Winter Games

*****

'Boy that feels good' I thought to myself as I stood in front of the toilet emptying my bladder. I had been drinking beer all afternoon and had just been too lazy to get up to take care of the task until I really had no choice. As I stood there with my pecker in my hand, enjoying the relief that a good P Gives, I glanced through the gap in the curtains in front of the window.

"Oh crap!" I said, the thought traveling from my brain through my body to my penis which twitched at the notion. Outside across the street, I saw Augie and his daddy, each looking in my direction, although I knew they couldn't see me behind the curtains here. I had no doubt they knew exactly which room was mine, and from the way they were looking, I expected I would have a visit from them very quickly. That was not something that was going to happen, not if I had anything to do with it.

Augie and his daddy were a strange pair, yes they were father and son, each worked for Crazy Eddie. Eddie was a local loan shark and I owed him money. Yeah I know, it was stupid, not just the fact that I owed him money, but the fact that I was late. That was why the strange pair was looking for me, they were Eddie's leg breakers. I had needed some money a few weeks ago, $800 in fact, and at Eddie's interest rate of 25% per week, by now owed him almost double that. He had laughed when I suggested his interest rates were high, he said they were actually pretty reasonable if I compared them to some of his competitors. I had made the mistake of being late once before, and Augie and his dad had beat the crap out of me then.

As I stood there thinking, my pecker still in my hand and slowly dripping, I wondered exactly what to do. A brief thought flashed through my brain, I could just tell the two that it was really Eddie's fault, why had he loaned a credit risk like me real money? I thought that funny for a second, but doubted if the pair would understand the humor, and even if they did, their mission was to break my legs. I knew I could be sitting here with two legs already broken and they would just break them again. Deciding I needed to do something more proactively, I stuffed myself back into my pants, zipped up and thought quickly about what I needed to do.

I rented my room here by the week, so it wasn't as if I had a lot of attachment to it. I didn't own much either, I hadn't taken the time to collect a lot of crap since I did a lot of moving around. I had drifted from job to job and scheme to scheme ever since I got kicked out of high school at 17, the five years since seeming like forever. I looked around the room quickly and thought about what I might take, but in the end there really wasn't anything I was that attached to. Giving too much thought to this would only give them more time to get to my door before I could get out that same door. Fortunately, I knew my way around the building and there were several ways to get out other than just the front entrance. I went to the stairway and as I went through the door, I could hear heavy steps coming up. No doubt in my mind who that would be, I quietly went up two more flights and then out onto the roof. I didn't think it would take them long to figure out what had happened once they discovered I was not in my room, but by then I would be in the wind. Moving as quickly and as quietly as I could, I ran across the building, jump to the next and then the next before going down the fire escape and onto the ground. I knew that if I got a couple of blocks away, their chances of finding me easily would be greatly diminished. The evening commute was in full force and there were plenty of people around, people I could blend in with and hopefully get away with my legs still in one piece. I wasn't panicked, but I was concerned since I knew exactly what their intent was. After I had gone about six blocks, I started to relax and took the time to get off the street and into a coffee shop. I wasn't really looking to buy a cup of coffee, but once in the store I figured I'd better do something so I would not stand out, so asked the girl behind the counter for a small black coffee, to go. Coffee in hand, I went back toward the front of the store and carefully looked around to see if anyone might be looking for me out there on that street. I didn't see anyone, not that I really expected to, but over the years I had learned how to cover my tracks and to stay as invisible as possible.

For Now I had lost them, hopefully for good, but I knew that was unlikely and just kept moving. It wasn't long before I came to the city arena, I knew they played hockey and basketball in there, and had a number of other events. As I got close I got caught up in a crowd of people who were standing there waiting for the doors to open, I assumed something was going on tonight. I hadn't really intended to, but just then the doors opened and the crowd surged forward, carrying me with them. I tried not to be pushed along, but it was a losing cause and before I knew it I was inside and still being pushed toward the interior doors where attendants were taking tickets. I didn't have a ticket, hell I didn't even know what was going on. Still, I knew it was easier to go with the flow than try to fight the crowd, so just let myself be pushed forward and as a couple of guys in front of me handed a stack of tickets to the attendant, indicating they were part of a group, I motioned that I was in the group as well. The attendants were probably only minimally paid, they certainly were overwhelmed with the crowd, and he did not even count before nodding to me and motioning that I go ahead. Once inside the auditorium, I could see people streaming in through several other entrances and soon the place was close to being filled.

I moved to a place out of the way and tried to check it out. From the look of things, it didn't appear as though people had assigned seats, apparently there was general admission which was a good thing if I decided I needed to sit. Right now I wasn't worried about Augie and his daddy following me in, but I also wasn't sure that I just wanted to sit down and forget my troubles. I wandered around, realizing that most of the people were young as they looked for good seats and texted away on their phones. I could never understand that, but since I could never afford one of those smart phones anyway, maybe I would feel differently if I had actually been involved. After about 20 minutes of wandering, the lights went down and the crowd quieted some. Lights on the stage in the center of the floor came up bright and several guys came running out to grab their instruments which were pre-positioned on the stage. I hadn't even given it any thought, but apparently this was some sort of concert. There was a banner hanging above the stage, I assumed it was the name of the band, but nothing that I had ever heard of. They began tuning on their instruments and the crowd started chanting for them to get started, so I was certain the concert would begin momentarily. I was right and as the lead singer came out and took the mic the other band members picked up the beat and started playing. I wasn't a huge music fan, but I did listen to the radio every once in a while and this band was starting out with some of what people call classic rock these days. I recognized the first two songs and thought that the band wasn't half bad.

As the band got further into their set, the house lights went down even lower until the lights on the stage were the only illumination in the building. I could see the flare of matches and lighters and it wasn't long before the smell of something other than tobacco started permeating the entire auditorium. I had never gotten into drugs, grass or anything stronger, but the thought of it didn't bother me. Let them have a little fun, I guess that's what they were here for. As the band continued to play, I started looking more closely and realized that a number of women had wandered down right in front of the stage, dancing and undulating in time with the music. I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised about that, but not one of the women was wearing a shirt. I took a closer look, realizing that they were all pretty good-looking. As I watched, their number increased from what it originally been eight or nine until there were at least 20 down there, all moving in time with the music and apparently not concerned in the least that people could see them topless. I had been sitting in the seat at the end of one of the rows and decided I might want to get a better look, so started wandering down closer to the stage to see just how close I could get. And no, I wasn't that interested in seeing the band!

I wandered down until I was about 10 rows back from the first, there were a couple of empty seats there so I decided to take one. I divided my time between watching the dancing women and also checking out what the band was doing, I had decided that they were actually pretty good. The lead singer shared duties with a girl who played guitar and several duets they sang together surprised me with the quality of their singing.

The concert lasted about two hours before they took a short break and then came back for another 45 minutes. During the time I remained seated here, the number of women dancing around in front of the band had increased to more than 30. I hadn't really been to any concerts and the fact that topless women dancing in front of the stage didn't seem to be a big deal to any one of the concert goers seemed a little bizarre to me. I'm not sure what they got out of it, but they didn't seem bothered and so I just sat back and enjoyed the view. Once the final song ended, the band left the stage and the audience started chanting for them to come back, but after 10 minutes they had not and I realized that this was truly the end of the show. I stayed where I was as some of the worst of the crowd started pushing its way out before deciding that I would follow. I'm pretty sure that I had lost Augie and his daddy, their appearance earlier in the day no longer bothering me.

I was a little concerned, I wondered where I would hang out for the next few days but that had happened to me before and I had always managed up until now. The lights inside the auditorium had come up, but they were still dim as I started making my way toward the door. As I was walking along, someone took my arm and before I could look I worried that maybe Augie had indeed been able to follow me in here. The sudden thought of fight or flight occurred to me, but neither seemed a good idea at this moment. I looked over and was surprised to see a young woman with her arm around mine, turning to smile at me as I looked at her. I looked at her face for a second, but only a second, seeing she was one of the women who had been dancing topless in front of the stage and was still topless even as we walked toward the exit.

"You got any weed?" She asked as we continued moving toward the exit.

", No, I don't!" I managed, trying hard not to look at her bare breasts, but failing miserably. By the look in her eyes, she had already found some grass tonight.

"That's OK, I've got some at my place."

She was still holding onto my arm, I wondered why, but since I was more interested in checking out her bare chest, I didn't give the thought any more attention.

"They're called tits and most women have them these days." She said laughing, noticing me staring at her bare breasts.

"Yeah, but most women have a shirt over them." I managed in a brief moment of lucidity.

She laughed and then answered "I would too if I knew where my shirt was, but somehow it disappeared."

"So what are you going to do?" I asked, still staring.

"I guess I'll go home and get another shirt." She answered matter of factly.

"You're going to walk across the parking lot to your car without a shirt?" I asked incredulously.

"No silly, I don't have a car. I came with some friends, but I don't know where they are either."

"So how do you expect to get home?" I wondered aloud.

"I was thinking about hitch-hiking. Want to come along for some of that weed I got at home? Are you game?" Her eyes sparkled and her breasts jiggled as she took in my expression.

This is nuts! I had no idea who this woman was, we were walking together perhaps to her place, she wanted to hitch-hike topless, so we could go find some grass. I think that covered it all. I had done some crazy things in my life, but right at the moment I couldn't think of anything crazier. Just about then, we exited the building and we were outside. From here, she was pulling on my arm and leading me toward the main road. It was dark out, but not that dark. It didn't take long to get to the road and as we did she hung out her thumb and in less than 30 seconds a pickup screeched to a halt in front of us, almost causing a catastrophe behind him. The passenger window was down as he leaned over and said "can I give you a lift?"

"That's what we're waiting for." The woman laughed, noticing that I was no longer the only one ogling her bare breasts. She got in, sliding to the middle and I got in on the passenger side, closing the door before the driver pulled back out into traffic. "Where to miss?" He said, continuing to stare at her chest. I wondered just how good of an idea this was, he was looking at her bare tits more than he was looking at the road - that couldn't be safe.

"Which way are you headed? She asked, apparently not concerned about him staring at her breasts any more than she was about me doing the same.

"I'll take you anywhere you want to go honey!" He offered, I had to wonder if he even knew I was in the truck.

She giggled and gave him directions, we drove about 3 1/2 miles before she asked him to pull over and let us out on a corner in a part of town I had never been to. The residents here had a much higher social status than I did, there were nice condos, town houses and apartment buildings and I had no doubt I would not fit in anywhere in this neighborhood.

I think the truck driver was hesitant to leave, but after we got out and thanked him, he did manage to drive off still looking at us, well maybe not us, but looking back in his rear view mirror.

"Come on, it's only half a block down the street here." She said, still holding my arm and directing me. At this point I realized I didn't even know her name.

"UMMM, this is great and all, but I don't even know your name..."

"I'm Carly." She said simply, still leading me down the street. "How about you?"

"Mac." I offered.

"Just Mac?" Carly asked.

"Yeah, just Mac." My parents had barely caught the tail end of the flower child era and had named me Ian, something I thought made me sound like a fag. Ian Constantine Macmillan, they said it was sophisticated and cosmopolitan. I said it was gay! Unless someone absolutely, positively needed to know my legal name, I was just Mac.

I wondered how many people might be looking out their windows at the strange couple, me in a T-shirt and dirty jeans, and the young woman who wasn't even wearing a shirt. That probably is not something they saw often here in this neighborhood.

Carly took me to a nondescript door on one side of a large apartment building. She reached into her back pocket and took out a card key, inserted it, and the door clicked open. She pushed it and we walked inside, then closed the door behind us. It was dark, but she knew where the light switch was and soon I realized we were in a maintenance room.

"What's this?" I asked, looking around the room as my eyes tried to adjust to the bright light.

"This is how I usually get in and out of the building. If I go in the front door, the doorman sees me and I get logged in and logged out. I don't always want people to know when and where I am." She answered simply.

"How do you manage to get in here?" I wondered aloud.

Carly snickered a bit, then answered "I got the building engineer to reprogram my key card. I just had to suck him off once and he said he would do anything for me!"

I didn't do it intentionally, but I felt my eyebrow go up as I looked at her more closely. Sucking off the building engineer to get what she wanted certainly let me know she had some wildness in her. I wondered just how much.

"Come on, follow me." Carly said, heading for a door on the far wall. When she reached the door, she opened it and then flipped the lights in the room out, we were now in a dimly lit hallway. She led me to an elevator marked 'service personnel only' before again using the key card and opening the elevator doors.

"Going up..." she said with a giggle, the elevator starting to move.

I saw that the elevator had stopped at the 8th floor, the door opened and we stepped out. The hallway was lit, not as dimly as the maintenance area downstairs, but certainly not overly bright either. Not knowing what else to do, I followed along as Carly led the way down the hall, stopping in front of the door marked 832. She inserted her key card, I heard the lock click open, and she pushed the door and we entered.

I was in new territory here, the place was much nicer than any I had been to in my life before, well appointed and I guessed it had been professionally decorated. I was looking around, trying to gauge just where we were and how this young woman would come to be here, but she had moved away from the entryway and walked into the living room. Looking over her shoulder, she called back to me "well?"

I wasn't sure what she was suggesting, but followed her as she made her way into the room.

Carly hadn't done anything to find herself a shirt, she simply sat down on one of the chairs in the room and reached for a small case that was on a bottom shelf of an end table. Opening the case, she extracted a small pipe and a bag of what I suspected was the weed she had mentioned earlier in the evening. She filled the bowl of the pipe, and then taking a lighter from the table, lit it and drew the smoke deeply into her lungs.

I was watching for her reaction, but she had closed her eyes and she seemed almost oblivious to everything but what she was experiencing as the smoke filled her lungs. I waited, and waited some more, and finally she exhaled. She must've held the smoke in her lungs for a good minute. Opening her eyes, she handed me the pipe and indicated it was now my turn. I had smoked a little when I was in high school, but I didn't really find that it did much for me back then. Now, however, even though I wasn't quite certain about trying it again, I didn't want to seem impolite. I took the pipe and inhaled slowly, I knew that if I tried to imitate Carly, I would be coughing and choking as though an amateur in seconds. I'm sure she could tell I was, but I did not want to add to her impression of that. I managed, the smoke burning its way down my throat and into my lungs, and I was barely able to hold it for 10 seconds before the need to exhale and suck in a lung full of oxygen overcame my body.

Carly just smiled at my discomfort, holding out her hand and waiting for me to return the pipe to her. I did this, again glancing at her bare breasts before looking back into her face as she was again inhaling the acrid smoke.

"Still the same tits, no changes here." She chuckled after exhaling her latest hit on the pipe.

"And still no shirt to cover them." I added, no longer embarrassed that I might get caught checking her out since she had been so free about letting me and anyone else see them this evening.

"I don't need a shirt here at home, I rarely wear one while I'm here by myself." She answered, taking another hit of the pipe instead of passing it back to me.

Perhaps it was my inexperience with smoking grass or perhaps the weed was just really good stuff, but I could feel strange things going on in my head even after only one hit. Before I could consider that, Carly handed the pipe back to me, letting me know it was again my turn. What the heck, nothing to lose here anyway I told myself, taking a longer drag on the pipe.