Point of View: Mine

This is the third part of a three-part story that describes the same events from three different perspectives. It won't make any sense unless you have first read "Point of View: His" and "Point of View: Hers." This is a work of fiction and any similarity to actual persons or events is coincidental.

*

"Eric! You're here after all. Natalie and I were about to give up on you. By the way, the next round is on you."

"Fair enough. Order what you want, friends. Any bottled beer."

"It has to be bottled? We've been drinking draft."

"Eric is cheap, Natalie. He's famous for it. Watch closely when he opens his wallet. You'll see moths fly out of it."

"I am not cheap. I'm poor. There's a difference."

"Just ignore Rob's teasing, Eric. He teases me too."

"Oh I know that. Rob's teasing me for 15 years, Natalie. I just tease him back. That's why we're still friends."

"Good and by the way, Robert; Eric is poor for all the right reasons."

"I know. I know. He's the noble doctor working in the ghetto clinic. Seriously, though, Eric, you've done enough for society. It's about time you set up a practice in the suburbs. You can tell your patients to take two aspirin and call you in the morning. Then charge their insurance company $1000."

"Rob has a point, Eric, why don't think of yourself for a change? Have you ever thought of leaving the clinic and setting up a practice where the patients actually pay you?"

"Have I ever thought about? Not too often, two or three times a day, max. Plus every time the old Honda won't start and every time some junkie breaks into the clinic and demands drugs."

"Then why don't you?"

"Well, working at the free clinic is no way to get rich, that's for sure. I get paid the same as everyone else that works there including the receptionist, the nurses, and the janitor. And, I tell you, Natalie, if there was another doctor ready to take my place there, I'd leave. But there's no one else who will do it and I can't just walk away from those people. They need me."

"Watch out, Natalie, Eric's setting up for lecture number 23 about the failings of America's health care system. It's a great cure for insomnia."

"Actually, I don't want to think about medicine or my poverty tonight. What were you guys talking about before I got here?"

"Rob was telling me about the last time he was in a physical fight."

"I think I've heard that story. You beat up two marines and a lumberjack, right Rob? Or was it a longshoreman and a couple of Mafia goons? I forget."

"Ha ha. Very funny. It was actually a fight that broke out in a baseball game, and I did knock down two of the other team's guys."

"Oh, that's right. I knew it was two or three of something. Tell me, did the other team's bat boy cry when you knocked him down?"

"Funny! Funny! You should be a comedian."

"What about you, Eric, when was the last time you had to punch someone?"

"Actually, Natalie, it was only a couple of years ago and it is quite a story. But I'm not sure I should tell it in front of my buddy's girlfriend. There's some sex in it."

"I'm a big girl, Eric. And now I definitely want to hear it."

"So do I and how come you've never told me about this before?"

"Well, I feel kind of guilty about it, so I never told anyone before."

"Noble Doctor Eric feels guilty about something? This sounds better and better. We're listening. Spill."

"Ok. Rob, do you remember Kyong — the woman I was seeing for a while a couple of years back? We split just before you met Natalie."

"Kyong?"

"I probably called her Ky-aji."

"Oh, yeah, I remember now. She lived in the same building with you. Very beautiful gal. Chinese."

"Korean."

"Whatever."

"Well, anyway, we were pretty hot and heavy there for a while. But I ended it, or tried to, because there was no future to the relationship."

"Why not?"

"It was basically just pure lust on both our parts, not love. The sex was great — better than great — but we were incompatible in every other way. Kyong came from a family of bigwigs in Korea, and she was quite a status snob. She would never buy anything unless it was the most famous brand. She followed that rule for clothes, food, appliances, everything. Sometimes I'd make suggestions to help her save money: like, I'd say 'Get this brand of toaster or get this kind of spaghetti. It is cheaper.' But she would say 'No, is for common.', which was her way of saying 'that's for common people'. Whenever she wanted to put down something, she'd say 'Is for common.' When she said this, she'd kind of wave her hand at the thing like she was brushing it away. She was also very materialistic. She told me many times that she would never marry a man as poor as me. She wanted to marry a rich man. And one day she even specified that it had to be an Asian man."

"Wait. She was rejecting you because of your race?"

"Yep. Mostly for my poverty, but partly for my race. That surprised me, too. I know there are people for whom racial discrimination is an everyday occurrence, but it was the first -- only -- time it had ever happened to me. I was stunned at first and then infuriated. That was the first time I tried to break up with her, but I couldn't make it stick."

"Why not?"

"Well, that's where the lust comes in."

"Her's or yours?"

"Both. I'd break it off, but since we lived on the same floor, I'd pass her in the hallway now and then. She'd always say something flirty and she'd start wearing something seductive, like tight sweat pants or hot pants, to walk to the mailboxes at the end of the hallway. I think she dressed that way deliberately in case I was in the hallway at the same time. This would go on for maybe a couple of weeks. I didn't have anyone else in my life at the time, so I would get pretty horny. So one day we'd be passing in the hall, say 'hello', and before I knew it we'd be grabbing each other and we'd run into her apartment or mine and rut like rabbits. Then we'd be together again for a few weeks, until she'd start complaining about how junky my car is or about how I couldn't afford to take her to any place expensive. When her materialism got to be more than I could stand, I'd try to break up with her again. We just kept repeating that cycle for months."

"Aren't you supposed to be telling us about a fight?"

"Patience, my dear Robert, patience."

"Let him talk, Rob."

"Thank you, Natalie. Now where was I? Oh, yeah. Well, one day just after I'd broken up with her for the umpteenth time, I saw her brought home by this Asian guy. They'd obviously just been on a date. They started seeing each other. I never met him, but he had an expensive car and expensive suits, and he was kind of snooty to me if I passed him, so I figured he was just the guy for Kyong. Sure enough, the next time I ran into Kyong in the parking lot, she told me she was engaged to the guy."

"Were you jealous?"

"Just the opposite, Natalie. I was relieved. I figured she'd stop trying to seduce me and I'd be free of her at last. It almost worked. For a month after her engagement, we had nothing to do with one another except to say 'hello' in the hallway. But then she started in again with the seductive clothes and the flirting. Well, like Rob said, she was beautiful and I was weak, so we had another session of great sex. After it was over, I asked her what the deal was with the flirting and sexy clothes when she was engaged to another man. She was kind of vague, but I got the sense that her fiancé wasn't too hot in bed. We agreed that it would never happen again, but it did. Every couple of weeks, when he wasn't around, we'd go at it. What can I say? I was horny. I'd have felt bad for the guy if he hadn't been so snooty to me."

"Are we getting to the fight soon? Because even though sitting around talking about relationships is one of my favorite things to do, as Natalie will tell you, I'm really looking forward to hearing about the fight."

"He's joking, Eric. He hates talking about relationships."

"I know, Natalie. I've known him longer than you. And yes, Rob, we're getting to the fight. But I should explain first that my neighborhood is a training neighborhood for the U.S. Postal Service. New postmen from around the region are brought here to be trained, so we don't have a regular postman for our building. We get a new trainee every other week. The trainees make a lot of mistakes. So the people in my building frequently find each other's mail in our mailboxes. The boxes are locked, so we can't put the mail in the correct box. For that reason, we have a tradition in the building: when one of us gets another's mail, we slip it under the apartment door of the person it belongs to."

"And then you all get together and beat up the mailman, right?"

"Wrong, Rob."

"Rob, let the man talk."

"So one day there was a letter for Kyong in my mailbox. On my way back to my apartment I stopped at her door to slip the mail under it. But the door was open, so I knocked instead. Kyong came to the door and I handed her the mail. I was going to be polite and chat for a minute about the weather but she immediately started whispering to me to go. I was just about to leave when the Asian guy comes to the door beside her. So I introduce myself and stick out my hand to, you know, shake hands. And get this, the guy refuses to shake hands with me!"

"Why?"

"He said something like I was harassing Kyong, and then he folds his arms and says he won't shake my hand."

"What did you do?"

"I slugged him. It happened so fast, even I was kind of surprised, but I was never so angry in my life. I don't know why, but the disrespect he was giving me was enraging."

"So how did he react?"

"Actually, my punch knocked him down. I think he was kind of stunned. When he got up again, I slugged him again. I was still angry. I was kind of on autopilot. My anger was in charge. I got this idea in my head that I was going to teach this guy to have a little respect for me. I didn't have money or status or the other things he'd instinctively respect, but I had muscles. The guy was lying on the floor stunned. I shut the door and dragged him over to a radiator and tied him up."

"You tied him up?!?!?!"

"Could you say that a little louder, Rob, so the people at the other end of the tavern can hear you?"

""Ok. Sorry. But ... well, just go on."

"Yeah, well, I tied him up with his necktie and then I gagged him with a sock and a scarf."

"You gagged him?!?!"

"Ok, the people at the other end heard you that time. Thanks."

"Alright. Sorry, but ... I mean ... really. Isn't that a little ... like ... illegal?"

"No ... I mean ... maybe ... Well, yeah, I guess technically it was."

"Technically?!? TECHNICALLY?!?"

"Ok, ok, lower your voice. It was illegal! Happy now, Rob?"

"Wait a second, you guys. Time out. Something's puzzling me: where was Kyong while you were beating, tying, and gagging her fiancé?"

"Funny thing, Natalie, she was telling me to stop and kind of pounding her fists on my back, but she was pretty quiet about it and mainly she was just watching."

"Why didn't she call the police or run to a neighbor for help?"

"Well, the rest of the story might sort of explain that."

"Ok, then, on with the story."

"Well at this point, I regained enough sanity to wonder why the guy had said I was harassing Kyong. So, I hefted her over my shoulder, same as when we were together. She was thrashing around, but she couldn't get away. I carried her into the bedroom, closed the door, and threw her on the bed."

"Eric, please don't tell me you raped her!"

"Of course not, Natalie. After I threw her on the bed, I asked her—"

"Wait a second."

"Yes, Rob?"

"You said you carried her on your shoulder just like when you two were together. What do you mean 'like when you were together'?"

"Oh. I didn't mention that, did I? She was really into the cave man thing. Whenever we had sex, there was lot of me carrying her around over my shoulder from room to room. She dug it. It was like a form of foreplay for her."

"Weird."

"Actually, Rob, that's a turn-on for a lot of women."

"Really, Natalie?

"Really, Rob."

"That's been my experience, too, Rob. But anyway, back to the story. After I'm alone with Kyong in the bedroom, I ask her what she's been saying about me to this guy; like, why does he think I've been harassing her? Well, long story short, she had not told him that she and I had continued our affair even after she and the guy have been engaged."

"That's not surprising."

"I agree, Natalie, and it's also not surprising that she wouldn't tell him that we had once had an affair. But here's the thing: she didn't just withhold things from him, she flat out lied. She told him we had never had a relationship."

"It's true that that is a lie, but it's not unreasonable. Would you want a fiancée to know you'd once had an affair with a woman still living on the same floor as you?"

"Ok. Maybe that was an acceptable lie, but she went beyond that. She told me that she had told him that I had been stalking her."

"That was over the line, you gotta admit, Natalie."

"I agree, Rob, that was uncalled for. She didn't have to slander Eric. But continue with the story."

"Well, she had told him that I was one of those crazy people who imagine they have a personal relationship with a celebrity, except I supposedly imagined a relationship with her, and I'd been stalking her."

"Why did she say that about you?

"She told me that she was afraid that he and I would pass in the hallway or parking lot and get to talking when she wasn't around. She was afraid that I'd tell her guy about our affair. So she wanted to make sure he didn't believe me, if that ever happened."

"I get it. So she told him that you imagined you had a relationship with her. If you ever said anything to him about the affair, he'd just figure you were crazy and that you were imagining it."

"Yep. That was her plan. It was idiotic in a lot of ways. And it was needless: I'd never tell another man that I had once screwed his fiancée. I even made it a point to call her Kyong, not Ky-aji when I passed the two of them in the hall and said 'hello'."

"Ky-aji?"

"Kyong taught me that. It's kind of a Korean lover's nickname. She called me Er-aji. Anyway, like I said, I'd never have told him, but Kyong was pretty cynical about human nature. She figured that all men brag about their conquests."

"So then what happened?"

"Well, I was furious with her. I threatened to tell the guy about her lies, but she begged me not to. Also, I realized that he wouldn't believe me anyway. So, I agreed not to tell him, but I wanted something in return from Kyong: something that would teach them both a lesson. Aww ... this story is getting boring. You two don't want to hear the rest of this."

"YES. WE DO!"

"Well, ok. Long story short, my deal with Kyong was that I wouldn't tell him the truth but in return Kyong would have to reenact with me one of our sex games right in front of him."

"In front of him? Oh, man. That's cold!"

"Agreed, Rob, agreed; but ... well, he shoulda shook my hand."

"So did she agree to this?"

"Yes, Natalie, she did. But only if I pretended that we'd never done it before and that I was forcing her. Funny thing though: she had this glint of excitement in her eye just like when I used to do the caveman thing with her."

"So did you actually go through with it? In front of him?"

"Yep. We did. We went back out to the living room and I ordered Kyong to strip and kowtow to me."

"Kowtow?"

"Yeah, that's the way people in Asia bowed to—"

"I know what a kowtow is, Eric! I was asking why you ordered her to kowtow."

"Well, that's how the peasant girl game begins."

"Peasant girl game?"

"That's the game I told Kyong we were going to play. It always begins with the Emperor ordering the peasant girl to strip and kowtow. What happens after that kind of varies, but I'm always the cruel Emperor and she's the beautiful peasant girl who must obey me."

"You two had played this game before, I take it."

"Oh, yeah, Natalie, many times for months. So anyway—"

"Wait, before you go on ..."

"Yes, Rob?"

"What was the fiancé doing when Kyong was stripping and kowtowing?"

"He struggled a little and kind of moaned through his gag, but I had him trussed up pretty good. So, basically, I just ignored him. Also, when someone as beautiful as Kyong is bowing naked in front of you, it's kind of hard to look away. So, anyway, after she kowtowed, I took her over to the couch and gave her a long over-the-lap spanking. That's part of the peasant girl game, too. The game varies, but sooner or later the Emperor always spanks the daylights out of the peasant girl."

"Does she enjoy this?"

"She sure does, Rob. It would get her hotter than a firecracker. It did hurt, mind you, and she would bawl and kick and twist; but it also turned her on like nothing else."

"So she was a masochist?"

"Could be, Rob, but sometimes I wonder. A masochist is turned on by pain. But for Kyong, maybe most women who are turned on by spanking, sometimes I wonder if it isn't more the humiliation that turns them on, rather than the pain itself; or maybe it's just the fact of being controlled. ... I see you are fidgeting, Natalie, do you want make a point about this?"

"I'm not fidgeting. But I do have a question. Granted when you were alone together she was turned on by a spanking, but in this case, with her fiancé watching, surely she was not ..."

"Oh, but she was. I kept checking with my fingers. If anything, she was hotter than usual. By the end she was moaning, and not just from pain."

"Eric is right, Natalie, you are fidgeting."

"I'm just hot. When did it get so hot in here? Hey waitress, can we get another round of spanks—I mean beers here?"

"So go on with the story."

"Ok, Rob. Well, towards the end of the spanking. I noticed that the guy was not looking at us anymore. His eyes were closed and he had turned his face away."

"Understandable."

"Yes, but I wanted to rub it in; that I was spanking his girl. And I with his hands tied there was no way he could plug his ears, so I ordered her to say something after every spank. I made her say 'I wish my boyfriend was man enough to stop you from spanking me.'"

"Whoa, man! That is harsh! Eric, my friend, you've got a hard place in you that I've never seen before."

"True that. On both points. I've got a hard place and you've never seen it. But that's because you've never seen me that angry. But keep in mind that his guy was an incredible snob who refused to shake my hand. I felt that putting him in his place was important and it was especially important that I be the one who did it because basically both of them thought of me as a kind of a peasant, an inferior person or 'common' as Kyong would say."

"So what happened after the spanking?"

"Then I ordered Kyong to take off my clothes. I took her over to near where the guy was lying on the floor and told her to kneel down and give me a blow job."

"Did she?"

"Oh, yes, the peasant girl is always very cooperative after the spanking. But sometimes if the game goes on long enough, she gets feisty and needs a second spanking."

"Are you ok, Natalie, there's sweat on your forehead just below the hair line."

"I'm fine, Rob. I'm just a little hot like I told you. Come on, Eric, finish the story."

"Ok. Well I stopped the blow job before I climaxed because I had something better in mind. I grabbed his ankles and held him face down. Then I ordered Kyong to strip him, and when she was done I had her spank him."

"You had his fiancée spank him?"