Zarathustra Chapter 5
Independence Day
Rachel paced on the porch of the cabin next to all of her gear. She had drove Khan's old truck to the back of the field and parked it just inside the treeline. She left the keys in the holder under the bumper. He planned on coming down here with some heavy equipment and a friend, and wanted a way to come back on his own. Her instructions said her ride would be here by 9am on Friday, July 3
rd
. So she was impatiently waiting for her ride back to the city.
Kayden's diablo red Mustang 5.0 roared down into the valley in a cloud of dust. She skidded to a stop in front of the cabin, throwing gravel. She got out made the hand signal to Atlanta to jump out. The well trained poodle leaped out of the convertible, eagerly running over to Rachel and jumping up on her affectionately. "Sup Hooker! Need a ride?" Kayden lowered her smoked Ray-bans to get a good look at Rachel. "Damn girl. You looking good!"
Rachel batted the eager dog down and wiped her sweaty brown hair out of her eyes. She looked down at her torn, soiled and sweat stained T shirt, then at Kayden. She had her long blonde hair pulled through a pink Bass Pro ball cap for driving with the top down. She wore a baby blue T shirt at least one size too small for her chest with SWEET BABY JESUS printed on it. A pair of Daisy Dukes slung low on her hips and cowboy boots completed the look. "Yeah, thank you so much. I'm gross, I know. Haven't had a shower or an indoor shit in two weeks. See how you'd look."
"I'd still look like this. Show me around real quick, then we gotta jet." Rachel led her around to the back of the cabin, heading towards her field. Kayden stopped dead in her tracks. "Whoa. That wasn't there before. You made that?" She pointed towards Rachel's firepit. It was a broad, low circular thing made out of field stones from the creek bed and some spare rebar.
"Yeah, I finished the field day before yesterday, so I figured, Khan can bring some extra concrete down. I just piled some rocks in the truck and brough them up here. The fire grill is just rebar set into the concrete that holds the stones together. I hope that's okay."
Kayden snapped a couple pictures with her digital camera. "More than okay. That's really impressive. Really adds some pop. And you got the whole main field cleared?"
"Well, yeah. I got the other side of the creek, but I didn't know how far to go back into the tree line, so it might not be as done over there as you want."
Kayden frowned and looked at her. "Other side of the creek?" She waved her arm at the long grassy expanse before them. "Wait you did all this AND the narrow field on the other side?"
Rachel put her hands on her hips. "That's what you guys told me to do!"
Kayden laughed and hugged her dirty Apprentice. "No, babygirl! We just meant this field! I didn't think you'd even get all this done! Holy shit, come on, show me!"
The two women set off at a fast jog through the property, Atlanta running full tilt in laps around the field. Kayden took pictures of the fields, the stacks of cedar fenceposts and building timbers, the pile of cut firewood. There were enough new fence posts that Khan could finish the field's perimeter basically for free, enhancing the property's value considerably. Rachel was so happy and proud that her Master was impressed. "The big guy's gonna lose his shit when he sees this. You did good girl, really. OK, reward time. Let's get back to town, we got a date at noon."
They stowed Rachel's gear in the trunk and beat feet back to St. Louis. Rachel told her Master all about the Ordeal. Not just the heat and the work, but also about Alan.
"I'm surprised he let you talk to him like that. I've hardly even said two words to him. I'm not sure what Khan's got on him, but he's got like some kind of hero worship going or something."
"He was vague, he said something about Khan doing him a couple favors. Some home renovations, loaned him some money I think. Wait, Khan didn't tell you about him?"
"Not really. We don't keep secrets, but we don't share everything either. He said he gave his word to keep it private, even from me. You know him, so that's that. Won't let me meet him. He told me Alan would just turn to water if he was with me for five minutes, even at my nicest."
"I believe it. So, is it OK if I keep calling him?"
Kayden grinned at her student as they passed everything on the interstate. "Got a taste for it, did ya? It's OK by me, but really that's Khan's call. Just watch it with Alan. Newbie lovers should be treated like that campsite back there. Leave them in better shape than you found them. And I think that guy's as fragile as they come."
They got back to the house, and Rachel pounded up the main stairs, then started going down the hall that led to the spiral staircase up to the attic level, where her modest shower awaited.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do think you're going?" Kayden asked at the head of the stairs, opening up the door to the master bedroom. She beckoned Rachel back. "Boss bitches deserve a real shower. In here, kid." Rachel stepped hesitantly into the master bedroom suite. She had never been allowed in here before. "Hoe. Lee. Shit." It was spectacular.
The huge bedroom was dominated by a California King four poster centered on the far wall. The posts were gnarled driftwood tree trunks, polished and stained a golden honey. They went all the way up to the ceiling, where they joined an intricate weave of similar stained branches and vines attached to the ceiling as a canopy for the bed. A white marble fireplace stood on the other wall, with several doors leading off from the main room. The whole room was done in that rich golden wood, except for the thick burgundy carpet and similar colored chair rail. It was immaculate. Large antique gilt mirrors hung over each of the two immense, wide dressers.
Kayden led her through a door into the master bath. The shower stall was a huge custom job done in grey and black slate tile. It was so big Rachel couldn't quite touch the walls if she stood in the middle. She gleefully stripped in front of her Master as Kayden explained the controls. She took twenty blissful minutes soaking in multidirectional power blasts of pulsating decadence. Afterwards, Kayden hurried her along into a change of clothes, then they skipped out to the mall. They got to Sharon's Spa for their noon appointment. Rachel received an hour long head to toe massage from a thick fingered lesbian named Kelly. She wasn't used to the air conditioning and it had her in goosebumps. Then they both got mani pedis. Finally, Kayden talked her into seriously changing her hair style. She had a foot chopped off, from the middle of her back to just at the base of her neck. Then she had it dyed jet black. Rachel swore she felt ten pounds lighter just from that. She barely recognized herself.
Kayden kept pushing her along, since they were getting pressed for time. They went into an upscale dress shop and tried on some outfits. Kayden got a pink silk number that crossed over her chest in an X with a fine show of cleavage, connecting to a calf length flowing skirt with a slit up to the thigh. It showed off her toned arms and belly nicely. Rachel came out of the dressing room, stunned.
"I'm a 10? I'm a size TEN!" Before she had moved in with Khan and Kayden, she was a 16, pushing it to 18 if she wasn't careful. She knew she had been losing weight, over 30 pounds up to this point, but two weeks of broiling and toiling in the summer heat had finished baking the baby fat off her. She couldn't get over how good she looked in her new dress.
It was a sleeveless summer dress, knee length, cut with just a hint of cleavage without being slutty about it. It was an intense blue with blazes of white swirling diagonally around her like an ice cream sundae. It stretched slightly over her curves without seeming constricting. A pair of strappy sandals completed the summer look and showed off her new pedicure. Both women couldn't stop smiling. "No more sweats for you. Now you know why you wore shitty clothes the first few months. You were losing weight so fast new ones would just be a waste of cash. Now that you're hitting the sweet spot, we can tailor your diet so you can hold steady. I'm really impressed, kid, I really am. I am your Fairy Fucking Godmother."
They jumped in the Mustang, putting up the top so their new hairstyles wouldn't get killed in the wind. "And now, Cinderella... To the Ball!" They popped back to the house first, picking up Khan. He was dressed in tooled black cowboy boots, black slacks and a white dress shirt, open at the neck. When Rachel got out to slip back into the cramped rear seat, he let out a whistle.
"My dear, you look radiant. Just smashing." He crushed her in a warm, tender bear hug in greeting. She felt smashed in the back seat, Khan still looking cramped in the shotgun seat. Kayden complained -- again -- that they really needed to get a bigger vehicle, perhaps a Tahoe. They shared stories about their two weeks apart as they went back out to the edge of the city to the party.
Their friends owned a sprawling five bedroom ranch on the shore of a private lake down in Jefferson county. Cars lined the street for a block in either direction as they pulled up. There were at least a hundred people here already, and it was only five; when the fireworks started at nine there would easily be double that. The house didn't just have a porch overlooking the lake. It had a multilevel complex of decks leading down to an expansive backyard. A tent pavilion to the side sheltered a catered buffet and a full wet bar. Red white and blue bunting decorated everything. Children ran around playing as old people threw horseshoes. The backyard ended at the lakeshore, with a bump of an island about fifty feet out from shore. You could just barely see the other houses and parties ringing the lake.
Khan and Kayden led their Apprentice through the crowd to meet the hosts. She saw that maybe half the guests wore upscale attire like they did. The rest didn't get the memo and wore jeans and T shirts. Michael and Julia, the masters of the house, reminded her of Southern Hobbits. Both were petite people, just over and under five foot. They were eccentric life long Kentucky Derby enthusiasts, and they were trying to give their yearly celebration of America a classier feel. All smiles and Southern charm. After a little small talk, the Stones excused her with a nudge to go mingle. She nipped a champagne glass off a table unnoticed, and eventually found herself up on the topmost deck, taking it all in. She was really just minding her own business, leaning on the railing. She heard chuckling behind her. A knot of teenage boys were up there, cutting up with each other. They started pushing and nudging one of them over to her, cracking up as they did.
"Uh, hi. I'm Brandon." She smiled at him, then scowled at his jerk friends as they snickered. They obviously put him up to this just to watch him crash and burn. He looked like a nice enough guy. He was kind of small, just a little taller than her, and thin. He wore a dress shirt and a power tie. He pushed his glasses up and cleared his throat. "I was wondering if, uh, you'd want to dance?"
She side eyed his friends. "Sure. I like a man with confidence." She killed the champagne glass, grabbed his hand and led him down the stairs as his friends fell out in disbelief. The speakers were playing Sheryl Crow's new summer ballad, Soak up the Sun. Not the best for dancing.
He leaned in close. "I don't really know how to dance." She put her arms around his neck and whispered back. "Me neither. I was hoping you did. Let's just shuffle around in a circle then."
That got them giggling. He looked up at the deck, where the guys were watching. "Thanks for doing this. They, uh, they bet me five bucks you'd walk off. Said nobody could get laid in a tie like this. Shit!" he grimaced as he finished, realizing what he just said.
