Page 41 of Be Very Quiet

“Well, Daisy May, I’m Diamond. I’ve been around the block a time or two, so let me tell you how it is.”

Diamond had proceeded to give Daisy May advice and guidance, instructing her on what to do in different scenarios and how much to charge. Diamond had flooded her with invaluable information.

That first night, she’d made more money than she ever had, and the men who had picked her up seemed kinda normal. No one wanted the kinky stuff that Diamond had warned her about. By the end of the first week, she’d earned enough for a deposit on a small apartment for her and J.J., with extra to pay the older woman who lived next door to watch him. She had even been able to buy food!

With Diamond’s help, Daisy May had set up an actual bank account. The balance was more money than she ever thought she’d own. She’d even started a college fund for her son. He was going to be a doctor or a lawyer or maybe a football player. He would be successful. She would make sure of it.

Since her first week, she’d had dozens of requests for unusual or disgusting things. Instead of turning them down, she simply charged extra and endured until it was over.

Maybe it wasn’t the noblest of professions, but Daisy May didn’t hate her job. She’d always enjoyed sex, and now she got to be with several men, some attractive, some not. She’d become friends with many of the other women, and Diamond had become her best friend and an auntie to J.J. Daisy May wouldn’t have survived on the streets without her guidance and support.

“How’s our boy today?” Diamond hugged Daisy May.

“Fussy. I think he’s getting a tooth or something.” She’d hated to leave him when he wasn’t feeling well, but Mrs. Jefferson had raised eight babies of her own and knew what to do. The grandmother of twenty-two never looked down on Daisy May for how she made a living. She’d never outright asked, but Daisy May had a feeling the older women knew, anyway.

“I got one on the hook. Later, sweetie.”

Daisy May turned to see Diamond sashay up to a jacked-up truck with chrome running boards. She spoke to the driver and then turned to wave at Daisy May as she rounded the vehicle and climbed inside. Diamond was exotically beautiful and always one of the first selected. She never had to wait long for a pickup.

A brown sedan slowed to a stop. The glass was tinted so heavily Daisy May couldn’t see inside. She flipped her long, black hair over her shoulder and thrust out her chest. When the window lowered a fraction, she purred, “See something you like, sugar?”

“Come here.”

Daisy May had learned to perfect her walk. She loosened her hips and slinked over. “Whatcha looking for tonight, sugar?” She made sure to bend down far enough that he could see her cleavage.

“How much?”

She wagged her brows. “Depends. What are you looking for?”

“Companionship for an hour.”

“No problem, sugar. That’ll be four hundred.”

“Get in.”

Daisy May walked around the hood and opened the door to slide inside. The seats and floor were clean, but there was a funny scent permeating the interior. It made her nose wrinkle. It reminded her of when she’d gone to the funeral home when she was young, after her uncle had passed. “Where are we headed, sugar? I know of a couple of good places.” With Diamond’s help, she’d worked out agreements with the owners of two pay-by-the-hour motels and brought them a constant string of business. They charged the john full price and then gave her a kickback that went straight into J.J.’s college fund each month.

“Someplace nice.”

Well, that didn’t answer her question in the least. She shrugged and watched as they drove through one of the swankier areas of Miami Beach. Maybe he had money, and she could tack on additional services. “What’s your name, sugar?” She’d found that the men liked to be called pet names, and sugar was her favorite.

He braked at a red light. “The Mo…uh, you can call me Mort.”

“Well, Mort, what if we, ah!”

Mort reached over and jammed some kind of cloth against her face, and she couldn’t breathe. Diamond had gifted her with a wicked-sharp switchblade, but her head was swimming, and she couldn’t reach into her bag. Then the lights went out.

#

Daisy May woke up groggy and disorientated. She couldn’t remember what had happened or where she was. Panic set in, and she needed to ensure her son was okay.

“J.J.?”

“There’s no one here by that name,” a man said.

Daisy May blinked her eyes open, but bright lights had her snapping them shut again. The harsh glare made her unable to see who had spoken the words. She lifted her head and cracked a lid to discover she was tied to a table, and she was naked. Her wrists and ankles were bound, and she was spread wide. That wasn’t unusual in her line of work, but the surface was cold and hard, like some kind of metal.

Images shifted in her brain, and she remembered a john picking her up. Mick, Mike, no, he’d said his name was Mort. From there, she had nothing. It was all a blank. She’d been tied up before and always charged extra. She needed to let Mort know it was an additional fee to the one she’d quoted him earlier.

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