Author: Thinking Horndog
Title: The Heat Wave
Part: 19 of 25
Universe: The Heat Wave
Summary: Meet Cletus Putnam: landlord, entrepreneur, opportunist, sometime
Dom.  It's hotter than Hell and he has the only swimming pool and central
air conditioning in his little lower middle-class neighborhood -- and he's
not above taking advantage of that fact.
Content: MF oral M-dom

Chapter 19

	"There's a slumber party tomorrow night," Pete relayed.  "Yeah -- why
would I tell you if you weren't?  With me, of course.  I don't know -- I
think Michael likes your sister.  So?  Is there a line?  Maybe she should
change her mind!"

	I watched Pete wade through the minefield, pleased with his level of
confidence.  Joy was an easy mark, for a female, but a week ago he would have
been out of his depth.

	"Look, just come over tomorrow night, prepared to spend the night,"
Pete rasped into the phone.  "It'll all be fine.  We can talk about all this
other stuff then."  He handed the phone to Kate.  "Women!"

	Kate pinched Joy off.  "Joy?  I need to talk to Gina.  You can talk
to Pete all night tomorrow night -- just put Gina on the phone."

	"I'm gonna need a gag," Pete mumbled.

	"That's what cocks are for," I chuckled.  "Don't worry about it --
I'm sure you'll find a way to distract her.  It's fear.  You guys didn't
follow through very well, so she's worried that she's just a fuck."

	"So?  What's wrong with that?"

	"Girls generally want something else," I advised.  "With a girl,
there is always the expectation that you'll come back to the well -- and
you'll pay for it, one way or another."

	"Do I have to listen to this?" Heather asked, rolling her eyes.

	"You can leave," I retorted, "or you can learn something fundamental
about the difference between girls and boys."  I turned my attention back to
the boys.  "With us, sex is good clean fun -- but with girls comes the
complication of reproduction.  If they spread for you there is always the
chance that you'll grace them with nine months of disruptive behavior by
their own bodies followed by an obligation that lasts for life.  That being
the case, they look for a little more in the way of an investment.  I'm not
talking about money, here -- although it tends to end up costing it in
fantastic amounts -- I'm talking about affection and protection and support.
They want to know that if they start to sprout, you'll be around to help with
the result."

	"Jeez," Michael grunted, "Who wants to sign in blood for it?"

	"Exactly," I nodded.  "So it's a delicate negotiation -- especially
the first time.  If sex didn't have consequences, you could probably stop a
girl on the street and fuck on the sidewalk -- they stand to get as much from
it as we do and sometimes more.  But there ARE consequences, so they're gonna
press -- HARD -- to get you to sign their insurance policy.  There ARE girls
out there who are fuck-buddies -- but you generally know one by the way THEY
bring the subject up and let you know all they want is the fuck, up front."

	"So," Pete mused, "this crap with Joy..."

	"Joy is a lightweight -- you know that.  She wants to be cuddled and
reassured that the minute you unplug from her you're not going to pretend
that you don't know her.  She has low self-esteem and more or less expects
you to do just that -- but she has hope.  You have a couple of choices; you
can play her -- string her along while you get yours -- or you can be honest
with her.  The up-side with Joy is that she's malleable -- you can pretty
much define how you want to deal with her and she'll adapt, because you're
the only game in town and she's scared to death she'll be knocked out of
play.  But if you dick her over and she is unhappy about it, eventually,
SOMETHING better will come along -- or even something that LOOKS better --
and she'll jump."

	"So what do I do?" Pete asked.

	"The temptation is to go with the flow and tell her what she wants to
hear to make her happy," I advised, "but it isn't fair.  Try to make up your
mind -- even if it's just for now -- and be honest with her.  She's gonna be
a clinging vine -- you can enjoy it or you can hate it.  If you enjoy it, it
can be serious medicine for your ego -- but if it gets tiresome, shit hits
the fan pretty quickly."

	Pete grimaced.  "Will it go on forever?"

	"Well, probably not," I mused.  "She'll probably grow some confidence
eventually and get her legs under her.  Then you'll probably wish she
hadn't."  I grinned.  Turning to Heather, I asked, "Did I tell any lies?"

	Heather frowned.  "No, I guess not.  So with guys, it's all about the
sex?"

	"Well, Hon, sex is more important to guys -- although I think girls
enjoy it more, just because they deny themselves," I explained.  "Guys --
especially guys your age -- are always about to boil over; nature has
provided them with an almost inexhaustible supply of little babymakers under
pressure to get out.  Males don't have the instinct to seek protection for
their offspring you have, either -- they were given the imperative to hit as
many targets as they can.  The purpose is the same -- propagation of the
species -- but they're in charge of planting seeds and you're in charge of
farming and harvesting.  It's a different mindset.  It's why guys cheat --
it's almost instinctive.  I'm not making excuses, I'm just stating fact -- if
a girl waves it in front of a guy, he's gonna bite -- it's his job to plow
any woman who will let him.  His brain shuts down and his dick starts
thinking for him and he climbs in the saddle.  Afterwards, he'll probably
remember that he has other commitments, but the damage will be done.
Similarly, it's pretty easy to hold a guy -- you just need to make yourself
available to take the overflow on a regular basis so he doesn't have to
wander, and generally he'll step up to the plate and give you what YOU want.
But a lot of women think that marriage and motherhood is the goal, and once
it's accomplished, everything is easy street -- and they forget that he's
STILL producing that overage of babymakers and if she decides she's done, he
WILL find another place to put them!  Welcome to divorce!"  I shrugged.  "Am
I oversimplifying things?  Maybe.  There is love and honor and duty and all
that stuff.  But look around -- I've just described the default behavior.  Do
you know the difference between men cheating and women cheating?"

	Heather blinked.  "No."

	"With women, it's about having someone else steal their shot at
motherhood.  It's about losing their stability and their protection.  It's
about the asshole guy reneging on a contract to take care of her and their
kids and wandering off to poke some slut who might end up with a call on his
resources -- meaning she'll have to share, at best, or lose out, at worst.
Guys, on the other hand, usually get pissed because they've SIGNED that
contract in order to reap the benefits -- and in many cases, they're STILL
not getting enough, but they're trying to settle -- and the little bitch
involved is letting someone else use the facilities he's paying for."

	"You make it sound like we're a collection of holes for guys to stick
their penises in!" Heather groused.

	"If you take away some of the finer emotions associated with it and
boil it down to biological essentials, that's the case," I replied.  "Now,
without those finer emotions, sex is just masturbation with a body, but when
we're talking about base motivations and biology, that's what you get.  If a
guy comes up to you in a club, what is your first assessment of his motives?"

	Heather pursed her lips.  "He wants in my panties."

	I nodded.  "And you would be correct.  Frankly, in most cases, if he
didn't have that imperative, he wouldn't bother with you -- women are
notoriously cantankerous beasts -- grasping, bossy, harder to control than
herding cats -- it's probably why we were allowed more or less direct means
of control over most of history.  We just don't have the tools to spend a lot
of time making you happy by guessing at and then fulfilling your little wants
and needs.  Giving you a quick swat upside the head so you settle for what
you've got is a damned sight easier."  I chuckled.  "Look around -- all the
rules that have been put in place to protect women's equality has virtually
killed dating among adults -- now you have to go to an online dating service
-- which is an admission by the female that she REALLY DOES want a man -- to
lend any degree of safety to dating."  I shook my head.  "It's also one of
the reasons that homosexuality is on the rise -- people of your own gender
understand your needs and are more likely to sympathize and put up with them
-- particularly if they, too, are unsatisfied.  Homosexual males can get sex
fairly easily from another homosexual male -- without strings, because their
mutual interest is unloading excess jizz.  They can -- and do -- do it
totally anonymously.  Neither of them is going to be likely to ask for an
emotional commitment -- it isn't required.  If they do, it's because they
think they've got a good thing going and want to keep it.  Lesbians will get
their cuddle and mutual protection and fulfillment in each other's arms.
Frankly, the sex isn't optimal in either case, since nothing is being put
where it belongs, but they just reorient themselves by saying 'but it's so
much easier -- so much better...' and they live with the substitutes."

	Heather shivered.  "That's a cold and ugly viewpoint."

	I shrugged.  "It's based upon observation and experience.  Look at
your mother..."  I changed the subject.  "You girls need to get your party
organized."  With that, I attempted to escape.

	Amy blocked my path.  "Uh uh.  You need to finish this seminar,
Cletus.  Enquiring minds want to know."

	"Look," I replied, "I'm just saying that men and women have different
needs and goals, and that while they ARE complementary, it sometimes doesn't
seem like it.  Recently, we've put some things in place as a society that
sound wonderful, but they lead to relationship issues involving gender
roles."

	Amy cocked her head.  "What?"

	I looked around.  Everyone else was hooked, too.  I sighed.  "Let's
settle in and relax, and I'll try to explain the world according to Cletus."
Amy and Kate basically pushed Michael off his lounger so they could both
occupy it -- so he moved to a straight chair, and Heather settled into the
third in the set, Pete holding the second.  "Marriage.  Marriage is designed
to be a partnership that capitalizes on gender roles -- that set of
complementary needs and goals between guys and gals.  But recently, we've
handed a bunch of male roles to gals and we've removed any redress to the
situation by guys.  Now guys are signing that contract and discovering that
it has no teeth -- or worse -- it HAS teeth, but only to bite HIM with.
That's largely because in some places the legal system hasn't caught up with
society, either, and laws put in place to protect gals from abuse back when
they had no other protections are being used to extract more than their fair
share of things now.  Now, you can talk about getting even and the pendulum
swinging and all that bullshit, but the fact is that males coming up now
didn't do a damned thing to deserve what they're getting -- or what they're
NOT getting.  It's similar to the myth that whites owe blacks for the slavery
gig -- whites might have enslaved blacks, but that was THEN and people living
NOW didn't have shit to do with it."

	I caught myself.  "But I digress.  Part of the current problem is the
universal push for self-actualization -- everybody is told that they should
get theirs and fuck everybody else.  But married people enter into a
partnership and have responsibilities to each other.  Complicating this is
the gender role thing.  Let me see if I can explain -- realize, now, that
this is the male viewpoint -- but most of the changes have been about how
females are dealt with, so I don't think it's THAT skewed.  Use your own
judgment."

	The disclaimer out, I proceeded, "Guys and gals meet because they are
attracted to one another -- usually a big component of this is physical,
especially at the start.  Two people meet at a club, they dance, they talk,
they feel each other up, they like what they see and hear and feel and they
move on to dating and sleeping together and so on.  The sleeping together
thing is important -- women know this instinctively, so they play it, using
it as a tool, withholding it or granting it according to the situation.  Oh,
sure, it gets away from them, romantically or physically, but ultimately,
it's their primary weapon -- and if she puts it out there when she has to and
makes it attainable but not too simple -- meaning not without commitment --
she'll probably reel the guy in.  Marriage ensues, and everything is rosy.
They build a home together and maybe she gets pregnant and all is right with
the world."  I paused a moment and sat back.

	"But here is where society has torqued things.  Back in the caveman
days, the male was in charge of putting food on the table and the female was
in charge of making sure he had a place to come home to, the food got made
edible, and a shitload of kids got punched out to take some of the workload
off both of them.  Part of that set of duties was rolling over and spreading
her legs for the old man to get the only jollies the world allowed him before
TV.  Now, evolution is a wonderful thing, but societies evolve faster than
species; men haven't changed all that much, and to be fair, neither have
women -- but society has, and it has mapped roles for both sexes that are
very different than what we have programmed.  Women work outside the home --
many HAVE TO -- and this means that there is no one AT home to take care of
the home fires.  Women are told that they need to compete with men -- and
there are leftover rules on the books that tend to make it possible to
win..."

	I scratched my razor stubble.  "So we come back to our happy couple.
They're infatuated with each other.  Everything seems rosy.  But time and
altered circumstances come into play.  She works -- she has to, because he's
in an entry-level job and they couldn't eat if he didn't.  But when they come
home, he wants her to cook, too.  Uh oh...  Maybe they get past that.  She
gets pregnant -- and again, everything is rosy, because guys find pregnant
chicks to be incredibly sexy.  The reason is simple -- he can point to her
belly and say, 'I'm a man -- I did my job, see?'  But after the birth, we
again have problems.  You see, the woman is more than likely to see that some
of her major goals in the relationship have been met at that point, and the
priority is now on motherhood.  She doesn't want to work outside the home --
she now has a full-time job INSIDE the home and she's very happy with her lot
-- because the whole little house with a white picket fence and two point
five kids is well in hand.  HE, on the other hand, has to take a second job
to cover her lost wages.  With motherhood in the forefront and the
realization of a good many of her spoken and unspoken goals, she is fat,
dumb, and happy -- sometimes literally -- but HE is suddenly seeing zero
return on his now massive investment!  You see, the sex that was a part of
their initial chemistry and a basic part of the contract between them has
been withdrawn -- the kids interrupt all the time, or she's tired, and so on.
He's tired, too, from working two jobs; he doesn't want to chase it and put
up with a bunch of crap and make three hours worth of preparations -- he
wants mama to roll over and put out.  And there are added dimensions;
remember when I told you that papa thought pregnancy was cool?  Well, it was
cool when she was swollen with child, but when she's still swollen six months
after the kid has left the womb, that's not as cool.  Remember that physical
attraction is a big draw, here -- and now it's greatly reduced.  Add to that
the fact that she's happy with where she is and complacent and not trying to
do anything about getting that attraction back -- maybe even working at being
less enticing in order to avoid all that tiring sex -- and things are crap
for the male.  The female is NOT performing her duties according to the
contract -- but since those duties are not carefully specified -- 'cleave
unto thee only' is still fulfilled as a promise if she cleaves unto NOBODY --
society jumps in and tells him he has no right to expect what he got into the
contract for in the first place.  If you go eight weeks without and decide
not to take no for an answer, you end up in jail for raping your wife,
because 'no means no'.  She's a happy, devoted mother who is queen of all she
surveys, thoroughly self-actualized according to society's model, and he is a
stiff working two jobs and coming home to a fat bitch who won't even put out
-- and he has NO RECOURSE!  Divorce ensues -- and he gets the knife AGAIN,
because marriage is the only contract where the non-performing party can
extract a penalty for the rest of her life for having the contract broken."
I sat back.  "I honestly cannot recommend marriage under any circumstances in
this day and age."

	Amy scoffed.  "That's just one scenario."

	I nodded.  "There are variations on the theme.  There is also the
'Mr. Mom' scenario -- which puts the male in a position of having to assume
female gender roles in order to support the female assuming male ones.
Sometimes that works -- but he probably didn't buy into it.  Once again, this
is society scrambling gender roles because we're trying to be fair to the
female and recognize her talents.  Now, I'm not saying that this is a bad
thing -- I'm just saying that it has unintended consequences.  Girls in
particular need to realize that if they're not prepared to continue doing
those things that brought them a mate more or less indefinitely, then at some
point, they'll lose that mate.  Maybe they'll get nice, fat alimony and child
support checks to replace him, but getting a replacement mate won't be NEARLY
as easy.  The irony here is that she'll end up going on Weight Watchers
ANYWAY and pulling her shit back together or she won't find that replacement
-- or if she does, what she'll end up with and put up with will be a whole
lot less enjoyable than the original model."

	"There are ways of sharing the load," Heather insisted.

	"You mean like democracy?" I asked.  "Doesn't work.  Either the male
is clearly in charge or the female loses respect for him.  Since society has
pulled all of the male's teeth, the female ends up in charge.  Shit rolls
downhill, because she's busy getting what she wants and ignoring what HE
wants."

	Amy snickered.  "You make it sound simple," she chuckled.  "If you
want to stay married, have sex twice a week."

	"Actually, it's almost that simple," I agreed.  "That's probably
sixty percent of it.  The other forty is trying to look decent and
occasionally deferring to him -- preferably in public, so he can save face."
I sighed.  "Easier than that is what they still call 'living in sin'.  You
see, without the contract -- which is useless to the male, anyway, since
nothing in it grants him any protections at all -- both parties tend to pay
attention to what it takes to keep the other happy.  The element of
uncertainty keeps things fresh.  When he can just up and leave, you're more
likely to notice when he's crabby because you haven't played with his cock in
a few days.  When he has no legalized commitment to you and his eyes start to
wander, you pick it up and decide maybe it's time to go out and buy some new
lingerie or go work out at the gym and get rid of that roll that keeps you in
one-piece bathing suits.  Similarly, when the result of a really bad fight is
somebody's clothes scattered all over the lawn and him having his supply of
pussy cut off, he works a bit more at being accommodating."

	An unexpected voice behind me said, "I'm surprised that you're
feeding them this line..."

	I gathered myself after jumping a foot to turn and regard Cindy, "YOU
are a prime example of the situation at work!" I accused.  "In case you
haven't figured out what's going on around here, part of it is shaking you
loose from total control of your relationship with Ed!  Ed gave you control
of things without even realizing it -- largely because society told him that
he should.  You took advantage of it -- again, because society said you
should and because there was a power vacuum.  You're living proof that
democracy doesn't work in a relationship."

	"That's BS!"

	"Is it?"  I eyed her.  "How many mistakes have we surfaced in the
past couple of days that come from you wandering around with fucked-up ideas
in your head?  You mistook Ed's granting you latitude to handle domestic
issues that he didn't want to be bothered with for a grant of total control
-- and society allowed you to make it stick.  But you know what?  You've
overreached yourself and society won't back you now, so Ed has an opportunity
to get control back.  He's too nice a guy to hold a gun to your head -- but
guess what?  He doesn't have to -- I'm more than happy to oblige."

	"So you're going to blackmail me for the rest of my life?" Cindy
burst out.

	"Something like that," I agreed amicably.  "The trick is, if you
behave yourself -- and you'll learn to, eventually -- you'll never even
notice.  Habit will kick in and no one will ever have to say anything about
it."

	"I can't have you making me do crazy things all the time!" Cindy
howled.

	"And it isn't going to happen that way," I replied blandly.  "I don't
have that kind of attention span.  All that is necessary is for you to
remember that you don't have the ultimate control, here -- that someone else
is capable of making you fold your hand when you play poker whether you want
to or not.  Ed doesn't even have to play the card -- because you KNOW he's
holding it.  That's all it's going to take -- you'll learn to defer to him
and accommodate him, and pretty soon it will be second nature and you'll
forget why.  The good news for you is that Ed WON'T abuse it like I would, so
you won't have to resent him.  In fact, you'll have ME to resent -- and I'm
good with that."  Cindy shut up -- but I knew it wasn't over.

	"So Mom is..." Kate began carefully.

	"Old school," I finished for her, switching gears.  "She's perfectly
comfortable with the rules Ugh laid out for his woman Thud after he bashed
her noggin with his club the first time and she woke up with his dick in her.
This is NOT the model of current society, so she's had a difficult time
finding someone who will accommodate it despite the fact that so many people
are standing in line to tell us it is wrong."

	"Is it wrong?" Kate asked.

	"No, merely different," I replied.  "One of the positive aspects of
current society is the ability to differentiate between 'different' and
'wrong'.  I'm not going to tell you it is right, either -- but her mode has
been around a lot longer than the current one."

	"Why do you insist on treating me like Karen?" Cindy burst out.

	"That's a fair question, Cindy," I told her.  "Why don't we go
somewhere private and I'll answer it for you."

	"Why not do it here?"

	"I'm looking to save you some embarrassment," I replied.  "Certainly,
if you insist..."

	"No..."  Cindy stood there, thinking furiously.  "Maybe we should
talk elsewhere."

	"My office?"  I got up.  "School is out.  I hope someone learned
something.  Take the whole thing with a grain of salt, but remember I've been
around twice as long as most of you.  Come along, Cindy."

	We went inside and back to my office and I waved her onto the
loveseat.  "Okay, frank talk.  There are a couple of reasons why I'm putting
you though your paces.  First, if I abuse the shit out of you, you'll get
used to being under the thumb and it'll be easier on Ed.  Ed's a nice guy --
but as I've indicated, the rules don't favor guys at all, let alone nice
ones.  I'm going to break you in so that he won't have to.  Does that make
sense?"

	"I guess," she admitted.  "What's to stop me from...?"

	"In the first place, there's the fact that he STILL holds the cards.
In the second, if I do my job correctly, it won't occur to you to try -- the
results will be too painful to contemplate."

	"Oh."  Her look said she anticipated pain.  "What are you going to
do?"

	"In detail?" I asked.  "I don't know.  But I know the intended
result, and when you get there, I'll know it."

	"What's the second reason?"

	"You're attracted and repelled by your sexual fantasies.  You've
convinced yourself they're horrible -- but you want to experience them,
anyway.  You live in a little dark box put in place by people who caused you
to fear doing wild and crazy shit.  I'm opening the box and MAKING you do
wild and crazy shit, so you'll realize that it is fun as long as no one gets
hurt.  This will reduce both the fear and the attraction and help you control
your urges.  This is actually a situation somewhat similar to Karen's, so
similar treatment is justified."

	"I never know when you're bullshitting me," Cindy muttered.

	"That's because you spend a lot of time hoping I am and then discover
belatedly that I'm not," I replied.  "I like to put things baldly -- that
doesn't mean they aren't true."  I looked at my watch.  "Ed will be home
soon, and he instructed you to have his dinner on the table, so you're going
to have to hurry..."  I dropped my shorts.  "Blow me."

	She looked up at me, disgusted.  "Why?"

	"Because you have no choice."

	"Dammit, Cletus!  Ulp!"  She had her mouth open so I fed her my dick;
nothing she was going to say was relevant, anyway.

	"Put your hands behind your back," I directed.  "You can use them to
bring me additional pleasure, if and when you grow the sense to try -- but
you can't use them to control me.  It's your job to accommodate me and to
take a load of my jizz, period.  Don't bother talking, because it gets in the
way of what you're doing and pisses me off, which will get my dick jammed
down your throat worse than it is."  Cindy stopped making gargling noises,
but her hands were still all over the place, so I took her by the top of the
head and by the jaw and started forcing.  "Hands behind your back!  Now!"  It
sank in after another second or two, and she obeyed.  "Now, the more effort
you put into this and the sooner you stop worrying about you and start
working on my pleasure, the sooner this will be over," I told her.  "Piss me
off and I'll fuck your throat -- make an effort and I'll let you drive."  She
settled down some and started trying, so I backed off and cajoled her, "Come
on, you know how to give head -- now you need to work on your attitude.  Look
up at me with those big eyes of yours and make me believe you WANT to!"

	It took her fifteen minutes; I'm not fast to get off from head,
anyway.  "Now, the next time you blow Ed," I told her, "you need to act like
you're doing it because you want to, not because it's easier than fucking or
you're doing him a favor.  If necessary, you can visualize it like this --
he's your old man and you want him happy, because if he isn't and he puts you
on the street, I'll put you on a corner downtown to give blowjobs for twenty
bucks a pop and beat the shit out of you any night you don't bring home a
hundred bucks.  How's THAT for an image?"

	"A little too clear," she rasped through a sore throat.

	"Git.  You have a dinner to cook.  I'll see you later."  I hauled her
to her feet and pushed her out the door.  Then I had second thoughts.  "Come
back here a moment."

	Cindy retraced her steps -- not without a certain amount of
trepidation.  "Yes?"

	"I thought I would add to that little scenario, because it will be
instructive for you to work your way through the implications.  You want to
keep Ed happy.  Why?  Because you can be replaced.  I can lend him Karen, or
Amy might volunteer, or we might bring in some other piece who has an
interest in him if he wants a fresh start.  If he decides you're a pain in
the ass and sues for divorce, you're gonna end up here -- do you know why?
Because you won't be asking him for alimony or anything -- you'll end up
limiting yourself to a suitcase full of your shit, because if you press him,
he'll produce that DVD -- or I will -- and you won't have to worry about
alimony in the penitentiary.  If you move in here -- and I won't let you go
anywhere else -- I'll use you like toilet paper -- guaranteed.  There are two
dog kennels downstairs -- one of them is Karen's -- care to guess who will
occupy the other?"

	"You..." she gobbled, white-faced.

	"Would," I finished for her.  "Mess with me and I'll lend you out to
street gangs for entertainment.  I'll put rings in your nipples and hang you
from the ceiling by your tits!"  I stopped myself.  "Get out of here before I
get so excited by one of these ideas that I try to sell it to Ed!"

	She got.  For all I know she ran to her place naked.

                       ----------------------------------