Chapter 1

Lucas Hall got out of bed at six o’clock every morning. No one would be able to call him lazy and accuse him of not trying. Seven AM sharp, he stood outside the doors of the unemployment office and watched some assistant unlock the doors. It was usually just him and a handful of other enthusiastic fools that had not yet given up hope. Almost always the same people standing there. He had gotten to know a few of them a little. But they only talked of the few things they so obviously had in common, their lack of work and this damn society. Most of them were like him, young and well educated. It didn’t help much when things were like they were. They whined a lot about politics, about the increasing gap between the classes – the rich got richer, there were more homeless people in the streets than ever and the slaves had never had a lower value as human beings than now. The middle class, their own class, also got poorer all the time. Of what use was their good schooling now? No, to hell with everything. The slums were slowly taking over large parts of Flora and it seemed the law had simply given up when it came to certain things. Magnolia was virtually declared a Freetown and all sorts of crime flourished there undisturbed. The things one had heard about it… No one in his or her right mind went to Magnolia these days. These were the things discussed; no one knew anything really of the others’ private lives. Lucas didn’t even know the names of most of them. Maybe he had heard names? He had never cared to remember them. They were all rivals really. > He usually spent half the day in the unemployment office. Mostly waiting in different lines to get to see some poor, overtaxed assistant. In the meantime he looked at the poster boards and into the computer databases. If any of them ever got as far as to an interview it was a miracle. So far it had given Lucas nothing! In four years he had had seven different jobs but all of them just temporary. Some of them had been just for a few days. He had never succeeded better than that during these four years. He had managed to survive anyway. First by moving out from his small and plain but nice apartment in a decent area like Rose Garden, to a considerably more simple rat-hole in Shamrock. A part of the town where he was not yet afraid to roam about at daytime but in which he was careful not to venture out into at nights. Then he had survived by living off the small inheritance from his parents and a small savings account he had been able to keep when times had been better. Both sources were emptied out by now. Then by giving up more and more of every day conveniences like a newspaper subscription and new clothes and food… He kept the phone as his only luxury. Next step was a cardboard box in Magnolia he suspected. He just had to get a job soon. He had lowered his standards considerably a long time ago. His last temporary work had been a cleaning job at a chemistry lab and he had been damn grateful for it. This morning had been an even earlier rise than usual. He wanted extra time to walk the long way to the unemployment office. He just didn’t want to pass through the market hall today. He didn’t have the strength to face Lynn right now. And he really hoped that he would get lucky today and find a job, anything, because he really was on his last resources now and things couldn’t get much worse. And then he was to pass the bank later today and withdraw his last money, and he would waste it on such a totally useless luxury item as a slave! He must be crazy! For goodness sake, he couldn’t even support himself. The phone would be disconnected in two weeks. Electricity would be turned off the week after that. Rent he had managed to be granted a respite with. Mr. Graham, the landlord, was a grumpy old man but luckily he was good-hearted underneath that frowning surface. He would yell at him like crazy but then he always let him pay next month instead… or next… At least he wouldn’t be thrown out on the streets for another two more months or so. Well, he did it to save someone’s life but still… When he had paid for Lynn he would only have 150 left and that would not be enough to pay any of the delayed bills with. He might as well buy food with it then. With two mouths to feed that food would last them about a week then things would get tricky to say the least… It was safe to say that Lucas Hall had been going to the unemployment office with a brighter mood than today. Well at the agency it was the same shit as always. He checked the databases, nothing as usual. They told him it would take at least an hour before Mrs. Canister, who usually handled his files, would be able to see him so he went to the bank to get his money. Then at his return he just sat down to wait for Mrs. Canister. He felt the money in his pocket and was very tempted to just forget about Lynn. Someone else would probably buy him. The salesman had surely been lying. And it wasn’t his responsibility. He wouldn’t be better off with him anyway. Would probably die from starvation if he lived with him. As bad as Future Lab, wasn’t it? Though he knew that wasn’t true. Nothing could be worse than Future Lab. And he knew he wouldn’t forgive himself if he abandoned the boy. What the hell, this money would not make his life any better in the long run anyway; he might as well spend it. It wasn’t like he was buying booze with it or gambling it away. In the end it might even turn out to be a good deal, maybe he would be more successful in selling the boy? Maybe he would soon get the money back? Just when he thought Mrs. Canister must have forgotten all about him and was about to rise to go to the market hall and finish that deal with the slave-trader, she appeared from out of the crowd in the lobby and stepped up to him. "Mr. Hall, I think I have found something for you, something just perfect for you!" She had a beaming smile on her lips that were not often seen here. Lucas forgot everything else at those words and that smile. Could it be possible? Mrs. Canister put some papers on her desk in front of his eyes like it was a treasure, and in a way he guessed it was. He couldn’t believe it. They wanted an architect? They actually wanted someone with his profession, a job he was educated and qualified for. It was a project though, not a permanent job, but such projects usually lasted a rather long time, six months, maybe even a year or two and it was usually very well paid. This job was not a city job either. Whatever was to be built was to be built in the countryside, somewhere down south. He would get out of Flora! See a clear blue sky instead of constant smog. Hear birds singing instead of cars honking and smell the flowers instead of the pollution. He couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe such an opportunity had come his way. It had been four years since he had had work like that. Back then he had worked on a project out west and been living at Amahana Lake. Mrs. Canister told him she had not showed this job to anyone else because if anyone deserved a decent chance it was he, she said. But of course he would run into fierce competition anyway. There would be people from other agencies. It was a very big company and there would probably be a whole lot of people applying for the job from the company’s own staff as well. Jobs such as these were popular. To be honest, she said, there was a rather small chance really and she didn’t want to raise false hope but there was a chance, sure there was. There was only this itty-bitty problem… The papers had got stuck somewhere thus arriving here almost too late. She had only gotten it in her hands a few minutes ago. So if he was to have any chance at all he had to go there now! He was not to lose another minute. The company’s employment office was in Thistle Town, which was five miles from here; he had to take a cab to be able to make it in time. Lucas just stared at her. Was she crazy? He couldn’t possibly go there right now. He had to go home first and try to find some better clothes. The jeans and shirt he wore were clean and whole by all means but it wouldn’t do, he needed a suit. And he had to prepare for such an interview and he must get his references and grades, his CV. And no way in hell would he be able to afford a cab to Thistle Town and back. Well, he guessed he had to walk back in either case. Mrs. Canister agreed that it would have been good if he had had a chance to make all these preparations, and she was really sorry about the damn mail, but things were as they were. If he didn’t go right now it would be too late. He had to risk it. She could help him with one thing though. He could have copies of all his papers since the data was in her computer. She smiled and gave him a stack of paper that she had already prepared for him. The originals had been preferable but he would have to explain the situation to them and use his charm and eloquence. He did have a lot of charm, she added, smiling even wider. He would surely easily convince them of his skills and of the authenticity of the copies. "Never forget that you are the right man for the job and you will surely succeed!" She encouraged and shooed him out of her office. Lucas rushed off. What else could he do? He had to take the chance no matter how badly prepared he was. Stepping out on the pavement outside of Landmark Corporate employment office in Thistle Town, Lucas was both depressed and humiliated. The interview simply could not have ended any worse. It had been evident from the start that he wouldn’t get the job. He was embarrassed that he had even tried. Judging from the way they had treated him he might as well have been a beggar from the street. Thinking about it now made him suddenly pissed instead of embarrassed. He had explained the situation to them, had he not? Damn snobs who judged a book by its cover. How dare they make such an insinuation that his papers might not be authentic? Fucking shitheads! Was a man with his merits supposed to take things like that? At the next moment his self-esteem fell to the ground again. He supposed he had to be prepared to take a lot of shit nowadays. A man in his situation had to take a lot. The companies had a lot of unemployed people to chose from, thousands and thousands of unemployed, well-educated people. They could afford to patiently look for the perfect one. He was a good architect by all means but he supposed he was not a perfect one. He laughed bitterly and cynically and thought to himself that the difference between him and such a one as Lynn wasn’t that big really. Neither of them were wanted if not perfect… "Damn!" He shouted out aloud, he had totally forgot all about Lynn. He looked about him desperately for the time. His own wristwatch he had sold a long time ago. A clock with a broken glass at a factory building further down the street told him that the hours had flown by fast. The time was a quarter to six and the market closed at six and if he couldn’t get there on time Lynn was a dead man walking! It was six o’clock before he could get hold of a cab and he counted the money with a worried frown. As long as the cab drove straight there he thought the money would be just enough. So food for next week was out of the question then. He cursed inside and almost wished he could trade places with Lynn. His own life didn’t seem much worth living anyway. He ran into them out on the street outside the market hall. The salesman he had talked to, a big burly uniformed guard and Lynn… He was barefooted and wore a very dirty and threadbare T-shirt and a pair of jeans that was, if possible, even dirtier and had big fringy holes over the knees. They had put both handcuffs and leg irons on him, which hardly could have been necessary. What could he have done with that guard around? He was about thrice his size. Besides he didn’t look in any condition to do anything at all, much less escape. Lucas felt so bad seeing him like that. The poor sod was pale as a ghost; his complexion was even greenish, as if he was about to throw up. He shook as if having a fit of the shivers and cold sweat pearled from his temples. Lucas imagined him sitting in that cell waiting for him all day and the closer they got to closing time the more scared he must have been. He must have believed that all hope was gone by now. Lucas felt like throwing up himself. He had never seen anyone with a genuine expression of true mortal dread in his face before. He stepped up to them and hindered them from climbing into the van they had been on their way to board. "Excuse me! I was delayed but now I’m here," he said and smiled towards Lynn, but he seemed too much in shock to have even recognized him. The slave-trader didn’t seem to recognize him either but then the penny dropped. "Oh it’s you!" he said contemptuously. "It’s about time!" Lucas stared back with a frown. "I was delayed! It wasn’t my fault but now I’m here and here’s your money and now I want him. That was the deal." The slave-trader’s expression didn’t change. "The deal was before closing time. It’s half past six if you don’t know it. I’ve kept my part of the deal. If I were to let you take him now I would lose two hundred." You cold bastard, Lucas thought, I would just love to kick your ass. He could do it, he thought. Lucas wasn’t exactly a macho man but he was agile and pretty tough, and the salesman was about the same size as him, but about twenty years older and with a big beer belly. But with the monster guard nearby it seemed a pretty stupid idea to start a fight. He didn’t speak his mind. "Come on! Don’t you have any feelings at all? Are you really going to let the kid be tortured to death for two hundred credits? Business is probably better next week and you’ll get compensation. Come on, I wasn’t going to screw you over. It really wasn’t my fault that I was delayed." Lucas really made an effort in reasoning calmly and politely. The trader just stared coldly at him at first but then he looked at Lynn who hung like a rag doll in the big guard’s grip. It wasn’t like he was totally heartless just because he worked in slave trading; it wasn’t like he often did things like this. Of course he would rather sell them for private use and not to that spooky lab. But he had gotten angry with that damn man that had promised to show up like so many others and then never did. But what the hell… "All right then. Take him! Give me the money!" He received the bills, counted them, and muttered something to the guard who fished up a few keys from a pocket and gave them to Lucas. "You get the chains into the bargain; that’s our policy, so you can’t say you haven’t received the same service that all our customers get." He turned to the guard. "What do you say Greg? Have you had dinner yet?" The guard shrugged and they let go of Lynn, locked the van and turned to walk toward the city. >>> * <<< Lucas Hall was left alone with the first human being he had ever owned. It felt kind of strange, that he had to admit. That was not how he had been raised and it had felt damn strange those first weeks at Amahana where there were servants in great numbers, ever ready to obey the smallest of whims. He had gotten used to it in no time though. Power corrupts, and he knew after staying there that it was true. Though he thought he had treated them decently enough. The tricky part was that considering how this society was structured one could not treat them too decently. It just didn’t work. As long as one man lawfully could own another on this planet then someone had to be the master and someone had to be the slave. The system in itself brought forth that necessity. You could not pretend equality with them. Someone had to dominate and someone had to submit – it sure as hell wasn’t going to be him. And in a way he felt he had been manipulated here in some way. Lynn had obviously just tried anything to save his own life and that was of course not strange at all. But it meant, all the same, that he had forced his will on him and made Lucas do something he really had not wanted to do. That was a thought he had let slip to the surface now and then during the day but right now it was more some sort of feeling than a conscious thought. Right now he just felt really sorry for the poor bastard. When the guard had let go he had simply sunk to the ground and Lucas thought at first that he had fainted. He hadn’t but he wasn’t far from it. Lucas sat down on the pavement beside him and spoke soothingly to him. He pulled his T-shirt up and dried his face with it. After a few minutes the shock seemed to have loosened his grip, but then he started to weep instead. Lucas found that a bit embarrassing even though he understood the reaction. Lucas guessed he would have wept too if he had just narrowly escaped from death like that, wept from the shock and the relief even though he normally wasn’t a person that would show feelings like that openly. And such ones as Lynn, were they not in a way more like women anyway? His helpless sobs seemed less uncomfortable to witness when he thought about it that way and he tried to comfort him a bit in an awkward way. Lynn gathered himself pretty quickly and stopped sniveling. Lucas locked up the leg irons then and didn’t really know what to do with them. Finally he just tucked them into his jacket pocket. He meant to take the handcuffs off as well but for some reason he left them on. "Time to go home," he said and noticed how strict of a voice he suddenly had acquired. He walked away a few steps then turned when he discovered that Lynn was still sitting at the edge of the pavement. "Well, come on!" he admonished irritably. Lynn rose with a bit of effort from the low edge since he couldn’t use his hands, still cuffed behind his back, and followed in silence. Maybe Lucas had expected him to burst out into a tirade of gratitude? He had been prepared to tell him to be quiet if he had. He was so tired, in a really bad mood and he didn’t think he would be able to stand another sound from the slave right now. Lynn seemed to sense this; he didn’t utter a sound. He followed a few steps behind and treaded lightly and soundlessly on bare feet. Lucas wasn’t even sure at times if he was still there but he fought down an impulse to turn and look. He heard a light rustle from the chains now and then though; he was still there all right. Where could he go for that matter? >>> * <<< Lynn might have been quiet but he was grateful all right. Had never been more grateful in his life. There had been many moments in his life he had wanted to die because a slave’s life is not easy. Not even if you lived in luxury. A castrated slave’s life was even worse. He was looked down upon and despised by everyone, even by other slaves. Craig Summers had treated him with utter contempt though it seemed it was still possible to have sex with something that you considered being lower than an animal. Craig Summers had been rough about it. Craig Summers had been rough all the time for that matter. He had been beaten with a consistent regularity but in a way the beating had been easier to handle. Physical pain was easier. He had preferred more beating and less sex. It had not been the penetrations in themselves though, he guessed he could even get something out of it for himself if it was not too rough. Being used like that was the only way he could have sex anyway. But the way Craig Summers had always gone about it… He had fucked him like he had been an inflatable doll. He had to consider himself lucky though, the times he had just pulled out and left without so much as a look in his direction. Or when he just threw him out without a word. Or like that time when he had made a phone call at the same time, talking all through it. Because if he did notice him at all while he fucked him it was only to beat him through it all or to curse at him and tell him how worthless and disgusting he was. On the whole he had never talked with him, only to him and it was evident that his slave hadn’t even been a human being in his eyes. He had showed his dogs more respect. All in all, Lynn had been depressed most of his life and hardly knew any other feeling. The thoughts of wanting to die had been ever present in some way or another. Loneliness dragged him further down. The other slaves at least had each other. He had had no one. But Mr. Hall had been pretty good to him back then. He remembered that vividly. Not that he had in any way treated him like an equal, of course not. Not that he had given him that much attention, not at all. But the few times that he had given him some attention he had been very different towards him in some strange sort of way. He had asked him questions and actually had seemed to be interested in his answers. And once he had told him that he thought Craig treated him like shit and that it was a damn shame. He had got the distinct feeling that Mr. Hall had actually seen him as a human being – sort of. Lynn had treasured those scarce moments like jewels in his mind. Lynn had been sad seeing him leave. He had felt even more worthless and lonely after he was gone. And then Craig had brought that younger boy home and simply cast him aside. Just a few days later he had sold him, and in spite of all it had been unexpected. It had been somewhat of a shock actually and he had felt as if paralyzed for weeks. He couldn’t really grasp that he had been sold, and to a wholesaler to boot and not a private person. Craig must have understood how much worse his life would be if he sold him to a wholesaler. There was no reason for him to be that cruel. Though he had never needed any reasons for anything. Not that he had missed Craig Summers in any way. No, he had discovered later, when he was far away enough to even dare think such thoughts, that he hated that man as much as he was capable of hating anything. It had still been a shock to be cast aside like that and he had wanted to die then too. But no matter how many times he had wanted to die he had never wanted to die so much that he would allow himself to be taken to Future Lab. He had never heard of the place before but had been told enough about it from his comrades in bondage to fear ending up there more than anything else in the world. And Mr. Hall’s reaction to it yesterday had convinced him of the truth to the rumors. So he was grateful all right. He was very grateful to Mr. Hall and very, very grateful to whatever destiny had brought him in his path. Talk about extreme luck. Talk about a truly miraculous coincidence. He had thought he was hallucinating when he had seen Mr. Hall rushing through the market hall for the first time. It couldn’t possible be… could it? He had not thought so. He had thought he must have been mistaken and that he would probably never find out for sure if he had been or not. But after seeing the same person rush through three days in a row he was absolutely certain it really was him. "His" Mr. Hall! And he soon realized he went through there every day. Walked straight through without ever looking to the sides. It took him about a week to get the thought into his mind that maybe Mr. Hall could actually save him from the horrid market place, but he had not dared to try to contact him. The slave-manners were deeply imbued in him. You did not speak until spoken to and a slave certainly did not just call out to people. He just sat there and followed him with his eyes and hoped he would just once turn his head in his direction and discover him and recognize him. He never did. In a moment of weakness he had told the others in the niche that Mr. Hall knew him. And then they had teased him mercilessly every time Mr. Hall had rushed through the market hall without noticing him where he sat, cheek pressed to the cold bars, sad eyes following his echoing steps from one big gate to the other. It was only when he realized they were actually planning on getting rid of him because he was never sold. When the fear of the hell that Future Lab represented threatened to eat him up from the inside, that he had overcame his subdued slave nature and tried to contact Mr. Hall more actively. Calling out to him yesterday had been his second attempt. He had called out to him once before but then he had not heard him at all. The second attempt had been a successful one. If it hadn’t? He didn’t even want to think about it. It had and now he followed his new master home and he was saved. So he was very, very grateful. He had wanted to show it too and he planned to show it in any way he could. If he had dared he would have wanted to burst out singing in sheer joy and embrace Mr. Hall. Now Mr. Hall was no longer Craig Summers’ friend, though he had found it a bit amusing to treat that slave Craig had with a bit of friendliness. Now he was his owner and that was a totally different situation. He really didn’t know Mr. Hall. He was a good-hearted man by all means but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t be firm as well. Maybe even very strict and with hard fists? In either case Lynn intended to start showing his gratitude by acting as correctly as possible and not disturbing and annoying his new master. Until he knew exactly how to avoid that, he intended to act as carefully as possible. In his desperation he had already overstepped several lines of conduct expected from a slave. He would have to try to compensate for that behavior now. So he followed in silence. He was a bit nervous as he, of course, knew nothing about how his life now would be, but he was so very happy at the same time. Things couldn’t possibly be any worse than before. >>> * <<< Lucas cursed as the key got stuck in the keyhole. It always got stuck and sometimes he had to stand there and jerk the damn thing back and forth for ages before the lock gave in and he could get into his own apartment. He was afraid he would break the key one day and not get in at all. He kicked the door angrily before breathing deeply and counting to ten to stifle the anger before he threw a fit. He tried again and finally the damn door opened. He had nagged Mr. Graham about getting the lock changed for months but nothing had happened so far, even though the grumpy old man had promised to fix it on numerous occasions. He’d said nothing about it lately though. Since he hadn’t paid the rent for quite some time it didn’t feel like a good time to bring such things up. He held the door open and turned to the boy who had silently followed him home. He didn’t say anything, just motioned him inside with a nod of his head. Lynn stepped over the threshold and Lucas followed and closed and locked the door behind them. He switched on the light in the hallway and a naked bulb shone brightly, too brightly above them. Another irritated gesture showed Lynn that he wanted him to continue into the kitchen and he did. He stopped at the middle of the room though and just stood there, not knowing what to do. Lucas passed him and went straight for the fridge. He had a beer in there, just one left and he had bloody well deserved it! Except for that lonely can of beer it was a sadly emptied fridge. He opened the can, leaned against the edge of the sink and gulped it down. "Ahhhh…." He uttered in satisfaction. "That was the only good thing this day had to offer!" Not until then did he look at Lynn who just stood there and watched his toes. It was not a sight that filled him with happiness. So, he was saved now. Didn’t risk being killed anymore. Good. He didn’t want anything bad happening to the poor kid, but what the hell was he going to do with him now? He would only mean trouble to him now. Lucas was as broke as anyone can get and that was partly Lynn’s fault, wasn’t it? Anger and some sort of spiritual fatigue washed over him. "Sit down," he ordered angrily and Lynn reacted like the slave he was and sank to his knees. Lucas had meant for him to use one of the kitchen chairs and looked surprised, but then he thought it no big deal right now. "Now you listen closely to what I have to say, Lynn," he snarled and gulped down some more beer, "You’re not the only one who has had a bad day so don’t annoy me!" More beer. "I might as well let you know how things are right away." A sip of beer. "Things stink, Lynn. I couldn’t afford to waste that money on you, damn it. That was my last. I’m broke now, zero, zip, finito… capicce? And I don’t have any food and I have a stack of bills this high and someone will probably send someone to break my kneecaps any day now…" He gulped the beer. "Well at least my debtors will have something to take now as you’re here, which is the only positive thing about it. So if you haven’t got it yet then let me inform you that I am not a new Craig Summers. I have nothing and I don’t have a job and it’s damn impossible to get one and I can’t afford to keep you here and that’s that! The hell I know how to get rid of you though…" Lucas finished the beer in one long gulp with a longing expression; he couldn’t remember the last time he wished he had had a whole big case of beer to wash away his miseries in. He avoided looking at Lynn who sat on the floor at his feet, being just so damn innocent. He knew that what he said was mean but he might as well know the truth right away. He squeezed the can and threw it angrily into a swaying mountain of dishes behind him in the sink. "Shit!" he cried out and stormed into the bedroom slamming the door furiously behind him. He returned after only a few minutes. Lynn still sat where he had left him, maybe hanging his head a bit lower. Lucas scratched at his head and stared at him for a while before walking up to him. He didn’t find it strange that Lynn cowered as he neared him and that he flinched nervously. He expected to be beaten no doubt after that display of anger. That was the farthest thing from Lucas’ mind though. Lucas Hall was by nature a calm and patient person who seldom got angry. He had simply always been a quite harmonious human being. But it seemed that the constant bad luck of the last years had kind of broken him down. He wasn’t quite his own self these days. He didn’t feel bad about being mad. Who the hell wouldn’t have been after such a rotten day? But he felt bad about taking it out on Lynn. He knew very well that there were many people that didn’t use their slaves for much else than just that. To have someone to take out their bad mood on. But he didn’t want to be such a person. Not just because he could anyway. It wasn’t like he was going to tell Lynn he was sorry. No, he wouldn’t stoop to that, you never ever said you were sorry to a slave. Not in so many words anyway, maybe a little through your actions… And even though he was more easily angered these days it went away pretty fast again. "Get up, Lynn," he said mildly and he obeyed but still cowered, prepared for a slap no doubt. Lucas rummaged around in his jacket pockets for the keys to the handcuffs and got them off him. He threw them onto the kitchen table along with the leg irons and then he took off the jacket and threw it on the table too. Lucas had always used to be an orderly person but that had somehow changed too; he just didn’t have the strength to care anymore about keeping this place neat and tidy. Lynn hardly dared to breathe, he was that nervous about angering Lucas again, but he dared to rub slowly at his tender wrists. Lucas watched him do it and for some strange reason it moved him seeing those thin wrists covered in red marks and black bruises; he shook the feeling though. He had brought a blanket from the bedroom and offered it to Lynn. "You can sleep on the kitchen sofa," and then he added with a bit of hesitation, "…and hey, I’m not angry with you, I’m not really, you don’t have to be afraid of me. But all I said is true nevertheless and I really don’t know what to do with you. Do you understand my situation?" Lynn nodded slowly. "Yes Master…" he whispered. He thought he did. And what his new master had told him tonight had by all means scared him and made him feel ashamed, but mostly it had made him devastated. He was totally worthless and no one wanted him! Though he did understand the circumstances, he just didn’t want to be sold again. He wanted to stay with Mr. Hall so badly. Even though he was being cranky and mean right now, and it wasn’t so strange considering his bad luck with things, maybe somewhere underneath that anger and frustration was that kind Mr. Hall. He was convinced about that and that was a person he wanted to be owned by. If he had learned one thing in his life though, it was that he had no say in such matters whatsoever and he kept his mouth shut. "It’s a shame Lynn, really, but there’s no way that I could keep you. Do you understand this? It’s for your own good – I can’t even feed you for goodness sake. I will try to find someone tomorrow to take you over, but I will not sell you to just any old bastard I promise you that." No, maybe not any old bastard, Lynn thought, but he would not be able to wait for the perfect buyer either. Lynn wasn’t stupid. Maybe he couldn’t read or write or even count all that well but he did understand the meaning of the word broke, and looking around in here it seemed it had been an ongoing situation for quite some time. Apparently, according to Mr. Hall, things weren’t likely to change any time soon either. It was obvious that Mr. Hall had been in desperate need of the money that he had wasted on him. It was obvious that he needed it back. So it would be the first willing buyer he could get hold of, and if he were to get a better result than the slave-trader had got, he couldn’t be picky. Mr. Hall must know this as well as he did. He was obviously just trying to comfort him. It embittered him at first but then he felt kind of touched. It was touching that he tried to make it easier for him at all, and imagine that he had actually used his last money to save him in spite of the situation he was in. His last money for his worthless life. The thought almost made him weep but he pressed it down. "I’m up by six in the mornings and I want you to be up by that time too," Lucas continued, "I might as well have some use for you as long as you are here. So see what you can find in the cupboards here and try to make some sort of breakfast of the few crumbs I have left. And then I’ll be gone most of the day and while I am you could try to tidy up a bit here." He swept his arm around the kitchen as if this mess had to be pointed out to be noticed. "You could do a bit of dusting and do the dishes and… stuff. And do try to clean yourself up a bit as well, OK? Use anything that you want in my bathroom. Have you understood?" Lynn nodded, answering submissively that he understood his orders perfectly and would obey them to the best of his ability. He blushed. Lucas’ last remark had made him quite self-conscious. It wasn’t his fault that they didn’t let the slaves clean themselves up enough in that market, but he was ashamed of his dirty appearance anyway.

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