Maragana Girl
Copyright 2004 by EC
EC's Erotic Art & Fiction - http://www.ecgraphicarts.com/
EC's deviantART collection - http://caligula20171.deviantart.com/ 

(warnings: judicial corporal punishment, forced public nudity, sex between adults, 
references to drug use, references to violence)

Chapter 17 – The Brat on a Bicycle

Criminal # 98945 finally returned to her normal routine as August drew to a close. 
She continued to deliver Victor's packages and messages, greet customers at the 
music store, and deal with a backlog of issues affecting Eloisa's band. She 
continued to rehearse and sing. She divided what little free time she had between 
Sergekt, Eloisa, and the Dukovs. Kim's life was completely full, about as full as a 
person's life could be.

Ironically, Kim's job with Victor Dukov became a refuge of sorts in her life. Her 
constant activities and social obligations might have worn on her patience had it 
not been for the days she spent alone on her bicycle, pedaling hard around 
Danube City. Victor no longer had to exhort Kim to ride fast to make her 
deliveries. She was under so much pressure from the other areas of her life that 
she vented her stress speeding along the quiet streets of the nation's capitol. She 
moved about so quickly that her boss stopped nagging and berating her. She 
became his favorite employee, held up as an example of what Victor wanted from 
his riders. That was not entirely a good thing, because now he placed Kim in an 
uncomfortable position because he constantly asked his other employees why 
couldn’t they deliver their messages as quickly as she was delivering hers. 

One afternoon Kim saw Victor berating Malka Chorno. True to her word, it was 
obvious Malka was quite used to being yelled at unfairly. She quietly stood at 
attention while Victor exhausted his long list of complaints and criticisms. Kim 
saw a huge irony in the situation, as Malka stood straight, listening to the 
complaints of a small businessman. In spite of losing her uniform, and in spite of 
everything else that had happened to her, Malka still looked and acted like a cop.

----------

Kim's first night back at the Socrates Club was filled with celebration. Every 
criminal in Danube City was jubilant over the double cancellations of switchings; 
Dukov's two-month suspension of corporal punishments for their help with the 
farms, and the added cancellation of one switching for each criminal who 
participated in the fire-fighting effort. The criminals had undergone a harrowing 
six weeks of hard work and danger, but then returned to Danube City to receive a 
respite from some of the harsher aspects of their sentences. The past hardships 
and current absence of pending physical pain changed the criminals' outlooks on 
their lives. Kim noticed a difference in both the speeches and the music of the 
Club from the year before. The music, especially, became much more 
philosophical instead of morose. 

Kim sat at her usual table, drinking Danubian beer and eating the usual salted 
deep-fried vegetables with her friends. It had been exactly one year since 
Criminal # 98945 started coming to the Socrates Club. Her friends commented on 
the anniversary and on how different she was now from whom she had been when 
she first came in. Kim ordered another round of beer and then stood up at her 
table. She put her hand on Sergekt's shoulder and smiled at him. Then, in 
Danubian, she addressed her group:

"A year…it's really hard to believe it's been a year since I've known all of you. In 
some ways it seems like it's been a lot longer, and in other ways it seems like the 
last year went by in a flash. But…your friendship…it means more to me than I 
could ever express, even in my own language." With that she raised her glass. 
"Here's to this time next year, to our freedom, and our continued friendship!"

Everyone at the table enthusiastically raised their glasses.

Later that night Kim and Sergekt went to an intimacy room for the first time in 
nearly two months. She was desperate for some good sex. Once they had the door 
closed it was Kim who took charge. She pushed Sergekt on the bed and grabbed 
his hands to pin him to the mattress. For a very long time she held him down as 
she passionately kissed him. She could feel him getting hard, so she began licking 
around the base of his penis and kissing the tip. As he got even harder he arched 
his back and ran his fingers through her hair. She got up and straddled him, 
grabbing his hands and pushing them back down on the mattress. Kim's gritted 
her teeth in an intense passion as she lowered herself on him. She guided his 
hands to her breasts. He massaged her nipples as she came, and then came again. 
Two months! There was two months of sexual frustration pent up in Kim.

The couple waited for a while, and then resumed their love-making, this time in 
Sergekt's favorite position, with Kim on her elbows and knees, and her bottom 
spread and high in the air. Kim seductively moved her bottom back and forth, as 
Sergekt remembered his girlfriend on her bicycle from last fall. That's right, he 
thought to himself, I'll owe her a nice hard spanking if I ever catch her on that 
fancy American bicycle she's got. As he pushed hard into her and she groaned 
with pleasure, Kim didn't realize her boyfriend’s thoughts were on spanking her 
cute brown bottom.

Kim briefly fell asleep on her stomach, as Sergekt gently ran his hand over her 
bottom cheeks and his fingertips ventured into the darker area in between. As he 
studied his lover’s bottom and lay recovering from his exertions, Sergekt 
pondered the problem of how he could catch her while bicycle riding in a place 
private enough where he could put her over his lap. The only solution would be to 
somehow find a shortcut where he could secretly pass her and then surprise her by 
catching her from the other end. Yes, he thought, there is one such spot on the 
way to my mother's garden plot, a utility path that bypasses the main bicycle trail. 
Sergekt gently patted Kim's bottom, thinking about the attention that it was 
destined to receive the next time they went bicycle riding.

----------

Malka Chorno entered the Socrates Club for the first time at the end of August. 
She quietly asked the doorman whether or not she should wear her policewoman's 
belt, given the club's rule about clothing of any kind was very strict. No, was the 
answer; that comes off. Here you are a criminal, just like the rest of us. We're not 
worried about who you were before you were sentenced.

At the beginning Malka sat alone, given that she had no friends in the club. She 
watched several groups perform, and then Kim and Eloisa perform together on 
stage with three of Eloisa's musicians. As she watched Kim perform, Malka had a 
chance to reflect on her misplaced loathing of the American. She felt bad about 
how she had treated Kim, but couldn't see how that damage could be repaired.

Malka was extremely lonely. Because everyone in her former life had turned their 
backs on her, Malka had been completely by herself since she had been 
sentenced. She felt she deserved what was happening to her, but the pain of the 
betrayals by her former friends weighed on Malka tremendously.

Malka's isolation ended before Kim's singing was over. One of Sergekt's 
classmates, Tuko, noticed the ex-cop as she quietly sat by herself. Tuko had a 
girlfriend prior to the riot at his school, but her parents prohibited her from seeing 
him after he was sentenced. Tuko had not been able to find anyone else to go out 
with, and had given up hope of having a normal relationship until his sentence 
ended. That was too bad, because of all the members of the group, Tuko and 
Sergekt were the most adventurous when it came to reaching out in their personal 
relationships. 

The disgraced ex-cop presented Tuko with an opportunity and a challenge. He 
found her fascinating and wondered how approachable she would be. She was 7 
years older than the members of Sergekt's group, but Tuko didn't care about that. 
She was pretty and tough looking, as well as somewhat mature, precisely the kind 
of woman Tuko secretly fantasized about having in his life. Well, here was his 
chance. Finally he walked over to Malka's table and asked her to dance.

Tuko's relationship with Malka took off very quickly. Malka accepted the first 
dance out of sheer boredom and loneliness. At the beginning she had real 
reservations dancing with a criminal almost a decade younger than her. However, 
Malka knew that the old rules and protocol in her life no longer had any 
relevance. She now was a criminal herself, and if this guy was still in his teens, so 
what?

While Sergekt and his classmates watched in dumbfounded silence, Tuko bought 
some beer and fried vegetables for himself and Malka and sat with her. It was 
weird to see her smile and converse. Kim and Eloisa could tell that both Tuko and 
Malka were sexually aroused, something that became very evident the next time 
Tuko invited her to dance. Shortly afterwards the Socrates Club's newest couple 
headed towards the stairwell door and disappeared to go to an intimacy room.

Sergekt and Dima looked at each other, a bit shocked at Tuko's departure from 
their table and its result. "Well, that was fast."

The group now was faced with a dilemma. It was customary that any member 
who started dating someone from outside the group would bring his or her partner 
to the table, and the person would become a de facto member of the group. That 
was what happened the year before to Kim when she started dating Sergekt. 
Malka, however, was much more of an outsider to the group than Kim ever could 
have been. Kim, although a foreigner, an English speaker, a drug user, and Asian, 
at least was the same age as Sergekt and his classmates, and like them, a recent 
high school graduate. More importantly, she never had been a police officer. Kim 
had no past associated with her, nothing to make anyone hate her before meeting 
her. 

An ex-police officer was different, especially one with Malka's background. The 
beatings Kim's friends had endured left them traumatized and afraid of anyone in 
a blue uniform. Until two months ago Malka Chorno had been among the cruelest 
of the police officers, one of the worst tormentors of criminals. Now she was a 
criminal herself, precisely because she had stepped over the line in her 
mistreatment of Criminal # 98945. How could she sit with the group? And 
yet…the group's subculture and their friendship with Tuko demanded that any 
partner of his would become one of them.

Fortunately that night the group was not confronted with the issue, because Tuko 
and Malka never re-emerged from the intimacy room. The group discussed how 
to handle the situation with Malka, should she continue to go out with Tuko and 
he end up bringing her to the table. Finally Sergekt stated:

"Look. Officer Chorno is really Kim's problem. I think it is up to Kim to decide 
how we should treat her. As far as I'm concerned, whatever she says is what we'll 
do, and there'll be no further discussion. It's Kim's choice."

Kim was not pleased that Sergekt was dumping the problem in her lap, because 
she felt she really had no choice. She felt morally obligated to come to terms with 
her former nemesis, but she really did not want to do so by mixing Malka with her 
social life. Nevertheless, Kim's conversation with the old priest at the Temple 
gave her no alternative other than to forgive Malka for what she had done. Kim 
knew that Malka had repented and even tried to apologize…sort of… That meant 
she had to treat Malka like she would treat any other fellow criminal.

"I…suppose…that we're all criminals, and now Malka is one of us. She's not a 
police officer anymore…or at least not until she gets her badge back. You're 
asking me what I want, but that's the wrong question, because what I want doesn't 
matter. You see…I don't have any choice. That priest obligated me to forgive 
Malka, and I'm going to have to, as hard as it is, I'm going to have to. So…when 
Tuko brings her, I'll just deal with it."

Eloisa gave the guys an angry look, and interjected "It's not fair to put this 
decision on Kim."

"Life's not fair, Eloisa. I think you know that better than any of us at this table. It's 
not fair, but I have to forgive Malka. So, when the moment comes, she'll join us. 
That's my decision."

Tuko spent the next two Saturday nights sitting alone with Malka, as both of them 
worked up the courage to re-join his group. Finally, on the fourth Saturday Tuko 
and Malka were together, Kim decided to approach them and resolve the issue 
herself.

"You might as well join us at our table. You two look ridiculous sitting here by 
yourselves, so come sit with us."

Malka gave Kim a sad, but gratified look. The invitation meant an end to her 
isolation. She sat quietly and was extremely reserved around the others, but now 
she had her place at the Socrates Club. Even when she was not with Tuko, his 
friends would expect Malka to join them at their table. It was the beginning of 
Malka's transformation, the simple act of sitting at the same table with a group of 
fellow-criminals.

----------

Sergekt's life changed radically at the beginning of September. He decided to 
reduce his hours at his restaurant and enter Danube City University to study 
hydrology. He knew right away what he wanted to do with his degree. He would 
seek to improve Upper Danubia's irrigation and public water supply systems, to 
assure that severe droughts never again could lead to a national disaster like the 
one the country recently had endured.

Sergekt had to seek permission from the sentencing judge to enter the university. 
Kim and Eloisa attended the hearing, as did Sergekt's mother and aunt. Sergekt 
knelt with his head on the floor while his Spokesman presented the formal 
petition. The judge then ordered Sergekt to kneel upright and explain his plans. 
Sergekt quickly summarized the experiences he had endured over the summer. He 
started by describing the collective humiliation of the young men clustered around 
the pumps as they watched their efforts to save their parents' gardens end in 
failure. Right after that came the mobilization to save part of the nation's 
commercial crops, and finally the horrific week fighting forest fires. He saw all 
that had happened to Upper Danubia that year as unnecessary.

"What distressed me, your honor, was that the water to meet our needs was there, 
deep underground, but we had no way of getting to it. The technology to get that 
water also exists in the world, but in other countries and thus is useless to the 
Duchy. Now I know what I want to do, and what path the Ancients have chosen 
for me. I will try to become educated to help solve our nation's water problems."

The hearing was really a formality, since there was no doubt what Sergekt wanted 
was perfectly reasonable and useful to the country. He would have to attend his 
first year of classes naked, of course, but there was nothing unusual about that. 
Plenty of convicted criminals studied at the university, and there were even a 
couple of criminals with lengthy sentences working as professors.

Kim noticed Sergekt's confidence in himself rose as the semester progressed. He 
became concerned about his future and looked upon his present as a temporary 
phase in his life. Just a few months before Sergekt had confided to Kim that he 
felt he would never be able to see himself as anything other than a criminal. Now, 
with the beginnings of his career as a hydrologist crowding out other concerns in 
his life, Sergekt's entire focus had changed. He had found his purpose.

----------

Cynthia Lee decided to visit her sister for the second time in the middle of 
September. Originally she had wanted to visit in August, but had to delay her trip 
because of Kim's fire-fighting duties. She re-scheduled once it was obvious the 
fire danger had passed and there was no further chance Kim might be mobilized 
to fight forest fires.

As before, it was Spokesman Vladim Dukov who had to pick Cindy up from the 
airport, given its location outside the Danube City collar zone. However, the 
whole tone of Cindy's trip would be different this time, because the only reason 
she was visiting was to see how Kim was doing and spend some time with her. 
Kim requested a week off from both her jobs, which freed her during the days to 
spend time with her sister.

Because Cindy arrived before the equinox, Kim did not have her winter cape yet. 
She was naked when she greeted her sister at Dukov's office, and would stay 
naked the entire time Cindy was with her. This time Cindy managed to get over 
the shock of her sister's constant nudity rather quickly. One thing that helped was 
seeing how accustomed Kim was to living naked, to the point she no longer even 
noticed. Her younger sister was perfectly comfortable with her body, which made 
Cindy question, for the first time, the values of a society that required people to be 
dressed at all times, whether it was practical or not.

Danube City was at its best during the late summer and early fall, so Kim had the 
opportunity to show Cindy around and familiarize her with the many monuments 
and historical sites the area had to offer. She took her guest to the Temple of the 
Ancients and King Vladik's Castle and explained the historical significance of 
both locations. Cindy marveled at Danube City's beauty: its fancy old buildings, 
endless parks, and quiet streets. Cindy thought to herself, this place has some real 
tourist potential, if these people could ever figure out how to market themselves.

Kim spent hours talking to Cindy about her life and what had happened to her 
since last Spring. She told Cindy the story of her final switching and its results, 
and tried to make her understand the underlying values and line of reasoning that 
determined how the whole affair was handled after the offending officer was 
arrested and sentenced. Kim eventually moved to the topic of the entire Danubian 
judicial system and its emphasis on corporal punishment instead of incarceration. 
She shocked Cindy with the following statement:

"It's actually a pretty good system, even if it has its problems. I mean…people 
really do have the chance to turn their lives around, and we criminals have a 
chance to do something useful and get ready for our futures. Yes, I got my butt 
whipped three times, and it hurt worse than I think you could imagine, but I'd take 
that over a jail cell anytime."

Kim's conversation with Cindy moved on to Dukov's stalled judicial reform 
pending in Parliament and what he hoped to achieve and change by trying to re-
write the 1780 punishment code. The legislation had not gone anywhere over the 
summer because of the constant emergencies afflicting Upper Danubia. Kim 
suspected the legislation would eventually be forgotten, which was a real pity. 
Cindy disagreed.

"Kim, I don't think either you or Spokesman Dukov understand what an 
opportunity you have. You say there's a lot of good will towards criminals 
because of the fire fighting. Use it. Have all those people you helped call the 
Parliament and pressure the…deputies? Is that what they're called?" Kim nodded. 
"Alright, deputies. Have people call up the deputies and tell them this is how they 
can thank you for putting your butts on the line in that forest fire. Pass that 
reform."

Kim thought about her sister's idea. Cindy pressed her point. "Look, I've been 
taking some political science classes in college, so I have some ideas. What 
Spokesman Dukov needs to do is have his supporters lobby the Parliament. Have 
them call the deputies. Have the firemen you helped call the deputies. Then have 
them hold demonstrations in Rika Chorna Province and here in the capitol. Make 
sure you get the press involved. You do all that, and you'll get that reform 
passed."

"I don't think they do things that way around here."

"Probably not. That's why, the first time there is a real public relations campaign 
to make some changes it'll be such a shock that it'll shake things up. I'd bet, 
maybe once the public gets used to nagging the Parliament over things they want, 
things in this country might change and the system won't be so stuffy."

"Well, you ought to talk to Spokesman Dukov about it…see what he thinks."

That night Cindy had dinner at Dukov's house. She discussed her ideas at length 
with Kim's Spokesman, who listened with interest.

"You suggest what you call a 'public relations campaign'. You will understand 
public pressure is not the normal manner of conducting political policy in our 
country, but I presume in this case, such a concept might indeed prove successful. 
You are correct about public sentiment. At no time in our country's history have 
people had such a favorable opinion of criminals."

During the weeks following Cindy's departure, that conversation would put new 
life into Vladim Dukov's ambitions to reform Upper Danubia's corporal 
punishment system. Whenever he had any spare time, Dukov was on the phone, 
talking to anyone who had been helped over the summer by Danube City's 
criminals. He called the religious leaders of Rika Chorna Province and obtained 
their full backing for the reform. On Sundays, in churches throughout the 
province, priests exhorted their followers to contact Parliament and pressure 
deputies to pass Dukov's reforms. The nation's fire chiefs told their firemen to 
support the reform, as did the Danubian Forest Service and the Directorate of the 
Rika Chorna Reservoir. Within just a couple of weeks, Dukov found himself on 
national television giving a joint press conference with the governor of Rika 
Chorna Province and the Chief of the National Fire Department. Together the 
three officials exhorted the need for a judicial system that would protect criminals 
by standardizing corporal punishments and enforcing limits on how a police 
officer could treat a criminal during a court-ordered switching. They had the 
backing of a large segment of the population, while the opponents of the reforms 
had to stay quiet or face the wrath of the people of Rika Chorna Province.

----------

Cindy was on-hand to watch Upper Danubia's bizarre "Day of the Dead" ritual 
during her week in Upper Danubia. She and Anyia followed Kim and her friends 
to the plaza in front of the Temple of the Ancients the afternoon before the march. 
Kim's sister and the teenager stood among the spectators as Kim and 2,600 other 
criminals had their bodies painted and received torches. As the sun set there was 
the usual mournful singing, the ancient hymns begging the Saints/Ancients to get 
Upper Danubia through the coming dark days of winter. There was the usual 
sermon admonishing the country for not having given proper respect to the past, 
and the usual prayer hoping the dead might have a chance to return to life and 
ward off evil through the living bodies of the marchers. 

Once the marchers began filing towards the river, Cindy followed Anyia back to 
Dukov's house on Kim's bicycle. Upon her arrival at his home, Vladim gave 
Kim's sister a black robe and a long black shirt to put on underneath. Once she 
was changed Cindy then followed the Dukovs and Vladik’s future in-laws to a 
small local church for a service, then out to the dark road where the marchers 
would be passing by. She knelt with the Dukovs, noting that her host and his son 
seemed lost in their prayers. The whole affair still had a veneer of Christianity, 
but Cindy could see how quickly Upper Danubia was returning to its Pagan roots. 
Upper Danubia was supposed to be a Christian country and still was very 
religious, but not in a way that would be acceptable to most Western churches.

After the marchers passed, Cindy accompanied the Dukovs to the Plaza of the 
Ancients for the religious ceremonies to be held during the day while the 
marchers were resting. To Cindy the Day of the Dead was strange beyond belief; 
leaving her with the feeling she somehow had jumped out of the 21st Century and 
gone back several millennia in time.

As she stood in a sea of painted bodies waiting to move out, Criminal # 98945 felt 
very agitated, almost scared. Her dark eyes shifted back and forth nervously and 
her heart raced as she wondered why on earth she couldn't calm down. Once she 
started moving along the river, the uneasy feeling Kim briefly experienced 
towards the end of her march last year came back early, and came back full force. 
As much as she tried to concentrate on simply moving forward, images flashed 
through her mind. She saw Susan lying dead in the morgue in Prague, as clearly 
as if she had been there herself. She could see Tiffany in an alley, brutally being 
beaten in a drug deal gone bad. She could see Malka Chorno's younger sister, 
dumped in an unmarked grave on the outskirts of some Middle Eastern city. She 
saw the images of villagers in Rika Chorna province, dying in the forest fires as 
they tried to save their livestock. The visions became stranger and stranger, as 
Kim's imagination moved into the past and into the future. She saw Vladim 
Dukov, slightly older than he was now, speaking from the steps of the Parliament 
building to thousands of chanting supporters. However, the strangest image 
running through Kim's mind was seeing Tiffany on trial in the Central 
Courthouse, in the prisoner's stance and tears running down her face. Was that the 
future? Was the image something that should have happened but didn't?

The images vanished from Kim's mind in a flash, leaving her with the shock of 
seeing the pre-dawn light and the other line of marchers approaching from the 
opposite direction. The entire night had passed without Kim realizing it. The 
marchers moved into the campground, ate, and settled down on army cots. 

Kim lay down next to Sergekt but she couldn't get to sleep. Finally she walked out 
to the edge of the tents and saw a lone painted figure among the trees, 
contemplating the quiet countryside. It was Malka Chorno. Kim walked up to the 
woman and stood next to her, trying hard to control her feelings of uneasiness and 
discomfort. For a long time neither criminal said anything, but both realized they 
would not be able to leave without talking. Anyhow, Kim had something she 
needed to tell Malka.

"Malka, I…saw some things last night, during the march. Weird stuff, most of it 
not very pleasant."

"That's why they have us do this, Kimberly Lee. They send us out to let the dead 
see the world though us."

"So…do you believe in this whole thing, the march and all this about the spirits?"

"I don't know what to believe, Kimberly Lee. I don't. If you would have asked me 
three months ago, I could have told you very clearly what I thought about things, 
about life. Not now. I don't even know who I am, so how can I answer that 
question, 'what do I believe?'"

For a long time they stood silent, as Kim worked up her courage to tell her 
companion about what she saw during the march. She knew she had to tell Malka; 
she wouldn't have had that vision and then run into her if it were not absolutely 
necessary to share that image with her former nemesis. Finally Kim spoke.

"I…saw…I…Malka, do you know whatever happened to your sister?"

"My sister? How do you know about my sister, Kimberly Lee?"

"Vladik Dukov told me about you a couple of days before you punished me in 
July. I asked him, because I wanted to understand…why you hated me so much. 
So he told me about the white slavery ring, and showed me some newspaper 
articles. According to the articles your sister got sent out of Upper Danubia and 
your government never found her."

"Yes, it is true that we weren't able to find my sister. We found four others and 
got them home, but we couldn't find her. I imagine that's because she didn't 
survive."

"She didn't. Last night, when I was walking, I saw a whole bunch of stuff. Among 
all that I saw what they did to her…your sister, that is. There was this grave, real 
shallow, out in the desert, near a dirt road and some sheds. That's where she ended 
up. That's what I saw."

Malka sadly nodded. There was no arguing with the Maragana Girl. She and Kim 
would not have ended up standing together had the American's destiny not been to 
relay the dreadful information.

"At least I know the truth, Kimberly Lee. Now the question is settled in my own 
mind, and now I owe you yet another debt in life."

"You don't owe me anything. Nothing. Just…when you get your badge back…"

Malka shook her head.

"I'm not sure I want my badge back, Kimberly Lee. Maybe…maybe I want to 
become someone else, do something else. Leave the police work to another 
person. I don't know what I want right now."

Kim sadly patted Malka on the shoulder. She then left the former cop standing 
alone as she re-entered the tent area to find Sergekt. She looked back to see 
Malka's white painted figure curled up in a kneeling position on the ground. The 
ex-police officer was sobbing quietly and pulling at her hair.

Kim was not sure whether she had done the right thing by sharing her vision with 
Malka. However, as in all other aspects of her personal relationship with her 
former nemesis, Kim really felt she had no choice. She felt driven by forces she 
could not even begin to understand.

----------

The march ended the following morning in the exact same way it ended the year 
before, with the dead silence suddenly shattered by hundreds of church bells and 
thousands of singing voices as the criminals marched down Danube City's main 
street towards the Plaza of the Ancients. The marchers heaved their torches into a 
huge bonfire and made their way into the Danube River to rinse off death and 
return to the world of the living. Later in the day, after the criminals were 
properly cleaned up, they lined up in front of the Central Police Station to receive 
their winter boots and capes.

The mood in the plaza contrasted with the cheerfulness during the spring, when 
the criminals were turning in their capes. For one thing, no criminal looked 
forward to the onset of winter. For another, the Day of the Dead was a time in 
which every Danubian, and especially every criminal, was called upon to 
contemplate the meaning of life and its brevity. Many of the criminals had 
experienced visions during their march that left them spiritually shaken. 

Kim said goodbye to her friends and found her sister, who was waiting with 
Anyia on the outskirts of the plaza. Kim and Cindy chatted in English, while 
Anyia flirted with a young criminal who looked like he was still in high school. 
Kim ignored what was going on with Dukov's teenager, since she and the girl had 
an unspoken understanding that neither would tell Vladim about anything the 
other was doing. Kim instead concentrated on telling Cindy about her strange 
experiences during the first night of the march and her conversation with Malka 
Chorno. Her thoughts went back to Tiffany and the image of her former friend 
lying horribly beaten in a dirty alley, somewhere in the US. 

Later that afternoon Kim got cleaned up to go to the Socrates Club with her 
friends. She felt bad about leaving Cindy alone with the Dukovs, but the night 
after the Day of the Dead celebration was an important night for criminals to get 
together. Cindy shocked Kim with her reaction.

"Kim, I got a question. Could I see this famous Socrates Club of yours? You've 
shown me everything else in your life, but I'd like to see that club."

"You can't."

"Why not? Didn't you tell me that former criminals could go as well? And also 
boyfriends and girlfriends? If not everyone there is a criminal, why can't I go?"

"Well, you could go, but I'm sure you wouldn't want to. They don't allow clothes 
in there. They're very strict about that rule, because they want everyone to be 
equal as a criminal."

"And if I don't wear my clothes, I can go?"

"Uh...well...yeah, but I can't picture that you..."

Cindy paused nervously. She swallowed and continued: "I want to see it, Kim. I 
want to see what you do with your friends. I want to see that part of your life. I'm 
willing to take off my clothes if they'll let me in."

"Well, uh, OK...if you think you can handle it, you can come with us. I'd be glad 
to have you. I'll get you a visitor's pass to get you through the door and a bag to 
put your stuff in."

That night Cindy Lee accompanied her sister, Sergekt, Eloisa, and about 10 other 
naked criminals to the door of the Socrates Club. Cindy was the only person in the 
group wearing any clothing, which made her feel very uneasy while she was still 
on the street. As they entered the Club's reception area Kim handed Cindy a cloth 
bag. Cindy took a deep breath, sighed nervously, and started stripping. Within a 
minute she was completely naked, except for her jewelry. Kim pointed out the 
jewelry had to come off as well, since jewels were an indicator of social status 
and as prohibited as clothing. Once everything was off Cindy's body and in the 
cloth bag, Kim signed a claim ticket and handed the bag to the club's doorman. 
With that, Kim’s sister, now as naked as her companions, entered the main area of 
the club and sat at the group's usual table.

At first Cindy was horribly uneasy, being naked in public for the first time in her 
life. She was dumbstruck at the sight of hundreds of other naked bodies, male and 
female, mostly young but a few middle-aged patrons as well. However, within a 
few minutes the visitor got used to her strange situation. In the end she felt more 
comfortable without her clothing than she would have had she kept her clothes on. 
There was not a single dressed person in a room full of about 350 patrons and 
staff. Cindy's body drew some attention because of her tan-lines from wearing a 
swimsuit in the US, but she was well received by Danubian criminals eager to 
meet her and try out their English. Sergekt helped break the ice by asking Cindy 
to dance. Once they saw Kim's sister on the dance floor with one of their 
companions, other male criminals eagerly sought her out for dances and 
conversation. By the end of the evening Cindy was fully accepted as a client of 
the Club, in spite of her strange tan-marks and lack of a collar. It was obvious 
several patrons were attracted to Kimberly Lee’s sister, something that deeply 
flattered her.

Cindy went home two days after her debut at the Socrates Club. As Kim stood at 
the final trolley stop within the Danube City collar-zone to say goodbye, Cindy 
promised: "I'll be back at the end of next June. I want to watch that ceremony 
when you get your collar off."

"What about Mom and Dad? Do you think you can get them to come?"

"I don't know. But I'll be here, whether they come or not."

Cindy Lee had deeply enjoyed herself on this trip, especially towards the end. 
Kim could tell that her sister's second trip to Upper Danubia had changed her 
outlook considerably and broadened her vision of what was possible in life. She 
hugged Cindy goodbye and watched her depart with Vladim Dukov on the next 
trolley headed to the airport.

----------

The weekend after Cindy's departure Sergekt hatched his plot to catch Kim on her 
bicycle and give her a sound spanking. The day was perfect for such an outing, 
still plenty warm for a late September afternoon. The two criminals rode the bike-
lane that paralleled the Danube River, and then turned inland to go to his mother's 
garden. Sergekt suggested a new route, which Kim readily agreed to explore.

Kim was in a very naughty mood. She shamelessly teased her boyfriend by lifting 
up in her bicycle seat and stretching her bottom seductively as she pedaled her 
fancy mountain bike. She then raced ahead, leaving him gasping for breath as he 
tried to catch up on his more primitive Danubian model. When Kim noticed that 
Sergekt seemed not to be trying so hard to catch her, she teased him all that much 
more. As he came close to catching up, she darted ahead; passing a small dirt side 
trail that did not catch her attention. Kim rode so fast that she didn't notice 
Sergekt no longer was behind her. She sped around a long curve that overlooked a 
forest-park, and finally noticed he was not in sight. Kim shrugged her shoulders, 
thinking she must have really outpaced him this time, and casually rode down the 
trail at a leisurely pace. She rounded another corner that was obscured by trees. 
Her heart stopped when she saw Sergekt standing in the middle of the trail, his 
arms crossed and his bicycle blocking the path. So...he had out-witted her. Now 
she was caught, and would have to pay with a sore bottom.

Kim's heart raced and she was wet between her legs. She was totally aroused; 
thrilled that he had been able to catch her after-all. He would punish her bratty 
behavior with a long, slow, sensuous spanking. Then, once Kim's emotions were 
fully aroused, the best part would come, the release through passionate 
lovemaking.

Sergekt grabbed Kim's hand, lovingly but firmly. She had been teasing him every 
time they had gone bicycle riding, making fun of his inferior bike. Now she was 
outwitted and caught. He kissed her, but then patted her bottom with a warning 
tap, letting her know what was coming. Kim nodded. "You got me. I guess my 
bottom is going to pay for my impudence?"

"That's right Kim. Park your fancy bike next to mine near that tree."

Kim complied, moving her bike off the path. Sergekt then took her hand and led 
her a few meters away from the main path up the shortcut. There was a park 
bench hidden in the bushes. Sergekt sat down and pulled Kim over his lap. For a 
long time she lay quietly as he gently caressed the flawless brown skin of her 
small shapely bottom. Sergekt lovingly patted Kim's bottom cheeks, but with a 
firm warning to comply with his next instruction.

"Spread you legs a little and lift your bottom up."

Kim obeyed, feeling the cool autumn breeze caress her exposed bottom-hole and 
vagina. The combined physical sensations and the tension of the impending 
spanking drove Kim wild with anticipation.

"Kim, you're 20 in a couple of weeks. That means a birthday spanking. But since 
you were so naughty to me on your bicycle, that will be a complete birthday 
spanking on each side of your bottom, plus another for your whole bottom. How 
many birthday spankings is that?"

"Three. Three good hard spankings on my poor bottom! I guess I really have been 
naughty, to deserve three whole birthday spankings!"

"That's right. Maybe you'll think twice about waving your cute behind at me when 
you're speeding on that fancy bicycle of yours."

"Hmm. Maybe, but I doubt it." With that Kim wiggled her bottom slightly.

Sergekt rested his hand on his partner’s right bottom-cheek. He lifted his hand up 
and delivered a slap, one that wasn't all that hard. The feeling was just right. He 
slapped again on the other side. Slowly he spanked, alternating between Kim's 
bottom cheeks and gradually increasing the severity of the swats.

Kim's bottom was only slightly reddened at the end of her first birthday spanking. 
She felt a warm comfortable sting coming from her rear-end, and an extreme 
arousal radiating from between her legs. Sergekt knew her, and knew what she 
needed. The spanking would move from playful to sensuous to severe. Sergekt 
had allowed himself 60 slaps to build up Kim's arousal, although if he felt she 
needed more, he was ready to sentence her to yet another birthday spanking.

SLAP!… SLAP!… SLAP!… SLAP!… SLAP!… SLAP!…

The spanking grew louder and louder as Sergekt picked up the force of his slaps 
in the second part of Kim's punishment. She gasped and moaned, as the increasing 
heat in her bottom transformed itself into increasing arousal. Kim was so excited 
that Sergekt could smell her, even in the open area with the breeze blowing 
around them. She bit her lip as tears and sweat ran down her face.

Kim released control of her body to Sergekt. As he slapped harder and harder, he 
carefully gauged the effect his swats were having on his girlfriend. He took her to 
a level of pleasure she never before had experienced, through the sharp physical 
sensation of her punished bottom. Kim trusted him fully and surrendered 
completely. Kim was so aroused she was almost tormented, but she wanted to feel 
that torment, that wild mix of moderate pain and extreme pleasure.

At the end of the 40th slap Sergekt gently massaged Kim's swelling bottom, 
which by now was quite red. Kim groaned with pleasure, as she felt Sergekt's 
hand rubbing her bottom through the sting of her spanked skin. He slipped his 
hand between her legs, but tease and torment her, not to give her any relief. Kim 
would have to wait until the 60th swat before she could expect any release of her 
sexual tension.

Sergekt rested his hand on Kim's bottom for a few seconds. "Happy Birthday, 
Kim."

SLAP!… SLAP!… SLAP!… SLAP!… SLAP!… SLAP!…

Sergekt struck quite hard for the final part of Kim's spanking. There was much 
more of an element of punishment in the final set of slaps than there had been 
during the first two sets. By now Kim was experiencing some serious pain, but 
psychologically she was ready, and pain was what she wanted. As the tears 
flowed down her face, Kim felt the emotional release she so desperately needed. 
However, as Sergekt came to the end of the third set, he delivered the final several 
swats more gently, allowing Kim to wind down a bit before the spanking actually 
ended. He began rubbing and massaging Kim more and more, and finally slipped 
his hand between her legs again. Kim closed her eyes and concentrated on the 
intense sensations coming from her bottom and her clitoris. Somehow the pain 
from her bottom and the gentle teasing of Sergekt's fingertips on the most intimate 
part of her body went together, along with the gentle rustling of the leaves in the 
forest and the cool breeze blowing against her body, to give Kim a sensation of 
sexual and physical bliss.

Sergekt kissed Kim's bottom. He leaned over and kissed her shoulders. Finally he 
motioned her to get up. He took her hand and guided her behind the bench. He 
had Kim bend over the back of the bench, placing her hands on the seat. Kim 
spread her legs and arched her back, completely exposing herself to her lover; 
putting her red bottom and wet vagina on full display. Kim wanted to surrender 
herself completely, to let Sergekt do what he wanted with her body. She wanted 
him to take her.

Sergekt entered Kim. He thrust hard, grabbing her breasts with his hands. He 
squeezed her nipples hard between his fingers as he massaged Kim's chest. Kim 
groaned and thrust her head back, as she pressed her bottom backward to get him 
even further inside her. He thrust hard, with force. The thrusts bordered on 
painful, but they were enough to give Kim deep satisfaction as her lover pressed 
into her. Kim climaxed and almost blacked out, it felt so good. Sweat poured 
down Sergekt's body as he pushed into Kim's body over and over. He held back 
with his orgasm as long as he could, wanting to relish the feel of Kim's body and 
the sight of her sweaty back and reddened bottom. Finally he was forced to 
release into her, as she groaned and climaxed yet again.

Sergekt pulled out of Kim, but she was so exhausted she remained bent over the 
back of the bench. He fought to regain his breath as he admired his lover's body. 
Finally he drew her to him and sat with her on the bench. She cuddled in his arms, 
although she moved a bit from the discomfort of sitting on her still sore bottom.

Sergekt felt deeply satisfied with life at that moment as he looked down at his 
lover. Kim's heart belonged to him. She was his, the woman with whom he would 
share his life. He was totally satisfied with her. Kim was a partner with whom he 
could play and share his sexual fantasies.

Kim looked up at Sergekt with a very naughty expression.

"I'm still going to tease you on my bike, and don't think you're going to catch me 
here again. So I think my bottom will be pretty safe for a while."

"We'll see. Of course when I do finally catch you again you'll get a nice rough 
spanking. We'll have all afternoon."

"Well, you have to catch me first, and I don't see how that's going to happen."

Sergekt patted his lover's bottom. "That sounds like a challenge to me, and I 
always am up for a good challenge. Your bottom will pay for your impudence, 
Kim."

Kim pinched Sergekt's chest hard and smiled mischievously. "I still have the 
faster bike, so don't get your hopes up."

Of course, they both knew that someday Sergekt would figure out how to catch 
Kim again. Once he did, she would end up with another sore bottom. Kim wanted 
that more than anything, but she had no intention of making it easy for Sergekt. 
After all, she was quite a brat.