GI Bill Benefits, Pt. 02
(This story is set in a world where legalized, non-hereditary slavery is commonplace for serious crime, unredeemed debt, or voluntary self-indenture.
All characters who are enslaved or have any intimate/sexual contact with slaves are 18 years of age or older
. This is fiction; no one should ever be deprived of free will nor used sexually without his or her uncoerced permission.)
PLEASE NOTE: J.R., the original inventor of the manumission voucher for the new GI Bill, IS THE AUTHOR OF THIS SEGMENT; I just beta-tested it for him, so please give him the credit. Carl.
(11 Months after her enslavement, J.R.'s perspective)
I am not much of a writer at all. I thought that was why I never went into ROTC. When I got out of high school, I was a C student, but it wasn't what I would call my best effort. Still, I've been getting better over time, and I'm going to have my bachelor's degree next year.
This is partially because of Jacqueline. I've been lucky. Last year my friend at the time, Jacqueline Haralson, called me in a fit of panic. She thought her bank was within weeks of foreclosing on her educational loan. After the manumission voucher was signed and sealed, I went back and checked the provisions of that loan. She would have had about 5 weeks, just because of processing, and I'm glad that she and I were able to work things out. The bank would have probably got her and after fees, processing costs, and slave registrations, she would have served 6 to 8 years, instead of the 4 that she was promised to me.
At first, my honor wouldn't let me treat her like a slave. Well, that's not entirely right, I'm human and a male who was (and is) attracted to her, so of course, when she got home from work ((I let her keep her job waitressing)), I had her undress and touched her some. But I made sure that I didn't push her or enter her, even though I now owned her.
I have been in counseling for 4 years for my PTSD and anxiety. when Jackie told me that she had been raped when she was attending college the first time, I knew that having sex with her (even though she was a slave), was wrong for me. I hated the idea that my former friend, now a slave, was having emotional issues that I could relate to. I had her go to counseling and respected her privacy and space.
A few months after the counseling started, we made love. Well, more a physical love; instead of a deep passion, it was half passion and release, half power trip. I really loved that night, and since then, she has been acting happier and telling me that she knows that she has 3 more years of service, and that she would like me to use her as such.
At first, I wrestled with that. I thought, because of my own traumatic experiences, that she felt that she was isolated, and my compassion was the closest thing she had to positive male experience. I talked to my counselor about it. My counselor remarked that it was a good idea to ask myself something: if this partnership ends in 3 years, whether I would be happy with not utilizing the relationship.
That made me think a lot. And it prompted me to make changes with Jackie.
I had cooked breakfast, and it was a Saturday, and I then sat at the table and talked, trying to sound calm to reduce the stress on her.
"Jackie, you have told me that you are feeling comfortable with me treating you as a servant, because you feel like this is your fault for having the overwhelming loans, and not reading the voucher before we went to the Ag. Building, right?"
Jackie nodded. She was naked, as always, in my nice 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment. She had stayed in my other room for the first 3 or 4 months, only crawling into bed with me on occasion when she felt really frightened and alone. For the last 6 months, however, we have only slept apart maybe 3 or 4 nights. She replied, after drinking some orange juice, "I didn't know this was going to happen, but, 3 nights before I called you I read about the foreclosing banks procedure. Because the loans accrue interest until they are paid off, the bank can normally show that they lost not only the loan value but future interest payments as well. When I did the math, I was looking at being a slave for 8 to 10 years, being that I'm not a prime or natural slave. When I graded at choice, I wasn't offended, it was a formality that I had to endure before going to college. I never thought it would matter after that, Ya know, Master?" [I never demanded it, but she threw that word "Master" into the conversation without any sign of sarcasm or fear. For her, I think it was a genuine sign of respect and a little affection.]
I did know, all too well. Back in the 1800's ((I'm a history buff)), mining camps sprouted up. But mining equipment wasn't cheap. The miners had to purchase the equipment, and pay back the company store. But the company set the quotas on what they could sell and at the end of a hard week's work -- most of the miners still owed the company money. It wasn't slavey -- it was capitalism -- which is just slavery with hope mixed in. The same thing happened with sharecroppers in the South. The banks and lending companies of today have a lot of the same predatory practices, with the 35
th
Amendment making sure that a debtor defaulting on a loan would never put the lender at a loss again.
I then said, "O.K. And you are happy with the way you've been treated since I've legally owned you?"
She got quiet for a second, and then did something rare for her. She had a habit of speaking whatever was in her head at the time, not a good thing for a slave, but she did stop to think about her answer this time. "I think it's difficult to say at this point. While I'm certainly happier to be with you instead of being auctioned off to a complete stranger, it's never easy to lose control of your own decisions. But, really, I'm happier than I was 11 months ago--I feel safer and calmer. That wasn't what I expected when it set in that I was a slave."