DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. If you are offended by 
sexually explicit material or are under the age of 18, stop reading 
now. This material cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes 
without the consent of the author.


John Carter
By
Lazlo Zalezak
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezak, 2003


Part 3: Robes of Acumen
Chapter 12

Pain affects different people differently. Some people can have 
horrible wounds and feel nothing. Others can have a minor scratch 
and be in agony. However, most people react to pain by being 
irritable. Dr. Hayes was definitely a person that gets irritable when 
in pain. The trip from Los Angeles to the Carter Clan home had 
definitely pushed the man to his limits. He was ready to burst by 
the time he was rolled into the infirmary. Doctor Leonard from the 
hospital nodded to Kelly. She jabbed a needle in Dr. Hayes' ass 
and within a few seconds, he was asleep.

Kelly sat back and smiled at the rest of the family. She asked Ed, 
"How did you ever survive the trip?"

Shaking his head, Ed joked, "I threatened him with physical harm."

John, knowing that Ed wouldn't do that, laughed as he said, 
"Right."

Happy to have Ed home again, Kelly wrapped herself around him 
and kissed him. Ed's hands came up and caressed her intimately. 
Mrs. Hayes looked a little embarrassed, but didn't look away. John 
wondered how she'd react to a naked Sarah walking around all day 
long. It took some time, but Kelly finally released Ed. The two 
men hugged like long lost friends.

Looking around the room, John stated, "Hey Kelly. Why don't you 
take Ed and welcome our husband home properly?"

The two of them smiled and left the room. Kelly was sashaying, 
definitely exaggerating the motion of her hips for John's benefit. 
The silence was broken by Mrs. Hayes assertion, "She is definitely 
going to welcome him home, big time."

"Wait until it's Ling's turn."

"I've already heard that. So did half the people in the hotel." She 
realized what she had said and then blushed. Ling laughed while 
John looked on in amusement. 

"Sarah will be down in a minute to watch Dr. Hayes," stated John. 
He added, "Dr. Leonard, any special instructions we should 
follow?"

"No, just keep him in here for a few days. Feed him when he's 
hungry. If you're strong enough to help him get to the bathroom, 
then he won't need to use the bedpan. When you do move him, 
make sure that he has the neck brace. When he's ready, I'll make 
sure that he gets a wheel chair."

The instructions were simple enough. John nodded, "Okay, we'll 
do that."

The arrival of Sarah in her naked glory caused a little ripple in the 
calm atmosphere of the clinic. The doctor looked very surprised 
while a blushing Mrs. Hayes hid her mouth behind a hand. John 
and Ling didn't even react to her presence other than to nod in her 
direction. John stated, "Sarah, you get first shift to watch over him. 
He's going to be asleep for several hours so don't disturb him."

"Sure thing, John." Sitting down in the chair, she started to read a 
book. She crossed her legs and swung the upper one. She was 
oblivious to the looks she was getting from the doctor and Beth's 
mother.

John thanked the doctor for coming. The doctor stated that he 
would be coming by every evening on his way home from work to 
check on the patient. After a few words with Ling, the doctor 
followed her out of the house. John turned to Mrs. Hayes saying, 
"Let me take you to your room."

She asked, "Isn't it the same one I was in before?"

"No, we are setting you up here in the back of the house. You'll be 
closer to your husband." John was going to tell her more, but 
decided that she would just have to discover what life in the back 
of the house was like for herself. John led her to the room adjacent 
to the clinic. He had her put her hand on the hand plate. The door 
opened for her. He went into the room and turned on the light, 
"This was Beth's room. It is yours to use until your house is 
finished."

When she started to cry, John held her tightly and moved with a 
slightly rocking motion like one uses when comforting an infant. 
She cried for a long time, but John didn't worry. He knew that it 
was really the first time that she had to release her grief over her 
daughter's death. When she finally pulled herself together, she 
stated, "You must consider me to be a foolish old woman."

"Not at all. You're a mother that loved her daughter very much." 
John smiled down at her face. He wiped away her tears with the 
sleeve of his robe. She sniffed and looked around the room. John 
stated, "I'll leave you alone for a while to settle in. I'm sure it will 
be rough for you and you don't need clumsy old me hanging 
around. If you need anything, pick up the telephone and dial 1111. 
That will get you to Cathy and she can help you in any way that 
you need. Okay?"

"Yes. Thanks a lot John for everything you've done for us." She 
smiled at him fondly. She added, "Ed has been absolutely 
wonderful. My husband likes him now and finally understands 
what Beth saw in him."

John said, "We've done very little. I'm glad that Dr. Hayes has 
learned to appreciate Ed."

John left the room and went to the informal living room. Leroy 
was seated there watching the television. There was some nature 
show about animal life in the desert on the television and Leroy 
was glued to the set. 

John, Kelly, and Ling had found Leroy at the site of an accident. 
His car had been hit by a drunk driver and he had a broken arm. 
There was a woman in another car and Leroy had been busy trying 
to break the window on the locked door. The woman had been 
bleeding and Leroy wouldn't let them treat him until they had taken 
care of the woman. John had liked the black man right from that 
moment. They had brought him home while he recovered from his 
injuries.

John smiled and went to the poolroom. He removed his robe and 
dove into the pool. He started swimming laps, taking an easy pace 
and enjoying the motion of his body as it slid through the water. 
The repetitive act of swimming allowed his mind to swim through 
waters of a different kind. One of the things his mind worked on 
was Ed's possible reaction to Leroy.  Ed had never said anything 
racist in his company, but there was a lot of difference between 
treating people as equals in a social situation and doing so in a 
private situation. 

His mental swim was interrupted by the sound of someone sitting 
in a chair by the pool. He stopped at the shallow end and stood up 
to see who had come in the room. Leroy asked, "What were you 
thinking about?"

It was hard for him to put his thoughts into words. He answered, 
"Ed's home."

His white teeth showed as Leroy smiled. "I heard all of the 
excitement. There was a special on desert life on the television. 
Since that is my doctoral research area, I thought I would watch it. 
I figured it would be best if I stayed out of the way."

"I appreciate that. We were moving Beth's father into the clinic and 
his wife into Beth's room. It was a rather traumatic experience for 
them both."

"I can understand that." Leroy sat there for a moment before 
adding, "You are worried about Ed, aren't you?"

John smiled, "It's hard to say how he'll react to having a long term 
visitor. Of course, you don't know everything that goes on here. 
I'm sure you have some questions."

Shaking his head, Leroy stated, "Do I ever have some questions."

"Ask away."

Leroy stated, "I guess you and Ed have relations. Am I right?"

"Yes, we do."

Frowning, he asked, "Are you expecting me to have sexual 
relations with you?"

John laughed as he answered, "You are a guest here. You can ask 
anyone you want if they are interested in sleeping with you. Only 
one rule, no means no. If anyone asks you to do something you 
aren't comfortable doing, just say no."

"You're serious about that, aren't you?"

"You better believe it. If someone says no and gets pushed into 
something they don't like, they'll be up on rape charges before they 
knew what hit them." John's serious tone of voice emphasized the 
seriousness of his statement. 

Leroy thought about it. "You don't know how much that makes me 
feel better about being here."

This revelation surprised John. "Why?"

"Well, I was afraid that you had invited me here only to have sex 
with me."

"Why would you think that?"

Leroy licked his lips nervously. "Well, the first night I was here, a 
woman and man came here to have sex, but they aren't part of your 
family. It was like you expected them to go to your room with 
you."

John blushed as he thought back to that night. He answered, 
"Actually they came here to have sex with us. We didn't ask them 
to come here, they wanted to do it to thank us for all of our help. 
It's very embarrassing to be faced with a room full of women 
demanding to go to bed with you."

"Oh, I didn't realize that the desire was on their part."

"Well, you don't have to worry about us taking advantage of you."

Afraid of how his question would be received, he tried to think of a 
nice way to ask it. He finally blurted out, "Why did you take me 
in?"

"At the accident, you were more concerned about the woman in the 
car than you were for yourself. We knew that the accident left you 
stuck in the middle of nowhere so we invited you in. If you had 
been begging to be helped before her, we'd have helped you there 
and then left you at the hospital."

"I only did what was right."

John laughed as he said, "You were injured. The most selfish part 
of person can come out at that time. Sad, but true."

Leroy asked, "So why all this importance about Ed talking to me? I 
don't understand."

"He will ask you some questions. If he likes your answers, you can 
stay."

"What will he ask me?" Leroy was shocked that one person had 
that much influence. He couldn't believe that John would rely that 
much on the word of a single person.

John answered, "I have no idea. I wouldn't worry though."

Leroy got a lump in his throat as he realized that if Ed desired it, he 
could end up on the street in front of the house with nothing. "You 
wouldn't?"

"Nope. I wouldn't. Ed's a good guy."

"Why thank you, John," stated Ed. He smiled as he stripped and 
jumped into the pool. Coming up, he turned to Leroy, "You must 
be Leroy. I'm Ed."

"Right. Nice to meet you, Ed," replied Leroy nervously. 

Ed laughed as he took in the man's expression. He said, "You're 
scared to death of meeting me. I bet you're afraid you'll end up on 
the street when I say I don't like you. Right?"

"Right," stated Leroy with a little resignation. He added, "I hope 
you'll let me call a cab first, though."

Both of the men in the pool laughed at his answer. Ed splashed 
John and made a mock mean face. Ed stated, "That's for making 
me out to be some sort of ogre. So, how do you like it here in our 
home?"

"I like it a lot. It's very peaceful. Everyone is calm and tranquil. I 
almost feel like I'm in a monastery."

John laughed and retorted, "A monastery with naked people 
walking around and having sex all of the time."

"Sounds like a bordello to me," stated Ed. He added, "I heard that 
you haven't been in bed with anyone since you got here. You must 
be horny as hell by now."

"A little." He was actually extremely horny, having to go to his 
room and jack off several times a day. Watching Sarah walk 
around naked was driving him crazy.

Ed laughed, "I'd say a lot. I'm sure that Cathy or Sarah would be 
interested. You might ask them."

Leroy was rather taken aback by the statement. "Does that mean I 
can stay?"

Looking at Leroy, Ed stated, "You wouldn't want to hurt us, would 
you?"

A puzzled look flashed across Leroy's face. "Of course not."

Ed shrugged and asked, "You aren't in financial difficulty such that 
you'd sell us out, are you?"

Indignant, Leroy bluntly stated, "No I wouldn't sell you out."

"So you can't imagine a scenario in which you'd do us any harm."

"Right."

A good-natured laugh rolled out of Ed as he splashed John. John 
sputtered, "What was that for?"

"You've got yourself a hiking partner."

John splashed him back. Ed sputtered, "What was that for?"

"Having too much fun at Leroy's expense." John's lopsided grin 
confused Leroy, but made Ed laugh.

Turning to face Leroy, Ed stated, "You can stay."

John swam to the edge of the pool and lifted himself out to sit on 
the side of the pool with his feet dangling in the cool water. He 
stated, "Ed is a human lie detector. You can't hide the truth from 
him."

A doubtful Leroy challenged Ed to prove it. A smile lit Ed's face as 
he realized that he had a chance to prove his abilities with a new 
test that he had designed. He had Leroy pick a number between 
one and a hundred. Once Leroy picked a number, he was to tell it 
to John. Ed instructed Leroy to do everything he could to deceive 
him while he tried to identify the number. In seven questions, Ed 
told Leroy the number although Leroy had lied several times and 
told the truth a couple of times. Leroy was convinced that he 
couldn't prevent Ed from getting the truth out of him. 

Ed climbed out of the pool and sat next to John. Ed asked, "Out of 
curiosity, may I ask you a very personal question?"

Leroy shrugged his shoulders. "Ask, I might choose not to 
answer."

Ed laughed at the answer. He asked, "Have you ever had sex with a 
man?"

"No, I haven't," replied Leroy. He discounted a circle jerk as 
actually having sex with another man. He added, "I've never really 
thought about it."

"Fair enough," replied Ed. He stood up and walked over to the 
towel cabinet. He was almost there when he turned to John and 
asked, "Do you want a towel?"

Standing up, John answered, "Sure."

The towel flew across the room. It was deftly caught by John. Both 
men dried off and threw the towels into a bin next to the cabinet. 
John's only went halfway in. Ed laughed as he said, "I should have 
bet you on that one!"

John chuckled. "Not with you standing right next to it and me all 
the way over here."

"Let's go into the living room and relax." John stated as he picked 
up his robe. Ed followed suit and picked up his clothes. They 
carried them into the living room. Leroy followed along, unsure if 
he had been invited. 

On reaching the living room, the men sat down. John and Ed sat on 
the couch and Leroy in a chair across the room. Ed stated, "Mrs. 
Hayes is rather reserved. I don't know how she's going to take 
living here with us naked half the time."

Leroy stated, "Maybe you should get dressed then."

John shook his head in disagreement. "This is our home and that's 
how we do things here. I hope that it won't upset them, but I don't 
want to change how I live for them."

Ed stated, "Isn't that a selfish attitude?"

"Perhaps. I don't know how long they are going to stay here. When 
they move into the new house, they'll be over here frequently. I 
don't think it is reasonable to have to see who is here or who might 
come over, to be able to relax in my own home."

"Actually that is fair, but have you talked to her about it?" asked 
Leroy. He felt that she should have a chance to decide for herself if 
she should be exposed to that. He had been very shocked when 
Sarah showed up naked the first time.

"Okay, we'll get dressed and call her over here to have a little 
chat," replied John. He realized that he sounded a little short when 
he put it like that. He relaxed and added, "I didn't mean to sound so 
awful."

Ed smiled. "And when we are done, maybe the three of us can go 
upstairs and watch the sunset?"

"You bet."

Leroy was surprised to be included in the invitation. He piped up, 
"Great."

John stated, "Ed would you like to get Mrs. Hayes while I arrange 
for a nice cheese and fruit tray for us to snack on while we are 
entertaining her."

Ed nodded and started getting dressed. John went to the intercom 
and dialed Marguerite. He arranged to have a platter of sliced 
cheese and fruits delivered to the informal living room. Marguerite 
also suggested that she throw in a fresh pitcher of iced tea. John 
thanked her and then got dressed. Ed had finished dressing by that 
time and left to get Mrs. Hayes.

Ed returned after a few minutes with Mrs. Hayes. John greeted her, 
"Mrs. Hayes I would like to introduce you to Leroy. Leroy, this is 
Mrs. Hayes."

Mrs. Hayes nodded and said, "Nice to meet you Leroy."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

Noting the cast, she added, "It looks like you've been injured 
recently."

"Yes ma'am. I was in a car accident the other day. John helped me 
out and has been kind enough to offer me a place to stay until I can 
make arrangements for a new car."

Mrs. Hayes smiled, "Well, you might want to visit my husband. He 
was run over by a car about six weeks ago. Maybe you can teach 
him how to be a better patient than he has been."

Leroy laughed as he replied, "I'm not sure that I can. I've been like 
this for three days and I would kill for a chance to go swimming in 
the pool next door."

John said, "don't worry, it will get better once they decide the 
wound has healed. They'll put you in a new cast and you'll be able 
to take a shower, at least."

"I've just about had it with sponge baths."

The comment brought a blush to the cheeks of Mrs. Hayes. John 
noticed and was about to tease her when Marguerite came into the 
room with the tray of snacks and the pitcher of iced tea. John 
poured iced tea for everyone while they piled small plates with 
cheeses and fruits. After a few minutes of activity, everyone was 
seated again. 

John broke the silence. "Mrs. Hayes, a small problem has come to 
my attention about which I need to talk to you."

Ling and Kelly drifted into the room. From the look on John's face, 
they knew that something important was being discussed. The two 
women looked at each other as they each realized the subject under 
discussion. They seated themselves. Leroy looked around 
nervously and suggested, "Maybe I should leave."

Ed stated, "No, you should probably stay. You need to hear this as 
well."

"This is our home and I know that our rules may seem a little 
strange to you. We live according to one major rule. If it harms 
none, then do it."

Leroy asked, "What does that mean?"

"Good question. It really means that if someone is doing something 
and it harms no one, then you have no right to complain about it. If 
they are doing some task very ineffectively, all you can do is offer 
advice. You can't demand that they do it your way." John 
explained. 

Kelly added, "In a way, it is much more restrictive than the ten 
commandments. It means that you can't be critical of other people. 
It means that you really have to think about the consequences of 
your actions. Will your action ultimately lead to someone getting 
hurt? After living that way for a period of time, you find that you 
become a much more deliberate person."

Mrs. Hayes stated, "No problem. I can live with that rule."

Ling stated, "It's much harder to practice than you would think."

"You bet. If someone comes out dressed up like a clown, you can't 
really comment." Leroy realized the full complexity of that rule. 
He had more or less lived according to that rule his whole life.

"The second rule is that a persons room is sacred and only they can 
allow people to enter."

Mrs. Hayes stated, "Now that is a rule I can live with."

Kelly smiled as she realized that Mrs. Hayes didn't appreciate the 
full scope of the statement. She clarified, "That means if you want 
Sarah to clean your room, you have to let her in and wait until she 
leaves."

"No problem."

"The third rule is that the front of the house is clothing mandatory 
while the back of the house is clothing optional."

Mrs. Hayes stated, "Oh my."

Kelly added, "that rule applies to guests as well. You can walk 
around naked in the back of the house as much as you want. No 
one will say a word." 

Remembering her reaction to Sarah, John stated, "Now Sarah is a 
confirmed nudist. She walks around naked as much as she can. 
Basically, all of us are naked in the pool room and in the informal 
living room."

Kelly stated, "Us girls usually go to the top of the building to 
sunbathe in the morning. It's our time for girl talk and guys aren't 
allowed. You're free to join us, Mrs. Hayes."

 Ed stated, "We usually go to the top of the building and watch the 
sunset."

Looking around the room nervously, Mrs. Hayes stated, "I'm afraid 
that I'm very uncomfortable with people walking around naked."

"I'd say that you are offended by it," stated Ed with the calm 
assurance that he understood more than others. 

Unhappy, she admitted, "Yes, it offends me."

"I am very sorry to hear that. Perhaps with time you will get used 
to it. However, we can not change our lifestyle for one person. I 
am sure that you can understand that."

Resigned to the situation, she said, "I understand. It doesn't mean 
that I have to like it, but I'll deal with it."

Later, John, Ed, and Leroy sat on the roof watching the sunset. 
John rattled his ice tea class. Dissatisfied with the quantity of ice 
remaining, he added two more ice cubes from the ice bucket. With 
another rattle, he then refilled it with tea. Sitting back he sighed, 
"Ed, you have no idea how much I missed our time out here."

"I know. I missed them too."

"By the way, congratulations on breaking that case in LA. You 
made the national news."

Groaning, Ed stated, "Those news reporters are a bunch of jackals. 
I had to hide out in the hotel for two days before they gave up. Are 
you working on anything interesting?"

"I wouldn't call it interesting, I'd call it ugly."

Leroy looked over at John. He had no idea what John was doing 
when he wasn't around. "So what is it?"

"Looks like a bunch of adults got together and formed some kind 
of club. A couple will have a child. When the child is about three, 
they are sent off to live with another couple as a sex toy. The kids 
stay with a couple for about six months and then they are sent on to 
another couple. The kids never know who their parents are."

"They are swapping children?" asked Leroy. He couldn't believe 
parents would do that to their own children.

"Even worse. These kids are being kept in basements. They never 
interact with anyone other than in a sexual situation. They are not 
being educated or given any life skills. Once they get too old to be 
of interest to these pedophiles, they get dumped on the street."

Ed stated, "How do you know this?"

"A couple was caught giving away a photograph. When they 
investigated the incident, they found out that the kid in the 
photograph wasn't theirs. Things got messy and they made no 
progress on it. I got involved and consequently, we've identified 
about seven other kids that have been through the process. We've 
got police artist sketches of the perpetrators. We should be able to 
wrap it up in a week or two."

"I'm impressed. What's the key you are using to track down the 
other members?"

"Their private telephone books and telephone records."

Leroy was shocked, "How could anyone do that to their own kids? 
I just can't imagine it."

"I don't know. I look at the twisted morality of this country and I 
wonder at times. A film in which more than a dozen people get 
chopped up by a man with a chainsaw is rated R. They show limbs 
falling off, blood gushing from slit throats, and cannibalism 
without social outcry. Yet, if they show a cumshot in a film, then it 
is rated X. They want to put two people who love each other in jail 
because they are of the same gender. They get sentences that are 
almost the same as for murder. Two men loving each other can 
spend more time in jail than a guy that holds up a convenience 
store with a gun."

"Amen to that brother," replied Leroy. 

Ed laughed as he said, "I think we have someone here that shares 
our opinion."