The Outsider
Copyright 2009 by EC
EC's Erotic Art & Fiction - http://www.ecgraphicarts.com/
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(warnings: language, adult themes, public nudity, sex between adults)

Chapter 3 - Mike's evening

Mike changed into one of his political t-shirts and left the Parking Enforcement
office. He walked to the political science building, enjoying a cool October breeze
that carried a hint of the nearby Pacific Ocean.

His mind wandered to Chicago, where he had been studying the year before. I
guess that’s one thing Davenport has over Chicago, he thought to himself: it’s still
nice here and it’s already getting cold there.

He remained in a moderately upbeat mood until he ran across a sight that was
totally offensive to his eyes: a huge fast-food sign that featured a cartoon face of a
clown stuffing a whole hamburger into his mouth. Accompanying the picture was
the slogan:

Mega-Burgers – the biggest.

Feed your face with the very best rainforest beef!

The sign topped the new Mega-Burger franchise that had just opened on campus.
Mike’s political group had fought and protested to keep Mega-Burger from
defiling the Davenport campus with their presence, but to no avail. Mega-Town
Associates, the holding company that owned Mega-Burger, had bribed the Board
of Trustees, no doubt. Most of the students clearly had not wanted Mega-Burger
on the grounds of the university, but like it or not, here they were.

Mega-Burgers – the biggest. The biggest…yes, everything in the US has to be the
biggest…big, cheap, and fast. What a disgusting country we’ve turned into. That
clown says it all…big, cheap, fast…and if it’s not sustainable, so much the better.
To hell with resources. To hell with the rainforest. To hell with the planet. If
disgusting clowns can stuff their faces on signs, isn’t that what the free market is
all about? Why have unspoiled resources when we can have that hideous clown
stuffing his face? That’s freedom, after-all. Freedom. Yes…yes…the land of the
free, with an ugly clown to represent it.

Mike’s bitterness against corporate America matched that of Ruthie against
religion. He had a particular grudge against Mega-Town Associates. His father
used to own a Santa Cruz drug store that had been in the family for three
generations and Mike had expected to inherit the business and run it just like his
father and grandfather ran it. In high school he took as many science classes as he
could to prepare himself to get a pharmacy degree. His ambitions were modest; all
he wanted to do was continue with his father’s path in life and serve the
community. Mega-Town Associates killed that dream the year that he was a
junior in high school.

Sinclair Pharmacy was doing fine right up to the moment that Mega-Town
Associates muscled their way into the family’s neighborhood. The company built
a Mega-Mart that within a year put all the local stores out of business. Once the
Mega-Mart had accomplished its task and ruined the neighborhood, the company
abruptly closed it and opened a more centrally located store in Watsonville. As
was true for so many other neighborhoods, the sole purpose of opening the Mega-
Mart in Mike’s neighborhood was to eliminate competition. The company never
had any intention of staying there permanently.

Mr. Sinclair spent Mike’s senior year in high school looking for work and finally
managed to get a job as the manager of a Fast-Mart. Now the family was horribly
indebted because of that year of unemployment and also because Mr. Sinclair had
taken a second mortgage on the house so that Mike and his older sister could
finish college. Over the summer Mike’s father openly explained:

“I don’t want either of you to borrow a cent. Not one cent. If you need something,
ask me and I’ll get it for you. When both of you get your degrees, I’m going to
give you the chance to take whatever you want out of the house. Then I’m gonna
declare bankruptcy. Lose everything, but it won’t matter because you two will be
done with college with no debt. I’m the one who’s gonna have to liquidate. I don’t
have any choice. With my salary we’re gonna lose the house anyway, but I’m
gonna get you two through college before it happens. That’s my end of the deal.
Your end of the deal is when your mom and me lose the house, you take care of
us. I wish I could give you something more, but I can’t. Mega-Mart put us under.”

The financial death watch of Mike’s parents continued. They were slowly
declining and their debts were mounting. Since he knew that he was going to lose
everything anyway, Mr. Sinclair wanted to borrow as much money as possible
before his house went into foreclosure. The American dream was dead for him,
and the only thing he could do was try to get revenge against the system by
making sure his house was worth far less than what he owed on paper, to make
the lenders lose as much money on him as possible.

----------

Mike had a class that started at 6:00. The schedule was very fortunate for him,
because it allowed him to work an uninterrupted shift with the Parking
Department and still take a full load of classes.

The class was a large introductory course given in a lecture hall that held 200
students. At the door, he met up with a couple of classmates and the group found
some seats together. Unlike Ruthie, Mike did have a few friends on campus. For
the most part they were people like himself that he had met in the course of his
political activities.

Had Mike been honest with himself, “friends” probably was not the best way to
describe the people with whom he hung out. More accurately they could be
described as friendly acquaintances. Mike and the people with whom he
associated were drawn together because of circumstances and common interests,
not out of any deep emotional commitment. The relationships were the sort that
co-workers had, the sort that would end the moment someone in the group moved
on with his or her life.

Still, Mike was much luckier than Ruthie. He did not have to face the humiliation
of eating by himself in the cafeteria or sitting alone in class. He did have some
activities in which he could participate and a group to which he could claim
membership. If he wanted to see a movie or get some pizza for example, chances
were that he could get someone to go with him.

Because the class was given in a large lecture hall, there was very little
participation from students. Probably just as well, thought Mike to himself.
Maybe Ruthie’s right. Maybe I really do need to tone it down. Maybe…people
just aren’t that interested in anything I have to say. With that self-doubt filled his
mind.

----------

An hour later Mike and his two classmates had left the political science building
and were on their way to a meeting of the Danubian Solidarity Committee, which
was a protest movement directed against the Sinclairs’ nemesis Mega-Town
Associates.

Back in April the obscure little country of Danubia made international headlines
by thwarting an armed attempt by Mega-Town to take over its government. The
Danubians completely defeated Mega-Town mercenaries and captured the
majority of the people participating in the coup. The Danubian debacle was the
biggest set-back that Mega-Town had ever suffered, and it only got worse for the
company when the leaders of the coup were put on trial the following month. A
torrent of negative publicity flooded the news as the Danubians released captured
documents and exposed in detail what Mega-Town had planned for their country
once it was taken over.

What happened during the sentencing of the coup plotters was yet another
humiliation for the Mega-Town. The coup plotters, instead of being executed,
were sentenced to a uniquely Danubian punishment called “life without honor”.
The convicts were stripped, collared, and officially converted into property. Each
convict was “presented” to a breed sow. The sows were given Danubian
citizenship so they could be the formal custodians of the criminals assigned to
serve them. Each convicted coup plotter would have to spend the rest of his life
catering to the needs of a pig, to include washing and sleeping with the animal. It
was a sentence to a lifetime of insult and degradation. In the country’s culture it
was infinitely better to be executed than to serve “life without honor”.

When the trial ended and the sentences were passed, the local spectators chanted
in Danubian:

“The Pig is your Mistress! Serve her well! … The Pig is your Mistress! Serve her
well!”

That single phrase changed the tone of the global protest movement against
Mega-Town Associates, because it provided a recognizable slogan for anyone
who hated the company. Across the US activists started wearing t-shirts with
“The Pig is your Mistress! Serve her well!” and the slogan was common on
bumper stickers and protest signs.

Mike owned several t-shirts with the slogan. Wearing them gave him some
confidence that he had been lacking for a very long time. The slogan was his
proof that Mega-Town was not invincible, that already they had suffered a major
defeat.

----------

The meeting lasted past 9:00. Mike had entered in a good mood, but as one hour
dragged into two and the conversation meandered around meaningless arguments,
his confidence faded and he began to wonder to himself:

“How much good are we doing? Here we are, claiming to support Danubia’s fight
against MTA, but really, what does it have to do with us? The only reason we’re
even calling ourselves the Danubian Solidarity Committee is because it was the
Danubians that did what we couldn’t. So we fantasize and live vicariously
through what they did. And we all sit around talking useless bullshit, and we can’t
so much as keep that fucking clown restaurant off our campus.”

Suddenly he excused himself from the meeting and went outside.

The clown on the sign, with his moronic yet evil eyes and his mouth full of “the
very best rainforest beef”, stared at Mike as he exited the Student Center. For a
second that image seemed to come alive …the hideous apparition that would
consume and consume until nothing was left of the earth. Mike jumped back,
totally startled. When he looked again the clown’s face was back to normal.

This is it…we, the humans, and the planet, are coming to the end. We will
consume and be consumed until nothing is left. Mega-Town will take over
everything, and they will destroy everything.

----------

Having given up on his political group for the night, Mike decided to hit the
library before he went back to his dorm room. A group of sorority girls and
pledges passed by, giving him about as much recognition as they would give a
light post. The sight of their bleached hair and fake tits offended Mike every bit as
much as the Mega Burger sign. Stupid bitches…well, you’re all gonna get some
nice parking tickets tomorrow. Mike totally hated sororities and everything they
represented. His hatred was visceral: the very sight of sorority letters stirred up
fantasies of bombed sorority houses and burnt-out BMW’s. He felt the same way
about fraternities, but towards sororities he felt particular bitterness. The reason
was straightforward enough: his ex-girlfriend had joined a sorority over the
summer and now was a full-blown member…actually an officer…in a Chicago
chapter called the Four-Betas. Lisa Campbell, a girl he had dated all through high
school…leaving him and joining a sorority…for someone like Mike that was the
ultimate insult. He thought he knew her, but obviously he didn’t.

Throughout his years in high school, Mike had dated Lisa; a girl who he admired
for being intelligent and strong-willed. They were classmates in school and were
inseparable. At the beginning she was not much to look at, a tall gangly girl with
bad acne. Later she developed into a stunning beauty. She was shy at first, but she
and Mike liked each other. That commitment grew into intense love within a year.
They were with each other to the point they excluded everyone else. The couple
even had a nickname in school: the football crowd called them “the dork twins”.
They didn’t care. They ate together, studied together, took classes together
whenever it possible, and went out together. They hiked and went to the beaches.
Their favorite spot was a nude beach that was almost within walking distance of
Davenport. None of their classmates went to that beach, but that was fine. They
had their privacy and their time with each other.

At age 16 Mike and Lisa started having sex at her house. It was the first time for
both of them. They already were skinny dipping in her pool after school got out.
They started seriously making out on a lawn chair in her back yard and exploring
each other’s bodies. Finally, on a lovely sunny afternoon, they worked up the
courage to “go all the way”. She lay on her back on her lawn and he thrust into
her. When they were finished, she did a strange thing. Several times she dipped
her finger into the blood coming out of her vagina and drew stripes on Mike’s
face.

“You’re my warrior, my love, and I’m yours. I will always be yours.”

She had given him the most precious thing she had, her virginity. That afternoon
Mike knew that he was blessed, to have someone as lovely and as loving as Lisa
for his partner. Yes, she would always be mine…

Well, that sure didn’t work out, did it?

----------

Lisa’s true personality did not show until they had graduated and went to Chicago
to take advantage of cheaper tuition. They had several strange adventures during
that fall semester, the weirdest of which was being conned by their dorm’s
Resident Advisor to participate in a 10-K nude marathon. They spent most of a
Saturday completely naked in front of 50,000 spectators, not just during the run,
but also before and after. Mike was very happy to get dressed when the whole
thing was over, but the experience changed Lisa. She became an exhibitionist and
her behavior started being flamboyant and aggressive. She was increasingly
restless and bored with him as the semester wore on.

By December, Mike realized that his relationship with Lisa was in serious trouble.
He blamed the different environment in Chicago and worried about the influence
of their friends on her behavior, especially the influence of their RA. The solution
was very simple: he and Lisa needed to return to California and forget about
Chicago. Mike had a friend working in the admissions department in the
University of California in Berkeley who walked him through what he needed to
put on his application to be accepted, and what the procedure was for transferring
the Chicago credits. Mike eagerly made the arrangements for himself and filled
out Lisa’s paperwork as well. All she had to do was sign and they could forget
about Chicago.

When they returned to Santa Cruz for Christmas vacation, there was a lot of
tension between the couple. They celebrated Christmas Eve with his parents and
the following day had Christmas dinner with her mother. Lisa was very tensed up
during the meal and barely spoke to him.

The next day Mike decided to tell his girlfriend about the arrangements he had
made with the admissions department in Berkeley. He told her that he had re-
applied to study in California and this time expected to get in. In the meantime he
would take community college classes in Santa Cruz. He told Lisa to resubmit her
application as well, that he had done her the favor of filling it out and was sure it
would be accepted. Lisa responded:

“That’s real nice, except there’s one problem. I don’t want to go to Berkeley. And
I don’t want to sit on my ass taking community college classes until next fall.
Fuck that!”

“Well, I don’t want to go back to Chicago. I’ve told you that several times, and it
doesn’t seem you’re listening.”

“Who said anything about you going back to Chicago? I never said you needed to
go back there! You can do whatever you want, but don’t you go making
arrangements for my life behind my back! You can go to Berkeley, or Santa Cruz,
or wherever the fuck else you want to go, but I’m going back to Chicago! Tell
your friend in the admissions department to take my application and stick it up his
ass!”

“…and so you don’t give a damn about our future? About me or anything I want?
You’re telling me that Chicago’s more important than I am?”

“That’s right, Mike. That’s exactly what I’m telling you. Chicago’s more
important to me than you are.”

Mike’s expression changed. He looked dazed, as if he had been hit over the head
with a rock. He didn’t know what how to respond, because he had not expected
Lisa to be so blunt with him.

One of Mike’s good points was that he was never willing to do anything that he
thought would humiliate himself. He had backed himself into a corner, leaving
only two options. He could cave in, beg Lisa to forgive him, and meekly return to
Chicago, or get up and leave with the understanding they were breaking up. Either
way, as far as Lisa was concerned the relationship had ended. Mike realized that
as well, and did the one thing he could to salvage what was left of his dignity.
Without saying another word he walked out, knowing that he was leaving behind
the girl he had dated for the past four years.

----------

“Chicago’s more important to me than you are.” Mike was floored when Lisa said
that to him, so much so that at the moment he couldn’t even react. He stormed out
of the room, making a show of anger, but in reality he was devastated that she
could have said such a thing to him. At least he would not entertain any false hope
that someday he could get back together with her: he knew that she was gone
from his life permanently.

He drove out to the beach where he and Lisa had spent so much time when they
were in high school….only six months before when their relationship seemed like
it would last forever. It was getting dark, which was good for what he needed to
do. He sat alone on the wet sand for a couple of hours crying and mourning the
loss of the one person who gave him meaning in life. He had not cried for several
years and he was determined that no one would see his moment of weakness. He
would maintain his stoic façade to the world, but at least he could be honest with
himself.

Chicago’s more important than I am…more important…

----------

With that, Mike gave up on his plans to study in Berkeley. He put in a last-minute
application to study in Davenport for the spring semester, which to his surprise,
was accepted. He got his job with the Parking Department in February.

His initial reaction of shock and heartbreak eventually transformed itself into
anger and bitterness, not just against Lisa, but also against the world into which
she had immersed herself over the summer. A mutual acquaintance from Chicago
e-mailed him and mentioned that she had successfully pledged the Four Beta
Sorority. That news affected what he did at his job, because he made it a point to
target any car that boasted the markings of a “Greek” for special attention from
his ticketing machine.

He needed someone…someone who was different from that stupid bitch Lisa.
However, his luck with other women since she left him had been atrocious. He
was far too serious for most young women to find attractive. Ten months after the
breakup, Mike Sinclair was alone and his heart burned with resentment. He had
to face the hard truth what he was a loser with women and that Lisa Campbell was
the only chance that he ever would have for a relationship. Lisa was gone from his
life and there would be no other women for Mike Sinclair. No woman, no matter
how strange or how much of a loser she might be, was ever going to want to touch
him. Apparently that was a law of nature, something as unalterable as gravity.
Lisa Campbell was the exception…the one lucky shot he had at finding a partner.
That opportunity had come and gone. He had blown his only chance.

As he dwelt on Lisa, the lines of an old Queensrÿche song passed through his
thoughts:

I don't believe in love
I never have, I never will
I don't believe in love
I'll just pretend she never was real
I don't believe in love
I need to forget her face, I see it still
I don't believe in love
It's never worth the pain that you feel

Queensrÿche…Mike loved their music, even though their more famous songs
were at least 10 years old. He first heard of Queensrÿche on a station that featured
“classic” Metal from the 1980’s and 1990’s. Perhaps it was a trait of a loser to
listen to music that was not in the least bit current, but he didn’t care. The music
of Queensrÿche, which dwelt on alienation, anger, and loneliness, seemed to be
written directly for Mike Sinclair.

----------

Mike tried to cheer up as he wandered through the basement of the library,
looking for a couple of extra books that would give him the 10 sources he needed
as the minimum for a term paper. More BS, he thought to himself…these stupid
term papers. He knew how to play the game with term papers, however. There
wasn’t much to writing a term paper if one knew how to do it. Normally he used
two or three books to get his facts, and then picked a few quotes out of the others.
The extra two books would only be needed be for quotes, but he did have to
include them.

As he got ready to leave, Mike passed a table with an open backpack set next to a
pile of books. He recognized the backpack as the one belonging to his classmate
Ruthie Burns. Curiosity led him to examine the titles. Much to his surprise, most
of the books were in Spanish. There were two groups of titles: books that
appeared to be novels and books that were literature reviews.

He dared not touch what was on the table; for fear that Ruthie would catch him.
However, just by looking at the covers he could tell that her selection of books
was not the sort of literature that a freshman would be expected to read. This was
very dense reading, and in Spanish, not English. A worn syllabus laid among her
notes answered his question: the books were required reading for a third-year
class with the Spanish Department. That meant the Ruthie Burns, who was
enrolled in her first semester as a freshman, was taking at least one class at the
junior level. It also meant she was fluent in another language.

Mike walked past several shelves of books and saw his classmate thumbing
through a literature journal. She was engrossed in what she was doing and didn’t
notice him. He resisted the temptation to go back to her table and look through her
notebooks to find out more about her. Yes, there was no question that girl was
totally weird, but there also was no question that she was intelligent. He found her
fascinating.

----------

Mike returned to his dorm. When he opened the door to his room, the sight and
sounds that greeted him were the ones he expected. When he entered he could
hear explosions and the roars of electronic monsters. His roommate Todd was
sitting at the computer at his desk, playing an online video game. With a quick
single movement Todd put on a pair of headphones and plugged them into the
computer. He never took his eyes off the screen or missed a beat in his online
battle.

Mike briefly looked at what his roommate was doing. A monster’s head came off
and flew towards the viewer. There were a bunch of explosions and then Todd’s
character started bleeding. He reacted by quickly going through a menu and found
what he needed to restore his online self. Within seconds he was back in the
battle.

Todd would be at it all night, just as he was almost every night. Mike had read an
article about that game he was playing; that it was extremely addictive for serious
players because of a ranking system it used. There was no question that Todd had
a high rank in that game, but what was he sacrificing to keep it? He had no social
life, over the semester his physical health had deteriorated, and undoubtedly his
grades were suffering because very rarely had Mike seen him studying.

For a few minutes Mike watched his roommate. He was an addict, no doubt about
it. His life was as lost as that of a chronic gambler. Not that Mike cared that much
about Todd’s well-being, because the two students did not like each other, but he
did shake his head at the loss of yet another life to an activity that was a total
waste of time.

Finally he went to the men’s room to get cleaned up. When he returned to the
room, he took off his towel and got in bed. He was too tired to put anything on
and had decided to sleep naked, but Todd was too engrossed in his game to notice
or care. Mike covered his eyes with a pillow to block out the light from his
roommate’s computer. He still could hear the muffled sound effects of the online
battle through the headphones. The sound was very faint, but it was just enough to
totally irritate him.

Abruptly the battle sound stopped. Todd started swearing and desperately tried to
reconnect. He turned off his computer and rebooted, but to no avail. The campus
Internet must have gone down again. Poor Todd, he was out of the fight and
undoubtedly his ranking would suffer.

Mike smiled to himself in the darkness and fell asleep.