Page 45 of Dirty Daria
“From?”
“The bar. Now that I work there.”
“Ha! You’re lucky I love you,” she says. “You haven’t been there long enough, ninety-day probation before benefits kick in. If you run into a jam, let me know. I’ll spot you money.”
“Thanks, Dar.”
“What are friends for?”
“Would you like a list?”
She smiles, then finishes off her cocktail. In her defense, they are really yummy, and the glasses aren’tthatbig. Daria is soon snoring softly. I know she didn’t sleep much on the way here, so I’m sure she’s tired. I decide to help us both out by unpacking everything. We’re going to be here for two weeks, might as well make ourselves at home.
I put some music on, turning it low as to not wake Daria, and begin going through our things to unpack them. I tackle my stuff first, dividing the drawers in the room and the bathroom in half. Though I have a lot more for the bathroom than Dar does. I like a little makeup; Daria rarely wears it. Herfancylook is red lipstick and mascara. She’s naturally beautiful so she doesn’t need it anyway.
She says I’m the same, but she’s contractually required to say that as my best friend. Plus, my eyebrows and eyelashes are blond, so I look much better with some colored brow gel and a little mascara. It’s just a fact.
I finish unpacking my things and store my suitcase in the entryway closet. Then start on Daria’s. She’s got a ton of paperwork, of course, so I set that aside and focus on her clothes and accessories first. I can’t believe how tiny her jean shorts are. It’s just insane. No way would I fit my bulbous ass into something like this.
I turn to the full-length mirror and peek at my ass in my bathing suit. From here it looks good, but the suit pulls it all up and puts it in place. I don’t do all those exercises that Daria does to keep my ass standing up on its own.
I’ve been to enough free introductory personal trainer lessons to know that your ass should be a shelf. Daria’s is a shelf. Mine is more like the idea of a shelf. I can cup it from the bottom, there’s some definition there. I grab at my cheeks to confirm as much. But at the top, it’s definitely more slope than shelf. I’m fairly sure that’s where the shelf should begin. Or maybe it’s the reverse? In which case, an argument could be made for using my upside-down ass a shelf. Just not real sure what it could actually hold.
I go back to unpacking, putting Daria’s things away in a neat and orderly fashion. By the end of the week we’ll both have our shit strewn all over the place, but for now, we’re tidy bitches.
I take the paperwork and place it on the desk. My name pops out at me as I’m setting it down and straightening the pages. Why would I be in her paperwork? Am I a mark? Is she going to kill me? Is that why she invited me along?
I peek outside to make sure she’s still asleep, and after confirming take a seat at the desk to peruse what it is. Quickly discovering that while it is about me, it’s not. These are emails of David’s. And friends of his. Or associates. There are pictures of me. Pictures of Katya. What the fuck?
Why would David have pictures of me in his emails?
I re-arrange everything by date, oldest to newest, and settle in to start reading. It doesn’t take long to realize that I was initially David’s target. Like I was supposed to be sold into some sort of slavery ring. But I sprained my ankle and had to go to the hospital. Then David and I kept seeing each other. Not for too much longer, but for a while. During which, he had dates with other girls who were kidnapped.
So, he cheated on me.
He intended to sell me into sexual slavery and when that didn’t work, he cheated on me and soldthosegirls into slavery. I can’t decide if I’m more pissed about the cheating or about him wanting to sell me. Although, my god, those poor girls who he did take. What happened to them? Are they sex slaves now?
Daria and I have talked about what happened to Katya, and why she hunts the men at night; what they do to deserve it. But I never really sat down and thought about it in detail. About what the girls go through once they are abducted, and what the guys think about before they take them.
The women are one hundred percent objectified. They are a commodity to be purchased and sold. No humanity to be found. And if I was willing to go along with Davidthateasily, who’s to say it won’t happen to me again? I mean, not from David obviously, but how many men out there are doing this to unsuspecting women?
And I escaped it?
Due to sheer luck, but still, I can’t help but feel just a little badass. If I hadn’t sprained my ankle, who knows where I’d be. No wonder Daria and the guys are always so worried about my safety. They probably all know that I was initially a target.
Which means they all knew and didn’t tell me. So once again, I was left out of the group. When are they going to trust me?
I finish reading through everything Daria has in the pile. Not all of it has to do with me, some has to do with the girl we saved last week and another girl before that who escaped. David was involved with the abduction of all of them, and it seems Katya as well. Making me wonder why Daria hasn’t killed him yet. Usually, as soon as she knows a guy is involved, he’s gone. But not David. Is it because Mack and Reed want to arrest him?
I might be a little offended that she knows he wanted to take me and hasn’t killed him yet. I’m also amazed that she’s got access to all this information. And has she shared it with Mack?
I restack the pages, then gather it in my hands and tap the ends on the desktop to straighten it. I lay it down and pat the top with my palm, still trying to wrap my head around what I’ve read.
Which is when I hear Daria’s voice ask, “What the hell are you doing, Quinn?”
22
Daria
