Sadie's morals prevail

My eyes flit between Marley, Sarah, and Todd, still lying on the floor. While Todd’s face is crumbling into despair, I see grim satisfaction on both Marley and Sarah. And I can’t hide this part from myself… I’m happy too. Happy that Todd is paying. That my friends have made sure I’m safe from this predator. And that he’s not only going to apologize, he’s going to have to apologize to all the other girls AND confess his crimes to his own mother.

Sarah remains quiet, crouching down next to me and holding me comfortingly. Todd finally speaks and his voice sounds so pleasantly unfamiliar to me. Gone is all the cockiness and confidence and smugness. In their place is fear and despair and doubt, “You… you can’t do this. This will ruin me. It’ll ruin my schooling and my career!”

Marley simply taps his foot against Todd’s shoe, but by the way Todd jerks you’d think he was kicked. Marley’s voice is rather calm and nice when compared to the dark glower still on his face. “You mean like you threatened to ruin Sadie’s schooling and career? I don’t think so. If you do as we say, you can apply to some other university, get in, re-do this semester, and still get your degree. Do all this right, and no one in your scholastic or professional life ever needs to know about this dark time. That’s the kindness that Sarah and Louis are offering you.”

Todd swallows hard, as if the logic of Marley’s statement finally gains physical weight. Turning to Sarah, however, he continues his complaint. “You really can’t do this. My mother will... she’ll… she’ll disown me. It will ruin my family life.”

Sarah doesn’t miss a beat responding, “You mean like you threatened to ruin Sadie’s family life? I think your mom is going to be more of a pragmatist than you think. She’s made it all the way up a corporate ladder and probably has had to deal with some shady shit already. Knowing that her son is a serial sexual abuser will probably break her heart, but she’ll also see that only she, you, and all the girls you hurt will ever need to know about this. Hell, she’ll probably get you more on the straight and narrow than anything we could do. Sell it how you want, and she might even be proud that ‘her boy’ grew up and did the right thing. That’s the kindness that we’re offering you.”

Todd sobs and starts to cry as he clearly sees he’s not getting out of this. That Sarah, Louis, and Marley have penned him in so tightly that there is no out except to do what they wanted. Just like he had penned me in. His final plea comes out as he looks between all three of us, and for a moment my hate for him grows even more. “Fine, but I can’t… can’t… I can’t do that to Sadie. I’m not gay. I… I… I don’t know how to… suck… pleasedon’tdothistome!”

It might have taken all of three seconds for my thoughts to coalesce and for my mind to get made up. In that short time frame Sarah stood up and seemed ready to verbally lay into Todd again. In that short time frame Marley straightened up and clenched his hands into fists. And in that short time frame Todd has crumpled down onto the floor, crying, sobbing, and begging using gibberish and cries.

My heart doesn’t exactly go out to Todd. After all, he did this. He made this bed for himself. And it’s sad that he can’t see that this is simply a mirror of what he did to me. But for all the eye for an eye justice that this plan has… I can’t have that on my conscious. I can’t be on the other side of such a grievous sexual crime. Even if I’m just a prop with my hands cuffed behind my back. My voice is quiet, and shaking with my own emotions, but it still changes the whole demeanor of the room. “No.”

I see that my simple word stopped Marley and Sarah in their tracks. Todd has stopped begging but is still crying uncontrollably on the floor. It doesn’t matter to me as what I want to say is for Marley and Sarah anyway. “No. I love what you guys have done for me. You’ve literally saved me. And I can imagine all of your thoughts and plans going into this as it’s fair and even handed. Todd gets to learn his lesson, go on an apology tour, and gets a taste of what he threatened me with. It feels just that he has to tell his mom. I even appreciate you getting him out of this town as it will make me feel so much safer. But…” I look down my body and though my breasts are blocking the view, I still imagine I’m looking at my caged penis under my skirt and panties. Imagining Todd going down on me, like he made me do to him, has the exact opposite effect that sex has had on me before. I feel myself shrink had get smaller in my cage. “…but I won’t hurt him like he hurt me. That won’t help me, and it won’t help Todd. It’s ****, not justice.”

Todd seems to have heard some of what I said as he starts calming down. He’s still crouched down though so he doesn’t see Marley sigh, reach into his pocket, and pull out a single dollar bill. With one step he’s close enough to hand it to Sarah who smiles happily and slides it under her bra, mouthing ‘I told you!’ to Marley.

They had a bet on how I’d react!

The love I have for my friends practically doubles as I realize Sarah went into this knowing that I wouldn’t be able to do that. Marley looks down at Todd, scoffs, then gripping his collar, pulls him up and holds him standing in place. Even in my lifted tennies or heels, Todd stood taller than me. Stood over me. He seemed so big and menacing. But standing there before Marley, I’m reminded just how big my friend is. Todd looks more like a child being held up by a man.

Marley’s voice is calm, but there’s still an undertow of threat in it. Of menace. “Alright Todd, our girl here is a better person than me and is going to let you off the hook. But know this… this was already the alternative ‘nice’ way to take care of you. My initial thought involved beating you to within an inch of your life, blackmailing you, and having our digital team destroy both you and your mother’s lives. You see, you hurt my friend in a way that you will never be able to comprehend. You took things that were good and innocent and lovely about her and not only corrupted them, you used them against her. You need to know that she told us to NOT do anything to you. When I told Sadie’s friends about my idea, they said that they agreed… but that Sadie wouldn’t want that. Wouldn’t want to truly hurt you. So, she didn’t just save you once, she’s saved you several times.”

While Sarah helps me up to my feet, Marley keeps talking to Todd, “So I accepted their comprise plan that helps you learn and even has the chance of making you a better person. My role in this is entirely up to you. You see, Sarah and Louis did the hard part, so I’m going to take over enforcement.”

Marley pulls out his phone and turns it toward Todd. Sarah hugs me but makes sure I can see what Marley is showing off. “That’s the same feed of your mom. I can get the audio too. When Louis figures out how to get the cameras on her phone, I’ll have that too. Know that I’ll be listening in when you tell your mom. If I don’t like how you tell her, or find that you’re leaving part of your confession out, we move back to MY plan. And this…” Marley turns his phone back to himself, taps something out, then turns it back to Todd and us to see “…is the same hack on YOUR phone. That’s the list of the girls Sarah put on there for you. I’m going to be listening in when you apologize to them. If I don’t like how you apologize to them, we’ll move back to MY plan.”

I feel Sarah working at my handcuffs… is she picking the locks?... but I can’t take my eyes off of Marley and Todd. Enforcement seems to be Marley’s specialty. “In two days, I’m going to come over to your apartment Todd. If it’s not empty, we move back to MY plan. All you have to do to keep moving along in your life is to do those three things. Apologize to the girls, confess to your mother, and leave. Oh…” Marley turns Todd to face me and roughly pushes him toward me “…and apologize to the sweetest girl on campus AND thank her for saving your life!”

I’ve never seen someone so broken down when so little has been done to them physically. Realistically Todd has been pushed to the floor, roughly picked up from the floor, and pushed around like a rag doll. That’s it. But his face shows that he’s been hurt deeper than any physical pain could account for. When he starts speaking it’s clear his apology is being made under duress, but I still hear a level of sincerity in it that I didn’t think possible. Maybe… just maybe… Todd is learning from this. “Sadie… I’m so sorry that I hurt you so badly. I… I… I don’t have any excuse for what I did. No reason for my actions is big enough to forgive it. I see that now and am sorry that I was so blind to my own actions before. I promise… to you and to your friends… that I’m going to take this as an opportunity. I’ll apologize to those I’ve hurt, I’ll… I’ll… I will confess to my mother… and I’ll leave here. I’ll never seek you out again. And… and Thank you. Thank you for being a bigger, better, person than me.”

I feel tears threatening to come out of my eyes and am immediately thankful that Marley recognizes that Todd not only apologized with some sincerity, but he also recognizes that I’ve accepted it without me having to say anything or even nod. Marley places his big strong hand on Todd’s shoulder, slaps his phone into his hand, and turns him around to start escorting him out of the room. On the way out I hear Marley still guiding Todd’s next actions, “Use that phone to call your professor. Let them know that you’re done and won’t be able to even grade your papers. That you’re leaving campus now and…”

I hear the door to the lab open and shut, silencing Marley as he escorts Todd away.

I slowly let out the breath that I didn’t know I’d been holding in. At the same time Sarah hands me my crop top and starts putting all of Todd’s equipment into a bag. All the cameras, all the lights, and even his laptop. By the time I’m dressed the storeroom looks like it always had. A storeroom and not the porn set that Todd had wanted it to be. I can feel my whole body shaking and know that the adrenalin that I’d built up in my body ever since Todd gripped my arm and started guiding me back here was finally going away.

Sarah pushes some boxes around and makes us an impromptu bench to sit on. Once I’m seated, she sits right next to me and pulls me in close, holding me. Making me feel safe and protected and loved. Once my body stops shaking, she lets go but turns so that we can face each other. “Sadie, I’m sorry that we didn’t do what you wanted. That we didn’t stay out of this. To be honest, Marley and I talked and after we went back and forth for about an hour, we both agreed to do what you said. It wasn’t until Louis called that we changed our mind. He was so adamant that we do something that he convinced both Marley and me. It was his idea to use what Todd did to you as our own blueprint. That we’d use his own social media posts and his own school account to get the evidence we’d need. That we’d get him to leave by blackmailing him both the school and to his family. Louis wanted to be here for the last part… he wanted to **** Todd to suck him off since he didn’t know that Todd could actually do that to YOU. That’s the only reason he’s not here. Marley and I both knew that you wouldn’t want Louis to know those specifics.”

I can only sit there and blink as the weight of what Sarah is telling me takes hold. Louis was the one who made the biggest push to save me. What Sarah tells me next makes me want to thank Louis even more. “And you should know that he was so gung-ho that he told both Marley and me straight up that if we didn’t want to do this, he’d do it all on his own.”

At that point Marley walks back in. He seems satisfied and has an actual smile on his face. “I hope you don’t mind, but I impressed upon Todd that its in his best interest to do as we said. I may have even hinted that I have a felonious background and would be happy to not only beat him up but permanently disfigure him if he doesn’t follow through or even approaches you again Sadie.”

I stand up and look at Marley, not able to tell if he’s telling the truth or not. “That’s not true though, is it? I mean, you don’t have a criminal background and even if you did, you wouldn’t do something like that. Would you?”

Marley’s smile doesn’t give any information one way or the other. Nor do his words. “It’s best not to dwell on facts like that. What’s important is that TODD believes it. Just consider it more incentive for him to grow into a better person. Now, let’s say we get out of here. I don’t know about either of you, but doing good deeds makes me hungry. Who wants a burger?”