. Tears have meanwhile dried in my thickly-applied make-up, so thickly-applied, in fact, that it's like a mask of sludge, so thick, to be precise, it'... like my face is under an inch of mud; why, I wonder. Why--this heavy-handed, intentionally inexpert job? It's theatrical make-up, that's why, corpse make-up, that's what I suddenly realize, puddinged on the way they prepare the dead, or the slow dancing actress portraying an archetype of death on stage, her face emotionless, unblemished,. The feel of her galvanised but virtually immobile upon me. Then the strokes came fast, obviously no longer being carefully placed, but slashing across the flesh willy-nilly. It was just as if I were about to feel the torment but, of course, it was always poor Miralda who intervened. “By the gods, you deserve it,” yelled my Mistress, as the twelfth stroke fell, above the awful noises Miralda was making in my ear.“She certainly does,” said Miss Zena. “And now I am going to teach this cow not to. I nodded. “Pick which one you would like to be in today.” Caleb motioned towards a few things hanging from the ceiling. I looked at all of them, and chose the white rope-chair. “That one looks interesting.” I admitted. Caleb smiled. “I’m going to ask you to remove all of your clothes except your bra and underwear and sit in the chair,” he said. I nodded and started stripping. “And don’t worry about me getting a boner,” Caleb said. “I like guys.” He didn’t look gay. I was shocked. I nodded and. “Last to draw, first to show,” nikk says to me. I flip overmy card, and Nicky chuckles. “Ooo, ronni’s goin’ to the G-Toe,” Nicky says, and he slaps meon the back. “Your turn, tams,” I say. She quickly set down her card, the Ace of Diamonds. She waspretty much guaranteed a safety, and she started digging around in herpurse to make sure she had the cash for her end. She fished out two$10s and a wad of singles and started.