Rick flicked a glance at Teela. "You’re right."
"So?" Jean pressed.
Teela grimaced. "We … really haven’t gotten anywhere with it. I don’t want him doing anything unless I’m around, but…"
"But what?" Candace pounced.
"But there’s only so far I can push, okay?" Fear and anger colored Teela’s features. "I can’t just tell him be good or else — because I can’t DO or else!" Rick reached over and collected her, and Teela buried her face in his shoulder.
"So you don’t really want him doing anything," Candace prompted.
"I didn’t say that," Teela’s voice came back muffled by Rick’s shoulder. "I’m just … jealous, maybe. My head knows that the four — well, three — of you aren’t a threat, but my gut doesn’t — and I’m scared, okay? And there’s the other thing…"
"What’s that?" Jean asked.
"I … might want to play, too, sometime…"
"Oh." Jean didn’t seem inclined to go beyond that.
"It might be easier if I could do what Sally has done, but I can’t — I don’t think either of us is made that way. I can’t just tell Rick that I’ll do…" She froze. Everybody just sat there for a moment, waiting. Teela pushed back out of Rick’s shoulder, wiped her face (smearing her eyeliner all to Hell) and asked, "Hey, anybody got a dog?"
"What?" Jean asked, nonplussed.
"A dog. A male dog," Teela amplified.
"No, what on Earth for?" Jean asked, mystified.
"Can you get one?" Teela insisted.
Candace cocked her head. "Honey, I’m confused. What’s all this about a dog?"
"Well, it’s got to be easier than a pony…"
Sally suddenly snorted. Beth’s eyes got round — so did Lon’s. Everyone else was still in the dark…
"I said I’d do dogs and ponies, if Lon wanted," Sally amplified. Everyone’s eyes turned to Teela.
"Well, you have to admit it’s blackmail material!" Teela insisted. "You get a video of that and I don’t think there’s any question that you’d have a hold on us! Besides, we wouldn’t have to DO anything, really — just get the dog excited and play with his dick! A good shot of one of us just getting close to a doggie hard on would give a tight-ass apoplexy!"
"She’s got a point," Louise offered, somewhat dazed by the notion.
"That’d be shit hot," Damian mumbled under his breath. Louise swatted him.
"Let me get this straight," Candace insisted. "You’re seriously proposing that we find a male dog and take photos or video of you pretending to have sex with it."
"It’s an idea," Teela replied, matter-of-factly. "I’m pretty sure you’d all feel pretty safe around us if you had THAT tucked away…"
"And you?" Candace asked Sally.
"I’m … already committed," Sally replied, glancing at Lon, "as long as Lon says it’s okay."
Candace popped her eyes and shook her head, "Anybody got a line on a dog? A male dog?"
Terence and Damian glanced at one another. "Maybe. There’s one up the street — we’ll get back to ya."
Candace gathered the agreement of the other three females, then announced, "Okay, pending the results of the dog search, I think we can table the question of how we’re going to protect ourselves from the girls…"
Jean nodded agreement. "I guess we’ve more or less defined their roles, too — even if they’re kind of hazy."
"So what’s next?" Beth asked.
"Other threats?" Candace offered.
"Fred," Louise said, flatly. "He’d be number one."
"Fred?" Sally asked.
"Louise’s husband," Candace filled in. "Terence and Damian’s father. He and Louise aren’t doing any too well — and as of right now, he doesn’t know about us."
"So is there a problem?" Teela asked.
Louise shrugged. "Not right now, but the end is near. And if he finds out about us…"
"Is that likely?" Teela asked.
Louise shrugged. "Anything can happen. I KNOW he’s playing around but I haven’t caught him — and if we did…"
"Mama…" Terence growled.
Louise turned to her son, "Boy, if he gets wind of this, he’ll probably take us ALL down — and he’ll air YOUR dirty laundry, too! And you know it!"
"Shit!" Terence looked stricken and sat back.
Teela cocked her head, looking thoughtful. "If you caught him fooling around, would that be enough? Sure, it’s adultery, but it’s not with someone underage…"
Louise grimaced. "You could have a point, Girl." She mused for a moment. "If he’s doing something ELSE, that would be better, since I know THAT would shut him down…"
"Something else?" Sally asked, confused.
Louise pursed her lips in thought, then came out with it. "Terence didn’t come up with his interest in dick out of the blue, I don’t think…"
"MAMA!" Terence turned eggplant purple.
" … He’s a chip off the old block, I’m pretty sure," Louise continued, unruffled. "But he’s so paranoid about it that even I can’t be sure. That would stop him in his tracks — but catching him would probably take thirteen private detectives."
"That being the case," Candace replied, "what are the chances that he’s doing what we’re doing?"
"Pretty slim," Louise sighed. "He ain’t exactly Wesley Snipes. If he looked like Damian, maybe…"
Candace frowned. "Would he, if he could?"
"Oh, Hell, yeah!" Louise cackled. "In a heartbeat!"
"I’ll do it!" Teela announced.
"Oh no you won’t!" Rick howled.
"Oh, come on! You’d be there!" Teela replied. "After all, the trick is to get the evidence on video!"
Louise frowned. "I dunno, Girl. Someone as tiny as you? Fred might grow sense…"
"I’ll do it," Sally chirped, then glanced at Lon, "if it’s okay." Lon went tight-lipped, thinking.
"This sucks," Terence opined. "Y’all are planning on running a game on him!"
"Listen up, Boy!" Louise grated, "I know you want to be loyal to your Pa — but I GUARANTEE he won’t be loyal to YOU, if push comes to shove! Besides, nobody’s gonna be holding his dick and sticking it in anyone — if he doesn’t take the bait, then it won’t happen!"
"Maybe we should just keep an eye on him," Rick said cautiously.
"That would be the simplest thing, but it takes resources," Jean interjected. "It might work, but we could burn the rest of the summer trying to catch him."
"Why don’t we do both?" Toby offered. "There are eleven of us — and eight of us aren’t working. That should be plenty to keep an eye on one guy, in rotation. We could do teams of two — and the girls could be a bit more obvious. If one of the girls catches Louise’s husband’s eye before we pin something else on him, then we can talk about reeling him in…"
"We’ll need cameras," Rick grunted.
"Yeah," Toby agreed, "Both still and video. And binoculars, for the ones hanging back." A webcam wouldn’t do it for this…
"Well, we HAVE a still camera," Lon grunted. "What about a video cam?"
Candace sighed. "I guess we’d better pop for one. And whatever else it takes to keep it running. We may need it for other projects, too, at this rate. And maybe a second, better camera for stills."
"I still don’t like this," Terence grunted.
"You don’t have to play, Boy," Louise replied. "But I suggest that you do. If you don’t want to be in on the girl thing, that’s okay — but you might want to keep an eye on him for other pussy — and maybe other things…"
"Yeh. All right. I can do that," Terence nodded.
"Damian…" Louise turned to her younger son.