Chapter 11 #2
When I don’t move—I can’t, I’m too terrified—he hisses and slams the car into park. I’m shaking like a leaf as he steps out, leaving the door open and storming over to me.
“Are you fucking deaf ?” he snaps, grabbing me and bringing a choked cry to my lips. “Well?!”
“James—!”
“You wanna be a whore, Brooklyn?” He rasps. “That it?”
Horror slams into me, my blood running cold as he spins me around and slams me hard against the wall.
“ Fine ,” he snarls. I finch, feeling his fist rushing toward me. But instead of hitting me, he shoves two crumpled twenties in my face. “You wanna be a fucking whore,” he hisses, “you can be my fucking whore.”
Pure horror explodes through me as he jams my legs apart with his knee.
“James!!”
I hear the metallic jangle of his belt buckle, then feel the awful, sickening invasion of his hand under my skirt, groping and grabbing at my ass.
His fingers slip under the edge of my underwear, trying to yank them to the side as I scream and flail against him.
But he’s so much stronger, and bigger. All it does is earn me a slap on the cheek before he roughly pushes my face against the bricks.
“Be a good whore for me, you fucking?—”
“The fuck?!”
The door next to us slams open, and Lou of all fucking people storms out. James instantly springs away, warily eyeing Lou and the baseball bat in his hands.
Lou turns to glare death at me. “The fuck is this?”
“Lou, I’m sorry, he?—”
“You trying to turn fucking tricks in my goddamn parking lot , Brooky?”
I swallow the bile that rushes up my throat. “ No ! He just tried to?—”
Get the fuck inside,” he snarls. “You’re late.
” Then he turns to James, hefting the bat in his hand menacingly.
“And you , fuck-face. Get the fuck outta here. You wanna cop a feel of the merchandise, come through the front door, pay the cover charge, and buy a fucking lap dance like everyone else, okay?”
James glares murderously at me. “This ain’t over, Brooklyn.”
I’m caught between Lou and James.
Talk about a rock and a hard place.
But the hard place doesn’t look like he might try to literally kill me, or smack the shit out of me and leave me bloodied and aching.
So it’s the hard place, aka Lou, that I slip behind.
“Fucking slut,” James spits. “This ain’t over. Not at all .”
He turns and storms back to his car, slamming the door and burning rubber as he peels out of the parking lot.
“Lou—”
I choke as he grabs my elbow and yanks me inside. He doesn’t say a word, and I can barely think with all the adrenaline still roaring through my system, so I don’t even realize what’s happening until Lou is banging the office door closed behind us and locking it with a horrifying click.
Oh God .
“ Lou —”
He grabs me, shoving me backward until my ass hits the edge of his desk.
“Lou!” I scream and flail, trying to shove him off me as he paws my body, roughly pinching my breasts and my ass and trying to kiss my neck. “Stop it!” I yell. “Get the fuck?—”
Pain explodes through my face as the back of his hand connects with my cheek. I blink back tears as he violently spins me around and roughly shoves me face-down across his desk.
“You wanna be a little whore?” he wheezes, his breathing labored as I hear him unbuckle his belt. “Not before I get a fuckin’ taste, slut.”
I go numb. Everything shuts down. I can’t fight, can’t do anything except lie there helplessly across the messy desk, inhaling the scent of B.O. and cheap cigars as Lou shoves up my skirt and grabs the back of my panties.
He yanks them down to my knees, and I flinch, curling in on myself at the grotesque feel of his hand cupping my sex from behind.
“Get ready, Brooky,” he breathes into my ear, leaning over me. The stench of his breath makes my stomach heave, and a tear trickles down my cheek as his fingers poke and prod around my vagina. “Get wet for me, baby. Yeah, you like that, don’t you…little fucking slut.”
I hear his pants hit the ground, and suddenly, it rips from my throat out of nowhere.
“ I have chlamydia !!!”
Lou jerks away from me so fast he almost falls over backward.
“The fuck !?” he hurls at me, retching. “Goddamn fuckin’ whore! Jesus Christ!”
He yanks his pants up and shuffles over to the small sink next to the wet bar near his desk. He makes another choking sound as he turns on the water and starts violently scrubbing his hands.
I’m still shaking, bent over the desk, positive I’m going to pass out or throw up at any second. I reach down and pull my panties back up with trembling fingers. Somehow, I push myself away from the desk.
Lou whirls on me with fury in his eyes. “Fucking whore !” he spits violently. “I coulda caught something from that fucking cunt! Jesus!”
He angrily buckles his belt again and glares at me before he marches over to the door and yanks it open. “Get the fuck outta my office.”
Gladly .
I shuffle past him, still wincing at the pain between my legs where he jammed his fingers into me.
“Go shake your fucking ass,” he spits. “And get that shit fixed !”
The door slams in my face, and I exhale a broken, shattered breath.
“The fuck was that?”
Jesus. Not another man who wants to hurt me, please .
Slowly I turn, looking up into Zak’s face. The head bouncer scowls at me.
“What were you doing in there?”
“I—” I can barely think, let alone speak right now. I can’t focus on anything but the horror rampaging through my psyche, the lingering ache of Lou’s fingers, and the self-loathing burning like acid in my veins.
“Were you fucking him?”
“Zak, please,” I croak. “I just want to go work?—”
“Answer me!” He grabs my shoulders and slams me back against the wall, making me wince. “I thought we were gonna hang out sometime, Brooklyn!”
“Zak, please ,” I choke. “Not now?—”
“Did you fuck him?” he growls. “Or were you in there sucking his dick for the good shifts? I know you sluts all do that.”
I can’t do this anymore. I can’t stand here and smile and say the nice things so the violent man doesn’t lose his cool and hurt me. I can’t stand here and “just take it” because it’s the easier option.
I just fucking can’t .
“Get out of my way, Zak,” I groan. “I need to get to work?—”
The punch knocks me sideways off my feet, sending me sprawling to the floor as black speckles dot my vision. Throbbing pain radiates through my face, down my jaw, even into my hands as I lie there in shock and agony and horror, panting against the floor.
Zak spits on the ground next to me.
“Fuck you, slut.”
I blink back tears as his footsteps retreat heavily down the hall, the combined scents of body lotion, perfume, testosterone, smoke, and alcohol making me gag as the sickening beat of the music I’ll have to shed my dignity to very soon pounds in my throbbing head.
I can’t do this anymore.
I’m sinking fast. And if I can’t find something to hold onto, I’m going to drown.