“I think so.”
“They have a copy of the thing handy for reference. They also have a digital alarm set to make the sound of twelve bells at midnight. When the time is getting close, everyone starts hovering around the area of the room that represents their area of the painting. Still with me?”
“Keep going.”
“On the first bell, everyone strikes their figure’s pose and holds it until the eleventh. On the twelfth, the room goes bat-shit nuts. Seriously, it’s beyond description, but, amidst the chaos, the painting’s prominent elements are upheld. Everyone tosses their handfuls of ecstasy tablets in the air. The music wails, knives go flying at the target, pizza gets woofed down as if it was the last food on earth, furniture gets destroyed, drugs are all over the place, and…yes…people have sex. Sometimes it’s depraved; sometimes it’s flat-out messed-up, but it is always consensual.”
“And something happened at one of these things last March to make you leave?”
Samuel took a moment.
“Yes, something did. You see, painting parties are also used to bring in possible new members.”
“That’s kind of a baptism by fire, isn’t it?”
“They have to know what they’re in for. No better time than day one. Look, maybe I wasn’t clear about this. No one is forced to do any of this stuff. If you want to come to a painting party, hang out on the sideline and watch, or put in your earbuds and fall asleep then go for it.”
“Well, that’s good. You’re getting off subject here.”
“I am not. The UJ is about freedom. Arthur never got that. To him it was always about the sex. He fed me a good line when we first met at the Iron Wall. I don’t know. Maybe he started the whole thing with the correct mindset, but his true colors came out soon after we set up the first cloister. I thought I could turn him around, but I was wrong. Eventually the best I could do was keep him in check. I wasn’t about to kick the spiteful little prick out of the group. He would have made it his life mission to destroy everything. As it winds up, he did that anyway!”
All linear aspects of the conversation were starting to disappear. Samuel had worked himself into a rant. Lynch had to repeat himself in order to reel him back in.
“What happened in March?”
“Arthur brought a girl to the party. I have no idea how old she was. The general rule…we do have a few…was recruits should be out of high school, but I don’t know. I don’t remember her name. I barely remember what she looked like. Arthur talked her into being one of the three.”
“The boobies.”
“The center piece, yes. The implication is that if you are one of the three, you are having sex in some fashion with at least one other person, but, again, nothing is required, and no one is supposed to get shitty if they’re refused.”
“Did she go through with it?”
“Yes, but she bailed almost immediately. It was no big deal. She got dressed and hung out by the food tables. She appeared to be really enjoying herself. I thought she might be a good match for the UJ, even if Arthur only brought her to mount her.”
“I’m guessing the mounting didn’t happen.”
Samuel’s expression turned grim.
“He was chucking knives. He does the same thing every time. He waits until he wins a match before he joins the orgy. He needs to feel like a conqueror, as if he’s collecting a reward or some shit. So, I don’t know how long it took him, but he eventually strutted over to the center of the cloister, expecting to get laid and discovered that his conquest had left him high and dry.”
“Poor fella. What happened?”
“I quite honestly don’t remember. Kelly and I decided to have an evening of intimacy rather than public fornication, so after getting high and stuffing our faces, we headed up to the loft. We fell asleep early. That’s partly why I woke up in the middle of the night.”
The word “partly” seemed to jump. Lynch braced himself. He sensed that the crappy part of the story was but to be told.
“Go on.”
“It was dark. Any other night of the month, and I probably wouldn’t have been able to see what was going on. It was Arthur and the girl. The bastard propped her up face down with her knees tucked up under her chest. She was moaning in protest, but I don’t think she had any idea what was happening. Either he doped her up, or she doped herself up. I don’t know. She had a skirt on, which he’d hiked up over her hips. Her underwear was half way down her thighs. I know this because I was the one who pulled them up.”
Lynch’s jaw locked.
“Please tell me you stopped him before…”
“Just barely. The girl was lucky in one crucial regard. Arthur was having trouble…you know…no boner. He had backed off and was (pantomime masturbation) working on it when I finally got to my feet. I asked him what the fuck he thought he was doing, and he laughed. The evil little ass-hat had the nerve to ask me if I wanted a turn while he got his problem sorted. I said two words… ‘zip up.’ He looked at me as though I’d just sent him to his room. He then called me a faggot and stomped off in a huff. I assumed he was either having a smoke or taking a piss. I got the girl situated and went to look for him. He had a serious verbal beat-down coming. I didn’t even make it to the ladder. I don’t know where he was hiding. All I know is I was slammed into a dresser, and I didn’t much like it.”
“I’m surprised he had the balls
