Rue

Chapter 6

She was staring at the wall in a daze, wrapped in a towel when she finally looked up and took in her surroundings. A large room, the walls all painted red with darker red wainscoting. There was a king-sized bed on the far wall but no other furniture. She had no clothes, only the towel she was wrapped in, and her hair was still wet from the shower. She was freezing, shivering, and sure that was what finally made her come to herself.

A man had been shot right in front of her.

Geo had just pulled out his gun and shot him.

No remorse, no hesitation; it was so cold-blooded.

All for trying to check her cervix.

The man had been creeping her out, the way his eyes had lit up, and he was so excited to get her underwear off of her. The man had been excited since he’d seen her, asked her age, and looked disappointed when Geo said 18 as if hoping she was younger. She’d been terrified of him.

But she hadn’t imagined killing him.

This was all so unbelievable!

Going to the bed, she got under the blankets, trying to stop shivering.

She needed to find a way to get away. Get to the police, find safety.

The door opened, and Mig came in with a bag in one hand and a box in the other.

“Get up, Sailor,” he called, but he didn’t sound rough or angry. He spoke like he knew her nerves were frazzled and she was about to break. “The bag has some clothes I want you to wear, okay? The box has some toiletries: brush, deodorant, perfume, hair ties, all the shit you girls need. Get dressed, okay? He’s gonna wanna see you again soon. Sailor? Get up,” he demanded a little more loudly. “Get dressed, or I’ll have to get you dressed, you hear me?”

Sailor looked at him then, fear making her come out of her head. “Please help me?” she begged him.

“You need help gettin’ dressed?” he asked, looking confused.

“Please help me get away? I’ll leave, you’ll never…”

“No more of that shit! Don't ever mention it again, not ever! You try’n run, and I’ll shoot you myself. You don't take what’s his, and that’s his fuckin’ kid. Now get your ass up and get dressed!” he yelled, yanking the blankets back and pulling the towel away.

Sailor whimpered and grabbed the bag, pulling the clothes out quickly.

By the time she’d pulled on the yoga pants that were too big and the oversized t-shirt with a ‘PINK” logo on it, Geo pushed the door open and walked in, canting his head at her.

“That shit don't make her look older,” he stated as four boys from her school came in behind him, along with two of his men.

Davon was one of them, and he looked flat sick when he saw Sailor.

“You know these fools?” Geo asked, gesturing to the boys.

“I… some of them, sort of? I go to school with them?”

“These are some ‘a my boys. They work for me, and I’m fixin’ on askin’ them some questions. Anything you wanna tell me before they out you, bitch? ”

Sailor shook her head, her face going white as she tried hard not to look at Davon. He was a drug dealer? A gang thug?

“Yeah,” Geo snorted, then turned to look over the boys. “You all know this bitch?”

“I seen her around,” Phoenix shrugged. “She’s older than me, though. I don't have no classes with her. She’s the smart girl, though, everyone knows that. She’s got a side hustle.”

“Side hustle?” Geo demanded.

“Sells papers and homework and shit that can’t be run through the system or something like that.”

“It ain’t plagiarized,” Davon corrected him. “They can’t check it against existing papers ‘cause she does it herself.”

“You know her?” Geo asked Davon.

“I ride the same bus with her, known her since we started high school together. We have classes together, a few, and I had her do some work for me. ‘Specially Algebra. Only reason I’m in the same class as her is I been copyin’ her for four years and ridin’ her work.”

“She got a man?”

“Like, a boyfriend? Nah, not her. Never. She worked after school last year till her mom got sick. Now she just takes care of her mom and gramma, tryna pay their bills, and feed ’m both,” Davon shrugged.

“Davon’s been sniffin’ around her shit for four years,” Marcel sneered. “Try’na get her to do OnlyFans and shit, tellin’ her how to make money with her titties.”

“That right?” Geo asked Davon, his look going flat. “You want a piece of her?”

“I asked her out… I asked a lot of girls out. Throw out a hundred lines, reel ‘em all in, and see what I get, you feel me?”

“She never said yes?”

“Nah, she don't date.”

“You put your titties online?” Geo demanded of Sailor.

She shook her head quickly.

“She won’t do it,” Davon spoke up. “Think it messed with her head that Mr Pierson asked her for her OnlyFans when we were freshmen.”

“Who that?” Geo demanded.

“Math teacher. Algebra. She was in all his classes, even advanced. Like right off, third day, he asked her right out if she had Only Fans. She didn’t even know what it was.”

“Mr Kinnish asked some of us boys this year what girls had OnlyFans. We named a few, and he asked about her specifically, too. My girl said he mentioned it in front of Say, too, and she acted like she didn’t know what he was gettin’ at,” Marcel offered.

“He a teacher too?”

“Lit.”

“I heard him ask about her too,” Justin spoke up for the first time, his face red. “He’s such a fucking creep. It’s like, you know? The dude is, like, 5’3” and 500 pounds with these stubby little arms. What you gonna do with OnlyFans? You can’t reach your little cock! How does he even take a piss?”

“Sit’s down,” Marcel laughed. “Been in there with him, he goes in a stall and sits his fat ass down.”

“How DOES he jack off?” Phoenix asked out loud, looking supremely confused.

“Any other fools try’n fuck with her?” Geo demanded of them, forcing their attention back to him.

“I mean, there was some talk, but nothing serious, you know? ‘Man, I’d like to tap that shit’, ‘I’d fuckin’ ruin her cunt’, shit like that, but just talk. Say’s always been off limits,” Marcel shrugged. “Day’s called everyone off her, and no one fucks with her.”

“You?” Geo demanded of Davon.

“Just, you know. Not serious, I don't fuck with her. I fuck with lots of girls. I just warn the assholes off. She don't need that shit, she got enough to deal with.”

“Tha’s it? Rue, you fuck this boy?”

“No! Never. I’ve never… I haven’t… I’ve never been with any guy at all… willingly.”

Geo snorted, his eyes shining as Davon’s eyes jerked to her, filling with anguish. “We get this test, and that kid ain’t mine, I’ll kill you with that thing still in you, you know that, right? An’ if it’s his? I kill him, too. You want that?”

“Man, I swear to god, I’ve never touched her! She’s never even kissed anyone before!” Davon promised.

“That so, Rue? You ever kissed a boy?”

“No,” she whispered, unable to look at anyone anymore. “I… I thought… I thought I would date once… once my mom was gone and I was out of school and my… my gramma and…”

“Hush,” Geo called, but it wasn’t angry as he looked her over in amusement. “So you’s smart? Sellin’ schoolwork to other kids? Don't the school know it ain’t real? It ain’t theirs?”

“She’s got a system,” Davon offered when she didn’t immediately answer. “If someone is failing and they need to pass, she does ‘D’ level work, or ‘C’, or just above what they did before. That’s how I got my grade up in Economics last year. Had her help me up to a D, then a C, then a B. Rode out the B. She won’t just hand over an A paper to an F student; she’s smart about it.”

“Tha’s a lotta work to alter the way you do things,” Geo noted, still looking Sailor over as she stared at the wall with pink cheeks.

“She has a computer program,” Davon offered again. “Wrote it herself. She puts the parameters in, the subject and all that, then lets the program write it. She goes over it, fixes anything off about it, misspells a few things, takes out some commas or whatever, and adds some flavor by way of trendy slang words and all that. All depending on who needs it and how stupid they are.”

“And you pay the bills on two places, doin’ that shit?” Geo asked softly, moving closer to Sailor so he was in her field of view.

“Not really,” she answered with a shrug. “I can’t keep up, but I try. Gramma has some income with her social security, but it’s only enough for rent and nothing else.”

“What was you gonna do when you got outta school and couldn’t sell work no more?” Geo asked curiously .

“Get a job? And I still had ins with a few people at the school; I could still provide people with work if they needed it. I’d just have someone else distribute it.”

“Seems someone as smart as you could ’a come up with a better way,” Geo huffed, then stepped back. “All you fools sure she never fucked with no one?”

“Only Day,” Marcel shrugged, sneering at Davon. “He really was always on about her and how he was gonna hit that shit and meet her folks and shit. Told him he needed to stick with a sister and not some little white bitch, but he was all about that little cunt. He had plans for her.”

Geo looked over Marcel, then back to Davon. “You boys know each other? There a reason he try’na get you shot?”

Davon lifted his chin, looking pissed, but shook his head slightly.

“Nuttin’ to say now?” Marcel sneered at Day. “You was talkin’ ALL kinds of shit last week, go ahead, bitch. Tell him how you saw me talkin’ to Shanice, and you hadda step your ass up and tell her I wasn’t shit and she should set her sights higher. How you always steppin’ on on another brother’s game.”

Geo cocked his head, his face going confused, then he looked pissed. Yanking his gun out, he pressed it to Marcel’s head. “You really tryna tattle like a little bitch right now? The fuck is wrong with you? Nah!” he yelled, then stepped back and held the gun straight.

“NO!” Sailor screamed in horror as the others immediately moved away from Marcel as he threw his hands up like they could ward off a bullet. “He’s a CHILD! He’s a little kid, please!”

Geo hesitated, looking over his shoulder at Sailor. “He’s your age, and you ain’t a fuckin’ child.”

“He’s not! He’s a sophomore! He’s just a little kid! Please?!?”

Geo looked back at Marcel, then looked down and stepped back, disgusted. “Did you just fucking PISS yourself?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, god, please! I’m sorry!” Marcel broke down, sobbing, huddling in and hiding his head.

Geo huffed and put away his gun, looking pissed.

Davon didn’t wait, going to Marcel and putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s good, man, it’s alright. You good. I’ll get you home and cleaned up before anyone sees, and no one will say shit, you hear me? No one here will say shit,” he promised, giving Phoenix a significant look.

“Clean that shit up,” Mig told Justin, pushing him towards the puddle of piss.

“Get that little shit outta here,” Geo demanded. “He ain’t with us no more.”

“I got ’m,” Davon promised, leading the crying boy back to the door. Davon paused in the doorway, then turned back to Geo. “She will always look like a little kid, no matter what she wears. The only way around it is something low-cut. Really low cut. Show off her tits; they’ve always been… disproportionate to her. Don't let her wear a sports bra either, you have to let them show some. You have those where they can be seen… noticed. No one’s gonna notice how little she is. They’ll just see those and know she’s a grown-ass woman. Otherwise, she hunches too much and hides ’m in normal clothes, always tryin’ not to be seen.”

“You seen her titties?”

“Nah, man. I wish, but nah. Just some cleavage sometimes when she bends over, or like, when she turns and her shirt is all tight on ’m, you know? Saw her out of uniform a few times, and she was wearin’ a dress, like she was comin’ from church or somethin’. This one time, this one dress… I can’t tell you what color the dress was or nothin’ else about her that day, just that my eyes never left them. I don't think anyone else’s did either.”

Geo scowled at Davon, then turned to look over Sailor again.

She ignored him, then got the nerve to speak up as Davon turned to go. “Day! Day, please, can you check on my mom? Feed her? The nurse won’t come until Tuesday, and I’m all she has! The supe will let you in, just tell him… tell him I got arrested or so mething. Anything.”

“Aight,” Davon agreed warily, watching Geo carefully since she’d just sort of thrown him under the bus as being closer to her than he’d intimated. “What apartment number?”

“414. I have extra keys, I think? I’m not sure where they are, in the bedroom somewhere I think. They’ll have an old Konami lanyard and a beaded bracelet thing, too. They were the ones from middle school for my middle school locker, but they have an apartment key, too. I… I don't know where my bag or my keys are.”

“My car,” Geo spoke up. “It’s in the backseat of my car. Mig, get it and give ’m the keys.”

Sailor looked over at Geo, then looked down and whispered, “Thank you.”

Geo didn’t acknowledge her; he was looking over Davon, still holding a sniffling and hunched in Marcel. “How long you been with my crew?” he demanded of him.

“Since I was old enough,” Davon shrugged. “My older brother got me in, runnin’ for him when I was 12.”

“James, yeah?”

“Yeah. He’s over on 19th now, but I chose to stay here.”

“You’s wantin’ your own crew too, not wantin’ to work under your brother?”

Davon shrugged, lifting his chin like he did when he wasn’t going to answer.

“I see you, boy,” Geo gave him a nod.

Davon nodded back, turned to go, and hesitated all over again. “If… if you want, my sister, she’s one of those girls who gets online and does make-up, teaches girls how to do it.”

“What’s that got to do with me?” Geo asked, sounding perturbed now.

Davon glanced at Sailor. “She’s never worn make-up in her life. You want her to look older, that might help. I can send her over?”

“I don't deal with bitches. You do that shit too?”

“I mean, I can? I’ve seen enough to know what to do. ”

“You can show ‘r?”

“Yeah, I can ask my sister some questions, show her some pics of Say, and see what colors to use and all that.”

“You got pictures of her?” Geo asked darkly.

“Yeah… uhh… nothin’ like that. Just us on the bus ’n shit. One from Algebra one day, when she fell asleep in class I took to mess with her. Nothin’ I don't have a dozen of with all my friends.”

“Show me,” Geo demanded, his hands going to his hips.

Davon opened his phone, scrolled through pics, and then turned it to show Geo.

Sailor could see a picture from her sophomore year when Davon sat with her on the bus and took a selfie of them. Another a few days later, with two of his friends, he was squishing her cheeks to make her make fishy lips. A few more selfies he took with her and his friends, then the one he’d just taken a few weeks back in algebra when she’d nodded off, her cheek on her fist. One right after of her sleepily glaring at him.

“That it?” Geo asked, taking the phone and scrolling through pics. “Who’s this?”

“Aniston, this white chick I fuck with sometimes. You can tell it’s not Sailor, her tits are smaller, and she’s thicker, plus look, see? Brown hair. No red in it at all. See the next one; it has her lips in it, too, see? She’s a lot more tan, too. That’s Jocelyn, her tits are way too big to be…”

“I didn’t fucking ask. You only fuck with white girls?” Geo demanded, scrolling through the phone.

“He fucks with anyone with a pulse,” Phoenix offered. “White chicks always hit him back, though.”

“These is a lot of titty pics… how come there ain’t more than titties?”

“I don't keep those on my phone,” Davon snorted. “Some I don't keep at all, but if I do, they’re on my computer, not the phone I carry in my pocket that the school can take away. Also, only keep pics the girls send me themselves and not ones the guys send to each other after they get them. ”

“Smart,” Geo smirked, then handed the phone back. “You finished with your work for me?” he asked as Mig handed Davon Sailor’s keys. He was holding her backpack in his other hand.

“Yeah, man, I was done with it by Tuesday.”

“You didn’t come back for more?”

“I’m still in school. I have to pass high school, then I can pick up extra,” Davon shrugged, unapologetic about not being a go-getter.

“Thought she was doin’ your work for you?”

“I pay her for Algebra and some Lit work, but I do the rest myself. She don't just do my Algebra, either, I gotta copy it myself.”

Geo snorted. “Sounds fuckin’ tough. Makes sense, your own handwriting.”

“I never complained, not really,” Davon agreed.

“Go get that shit taken care of,” Geo told him, turning back to look Sailor over again. “Then come back here and get her shit taken care of.”

“Yeah,” Davon agreed, hefting her keys but not looking at her before turning and leaving with Marcel.