I knocked on the door of the maintenance storage room that George used as an office. "What?" barked a gruff annoyed voice.
I opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind me. George turned in his chair and eyed me up and down, then smiled when I pulled the bottle of bourbon out of the brown paper bag I was holding. "A peace offering, for Farah." I said and he grunted as he took the bottle, turning it appreciatively in his calloused hands.
"The good stuff." He chuckled. "Shit, she wasn't worth half what this cost."
"She isn't but you are. My father said to always stay in the good books of people who know things or can do things for you." I told him as I sat in the chair he waved me to.
George pulled the cork and took an appreciative sniff, then poured a generous two fingers into a coffee cup. He nodded to me but I waved him off. "Too early for me, thanks."
He sipped from the cup, smacking his lips appreciatively before topping the mug off with coffee from a pot in the corner of his desk. "Never too early for coffee, as long as it's flavored right." He chuckled, then leaned back in his taped up office chair.
"I just wanted to make sure we were good. You know, after Ms. Thorne's decision on Farah I didn't want any bad blood between us." I said, settling back in my own wooden chair.
"Nah, it wasn't your fault. That ice bitch has done this before, taken my girls away. She's acts tough at the start then gets all mother hen about them after a while." He took another pull of his coffee/bourbon and sighed contentedly. "I got my eye on a few other sluts already. Nice clean white girls, not foreigners like you seem to prefer."
"I like tits and pussy, I don't care what colour they are." I replied, using his language to make him feel more comfortable.
He raised his cup in a toast "To tits and pussy." And I nodded in agreement. "To tits and pussy."
I leaned forward "George, I suppose you know that she had made me Head Educator. Well I have spoken to the other members of our club and they all tell me that you are the person to talk to about how this thing works."
Actually, no one had said anything of the kind. Chuck had been happy that I was put in charge and suggested that I work to get rid of George at the first opportunity. 'Needs strict supervision and not smart enough to keep the secret' was what he had told me. Sarah was a bit kinder, telling me that George had been the one who told her about Emily's substance use and helped set up the sting that caught her. She still thought he was a stupid hick who would put the entire thing at risk, but she had no idea of how long he had been involved. In fact, after a discussion with Catherine I had come to understand that George was a person to cultivate a relationship with which was what I was trying to do.
George took another sip of his bourbon infused coffee and settled back in his chair. "You wouldn't believe how big this little club of ours actually is. It has been going on almost since Thorne got here and some pretty important women have been bent over that desk of hers." He waved his hand to the pictures tacked up on his wall.
"Sharon there is now part of a high and mighty law firm, Janine is a doctor, Melissa is in the government somewhere and those are just mine. Lots of other girls have sucked and fucked their way to success thanks to Ms. Thorne's letters of introduction. Usually sent to previous students who were also club members when they were here."
I nodded, this made sense. Whatever blackmail material that she had on her students only got more damning the more successful they became. Using previous club property to give a leg up to new victims was the perfect carrot/stick combination to keep things under wraps. I had done some digging myself and found out that our current crop were more than teen tits and asses. Farah's family were connected with oil wealth in their home country, Ashely's father was a Senator, and Julia's mother was the CFO to a big international company. Sumter Academy attracted the daughters of the best and brightest, and we turned them into sex slaves until they graduated and then made sure they were put in positions to help us in the future.
"What about the teachers, it has to be tough convincing some of them to keep quiet if they aren't part of the club at the moment. How has that worked over the years." I asked.
"There have been a few problem individuals, but Ms. Thorne has ways of dealing with them. Besides, if the secret got out a lot of people would be very embarrassed by what their little girls were put through. A few payoffs, a couple of career opportunities, few accidents, and here we are." George boasted. "Besides, it makes the reunion weekends very interesting. Shit, some of these bitches come back to 'renew old acquaintances' if you get my meaning."
I nodded, between the threats, promises and connections this kind of thing could go on forever as long as no one did something stupid. "What about you George? Don't take this wrong but what has kept you around for this long if you get my meaning."
He looked at me with his piggy little eyes for a minute and I grew uncomfortable under his stare. "You mean why does Mz. High and Mighty Throne let some dumb hick without a 'PHD' play at the big boys table?"
"Well, I didn't mean it like that?" I said defensively, and he snorted in amusement.
"Don't worry, I'm not all 'offended' like the kids are today. You aren't the first person to ask that question, but you are one of very few who ask nicely." He replied, pouring another shot of Bourbon into his cup.
"Lets just say that I've been here a long time, and know where the bodies are buried. In fact, I buried some of them myself." He said with a chuckle.
"Uh huh." I replied. "That doesn't explain why she hasn't given you a train ticket instead of a bus ticket though. Yellowstone. Watch it, I think you'd like it." I told him when he looked at me quizzically.
"Alright." He grunted then took another sip of bourbon/coffee. "Well, Ms. Thorne likes to know what is going on in her school, but she is a busy lady. Me, I sweep a few floors, empty a few trash cans and hear a lot of stuff. Also, I have a lot of free time on my hands to watch movies if you know what I mean."
