The sisters' leader was testing me. Earlier she had wanted to know if nudity by the colony's women would bother me. Now she was testing the sisters to find out if my nudity would bother them; quite clever actually.
I'd done my share of public speaking over the years, but it was different this time. There's a certain something about standing naked in front of an audience which compels honesty. I decided to give a very brief and unvarnished account of my life thus far. I stood in thought with my head bowed for a minute or so.
Two things worked for me during this interlude; the first was an old showman's trick: keep the audience in suspense by never starting on time.
The second was a political trick: use any extended silence to focus your mind and gather your wits. Show your audience that you're thoughtful and caring, or as my dad used to say, "Sincerity is everything. If you can fake that, you've got it made." While I spoke, I was going to read the body language of my audience to gauge my reception.
"Hello. My name is Dennis Nathan Richards, and I was born in New Haven, Connecticut. I am a retired Vietnam Veteran with a one hundred percent unemployable disability from exposure to Agent Orange while in Saigon. I served four years in the United States Air Force, mostly in Japan and Vietnam."
"What did you do after you got out of service?" Alice asked.
"I joined a local branch of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and spent the next three years marching to end the war. When it ended, I joined the Army."
"Wow!" said one of the sisters.
"Why? I thought you were against war?" Sheila asked with a concerned shadow of a smile as her puzzled eyes searched my face for something she couldn't see.
"I am against war, but I'm not opposed to fighting to defend my country or speaking out when it messes up. It's a citizen's duty to do both. I like to think of myself as a well-armed pacifist.
"I was broke. One day, I happened across a bunch of Army reservists doing weekend duty at the Mall. They were recruiting and desperate to make quota. We got to talking. The Captain told me if I joined that weekend, I could enlist as a Sergeant E-5 and I would draw pay at that rank during the two weeks of active duty at Fort Drum in New York. Because I was prior service, I didn't need to go through Army Basic Training. It sounded like a good idea at the time. I needed the coin. I enlisted.
I searched the faces of the sisters while I spoke as I tried to access my ability to engage each woman at a deeper and more positive level. I was, in essence, trying to seduce a room full of naked lesbians. Talk about your lost cause.
"You can stop me at any time if you want to ask a question. I would rather this be a dialogue and not a monolog," I said in an effort to break the ice.
The invitation to ask questions resulted in one brown-haired woman tentatively raising her hand. I asked her to remind me of her name, and she said, "My name is Amelia. One question ... you said you got a monthly disability check from the VA. What kind of disability? You seem to be in good shape."
"Good question, Amelia. My disability is mostly invisible. Type II diabetes because of exposure to Agent Orange while in Vietnam. And, more specifically, severe neuropathy in my right hand and in my feet, which is a side-effect of diabetes."
"What are the effects of your neuropathy?" Amelia asked as a follow-up question.
"Neuropathy is nerve damage as a result of too much sugar in my blood. In my case, the result is numbness and tingling in my hands and feet. The other effect is rather embarrassing," I said as I paused. I was not sure how much detail I wanted to get into.
"Don't stop there. Please explain," Amelia asked as she pressed me for more information.
"Well, sometimes I, um, it's difficult to get it up and keep it up," I reluctantly volunteered to the group.
Amelia and several of her sisters nodded. I noticed that Sheila and Alice were paying awfully close attention to the conversation.
"The result sometimes is a limp dick, for lack of better words, when the nerves connecting my prick to my brain shut down due to high sugar levels," I answered.
Several sisters responded with stifled laughter or nervous giggles and additional follow-up questions. Sex is always an interesting conversation. I had their attention, at least.
"Can you still orgasm?" Alice asked with a look of concern on her face.
"Yes. Even when flaccid, a guy can still ejaculate. It just takes a little more effort, and it's not nearly as much fun," I explained.
"I don't understand. Darlene says you're a fantastic lover. How can that be if you don't get hard?" Alice asked. I heard several sisters say, "I was wondering the same thing."
"My goal or mission as a lover is to provide the necessary emotional and physical stimulation required for my partner in achieving an orgasm. I do that orally," I said.
Standing stark naked in front of a table full of attractive and nude women while talking about orgasms and oral sex was having unintended consequences. I could feel myself begin to stiffen. There was no way to hide my growing arousal.
"I thought you said that you couldn't get hard, but you apparently can," one of the women observed.
"Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The little guy has a mind of its own, and I can never depend on him to respond as I want. It's all rather embarrassing and frustrating," I explained as I shared far more information than I wanted.
Looking at several sisters' body language, I saw signs of what looked like sexual responses from about half of them. Many leaned forward a bit more than usual, necks and chests rose tinted with excitement, faces relaxed and smiling or friendly neutral. Body postures showed a focused interest. At some primal level, pheromones floated like mist in the air, and our bodies were responding.
I looked down at my gradually stiffening member and covered myself with my hand. "Sorry about that, but all this talk about sex and stuff seems to be having an effect on my hardware, as I'm sure everyone can see. My junk never seems to respond as I wish, as I said, it's all rather awkward." I could feel the heat of a blush burn across my body.
Darlene came to my rescue. She walked up to me and gave me a big hug and lingering kiss, and then turned to face her companions while holding my free hand. "I think Dennis is thinking about the lovemaking session we'll have when we go to bed," she said with a foxy grin.
She started to rub my backside while she stood next to me, much to her sisters' amusement. The sensation of her warm hands massaging my bare behind did nothing to diminish my arousal. Under her playful touch, I continued to stiffen to about three-quarters firm, a little less than four inches.
Looking out over my audience of colony members, I noticed that they were all paying close attention to the interplay between Darlene and me. I was at a loss for words and didn't know how, or if I should continue or try to beat a hasty retreat.
"Don't be embarrassed by getting excited, Dennis. It's a natural event. We all get sexually aroused from time to time; it is just that your state of arousal is slightly more noticeable than ours is," Sheila said.
Her statement got a chorus of chuckles and laughter from the sisters and did much to ease the tension that had been building in the room.
"I'll put it to a vote if it makes you feel better, however, Dennis. By a show of hands, how many of us would like Dennis to proceed with his self-introduction?" Sheila said as she raised her hand.
A unanimous show of hands joined with Sheila. The sisters wanted the show to go on. The vote left me both relieved and annoyed at the same time. I was glad I hadn't offended them, but I was still several zip codes away from my comfort zone. Exhibitionism had never been my thing.
I turned to Darlene who was still playing with my bare bottom and said, "Maybe now is not the best time for foreplay. Shall we continue this later?"
Darlene was as much of a ham as I was. With an exaggerated stage pout, she said, "You are such a tight ass. You need to learn to relax and have fun."
She jiggled my ass cheeks with both hands. The jiggle made my package dance in the air.
My mind went blank as I started to speak; I'd forgotten what I was going to say. "I'm having a senior moment. I just lost my train of thought. Are there any more questions while I try to get back on track?" I asked the women around me while I stalled.
Alice and several of her sisters raised their hands. I figured it would be an easy question, so I called on Alice.
"Since you're the only man in a community of lesbians, how do you feel about women who love women?" Alice asked as several of her companions nodded their approval of her question.
I began my answer by explaining how Darlene and I were on the brink of being homeless when she suggested that we could go and stay with a group of her college friends who lived off-the-grid. Not that it would have made a difference, but she never bothered to mention that our new home would be an all women survival colony. I was completely unprepared for what I found when we arrived on their doorstep.
"This is all unexplored territory for me, and I am winging it the best way that I can. I believe it is a right for everyone to love anyone of his or her choice. I doubt that we have much control when it comes to selecting our sexual identity. We are who we are. I don't remember deciding to be heterosexual. It is just who I am. The real question is, how do you feel about having a man living among you in this beautiful colony? Because, as we all know, men can be real dicks, no pun intended, " I said to an outburst of laughter.
"I noticed that several folks here did not seem very happy with my presence when I was speaking earlier. I suspect that personal experience with abusive males is likely the source of this negative attitude. Let me tell you this, I know a thing or two about abusive men. A male babysitter raped me when I was twelve years old," I explained.
The sisters responded with a collective gasp. Alice looked shocked; her daughter stared at me with wide eyes and an open mouth as her hand shot into the air with an inquiry.
"How did it happen? How did it make you feel? Was it traumatic?" StarShine asked me in a series of rapid-fire questions.
"Without going into gory details, it happened after I got severely sunburned. My babysitter walked in as I got out of the shower. I was naked, and he offered to give me a massage after he took his shower. A naked pedophile giving a nude boy a massage … what could possibly go wrong? The rest is, as they say, history."
The silence remained. I continued. "As to how it made me feel; I felt used and humiliated. I was there exclusively for his sexual pleasure as far as that bastard was concerned. He didn't see me as a person. I resented it, and I vowed I would never treat a fellow human the way he treated me. I didn't hate men when it was over, but I didn't trust them. I dislike the way too many men treat other people, especially females," I explained.
"How do you feel about gay men?" one of the sisters asked without raising her hand.
"As I said before, I believe that everyone has a right to love anyone of his or her affection. I think most of us occupy some point on the sexual spectrum. Very few of us are born one hundred percent straight or one hundred percent gay. Almost all of us are born on one side or the other of the rainbow of possibilities. Does that answer your question?" I asked.
Nodding heads told me I had.
"What happens when you get an erection at a nude beach?" another sister asked.
I laughed, "I either sit down and wait for it to pass, or I go behind a bush and take care of business."
"What would you do if you end up staying with us?" Sheila asked.
Sheila was everything anyone could want in a leader. She was thoughtful and measured in her approach to unexpected problems. I was an unexpected problem. I knew her questions weren't accidental. It was all a test to determine whether I stayed or went away. My problem was that I had no way of knowing what the right answers might be. My only choice was to roll the dice, tell the truth, and hope for the best.
"You and your sisters have built something here that is amazing, unique, and precious, Sheila. The protection and continued safety of this community is a top priority. I can understand why some might view me, as a man, to be a possible threat to this family. I am who I am, and there's nothing I can do to change that," I said.
We were now talking about the elephant in the room, and the hall had become silent as each woman considered my words. I raised my right hand and faced Sheila.
"I vow to do everything in my power to help this colony continue to succeed under your leadership," I said while making eye contact with the group's leader. "The world outside this valley is changing into something very ugly and dangerous. We live in troubled times, and I think that having a man among you might be useful. I would like to be that man, and I will place the safety of your sisters ahead of my own if you allow it."
I lowered myself to one knee before Sheila, crossed my arms over my chest, and bowed my head when I finished speaking. I held my position as I waited for Sheila to speak. It may have been a bit melodramatic, but it seemed like the right thing to do. I had once seen it done in a movie.
The silence seemed to stretch out forever, but I didn't move. I did a long count in my head to track the time. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, and Sheila broke the silence when I got to fifty-three Mississippi.
"That's a compelling offer, and I appreciate your apparent sincerity, Dennis. It's very moving. Truth be told. However, I don't know you well enough to trust you with the lives of our family. I can't give you trust that you haven't yet earned. I will allow you to remain among us as my guest until I make a final determination as to your status here. We will revisit this question in two weeks. You will not attempt to leave our company in the meantime..." Sheila paused before she continued "...do you understand?"
She was not making an optional suggestion; this was a stone-cold command. I didn't want to find out what would happen if I disobeyed.
"Thank you, Sheila, I can't ask for more. You have my word of honor," I replied, as I resumed a standing position.
At least my status had been clarified; I was a guest/prisoner of the group's leader.
The serious discussion didn't arouse me as much as the sexy questions. My little guy got bored and decided that it was time for a nap. I took the opportunity to wrap up my "brief" introduction as quickly as possible.
"I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you, and I'm thankful for your generous hospitality. I will do my best as your guest to carry my own weight for as long as I'm under your roof," I concluded.
The applause of the sisterhood caught me by surprise. While not over the top wild, it was polite and lasted about twenty seconds.