost of schooling. I guess being the Slave Master at Piney Hills was not the most sought after job.
Associating with slaves totally as your work was probably not a career-expanding situation. I never though about ti much but I guess the position of Slave Master would not pay a huge salary. From the discussion I had heard earlier Mr Woods was struggling to live, support the family and send his children off to College on what he was paid by the club.
Finally Mr Woods called his son Josh over to him and ruffing up his hair presented him to Master.
Master said "Josh I know this is very scary for you. Your father has told me you were very upset when you were first told you were going to be indentured into slavery for five years. The sacrifice that your parents are making in having you enslaved is a big one, just as big as the effort you are making to take this like the man you are growing into. I am impressed with you Josh, most thirteen year old boys would be acting like a little boy, and you are not".
Master had a way with words; I could see from my nook that Josh swelled with pride in himself.
Master then said `Josh I am not going to lie to you, just like I haven't with your parents when we have discussed this offer. You are a slave and will be treated like one. Firm discipline and a real work ethic will place you in a good position to go on to great things once your indenture is over".
"Your parents and I have signed and had witnessed all the required paperwork and so you are now my indentured slave and will be for the next five years till you finish your twelfth grade schooling. For my part of the agreement in having you in my service I have signed guarantees that provide you with a college education at the end of your indenture should you wish it".
"As you know the money that has been raised by your indentured sale is going to pay for your sister and brothers college education. You can feel very proud that your parents and you are making this sacrifice of your freedom for five years to enable your sister and brother to better their lives. I am sure your brother and sister recognise and appreciate your sacrifice for them Josh" Master concluded.
It wasn't Josh who began crying but his big brother Ben. As soon as Ben started sobbing his sister then his mother began.
Faced with all this emotion Josh could hold back no longer and he too began sobbing.
Master took matters in hand. He called me over and told me to take the new slave out to Mr Morris and then introduce him to Brett.
I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed tightly. "Come Josh, say good bye for now and lets go meet Mr Morris the senior slave and Brett the house boy. He is indentured like you and I am sure you two will get along fine and that he will help you to adjust to your new life quickly," I said.
I am sure Mr Woods was going to say something to me but instead he just turned slightly and said to Josh "Be brave son like this slave. You're in a good home, do your family and me proud".
Josh hugged his Dad, Mum Sister then Brother then to my surprise took my hand like the boy he really still was and walked out of the lounge room, out of his family's life and into mine.
As I closed the lounge room door Josh stopped, looked at me and said, "I'm frightened sir".
My heart melted then and there on the spot. "Don't be Josh; it takes a brave man to tell another that he is frightened. Master is kind and all the slaves here at the residence will look after you. Come lets find the senior slave Mr Morris and then Brett the houseboy. He is about your age," I said.
Josh clung to me like a little boy. I don't know why just then, for I must have looked a frightening sight to the boy, what with my Mohican hair cut and tattoo stripes much of which could be seen even though Master had me dressed in comfortable and stylish freeman clothes.
I had tattooed around my neck a black ring half an inch wide, which was visible. Leading from this, a half inch stripe ran down under my polo shirt across the top of my shoulders and emerging back into sight down the entire length of my arm and across my hand to finish on my middle finger, which was also black. Unseen two other stripes began under my armpits, ran down across my ribs and hipbone, across my flank, and then emerged from my shorts, down my leg, under my socks continuing across my ankle, to finish under each foot.
A third stripe made a "V" - from my foot, up the inside of my leg, under my balls, to go down the inside of the other leg. Down my front a stripe ran from the tattooed collar, disappearing under the `V' neck of my polo shirt then across the valley between my nips, down across my navel and six-pack, to stop at the top of my dick. The final stripe picked up at the bottom of my "Mohican" hair cut, to run under the collar of my polo shirt down my spine and disappear into my ass crack.
Still with all this ornamentation Josh clung to me. We found Mr Morris and he tried to allay the fears of Josh, telling him how he would be working with Brett as a houseboy and how he would be given lessons along with Brett to ensure his school work was kept up. Josh listened but still clung close to me. I smiled at Mr Morris who in his compassion didn't try in these early times of Josh's enslavement to force him to stand-alone or behave anything like a slave might be expected to behave.
Mr Morris asked Josh would he like me to stay with him for a while. It was the first hint of a smile I had seen on his face since he arrived. I found Brett working with Todd the male housemaid cleaning and dusting ornaments in the Masters study on the first floor.
Brett was civil but aloof. I confess I was disappointed, I thought Brett would relish the chance to have someone close to his own age with him. Brett was not an outgoing type of boy; I had already noticed that fact. Master had said he had taken his indentured enslavement hard and it was taking longer than expected to train him as a good slave. I was planning on leaving Josh there with Brett but decided time to build a friendship between Brett and Josh was needed.
As he held my hand as we walked around the residence. I showed him where all the various rooms were and where he was allowed and not allowed to go without permission. In one spare bedroom he looked out the window and I felt his body tense and then sigh. A tear rolled down his cheek. His family car was leaving down the front drive. He was now really all alone and I felt great sympathy for him.
I walked him in the garden and introduced him to Bruce and Alana the gardeners. We sat in the shade of one of the old oak trees and after a long silence I asked him about himself. I had forgotten what I was like at thirteen but it came back to me. Communicating with adults at that age was not a highly developed skill. However I persisted and after a while we were talking freely.
We talked about his family his likes and dislikes. How he didn't want to be enslaved but felt bad about this thought because he knew his enslavement was helping his family.
He also told me that his Dad had expressly asked Master that I take care of him when he arrived today. I had been set up. I was the nominated baby sitter. Master had done it subtly but the truth had slipped out.
However the real truth was that I didn't mind. The moment Josh had openly said to me he was frightened I was his. Kids can do that to you very easily I soon learnt. Slave or no slave, they perfect a look and demeanour that cries out for love and attention and is almost impossible to ignore.
The rest of the day he followed me around like a little puppy. We were bonding I could tell. The other slaves found it funny. My second shadow they called it. Mr Morris spoke to me early on and told me he was just going to allow Josh to tag along with me today as Brett and Josh needed time to build a friendship. I was not to leave him alone.
Dinner was the first problem. Mr Morris instructed Josh to wash up for dinner which he did, but when he found that I ate with Master and Mr Morris he asked very politely if he could too. Mr Morris said no he would eat with the other slaves.
I stayed with him till Master arrived and it was one unhappy boy that was being forced to eat in the slaves eating room.
"Please sir, please stay with me," he pleaded.
I was tormented for being called `sir' by Bentley and Todd but the ladies tried to comfort him and assure him they would look after him. To no great success, he still looked at me with a look of despair as I followed Mr Morris out to meet Master in the private dining room.
We had not been eating more than a few minutes when Josh burst in and ran to me and hugged me. I was speechless but soon began apologising to Master and asking him to forgive Josh this once for obeying all the rules and bursting in on him.
"Josh, ... Josh look at me," Master ordered but softly and with compassion.
"Bursting in here is not slave like behaviour and should be punished but I will forgive you tonight as it's your first night. Why don't you want to eat with Brett and the other slaves?"
Josh remained hugging me and Master had to say, "Josh, answer your Master please".
"Brett doesn't like me I can tell. I like being with Steve, Dad told me I could trust him, Dad said he would bet his life on Steve being a totally trustworthy slave". Josh replied.
I blushed at this compliment from my course Slave Master.
"Did he now, ... interesting" Master said.
"Well Josh for tonight you can pull up a chair next to Steve".
Turning to me Master said, "Steve go organise some dinner for our young slave".
I did as instructed and bought back a plate of `gold label' chow for Josh. The look on his face when he saw the plate of chow was priceless. The look after his first attempt at eating was even better.
"Is it that bad Josh" Master asked.
He got an honest reply, "Worse than awful sir" Josh replied.
"It's Master not Sir, Josh" Mr Morris corrected. I think trying to deflect the heat out of Josh's honest answer.
I ended up apologising myself for my manners as I nearly gushed a mouthful of chow out over the table when he said `worse than awful'.
Master nearly choked as well but happily took it as confirmation that my earlier assessment of the chow was accurate.
After dinner Josh again begged to stay with me. Master was not as tolerant to this request. After dinner was his time with me. He told Josh so in plain terms. The poor kid blushed at learning what Master and I got up to in the evening.
Then the kid totally fazed me, "Master can I watch" he asked.
Master burst out laughing.
"And I thought you were so innocent, what would your father think if I allowed that young man? Ask again when your sixteen ok" Master replied.
"Nigel he needs to sleep in the top bunk above Brett, but make sure Brett looks after him. I don't want any of Brett's nasty side coming back out," Master instructed.
`Nor do I Master" Mr Morris replied.
I felt so sorry for Josh as he was lead away, I am sure his eyes were moist. He made one last plea to stay with me but Mr Morris hurried him away.
I guess the look on my face told it all, I was smitten with my new charge. "I'm jealous Steve, there is a new man in your life" Master said with a huge smile.
"Yes Master I think there is, he is a really nice kid, and I feel so sorry for him being dragged into slavery to help out his family.
"Are you having a go at me for enslaving him Steve?' Master asked.
"No Master, you are trying to help and I guess this way is the only way. I am sure it would be below Mr Wood's dignity to accept charity from you. He can indenture his son however and receive the money to finance his kids through college and still keep some of the family dignity".
`"You know Master, I still remember the look on my mothers face in the courtroom when I was enslaved. It was a look of utter horror. I can remember feeling then that it was not because she had lost her son for the rest of her life but because she was disgusted and humiliated that her son was now a slave and naked in public". I said
"Is there much social stigma Master for the family in doing this?"
"No Steve surprisingly for me a northerner, there isn't. I am sure you are right about your mother and the family status. In the north that is certainly the case. A slave in the family is a real family secret. Here in the south it's looked on differently, especially when it comes to indentured slaves. It's seen as a means to an end, a sensible use of your assets". Master replied.
"Right, now enough of these questions and talk Steve, time for some action. To the bedroom slave" Master commanded with a smile and a wink.
End Chapter 6 (Part 15 Continuance of Original)
________________________________________ Thanks to Randal Austin for permission to use an excerpt from his story `My Brother Tony, Penury Slave'.