Her date tonight was with Marvin, a short, white, hairy, potbellied guy. He was a prominent businessman at a major pharmaceutical company. He had a fetish for leather, whips, chains and black women. The combination aroused him more than sexual intercourse itself. He spent thousands of dollars a week with Tender just to be beaten.

He always paid up front. Marvin even paid for the hotel. They arranged to meet in Bucks County, just outside of the city of Philadelphia, at the Ramada Inn. He took this precaution out of fear of being spotted with a black woman, entering or leaving the hotel, by his family or colleagues. He would never be able to explain that.

He possessed a split personality, like Jekyll and Hyde, pretending to be one way in public, another behind closed doors.

Tender was repulsed at the sight of him. She fed right into that old stereotype that said white people smelled like dogs. It was a myth that most black people really believed. Marvin’s stench came from releasing his bowels while Tender beat the living daylights out of him.

“Marvin, you been a bad boy? Haven’t you?” she asked, playing the role of a dominatrix.

“Yeah, I been a bad boy,” he said, in a childlike voice. “I didn’t do my homework … the teacher caught me talking to my best bud in class … and I broke my glasses … on purpose ….”

“Oh, you a real Billy Bad-Ass, huh?” she said, sinking deeper into her act. “Motherfucker, you think money grows on trees? Huh? If told ya once, I told you a thousand times, ta be good. But no … you can’t even do dat? … You gonna get it now! You be askin’ for it! Dyin’ fa me ta whip dat ass … right, Marvin? Right?”

“Yes,” he said bashfully.

“What did you say?” she yelled. “I can’t hear you? Did you say somethin’?”

“I said, yes, ma’am. That’s what I said,” he replied meekly.

“Get ya fat nasty ass across dat bed!” she commanded. “I’ma ’bout ta learn you sumthin’. You li’l bad son of a bitch … Ya ass iz grass!”

In a weird way, Tender loved the actual beating. She thought she was striking a blow for the entire black race. She was repaying the man for four hundred years of slavery. The temporary power she had over him made her feel good.

She brought the cat-o’-nine-tails across his back with such force, Marvin screamed like a woman. Even though he had a sock in his mouth, his muffled scream could still be faintly heard.