Page 29 of Hitch
He disappears as I straighten my clothes, and when he comes back, he hands me a packet of wet wipes. We both clean up, then the realization that this is still a transaction comes over me, bringing me back to my senses.
“You’re still getting charged the full amount,” I say.
He pulls out his wallet and pays me again. This time, I don’t bother with the counterfeit pen or counting the total. I know they’re real now, and I know he’s overpaying me. Again.
We stand outside of the bathroom, near an empty field. It’s not like I need pillow talk, but I don’twantto leave yet, and I’ve got a feeling Duane has more to say too.
I motion around us. “Where did you park?”
He points to the other side of the building. “I knew you’d be coming from the other side.”
“And you didn’t want me to know you were here?”
He subtly nods, and I wonder if he wanted to excite me, to pretend like it wasn’t him on the other side, but a stranger. If he knew my darkest fantasies before I even said them out loud.
Am I that easy to read, or does he just know me by now?
“I was thinking,” he says, looking off to the side, “We need a new worker. Someone who can sell. Todd usually handles the customers at the Double Take, but you’d be able to do more.”
I cock my head to the side. Is he suggesting what I think he’s suggesting?
“Okay?” I say.
“Why don’t you sell our mushrooms to your customers? You won’t need this chump change anymore. You wouldn’t even have to touch me, and you’ll still be making bank.”
A breath catches in my throat, but I swallow it down, pretending like I’m okay with being done with our ‘arrangement,’ when I’m not. A frustration fills my chest. How can I let this rejection affect me?
My mother worked two jobs when I was growing up, to save money for my private school tuition and our rent. After those bills were paid, every spare cent that we had went into savings, so that one day, I could go to college and use my brain to get ahead. But when I met my sugar daddy, our local video security company owner, and he gave my mom a place to live for a hundred bucks a month and gavemean allowance, my mom had enough money to go to school and pursue herowndreams. It felt good seeing my mom at ease for once, after everything she had done for me. Staying with my sugar daddy, even if he needed to be high to touch me with a toy, seemed like the best thing for all of us.
And now, I tell myself that this is the same thing. I’m only working for Duane to get ahead. I need more money.
But it’s a lie. I just don’t want to give up the sex yet.
“Selling mushrooms makes this—” I point to the glory hole door, “—chump change?” Duane nods deeply, and I continue: “What if I want to do both? Sex workandsell mushrooms?” I lift my shoulders. “I want to make as much money as possible.”
“You’re capable, Reggie,” he says. “I trust you to handle it.”
I hold out my hand. “All right,” I say. “I’ll let you fuck meandI’ll sell for you.”
The corners of Duane’s lips pull up into a smile, and my heart squeezes in my chest like a balloon about to pop. But he shakes my hand, confirming our agreement.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he says. “Go on. Get on home now.”
He walks me to my car and stands in the parking lot as I drive away, and the safety washes over me like a warm bath. After a few yards, I glance in the rearview mirror and see him with his thumbs in his belt loops, satisfied with himself. As if he knows he’s luring me deeper into his lair.
What did I just agree to?
You’re capable, Reggie,he had said, like he didn’t have any doubts in his mind. Like I was his equal. Like he knew I could do anything he asked of me.
I push on the pedal, speeding faster, so I can get away from him and think clearly. Duane is a bad person, and I still want to wring him dry of everything I can. Whether that means having sex with him for money or selling for him, it doesn’t matter. He’s an opportunity I can’t pass up.
And luckily, I’ll get some extra benefits from it too.
But as the Stockton lights come into view, I remind myself that I have to be smart about this. In the end, he’s still a drug lord, and he may have killed people for his drugs. But maybe if I get some of it on camera, I’ll guarantee my safety. If Duane tries something on me, I’ll have evidence. I can go to the police and put him in jail for good. Which means I need a better system than using the camera on my phone.
And that means I have to ask my sugar daddy for help.
Chapter10
