|
3.
Val
left messages at Nancy's home and office telephones, dressed and
readied himself for confronting the girl. He started a pot of coffee
for him and her and tried to put his mind in order. He needed to
apologize to her, needed to call Frank or Bob or someone and have
them take her. And he needed for her to get dressed; it was awkward
for him being around her nakedness.
He
poured two cups of coffee and carried them into the bathroom. She
looked up at him, kneeling in the tub, her hands holding the cold
faucet. Her head had been supported by her arm; he could see a red
mark on her forehead. She smiled, tried to turn sideways.
She'd
peed in the tub and the whole room smelled of urine. Val smiled
back at her, set the cups on the edge of the sink and unlocked her
wrists. "I'm sorry I hit you," he said. "I shouldn't
have, for any reason. It's not your fault. It's not . . ."
She
looked up at him, rose on her knees as she held out her hands and
moaned through her open mouth. For the first time with her Val became
erect which made everything even more embarrassing.
"No,"
he said. "I brought you coffee."
She
quieted immediately, dropped her hands and settled back on her heels.
"Ummmm?" she said. The rising inflection made it seem
a question.
He
sat on the toilet and crossed his legs, ignoring her smile. He could
see her better at daytime. She wasn't as pretty as Nancy but no
one would ever call her plain or ugly. He saw for the first time
the network of fine scars across her forehead and bridge of her
nose. They weren't obvious, but once he'd seen them they caught
his eye. She had a tattoo on her right shoulder, something like
a fish caught in a spider web, done in blue and black ink with shading,
but like most of the tattoos unfinished. An outline, without shading,
dropped down almost to her breast. Her nipples were small and pink.
He raised his eyes to her face. "You can't stay here. We'll
. . ." There was a knock on his door. Whoever it was, was impatient.
"I'll be back in a minute."
He
opened the door and three large men faced him. The one in front
spoke.
"Bob
said you might need help feeding the whore."
The
two behind him grinned.
"We're
having coffee, I don't know you, and . . ." He froze when she
moaned behind him.
"Coffee's
not what she wants. Is your name Val? Val." The big man looked
over Val's shoulder. "Hi, sweetheart. Remember us?" He
spoke differently to the girl, almost as if she were a child.
Val
felt her try to pass him. The last thing he wanted his neighbors
to see was her out on his porch, doing god knows what. "You'd
better come in." He backed away from the door; she went around
him and jumped in the arms of the big man.
"Just
like a bitch in heat," the man said. "You hungry, sweetie?"
The
girl wiggled in his arms and said, "Ummm." Val couldn't
see the faces she was making over the man's shoulder at the others
but both were grinning. One gave her a little wave.
"I
need to talk to Bob," Val said.
The
man's hands opened, "Down girl," and she dropped gracefully
to the floor. The door closed behind them. As she opened his pants
he said, "Bob and Frank left early this morning. They won't
be back for three months."
"I
was told three weeks."
"Three
months at the least. That's a good girl." The man looked up
at Val, "Look at the bitch go at it."
Val
sat on his couch as three strange men got blowjobs from the crazy
girl in his living room. He felt embarrassed and left out as the
four went about doing something they'd obviously done before. She
was finishing off the third when the first asked him, "Will
you need us to give her a ride tonight?" He looked hopeful.
Val
shook his head. "No. We're okay." He was going to call
Jerry, someone as soon as they left.
"Still
hungry, sweetheart?"
She
stopped, gave a nod, and returned to bobbing her head over the third
man's crotch.
"Can
we use your bathroom, Val?" The man rose to his feet.
Val
heard her choke and swallow. He looked back at the big man.
"That's
a mighty fine ass but I wouldn't touch it without two condoms on
at least," the big man said. "Probably not safe then either.
The mouth, that's different. I read somewhere spit kills germs."
The second man sitting on the couch nodded. "Ready bitch?"
He hooked a finger through a loop on her collar and pulled her over
to him. "The bathroom is where?"
Val
sat back. "She knows."
"Good
girl." The man followed her, turned briefly to Val, "Isn't
she a good girl?"
"You're
a good girl," Val said to their backs.
He
called in sick at work while they were in the bathroom, got another
cup of coffee and sat on the couch. The first thing he'd do was
get her dressed, after cleaning her up, and they'd go out and get
her some clothes. By then he should have reached Jerry or someone
and they could take her off his hands. Which left Nancy and he had
no idea what he'd tell Nancy. The truth? Even if he did, would she
believe him?
The
girl remained in the bathroom, quiet, when the men came out. They
sat on the couch across from him, grins on their faces. "If
you need anything, call us." The first man put an envelope
on the coffee table. "My name's Bert, this here's Jeff and
that's Juan. We'll be by tomorrow. Number's on here, Val. You need
anything call me. You can leave a message and I'll get right back
with you."
"Thanks,"
Val said, he stood.
"Time
to get to work, boys." Bert stood. "See you, sweetie,"
he shouted. He walked up to Val and said in a low voice, "You
take good care of the whore, hear?"
Val
nodded.
"Good
boy, Val. You're a lucky man. What'd I do to be in your shoes."
"You
could be in my shoes, Bert. I find I'm . . ."
"Too
busy, Val. The whore needs a man who appreciates her many fine qualities."
"Bert's
married," Juan said.
"And
my wife wouldn't appreciate my keeping a fine bitch like that chained
to the bed."
"Pussy
whipped," Juan said and hit Bert on the arm.
"Pussy
whipped but as long as that bitch," Bert pointed to the bathroom,
"sucks my cock I'm a happy man."
Val
shut the door after them, carried his coffee cup into the bathroom
and sat heavily on the toilet. The girl was licking the bathtub
clean. Her skin glistened and the room stank of urine. Val crossed
his legs and held the cup on his knee. "You don't need to do
that."
She
turned to him, smiled and returned to licking, this time slowly,
her eyes on him.
"We're
going out shortly to get you clothes."
She
shrugged, wiped her chin with her wrist and licked her wrist. The
girl raised her eyes. "Ummm." She dropped back to her
hands and knees and resumed licking the tub.
"Please
stop."
She
held her tongue against the tub and looked sideways at him.
"You
know what I mean. How old are you?"
She
shrugged, licked the tub by the drain, making slurping noises.
"Eighteen?"
She ignored him. "Nineteen?" He continued up to thirty-seven
and she never responded. "Sixteen? Seventeen? Ten?" He
stood. "I give up. Bathe and when you're clean we'll go out."
He left her, went to his computer and wrote emails. The email to
Bob was short and sweet: "You fucker." The email to Nancy,
to her personal and university addresses was also simple: "Please
call. I can explain. It's not what you think. It was one of Bob's
pranks."
He
heard the shower run, made them breakfast. She came out, sat across
from him in the dining area and gave a grin. She hadn't bothered
to dry off.
"Here's
toast. If you want eggs or cereal let me know. Another cup of coffee?"
She
pushed the juice and toast away from her, rested her elbows on the
table, her chin in her hands. "Ummm," she said.
"Ummm
to you. No name, right?"
She
nodded, licked her lips suggestively.
Val
looked away. His cellphone rang. He picked it up from the table,
saw it was Nancy at work. "Nancy."
"Val,
don't you ever call me." She hung up.
He
set the cellphone on the table. The girl was humming, no tune, just
a random lulling sound. "Damn you," he said.
She
grinned, said, "Ummm?" with the rising inflection.
"You
know what I mean," he wanted to add bitch and hit her. He wanted
to hurt the girl. He shut the door to his bedroom and sat on his
bed. He was pissed at Nancy too for not even giving him a chance
to explain. He couldn't explain a thing, not so it made sense, but
still he wanted a chance to try.
He
felt empty.
Eventually
he got up, went into the dining area and took her collar. "Em,
we're going to get you dressed."
He'd
considered just shoving her out his front door and locking it behind
her. He didn't because he thought she'd stay on his doorstep all
day and moan and the neighbors would see her and call the police.
He wanted to do this right. The girl was crazy. It wasn't her fault;
she needed help. He'd help her.
4.
At
the mall, Val took the girl into a store that looked like it might
have clothes that were appropriate. He barely knew the difference
between Talbots, The Gap and Victoria's Secret except Victoria's
Secret didn't look like the style he had in mind for her. Jeans
and blouse, shoes of some sort, and feminine stuff. Right now she
wore a pair of his jeans (too big), shirt (too big) and flip-flops.
Except for the shorn head she looked kind of cute. With her grinning
at every man she saw, shaved head, and steel collar (all too obvious
- he didn't have a hacksaw so it remained for the moment) they attracted
too much attention.
She
wasn't any help at all and the clerks stayed away from them. The
girl hummed and watched the mall concourse, making small oh sounds
every time she saw a male.
Val
selected several jeans and blouses and handed them to her. "Try
these on." He turned back to the rack to look some more. He
was absorbed in the difference between petites, misses and juniors
when he heard a giggle. He turned around and saw the girl standing
naked, her back to him, front to the large window onto the concourse,
clothes lying in a scatter on the floor. Val saw the clerks talking,
obviously he and the girl were more excitement than they'd had for
a while.
"Em,
get your clothes on." She turned to him slowly, rotating at
the waist. She pointed to her mouth.
"We'll
eat in a bit. Get dressed. You can't act like that here. Em."
He raised his voice, glanced over to the clerks. "Get dressed
now."
The
girl shrugged. She bent to pick up a blouse. "Ummm."
"That
one fit?"
She
tried it on and it was too small.
"We
can't do that here like this." He picked up all her clothes,
pulled her past the clerks, "Sorry," he said to them,
pushed her into a dressing room.
When
he shut the half door, the door didn't go to the sill or the header,
the girl's face became radiant. She fell onto her knees before him
and fumbled with his pants, moaning softly.
Val
pushed her hands away. "No, Em." He shoved the clothes
at her. "Try these on."
Nothing
fit. Nothing was even close to fitting.
"Wait
here," he said and left her. The clerks pretended they were
busy when he walked up to the counter.
"I
need to buy clothes for the woman over there. Could you help me?
Do you have something her size?"
The
blonde asked, "What's her size?"
"I
haven't the slightest idea." He tried to look as helpless as
he felt.
The
blonde turned to the brunette and arched her eyebrows. The brunette
studied him for a second, said, "I'll help you."
"Thank
you. Thank you." He was starting to sound as crazy as the girl
acted. He followed the brunette to a rack of juniors and held the
items she selected.
"Try
these."
"Thank
you."
"Is
she your girlfriend?"
He
shook his head. She smiled, pushed her hair over her ear. "Is
she on something?"
"No."
He didn't think so but that would explain a lot. He didn't think
there was a drug that could do this to a person and last for so
long.
"So
you're her pimp, right?" The clerk's tongue briefly passed
over her lower lip.
"No.
Of course not." The clerk didn't believe him and followed him
to the dressing room. When they got close they heard the girl's
moaning.
"Need
any help?" The clerk quickly looked over her shoulder to the
counter and back at him. She smiled.
"I
don't think so. I, maybe I do. Thank you." He handed her the
clothes and held the door open for her. The girl leaned against
the wall, legs spread, facing them, eyes shut, hips slowly rotating.
The clerk looked at him, paused and went in. He joined them.
With
the clerk's help, the girl left the dressing room wearing hip huggers,
a pink blouse that was too cute, a cheap pair of shoes and carried
her underpants in a bag. Everything was more expensive than he expected.
He used his credit card, looking over his shoulder at the girl who
stood in the doorway to the concourse.
The
brunette clerk followed him to the door. "I get off at seven."
"That's
good. I mean, thank you. I think we'll be busy tonight. Thank you."
"Tomorrow
at seven. The parking lot, blue zone, twenty-three, red Civic."
She licked her lips, looked back at the counter, leaned closer to
him. "Please."
The
girl's moaning was louder. Her ohs were perceptible to passerby.
"Thank
you. If I'm able, but I might not be."
"You
know where I work." The clerk looked at the girl, raised her
eyes to him. "Please."
Her
eyes held his for a minute then she walked away. His eyes followed
her as she went back to the counter and bent to say something to
the blonde. He turned, took the girl's hand and led her to a restaurant.
He let her carry her small bag; he carried a larger bag with his
clothes she'd worn earlier.
Seated
in the restaurant, Val said to the girl, "Point to what you
want on the menu and I'll order it for you." He felt good thinking
of that. The girl closed the menu and turned away from him, staring
at a table full of men. Her fingers played with the buttons on her
top, opening them, closing them.
Val
ordered burgers and cokes for both of them, ate his and watched
her ignore hers. The girl said, "Ummm," long and drawn
out when the men left, turned to him. She pointed to her mouth.
"Your
burger is getting cold." She pushed it away, turned from him.
"Look,
Em. We need to talk. I'm going to offer two choices. Number one
and number two. When I'm done explaining them, you hold up your
fingers. One finger for choice number one. Two for choice number
two. Understand? Look at me."
She
faced him, nodded, put her hands on the table. Her blouse was half
unbuttoned.
"Choice
number one is that I take you somewhere where you'll be safe. My
girlfriend knows people and I'm sure we can find a place for you.
Where you'll be respected. You won't have to do things you don't
want to do. You'll be with friends, people who like you. Who won't,
well, you know. They'll respect you. We'll get rid of that silly
collar," her fingers touched her collar, "maybe something
can be done about the tattoos and you won't have to do things with
people like Bert," or Bob or Frank, he thought, "and you
can be happy." She was frowning at him.
"Choice
number two is that we go to Rudy's tonight and I guess everything
will be like it has been. I'll try to keep things safe but you know
what it'll be like." She nodded and smiled. "You decide."
Val thought number one was the obvious choice but he wasn't sure
watching her reactions to his words that she thought the same.
The
girl took a moment, raised two fingers and smiled.
Val
wasn't happy with her choice. How could anyone . . . She was tapping
his wrist. He looked at her. She pointed to herself, then at him.
She raised three fingers. She did it again, pointed at herself,
at him, smiled and raised three fingers. She nodded, watching him.
"No."
Val shook his head. "No, I told you . . ."
She
left the table, left the restaurant.
He
grabbed the two bags, left a tip and paid the cashier. He looked
right and left on the concourse, saw her take the escalator down.
She was far ahead of him, moving with a steady pace, not running,
she didn't need to run.
Val
was clumsy, holding two bags, dodged people, trying to keep her
in sight.
She
turned to the right; when he reached the spot he saw it was a passageway
leading to the restrooms. He wanted to follow her, hoped she went
to the ladies, didn't want to see her in the men's. He backed up,
found a wrought iron bench close by, next to a potted palm. He sat
there and waited. After ten minutes he knew.
Val
knew where she was by the look on men's faces as they came out of
the passageway back onto the concourse. He expected to see a security
team at any moment. He expected to see her hauled out, but maybe
not. There must be a back way, a service passage. The girl would
be naked, filthy; they wouldn't take her onto the concourse.
No
security appeared. Val checked his watch. In an hour he'd look and
see. If she was still there, he'd see if he could get her to go
home with him. Which was crazy. He didn't want her back home with
him but he couldn't just leave her. He wanted to be sure nothing
happened to her. Not so much though so he'd go to the men's room
now.
The
brunette clerk came out of the passageway, saw him and came over.
She sat next to him, didn't look at him.
Val
was sweating and uncomfortable. He faced the passageway.
"How
much will she make for you in there?"
Val
shrugged. It was all too involved to explain.
"My
name is Megan. I forgot to tell you. Tomorrow?" She stood.
"I need to get back to work. Tomorrow?"
Val
said, "Maybe," wishing he could say never. He didn't want
to hurt her feelings. She passed by him and he didn't watch her
walk away. He remembered the nice sway to her hips.
Go
to next two chapters.
Part
1
Chapters 1 & 2 |
Chapters 3 & 4 | Chapters
5 & 6 | Chapters 7 & 8
Chapters 9 & 10 | Chapters 11
& 12
Part 2
Chapters
13 & 14 | Chapters 15 & 16
| Chapters 17 & 18 | Chapters
19 & 20
Chapters 21 & 22 | Chapters
23 & 24
|