Chapter 21

Cindy was back in twenty minutes in her blue one-piece and cover-up. It was about noon or a bit after; the construction crew was out back on the deck digging in their lunchboxes, Cindy's dowsing having broken up their morning for them. I'd left Karen naked but indoors working in the kitchen; she was somewhat visible occasionally, and the guys had their chairs oriented to look in the slider. Given that they were ahead of schedule, I had no issues with that. When Cindy came in, I met her in the living room and told her, "Slut's going naked -- you can, too." Cindy started peeling right away -- and I could tell there was something on her mind. "What's up?"

"Cletus, I..." she stopped for a moment with her suit halfway off, then gathered herself and continued, not looking at me. "Today was... hot. I, uh, well, if Ed says it's okay, I..." Her suit in a puddle at her feet, she finally looked up. "I need a man!"

Now, this was a breakthrough, but... I rubbed my razor stubble. "That's the second offer of it's type I've had today," I mused, "but I turned the other one down, too. Normally, I'd just fuck you, but I'm saving myself for the evening. That leaves us with a situation... You know I have blanket approval to bring your chunky ass to heel, right?" Cindy nodded.

She'd left things with an undercurrent that said that Michael or Pete wouldn't do -- which was kind of stupid of her, considering their recovery cycle and potential staying power -- but sometimes you have a hankering for a particular flavor of something, you know? But the available pool of males was limited -- or was it? I turned toward the slider and there sat Julio, peering in. Of the three of them, I figured our little Mexican bandit had the toughest time getting laid, anyway; Alejandro had the regal Latin lover bearing and Rudy had that muscular black thing going for him, but Julio was short and stocky and would have looked good in boots and a sombrero. "Julio!" I waved at the slider, beckoning him.

Julio stuck his head in the door, "Patron?" Since I'd had Karen blow him, I was the neatest thing since sliced bread to Julio -- he was bought and paid for. His method of addressing me clearly indicated it, too. If I'd have stuck my head downstairs and told him I wanted a door to the outside, he'd have tried to fit it into the work schedule.

"Are you real busy?" I asked him.

This left him in a quandary, I realized, as he mulled it over. If he wasn't busy, that meant he was lazy... "I'm eating, Patron."

"This will probably take precedence," I assured him, waving him inside. He stepped through into the air conditioning and closed the slider carefully. He came on into the living room and feasted his eyes on Cindy, who stood there, blushing furiously. Her hands crept toward figleaf positions until I barked, "Keep 'em down!" I turned to Julio, "You've met Cindy..."

"Si." Julio grinned, showing a couple of his gold caps. "I have seen her, anyway..." Julio had been part of the delighted audience to Cindy's spray-off only twenty minutes before.

"Well, I want you two to get to know each other -- real well, in fact. You're doing a fine job, Julio, and Cindy, here has some urgent needs -- so I want you to fuck her brains out!"

I'm not sure which of them was more surprised, but Cindy was certainly taken aback! Julio wasn't the most fastidious choice in lovers -- he was covered in sawdust and sheetrock powder and who knew what -- his T-shirt and his jeans were filthy. I grinned at her. "You wanted a man -- I can't imagine a more thoroughly male specimen... Show him your titties -- Julio LOVES titties -- don't you Julio?"

"Si, Patron..." Cindy diffidently cupped her jugs and raised them, pressing them together so that the nipples pointed at Julio -- and his eyes began to glow. It was amazing watching it; the naked need on Julio's face triggered a total change in Cindy. One second, her face held an expression of total repugnance and aversion -- and the next, her eyelids drooped and she got that smile that women get when they KNOW the hook is set. Julio reached out slowly and replaced the hand holding up Cindy's left titty with his grubby, thick-fingered paw and cradled it gently, eyeing it in wonder and husking, "Beautiful tetas..." as he rubbed his thumb over the nipple -- and Cindy suddenly looked like she was going to purr.

I didn't have any rubbers cached in the living room -- but there were some in the TV room, so I went and got two. When I got back, Julio was latched onto a nipple minus his shirt, displaying his farmer's tan and a considerable amount of coarse back hair -- which Cindy appeared to have no aversion to rubbing her hand over while she moaned in pleasure at his attentions. I put two rubbers on the couch arm, "In case you go for seconds," I told him, and left the pair to get fully acquainted. Rather than sitting around watching, which might have put Julio off his game, I went to my office and put it on video, recording it for Ed's entertainment.

Parking my ass in my office chair, I settled back to watch Cindy go to work on Julio's jeans -- but he stopped her before she got far and went to sit on the couch and started untying one of his work boots. Cindy got the hint and handled the other, THEN they got Julio out of his jeans. Buck naked, he settled back onto the couch and Cindy crawled up to drape her melons on his knees in easy reach while she peeled back the thick casing and engulfed his thick sausage with her mouth. I figured that Cindy would be unhappy when Julio grunted and hauled her head in while he filled her mouth with jizz, but before she could complain, he announced, "NOW, we fock!" and that seemed to work for her.

I was a little surprised at his recovery time, but he seemed to know what he was doing; in no time, he had Cindy on her back on some couch cushions they'd tossed onto the floor and was plowing her. I switched camera angles to get a side view and discovered Karen standing in the doorway with two fingers in her twat. While it wouldn't seem to be a serious issue to let Karen jill herself off, we have a control thing going, so I hopped up to go out there and get a grip on things.

Karen didn't even see me coming -- she was too much into the scene in front of her. Not wanting to bother Julio and Cindy, I grabbed her from behind and pulled her against me, trapping her hand and whispered, "Did I tell you that you could do that?" in her ear.

"No, Master! Sorry, Master!" Karen's vice was hushed but urgent.

"You get off when I tell you that you can," I murmured, "not whenever you feel like it or you get a free minute!"

I was casting about for something suitable to do to her when Rudy stuck his head through the slider. "Is Julio gonna be much longer? What have you got him doing, anyway?" The sounds coming from the living room more or less answered his question for him; he let himself in and, giving me the eye at how I was handling Karen, crept past to investigate. "Well, I'll be fucked," he grunted, watching Julio plunge Cindy's pussy. "That's that older bitch you watered down, isn't it?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Look, this one is acting up, so I don't want her getting off, but if you'd like, I'll have her practice swallowing your trouser snake..."

"Cool..." Rudy nodded, eyeing Karen.

I let go of her, propelling her toward Rudy. "I want to see the head of his dick moving up and down your gullet," I told her. "If I don't, I'm gonna line the inside of your twat with Ben-Gay!" Karen got right down and went to work. While she was still fishing in his jeans, I told Rudy, "Fuck her face -- she's being punished. No mercy."

Rudy's eyes lit up. "Damn!" I could tell by the look on his face that Karen's throat was fucked.

About that time, Cindy wailed, "OoooOOOOOOHHHH, GAAAAAAAAWD!" I stuck my head around the door to watch her clutch Julio to him while her big ass went nuts. Julio kept hammering away, boring her out with his fat dick. Grinning, I returned my attention to Karen.

Rudy needed very little encouragement to put her through her paces; Karen was quickly red-faced and choking and drooling a gallon of saliva onto her neck and chest. Rudy gave her a hard time and I constantly critiqued and verbally abused her, but, game little bitch that she is, she hung in there and took the heat. Rudy actually beat Julio by a few seconds; Karen was licking him clean when Julio arched up and grunted, "CHINGAAAAR!" and flooded the rubber he was wearing. When he backed off, I told Cindy, "Thank the man, then suck off his rubber and drink his jizz out of it."

Cindy looked at me and said, "You're..." then shook her head and turned her attention to Julio. "Thank you!"

"Thank YOU!" Julio grinned, jiggling her titties.

Cindy then followed my instructions to the letter, without a trace of disgust -- for which I was proud of her. When she was done, I nodded at Julio, "I guess you'd better get back at it if you want another piece next week..."

"Si." Julio hurried to get back into his clothes. Rudy had himself tucked away; he waved at me before glancing at Julio, "See you downstairs." Julio nodded and bent to lace up his workboots.

I helped Cindy up -- she was looking a little creaky -- and led her to my office. Waving her onto the loveseat, I observed, "You're having quite a day!"

"You're turning me into a slut!" Cindy retorted.

"No, you were already a slut," I replied, "I'm just making you comfortable with it. You were an unfulfilled slut, hiding and pretending to be something you aren't -- we're changing that."

"What's Ed going to say?" she worried.

"What's good for the goose... I imagine," I replied.

"I'll LOSE him!"

"No you won't. Do you love him?"

"Of course!"

"There's no 'of course' about it," I replied. "Do you love Julio?"

"Cindy rolled her eyes, "No, of course not. He's sweet and everything, but..."

"So if you were to spend three or four days with him, you wouldn't want to change up?" I pressed.

"Of course not!"

"What about Ed? Are you worried that he'll abandon you and take up with Amy, or Karen?"

Cindy looked worried. "Has he had sex with Karen?"

"No." I eyed her. "Is there any reason why he shouldn't?"

Cindy lowered her head. "I'm scared, okay?"

"Look, you can't stop it. I won't let you and he won't let you," I informed her. "That being the case, you have one choice and one choice only -- you need to be VERY good to him!"

"I will! I will!" Cindy insisted.

"That includes putting up with his little foibles," I reminded her. "There will be other women -- and maybe other men. Can you share a girl with Ed?" She opened her mouth, but I moved on, "Can you share a guy?"

"I..." Cindy sat thinking about it. "Yes. Guys will be weird..."

"Girls won't?"

"No, you're right..."

"I know that -- but I have to lead you everywhere by the nose, it seems like," I chuckled. "To recap: You fuck around -- but you fuck around with permission. If you fuck around without permission, your ass is grass. Ed fucks around -- and you put up with it, BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO CHOICE! But the best way for you to handle things is to participate actively, any time he will let you. Your best shot at happily ever after is for you to make sure he knows you love him -- daily. Who is boss at your house?"

"Ed is," Cindy muttered, looking penitent.

"And it's going to stay that way -- or else!" I warned her. "Just because he doesn't care whether you have chicken or pork chops for dinner, allowing you to make the call doesn't make you the boss -- he's just delegating. You remember that!"

"Yes, Cletus."

I waved at the door. "Go help the girls get ready."

A few minutes later, Pete and Michael wandered in. "What's up now?" I asked, mildly irritated.

"Where are we gonna be for this thing tonight?" Pete asked.

"Downstairs, like last time."

"There's dust and crap EVERYWHERE!" Michael complained.

"Oh." I scratched my head. "Tell Julio I said to vacuum down there -- that we need the room tonight -- he owes me. Pull your sheets and shit and take them next door to wash." I had a laundry, but no one was handling it. The maid usually did, but she was on paid vacation so she wouldn't be exposed the the shit going on around my place.

"Okay," Pete grunted, and headed off. Michael hung back.

"Pete's got Joy," he mumbled. "What am I going to do?"

I frowned. "I don't know -- but I honestly don't think you're going to miss out. I don't know what I'm doing either, but I have a sense that I'll be busy -- and I'm so certain, I've passed up two pieces of ass already today to save myself for it! Is Gina coming?"

Michael shrugged. "I guess..."

"Bullshit aside, she'll go around with you again after very little persuasion," I insisted. "Wait and see. But there are other targets, too."

"Like?"

"There is always Karen," I told him. "You can use her as a fallback piece. But Holly might spread for you, and Amy might, and even Kate might, under the proper circumstances. Cindy is also a possibility -- and a valid fall-back piece. Ed would lend her to you, no problem."

"I dunno about a bunch of them..." Michael mused.

"Wait and see."

"Yeah, okay. You're right, there are a couple of sure things, I guess."

"Yeah, there are," I told him. "That should ease your mind. Pete will be tied up, too."

Michael grinned. "That might be a blessing."

"Don't project that, if you don't have to," I advised. "Treat him like you always have -- don't let the occasional blow job get in the way of anything -- especially if he isn't pressing. He isn't, is he?"

"No."

"Then don't borrow trouble."

"Okay." He headed out, looking more upbeat.

A shop vac ran for quite a while between three and three-thirty, then what had become the usual changing of the guard began. I heard Heather and Amy come in, then before Jean could corral her bunch and hauled them off for a bit I stuck my head out of the office and said, "Everybody else has been doing your shit today -- go downstairs and help Pete and Michael make the basement habitable so they can entertain down there." Neither of them was thrilled, but they had to admit that they owed the others the work.

Jean came in on schedule, but she didn't haul Heather and Michael away -- the house was clean and picked up over there and dinner was going to be at my place. Karen wolfed down a piece of pizza as she headed out the door, then Amy and Kate jumped off to get Gina and Joy, and Jean and Heather went to pick up Holly.

Ed showed up and I dragged him off to the office to view Cindy's adventures. Cindy was horrified! I discussed the grocery run and the dowsing, then cued up the video of Cindy and Julio after explaining that Cindy came back hot. Cindy took one look and burst out crying in embarrassment, fear, and guilt.

I took it for about ten seconds, then yelled, "Woman! Shut the fuck up!" I turned to Ed and related, "She's SURE you'll be mad -- maybe want to kick her to the curb. I've been telling her you won't, but..."

"Yeah..." Ed was standing, watching the video, clearly distracted. Cindy continued to wail. I started to worry, myself.

"Maybe you should..." I muttered.

"Yeah." He went over and seated himself on the loveseat next to Cindy, who obviously didn't know WHAT to do and curled up in a ball, covering her face, wailing. After a minute (Thank God!) he reached over and grabbed her shoulder and toppled her into his lap -- and covered her mouth. "Hush!" Cindy settled back to whimpering. When she quieted down some, he started rubbing her flank and her ass, then dug in to play with her left titty -- which seemed to calm her further. When it was over, he looked down at her. "Did you have a good time?"

Cindy's "Yes..." was about as meek a sound as I've ever heard.

"Did anyone get hurt?" Ed asked.

"I... don't know."

"Well, you didn't, and he didn't -- and I was a little surprised, but I gave Cletus a free hand -- and we discussed worse, actually -- or more, anyway. I'm not upset. Hell, it was hot -- reminds me of a little bitch I used to date. But she got married and crawled in a box or something..."

I'd told her something similar, but, clearly, she hadn't believed me, given the look on her face. "B-but..."

"I sent you the wrong signal, I guess," Ed rumbled. "That time, back when we were dating... Well, to be frank, that little incident was what got you the inside track. I know I never told you that..."

"It... did?"

"Yeah, it proved to me that you were just hot... I didn't expect that you would hide it away like that..."

"But I did it for you!" Cindy burst out.

"Yeah, and it's my fault -- and it's time you un-did it! We should have had this conversation a LONG time ago -- but we didn't, because I couldn't bring it up and you were busy doing what you thought I wanted. Well, it's out there, now -- I want that hot little bitch who couldn't confine herself to one dick when two were available! She's still in there -- you've proved it -- so I want you to hang it out there..."

"Dammit, Ed!" Cindy erupted, "Why did you...?"

"Crap on you?" Ed finished. "Because you expected it -- and I was young and stupid and didn't know any better. It seemed to be the way to hold you -- how was I to know that you'd take that shit all to heart and lock yourself down?"

"I did it because I love you!" Cindy wailed.

"Well, now you can undo it, for the same reason!" Ed retorted. "I want to watch that again -- why don't you suck me or something?" Cindy blinked a couple of times; I just looked at her. Then she said "Okay..." very quietly and started working at his zipper. I obliged Ed by putting the video on a loop and walked out.

Closing the door really didn't help all that much; by the end of ten minutes, the unmistakable sounds of sex bled through as far as the kitchen -- and Cindy appeared to have no compunction about screaming, "Oh, God! OGOD!! FUUUCK MEEEEE!!!" -- at a volume level virtually certain to raise the dead. The boys and I just grinned at one another and went on with our business.

After a bit, they came out, Cindy tucked under Ed's arm. "I'm thinking we're accomplishing something," I opined.

"Yeah, me, too," Ed grinned. "We're gonna go for a dip."

"Okay," I nodded. "Look, in case you haven't heard, we've got a shitload of teenage girls inbound for a sleepover. I'm not dumping you out -- I'm just warning you. We'll be up to a half-dozen, anyway -- and they're here to party, one way or another."

Ed nodded. "I don't know if we'll be staying -- Cindy's had a busy day."

I nodded. "Whatever works. Feel free to hang out and do whatever -- they know the rules around here. You can ignore 'em and just use the facilities -- you just might have to share."

Ed nodded. "Thanks." They headed out the slider.

It wasn't ten minutes later that the whole gaggle returned. Holly came in first, marched up to me, said, "Hi, Cletus!" and gave me a peck on the lips before moving on. While I was recovering my wits, Gina came up and repeated the procedure, adding to it by rubbing herself against me and slipping me the tongue. That left Joy dithering. I eyed her for a second, then said, "Come on, we've swapped spit before and you don't want them crapping on you." She nodded and moved in for a peck and I cupped her ass cheek while she did it, which got a gasp of surprise and a blush. I grinned at her and let go and she hurried past. Amy stood there grinning and Jean shook her head; Heather was carefully poker-faced, and Kate merely nodded.

"Okay, everyone here knows the basics, so I'm not coddling you," I announced. "There is an older couple in the pool, but they're both fully briefed and have been partying around here off and on for days, so don't let them bother you. Have a good time, girls." I turned and walked out, headed for my bedroom to drop my abbreviated wardrobe.

As it turned out, that wasn't good enough; I couldn't turn around to close my bedroom door before Holly planted herself in front of me. "Yes?" I asked.

"Can we talk?" she asked.

"Sure..." I bent to remove my shorts -- half-hoping she would get embarrassed and put things off.

She didn't. "I want... that..." she announced, pointing at my already inflating staff.

I tossed my shorts on the bed. "We've discussed this before, Hon," I pointed out. "You have nothing to prove to me or your girlfriends. Somebody made assumptions, that's all." I looked beyond her to where Jean stood in the hallway, probably prepared to upbraid me for my lechery.

"Yeah, well, everybody says that..."

"Your sexual orientation is NOT an issue in this house!" I told her. "No one's is. Would you like to watch me suck a dick to prove it?"

She giggled. "No."

"Okay, then."

"No," Holly shook her head, "not okay. I want it. Everyone can think what they want -- but I WANT it!"

I stopped and flicked a glance at Jean, shrugging; Holly didn't bother to look behind her. "I'll be around all night -- why don't you go enjoy your friends for a while..." I had a thought. "There's another old guy in the pool; I trust him to do a good job. Maybe you should check HIM out!"

"Cletus!" Holly stamped her foot. "Don't you like me?"

"Sure I do, Sweetheart -- I just don't understand the mad rush!"

"You don't want me!" Holly's lower lip came out -- something I'd seen before.

"Sweetie, if this is what you want, you'll get it, okay? But you don't have to skip dinner and you don't have to rush in here to pass up a swim or a gab-fest with your girlfriends or even a little warm-up. You come back here around eleven and we'll take care of this thing and then you can cuddle up to me afterwards and snore in my ear all happy -- how's that?" I proposed.

"You're not just putting me off are you?"

"Nope. I'm gonna save my first load for you -- how's that?"

"Well, okay..." She turned and headed out, flicking a look at Jean as she passed her -- then she stopped in the hallway. "Promise!"

"I promise!"

Jean stood there with her mouth all crooked on her face. "Okay," I rasped, "What the fuck was I supposed to do? Say no?"

"I guess not."

"I think this is all about her self-image -- but that doesn't make it any less necessary," I pointed out.

"That's enough self-justification," Jean grunted. "I get it."

"Okay, then. Come in here and undress." Jean looked a bit surprised, but shrugged and came into the room and removed her blouse, bra, shorts, and panties, in that order.

"Why do you want me doing this here?" she asked.

"So you'll have to come back here to get them," I told her. "Maybe you should be here for Holly when the time comes."

"For what? So you can video me contributing to the delinquency of a minor?" Jean asked.

"Moral support."

"What if I don't support her morals?" Jean rasped. I just looked at her. "Oh, all right..."

"Thank you, Sweetheart." I gave her a peck on the cheek and left her the way she always was when I acted the least bit demonstrative -- flabbergasted.

Everyone was in the pool when I got there -- including Holly. The girls were generally clustered chest deep, where they normally were, and Pete had Joy off to one side, speaking to her urgently; as close as they were to each other, he could have been fucking her already, the little shit... She certainly didn't look unhappy when he leaned in and started sucking her neck. Michael was off by himself, splashing around a bit while he watched everyone else -- obviously out of it for the moment. Ed and Cindy had a corner to themselves, and seemed to be happy. I decided to occupy a lounger for a bit and see what developed.

As usual, I got a surprise. Michael wandered aimlessly around and happened to approach Ed and Cindy. Cindy, who had her back to the pool edge, said something to Ed, and Ed turned and stopped Michael. The three of them talked for a moment, then struck out for the pool ladder and trooped up it. "Gonna check out the sauna," Ed mumbled as he headed past. I nodded, but... Michael? Jean passed the trio as they headed inside through the slider; when she got to me, I said, "Mind the store," and got up to assuage my curiosity.

Yeah, there were cameras in the sauna -- and they were on motion detectors -- but that wasn't what I had in mind. Sometimes there is just no substitute for direct experience. They were just heading inside the sauna when I hit the bottom of the stairs; I made sure the door closed before I crept over to the window, keeping myself off to the side.

They'd arranged themselves on the bench with Michael in the middle, stting on towels, but not covering up. Ed engaged Michael in conversation while Cindy sat there, looking expectant. Things went back and forth, then Ed settled back while Michael described something; from the look on Cindy's face, it was probably butt-fucking her. Ed reached up and started jacking himself, waving his arm at Cindy, who got up on her hands and knees with her ass facing them -- yeah, I was probably right; Ed asked Michael to tell him all about porking Cindy in the ass. Michael was obviously describing his preparations, running his finger around Cindy's crinkle, when Ed reached over and started jacking him, too. Michael paused a second, glancing at Ed, but Ed said something and Michael went back to his description. After a bit, he ran out of steam, and Cindy sat back down -- but she was watching Ed fist Michael's cock with glowing eyes as she put her off-side foot up on the bench and started rubbing her twat. Michael looked back and forth a couple of times, but Cindy was obviously caught up in the whole thing and not grossed out. Finally, Cindy turned to Ed and said, "Do it!" -- I could read her lips clearly -- and Ed leaned over and sucked Michael's cock into his mouth.

I was plenty surprised! I had to see this shit, so I repositioned to a point where I was visible, but had a clear view. Michael picked me up almost immediately, but his eyes were glazed; it didn't matter. I grinned at him and he grinned back, weakly. Time to bust the door...

I stuck my head in, "Y'all don't mind if I watch, do you?"

Michael looked around; Cindy had two fingers in her cunt making sloppy noises and Ed did little more than grunt -- he CERTAINLY didn't let go of Michael's cock! "I guess..." he croaked.

I sat down on the far side of Cindy. "So, what do you think?"

"I'm on fire!" she wailed. "Fuck me!"

"Sorry, I promised a sixteen-year-old I would save my first nut of the night to glaze her cherry," I replied, "But I'll lend you some fingers."

"Okay!" She got up on her hands and knees, presenting me with her ass and I fed her pussy three fingers from my right hand while anchoring it with a thumb on her clit. Then I used my left to play with her asshole. She made some of the most delicious grunting noises...

"Hey, Ed," I suggested, "Why don't you swing it around so Cindy can play with your dick?" This caused a minor halt to things while Michael moved down to the end, but we had enough room to make it work, just barely. Cindy moaned and panted and milked Ed's cock and Ed moaned and slurped and nodded over Michael's and Michael panted and gasped, occasionally pushing Ed's mouth deeper onto his shaft. With some work, I figured Cindy could be fisted -- and she might enjoy it -- but I settled on another target; Ed's asshole was in reach, so I wet a finger and started playing. Cindy started babbling about how hot it was watching me give Ed a rectal exam and everybody started getting tense; I got a second finger in Ed and started pumping and he started making urgent noises -- and Michael went stiff as a board and clenched his teeth...

"AAAAUUUUGH!!" Michael's heels drummed on the floor as he let go in Ed's mouth -- and instantly, Ed's asshole grabbed my fingers and I watched him blow a wad all over the bench and Michaels right thigh while Cindy's pussy clamped down on my OTHER hand and she wailed, "Oh, FUUUUUUCK!"

Michael crashed back onto the bench, gasping, still pumping and holding Ed's head in place so none of his juice got wasted while Ed unloaded six rounds on Michael, the bench, and his own chin, as it turned out. Cindy let go of Ed's cock when her pussy let go and it fired off rounds everywhere while it was bobbing and weaving and slapping his stomach. "MMMM!! MMMMM!! MMMMM!!!" was all Ed could get out...

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Cindy panted, settling on her haunches -- which basically forced me to remove my fingers from Ed's ass. I wiped them on a towel while I rubbed Cindy through her finish, then recovered my right hand, croaking, "This has been fun, but..." I got up and staggered out of there!