The Blackmail and Retribution Ch. 02

Barun checked his watch for the tenth time in as many minutes, still five minutes to go before the 10:00 meeting with Shanti.

He paced back and forth on the path before the fountain, pausing only to push back his stringy, brown hair and survey the surrounding area for any sign of her approach. The park was empty, however, with the exception of a few joggers and the odd person out walking their dog. At least, Barun thought they were odd; he hated dogs. The area around the fountain was pretty much deserted, which made it perfect for the upcoming meeting. If, of course, that meeting ever took place. Despite Girish's repeated assurances, Barun was still not certain that Shanti would show up.

He half-expected to see a police car pull into the parking lot or something like that. Girish, however, had been sure of their plan.

He argued that for someone like Shanti, social standing and reputation were all; she wouldn't put either at risk by taking any chances that the evidence of her cheating would get out.

Reshma had agreed with him, but Barun was not so sure; it wasn't Reshma's or Girish's ass on the line out here in the park. Still, he thought, it was worth a try, particularly considering the potential prize at the end of the day! He checked his watch again, still a few minutes to go.

Barun looked up and scanned the park - if she didn't appear soon...

There she was: large as life and twice as beautiful! Shanti was approaching slowly along the jogging path which led into the park from the beach; she must have parked her car in the beach parking lot, where it was much less likely to be seen. That made sense. As far as Barun could tell, she was alone, which eased his anxiety considerably. Maybe this would work after all. He stopped pacing and watched as she walked towards him.

As she drew closer, he saw that her eyes were red and puffy, as though she had been recently crying, or hadn't slept much. Maybe both and she looked scared. If anything, though, Barun thought it made her even more gorgeous. This is really going to work, Barun thought to himself, his heart picking up speed. Finally, she reached the circular path before the fountain and, after hesitating briefly, she walked up to him.

"Shanti Rangaswamy" he greeted her...

Shanti had indeed spent an almost sleepless night, tossing and turning in anticipation of what would happen the next morning. When she finally did get up, she was almost exhausted with apprehension. All she could think about was what had happened to the last person who had been caught with a stolen exam paper. The expulsion from College... the criminal charges... the public exposure! That was the worst. The thought of the humiliation made her tremble as she quickly got ready to leave for her encounter with the person who sent the note. A brief excuse to her parents at breakfast, and she was out the door and on her way.

Shanti was not surprised to see Barun standing at the fountain as she entered the park. The Tamil Iyer damsel had quickly realized last night that the note must have come from him. He was the only person who knew about her cheating, and he was the only person who could have taped their meeting. The question was: what did he want from her to keep quiet about it? The answer unfortunately was not difficult to figure out. She could see the way he watched her as she approached the fountain. The way his eyes played over the curves on her body, undressing her. Shanti shuddered.

She did not find him attractive - he was tall and painfully thin, with long greasy hair and an unpleasant complexion - but had made up her mind the previous night that she would do anything - almost anything - to get the tape back, including sleeping with him.

She would do anything to keep him quiet as she was afraid, however, that thiswas exactly what she was going to have to do and keep him quiet.

"Shanti," he greeted her as she approached. He was smirking.

"I thought it would be you," she spat out, unable to hide the anger and hatred in her voice. "What do you want?"

"Why, Shanti," he feigned surprise and hurt, "is that any way to greet your partner in crime? You seemed happy enough to see me a couple of weeks ago... when you needed the exam paper." The tall damsel sat himself down on a bench and patted the space next to him, gesturing for her to take a seat next to him.

"Fuck you," she blurted out. "I want that tape." She couldn't believe he had the nerve to treat her like this. She fought down the urge to slap that obnoxious smirk off his ugly face; there was time for that later.

Barun just smiled slightly and again patted the place next to him on the bench. "I don't think that that's a very helpful attitude," he said mildly. "Why don't you just sit yourself down right here, and we'll have a little chat about it."

She just stared at him angrily.

"After all," he continued, "it wouldn't do to be seen arguing in public. Someone might ask why."

Torn between anger and fear, Shanti hesitated for a few moments more, but finally gave in and sat down beside him. She tensed up as he put his right arm around her shoulder, but didn't pull away. She hoped no one could see them together; it would be impossible to explain this to her friends at College.

"That's better," he said smoothly. "Now we can talk."

She turned slightly towards him, ignoring the condescending tone of his voice. Anger had won out over the fear, if only briefly. "You know what I want, you fucker. You tricked me. I want that tape back, and I want you to shut your fucking mouth about the whole thing, you asshole..."

She was stunned into a shocked silence as he brought his left hand around and slapped her across the face. It wasn't particularly hard, but it was surprising and humiliating. She brought her hand up to her stinging cheek and started to pull away, but Barun held her close. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"First thing, Beautiful," he told her quietly. "Don't swear at me, or even in my presence. It makes you sound cheap. Do you understand?"

Dumbly, she nodded her head as the tears began to flow down her cheeks. The humiliation at being talked to like this was even worse than being slapped. What was he doing to her?

When he saw her nod, he relaxed his hold, but still kept his arm around her. The cheek he had slapped was starting to turn red, so he leaned forward and kissed it. Shanti tensed and started to tremble, but she didn't pull away. "There, there," he said soothingly, as he brought his hand up to wipe the tears off her cheeks, "Is that better?"

Trembling, she nodded.

"Fine," Barun leaned back on the bench. "Now we can talk. As you know, I have evidence that could fuck you up at Greenwood. I don't want to use it like that, but I will if I have to."

"If you give out that tape," she argued, regaining some control (but still not pulling away from his encircling arm), "you'll be expelled too. I'll let everyone know who sold me the exam. We'd go down together." She had thought of that argument last night, while tossing and turning in bed.

Barun just shrugged. "You can try," he answered. "But I don't know if anyone will believe you. My voice can't be recognized on the tape and I have friends who will be willing to swear that I was somewhere else that Friday. Besides, I almost failed the test; who'll believe I had the questions ahead of time?" He fell silent for a moment and looked at her. "And even if I do get expelled, it's no big deal; people expect it of me. It's your reputation that matters."

He was right. Shanti began to cry again, and was forced to suffer the humiliation of Barun again brushing the tears from her cheeks. "S-so, what do you want, then?" She was defeated. She would give him what he wanted.

"You for just one night and that too tomorrow night and I want you to make love with me, have sex with me, lick my cock balls and then let me have your sexy Tamil pussy and act as though you like it. After, I'll give you the only copy I have of the tape." ," came the expected answer.

Shanti began to tremble again as he said this, but she was not particularly shocked. Here, she was on familiar ground; most of the guys at College wanted the same thing of her, and she was used to dealing with their desires. As well, she had expected something like this, and it could have been a hell of a lot worse. She didn't find Barun attractive, and almost gagged at the thought of having sex with him, but she was certainly not a virgin. And one night wasn't forever. It would be unpleasant, but it would be over with quickly, and she would never have to talk to him again. And, once she had the tape...

Shanti was careful, however, not to let her thoughts show. No need to let this asshole know that she was not as scared as she seemed. "And you'll give me the tape?" she asked quietly.

"Sure."

"How do I know that you won't keep a copy of it and blackmail me again?"

"You don't," came the simple answer. "But I swear on my mother's grave that I will not use the tape to blackmail you again." She looked doubtful, but he just shrugged. "That's the best I can do."

"Just one night?"

Barun nodded.

"And it'll be a secret, right? You won't tell anybody?" This was crucial. If anyone ever found out that she had slept with Barun, whatever the reason, she would be ruined at College.

It would be even worse than being caught cheating.

Once again, Barun nodded. "No one will have to know," he told her.

Shanti fell silent for a few moments and then nodded her agreement. She had stopped trembling and seemed thoughtful. "OK," she agreed, finally, "I'll do it, just one night and no one knows."

"Right." Barun could barely keep himself from laughing out loud. If only she knew what they had planned for her! "Show up at my place tomorrow night at 7:00. Can you find it?"

"I have a student directory," she answered, "I'll find it." She pulled away to get up and leave, but Barun held her close.

"Don't I get a goodbye kiss? Just to keep me until tomorrow?" he asked her

Fighting down an urge to vomit, she allowed herself to be pulled toward him and pressed her lips to his. Her hands hanging limply at her side, she tried to keep her mouth shut, but his tongue was insistent, and was soon exploring the inside of her unwilling mouth. His breath smelled like smoke and she almost gagged.

"Just one night," she told herself, as he drew the kiss out until it was more like necking than a single kiss.

Finally, he released her. Gasping, she staggered to her feet

and hurried off.

"Until tomorrow then," he called after her.

Reshma squeezed herself into the back of closet, trying as best she could to make herself comfortable in the pile of clothing Barun had laid out for her. From where she sat, she had an unobstructed 3/4 view from the head of Barun's bed. She peered through the viewfinder of her father's video camera. "Looks good," she reported to Girish, as he watched from where he sat on the side of the bed. "As long as the lights stay on, I should have no trouble with the filming. It's kind of tight in here,

though."

Girish smirked at her. "You should be getting used to it by now," he joked. "That cupboard a couple of weeks ago was no bigger."

Reshma laughed in agreement. What with the filming in the Woodwork Shop, and now in Barun's bedroom, she was becoming something of an expert in this sort of thing. Perhaps, she reflected, she should look into becoming a private detective. There must be a lot of money in doing this sort of thing for divorce cases in the like.

The 18 year-old girl settled back against the closet wall as her friend and sometime boyfriend adjusted the tripod and camera in front of her to give her a little more room. She was looking forward to the upcoming events, although she still found it hard to believe that Shanti would show up and go through with it. Imagine... the Ice Queen agreeing to fuck Barun! (Imagine anyone agreeing to fuck Barun.) And she was there to get it all on tape!

Between the camera she was running, and the second video camera set up on the bookshelf beside Barun's bed, they should be able to catch the whole event for posterity. And after that, Girish had plans for Shanti that made Reshma wet and shivery just thinking about them. She hated Shanti, and all of the stuck up cunts like her at College. The chance to fuck one of them over was irresistible for her.

"You OK?" Girish broke into her thoughts. The camera was set up in front of her, and everything was ready.

"Give me a kiss," she ordered, reaching up. Girish leaned over and kissed her fully on the mouth, his tongue playing with hers and she could tell that he was as excited about what was going to happen as she was, despite his calm manner. Maybe they had time to...

"Hey hey," Barun called out jokingly, entering the bedroom. "This is supposed to be my night. Knock it off." Reluctantly, Reshma let go of Girish and settled back down into her position in the closet. Trust Barun to show up at the wrong time. Girish smiled at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"Later," he whispered.

Reshma shivered as he partially closed the closet door, leaving it open just a crack. "Shit," she muttered to herself, trying to get comfortable. A few moments later, she was wishing that she had a cigarette.

Shanti preceded Barun into his bedroom and stood there while he closed the door behind him. She was wearing blue jeans and a yellow tee-shirt, and had her Tamil Iyer hair pulled up into a simple ponytail.

"Like it?" Barun asked, gesturing vaguely towards the room. Shanti looked around. It was a small, basement bedroom, surprisingly bright considering the fact that there was only one, small window. The light, however, did the room no favors. It merely exposed the battered '70s-style wood paneling that covered the walls. That, along with the worn shag carpet gave the room a slightly sleazy look to it. More or less what Shanti would have expected?

Besides the bed- a single bed, she noticed -which sat in the corner of the room next to the closet, the only furniture in the room was a battered couch and coffee table set up under the window. The table was covered with comics and magazines, as were the bookshelf which lines the wall over the bed.

"Nice," she said sarcastically. "I can see you've done a lot with it." Before coming, she had decided to be as pliant as she could be, to go along with everything as quickly as possible, but now that she was here, she was unable to conceal her contempt and anger.

Barun did not react to her sarcasm. "Like a drink?" he asked, pulling out a bottle from under the coffee table. "Whiskey, I'm having one."

The last thing Shanti wanted to do was hang around for a casual drink, but as long as he was going to have one, she figured she may as well have a drink as well. It might even make things a little easier. "Yeah, fine," she answered. "With water"

Gingerly, she sat down on the edge of the couch, careful to avoid the magazines and - she now saw - cigarette ashes which were spread out on the cushion. Barun disappeared into the adjoining bathroom and mixed the drinks. She heard the water running for a moment, and then he returned with two glasses. He handed one to her and then raised his drink in salute: "To us," he stated.

Shanti just stared at him for a moment. Fuck you, she thought. "To us," she echoed unwillingly, raising her own glass.

After this is over, she told herself, taking a sip of the drink, I'm going to have to get this asshole taken care of. She knew a few guys on the football team who...

"So," Barun interrupted her thoughts, sitting down next to her on the couch, "did you have a nice weekend?"

Oh fine, she thought, small talk. Asshole. "Just great," she answered sarcastically. "How about you?"

"I've been horny all weekend," he told her, "thinking of you."

His directness and unapologetic crudity shook her, reminding her of her situation, and why she was here and best to get it over with as soon as possible. Deliberately, she drained the glass in one gulp and slammed it down on the coffee table. "Stop fucking around. Let's get on with it."

Barun, however, was in no hurry. He took a casual sip of his drink and smiled at her. "Get on with what?"

"You know." She gestured vaguely with her hand. "...It."

"It?"

"Sex," she blurted out. Just how stupid was he? "That's what you want, isn't it? That's why I'm here, isn't it?" She flushed and looked down. He wasn't making this easy on her.

Barun suddenly reached over and grabbed her face, turning it towards him so he could look straight into her large green eyes.

"No," he told her. "I don't just want 'sex'." He mimicked the way she had reluctantly said the word. "I want to fuck you." He made a point of emphasizing the crudity.

"We're going to fuck. Ball. Screw. Get it on." He got up and walked to the bed, pulling his shirt over his head; the complexion of his back matched that of his face. "But first," he said, carelessly throwing the shirt onto the floor beside the bed, "you're going to have to ask."

"Ask?" Shanti's head swam in disbelief. She felt a little dizzy, probably from the drink. "Ask?"

Barun lay down on the bed, put his hands behind his head and grinned over at her. "You're going to ask me to fuck you," he told her. "And then, if you ask nicely, I'll do it."

"You're out of your mind!" Shanti tried to get up from the couch, but stumbled against the coffee table and sprawled back onto her ass, knocking over a pile of magazines. "I'm not going to ask you..."

"Alright," Barun interrupted her. "Then go." He pointed towards the door. "But by the end of the College day tomorrow, that tape will be in Dr. Gaowrivaran's office." (Dr. Gaowrivaran was the College principal.)

Shanti lurched back to her feet, carefully this time, her head spinning. "B-but..."

"Well?" Barun was relentless. "What's it going to be?"

Shanti grasped at a straw. "But you said yesterday that I wasn't supposed to swear around you," she begged. "You said it made me sound cheap." She was more than a little humiliated at having to make this argument, but it was all she had. Surely he wasn't going to force her to...

"That was in yesterday," he told her, smirking. "Now, I want you to sound cheap; you are cheap."

"You bastard!" The tears were starting to flow down her face. "You bastard."

"It's your choice," he told her. "Take it or leave it. Either you ask me real nice to fuck you, or you get the hell out of here. What's it going to be?"

Girish watched intently from his position in the yard outside the window. From where he sat, peering through a small opening in the blinds, he could see everything that was happening, but was unable to hear what was being said. Silently, he cursed himself for not opening the window a crack, but it was too late for that.

Hopefully, Barun wasn't fucking up. Still, he would hear it all later from the video tape. He hoped Reshma was ready.

Inside, it looked as if things were shaping up nicely despite his worrying.

Barun had got Shanti to take the drink which Girish had specially prepared for her. Beside the alcohol content, he had mixed in a small amount of a depressant - to lower her inhibition and a stimulant - to keep her awake and heighten her senses. Between the two drugs, he hoped the mixture would have the desired effect.

From the look of things inside the bedroom, it was. Shanti seemed confused and frightened. She had staggered to her feet and moved towards the door as Barun had said something to her, but she didn't leave - as Girish had known (hoped) she wouldn't - and had turned back around to face Barun on the bed. Girish looked down to make certain everything was ready with his camera. There should be some interesting shots coming up...

Shanti looked over at Barun, lying smug on the bed. She was paralyzed with indecision and disbelief. This couldn't be happening to her; it couldn't! Her head swam. He couldn't be expecting her to...