Page 117 of Girls Night
“Leave, like move away?”
“Yeah.” She absently rubbed my socked foot. “I hate him. I hate his hold on me. I’ve been hooking for several years. Fuck, I always swore to myself that I’dneverwork for someone. I’d heard too many stories about pimps. I knew better. But when I came here a few months ago, I was stuck. I had absolutely nothing. I saw no other way, so I joined his girls and now he owns me.”
I didn’t know what to say, what to offer. Yes, I lived my life ruled by fear, but at least it was of my own making. I still had control, no one ruled me. I couldn’t imagine living like that. It made me scared for Devon. It made me see red, too.
“I think I know the guy you mean,” I said after a few moments. “TJ or JR something?”
She nodded. “TJ.”
“I’ve hired some of his girls in the past. But they don’t ever come a second time. It’s been, gees, about a year or so. Wait,” I said, grabbing her hand. “Does he know you’re here? That you’ve been doing these shoots for me? Oh Devon…”
She looked at me and gave me a wry smile. “Nope. And he won’t. Like I said, I was planning on leaving, taking my money and getting out. He’ll never know.”
“God, Devon, you can’t—”
Her fingers touched my kips, ordering me to be quiet. “I know the risks. But I can’t stay, Mia.”
I thought for a second, then moved her hand, kissing it. “Let me help you. You can—”
She pulled away. “No way. I’ve got this.” Her voice softened then, making me feel warm inside. “Thank you, though. But I can’t. I have to do this on my own and get far away from here. Plus, I don’t want him near you, Mia.”
I nodded, not at all convinced with her assurance in herself and what this man was or wasn’t capable of. But I wasn’t about to argue with her, not when we had just shared what we had. Devon was like a wild pony and spooking her into running away was too easy to do. I wanted her to stay for a little bit longer.
“Just be careful. I… care about you.” My voice dropped, my eyes on her lips.
“I care about you too, lady. I got this.” Then she leaned over me again and kissed me soundly, and all chance of talking more on the subject faded away.
Chapter Six
Devon
“Shit, fuck, shit!” I stuffed the cash into an old, tattered makeup bag one of the girls had left behind a few weeks back, and shoved the bag down into the bottom of the only luggage I owned—another tattered and old piece of shit.
TJ was back early. He’d found out that I’d been doing “something” on the side, after one of the girls, Meg, ratted me out, saying I was sneaking off for hours at a time in the mornings. She was a kiss-ass and had the hots for TJ, always trying to be his favorite in hopes that someday he’d fall in love with her. As if Satan knew what love was. Barf.
I looked at the clock. It was a bit after ten at night, and I had to leave. Now or never. TJ was passed out on the couch, last I saw, having stayed the night here instead of sleeping in the guest house out back.
My face ached like a bitch from the punches he’d thrown at me an hour or so ago. And I could swear on a stack of bibles that my hip was broken from him tossing me down into the basement, down the stairs, locking me in that dark and dank room he preserved forthe bad girls.
Luckily for me, I knew how to pick any lock ever made, and after licking my wounds, I broke out, using a hairpin that Mia had put in my hair that I never bothered to take out, then sneaking along the hallway to my room to pack my shit and make a run for it.
All the girls were out on calls. No one but TJ was home, and from the smell of him, he wasn’t about to wake anytime soon.
But I still had to hurry.
I looked around my little room one last time, praying I’d never lay eyes on it again. I tucked my phone into the back pocket of my jeans, opened my window, and tossed out my small suitcase onto the grass below. With a few bucks tucked into my bra, and my bag strapped against my chest, I was all set, high-tailing it down the street, sticking to the dark sidewalk as I made my way to one of the main streets to catch a cab.
Earlier, I had called Mia, so she was expecting me.
Mia. That precious girl, someone who had snuck up on me and bitten me with something I couldn’t name, something close to caring, maybe even love. Infatuation or whatever they called it, perhaps. Attraction, definitely. Whatever it was, the bug had bitten me without a doubt.
I’d never felt so much myself as when I was with her. And what we had shared yesterday, after me comforting her and wiping away her tears… I could honestly say I felt a lot for her. Something real.
When she opened the door, she gasped at what she clearly saw as evidence of TJ’s temper. I hadn’t given her any info in my text to her about what had gone down, only that I needed to see her ASAP.
She pulled me inside, carefully holding my hand and shutting the door, guiding me to the living area. There she left me, on the couch, right next to Mittens, Mia’s adorable gray long-hair cat. I heard a rattling of ice cubes and drawers shutting in the kitchen. When she came back to me, her face was red with anger, eyes on fire. She blew my breath away, and I wanted to kiss her right then and there.
Something in my expression must have communicated that, because she softened her eyes and got shy. “Oh Devon. Here, put this on your face. God, he found out, didn’t he?”
