Tracee and her parents

Benjaumin is a very small town northeast of Conway Corners. The name of the town is assumed to be the result of a misspelling, but there are differing accounts of how the misspelling came about. As the number of farmers has declined and the mobility of those left has increased, Benjaumin has dwindled to little more than a gas station with an attached convenience store, and a grain elevator. There isn’t even a post office any longer.

Les Sabin operates the convenience store. He is in his forties and married Linda, to his high school sweetheart who supplements the family income by working as a part time bookkeeper for two beauty salons, one in Monticello and the other in Ripley. They live in an old farm house just outside Benjaumin and have three children, two grown sons who no longer live with them and a seventeen-year-old daughter named Tracee. Like most of his neighbors Les fishes and hunts when he gets a chance. He used to be a member of the National Rifle Association. The reason he let his membership lapse was not due to its politics, but because he did not feel the benefits worth the fees.

It was Saturday afternoon, two days after N-Day. Les and Linda had not talked much about the Bear decision or N-Day, either with each other or with Tracee. They each had reasons for avoiding the subject and Les had really thought that N-Day would not happen and specific personal reasons to not broach the subject. Besides, as Les had noted to himself, Tracee did not seem the exhibitionist type. She dressed conservatively, having no short skirts or shorts and always wore very conservative one-piece swimsuits when swimming. Her boyfriend Jason seemed very conservative in his life style too. Jason was from Monticello. He was Tracee’s age. They had known each other all through their first three years of high school and had been dating for almost a year. Les liked Jason. He found the young man courteous and respectful and he knew the young man wanted to go to college to study chemical engineering. He also was a prize basketball standout at Monticello High School and had a chance at receiving an athletic scholarship to help him pursue the degree.

Les had not seen a naked person in the forty-eight hours since clothing had become optional. He had heard some about things on radio and television but had not really had time to watch or listen and had not been thinking about the subject much since it was his thought that the practice of public nudity would not happen often enough to make it a matter of much concern anyway. So he was a bit surprised when a tall, heavyset man walked in totally naked. Les had seen the man come in before. He had previously always worn the same red flannel shirt and overalls, usually buying some coffee and a sandwich and once in a while putting gas into an old Ford pickup truck. Les knew most of his customers, but this man did not live in the immediate area and always paid cash so Les was not sure of his name.

Les was momentarily stunned by the man’s nakedness. Although he almost found the man’s nakedness preferable to what he usually wore, he did not think he wanted naked customers in his store.

“Get dressed or get out,” he told the man.

“Don’t have to. You ain’t got not sign saying so. And I got rights.”

Les really did not know where he stood legally. He was pretty sure he was right, but didn’t know how far he could push the matter. (Actually, had he asked them, some of the best legal minds in the state would have given him differing answers.) So he told the man, “Well, make your purchase quick and get out then.”

“Sure ain’t got no sense of business hospitality, do you? I think I’ll just take my business elsewhere.”

The man walked out, but as he walked out he saw his daughter’s boyfriend Jason coming in. He noted that Jason exchanged brief greetings with the man, but more immediately noticed that Jason was naked too. And before he could digest this, he saw Tracee walking in behind Jason, also naked. Les had not seen Tracee naked since she was a little girl. He thought that that was the way things should be and her appearing naked here made him uncomfortable and, not surprisingly, angry.

“What the hell you doing, running around here naked?” he asked her. “That guy get you into this?” He glared menacingly at Jason.

“Calm down, Dad,” Tracee answered. “It’s legal and it feels nice. I wish we had thought of it sooner.”

Les really did not have words at his disposal right then and the three of them just looked at each other for a while. Finally Les composed his thoughts.

“It may be legal but it isn’t right. And you’re still a minor. Get dressed right now. You got something to put on with you?”

“My clothes are in Jason’s car.”

Les turned to Jason. “You go out and get my daughter’s clothes and bring them here. And then put some on yourself and get out of here and don’t come back, dressed or naked. Got it?”

Jason understood what he was being told well, but he was a young man with more backbone than Les might have appreciated and he knew his audience.

“We have done nothing either illegal or wrong. Maybe the timing and taste are not the best, but everybody has a body and there is nothing wrong with a body. They’re like guns. Guns don’t kill people. People do. Bodies don’t do crimes or antisocial things. It’s the people who have the bodies who do. But you are right that Tracee is a minor and I will go get her clothes, but you are not able to keep us apart permanently. She’ll be eighteen in October. And before that, you’ll realize that you are on the wrong side of history, anyway.”

He returned to his truck, gathered up Tracee’s clothes and brought them in to her. He whispered good-bye to her and gave her a peck on the cheek.

Tracee had been silent, standing still. Her gaze had not left the potato chip display on the far rack. She was second-guessing herself for broaching the matter of public nudity to her father in so sudden and bold a way, but she also wondered why if it was all so bad, neither of her parents had brought the matter up. She now assumed that they would be talking about the matter later, but did not want to go at it with her father right then. She quickly slipped on the panties and slacks that Jason had brought in and slipped her t-shirt on. She slipped her bra into her purse.

Les had looked away while Tracee dressed. Somehow it did not seem right to see his daughter dress. He had been surprised at how good his daughter looked. Her previous style of conservative dressing had not really done her well, he thought, but he figured that if he noticed this that others who might not love her or care about her best interests would too. He appreciated Jason’s comparison of bodies with guns, but nakedness was still not right. He was sure of this. And a parent was the last one who should see an almost grown child naked. He hardly noticed when Tracee walked out of the store and when he did notice, he assumed that she was probably walking home, a trip of just under a mile that they had both made many times, sometimes together.

He picked up his cell phone and called Linda to tell her what had happened. Linda agreed that this was an important thing to discuss, but wondered whether it was as serious a matter as Les was thinking and also wondered how much control she and Les might have over the matter anyway.

Linda was waiting for Tracee when she arrived home. They both had tears in their eyes and embraced each other as they entered the house. They both sat on a couch crying on each other’s shirts for several minutes,

Finally, Linda told her daughter, “I know what happened. You don’t have to explain anything to me. I might have done the same thing.”

Tracee continued to sob and grabbed her mother more tightly.

Linda went on, “Let me tell you a secret. Well, it’s not really a secret. Your father has known about it all along, but we haven’t discussed it since the day after it happened and I don’t want to talk about it again. When I was about your age, your father and I had a relationship something like you and Jason do, except that neither of us was thinking of college and so we were thinking we might get married some time. A bunch of us who were all friends and all about the same age decided to go swimming one night at Anderson’s Beach over by Elmerton, swimming without our suits that is.”

“You did? Dad sure seemed awful up tight about me and Jason.”

“Well, your father wouldn’t go with us. I went without him. There were ten or eleven of us as I remember who went. Your Uncle Lou went too, with his girlfriend. I figured I was safe enough with my big brother there. It was fun really. But I never did it again.”

“Why not? Get caught?”

“No, but it bothered your father terribly. He didn’t think it was right. I didn’t think, I still don’t, that there was anything wrong with our all swimming naked by itself, but it was wrong of me to do it because it bothered somebody I loved dearly and it was really selfish of me to do that for just a few minutes of fun. We talked about it for quite a while the next day and neither of us has said anything about it since. Not to each other and I don’t think to anybody else. So don’t tell anybody I told you this. We all should have talked about this N-Day stuff first, but I guess maybe we both wanted to avoid the subject.”

Tracee was still sobbing. “Oh, Mother. I really appreciate your telling me this story. It must have been hard. I won’t say anything to anybody.”

”Well, what do you say that you just stay dressed until we get a chance to digest some of what is going on with all these new things that are happening? And I’ll figure out how I can get you over to Alice’s place for some emergency baby sitting, so you won’t have to be here until late this evening. And when you get back, why don’t we just play it by ear and not talk about it until we have to. And keep dressed. All right?”

Tracee sobbed agreement and hugged her mother again.

When Les got home, Linda told him that something had come up and Alice had needed some baby sitting, so Tracee was not home.

Tracee kept Jason away for several days and did not have a date with him for two weeks. They both stayed dressed when together. She had still stayed dressed by her eighteenth birthday. She still had not heard more from her father on the matter and her mother had only given her a couple of strategic winks.

Chapter 17. N-Day

It was Thursday morning, N-Day morning. Nudity would be legal at noon. Gordon was having his morning coffee in the kitchen with Jane. The television news was showing a group of people celebrating in the state capital. A few of them had undressed prematurely and while the screen showed their pixilated nudity, the commentators were speculating that likely none would be prosecuted. After all, would a jury get excited that somebody was doing something that would be legal in four hours?

“We should have seen that coming,” Gordon observed. “Somebody else got on before we did because we played by the rules. Brenda suggested that we do something like that this morning, but Edna and Donald said that we should play by the rules. Well, at least there isn’t any indication that people there are welcoming this. It seems that we might still have the inside track there.”

“You need to remember that they may still be premature up there,” his stepmother reminded him. “Havercomb is still trying to find a judge somewhere to issue an order and so are some of the moralist organizations and at least one feminist one. Somewhere in this state they may find a judge who will screw this all up.”

“Well, we may end up with competing judges for a while, but we don’t really think there will be a judicial reprieve, do we?”

“I don’t really, no.”

Gordon’s cell phone sounded. He grabbed it. Jane listened on her end.

“Yes, Donald. I saw it. [pause] Jane and I were just talking about it. Well, I haven’t seen anything about any place doing a civic welcome and Brenda says that she has managed to get two commitments from cable news outlets to be here for the picnic. Plus some outlets from this state and from the south. [pause] We should be covered well but I’m not sure how well the message gets out considering that there is going to be so much going out, but Christina and Connor both have deputized several people to make sure that whatever makes the media today gets to all the blogs and forums and stuff. [pause] Edna said that she had that under control. [pause] Well, I’ll get back to you. I’ll be going from here at about ten thirty.”

“Still working out the details, I see,” Jane noted after Gordon had hung up. “Well, I hope it goes well, but you know my fears.”

“And I’m a bit afraid – make that concerned – there are just too many variables that we don’t control and I am worried a bit about what you and Maria and some others have said. I know it is possible that the new freedom will be abused. But you know me. I am basically a libertarian at heart, a rich one, but a libertarian anyway.”

“Sometimes you have to be extraordinary assets to be a libertarian,” Jane noted.


About an hour earlier Alicia Bowman had dropped her children off at her mother-in-law’s house. This was Thursday ritual during the summer. The children would spend the morning with their grandmother and then the afternoon with Alicia’s sister Carla and her children while Alicia was working for Davis and Mays. Upon dropping them off, she reminded them to keep their clothes on all day, no matter what anybody else did, until she and Tim could evaluate the day’s happenings. Derek seemed glad to be reminded and Deanna pretended not to hear.


Mary Clark had arisen and followed her usual morning routine, wearing a reddish-brown suit that she had worn many times and resolved to pay no attention to the changes coming at noon. She had received an authorization from the chairperson of the library board to forbid nudity at the library at least until the board could meet and discuss the matter and she had already instructed staff to make sure that no naked person entered.


Edna Malloy had arisen a little earlier than Gordon and Jane. She checked her voicemail and email and sent off a couple of notes to make sure that things were going as planned for the picnic when Emily and Christina stopped by. Emily was wearing business clothes. Christina was naked. They did not usually stop by in the morning, but of course today was not an ordinary day.

‘We all ready?” Emily asked.

“As much as we can expect,” her sister answered. “Something always gets fucked up when you’re doing something this big, but not usually so much as to fuck the whole thing up. It will definitely be something this town has never seen before. And Gordon says that Brenda will have the coverage at the park and that’s the kind of thing Brenda does so well.”

“Brenda’s cool,” Christina added. “But I don’t think she’s going to show it today.”

“She won’t and I won’t.” her mother noted. “I was going to, but the coach wants to be here when I do it the first time. But I know you and Justin will even though I have suggested that you might want to let the older folks break the ground on this. But you’re still going to do it, I know.”

“Damn right, we are. And I don’t understand your problem. This freedom is what our whole family is about besides making money. And Justin agrees too.”

Emily had had this argument with Christina many times before and knew that pursuing it would lead nowhere, so she let the subject drop. Instead she Edna asked whether she would be going to her office before the picnic. Edna said that she did not think so, since there were too many loose ends to tie up yet.

“But first, I want a dip,” she said. “Excuse me.”

She slipped off her robe and took her naked body to the pool and jumped in. She swam a few lengths and got up. When she left the water she saw that Christina had brought a towel to her. She thanked her niece and dried off.”

Christina looked over her aunt’s body and thought to herself that she really didn’t look bad for an old broad, but wondered how many people would travel to Conway Corners because they had seen Edna naked on television or the internet. Yes, she and Justin did have something to contribute.


Connor Fredricks, jr. returned to the Compound Thursday morning, riding his scooter to Monroe to have breakfast with Brenda’s daughters, Amanda and Aurora, and their husbands, Antoine and Cody. It was the first opportunity he had had to see Aurora and Cody since they had arrived the day before. The primary reason that he wanted to see them was to catch up on each others’ lives, but he did hope that somehow they could discuss the whole concept of N-Day with them. Although the sisters were a few years older than Connor they had always been friendly with him and treated him as if he were almost their equal. Of all the members of his generation in the Family, Connor has always been able to get along with them best. He was closer in age to Christina and Edna’s daughter Julia. He did get along acceptably with the former, but Julia seemed as estranged from him as she did from the rest of the Family.

He arrived in time to see a naked Brenda Allan entering the back door after a morning dip.

“Nice to see you, Connor. They’re in the kitchen,” she said. “Excuse me, I have to get dressed and go over to see Edna and Emily about some snafu they think they may have stumbled upon.”

He went in and, after hugging Amanda and a naked Aurora, he grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. Amanda was finishing preparing breakfast and Aurora told him that Savannah was sleeping, but that he could see her later.

“When they’re two, you let them sleep as much as you can get them to,: she noted, then proceeding to tell of the “famous Freemont Solstice Festival” in Seattle and how much she and Cody had enjoyed themselves a few weeks earlier walking about undressed.

“You really ought to be so excited living here,” she was gushing. “A whole state of freedom – at least for a while. Maybe we should move back.”

Her laptop was sitting on the table. She pulled up some pictures to show Connor. There were she and Cody and several other people who apparently were friends -- at least for the day –standing proud and wearing only body paint.

“I knew you painted nudes, but I didn’t think you put the paint directly on them,” Connor quipped to her,

“You really should come out and see us some year when this is going on,” Aurora retorted. “I know you’d like it. And I could paint you if you wanted me to. I did Cody and I did that girl there.”

Connor noted a girl painted to look like a police officer in uniform and Cody painted up in a green, red, and yellow diagonal pattern.

“Good work,” he commented. “Maybe I’ll have to go out next year. But what are you doing today?”

“Well, we had not planned on all of this when we decided to come out,” Cody said. “We had heard about it, of course, but figured that something would come up and fuck it up. I think that Brenda and Edna and Gordon and Donald are still wondering if this will come off. But I think we want to go to that picnic and see what happens. Wouldn’t make much sense coming all this distance and missing it.”

“I really hadn’t planned on going, even though I am curious about what will happen,” Connor admitted.

“Oh, you really ought to,” Amanda said. “We’re all going. Come with us.”

There was an interruption when they all heard a soft tap on the back door. Amanda stepped over and upon noticing the naked three-year-old boy, picked him up, planted a kiss on his cheek, and said, “Good morning, Derrick.”

Derrick’s mother Maria was in quick pursuit and took her son back. She was apologizing to Amanda for her son’s interruption when she noticed Aurora, Cody, and Connor. She stopped for a moment to greet them.

“Anna tells me that you aren’t going to the picnic,” Connor noted to her.

“That’s right. I’ve been pretty upfront about that. Mom thinks I’m being too hostile to what they’re trying to do, but I haven’t seen her or Miles doing much one way or the other. They seem quite happy to leave things to Donald and Edna. But I guess that I don’t think that they’ve really thought things through, no matter what Miles says. But if they can pull this off, I guess I won’t argue. I just don’t think it can happen. Sorry to go, but I’ve got to get some breakfast into this little guy and his brother. Stop by later if you can, Aurora and Cody. You too, Connor. And congratulations, Aurora and Cody.”

She took her boy home with her.

“Congratulations?” Connor asked.

“Yes, we didn’t get to that yet, but it was the real reason for the trip. We came to tell my folks that Savannah’s going to be a big sister in May. I just hope she won’t be a bitch like some sisters can be.”

“Just a minute now,” they heard Amanda say.

“Oh, I didn’t mean you, sis,” Aurora answered. “But as a rule big sisters can be a pain in the ass. Maybe we should ask Gordon. And I wonder what Uncle Simon thought about Anna.”

Connor cut in. “Well, congratulations you two, anyway. I imagine that you are excited and that Brenda is thrilled. Your father too.”

“Yeah, they’re excited all right. And with a few more stretch marks Amanda and I won’t be looking alike too much any more.”

“Maybe you’d better stand up again. I didn’t detect any stretch marks from Savannah.”

Aurora stood up so that Connor could see the front of her body.

“Good luck, good diet, and the right exercise,: she told him. “I do look damned good. But I don’t know that I can do it twice. Life has its tradeoffs, you know.”

“Well, so far it looks like you’ve been making good trades.”

“Thanks. Now, you going to the picnic?” Aurora replied.

‘Well, I’ve still got a couple hours. I really don’t want to just become a marketer for Edna and Donald Mays and my father who probably won’t even be there. And I have to get to work by one.”

“You get a bit puffed up there sometimes, Connor,” Amanda interjected. “You have your problems with your parents. I know. We all know and we all sympathize with you. Barbara has never had much backbone and lets your father run her and her life and you and Anna have not been so easy for him and he can’t adapt, so you want to get some air. But you’ve still got your funds even if you aren’t drawing on them and if Donald and Edna and your father and all are correct you will pick up a modest increase in your personal wealth. And if they fail, it won’t hurt too bad, I’m sure because they don’t do things rashly. We meet the money people of Missouri and they think pretty much the same, but most of them are really worse people than Donald Mays III or Edna Malloy. Hell, even entire families and fortunes there are run by people who make your father and our father look like nice men.”

“Well, I guess that I still have questions,” Connor replied.

Cody had stepped out and was returning with a sleeping toddler in his arms.

“Can you say ‘hi’ to Connor? He’s a good guy. Say ‘hi’ to him,” he was telling her softly, but the child clearly was not ready to be fully awake.

“That’s all right. Let her sleep,” Connor answered. “When you folks headed back? Brenda didn’t say.”

Aurora answered, “Well, we have tickets for Wednesday, but I imagine that it could be moved a little. But we have a small part in a show for Labor Day weekend, so we probably couldn’t move it past Thursday. But we can figure on getting together yet when she’s awake. But you might not like her so much then.”

“I’ve got a friend with a kid about that age. I can imagine.”

Cody returned Savannah to her crib and they talked a bit more. Connor took his leave in a bit after learning that Aurora and Cody were planning on going to the picnic while Amanda and Antoine looked after Savannah. He was still uncertain whether they would undress. He heard Amanda say she and Antoine couldn’t, giving reasons similar to her mother’s. Aurora said that she had no such compunctions, but Amanda expressed her fear that somebody coming across Aurora’s image might mistake it for hers. Cody indicated that he would do whatever Aurora did, noting that Conway Corners was her town, not his.






Around all of Conway Corners others were preparing for noon or for at least what they would do about it. Laura Lyon was instructing her staff at Java Juba Lee not to accept nude customers until she could see how others were handling it. Phil Eaton had done as he had planned and, aside from stocking up on some towels, figured on running his bookstore about as he had been running it.

People around the world were seeing stories from around the state and the arrangements people were making for the forthcoming legal nudity and how a few were acting on their new freedom prematurely. They also told of people from various interests who were running around court houses hoping to find a judge to put a stop to the whole thing. Two such judges were found, but their orders were soon stopped by other judges and as noon approached the idea that there would soon be an entire state in which nakedness and nudity were no longer illegal was sinking in, both locally and around the country,



Edna arrived at Central Park at about eleven. She left her car in the parking lot and walked up the stairs to the picnic area which sat about six feet higher than the parking lot, She had been on her cell phone almost continually since waking up. She had suggested to Cassandra Nix that she ought to finish her speech which was scheduled for twelve o’clock sharp by taking her clothes off while proclaiming that Conway Corners was a clothing-optional city, but she really doubted that the mayor would actually strip. She had pushed Cassandra into doing her bidding on matters both civil and personal for years, but Edna did not really think she could get the mayor’s participation on something so extreme.

Things were working out pretty much as Edna and the others had planned. The caterer was bringing the right food and the parks department had the right picnic tables in place as well as the tent for the band. The high school band was not available because school was not in session so Cassandra had arranged for a Shriners band, but the Shriners had had second thoughts and had canceled. She finally found a replacement, a polka band from Monticello which apparently was no so well booked. It was setting up. Edna sometimes liked polka, but wondered whether the crowd would love it, but in the end she figured that they were hiring the band more for noise than for music and the genre of music probably did not make a lot of difference. The public address system was set up. She had seen three police officers and knew that Doug Palmquist had to be somewhere around. One reason things were going so well was that Edna had a long history of knowing whom to hire when things needed to be done. Another was that there were few vendors who wanted to find themselves on Edna’s bad side – or on Donald’s for that matter.

There were no reliable estimates of how many to expect for the festivities, so, although Edna felt that she would be happy if one hundred showed up she had made arrangements which could work for any number up to three hundred. Although the Conway Corners Chamber of Commerce was the official sponsor of the picnic the Family was footing the bill and Edna did not want to have anybody less than happy. She had already arranged for places to any food overage – a nursing home, a community congregate dining place, and the county food bank. Extra tableware, balloons, and other things could be stored for another event.

The flyers, posters, and radio spots had announced a free picnic to begin at 11:30 to herald a new era for Conway Corners but they had not been specific on what the new era would be. However, the few that were in the park seemed to know anyway. One of those present early was Clyde, the Saturday coffee drinker at Java Juba Lee. Another was Connor Fredricks, jr. who was with a female friend of about his age whom Edna did not know.

Edna knew more about Clyde than most people in Conway Corners. Her security people had once thought he might have been involved in a theft of parts from Malloy Northern. While they had never been able to pin anything on him and even seemed to exonerate him, they had learned his real name, that he had indeed been convicted of burglary but had served his time and had not been in trouble in over fifteen years, that he lived with his sister near Monticello, and seemed to have a small, but adequate income from an inheritance and a veteran’s pension. Most people who met Clyde just thought of him as one of the strange people one meets in the course of life. Edna thought less of him than even that.

Connor approached Edna as she was in the middle of some scurrying. Edna did not need the diversion just then but did wish to be civil with her cousin. She did not know exactly what “issues” Connor had with his parents and really did not care as long as they did not interfere with her concept of family progress.

“I gather this is where we will tell the world that Conway Corners is where they want to come if they want to visit a clothing-optional place. But can you let me know exactly what is going to happen today? Is there something you are expecting or would like me to do?” he asked her.

‘Well, I don’t know, Connor,” Edna replied. “I hadn’t figured you for anything specific, but you’re welcome to help us out. Most of the arrangements have been taken care of, but we could always use somebody else to help with hospitality, helping people find seats, toting the food for the disabled and elderly, handing out information packets, that kind of thing. Gordon is in charge of that. He’ll be glad to tell you exactly what we need. As for the picnic, it is an opportunity for folks to ear and our opportunity to present the friendliness of our city, the hospitality to people who might want to come. You can see some television setting up already. We’ll have some print and some blogs here. Brenda is really good at that kind of thing. We’ll have the Chamber of Commerce and community leader speeches and Cassandra will give a speech announcing how the city is ready to accept the new arrangements and invite all people of good will to visit.”

“Isn’t anybody going to take their clothes off?”

“We sure hope so. Otherwise, it will just look like so many words. Donald and I are committed and I think that that Karen from the water park is going to come by and show it all, too.”

“You know, if only you and Donald do it, nobody’s going to get excited. But your picture is going to be all over the internet immediately, anyway. You sure you want to do it?”

“I’ve thought it over well. So has Donald. So has Christina for that matter but you know how she thinks. The family supports this effort and we need to show that we are part of the community, not just the rich folks who like to pull the strings. Emily was going to but I guess the coach has scared her out of it. What you do is up to you. I really can’t object to anybody as young as you not wanting to do it, but Christina’s the same age as you and when I mentioned it to her, she just snorted. You know, I don’t think we need a lot of naked people for the media, just that we need some and we need a lot of nice people to support them and our efforts.”

“How about the mayor? You pulling that string?”

“Believe it or not, she doesn’t do everything I say or even suggest. She’ll do what she wants and I think she’ll stay dressed.”

“So you going to do a sequential strip tease or just all of you going to undress at once?”

“Well, when noon comes and unless Brenda indicates something different, Cassandra will make the announcement that it is noon and people will do what they want to do. Brenda is on her phone and laptop non-stop now making sure that no judge has screwed things up. I learned about an hour ago that somebody had found a couple of judges who issued restraining orders, but about ten minutes ago I heard that the Court of Appeals ordered those orders nullified or vacated or whatever term those lawyers use. So I guess we’re still on. I’ve got some things to do. I really do appreciate your concern, but I need to move. Why don’t you see Gordon and see if he has something for you, if you want to help?”

Connor stepped away. He saw Edna pick up her phone and walk toward the pavilion talking to somebody. He was turning to look for Gordon when a female arm came around him and he found himself being hugged from behind by an almost naked Christina who seemed to be wearing only a wraparound skirt. Justin was with her and he seemed to be similarly dressed.

“It’s so nice to see you here,” Christina told him. “You going to go naked with us when twelve o’clock get here?”

“You know, I really don’t know. I really don’t mind nudity. You know that. But I still think that this is some attempt to inflict this on people that they don’t want it so that the Mays family can get richer. Aren’t we rich enough already, for crying out loud? I would love to be able to go naked wherever I wanted when I wanted, but do we have to market this?”

“Well, if we don’t get quite a few people to make use of the new freedom – make that New Freedom in quotes and in capitals if you listen to my mother or Edna or Donald – if we can’t get people to use their new rights, we’ll lose them, not just for us but for everybody else,”

“Do you really think that Donald or Edna cares about the public in any of this? Somehow they’ve figured out how to get a buck here. I don’t have it all figured out, but it has to be that way. My father wants to get his too, but he probably won’t be here and I’m sure that he’ll stay dressed if he does. Anyhow, Aurora and Cody are going to be here any minute and I guess I want to talk with them yet.”

“Aurora and Cody are in town?” Christina sounded genuinely surprised. She couldn’t imagine that she hadn’t known it. She went on, “When did they get here?”

“Yesterday. I guess it wasn’t connected with this, but this is not something that Aurora could miss since she is in town. Amanda wants her to stay dressed since she thinks that people who see a naked Amanda will think they’ve seen her. I don’t know how Aurora is going to handle it. I guess those of us who don’t have an identical can’t know all the issues there.”

”Well, I think that Amanda’s just a chicken on this thing, but so’s Brenda, so what can we expect,” Christina noted. “None of them look so bad that they’d do us any disfavor if they showed a bit.”

Connor noted, “Well, remember, all we’ve been talking about all the time is choice and I guess Brenda’s making hers and Amanda’s making hers and so will Aurora. Well, Edna said that Gordon might need some help with some of the details here, I’m not sure that I wanted to stick around, but perhaps I’ll take a look.”

Karen Cahill was more rushed than she wanted to be, but was on her way to the picnic at Central Park. When she had arrived at the office she had put on one of her uniforms as usual, but she had not been able to get out of the office as soon as she wished, so she found herself wearing what she could slip on quickly, a pair of cutoffs and a large man’s short-sleeved shirt which belonged to her partner. She had wanted to wear her Yankee Joe’s uniform, but Gordon Mays had suggested that it might be construed as an attempt by the water park to exploit nudity, something which might not be fully legal.

She wasn’t watching her speedometer as well as she should until she saw she was passing one of the city’s police cars. She slowed up and cruised into the Central Park parking lot slightly ahead of the police vehicle. While she was getting out, she noticed that the police car was being driven by Chief Palmquist, in full uniform no less.

“Driving a little fast, aren’t we, Karen?” he asked her.

“Uh, maybe a bit,” Karen answered.

“Well, it’s a busy day and I’ve got way too much to worry about than a little speeding that doesn’t cause an accident. But keep it slow, OK? We can’t make exceptions all the time,” he told her, adding, “You know, by the time today is over, I am afraid that your speeding will not even be remembered. I’m not sure I like this whole nakedness thing, but cops don’t make the rules and I know that our political and business community sees a lot of possibility in all of it. I’m just worried about what some nutcase may come up with.”

“You think there will be a problem?” Karen asked.

“Can’t say yet, but we sure hope not.”

Doug stayed in the parking lot while Karen went up to the picnic area.



Doug Palmquist already had three officers already in the park and two police volunteers on hand to direct traffic in case that became a necessity. He was relatively confident that nobody from Conway Corners would be coming to do any protesting, but was unsure of what people from someplace else would be doing. He had been in almost daily contact with the chiefs in Elmerton, Blacksburg, Monticello, and other cities exchanging and comparing intelligence about whatever possible disturbances the day might bring about. Across the state, police had picked up a member of a local “militia” who had indicated that it might be time for the people to organize and defend the “natural” law, but they had found no reason to believe that his fellow “militia” members either knew of or approved of his plans or had any plans, either of their own or of this guy’s. There was also some concern that moral crusaders who did not approve of legalized nudity might stage confrontations or protests, but since the matter involved the whole state there were too many targets for protests to be certain about the plans for al of them, but he suspected that most of those protests would be peaceful. He also felt good when he saw the two charter busses filled with local moral crusaders leave for the capital early in the morning to protest in front of the Supreme Court and Capitol buildings. He had already informed Jacob Scullworth and the city council that he planned on retiring at the end of January and just hoped that the city’s new embracing of these new rights did not unduly complicate his work until then.

Doug was well enough known in town that he usually went about town with an open collar, a la Andy Taylor. He knew that the mayor and Edna Malloy expected to see police present in whatever pictures the media people took, so he made certain that he was in complete uniform. He checked his watch and decided that he ought to go on up the hill to the picnic area, so he tied his tie and slipped his jacket on and started up, his radio on his belt and his cell phone in his hand, talking with Vernie in the sheriff’s office as he went.


Somehow events like this often run late and nobody had started speaking until it was 11:51 according to Edna’s watch. The speeches were starting six minutes late. Edna told Cassandra that she would pass on speaking so that the Councilman Ahrens could introduce the mayor with time for the proclamation at noon.

With two minutes to go before noon, Cassandra Nix, mayor of Conway Corners, began speaking. Her speech was brief. She told the approximately eighty people there that they already knew what the day meant, that the business and government leaders of Conway Corners had not asked for the new arrangements, but that they all felt that this provided both a greater degree of personal freedom and opportunities for the community to attract new guests and give the town opportunites to show more hospitality.

It was actually about two minutes after noon, when after receiving no call on her cell phone and seeing Brenda Allan in the back with her thumbs up, she announced that there were no longer any valid statutes or ordinances banning public nakedness, thanking people for coming, and reminding them that there was still plenty of food and beverage available. News and other cameras had been shooting everything that had been happening. Some had already turned to Christina Cedar and Justin Matteson who had not waited the two extra minutes for Cassandra’s proclamation. Cassandra looked out and saw that Donald Mays and Edna Malloy were both undressing, as was Karen Cahill and a few other people, and decided to hell with it and took her own skirt and blouse, and bra off. Edna looked over at the mayor and gasped a bit when she noticed that the mayor had not even worn panties to the event.

Connor Fredricks, jr. looked around and noticed the new public nudity. He saw no immediate need to join in himself. He was still a little confused about what it all meant. He looked about and saw his sister Anna had come with a girl friend of hers. The friend was topless, but Anna had remained clothed, He went over and talked to them.

Aurora Kennedy Jackson waited until most of the stripping had taken place and some of the news cameras were going on to other venues when she told Cody, “Well, Amanda is so afraid that people will see me and confuse us. I guess she hasn’t seen the Freemont pictures on line.”

“You emailed them to her and sent her the URL,” her husband noted.

“Our hair is different and I have stretch marks, so what is she worried about? Aurora answered.

Cody answered that he did not know but reminded her that the new freedoms might not last but sisterhood was for life, so it might be best if Aurora stayed dressed.

“But if you don’t mind, I think I’ll shuck these,” he said and proceeded to drop his cutoffs and slip his shirt off, cramming them both into Aurora’s purse.

Edna walked up to them. She expressed her gladness to see them and asked how they were enjoying the festivities. Aurora felt that Edna was sneaking a couple too many peeks at Cody’s lower area, but said nothing. It was, after all, one of her husband’s assets, although she was glad that most people liked him more for who he was than for what he carried inside his pants.

Brenda came up to them. She told them that there had been some violent confrontations between the dressed and the undressed in other parts of the state. She did not know what the details were or what the long term implications would be, politically or socially, but suspected that at the least that the Conway Corners message might be obscured.

“Fuck,” was all Edna said.

Donald had come by and heard both Brenda’s report and Edna’s reply.

“Well, we have been building all our lives. We may just have to build a bit more,” the pudgy, naked man said, adding, “but for better or worse Conway Corners has made it to N-Day. We are beginning a new era, whether this new era is a long one or just a historical quirk will have to be depend on all of us.”

THE END

Chapter16. N-Day Minus 2

Donald Mays woke early on Tuesday morning. The barbecue of the previous evening had disappointed him. The people who came had seemed cooperative and had asked relevant questions, but did not seem to be really about to commit to the vision. It really had not seemed so tricky to him: accept the new rules and let the world know that they are welcome to come and spend some money around welcoming people. There was some devil in the details, but the community leadership, including the Family, was trying to do most of the legwork and make the transition as smooth as could be expected.

He decided that he needed a morning swim. A swim before breakfast had been almost a daily ritual when his wife was living, but he somehow didn’t seem to want to do it so much now. But this morning he showered and grabbed a towel and walked to the pool behind Adams. He did four laps and stopped in the shallow end to think a moment. He began to question just how committed even the others in the Family were to making the new arrangements work. He felt that Edna, Gordon, Emily, and Brenda were securely on board and he was assured that Jane was sincere in saying that she would not get in the way. And Christina would likely have run around town naked sometime even if there had never been a Bear case. But so many had been so silent. Apart from his brief conversation with Uncle John in Italy on Saturday, it seemed that all anybody had heard from Aunt Sarah and Uncle John in Italy was a message saying that they thought that those back home could handle things. Brenda’s husband Donald had made few of the meetings or conferences. He had attended the barbecue, but had been quiet the entire time.

While he was standing there in the pool he heard somebody approaching. Turning around he saw Edna approaching carrying a tray with coffees and Danish. She was wearing only a pair of Zubaz that he imagined she had slept in.

“I hope I didn’t wake you,” he told her.

“No. You know I rise early. You don’t swim much in the morning these days, usually only when something bothers you. I take it something is making you uneasy? Or are you hoping to get rid of some of that gut before you let the whole world see you in your glory Thursday?”

Edna wondered whether Donald’s early morning swims were an subconscious attempt to communicate with his dead wife when something was bothering him. They had swam togther almost every morning. She set the tray on a table and Donald came out from the pool and joined her sitting by the table.

“Thanks,” he told her. “No, I know that this gut will just have to show. You know, this whole thing isn’t going like I hoped. Maybe I was too willing to believe that a new era of freedom was what everybody would want or would at least jump to when they found it. And I guess I am baffled about what seems like the low level of support that we have had even from our own. Uncle John said they trusted us to handle things, but as far as I can tell have otherwise been quiet. It seems funny because it seems that if they were here that they’d be at that picnic Thursday letting the whole town see that even senior citizens can walk about naked and not be embarrassed. And despite Brenda’s willingness to work on this, Donald has been pretty quiet.”

“Well, Donald is not so strong willed. We know that. If Brenda is aboard, he will be. Brenda is going to be there Thursday, but I’m sure she will stay dressed. I really don’t blame her. We really don’t know how this is all going to play and she needs credibility in the capital. Sarah and Jim are retired. They don’t do much with any of our stuff anyway. They’ve earned that chance, to let our generation do the work, I guess, even though I can’t imagine ever retiring as much as they have. It is funny in a way. Simon stays more involved than they do and he’s ninety-two and has infirmities they don’t. And I’m sure that Maria and Bill will be there and will probably bring the boys which will be good at showing it as an all ages and family thing. Connor, jr. probably will show up too. Christina seems to have talked to him.”

“Well, maybe I’m just concerned too much. But things do seem to not be happening as I like.”

“Have you talked to my loving stepmother?”

Donald could always detect the sarcasm oozing from Edna’s voice whenever she referred to Jane, sarcasm even more evident when she used the word “stepmother.” The two women always did keep their distance. He suspected that Edna knew of Jane’s Saturday night’s visit.

“Well, I talked to her Saturday evening and she said that she wouldn’t join us, but wouldn’t do anything against us.”

“Which would be against Gordon, too.”

“Well, yes. Actually, she raised some of the things that Maria and Simon said Sunday.”

“Well, that all seems to fit. But you don’t think she’s going to sabotage us, do you?”

“You know, it really is a shame that you and she don’t get along better. She is a woman your father married. And it isn’t like he was cheating on your mother. Your mother had been gone a long time before your father even met Jane. You and Emily were grown and she was really good for Gordon who was still a little kid. She really is a smart woman with a good soul.”

“Well, for the thousandth time, spare me that speech. You know that Jane and I will never accept or trust each other. She and I both seem to acknowledge that. Gordon has accepted it. I know that families do not choose themselves and I have never thought that my father marrying her was some kind of infidelity, but I have never liked her and am never sure about how well she works with us.”

“Well, I think I’m going to talk with Donald and maybe try to call Italy, anyway. And I probably ought to talk to Barbara. She’s often a lot harder to deal with than Connor.”

They talked a bit more until the coffee carafe was finished and Edna excused herself. Donald concluded that Edna had her reservations about how things were happening also, but was more reluctant to admit it.

Donald went back into his house and dressed. He decided to try to contact Donald Kennedy before going to work, so he picked up his phone and called his cousin. Despite the fact that they had both been named after the same grandfather and spent their lives on the same compound, they really had never been very close. But Donald Mays thought Brenda made up for Donald’s inattention to family business matters.

He was only able to tell his cousin’s voice mail to call him back.




Karen Cahill arrived at Yankee Joe’s a bit early. She had scheduled two meetings for employees, one to begin an hour before opening and the other for after closing. She let herself in and went to her office, changed into her uniform, and began looking at the part of Monday’s mail that she had deferred from then. She knew that the day staff would be ringing for admission in a few minutes and guessed that Maddyson would be the first. A perky blonde newlywed whose husband worked at FSH, she was part of the full-time, year-around staff. Maddyson indeed arrive a good six minutes before anybody else.

“Good morning, Mad. When Carver comes in, can you tell me to see me as soon as he is ready?” she asked the younger woman as she let her in.

“Will do. But, can I talk to you for a minute first?”

“Can we do this before everybody else arrives or shall we book a time?”

“Well, the questions are easy. I just don’t know long the answers will take.”

‘Well, give it a try. If we need to talk later, we will.”

“Jayson and I have been talking about N-Day and what it will mean. I don’t think it will be that big a deal for most people, but I guess it might be here. You going to let us work naked?”

Karen sensed some concern in Maddyson’s voice and inferred that the question would have been better phrased with “make” rather than “let.” She also wondered how much of the fear belonged to Maddyson and how much to her husband.

‘No, absolutely not. There are good reasons. We aren’t going to let anybody work nude, even it they want to. I may do it, but I won’t even let Carver do it. We’ll explain some of that at the meeting.”

She put her hand on the younger woman’s shoulder and asked, “You feeling better with that answer.”

Maddyson looked at her and smiled.

“That helps a lot. But I do still have one problem. What about the guests? Jayson isn’t real comfortable with my having to see anybody else nude, either. I think he’s more concerned about my seeing the guys, of course, but what are we doing about that?”

“Well, that may be a bit trickier. We are intent on making this a friendly place for everybody, including those who want to keep their suits dry or maybe not even own any, as well as for our family trade which may not like that. We’re seeing what we can do. We’re going to play with the schedule a bit, but even if we made the guests wear suits all the time, I don’t think we’ll be able to stop them from coming through the door naked. And there will certainly be some naked people, and most of the will probably be men, all around town, all around the state, and that will include some outside our premises. You and Jayson will have to get used to seeing it. We all will. But don’t worry. I imagine that after a few days, just seeing a naked person won’t seem so offensive. And an awful lot of those you are going to see are folks you really won’t want to see naked anyway, certainly nobody to turn you on. Or me, either. I worked as a lifeguard at a naturist resort one summer when I was in college. Believe me. It’s not pretty. But I really don’t want to lose you. We’ll see what develops and I’m sure we will be able to work something out.”

“Thanks, Karen. Jayson can get a little jealous, I guess. And I’m not sure I want all those women where he can see them too. My boobs aren’t big and my ass is a little wider than I would like.”

“You look fine. And in a week, you will realize that almost nobody has a perfect body. And I think Jayson will have adapted. Guys are always afraid that they’re too small and that somebody with a bigger dick will take their women, but if you like what you have he will find that he really doesn’t have anything to worry about. I’m not into men, but you must have married him for who he was and not how many inches are hanging down off of him. Men seem to think that they’ll lose their women to a bigger dick.”

“Thanks again. Hell, I don’t want a bigger dick. His is fine. I had a boyfriend with a bigger dick before I met Jayson. And that’s all he was was a dick.”

Karen chuckled. Lindsey Appleton had approached the door and Maddyson let her in. Her conversation with Maddyson was over.

“Lindsey, good morning,” Karen greeted her. “And Maddyson, keep the door locked and just let employees in. We have some chairs set up by the kiddy pool. We told everybody to be in uniform first, so remind them. When everybody on the list has come in, come on back and join us.”

“I will,” Maddyson said.

“You going to be in your cute new uniform?” Lindsey teased Karen as they walked off.

“Not today.”

“Well, I’ll see you in a bit.”

Lindsey went to the women’s change room and Karen returned to her office. About two minutes later Carver Randolph came through her open door.

“You rang, boss?”

“Well, we haven’t had a chance to talk since the barbecue last night. I wondered what your impression was.”

“Well, those people sure have a nice place. I had actually figured that it would be lusher, more upscale since I am sure that they have the money to make it so, but it was damned nice. But I’m not sure that we learned much about how to approach N-Day. And I got to see you actually do lifeguard work.”

‘Well, it wasn’t that big a deal, pulling Mary out. Just a reminder of why we don’t allow inebriated people here. I am not sure what we learned, either, but I was disappointed that there seems to be so little community interest in the changes. Of course, we’re in the water park business. We pretty much have to change, I think, but some of the other places seem like they’re going to be keeping an almost hostile – or at least less than fully cooperative -- attitude.”

“Well, you probably gave some of those guys something to pleasure themselves with last night. Two naked women so close together and so wet probably got them thinking. And it you both made it look like you really were lesbians. Guys like that. You know, I think that that Mary might walk on your side of the street.”

“You guys always amaze me. You think you can tell which of us is straight or not by looking at us. Even we can’t do that. I don’t know Mary well. But she had too much wine. I don’t think she drinks very often. And I suspect that she doesn’t get much enjoyment from anybody else, male or female, but that’s not our business. Now, do you think you are set for our meeting?”

‘Well, I’ve gone over our notes from our talk yesterday. And I’ve gone over the paperwork we are passing out and it is all assembled and collated.”

“We’re probably set then and had better get out there pretty quick. We want to have enough time that if we get too many questions that we can get done before opening. And, I’m sorry. You and I are both going to stay dressed after N-Day. The reasons for you haven’t changed since we talked about it. The lawyers have asked me to hold back. Maybe I’ll be able to do it later, but I’m pretty sure that nobody else will.”

“It’s no real big deal to me. I just wanted to seem to extend the hospitality a bit. But I know that you were looking to wearing that uniform that you showed me yesterday. You would look damned good in it. There are guys who would have a sex change to have a chance at you if you wore that.”

“Thank you for the compliment. But they’d be wasting some good gonads for that. I’m spoken for and even if I wasn’t I like my women to be born women. Now let’s get out there.”

She rose and joined him as they walked out by the kiddy pool.



Brenda Allan answered her cell phone. It was Connor Fredricks, jr. She was one of the few in her generation with whom he communicated. He appreciated her mind and her sincerity. She accepted that there must be something bothering the young man that his parents had not been able to detect or help with and hoped that her continuing contact would enable her to help them or him sometime.

“Yes, Connor, what’s up?”

“Well, I knew that you had that barbecue last night which I gather is part of the Family’s plan to profit on other people’s nudity. But how did it go?”

“It’s a shame you weren’t there. Your parents and Anna were there. Anna actually spoke up well at the family meeting Sunday night. Your sister is going to be quite a woman some day, if she isn’t all ready.”

“She’s a good person. And I know that even though she hates wearing clothes at home that she won’t do anything like that at that picnic that Edna and Donald are having Thursday. You also like nakedness and I do too. I would go to the community picnic if I could be part of the community and not part of Edna’s or Dad’s show. But we know that won’t be. But I really am looking forward to the day, but I don’t want to use my nudity to be part of some marketing plan. So I was figuring that it might help if I knew what you were doing. I know that you like being naked, but are concerned about the image you present, so if I knew whether you were going to be naked at the picnic, it might affect my planning.”

“Well, I’ll be there and I’ll be dressed. I’m being hesitant about my public image for a while. My public image is my business. I don’t mean as my personal business which it is but my business as what I do professionally. But Aurora and Cody and Savannah are coming in tomorrow for a few days. It really wasn’t set up for N-Day, but I imagine they’ll be going. Whether either of them takes it off is hard to tell. It might be determined by how much Amanda and Antoine get them going.”

Connor knew that as long as they had been living that Amanda somehow could get Aurora, her twin, to do almost anything she wanted to. From what he could tell, she might still have that ability even though both of them were married now and Aurora had a daughter.

“Why don’t you come over for dinner tomorrow?” Brenda asked. I’m sure that Aurora would be glad to see you and we can all talk about Thursday.”

“I work until nine, sorry.”

“Let me get back to you. You able to make it to breakfast Thursday?”

“I suppose.”

“I’ll give you a call. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for talking, but I’m sure that Aurora will be glad to see you.”

“Have her call me.”



Phil O’Hara walked into Conway Tap. It was his bar and it sat a block south of Jim’s and attracted many of the same clientele, although his clientele might have been been just a smaller, barely discernable step more upscale. The opening hours were usually slow and when he got there the only people he saw were his brother John who bartended for him in the mornings behind the bar and two men in a booth across the room.

He had not discussed things much with John or any of his other staff about the Bear ruling and the possible developments that might come from it. He had been studying about both the possible and the probable effects and had attended the barbecue the night before hoping to obtain something. He had gone confused and left confused. His calls and emails to the Liquor Distributors Association had not helped him as he would have liked.

He usually did not come into the bar in the morning. John usually began the day for him. Phil walked behind the bar, grabbed a glass, and filled a glass with a regional microbrewery’s premium dark. Taking a seat at the bar he decided to talk to his brother about Thursday.

“The guys in the morning been asking when we’re going to have naked people here?”

“Not much. I think they think the whole thing ain’t going to happen.”

“You know, I somehow think they may be right, but Edna and Donald sure don’t.”

“Yeah, how did that go last night?”

“Fuckin’ waste of time, I think. Actually, it may have helped some people who aren’t in our business but we really won’t know what to think until the state tells us how they’re going to handle bars. I think I’ll take the attitude that somebody told me Jean has. ‘Fuck ‘em all. We’re here to drink not to ogle.’ But if they want to bring something else in for somebody else to look at, we might look the other way.”

“She’s not going for any topless or nude waitresses or bartenders, is she?”

‘Don’t think so. And from what I read that will most likely not be allowed, anyway.”

They were interrupted by a dirty blonde coming out of the women’s room who asked from her distance, “What was that about topless waitresses?”

Her voice was loud enough that the two men across the room turned their heads.

“Good morning, Denise,” Phil noted. “I had not realized that you were here. I was just talking to your father about N-Day.”

“Well, I’m not working naked – of topless, either.”

“Of course not,” Phil answered. “I am really disappointed that you thought you needed to say so. Your uncle wouldn’t do that to you. In fact I wouldn't do that even if you weren't my niece. I ain’t going to let any staff show their stuff off, no matter how much they want to. But I’ll bet the idea had crossed your mind now, hadn’t it?”

"If I was twenty again, I’d probably be excited to try. But I’m looking back at thirty, I’m married, and I have awful scars from that appendectomy and from that C-section. I don’t even go swimming in a two-piece anymore. I appreciate your attitude, but if Jean has that redhead working in the nude, some of our guys will end up there.”

“I don’t think she’s that crazy,” Phil answered. “She knows that capitalizing on nudity is clearly still illegal and likely all nudity, certainly all staff nudity, will be banned on licensed premises.”

“And I don’t think that redhead that works there would do it anyway,” her father added. “They say she is pretty feisty and will say ‘fuck you’ to Jean when she thinks she needs to. And the guys were telling me that Donald Mays went in there the other afternoon and Jean didn’t kowtow to him, either.”

“Donald Mays went into Jim’s?’ Denise asked. “That really seems astounding.”

“Well, he comes in here once in a while. Not very often, but he likes to check in on everybody, it seems,” Phil noted. “But he and Jean do have some kind of animosity. Jim always seemed to be able to tolerate that family, but Jean doesn’t think the same way.”

“Why was he there? Anybody know?” Denise asked.

“I think he wanted her to go to that barbecue that Phil went to last night,” John answered.

“Or at least think she was invited,” Phil observed. “But whatever it was, she wasn’t there.”

“What does seem to be the legal problem, Uncle Phil?”

“Well, you don’t seem topless female staff in bars anyway now, do you? And you don’t see topless men either. When the court ruled a few years ago that women could go topless anywhere men could, the ACB suddenly decided that men needed shirts also. I don’t think anybody had a topless guy bartending, but suddenly all employees had to have shirts. It seems that unless they change that that even if they don’t do anything else that all staff would have to have their tops covered. In other words, bottomless might be allowed, but not total nudity and that just seems somehow freaky enough that only government could come up with it. But in all likelihood, the ACB will mandate covered bottoms by Thursday. Somebody may try to take it to court. I have seen three lawyers’ interpretations of whether they think Bear v. Beardsley would overrule any of this and two of them don’t think so, so I guess we’ll just have to play some things by ear. But I really don’t want any naked staff, anyway. It seems that it would cause more problems than it would be worth.”

“What do you mean, Uncle Phil?”

“Well, there would be unknown number of sexual harassment issues and lawsuits and some employees would figure that they didn’t get a job or couldn’t keep one because they won’t strip or don’t look as good naked as somebody else or just are the wrong gender.”

“Well, I’m glad that you seem to be looking at all the angles on this. I just dropped Dad off and have several things to do before I come back to work. Call me later if Chang hasn’t finished the car, Dad.”

She planted kisses on both men’s cheeks and left by the side door.



The employees scheduled to be at the morning meeting at Yankee Joe’s had all assembled and were seated on folding chairs beside the kiddy pool. Karen and Carver were sitting on folding chairs behind a folding card table facing them. Karen rose to start the meeting.

“You all know that beginning Thursday at noon, public nudity will, with a few exceptions, no longer be illegal and I know that I have heard some of the tittering and whispering about what might happen, not only in town but here too. And I’m sure that you have been fearing some of what you heard and anticipating some of the other.

“This presents a big challenge to a water park. We’ve been checking around what other pools and water parks in the state are going to do and we aren’t learning much. I don’t think people are trying to confuse us – although they might, after all, we are competition – as much as it that they just don’t know. I have spoken to our owners and this meeting is to tell you what Yankee Joe’s is going to do.

“The first thing I want to say is to quiet all the fears that I have been hearing and have heard others whispering about. I cannot say this loudly enough or make it clear enough. None of you, no matter what your job, will be expected to be undressed here. None of you will even be allowed to be naked here, even if you want to be. I repeat, nobody who works here will be going about these premises without being dressed.”

She thought she detected a general sigh from the employees. She gestured to Carver to pick up on what she said.

Carver rose and continued, “You will all be clothed. Those of you who have uniforms will be wearing the same ones, but all of you will have to be able to accept seeing naked guests. If that especially bothers somebody, talk to Karen or me afterwards, but remember that if seeing people naked really bothers you, you will have to leave the state. We know that we will be having some of our own people who are naked in our town as well as guests from out of state who will be coming here so they can legally skinnydip.

“Starting Saturday morning, we’re going to open earlier, 9:00 in the morning. And we’re going to stay open until 11:00 at night, midnight on weekends. That means additional hours available for some of you and it may mean that we have to find new help, especially after the summer hires go back to whatever else it is that they do.

“The new hours will allow us to have both suits required and suits optional hours and allow those who wish to come here and not look at any skinnydippers the chance. We are going to require that suits be worn by all guests between 11:30 in the morning and 7:30 in the evening. But, as Karen said, all staff will be clothed as you are now. That’s the basic format. I think Karen wants to take a couple of questions now before we go on.”

Karen stood up again.

“I’ll take a couple of questions and maybe find out what you want to know most, and then we’ll continue with what is left.”

Crystal White asked the first question.

“How will people know when they come in what the rules are? And will it affect the entrance fees?”

“Good questions,” Karen replied. “Well, we intend to have clear and unambiguous signage telling people what's up and if we don’t have the signs ready we’ll have flyers to give everybody. And we’ll make sure that morning staff mentions the 11:30 changeover when people come in and that staff during the afternoon and early evening make people coming in aware that there is a change coming. And no, we aren’t changing our admission fees, at least not right away. We will be allowed to have nude guests, but we can’t market it. It may take a while to get the word out, but we expect that there will be many new guests eventually. And we’ll still charge by the day. If a naked person wants to dress they can stay past 11:30 and if you don’t mind naked people you can stay after 7:30 in the evening and keep your suit on. We will have some of you going among the clients about an hour before each change and giving the proper warning and will use the PA to announce every five minutes or so for probably twenty minutes before each change. You know, nude swimming is addictive to a lot of people. I doubt that most of you have had much chance to try it, but if you have, you will understand why we think we will have a lot of new customers.”

Somebody shouted out, “If skinnydipping is so good, can we do it?”

Karen knew that this question would come up and was not comfortable with the answer she was going to have to give.

“No, I’m afraid, at least not at first. I’m not sure about later on, but no, we can’t allow it at first. The lawyers and insurance people won’t allow it. I’m sorry.”

The same voice asked, “How about on our day off?”

Karen recognized the voice now as being Jacob Ricci whom she had hired as a lifeguard earlier in the summer.

She answered, “A good question and I’ll look into it. But I think that just to be safe we’ll say no for the time being.”

She decided to go back to her notes.

“We will not allow any change in behavior just because somebody is naked. What was acceptable before will still be acceptable and what was not acceptable will stay unacceptable. If you see somebody engaging in something that is not allowed ask them to quit and if they don’t get the manager on duty. We will tell them to quit it or get out as the case warrants. A man’s hand may brush against his penis and it may not mean anything. That is going to be a little subjective and you’ll have to make the best determination that you can. Of course, if you see a guy stroking himself or having somebody else stroking him make them stop at once.”

“What about people hitting on each other?”

“They already do that and we tell people to let each other alone when we need to. But the point is well taken. We will need to be more vigilant. No woman should be considered more propositionable just because she is nude. No man either, for that matter, but we probably won’t get that complaint as much. And no man should figure that his nudity gives him the right to approach others. And we won’t allow anybody who wants call undue attention to the fact that he or she is naked. And no adult approaching any child in anyway that looks even slightly irregular will be tolerated.”

“What about kids? They allowed to go naked?”

“Well, apparently the law says they can. And I know that some parents will allow their kids to run about without anything on. For some of the younger ones they may even encourage it. But I also know that every person who goes naked here for more than a few minutes probably has a better than fifty-fifty chance of being naked someplace on the internet pretty quick and forever. Our signs telling people that we don’t require suits during certain hours will also have warnings about this. We will also be asking people to check their cameras and cell phones when they come in, just like they’re supposed to do now, but I don’t think it will work. It doesn’t now. But the signs will give us something to work with and let us confiscate what we can. What we decided to do, getting back to your question about kids, is say that no minor can undress without a parent or guardian present. It will be hard to enforce, but we’ll have to do the best we can. A lot of people will want to take pictures here and other places in Conway Corners and other places in the state and Yankee Joe's which is the closest water park to the state line will seem like easy pickings to some people. Some of these people will just be looking for something for their personal collections, but some of the pictures will be posted someplace and sooner or later get around. I personally think that eighteen isn’t old enough to make that decision, but the law says that you reach majority at eighteen.”

Lindsey noted that some of the men would likely be becoming erect and wondered what the policy would be when that happened.

Carver answered her question, “We were wondering how soon that question would come up. Some of you are concerned about this and so are we. I doubt that erections will happen as often as some of you think or fear, but they will happen. And, as probably most of the male employees are aware, they can happen naturally sometimes in a totally sexless context. What we will not be able to tolerate here is men strutting their erections around or attempting to call attention to them. A conscientious guy will turn away, grab a towel, jump in the water, or something. Most of them will lose their hardness before you even know they had it. But we will expect that any man who gets an erection will attempt to cover it or get rid of it. And certainly we cannot accept anybody, the guest or somebody else, touching a penis, erect or not, no matter what the relationship between them is. There may be some incidental contact sometimes, but if the contact doesn’t look like an accident, warn them politely to stop and if they don’t have security or management evict them.”

“In other words, pretty much as we do it now, only some of them may have their clothes off,” a male voice from the back asked.

“Yes, that’s a good summary,” Carver answered. “But it is even more important now because we want to make our state and our town welcoming to good, social nudists and one pervert or one person or couple who just don’t understand the right time and place probably kills out the work of a hundred good people who just want to have their clothes off. And we figure that Yankee Joe’s and other water parks will be magnets to all of them.”

Karen stepped in.

“And we’re going to have to step up our policy on cameras a bit. I know that we aren’t doing very well as it is, that cameras, especially those on phones, get taken through the locker rooms every day despite our signs and staff reminders to check them in. A lot of this isn’t done with evil intentions, it’s just that people are so convinced that they need their phones next to them and don’t want to make us return them to them when they have changed and do the same things again when leaving. And also a lot of people forget they have their phones with them. We are going to change the rules a bit so that we keep the phones until they are leaving, not just until they have changed. But we know that no matter how much we try to stop cameras that we aren’t going to keep them away.”

“So far, the only pictures we’ve been worrying about have pretty much been perverts or pornographers sneaking pictures in the changing and shower areas. But now the whole park has perils. Pictures that we don’t want to have taken can be taken any place here now. We may not be able to keep the no cameras away from the pool areas rule. We may get too many complaints from good people. But we’re going to try it.

“And if you ever see somebody shooting a picture of a naked child, naked -- or in the case of a girl over about three -- even topless, tell them to stop. Get control of the camera, even if it is a phone. Take them to the security office and we’ll give them back the camera if we can remove the stick or card or film or whatever contains the images. And if it turns out that the person taking the picture is indeed the parent or guardian we can give it back, but probably with a lecture on what can happen to digital images. If you see somebody loitering around outside the fence with a camera tell security or if they are off our property, all the police.”

“And, as always, we’ll need to be especially vigilant about people approaching minors, both children and teens. Use some common sense and if you’re not sure ask a manager or a security person.”

The conversation continued on about twenty more minutes as they answered more questions and re-answered some they already had.

As they dismissed the employees to go to work and get the park open, Karen asked Carver if he thought the meeting had been successful. Carver answered that he thought so and was impressed with how seriously the employees seemed to take the situation and how little snickering or giggling he had heard.


Danielle Irons arrived at Downtown Books shortly before her one o’clock starting time.

“Good afternoon,” Phil greeted her.

“Good afternoon, Phil,” Danielle greeted her boss.

“This is the last time I have you scheduled before Thursday, Danielle. Do you have any questions?”

“Not really. You know I’m not taking anything off and you weren’t going to ask anyway. But I’m sure that you will let us know what to do about guests.”

“Unless I tell you otherwise – and I guess that’s always a possibility since things are pretty fluid right now – we will allow it. But I’ll have some towels behind the counter. If they feel like sitting in the chairs, offer them a towel to sit on. We’ll see how it goes. We’re going to be like almost everybody around here, doing a lot of ad libbing.”

Phil cleaned out the cash register and left for the bank.

Chapter 15. Post-barbeque

The barbecue was over. Darkness was taking over Edna’s patio. The last of the mosquito bombs had been set off, the business was completed, and most of the guests had gone home. Edna, Emily, Gordon, Donald, Brenda, Christina, Brenda, Connor, sr., and Jacob Scullworth, the city manager, were sitting on chaises and chairs around the pool. Anna Fredricks was laying on her back on an air raft in the pool. Gary Matthews was cleaning the roasting apparatus and putting it away. Christina and Brenda were naked. Connor and Edna had been naked while swimming but had dressed after drying off, perhaps in part to make the guests more comfortable.

They were discussing the recently concluded barbecue. Connor had concluded that the event was a failure, that not enough of the people who really needed to be brought into the discussion had been there and that those who had still seemed confused and noncommittal.

“Well, we had two dozen people in our civic and business community here and five or six spouses or significant others,” Gordon noted.

“Yeah, but they weren’t from the places that we really need to get worked into things the most,” Brenda noted. “And I don’t think that they have the spirit themselves, not that it is a requirement, but it would have been a good sign. When we started the swimming the only one who went without a suit was Karen Cahill. Having a friendly person at the water park is nice, but we needed more.”

“Mary Clark went in too.” Donald noted. “That kind of surprised me. But I am not sure how much of a role the library can have in this.”

“And she had way too much wine first,” Christina noted. “She really couldn’t swim well and Karen had to get her out.”

“And she resisted a bit too,” Donald noted. “Somebody filming that could have made a bit of lesbian porn from that.”

“There wasn’t anything pornographic about it,” Edna said. “Just drunk and not even comedic. But it almost looked like Mary was enjoying it a bit. I’ve always wondered if there wasn’t a closet she’s afraid to come out of. But we need to be talking business tonight. Tell me, Jacob, did you hear anything which makes you think we are able to handle things as a city any better or worse than you would have thought this afternoon?”

“Well, no. Not really,” Jacob answered. “It pretty much reinforced what we’ve been thinking. I wish the mayor had stuck around because I kind of would like to hear what she thinks, but I’m sure she’ll tell me tomorrow.”

Edna knew why the mayor had left but did not feel like mentioning it there.

“Well, Cassie just has a bit of jet lag and she knows that we have you to do all the work, anyway.”

Several of them wondered how the mayor could have jet lag when she had only been as far as New Mexico, but none of them said anything. They all knew that the history between Edna and Cassandra contained matters they did not understand,

“Alicia Bowman was worried. I could tell that,” Gordon noted. “She doesn’t think our children and youth can be made ready for it and wonders whether older women are going to be put out of the workplace for younger, naked cuties. I’m sure she’s safe as long as she works for us that she is all right, but that concern will hit a lot more people and the only thing I know that will alleviate some of those fears would be good history which will take time to come about.”

“Uncle Simon is concerned about some of this and I think he has legitimate concerns. I talked with him this afternoon. He reminded me that freedom is not absolute,” Christina added.

”Well, that’s right,” Brenda noted. “But we didn’t set this up.”

Donald had been sitting in a straight-backed patio chair, smoking his pipe, and primarily listening. But he decided then to speak up.

“We aren’t writing the rules,” he stressed. “Brenda was just watching them all down at the legislature where they write rules and they weren’t in a writing mood. Everything we are doing now is trying to see how we can make our area the best it can be under the rules or lack of rules they are giving us. We do have a lot of opportunity to build up the region and we may as well do what we can.”

They all continued to talk but didn’t seem to be reaching any consensus that had not already been reached. As darkness deepened and the mosquito bombs started to wear off, the discussion tapered off as people headed home.

Edna was back into Adams. Christina started to follow her but then saw Gary coming from behind her and, detecting the look on Edna’s face, decided to go on home to Jackson.



Christina Cedar woke about two in the morning. She felt lonely, so she picked up her phone and called Justin and asked him to come over.

Mary Clark woke up at about two in the morning. She remembered being pulled naked out of the water by Karen Cahill and wondered if she could ever show her face in town. She went to the bathroom and, after relieving herself of some of the wine, noticed the Halcion in the medicine compartment. She had not taken any of it for at least two years and for a second she wondered if there were enough pills remaining to kill her, but never opened the bottle to find out. She called the library’s voice mail and left a message that she was not feeling well and might not be in. She returned to bed uncertain of what future she could have in Conway Corners, whether she could ever look Alicia Bowman in the face when she brought her kids in, or ever get some coffee at Java Juba Lee again. After a few minutes of uncomfortable tossing she sdid fall asleep again.

Chapter 14 Monday Afternoon in Conway Corners

Connor Fredricks, jr. arrived at work at Conway Market shortly before his scheduled starting time of 1:00 p.m. Stepping into the back room where the time clocks were, he noticed a memo affixed to the bulletin board. The heading, in bold print on two lines, read, “Employees will stay clothed while on duty and on the premises.” Language underneath elaborated that the policy came from the store’s insurer.

“Bummer,” he muttered to himself. But business was fairly busy and he found himself working before he could ask anybody about it.

Shortly after two o’clock, Madison Wells, one of the employees was not working at that moment came in to buy some cigarettes. Madison was a short and brunette, a few years older than Connor. Connor had a poorly disguised crush on her, although she was deeply involved with her boyfriend of several years. Approaching the counter she asked him if he had seen the memo.

“Yeah, I saw it. Don’t know nothing about it. Haven’t talked to anybody about it, but I guess it explains itself.”

“Well, Luis said that ownership wanted that sign up in all the stores in the group. Insurance companies rule the world, my dad says. But I was looking forward to seeing you walking around with nothing on but your birthday suit.”

“Well, you’ll probably get that chance. I’m not really big on clothes when they aren’t needed, but I am beginning to be concerned a bit that my family intends on marketing this whole thing like it was more of a business thing than a step toward a freer society.”

“But you’d still give little Madison a chance to look, wouldn’t you?” she replied, almost purring.

“Well, it might not be so social in that case, but we could probably work something out.”

“Well, maybe Damon can be there to appreciate it too.”

“He going to go along with the new ways? Or are you?”

“Well, we’ll just have to wait and see. See you later, sport.” She walked out, wiggling her butt just enough catch Connor’s attention and peeking back at just the right time to ascertain that he had.

His older co-worker noticed and sympathized with him.

“You look. She knows you look. But you know you’ll never get her.”

“Yeah, Leslie, but it’s fun looking. And who knows? Maybe something will happen. But she does seem pretty set on that Damon. But I’m young and am not seeking anything permanent, anyway.”

“Well, I like your spirit, but I still think that you’re going to make peace with that family of yours, marry some rich girl, and move up to that Compound or some fancy place in some big city. You don’t want to be here when you’re my age.”

“Nothing wrong with that. And experience here may help me someplace else. And there are issues that I don’t talk about. You know that. But even if I do go back up there sometime, this is good for me. But I do wish that those insurance companies stayed out of people’s business.”

“You know, so do I. I imagine that you do look good strutting. I’m just an old broad, but I still can look.”

Two customers came in and the conversation ended.



Wearing only socks and a pair of tennis shoes, Christina Cedar walked around the Compound to Harrison. She wanted to talk to Uncle Simon about his comments at last night’s meeting. At the beginning of the trip she passed the barbecue pit behind Adams. Gary Matthews had begun preparing the pig per Edna’s request and she stopped to talk with him for a bit, noting that the pig was starting to smell good and complimenting him. Gary thanked her, but told her that all she could be smelling so early would be the wood, but that things boded well for dinner.

She went on around the ring route wondering how things would indeed go that night and why Gary never made use of the Compound’s clothing-optional rules. When she got to Harrison she pushed the doorbell and Simon Simon’s nurse Jennie let her in.

“He’s feeling pretty good this afternoon. I imagine that he’ll be glad to see you,” the nurse told her as she led her to the living room where Simon was seated, his head on his chest. A television was on set to CNN, but Simon was not really watching it. He was not really reading the copy of Business Week on his lap, either.

The old man seemed to perk up when he saw Christina. Although he did wish that she would cover up sometime, he knew that he was responsible in large part for creating the atmosphere which made her continuing nudity possible and he appreciated that Christina did seem to be the only one of her generation who did not seem either afraid of him or find him irrelevant. Connor Fredricks, jr. would also pay his respects when he was on the Compound sometimes, but he knew that Connor was estranged from most of the family and could not seem to learn why.

“What brings you by this afternoon,” he asked her.

The nurse brought Christina a Diet Pepsi, as she always did whenever Christina visited. Christina gave the required thanks and turned to Simon as the nurse left the room.

“I just wanted to thank you for coming to our house for that meeting last night. I had never seen you at a family business meeting before. Of course, I haven’t been to a whole lot of them, but I appreciated your input.”

Simon suspected that he was being flattered, but wanted to believe that somebody in the younger generation was at least partly interested or serious about the family’s matters.

“What do you mean about people abusing their new freedom? I’m so thrilled to think that other people are getting it. You seemed concerned about pedophiles. They’re already bad people, so how can this make them worse?”

“Well, it isn’t that we’ll make them worse. They’ll just have more chance to do their thing. But it is not just pedophiles who worry me. I am worried more about people who have choices that it never occurred to them to have who now won’t be ready to use it wisely. And I am concerned that there will be those who have sway over them who abuse that situation. Do you know why we have minimum wage laws? or legal mandates for overtime pay?”

“I guess I really hadn’t thought about it. But what is the connection?”

Simon suspected that Christina was quick enough to make the connection but deferential enough to ask.

“Well, I was against them when they first came about. But they haven’t really been a problem and I can see now that they have been quite helpful for our society as a whole. Otherwise we’d work some poor schmuck to an early pauper’s grave and leave a lot of people with good minds or bodies with nothing good to do. A person with full-time work who is making a decent wage contributes to society with his labor and feels more like a part of the society he is in. And he is less tolerant of those who do not contribute or who would disrupt the social order. I don’t think we were paying anybody minimum wage when the minimum wage laws were first enacted. Maybe we were. The Depression really screwed up the market, but I don’t think we were. You can’t live on minimum wage. You had an outside chance then, but certainly none now. Of course, payroll taxes screw up the numbers.”

“But as I say, I did oppose the changes. I thought it took away the freedom to contract from both employee and employer. But as I have grown older, I have come to respect that none of our freedoms can be exercised in an absolutely free way. If there is somebody else who will do something for less and we lose the business, well, that’s the American way. Or so we say. And our companies have lost many a contract because we were underbid. But we had resources and could go on until the next opportunity came around. Joe Blow with a wife and kids couldn’t find work at sixty cents an hour because John Doe would do it for fifty. And after a few years of good service, John Doe would find himself displaced by a younger, stronger, Bill Jones who has a sick wife and six kids would do it for forty-five. And he’d stay half an hour longer and never put it on the time card.”

“Right now minimum wage doesn’t help anybody directly, but it does help establish a floor for other people’s pay. But put it with the new rights. I kind of imagine that you would never wear anything any place, right?”

“Well, not if it is warm enough, I don’t imagine.”

“Well, that’s your right, your privilege while you’re here. My own opinion is that you may use that freedom too much, but the agreement here is that it is your choice. And you’ve had almost your whole life to learn how to use that right. And whether you dress or not doesn’t affect whether you can feed yourself or somebody else. But there are others who don’t have your experience with nakedness and don’t have your nice trust accounts to run back to.

“Brenda called me this morning. She said that after I left that Maria really raised good points and she wondered whether Donald and Edna might not have listened better. I love both Donald and Edna and I imagine that they are using their usual sound business judgment in this. I have been trusting them for a long time now. But I do wonder if they might not be beyond listening right now. And I also trust Brenda. She has one of the best abilities to read the pols’ minds of anybody I have known. So I imagine this will be another thing in which the whole family has dubious consensus. But we have had a lot of those and have worked past them.

“She said that Anna spoke up too. She is really impressed with what your generation is doing, at least some of you. Connor, jr. is a disappointment to most of them, of course, but I really don’t worry about him. He has a good head. He will be all right.”

“I think you are right about Connor. I like him and when I talk to him I find him to be a person with a good conscience, maybe a better conscience than a rich kid can afford, but a good kid with a good mind. He really ought to go to college, but I imagine that he will someday. And he might be a better student for having had time to live on the outside first.”

The old man chuckled. “On the outside? You’re making this place sound like a prison.”

“Oh, no. I didn’t mean that. This is a lot more paradise than prison. But Connor feels that he was more caged here than I feel that I have been, in some ways. He’s got both parents here and his father is kind of a control freak. My father is a nice guy and he doesn’t try to run my life and he’s not even here. And my mother is pretty cool.”

Simon scowled momentarily. He had never liked Christina’s father. He had thought Bill Cedar a shady character from the first time that they met. When Bill came out of the closet Simon’s opinion declined even more. He really did not hate gay men but felt that men who were not certain that they were straight should not get married and distribute the consequences of the ambiguity to a woman and children.

Simon decided to get back to the topic of the day.

“You saw this morning’s Capital Communicator, I imagine, didn’t you?” he asked her.

“Well, I had several emails suggesting that I look at it. Connor was the first. I don’t usually read the paper but I looked it up on their website.”

“It’s not a very well written article and it is not well researched,” the old man commented. “There just aren’t many good newspaper people these days. I don’t know about all the legal stuff and I don’t think the lawyers do either. But there is truth behind the story and we can’t let poor writing cause us to forget that. Brenda wrote me about what Maria said and I have heard Maria mention the other Maria Cortez before. Bill Engel and Gordon are both good lawyers and they haven’t been able to show that there are no risks coming up. They’re just showing us possibilities. Maria really believes that bottom line people in service industries are especially vulnerable and I think she is correct. I think Donald has his fears too even though he seems more gung-ho on the way we are going. I understand that Yankee Joe’s is going to flat out ban staff nudity, maybe because Gordon has scared them or maybe because they see it as an unproductive employment practice. But will they maintain that resolve if the other water parks and pools in the state take a different course? Will they be able? We just don’t know.”

“I used to be on the library board and we used to want to get more people to go to the library. Don’t you think a nice, good-looking naked library assistant could increase traffic? But the library is not for profit and can afford to wait this out. But how about Ashley Wilkinson or that Lyon woman with the coffee shop? How about the bartenders and barmaids at Conway Tap or Jim’s? Even receptionists at Davis and Mays are not beyond the threat here?”

“Receptionists? In a law office? Working nude? Come on.”

“I’m not saying it will happen, but it sure seems like it could very easily if we do not keep some perspective and values here. Who is the receptionist at Davis and Mays now? You know?”

“I don’t know. I don’t go there, but I think Alicia Bowman does it part of the time, at least.”

“From the hardware Bowmans?”

“Yes, her husband owns that.”

“Oh, from that Greek family. I don’t suppose I have seen her in twenty years. She used to be fairly good-looking as I remember, but that was a long time ago. How do you think she’d like to be working naked?”

“I wouldn’t know, but if she didn’t she could probably work in the family business.”

Simon knew that he was about to make a point.

“Ah, but what if her family did not have its own business? She’d be out of luck. So if the firm decided that she was just too old and the parts weren’t in the right places any longer, what would she do? There would always be somebody else out there with different standards or a better body willing to do the job. Maybe not as well qualified, but willing. Discrimination laws are hard to enforce. Employment laws the same. It might become a lot harder for older women to get or keep work and in some fields it might rule men out altogether. I do think that clients of some businesses would much prefer seeing a naked woman over a man, clothed or unclothed, and most businesses could get away with it.

“Maria says that the other Maria, the one she has been somewhat anonymously befriending, has had to put up with gropes and suggestive hints even though she is a married woman of middle age. These things happen without witnesses and even when the hotel can find out who did it they can’t do much with the culprit. How much worse will this be for people like her who may get into this kind of situation? And how many will lose their jobs to twenty-year-olds who have just arrived from Latin America or Africa who are even more desperate than they are?”

Christina did not answer immediately, trying first to determine whether the question was actually awaiting an answer or was merely rhetorical and then how to respond. While pondering she inadvertently spread her legs, giving her old uncle more of a view than he thought proper.

“For God’s sake, girl, close those legs,” he said in a raised voice. “Even when Donald and Anna came back from Chicago, they felt that the new freedoms we used here should be used with some decorum.”

Christina knew that Simon had always been a bit prudish considering everything that happened at the Compound, much of which he had been involved with, but she quickly closed her legs. Simon decided to keep on speaking.

“You’ve lived through Simon and Mays 101, the basic course on what being in this family means. You know that we have seldom taken one of our companies public? You know why?”

“Well, it has to do with accountability and control,” Christina answered.

“Yes. Yes again. We aren’t dumb people. We aren’t going to run things to lose money. Any business set up for profit has a duty to try for profit. But when you go public, you pick up more duties. And you have to make not only the profit you want, but all the profit possible or you will lose the company. And pure bottom line accounting only considers things like human rights or any other form of individual dignity as far as the law and the law’s enforcement require, things to be worked around rather than with or for.

“But we have probably talked this out and I’m getting a bit sleepy. Just wait until you’ve seen ninety and you’ll understand. But it has been nice having you here. Do we understand each other a bit better now?”

“I think so, Uncle Simon,” Christina answered. She got up, put her arm around his neck and bussed him.

“We’ll talk tomorrow. I’ll let you know how the barbecue went.”

“I just might be there.”

“Well, I’ll see you there then. Bye-bye. We all love you.”

She left and went back home.