Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“Just give me my money.”
His mouth flickers with the smile men get when they think women are acting hysterically, and my right arm twitches with the urge to swing for his fat meathead. He really is a dogshit person, through and through.
“My money, Doug.” He snort-chuckles and my final nerve snaps. “And a bonus for two years of excellent service, or I’m talking. I’m sure Carrie will be interested in your extracurriculars. Or maybe the health inspector…” I leave the threat to trail. He knows he’s in breach of half a dozen requirements, and no one wants their food prepared where Doug’s been sticking his filthy dick.
“Fuck you, Lory.”
“No, fuck you, Doug.” I place my hands on my hips and lean over his desk, spearing him with my furious gaze. “Fuck you. Give me what you owe me, right now.”
He fumbles around his desk, as sweat beads across his giant, wrinkled, never-ending forehead. I mentally calculate what I’m due, getting ready to rage if it’s not that or more. When he hands me a bundle of cash, I make a point of counting it. A measly fifty dollars extra for my silence isn’t going to cut it. “And the rest.”
His mouth curls, and his eyes go black with hatred, but I don’t care. This is too important. Every dollar counts.
He passes me another two-hundred, and I stuff the bundle into my jeans pocket.
“You could have kept a hard-working member of staff if you had an iota of compassion. It’s people like you that make this world such a cesspit.”
He places his hands on the table to haul his bulk into a standing position, and I take a step back. “Just get the fuck out of my sight,” is his parting jab.
With a racing heart, I stride from the back office, and through the restaurant that has been my second home for too long.
“Lory.” Destiny steps into my path. “You okay, sweetie.”
“I’m done.” I twist to look over my shoulder, but Doug hasn’t followed. “That man is one of those worms that lives in assholes and only comes out in the dark.”
She wrinkles her sweet button nose and presses her full, red lips together. “Graphic but not untrue. You seriously leaving?”
“I’m seriously leaving.”
“Well, don’t be a stranger.” She’s sweet for saying it, but we probably won’t hang out again. Sometimes work friends become real friends, but sometimes they’re just great people to make the grind less painful, and that’s Destiny. She pulls me into a warm hug that’s scented with vanilla, and I pat the braids that tumble down her back.
“Keep studying,” I say, as a parting thought. “You hit those books hard, so you don’t end up like me, needing this minimum wage gig so I don’t starve to death.”
Her brown eyes widen with sadness. “I will, sweetie. And you take care, okay?”
“Okay.”
As I walk out of the diner, I stare up into the never-ending sky, feeling as untethered as I’ve ever been. If I disappear right now, the only people who’d miss me are my sister and Evelyn. If I died right now, I’d end up in an unmarked grave, barely remembered. This isn’t the life I used to dream about when I was a kid filled with hope and a driving need to do better so I could escape a home life that left me feeling trapped and scared most of the time.
I pull my phone from my pocket and find Josh’s number.
“Hey, Josh. It’s Lory, Evelyn’s friend.”
“Right,” he says gruffly.
“You still on for later?”
“Sure. I’ll pick you up at four p.m.”
I glance at the time on my phone. I have two hours to get ready. Two hours to wrap up my life for a month, and for Evelyn to polish the piece of coal that I am into something less dull. It doesn’t seem enough.
“I’ll be ready.”
He disconnects the call.
***
It was the beer, I tell myself. The beer and Evelyn’s relaxed talk about all the seedy ways a person can make money. That’s how I ended up in this place, dressed like a teenage hooker, with so much make-up plastered on my face, I can barely smile. She was so happy with her work that I didn’t have the heart to tell her I look awful. Then again, it’s probably what the men here are looking for.
Josh is standing behind me with his beefy tattooed arms folded across his partially bare chest, and his leather cut hanging open around his trim hips. With his legs spread wide and his head held high, he’s not a man anyone would challenge voluntarily. I’m grateful Evelyn asked him to come with me. She’s working tonight and couldn’t get out of her shift.
I’ve been watching girls get up on the stage for the last fifteen minutes, listening to the bids, focusing on the shadowed crowd, and trying to make out the men crowded like hyenas around a carcass. It’s a mixed bag of suited types and those who look like they’ve just emerged from the local pen. When they’re sold, the women aren’t even given time to gather their things. They’re lifted from the stage and carried off like pieces of furniture.