'Bred, Part II

With Tom

“Aunt Gloria had... eccentricities,” fiancé Tom soberly tries to explain.

“That’s because she was rich. With a surfeit of cash and living on her own island in the middle of the ocean. Anyone else would be termed insane... crazy... it’s lunacy Tom,” Lesley retorts. “You never told me of this,” her tone somewhat heated.

“You must agree... it’s difficult to explain,” Tom avoiding eye contact by continuing to unpack in the sizable guest bedroom. “I know you’re not comfortable here... not right now. But the weather is ideal... the beaches spotless... the water warm. So I thought you’d enjoy a little vacation while I... ah... deal with a few things. We’ll sell the place. Exotic private islands have a certain cache with the super rich.”

“You’re not left short of funds, are you Tom, paying down the estate debts?”

Tom laughs, shaking his head.

“There are no debts. Only a fat brokerage account and this island home. Just thought you’d not want to be married at a...”

“Man who owns naked women?”

“Inherited, Lesley. And there’s now only one... and she’s not owned.”

“She’s locked in a cell... crawling about... fed from a tube!”

“It’s best for her. She’s here of her own volition... in a way.”

Lesley pauses, letting herself cool down. The serendipity of the situation again repeats in her mind. Rich! Instant wealth... potential instant wealth should the engagement ultimately lead to marriage. Don’t blow it, she tells herself.

Tom uses the moment of reflection to bring reason.

“Look, you’ve met Jasmine... for a moment or two. I’ll have Mia instruct her to talk. You can walk her... she likes that.”

“On a leash? Naked?” Lesley gasps.

The expression of annoyance with her questions is of course feigned. Mia has already so suggested.

“It’s... sort of... ingrained is the best way to describe it. And there is no one who will see. You can barely see the next island on the horizon. Just be gentle...”

“You’re too familiar with the bizarre state of affairs here, Tom. You spent summer school breaks here, yet you never mentioned anything. I can only imagine what a hormone suffused teenaged boy would be doing on a island of naked women.”

Tom has difficulty cloaking his chagrined smile.

“It was... enlightening,” he meekly admits. “But it can also bring exhilaration, Lesley... to a degree... having a being so dependent... in such need... of nurturing... of being cared for,” Tom waxing, his voice calming. 

Lesley is speechless. Tom pushes closed a dresser drawer and steps to give his prospective bride a hug.

“And Jasmine will remain having needs. And I am again in power... now to decide what do to with her.”

Lesley returns the embrace, Tom’s words bringing thought.

What is one to do about a naked apparently uneducated, hideously fattened woman of indeterminate age who finds little compunction about being held in a cage?

“Got some tea ready,” Mia calls out from a well shaded open aired porch.

Tom inwardly sighs in relief. Contention over for now.

“So over a nice cool drink you can explain that machine... the one in the cell block... with all the tubes. Were those suction cups, Tom?”