Morbid

Arnold stepped out of the shower and dried off, then he walked over to his dresser to grab a pair of underwear. He put them on and picked up his cell phone and walked out of his room to lean against the wall by his door. It was then that he started to text Kelly about accepting the developer's invitation.

“Who do you think he's texting?” Someone whispered.

“His girlfriend.” The girl next to her said. “He has to keep reassuring her that he's not doing anything with a dorm full of women, right?”

“But, he is doing something with us. He's giving us a good show.”

“It's just as good as we're giving him.” Her friend responded. “How many times has he seen your breasts in that cute frilly bra?”

“The same amount he's seen your ass in a thong.” She said with a smile, and both of them laughed. They had started talking in whispers and had ended talking normally, so nearly everyone in the hall had heard their conversation and had to agree.

*

Cissily sat on her living room couch with Amy on one side and Maxine on the other. The three of them read the newspaper and it was amazing to get all of the details about the events that Arnold had only casually mentioned at lunch.

“I feel so bad for his mother.” Maxine said and shook her head. “After her husband died and they paid off the house, it was trashed and she couldn't live there for nearly three weeks.” She shook her head. “Then losing everything on top of that? That poor woman must be crying her eyes out over this.”

Amy nodded her head. She had taken out her micro-braids and left her hair all frizzy and normal. “Arnold doesn't seem too torn up over it.”

“Ha!” Cissily barked a laugh. “You know guys. They won't admit that they're hurting unless you drag it out of them one word at a time, and even then you almost have to trick them into it.”

“Ain't that the truth.” Maxine said and tapped a finger on the picture in the paper. “How in the world did all of them get off with just community service?”

“They're rich kids.” Cissily said and flipped the page to read the details. “Well, three of them, anyway. The rest are well-to-do middle class families and aren't hurting for money.”

“They must have struck some kind of deal with the parents or something.” Amy reasoned. “I mean, they would have to, right? Who wouldn't have them pay for the damages, or better yet, make them clean the mess up?”

“Yeah.” Cissily said and closed the paper. “The reporter wouldn't expressly say something fishy was going on; but, she sure implied it.”

Maxine chuckled. “That's her job, isn't it? To make the story more interesting?”

Both Cissily and Amy laughed.

“It wasn't interesting enough?” Amy asked. “The description of the restaurant scene was so vivid that I thought I was there and had seen it myself.”

Cissily nodded. “Arnold was a real man there.”

“Oh? You didn't want him to pound the guys for what they did?” Maxine asked, a little surprised.

“Of course I do. They deserve a good beat down for doing what they did and for getting off with almost no punishment.” Cissily said, then she smiled. “Arnold knew that comforting his mother was more important.”

“Aww, you really wanna suck him off now.” Maxine said.

“Fucking right I do.” Cissily said with a huge grin and the three of them laughed.

*

Arnold had to go into the dorm room to see what the beta tester package had in it, then went back out to the hallway and texted Kelly back and forth about everything. When the two hour time limit approached, he told her that he needed to go help Doris and that he would be going to bed afterwards.

'Make sure you take good care of her.' Kelly texted. 'She's doing her best to watch out for you.'

'Okay.' Arnold tested back. 'I'll text you again tomorrow night.'

'I love you.' Kelly texted. 'Goodnight.'

'I love you, too. Goodnight. (kiss emoji)' Arnold sent and then went back into his dorm room and slipped on a pair of jeans and a tight t-shirt.

“Where are you going?” His neighbour Emily asked as he came over to the door.

“Doris needs some help moving things.” Arnold said and shut and locked his door.

Emily smiled. “It's nice to have a strong man around to do those things.”

“That's what she said.” Arnold said and walked down the hallway. The girls all pretty much asked the same thing and agreed with Emily. It really was nice to have him around in case they needed help. Arnold went down to the ground floor and stepped out of the elevator and Doris already had her 'back in the morning' sign on the high shelf on the front of her desk. She held the small room door open for him and he stepped by her, then she closed the door and locked it.

*

Detective Tanner didn't get the chance to visit Jake's house until very late at night and she sighed as she did her best to go over the scene in the dark. She had a pen light, so she wouldn't disturb the house's occupants with her normal flashlight, and she searched all around the concrete patio for any signs of a struggle or even the hint that someone else was there.

She only found trampled and slightly torn up grass from multiple footprints and the tires on the stretcher. It was almost the worst possible scene to process, because of all the people that had been around the body.

I know he was killed. I just know it. Detective Tanner thought and made a slow retreat back to her unmarked car. She looked at the addresses of the group and saw that one lived not that far away. On a whim, she drove over to the next boy's house and came to a stop near the place.

There was a fence around part of it and it had clear and easy access to both the yard and the house... then something caught her eye. Several of the nearby poles had multiple papers stapled to them and she got out of her car to go and look at the top one.

Missing Dog. If you see this dog, call us immediately. Small reward if found. Detective Tanner read and looked at the picture. That's a fairly big dog to just run away. She thought. If she had anything like a sixth sense, it would have been going off like an alarm bell. She didn't, though. She marked what she thought was a minor detail onto her notepad and climbed back into her car and drove home. She had an early morning to prepare for and needed to get some sleep.

*

An hour later, a tired and exhilarated Doris entered her house and walked by the living room.

“Hey, Ma.” Cissily said and Doris stopped walking and looked in on her.

“Hi, sweetie. Hey, girls.” Doris said to her daughter and her friends. “You're lucky you're not drinking.”

“We'd never do that on a weekday.” Maxine said. “Unless we were off the next day.”

“Which we never are.” Amy said and looked at Cissily. “Unlike one bitch we won't mention.”

“It's not my fault the professor loves me and gives me the day off sometimes.” Cissily said.

“What do you mean it's not your fault?” Amy asked accusingly and Cissily laughed.

“I'd swear if he wasn't such a germophobe, he'd have been all over your ass from day one.” Maxine said and that made everyone laugh, even Doris.

“Don't stay up too late.” Doris said and just before she turned to walk away, she saw the newspaper on the coffee table. “What's that?” She asked and came into the room instead.

“Oh, right! You've got to read this, Ma!” Cissily said and handed her the newspaper. “It's appalling and amazing.”

Doris thought that was an odd description for a single news story and sat down on the couch to read it.

*

Arnold was back in his room and washed up, then waved at the girls. “Goodnight.” He said and they said it back, then he closed his door and went to his bed to go to sleep.

The next morning, he woke up and had a sensible breakfast, dressed for work, and went out into the hallway. It was a regular thing now and all of the girls said good morning. Even the ones that initially were skittish and tried to cover themselves up the first few times he had walked by during that first week, were now as casual in their bras, panties, and towels as the other girls.

They had direct experience with him now and they all knew that Arnold didn't leer at them, or try to take discrete pictures, or even take brief liberties with them like caresses or accidentally bumping into them. Even though they would have been any other guy's dream girl fantasy as he walked down the hallway of half naked women, he never gave them that feeling of being objectified.

All of the girls treasured that, and him.

Arnold rode the elevator down to the ground floor and stepped out. There were a few girls around and he waved to Doris. “Good morning.”

“Come here.” Doris said without returning the greeting.

Arnold walked over to her and she stood up and came around her desk. She wore her normal form fitting blouse and tight black dress pants and even though she was five inches shorter than him, she seemed to be a lot taller and commanded more attention.

“I read the article in the paper.” Doris said and took him into a hug and pressed his face into her lightly clothed breasts. “You are a good man for doing what you did.” She held him for several moments, much longer than was strictly necessary for a hug, then she let him go.

“Thank you.” Arnold said and glanced at the witnesses.

“You can thank me later.” Doris whispered and then spoke normally. “Have a good day at work.”

Arnold nodded and walked towards the front door.

“What article?” One of the girls asked and Doris told her about the newspaper.

By lunchtime, word had spread and nearly everyone had read or heard about it, so when Arnold went to get something to eat at the cafeteria with Cissily and the lab workers, a lot of people greeted him or nodded their heads at him.

“You're a good boy.” The woman behind the counter said with her voice full of warmth as she handed him a heaping plate of food. Arnold nodded to her and walked down to the register to pay for it.

Angela put his regular root beer soda on his tray. “Your girlfriend is very lucky to have someone like you.” She said and took his money and gave him his change.

“What's with everyone today?” Amy asked as the three of them walked over to the table where Maxine and a couple of the other girls waited for them.

“A lot of people read the newspaper, apparently.” Maxine said as they sat down and waved at the girl next to her with dreadlocks. “I'm not sure how word spread so fast, though.”

“It was the girls in his dorm.” The black woman with dreadlocks said. “Once Doris told them about it, well...”

“Bitch explosion! They blew up and now everyone knows!” Cissily said and they laughed.

“I think they all appreciate what you did for your mom.” Maxine said to Arnold and gave him a thumbs up. “Good job!”

Amy laughed. “You're supposed to hand him a treat or something if you're doing the whole positive reinforcement shtick.”

“We're in public.” Maxine said. “I don't think everyone would understand if I whipped my tit out to let him suck on it.”

“Ha ha! You think that's a treat?” Cissily asked.

“It's one of the best.” Maxine said, quite proudly. “My nipple is to die for.”

That made all the girls at the table laugh, then as they ate, they started to compare the qualities of what they thought the best nipple would be like. Arnold sat there and ate his food and listened this time. When the conversation was nearly over, Maxine turned to look at Arnold.

“What do you think, Arnold?” Maxine asked, hoping to embarrass him a little and tease him, too. “Who do you think has the best nipple?”

Arnold finished eating and looked at her. “To be a fair judge, I would have to see them all to compare them for looks.” He said and stood up as he picked up his tray. “I'd have to suck on them to compare the texture. See you tomorrow.”

They all watched as he went back to the counter and dropped off the empty plate and left the cafeteria.

“He did not just say that he wants to suck on all of our nipples.” The black girl with the dreadlocks said. “He didn't, right? I didn't hear that, did I?”

“He's got balls.” Maxine said with a smile. “I thought us talking about it was making him nervous when he wasn't saying anything, so I asked him to tease him.”

“That kind of backfired.” Amy said. “Maybe because you said that you'd let him suck on your nipple.”

Maxine chuckled. “I would, though.”

“Yeah, me too.” The black girl with the dreadlocks said. “Any guy that proves that he loves his mama in public deserves a few treats.”

“Back off, bitches! He's mine.” Cissily said, and the others laughed. “What's so funny?”

“He completely ignored everything you've been doing to get his attention.” Amy said. “I thought it was because his mom warned him about me that he ignored what I did the day we met; but, maybe he just doesn't see the obvious signs like that.”

“If that's the case, how many girls have been flirting with him since he got here?” The girl at the end of the table asked. “How many think he's rejected them out of hand only because he didn't notice?”

Cissily and Amy lifted their hands, as did Maxine. Two girls at the next table put up their hands, and then the girl at the register put hers up.

“We need a wider base of comparison.” The girl at the end said and stood up, then repeated the same two questions. About fifteen more girls put up their hands in response. “My sociology teacher is going to love my next paper.”

That made a lot of people laugh.

*

Arnold went back to work and learned a little more, then the professor loaned him the next book to expand his knowledge. He left work and went back to his dorm room and closed his door, then changed into casual clothes and sat down with the book. He set his alarm to remind himself when to eat and then began to read.

Not surprisingly, when classes ended for the day and everyone else in the dorm returned, they missed seeing Arnold there. His door was shut and they assumed he wasn't there, not knowing that if he sees that the other doors are shut that he shuts his, and their afternoon was a little dimmer and less lively than usual. They didn't realize just how much they looked forward to seeing him every day.

Arnold ate in his room and set his alarm back for the morning, then continued to read. Once again, he took the professor's advice when he finished the book and let the knowledge sit and percolate through his other knowledge. He still had a bit of trouble associating the chemical formulas properly, so he knew he needed a lot more chemistry knowledge to help him continue.

He had an appointment with Professor Power for the next day and perhaps that would help him. He would discuss it with her and see if she had any more insights into what he could do in the future. He put the book down and changed for bed, climbed in and picked up his cell phone. After a quick texting round with Kelly to let her know what was going on, he went to sleep.

The next day went by quick as a flash and Arnold had his appointment with Professor Power. They talked about the latest knowledge he had gained and she was impressed that he could retain so much so quickly. She helped him with the formula integration, then for several hours instructed him on several important other things he would need when he read some of the other books in her collection. After that, it was his turn to help her.