Page 112 of Girls Night
“Great. Once you sign this form, go ahead and change into the robe I have hanging by that partition there. There’s a curtain you can use for privacy.” I handed her the form and pen, and she quickly read over the legalese, then signed her name using her knee for support.
“Done. So just in there?” She pointed to the corner of the room.
“Yep.” While she changed, I copied her form on the machine and stuck it in an envelope, along with the cash I owed her for the session, filing the original away in a locked drawer.
I was itching to take as many photos of Devon as I could, my mind awhirl at where it was taking me. The joy at finding my muse was everything, and for the moment, all my worries and fears vanished in the air.
Yes, she was perfect.
Chapter Four
Devon
I was just about to head out the side door when Kay blocked me.
“Where you off to?” she asked, eying my bag, the one I took with me on calls. Filled with a change of clothes and other necessities, it wasn’t a bag one would take to hitch a ride on the bus to go to the park.
It had been a week since Kay and I had talked. The warning she’d given me about playing nice with TJ had done its job, according to the rest of the girls in the house. TJ and I hadn’t had words since that one day he had me pinned against my bedroom wall. I’d been good, as promised. But the way Kay was looking at me now, her arms folded, hip hitched, and eyes cold, I knew she was on to me. That I’d been hiding something, and that something was in the total of a couple grand.
Mia had me doing sessions every day now, and hiding the extra income was like hiding a ticking time bomb under my bed, which was the exact place I was hiding it, actually.
Playing it cool this week, so far things were okay. I just needed a little more time, and then I’d get the hell out of dodge.
I met Kay’s stare, not giving a damn thing away. “What’s up?”
She pursed her lips, her expression reminding me of a teacher I had in third grade. “Girl, you better not be doing what I think you’re doing. Just ‘cause TJ’s out of town right now, don’t mean he won’t find out.” She kept her voice low enough for anyone in the house to hear, even though we were in the laundry room.
I rolled my eyes and tried to play it off. “I’ve got the night off, spending time with a friend.” At her dry look, I added, “Someone from my hometown. She invited me to her place so we could catch up.”
“Uh huh. She just happens to live here now, what, a hundred miles from Dayton? That’s where you said you were from, right?”
“Yep. Pretty cool how that happened, huh? Haven’t seen her in years. So if you don’t mind, I gotta go. We can talk later when I get back.” I opened the door, but Kay put her hand on it, not letting me go.
I turned to look at her. “What is your problem? Seriously, Kay!” I was really starting to get pissed off. It was getting old.
Her dark eyes blazed so bright I had to look away. “Devon, fix it. Whatever you’re doing, end it now, put that money away somewhere safe where he can’t get it, and forget about it. I know you want to leave, that you don’t have enough just yet, but this isn’t the way to do it. Hewillfind out, do you understand me?”
What the fuck? Was she psychic? A spy?
“I hear you, but I’ve got it, okay?” I hissed. “I. Got. It.”
She let go of the door and shook her head. “You may think you do, but you don’t.” Her expression softened. “Look, I’ll call you if he shows up early. But that’s all you’ll get from me. I don’t want no part of what you’re hiding.”
I closed my eyes and nodded. “Thanks. Really. I’m going to be fine, Kay.” Something in me wanted to hug her, which I never did with people. It was the concern she felt for me, knowing that, just like Jose, there were people around me that saw something in me that I would never see.
Someone worth saving.
Before I gave in to the urge, I ran out of the house and caught the bus that would take me to Mia’s place downtown.
The whole ride there, I thought over Kay’s words. Maybe putting the money in the bank was a good idea, something I had originally thought to do, but unless there was someone I trusted to do it for me, I was shit out of luck. I had no ID, no account. No one to wire money to for safe-keeping. I could ask Mia to hold it, but that didn’t feel right. The only person I could think to help was Jose, which wasn’t saying much, only that I knew he had enough money to never have any interest in mine. But I would never mix my business with Jose’s. Never.
I got off the bus, my questions looping around and around in my head. The only thing that helped was remembering that TJ wasn’t due back home until Tuesday. Today was Friday. I had the weekend to pull this off, pack my meager shit, and buy a train ticket to… somewhere. And hell, if worse came to worse, I’d go to that Magdalene House.
Satisfied with my plan, I pressed the button for Mia to let me in. Our sessions had always been done in the mornings, but today she had said she had a client in my slot and wanted to meet in the evening. When she mentioned it could take longer than usual for this session, I thought it best to bring my overnight bag and ask if I could crash on her couch. I wasn’t about to take a risk that one of TJ’s people would see me coming home late—he had eyes and ears everywhere, it seemed—especially since the buses here stopped running at nine-o’clock.
Mia opened the door at the sound of the beep, and I followed her in. Every time I walked into her studio apartment, I felt like a part of me was shedding, revealing the real me. The whole place, and even Mia herself, was just freeing. Quiet. Real.
It was obvious from the first moment I met Mia that she was loaded. But she didn’t live like most wealthy people I assumed lived. She wasn’t fancy, wasn’t snobby. Everything she owned was well-loved and used for its original purpose, not for decoration. Her mark was on every item, every book, every cup. Simple, different, but all Mia.
