Ajax is forced to work in naked in the quarry with a large group of other slaves, overseen by whip yielding masters who get off on keeping their slaves in line.
Antebellum - Chapter 12: Quarry Work
by Drum
Art by Amalaric
Series: Antebellum
In the morning Steria and I woke to the sound of a bell in each others’ arms and I for one was happier than I thought it possible to be. The shed’s door was unlocked and I was thrown an old but clean shirt, a pouch and a pair of pants. I dressed and was hurried to the yard where I found about 50 other male slaves assembled. They were of various physiques and types. I was placed with a group of bigger males. We were led off out of the yard by a man of about 40 riding a horse. He carried a rifle and a whip was coiled in his belt. ‘Where are we going?’ I asked the slave next to me. ‘Keep your voice low, nigger,’ he said, ‘the quarry, and talking ain’t allowed. What’s your name?’ ‘Ajax, yours?’‘Lex.’ We walked for about half an hour as the sun slowly rose and dissipated the gloom of night. I saw the overseer uncoil his whip and crack it in the air, ‘Quiet you niggers!’ he shouted.
We came to a cliff face and stopped. The overseer, whose name was Mr Brun, was a big and stern looking man, he addressed us as we stood in a line outside a shed. ‘There are no prying eyes up here or prissy womenfolk so you niggers shuck your clothes and work in loincloths. Shuck!’ ‘Yes Boss.’ We all answered. He rode the line as we stripped and tied our cloths. He was opposite me when I was naked and said, ‘You, the new nigger, straighten up and face me.’ I faced him, modestly covering my genitals. ‘Move your hands out of the way, boy!’ ‘Yes Boss,’ I said and watched how he looked at my cock. ‘Nice, boy, a nice big hung breeding stud, I’ll be sure. You’ll be a regular in the shed while you are here and no mistake.’ He leered as I tied my cloth. We were divided into gangs and assigned to a chargehand. Mine was a man of about 22. ‘You call me Boss Ed, understand nigger?’‘Yes Boss Ed.’ ‘I want instant obedience and plenty of work from you, nigger. You see this whip?’ ‘Yes Boss Ed.’ ‘I get a lot of pleasure from using it on a big strong slave’s back so I will be looking for an excuse to use it on you, boy.’ He led me to a pile of shale at the foot of the cliff. A slave stood by four large buckets, two full of shale and the third being filled by the slave with a shovel. A yoke with a chain on each end was on the ground. ‘Put the yoke across your shoulders, boy.’ ‘Yes Boss Ed.’ I put it on and it felt comfortable. It jutted out about a foot either side of my shoulders and chains hung from each end with hooks on them. There was a semicircular piece of hinged iron which, when the yoke was on, locked round the front of my neck to prevent removal. This he clicked shut. ‘Now boy, your task is to come here, take the buckets of shale, two at a time and dump the shale in the wagon next to the ramp. Then come back with the empty buckets, unhook them and take two new full ones and repeat the task. Understand that, nigger?’ ‘Yes Boss Ed, sir.’ He raised a hand and felt my bicep and chest and said, ‘Good work for a big, strong nigger like you, keep these muscles in condition.’
I hooked the buckets on in a semi-squatting position and stood up. They were heavy but I carried them across to the ramp, up the ramp and tipped them into the cart and returned to where the slave and Boss Ed were standing. Boss Ed said, ‘And remember, boy, you are only wearing a loincloth so there is plenty of naked back to lay my whip across, like this.’ At which point he cracked the lash across my upper back. I grunted and shuddered with pain as the lash seemed to sear into my skin. ‘Yes Boss Ed.’ I said, my eyes stinging with tears. The shoveling slave unhooked the buckets and replaced them with two full ones. Boss Ed went to organise some other slaves. ‘He is a strict whiphand,’ the other slave, his name was Aaron, said. ‘Don’t do to cross him, or any of the others, Doc Sullivan employs them because of there keenness to use the whip or cause other pain. It’s quite normal that some of them even shoot a wad when whipping a boy, that’s what they are like here. ‘On my next trip back I said, ‘I have seen white masters like that before. I even had one who used to have his own overseer whip him for pleasure.’ I didn’t tell Aaron that I got horny when my master flogged me for losing the wrestling bout and I had got horny when watching a whipping and had, once or twice, messed my pants.
We worked for a couple of hours before the breakfast wagon arrived. It was driven by a boy and had two kitchen wenches with our porridge on it. They were uninhibited by our near naked state. Aaron said, ‘They don’t credit us with human sensibilities, they think we are animals to work and be bred from and we should be lucky to have a cloth to wear. Doc Sullivan’s son, Boss Patrick, even prefers to work us naked when he can.’ ‘OK, I’ll remember that. I have to go to Boss Patrick tonight when he gets back from town.’ ‘He’s a strict man. I have been here for ten years and he always was strict with us niggers, even when he was a boy he enjoyed using the whip and feeling our muscles. Now he’s 25 years old and he has become one of those types of masters who enjoy making his slaves perform special services for him. A handsome nigger like you had better watch out.’
This gave me food for thought and I continued to work hard all day long. When he passed us Boss Ed would inspect the rate that the shale pile was shrinking. I once returned from the cart with the empty buckets and Aaron had not finished filling the two new ones. For this he received a few heavy blows with the whip and was told to flex his arms. ‘You know why you have big strong muscles, boy?’ ‘Yes Boss Ed, so I can work hard for the Master, sir.’ ‘Well any more slacking and I’ll advise the master that you get sold on – I think you spend too much time with that bitch Primrose. ‘Please Boss Ed, don’t get me sold on, please, I’ll work harder, Boss Ed, I’ll do anything you want, Boss.’
During the midday break Boss Ed came to where Aaron and I sat eating our food. When we finished he said to us, ‘You boys come with me.’ ‘Yes Boss Ed.’ We said and followed him in a shed with an open end where we could not be seen. He turned to us and said, ‘Shuck your cloths.’ We stripped and he said, ‘Aaron, you said you would do anything to avoid being sold on. Get over here in front of me and on your knees.’ He unbuttoned his fly and fished out his hard cock. ‘Suck it, nigger!’ ‘Yes Boss Ed, sir.’ Aaron said as he took the whiphand’s cock in his mouth. ‘And you, Ajax, watch and let this be a lesson in how to react to your superiors’ orders.’ ‘Yes Boss Ed, sir.’ I said swallowing hard. I watched the man take his pleasure from the slave and was aware that my own cock was standing out erect between my legs. Boss Ed also saw it, ‘Seems you like what you see, nigger. I’ll have some sport with you as well, some day.’ ‘Yes Boss Ed, sir’.
We went back to work and laboured through the afternoon. Aaron said, ‘See that horse and rider coming? That’s Boss Patrick, he must have got home early. He specially enjoys coming to the quarry because all the biggest niggers work here in just loincloths. He likes to watch us.’ I carried on with my work and pretended not to notice him despite being very interested in Boss Patrick. From what Aaron had said he preferred the services of male slaves to women. This did not bother me too much. Of course, among the other slaves I pretended otherwise but I had gained experience with other niggers in the barracoons when we were deprived of wenches. However I decided that a little fake resistance would be in order to convince Boss Patrick and the other niggers of my virility. It would also, probably, pander to Boss Patrick’s sadistic ways by making him think he was forcing me to submit to his will. Boss Patrick walked his horse over to near where we worked. He was with Boss Ed. They dismounted, handed the reins of their horses to a slave and walked over to us. Boss Patrick carried a riding crop. ‘Take the yoke off him,’ he said, his soft-toned voice commanded authority. Boss Ed unlocked the neck piece and I lifted the yoke off. Boss Patrick was not very tall, about 5’ 6” and was of slim build. His eyes were ice blue. ‘So, you are Tom Richard’s breeding buck. A fine specimen too. You will address me as Master, understand, nigger, for all intents I own you for the time being.’ ‘Yes Master.’ I ‘bounced’ my pectorals a couple of times and it held his attention. He smiled and said, ‘Impressive, what’s your name and how old are you, slave?’ ‘Ajax, about 25 years, Master.’ He reached up and with surprising force gripped my chin and turned my head to the side. ‘Nice profile, nigger. When did you shave last?’ ‘Sunday, Master. Two days, Master.’ ‘Grows fast and dense, feels good, I like that boy. Do you fight?’ He said feeling my left shoulder and upper arm. ‘Some wrestling and brawling, Master.’ ‘Good, after your, er, special duties with the wench and your meal, tonight, get cleaned up and come to my villa. I’ll pit you against one of my niggers to see how good you are. May make some money pitting you against my friends’ boys.’ ‘Yes master.’ I said, I flexed an arm without being asked and said, ‘I think you will find me strong and satisfactory, master.’ His eyes widened as he gaped at the expanded biceps, ‘I am sure I will, nigger, and if I don’t I can always find pleasure using the whip on your black hide’.