The rusty vending machine hisses and clanks, two water bottles fall heavily on the metal receptacle below.
Caro bends to pick them up and notices there's a slot in the machine to introduce bills and coins. She pauses and brushes her long dark hair with her hands, remembering that she still hasn't figured out what to gift Miguel with the bills and coins his grandma gave her (and is she really his grandma? Or is she just some old lady he helps with her errands? Are there people who collect old money from before the war?).
"Hey, handsome. Ya'lready squirt? Want to join us at our hotel?" a female voice says behind her.
Caro turns around and is startled to realize she's surrounded by three tall women in skimpy bikinis and tanned bodies full of pixelated tattoos that have materialized out of nowhere.
The mischievous smile of their 'leader' immediately vanishes when she sees the girl's terrified expression.
"Oh, sorry." she murmurs and nods to her partners, signaling to move on. The two Amazonians glance at each other, nod, and the trio walks away like a unit, vanishing inside the river of people strolling up and down the sunny pier.
It all lasted for less than five seconds, and yet Caro feels shocked to the core. One moment she was completely alone standing in front of a vending machine, the next she was squeezed between three towering adults without any escape and completely at their mercy.
It takes a minute for Carolina's heartbeat to descend from its adrenaline-fueled heights. She now feels unsafe and vulnerable despite being out in the open and near a crowd, both usually signs of safety. The surreal sensation of being a mouse in a town of snakes.
Miguel's dorky face suddenly flashes across her mind and the girl starts running back, stopping a few seconds later when she remembers the water bottles and is forced to return.
Caro's face is drenched in sweat as she runs on the bright sand hugging both water bottles in her arms. When she's close to the white umbrella her stomach drops and blood leaves her face.
Miguel isn't there with Rebecca anymore.
She storms under the umbrella's shadow and drops the heavy water bottles at the feet of the black girl who sits cross-legged on the pink towel taking photos of the ocean with her vintage camera.
"Where is HE!?" barks Caro, fighting back tears of panic and anger.
"What!? What's wrong!?" squirms Becks startled and confused at Caro's ireful demeanor, her hands instinctively raising to protect herself "You mean where is your friend? He's right over there! Getting clean before we have sex!" she points behind her.
The sweaty, furious Asian girl follows her finger and breathes in relief when she sees Miguel's small bronze figure rinsing under an open-air shower near a beach-side hotel, his distinctive red cap hanging from the shower knob.
Her legs wobble and she lands on her butt, a hand on her chest as she recovers her breath.
"Oh, thank God…" she breathes out, unwinding. The weight of the world mercifully taken off her shoulders.
She glances at the still-startled black girl and gives an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry I scared you... I-I'm not supposed to let him out of my sight. I..." she swallows, grabs one of the water bottles and twists it open "I was so afraid I had screwed up!"
Becks doesn't answer at first, still watching her with caution. She shuffles in place to hug her knees.
"It's okay, I get it. He's your responsibility…" she shrugs "I too would be worried if something happened to someone I love."
Caro is taking a sip from the water bottle and is caught off-guard by her words. She spills the liquid all over her face and starts coughing.
"You ok?" asks Becks with a smile.
"I… I DON'T love him!" yells Caro trying to regain her composure, her face somehow even redder than before.
Rebecca's smile widens, her body relaxing "You sure…?" she says teasingly.
"YES!" says Caro in no uncertain terms. Then pauses, suddenly surprised at her own words.
Rebecca nods, a sly smile across her face. She raises her palms in a whatever-you-say kind of way and puts her sunglasses back on. She rests her chin on her palm and returns her attention to the ocean.
Caro sighs, her stomach grumbling once again after the moment of panic has passed. She checks the hour on her phone and stretches her neck to check on Miguel still showering in the distance, apparently just standing under the water with his eyes closed, preparing himself.
Behind her, Rebecca giggles as she fiddles with her glasses, having fun with something. Caro glances at her with a questioning look. The black girl smiles and shrugs.
"Oh, nothing. I kept thinking about what we talked about, and I remembered I have this App with some funny filters. Wanna see?"
Carolina shrugs, not knowing what else to do as she keeps an eye on Miguel in the distance. Becks smiles and types some commands in the air with her fingers. A second later Caro's phone buzzes with a message. The Asian girl taps to open it and gasps.
On-screen is the photo Rebecca took of her to send the money for the water bottle, only that in this version Caro is naked and looking at the camera in a funny half-sneer, caught between expressions as she brushed sand off her butt.
Rebecca chuckles "Is this how you look like naked? I didn't know whether to put hair down there or not. Do you shave...?"
Caro is aghast, her hands moving around her striped dress as if trying to reassure herself it's still there. The black girl continues talking while typing and moving sliders in the air.
"I think it's a pretty accurate filter, but you tell me which bush size is closer to reality. Is it like this...?" Caro's image changes, her vulva emptying itself from all hair "Or like this...?" the image changes again, a small afro pops between her legs. Becks giggles "Oh and look! This is how you'll look like in a few years!"
She moves another slider and the Carolina in the picture grows taller, her hips flaring and her breasts swelling. Rebecca bites her lip and leans her chin on her hand, liking what she's seeing.
"Yeah, look at her… You'll look so sexy in a couple years_…_"
Caro turns off her phone's screen, looking like she's about to run away and sink in the ocean, never to resurface. She stands up and pulls her green hoodie from under the sand, readying to leave.
"Hey, where you going?" says Rebecca taking off her sunglasses.
"Beeecks! Honeeeey...!" comes a woman's voice in the distance.
The two girls stop on their tracks. They turn and see Rebecca's family walking amidst the rapidly crowding beach carrying their numerous belongings back to their car. The white topless mother approaches the white umbrella with a bundle of tote bags hanging from her arms and a huge folded umbrella over her shoulder.
"Honey! Hey! We're ready to leave, your sisters are hungry. Did you have fun?"
"We're LEAVING!? Aww, mooom!?" cries Rebecca cranking up the drama on her voice "Can't I stay here till you return? I'm not hungry yet and the boy hasn't cum inside me yet."
"He h_asn't!?_ Honey! It's been more than an hour! What have you three been doing all along? They're getting paid to make you cum, not become your new friends!" she shakes her head and speaks to Caro directly "I'm really sorry for all this, I already released the escrow assuming Becks was done. Is it possible to get a refun…? No, no, it's okay, you seem like nice kids, I guess you can keep it. Becks is satisfied enough."
"No I'm not!" the black girl interjects.
Her mother rolls her eyes. Caro raises her phone and speaks up "Thank you Miss! But that's not necessary. She didn't get sperm in the end, so I'll refund you the escrow."
"Aw, sweetie! You're an angel! I would greatly appreciate that…!" says the suburban mom in appreciation.
Caro nods, smiling to herself. She clicks some buttons on her phone when a soaking wet Miguel suddenly appears between them.
"Hey! What's happening!?" he pants from running from the other side of the beach.
"We're leaving…" pouts Rebecca as she gathers her belongings.
"You ARE!? N-No! WAIT!" he joins hands and stands in front of the topless mother "S-señorita, just give me… FIVE more minutes! That's all I need to make your daughter cum and get the sperm inside her."
"Yeah!" the black girl yells standing next to the boy and mirroring his pleading pose "Just a bit longer mom? Say yes, pleaseee...!?"
"What!? No!" Caro interjects, elbowing past Becks to speak to him "Miguel, you... Can't! We already got half the money. Let's go eat!"
"But shooting my sperm is the most important part of my service! I need the good reviews."
"And I need to cum!" adds the black girl, groaning.
"Just five more minutes señorita!" repeats the boy.
"NO Miguel! You don't understand! We can't! I…" Caro pauses, ashamed "I already refunded the lady the other half of the escrow…"
"You WHAT!?"
The middle-aged woman sighs as the three kids argue back and forth. She looks back at the nude father who awaits with arms raised next to the other two naked girls, asking with his pose what's taking so long.
"Okay, here's what we'll do!" she yells with a practiced mom-voice, immediately quieting them.
She extends a hand towards her daughter "Hand me your stuff and we'll wait for you by the car. Yes honey, EVEN your glasses, and especially your camera! I don't want you wasting ANY more time taking selfies." she spreads the fingers of her other hand to Miguel "Five minutes, okay? This heat is CRAZY, and my family is starving. I'll re-refund you the escrow once she returns dripping cum."
The boy smiles and nods putting his red MAGA cap back on. He takes Rebecca's pink towel and flattens it on the sand, then rushes to lay down into position.
Meanwhile, the naked black girl hurries to hand her belongings to her mother who barely manages to hold them in her arms on top of everything else she already carries.
"Oh! But what about the umbrella?" asks Rebecca as she stands over Miguel laying on the ground, his hand stroking his penis to get himself hard "Didn't you say it was a rental?"
The mother curses and tries to think of a new arrangement.
"We can return it if you want!" says Caro speaking up, pointing at the distance "You got it there, right? The big vending machine with the same logo as the umbrella?"
The woman melts. She bows in appreciation and turns to leave.
"You're going straight to heaven! Thank you SO much sweetie!"
Caro nods and waves her goodbye, watches with a smile as she joins the bearded father and the small girls and the whole family walks away, getting lost between the growing swarms of nude and half-nude bodies pouring onto the beach from the nearby train station.
She turns around and jumps when she sees the two already fucking. Rebecca rides Miguel at a frenzied pace in a cowgirl position, her cone-like breasts jiggling up and down.
***