The Housekeeper, Chapter 39
Chapter 39
The trunk was just as uncomfortable the second time around. More so, now that I had to use the toilet and had nothing but my thoughts for my company in the hot, cramped darkness. I was still mentally reeling from everything Hannah had said about me on stage, while I stood there looking awkward and bewildered on stage.
Maybe I was ‘poor’ compared to Hannah, her rich friends, and all the attendees at whatever that fundraiser was, but I wasn’t actually poor. I was solidly lower-middle class. Which probably didn’t mean much to her when she had money to burn and I was pinching pennies. The most frustrating part of her presentation was how it was laced with truth. I had given up my summer. I was trying to pay for college, and all the expenses that came with it. And until her parents paid me, I was currently more broke than when I had started.
Well, maybe not. The state of my finances were so confusing. If I wasn’t able to undo the purchases she had made on my credit card, the real question was whether or not selling my possessions would make up for that debt. Wait, no. Even if I could pay off all of that, I’d still have to get a new car.
And she announced to a crowd full of people that I was a virgin?! That was so personal!
My worried thoughts and physical discomfort were interrupted when I felt the car come to a real stop. Every stop sign and red light had given me false hope thus far, until I heard the vehicle actually turn off. The car doors were opening as well, which I assumed meant that I’d let out of the trunk shortly.
Or not. I heard the girls’ muffled voices for a few seconds, and then they began to fade. Were they going inside without me?! I shouldn’t have been surprised, with how casually cruel Hannah could be. Except it was summer. I was already drenched in sweat from yet another ride in the boiling trunk, and wasn’t it unsafe to be in the car like that? The specifics were eluding me, probably because it had become difficult to think at my usual college level when I was constantly flustered and exhausted.
Aside from trying to count the seconds, I had no way to keep track of the time. After what felt like a minute or two, I attempted to open the trunk. The angle was difficult with how I had been stuffed into the back of the car, and I was fairly confident that there wasn’t a button or handle or anything to engage the door from the inside. Why would there be? The trunk was for things, not people.
I forced myself to take a breath. Panicking wouldn’t help anything, and surely someone would let me out after making me sweat for a bit, literally and figuratively.
Eventually, I could faintly hear their voices again. Instead of opening the trunk, however, they simply got back in the car and started driving again.
We had made a stop? Since Hannah had driven straight to that event from her house, I had assumed we were driving straight back. Maybe she and Lillian were killing time until they heard back from Willow, or simply running errands now because that had always been the plan. Either way, no one had warned me! I still had to pee, not to mention the persistent discomfort of everything else.
As I would soon find out, it wasn’t just going to be the one stop. Hannah apparently decided that this outing was the best time to collect packages, grab takeout for later, and stop by a friend’s place for a quick chat while they were in the neighborhood. All the while, I continued to squirm in the trunk, desperately fighting the urge to relieve myself.
Obviously, this had been on purpose. She had promised me the toilet if I could make it until we were back at her place. And proceeded to keep me in the trunk for way longer than I had anticipated.
Eventually, I couldn’t take it any more. After a particularly sharp bump from whatever she drove over, my control slipped. The single squirt made holding back the rest ten times worse, and I was only able to hold it for another minute or two before the dam burst entirely.
As usual, waiting until I desperately had to go meant that I totally soaked myself. Or, in this case, soaked the trunk. By the time I was done, I could feel how I was now curled up in my own mess, with the smell of piss mingling with the sweat I had already been dealing with. It caused me to gag a couple times; honestly, it was a miracle I didn’t throw up while acclimating to the new state of the confined space.
Painful as it would have been for us to arrive shortly after my accident, knowing that I was so close to making it, I still would have preferred that simply for the fresh air and the ability to clean myself up. Instead, I was stuck back there for another two hours between Hannah’s driving and the time she spent at some of the stops she made.
When we finally arrived back at her house, I didn’t realize it at first. For all I knew, this was yet another stop on the longest and most disgusting ride ever. But then, Hannah was popping the trunk, immediately wincing and crinkling her nose. Not that I could see her that well when the mid-afternoon sun blinded me at first after being stuck in the darkness for so long.
“You’re so predictable,” she scoffed. Rather than sounding judgmental, she merely took a step back to get some of that air I had been craving and turned to Lillian, “This is why she lost her bathroom privileges. It’s just not worth the effort, when she’s going to piss herself anyway.”
Embarrassingly enough, I hadn’t moved yet. As badly as I wanted to get up, I had been conditioned to wait for permission for basically anything. Not that I could ever win, since not doing something that was theoretically obvious could just as easily get me in trouble.
“Why aren’t you moving, Jessica?” Hannah asked, “You’ve had enough of a break. It’s time to stop lying around and doing nothing. Come on, get up. And strip. Right now.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. Hastily climbing out of the trunk, being careful not to touch any of the mess that I made, I only hesitated slightly before I started getting undressed. As much as I hated being exposed, even if I knew that Hannah and Lillian had seen me naked countless times, this time was more manageable because of how the workout shorts were just as soaked as the back of the car itself.
Starting with my bottoms, obviously, I worked quickly yet as carefully as I could. Then I pulled off the tank top and sports bra, relieved my breasts were no longer crushed while blushing at how I could feel the sun and the breeze on them.
“What are you waiting for, Jessie?” Hannah snapped, “Use those as rags. Cleaning supplies are in the garage. When you’re done, walk around to the back yard; I don’t want you in the house until you deal with all of this.” She made another face, vaguely gesturing to my nude body.
She and Lillian grabbed a few things from the back seat, all of which looked to be from their multi-stop trip back to the house, and headed towards the house without sparing me another glance.
I worked as quickly as I could, my body already rather pink from the tanning bed that had left me with a bit of an unattractive burn. As much as I wanted to say something to Hannah about how it was her fault I didn’t make it to the bathroom, I had learned countless times that biting my tongue was better than making things worse for myself by trying to speak up.
That, and it would be difficult to defend such a blatant accident. Wet shorts, wet trunk. Though they had caused it to happen, there was no getting away from such a visual.
Leaving the trunk open for it to dry and putting the cleaning supplies back where they belonged, I headed towards the pool in the back with the ‘rags’ in my hand. I wasn’t sure what else to do, when leaving them anywhere would potentially be frowned upon.
“About time,” Hannah said, as soon as I came into view. She pointed towards the outdoor shower. “Get cleaned up. Leave the door open so we know you’re not misbehaving in there. I know how you can get around pretty girls.”
But- I wasn’t a lesbian! Blushing as I walked over, expecting cold water from how Hannah got the shower started after giving me her directives, I was instead met with a wave of heat as I stepped in.
After my boiling ride in the trunk, I would have actually embraced the cold. Instead, Hannah had reversed what kinds of temperatures I was dealing with today. Instead of freezing AC in the bedroom and in the car, I was being kept way too hot between the trunk, the shower, and the summer sun.
I was given exactly two minutes to bathe myself and rinse off. There was only so much of the boiling water I could tolerate, anyway, and going faster also meant that I would possibly be allowed to get dressed afterwards.
Hastily running my hands all over my body after coating them with soap, spending extra time on my lower half to clean myself of the urine, I braced myself for one of them to say something about me ‘touching myself’ when that was the reason Hannah gave for not trusting me with any kind of privacy.
Instead, they stayed silent. That was just as bad, when I could practically feel their impatience and judgment as they watched.
For once, I was actually given clothes right away instead of having to stay nude and keep my hands down despite the constant impulse to cover up. Hannah threw a matching set of athletic clothes at my feet, that didn’t seem to be used like the last workout outfit she had given me to wear. They’d still end up being damp, since I wasn’t given a towel or anything else to dry off with.
Not wanting to risk the chance I had been given to have some modesty, I immediately started getting dressed. Though the lycra shorts and t-shirt were clean, they were definitely Hannah’s. The shorts fit somewhat, but weren’t great without underwear. The top was as bad as most of what I had been given to wear since Hannah took charge; it tightly hugged my chest, both crushing my breasts and blatantly showing off my form down to how my nipples were clearly visible.
“What do you think?” Hannah asked Lillian.
“Barefoot might be rough,” she said.
Hannah gave me another once-over, then shrugged. “I guess. I’ll find her something. Is Willow almost here?”
“Mm hmm,” Lillian nodded.
I was told to stay put.
They went inside, to the kitchen that was no doubt air conditioned and a lot more comfortable than how I was left standing on the hot concrete. It sounded like I’d be given something for my feet, yet I hadn’t been told anything about why I’d need footwear. Were we going somewhere else? Probably, if they felt the need to let me wear clothes.
Maybe twenty minutes later, all three girls stepped outside. Instead of being all dolled up, like they were before, all of them were wearing athletic outfits of their own. Hannah was showing the most skin, with a sports bra and short shorts, though the others wore rather skimpy combinations themselves.
Willow was rolling a cooler behind her, and Lillian held a pair of sandals that were meant for me. Who else? They were all wearing sneakers, which made more sense for the kind of clothes they had on.
“That’s for you,” Hannah said. She gestured to the cooler. Now that I was able to take a better look, I could see that it doubled as a backpack. “Be a good servant and give us a fresh drink when we need one. And take care of our empties, obviously.”
Without another word, she and the others walked past me and into the yard.
I quickly slipped my feet into the sandals and picked up the cooler . . . tried to pick up the cooler. It was SO heavy. They must have filled it all the way up with what I was assuming would be alcohol seltzers, after seeing what they preferred to drink when not enjoying the cocktails I was told to fix for them.
Now that I knew what to expect, I heaved the backpack cooler up and slung it over my shoulders, groaning slightly from the weight. Open-toed footwear wasn’t ideal for faster movement, nor was being weighed down like this. And yet, there was already a considerable distance between me and the trio of rich girls, thanks to how they had nothing but their phones to worry about carrying.
By the time I caught up, I was already sweating again. So much for the shower I had just taken. It wasn’t as bad as my experience in the trunk, but still. And I could hardly complain, when Hannah had already made the point that most of my day had involved lying down and doing nothing. As if there was anything comfortable or relaxing about the space I had been crammed into, especially after I wet myself.
As soon as I was somewhat close, Hannah snapped that all three of them needed a drink. They couldn’t have just grabbed one before they started walking?!
Taking the cooler off was just as rough; it wasn’t as if I could just reach over my shoulder and deal with it. And, unlike what a normal group would do on a walk, they didn’t wait for me. I quickly chose three seltzers, using my vague memory of the flavors each girl liked, then zipped the backpack up and hauled it back up. Three fewer cans didn’t seem to make much of a difference.
Once again, I had to rush forward to make my way towards the girls, all while trying to not let the sandals impede the process.
Naturally, I didn’t go so much as a ‘thank you.’ They just told me to keep up.
As we reached the far end of the yard, Hannah cracked her can and took a sip, then led the way to a small path starting at the edge of the trees. So, not just a walk around her immediate property. We were going on more of a hike, and I was going to be their pack mule the entire way.