Mr. and Mrs. Zemlinsky lazed in the nude on the veranda as Enrico, the houseboy served drinks. Mrs. Zemlinsky eyeballed Enrico lustily.
"Dahling, have you noticed a difference in Natasha lately?", she asked, without taking her eyes off Enrico.
Mr. Zemlinsky did not look up from his laptop. "No", he grunted. "Why?"
"I don't know. She spends an awful lot of time in that studio we bought her."
"Nothing to worry about. She's probably having drunken sex parties in there. Perfectly normal".
Mrs. Zemlinsky sighed. "I guess you're right".
About an hour later, after a brief but intense roll in the hay with Enrico, Mrs. Zemlinksy threw on her bathrobe and padded down to Natasha's studio in search of more masculine attention of the underage variety. Furtively, she peered through the window. What she saw shocked her.
Mrs. Zemlinsky stormed into the studio. "Young lady, what is going on in here!"
Natasha cringed and tried to hide her painting. "Ummm...nothing...we were just getting ready to party."
Mrs. Zemlinsky stomped over, grabbed Natasha by the wrist and stared at the painting, which was a gorgeous landscape in the style of Corot. "And what do you call this?" she demanded.
Natasha looked as if she wanted to disappear. "Um....it's just a little painting...".
Mrs. Zemlinsky glared at the other teens in the studio. One of them, Tess Durber-Ville, seemed to be hiding something under her shirt. Mrs. Zemlinsky grabbed her by the throat and pulled her to her feet. "What's that you've got there?" she demanded, and tugged at Tess' shirt. A textbook fell to the floor. "What are you doing?"
Tess was about to cry. "Studying?" she said, in a wobbly voice.
The two boys in the room bolted for the door. Mrs. Zemlinsky pointed at Tess. "Get out of my house! And if I see you with my daughter again your father will hear from our lawyer!". Tess scurried out.
Mrs. Zemlinsky turned to Natasha and grabbed her arm. "Wait until your father hears about this!"
Natasha fell to her knees. "No! Mama! Please! Don't tell Daddy!".
Mrs. Zemlinsky glared. "Go to your room! You're grounded forever!".
Natasha ran to her room, closed the door and rummaged for her sketch book. She sat cross-legged on her bed and sketched.
The next day, she went to a tattoo parlor in the Grundge District.
