Afterwards, Matthew felt that he had made a fool of himself. He threw his head back and made a sound that was stupid, a crow, like a rooster, a long, drawn out ‘oo’.

Rodney was laughing at him. And Matthew felt like hitting him. Like grabbing an iron bar from somewhere and smashing it into the side of Rodney’s face.

He was wincing. Tears were streaming out of his eyes, and he was crying, involuntarily. And Rodney was laughing.

Slowly, Rodney’s laughter died.

And Matthew continued to cry, hopelessly, his head hanging.

Everything went quiet. The only sound, the sound of the flames in the sconces flickering.

Matthew opened his eyes and looked down at his cock. The handle of the skewer was sticking out of the end of the crocodile’s tail, while inside his penis, a hundred needles had pierced his skin.

There was a buzzing in his head. A rhythmic buzzing, like the sound of cicadas, fading in and out, and he felt woozy, unreal. Had he really nodded his head for Rodney to twist the handle? He had, but it seemed unreal. Everything, all of it, as though he was far away, and it wasn’t happening to him.

And then the pain brought him back.

Not the pain he should be feeling, that he ought to feel, but the pleasure mixed with pain that they had induced in him so a hundred stupid fucks could enjoy this as though it was happening to them, when it wasn’t. It was real, and it was his body. His life.

He lifted his head.

‘Can you take it out now?’ he said.

Rodney was staring at him. A blank look on his face. A look as though…Did he feel pity for Matthew? He was only fifteen. A fifteen-year-old kid doing…this.

No. He seemed to be making a decision. And he made it now.

‘I’ll take it out in a minute, dude,’ he said. ‘I just want to see if I can…’ His voice trailed off.

He pulled the stool out from under Matthew’s legs, pulling the crusher off it so that it hung from Matthew’s sack, his balls squashed between it. He got down on his back, underneath Matthew, and he started to fiddle with the pear. He was turning it – yes, he was loosening it.

Maybe it was over, Matthew thought. Maybe that was it. They’d done enough, and that was the end of it.

He relaxed a little, feeling the pressure on his ring ease. He hadn’t realised how uncomfortable it was, but the relief of it made him breathe with relaxation.

The pain in his penis was intense, and his eyes were watering, but with that little adjustment to what he was feeling, he felt the pressure ease. They would fix him up. They would take him to a hospital.

Rodney loosened the pear and pulled it out of Matthew’s arse.

And Matthew heard it clatter onto the ground.

And then suddenly, Rodney had his arm between Matthew’s legs, his hand held tightly in a fist.

‘You see this, dude,’ Rodney called from underneath him. ‘This is going up your arse.’

He held his fist there, between Matthew’s legs, for a second or two longer, and then he withdrew it.

Matthew started to cry again, shaking his head, and sobbing.

And then he felt Rodney’s fist pressed up against his hole. He was working forward with his thumb and knuckles.

Matthew didn’t care. He was beyond caring, but he couldn’t help shifting his body a little as he felt Rodney’s thumb and knuckles enter his hole. Rodney pressed further and Matthew felt another knuckle enter. And then he couldn’t help taking a deep breath as he felt all of Rodney’s hand slide past his sphincter and into his arse.

Matthew exhaled, wincing. The pain of his testicles, swinging in their iron cage, speared and squeezed, the pain of his penis, pierced from within and without, was suddenly eclipsed by the pain of Rodney’s fist and arm entering his arse.

‘Oh, dude,’ Rodney called from underneath him. ‘I’ve got my fucking arm up you.’

Matthew didn’t know how long it went on for. He kept his eyes tightly closed, wincing, tears streaming, while Rodney moved his arm back and forth inside him. Every now and then Matthew had to jerk his body a little to deal with the pain.

Between his legs, on the floor, Rodney had one hand on his cock, and was pulling himself, while he pumped Matthew with his fist.

In a daze of pain, and drug-befuddled, Matthew watched Rodney’s hand pulling his cock – getting pleasure, while Matthew felt pain. And he felt anger at the same time, anger that Rodney had a perfect cock and balls, while Matthew’s were being ruined.

This had to be it, he told himself as Rodney finished. He watched him come, a white streak jerking itself out of his cock in a series of thrusts, and then he felt Rodney’s hand being pulled out of his arse. This had to be it, Matthew told himself. They couldn’t want to do anything more to him, not after this. That was enough.

Rodney stood up and walked around behind him. Matthew turned his head. Rodney was rinsing his arm with water and wiping it on a towel. When he had finished, he turned, and saw Matthew looking at him.

‘What are you looking at? You stupid fuck?’ he said angrily.

Matthew’s head snapped back. He took a couple of deep breaths. And when Rodney reappeared in front of him, he was afraid to look into his eyes.

‘You want me to take it out now?’ Rodney said, aiming his head at the skewer.

Matthew nodded, afraid of the look in Rodney’s eyes.

Without any preamble of any sort, Rodney leaned forward and grabbed the ring on the end of the skewer. He reefed it with all his might, dragging the needles buried in Matthew’s flesh up the tunnel of his urethra, and out of the eye of his cock.