Page 38 of A Dark Duet

“He just knows that I needed to help you with your mom. Not a total lie, but he doesn’t know who your mom is and why I needed to come. I don’t need judgment or offers for help. You should have seen his face, Brie. When he found out I graduated from Juilliard and little Cindy said that it was cool he knew a real ballerina. He looked at me like I was a vase he cracked and didn’t know how to put back together. He sent Jaden to take me home because he probably couldn’t stand me being around him or even being at his gym.”

“Yeah, probably. It was good to tell him you’re just friends to keep boundaries. Jaden and Nate don’t trust easily. I’m even surprised Nate came to look for you and ask you to help and stay with him.”

“I think it’s for the best. He doesn’t trust me and obviously just wants my body. As Jaden put it, we come from a different world that he thinks doesn’t know pain.”

“Yeah. Whatever. Some people think their pain is worse than others. Try being a girl.”

We drive up to a beat-up old-looking trailer that has seen better days. It’s dark out and we see Brie’s mom’s old Oldsmobile and a newer model Chevy pickup truck.

I’m dreading what we might find inside the trailer. It must smell like death. I remember picking up Brie and she would have to take a shower at my house because her mom didn’t clean or have water. She could never keep the utilities on. Brie would take a shower and eat at our house all the time, the only positive thing that I loved about it was having my best friend over almost every day.

We walk up and Brie doesn’t knock, just opens the door to the trailer. Once we’re inside, we can see Victoria slouched over, wearing an old top with stains on it and leggings with cigarette burns. The trailer smells like death and something rotten. It hasn’t been cleaned in a while. I almost throw up from the rancid stench.

Three men are standing over Victoria, and they all turn, looking in our direction. The one they call Jack is a local drug dealer who everyone knows supplies the crack and heroin in this town. The other two, Rick and Seth, are Jack’s little minions, standing on either side of him.

Jack is a big man with enormous arms and a belly. He has long, oily hair and a beard that looks shiny and disgusting overall. Seth and Rick are skinny with dirty wife beaters and stained jeans. The scum of the town, but every drug addict buys from them, even Victoria. Jack has been around here for years and the cops do nothing. He must have bought them because he has gotten away with everything he does since I can remember.

“Well, well. Here they are. The town’s little princesses.” He smiles and I can see his yellow teeth. I am trying to keep calm so I don’t throw up.

“Look at you, Brie. And your little friend, Giselle. All grown up. Ain’t that right, fellas?”

“Yeah, they’re looking hot. I heard they dance at that club, The Porcelain Dollhouse, over at Sioux Falls, raking in the cash,” Rick says.

“Is that so? Big girls now. Giselle and Brie, two hot pussies twirling on the pole. Hmm.” He licks his lips, and a chill goes down my spine. This will not go well.

“We brought you the money so you can leave my mother alone. We will be out of here in just a sec,” Brie speaks up nervously.

Rick and Seth move toward the door, and I try not to panic. I look over at Victoria and she is completely out of it, then to Brie as her eyes follow Jack.

“Jack, I’m going to give you the money and we are leaving.” She grabs the envelope in the back pocket of her jeans to hand it to him.

He brings his dirty fingers to move his oily hair from his forehead and I notice his eyes are pitch black and evil. He looks at me and licks his lips. “I think I changed my mind and want something more, like your little friend.”

“You leave her alone, Jack! She is not part of this. Don’t you dare touch her.”

He smiles and moves closer, caging us in the small kitchen. Rick and Seth block the door and real fear pools in the pit of my stomach.

“I already had your cunt before and think I want to have a taste of your little friend over there. Her parents are not here to save her and shelter her. There is no one to save you. Your cunt whore of a mother doesn’t want you or care for you. Never has and never will. She just uses you to get high and I love to take advantage.”

“What is he talking about, Brie?” He said he had her cunt before, it can’t be what I’m thinking. No way. Did he rape Brie when she was a teenager? She has never said anything to me about it. I look over at him and he can already sense my fear and is feeding off it.

“Leave her alone! Jack! You touch her and I will…”

“You will what, you cunt?” He moves fast, raising his hand and slaps her hard across the face, taking her to the ground. “Rick, hold the little bitch so she can watch! She thinks she can tell me what to do? Now she is going to watch and her little friend is going to get a taste of Jack.”

I try to get Rick’s hands off Brie and help her, but Seth grabs me and forcefully takes me to the ground. I try to kick but he is stronger than me. Jack holds me with his weight and my eyes burn with tears. He holds his hands over my neck, squeezing so I can’t scream.

I look over at Brie and she already has an enormous bruise on her pretty face as blood mixes with tears in her blonde hair. I try to kick Jack off me because I know he’s going to rape me and if I keep fighting, maybe he will get tired. That is wishful thinking on my part and the realization that there is nothing I can do dawns. I close my eyes as Seth pulls my leggings off, while Jack, with one meaty hand on my throat, unbuttons his pants. I can smell the rancid stench of his breath and body odor. He tears my panties, and I can still hear Brie’s muffled scream as Rick holds her from behind, with his hands on her mouth so she can watch.

I know I’m naked from the waist down, feeling dirt on my skin. He pinches my nipples through my shirt, and the pain has more tears streaming down my face. The pain has me blacking out. I learned quickly that one key thing about being raped by someone as disgusting as Jack, he wants you to fight back. It’s what drives him to keep going. So, I just stop fighting and go limp, breathing in and out slowly. One… Two… Three…Four…

All I can do is remember dancing. All the sounds go silent. I can’t hear Brie’s muffled scream or smell Jack’s disgusting breath and body odor.

Five…

Six…

Seven…

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