Aaron entered the living room the next morning, dressed in his school uniform consisting of a black blazer, black trousers, white dress shirt, black tie and black leather Oxford shoes, ready for his first day of school.
He noticed that Ivan was ready for his job as a professor at MIT in a sharp navy blue suit as well, sipping a cup of coffee, while Annette was still in her signature bed-clothes consisting of an over-sized gray sweatshirt and sweatpants, hunched over the table, nursing a hangover.
Ivan downed the rest of his coffee and got up from the table. "Ready for your first day?" he asked Aaron.
"Won't Mother be late? Her school starts today as well" asked Aaron, looking coldly at Annette slumped over the table.
"I took the liberty of calling the school and letting them know she is sick" said Ivan, also giving her a cold look. He had been less than impressed by her sulking at dinner and drinking down an entire (and very expensive) champagne bottle by herself last night during Aaron's 13th birthday.
He handed Aaron the keys to the BMW M5. "You drive till we reach St. Ignatius" he said.
Aaron carefully pulled into the St. Ignatius Academy parking lot, he was about to get out, when a silver Mercedes convertible screeched to a halt in front of the BMW M5, blocking their exit. A heavyset African American girl wearing a horribly clashing silver hoodie and white yoga pants got out and marched towards the driver side of the BMW M5. "You in my spot white boy!" she snarled at Aaron as he partially rolled down the window. Aaron regarded her coldly. "We will be moving soon miss, could you please move your car so that my father can pull out of the parking lot?" he asked her in his clipped demeanor. His response seemed to greatly offend the girl. "Oh, is gonna be like that? Little white boy thinks he can steal my spot? A-right" she snarled going back to her car and pulling out a large chrome baseball bat.
Aaron quickly rolled up the window and started the BMW M5, the engine giving a powerful rumble. He turned the steering wheel left as far as it would go and revved it loud and hard, the car straining against the brakes as the engine roared. The girl froze in abject terror as she stared at the large, powerful black car straining against its brakes. The noise attracted campus security and two burly guards tackled the girl, the bat flying out of her hands. Aaron quickly shut off the engine.The girl's demeanor had completely changed. She was screaming and crying hysterically. "This is racist!" she wailed as a beefy African American guard zip-tied her hands behind her back. "Shut it Viola! You're in trouble enough already!" snarled the guard as he hauled her away.
"Are you alright?" asked the other Latin-American guard looking at Aaron in concern. Aaron looked much too young to drive or even attend the school.
"We're fine sir. Is this Ms. Viola's spot? There were no reserved parking signs" said Aaron coldly.
"Who was that girl?" asked Ivan, still shaken by the incident.
"That was Viola Davis. Her parents are big deal BLM activists. Ever since that movement kicked off, she's been screaming racism at everyone and trying to get away with bullying" sighed the guard. He looked over at Aaron and the BMW M5 appreciatively. "You were trying to power slide out of the parking spot. Smart move in theory, only problem is if you had clipped her car while trying to slide out, your airbag would have deployed, and you would have crashed. It's not as simple as the movies kid" he chuckled.
"Perhaps, but it was the only solution I could think of before she decided to vandalize my father's car" said Aaron coldly.
"Aaron! It's alright! A couple of broken headlights and dents is not worth getting into trouble over! That girl could have seriously gotten hurt!" admonished Ivan. He was somewhat flattered that Aaron was so protective over the BMW but also worried that Aaron had shown no hesitation with trying to intimidate a pedestrian. Part of him was also afraid that Aaron could have caused major damage and injury if he actually tried to slide around Viola's car before campus security got there.
"Don't worry sir. Thanks to Aaron's revving, we intervened before things could escalate, that's our job. Ms. Viola was on her last warning. This little stunt means expulsion for sure" said the guard grimly.
"What about Aaron? Is he going to be in trouble? He's still under-age and learning to drive. I'll take full responsibility for this incident" said Ivan, wrapping his arms protectively around Aaron.
"He won't be in trouble. You don't have to worry. Ms. Viola was the one who caused the trouble first by threatening to vandalize the car" assured the guard.
"Well then sir, can you please move Ms. Viola's car so that my father can get to work?" asked Aaron, pulling out his backpack.
"Sure Mr. Aaron, off you go to class" chuckled the guard as Aaron nodded to Ivan and left.
The first day of class went smoothly for Aaron. He had classes on physics, chemistry, math, computer science and PE. Each with its own unique challenges, but he was able to follow them quite well. His other classmates gave him surprised looks when he pulled out his massive black Linux powered gaming laptop while everyone else used Apple Macbooks, but otherwise didn't comment on it or bother him, in fact they seemed to give him a wide berth.
The discipline and uniform code was strictly enforced, with teachers conducting uniform inspections at the start of the day and after PE class. The more rebellious students soon found out the penalties of violating the uniform code, which resulted in detentions, and having to clean up after classes. At the end of class however, Aaron was summoned to the guidance counselor's office.
Aaron knocked and entered to find Father Abel with a very grim look on his face.
"I see you have already amassed quite a fearsome reputation. That little stunt you pulled in the parking lot has had all the students terrified of you" said Father Abel grimly.
Aaron regarded Father Abel coldly, "I intended no harm. I merely wished to either scare her or attract campus security" he answered coldly.
"Or power slide out of the way according to Javier" growled Father Abel pulling out his phone. He showed Aaron a video of the incident. From the angle the shot was taken, it looked like the BMW was revving, getting ready to slam into Viola and her car, Viola herself had an expression of abject terror and was frozen in place.
"I believe my father and Mr. Javier can testify that there was no danger to Ms. Viola. I only wished to prevent her from vandalizing the car with her baseball bat" said Aaron coldly.
Father Abel sighed wearily. "We know that, which is why you are not in trouble. However, it has made your ability to socialize much more difficult" he said.
Aaron raised an eyebrow. "If my peers do not have the intelligence to understand the context of my actions then I'd rather not associate with them" he said coldly, eliciting a wry chuckle from Father Abel which he quickly suppressed with a shake of his head.
"Onto another matter, I've had the most disturbing phone calls from Mei and Kate." said Father Abel grimly. His eyes boring into Aaron.
Aaron regarded Father Abel coldly. "What are you talking about?" he asked quietly.
Father Abel rubbed his temples. "I will ask you a question. And I want an honest answer. You have nothing to fear as long as you're honest about it" he said wearily.
Aaron nodded, waiting for the question.
"Are you familiar with the term BDSM?" asked Father Abel.
"No" said Aaron. Father Abel gazed into Aaron's Stoic blue eyes trying to detect a falsehood, but he failed to find one.
"Well for someone who claims to not know anything about it, you sure as hell have an affinity for it" grumbled Father Abel.
"How so? And what does this have to do with Kate and Mei Ling?" asked Aaron.
"Did you notice that they were calling you 'Master Aaron' and obeyed your commands despite them being much older than you?" asked Father Abel.
"Well yes. I'll admit that I liked it even if they were just humoring me" said Aaron.
"They weren't humoring you. They actually enjoyed the control you had over them" growled Father Abel.
Aaron's Stoic demeanor cracked, and he looked confused, giving Father Abel the confirmation that Aaron didn't realize the power he had over them.
Father Abel sighed and started to explain: "BDSM stands for Bondage, Dominance Sadism and Masochism. It is a special type of relationship between people with opposite tendencies. Some people like being tied up, dominated, and being told what to do and getting hurt by others, while some like dominating, enforcing authority, and inspiring fear in others".
Realization dawned in Aaron's eyes. "So what I'm feeling is normal?" he whispered. His Stoic mask crumbled, and Father Abel saw the vulnerable side of Aaron for the first time.
Father Abel felt a wrench in his gut. He realized that Aaron's stoicism and extreme self-control were the result of him attempting to suppress these urges.
"When did you start to feel these desires?" he asked gently.
"Three years ago" replied Aaron.
He then poured out to Father Abel exactly what had happened:
Three years ago, when Aaron was 10, Ivan had taken him to a BMW dealership to take delivery of the new BMW M5 Ivan had bought. Aaron, who had seen his father work long and hard on extra projects, was thrilled and proud of his father for being able to buy such a beautiful and powerful car.
That night though, he witnessed a vicious and violent argument between Annette and Ivan.
Believing that he was asleep, Annette had confronted Ivan about his purchase of the BMW M5, she could not believe that he was actually serious about owning it and had taken on extra work to earn enough money to afford it. She was simply furious and screamed all sorts of things like 'toxic male', 'brute' and had even tried to slap Ivan. He had caught and twisted her arm, threatening her in a low voice, before releasing her. The argument continued, with Ivan calmly but firmly standing his ground on his purchase decision while Annette was hysterical.
Finally, Annette had screamed that he could keep his stupid car, but it would be the last time he ever pulled something like this, or she would leave him and take Aaron with her. Aaron had felt fear for being separated from his father, and was confused why Annette was so angry about the car.
His confusion about Annette's anger over the car only grew and came to a climax the day after the delivery of the car when she had screamed in terror when Ivan had pushed the car to its full acceleration on the highway. At that moment, he felt pleasure over Annette's fear and happiness that Ivan was enjoying himself. He also felt guilt since it was his mother who he was happy to see scared, but he realized that this was something deep within him.
Ever since that day, he had been trying to control and suppress his desire to see girls and women in fear. Drawing from his knowledge of movies and TV shows, he adopted a persona to hide his emotions. As he practiced his stoicism, he came to realize that he liked the way it made others feel uncomfortable around him, and he liked the feeling of control his ability to hide his emotions gave him.
After he had finished speaking, Aaron felt as if a massive weight had been lifted of his shoulders. Father Abel, came around his desk and laid a gentle, comforting hand on Aaron.
"I am sorry that you had to witness that fight Aaron. But do not worry. You are not alone. There are lots of people who have the same tendencies as you." he said gently.
"Thank you, Father Abel" sniffled Aaron, drying his tears. With several deep breaths, he stopped crying and returned to his Stoic self.
"Your use of stoicism to control those tendencies do you great credit. Another person would have resorted to thuggery or bullying to satiate those desires." said Father Abel, admiration clear in his voice.
"Now on to the present problem that we have. BDSM, while it can be incorporated into everyday life, has very strong social and cultural stigmas. You obviously know that you can't just go around torturing and hurting people, so practitioners of BDSM have strict rules in place to ensure the safety and comfort of both the master and the servant" explained Father Abel.
"And what does this have to do with Ms. Kate and Ms. Mei Ling?" asked Aaron, back in his calculating and clipped demeanor.
"Well you see, Kate is what is known as a switch by people in the community. She is able to switch between being a master, or mistress in her case and being a servant, depending on the person or situation. You, my young Casanova, seem to bring out her servant side, along with a powerful attraction to you" said Father Abel.
"I'm flattered, but I find that hard to believe. Kate is beautiful and would definitely be able to find another handsome, adult master instead of me" said Aaron coldly.
Father Abel couldn't help but chuckle. "You're right, but your maturity and intelligence along with your natural charisma and command over your emotions and impulses make you a very formidable master. You naturally bring out the servant tendencies in her and Mei Ling. Yes, even Mei Ling realized last night that she wanted to submit to you and was attracted to you. Your age and intelligence has put them in quite the pickle" he explained.
Aaron mulled over this information. Then looked up at Father Abel. "I understand. I shall not attempt to contact them." He said firmly.
"They seem to think that that is for the best as well, since they are both so much older than you. However, you may still maintain a friendly relationship with both of them. No dating, kissing or any other shenanigans though" said Father Abel sternly.
Aaron nodded in acceptance. "Very well Father, I shall abide by your restrictions" he said.
Father Abel sighed in relief. "Another word of caution Aaron. BDSM and BDSM relationships are not widely accepted, and from what I know of your parents, they will not be understanding or accepting of such a condition. I urge you to not openly discuss this with anyone" he said as a final warning.
"I understand Father Abel. I'll keep it to myself" said Aaron as he stood to leave.