by Fiona Wilde
"That's a sad story," the man said. "Did you ever try to get it back?"
"Get what back?"
"Your faith?"
Naomi felt herself growing impatient. "Is this what you wanted? To discuss my spiritual beliefs? Because I was under the impression that..."
"That what? I wanted to have sex with you?"
"That was the implication I got from Jasper," she said.
"Is that what you want?" he asked.
She paused. "No," she said. "I wouldn't be here right now if I didn't have to be."
"What's to stop you from walking away?"
"Fear."
"Fear of what?"
"Not fear 'of,'" she said. "Fear 'for.'"
"You're protecting somebody?" he said.
Naomi fell silent. "Look," she said. "I probably need to stop talking. I'm sure this is all very novel for you, coming in dressed like Dick Tracy with your twenty questions. Who knows, maybe this is your idea of foreplay. If it is, then that's fine. But if it's all the same I'd like to get this over with because I've never done anything like this before and really want to get it over with."
Her voice was shaking.
The man sighed. "All right," he said. He stood up and walked over to Naomi. Slowly. Her heart pounded as he approached. He grabbed her just as he stepped into the light. His hand went over her mouth and her eyes flew open as she looked up into his face.
Her legs went limp with surprise. He supported her gently as he made his way back to the chair.
"Sssssshhhh," he said, removing her hand from her mouth.
Naomi choked back the sob in her throat.
"Eric?" She could barely speak his name. "What? How?"
"Shh," he said again, putting a finger over her lip. "I found your cell phone in your room. I read the text. I hopped the first flight I could. I got in tonight and saw you...."
"You saw me dance." She felt ill. "Oh..."
"Don't. Don't explain. That man. That Jasper. He's a snake, Naomi."
"Tell me something I don't know."
"Why didn't you tell me? Do you really think I'd have condemned you for being a stripper?"
"I wasn't a stripper. Not like this," she said. "When I left we were just stripping down to our panties and wore pasties. When I came back Jasper said there had been changes. We were going full, he said and...Oh God, Eric. There's this girl...."
"Woman?"
"Girl," she repeated. "She's barely eighteen and she's scared to death. Jasper's beaten her."
"Has he hit you?"
Naomi looked away. "That's not important."
"Yes, it is!" As he said the words, he took her face in his hand to turn it back to his. Naomi yelped as his hand came in contact with her bruised cheekbone. Eric held her as he rubbed the makeup away.
"Naomi..."
"I'm OK, really."
"No, you're not. Come on. We're getting you out of here." He stood, taking her by the hand.
"No. I can't go without Claire."
"Claire?"
"The girl," she said. "She's in the dressing room. We're supposed to go to her place and spend the night. It's over on Court Street. 347 she said. Let's just all meet over there later."
"Why?" he asked. "Why don't we just all leave together now?"
Naomi shook her head. "Look, Eric. Jasper's dangerous. He wasn't like this before but since I've left he's gone off the edge. If we try to leave here someone might get hurt. It's better to just not arouse suspicion. We'll be over at Court Street in an hour. Just meet us there, OK?"
"I don't know," he said.
"Please!"
He sighed and then hugged her to him. "I just don't want to let you out of my sight, Naomi!"
She hugged him back. "Eric..."
"I'm sorry," he said. "I handled everything so wrong at church. You were right. If you only knew how I've prayed you'd forgive me." He held her away and looked into her face. "Do you?"
"Of course," she said. And she meant it. "I shouldn't have left. I should have tried to talk to you. But I was so mad. But then when I got here and found Claire."
She looked into his eyes. "Eric, do you think God meant for me to come back here. To help her?"
He smiled and tenderly rubbed her face. "Do you think so?"
She nodded. "I do. When I told her I'd help her, I felt closer to God than I've felt in years."
"I love you," he said. "I love you so much."
"Then meet me in an hour at Court Street."
He kissed her. "Will do."
He stood.
"Eric?" she asked as he was leaving. "How much did Jasper make you pay for me?"
"Seven hundred," he said. "If you have any idea how much I wanted to hit him for putting a price on something too valuable to be sold..."
She could see the anger in his eyes and was sorry she'd asked.
"See you later?" she said.
He nodded and walked out the door.
Chapter Eleven
Jasper was waiting in the dressing room when she got back. Claire was asleep on the couch.
"Did you....?" She asked when she saw the girl.
"No, I didn't give her anything. She was conked out when I got here." He walked over and smiled. "So, how did it go?"
She turned away. "How do you think it went. You arranged for me to sleep with a total stranger."
"This should make you feel better, Angel." He dropped a hundred dollar bill on the dressing table. "That's your half."
She wanted to punch him. He'd sold her as a whore and pocketed six hundred dollars.
Naomi said nothing as she picked up the hundred. At least she could give some of Eric's money back to him.
"Want to go out for a drink?"
"No. I'm tired and sore and depressed," she said. "And I'm worried about Claire."
She walked over and knelt down beside the girl. "Claire," she said. "Hey, baby. Wake up. I'll walk you home."
"She looks tired," Jasper said. "Let me give you two a ride."
Naomi felt a surge of fear. Eric would be waiting for them. The last thing they needed was an awkward encounter with Jasper.
"No," she said. "No thanks. I mean, we appreciate the offer but believe me, Claire needs to walk. I've had enough hangovers to know what I'm talking about."
She helped the girl to her feet.
"So you're staying with her tonight, then?" he asked.
Naomi didn't want to answer but felt she had no choice. To deny it would be to invite questions about what she planned to do, or worse, would see Jasper offer lodging for her at his place.
"Yeah. Just in case she needs anything. Can you help me get a place of my own tomorrow?"
He smiled. "Of course," he said. "I'll front you the money. You can just pay me back."
He was still running the same scam. Get the girls in debt so they were little more than indentured servants. Bastard.
"Fine. Whatever." Naomi took Claire's hand.
"Come on," she said.
She could feel Jasper's eyes on them as they walked.
"Did you say anything to him about what we talked about?" she asked as they got outside.
"No," Claire said, pulling her sweater closer to her thin frame. "But he sure asked."
"What did he ask?"
"He wanted to know what I had told you about things at the club. He wanted to know if I'd told you how he'd beaten me. I said it was none of your business."
"Good," Naomi said. "Jasper thinks women are stupid, so playing stupid is the best way to get around his questions. Letting guys like that inside your head is dangerous, Claire. They pretend to care but what they really want to do is find out your weaknesses and fears so they can exploit them."
"Is that what he did to you?"
"Yes."
"How?"
Naomi sighed. "My father's a preacher. He's a hard, inflexible hypocritical man. My mother is weak before him in so many ways. They've tried since I was small to script my life into not what I wanted but into the kin
d of existence that would make them look good. They picked my clothes, my friends, my music, my schools. It was horrible. In college I snapped. I took off one day and came here, thinking I could join a commune, become a hippie..."
"But you found Jasper."
"Well, he found me actually. He filled my head with all these hopes and dreams of doing commercials, making quick money.."
"Me too," Claire said. "He got me a room, took photos. And before I knew I owed him eight hundred bucks."
Naomi nodded. "That's his M.O." She shook her head. "It works, I guess. The next thing I know I'm dancing at Pinnacle, just like you."
"But you left," Claire said. "I wish I could leave. Why did you come back."
"I fell in love," Naomi said. "I didn't tell the guy everything about my past. I didn't feel like I was good enough for him, really. When I thought he thought the same thing I left."
"Is that how he felt?"
"No," Naomi said. "He loves me too." She stopped and took Claire's arm gently and turned her towards her.
"I've got to tell you something, Claire, but you have to be very quiet just in case we run into Jasper or someone else from the club. The man I fell in love with - he tracked me down here tonight. He wants me to leave with him and I want to go. I would have left with him earlier except for one thing. I want to take you with us."
"Seriously?" The girl's expression was a mixture of deep relief and joy. "I can go?"
"Of course," she said.
"I don't want to go back home, though. My parents were worse than strict. My stepdad, he...let's just say he wanted me to do things...."
"You don't have to. You can come with us if you want. But I'm not leaving you here. My friend, Eric, he's going to meet us over at where you're staying."
"That's great!" They walked faster now, eager to get to the little house on Court Street.
"That's it," Claire said, pointing to a ramshackle one-story structure with a weedy yard. Two men loitered in a side lot. They wore bandanas on their heads and matching wife-beater tees. Their pants hung down past their hip bones.
"Hey, mamacitas!" One of the men called out. "Come smoke with us!"
The younger of the two waved a joint at them.
"Not tonight, guys." Naomi knew from experience that sometimes it was better to politely decline than to ignore some men. Looking down fearfully without speaking ws like asking to be pursued.
"Tomorrow, maybe?"
"Maybe."
They walked faster. Naomi didn't see any sign of Eric, but they were early. Then she heard a car engine and breathed a sigh of relief until she heard Claire gasp.
"Oh no." She looked up. It was Jasper's car.
"Shit," she said under her breath. "Let me do the talking, OK?"
Claire nodded.
He was out of the car and on the porch before they made it up the steps.
"Evening, ladies."
"Jasper, what do you want? I told you I'd see you tomorrow." Naomi asked wearily, trying to make her voice sound as casual as possible.
"I was just worried, you know, wanted to make sure you girls got here OK."
"Well, we did."
He looked at her. "You seem in an awful big hurry to get rid of me tonight, Angel. Why is that?"
"I'm tired, Jasper. I told you."
Claire opened the door but as she went in, Jasper stopped Naomi with a hand to her shoulder.
"You know, Angel. Something about you seems sneaky to me. You've changed since you got back. You aren't the same sweet, trusting thing you used to be."
"I'm smarter now, Jasper," she said.
"You aren't that smart," he said quietly. "You still need somebody to look after you. And I aim to do it. Look what I got.."
She gasped when she saw the handgun.
"Don't be afraid," he said. "This is a rough town, ya know. A lot of things can happen to women here. I thought you'd be relieved to see that I was packing heat. Don't it make you feel good, knowing I'll protect what's mine if I have to?"
She could hear the sound of another car engine now. Naomi caught the glimpse of the taxi from the corner of her eye. She refused to look at it, hoping that Eric would understand something was wrong, that he wouldn't get out.
No such luck. The car rolled to a stop at the curb.
"Dear God," she prayed. "No."
But God didn't seem to get the message. Eric climbed out of the cab and walked up the step. Jasper tucked the gun into his waistband and dropped his jacket down, concealing it. He turned towards Eric, who was now walking up the steps.
Jasper eyed Eric for a moment before recognition dawned.
"Mr. Feagans," he said. He looked down at Naomi then, fury in his eyes.
"Now, now Angel. I can appreciate your wanting to make a little extra coin, but you should know better than to set up a private date with a customer without asking me first."
He turned then to Claire. "And you, working with her to do it? What a couple of naughty girls."
Then he turned back to Eric. "I'm sorry, but our dancers don't date clients. Not outside work, anyway. If you want to hook up with her again, you'll have to call me at the club. During business hours."
Eric was on the porch now.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken," he said.
"Eric, no.." Naomi wanted to warn him about the gun, but he gently pushed her to the side as he continued to talk over her.
"I'm not here to 'hook up' with Naomi. I'm here to take her home. Her and her friend here."
Jasper's expression grew stormy. "I don't think so," he said.
Naomi saw Jasper's hand go to his waistband. Without even thinking she charged at him, propelling him backwards through the rotting railing of the porch. Both of them tumbled into the bushes.
Claire screamed and Eric seemed too shocked to move. But Jasper leapt into action, grabbing Naomi around the upper body and hauling her up. He pulled her from the bushes and stepped back far enough for Eric to see something that made him stop in his tracks.
Jasper had jammed the gun just below Naomi's ribs.
"All right, tough guy," he said. "I don't know who you are or who you think you are. But if you care about this woman the best thing you can do is turn around, get back on your white horse and ride away."
Eric stood there but he didn't move.
"Naomi doesn't belong here," he said. "Let her go."
"That's where you're wrong," Jasper laughed. "Naomi is exactly where she belongs. You really think you can take a stripper back and put behind some picket fence in your little white bread neighborhood? Well, you're wrong. She's left home twice now to come here. It's in her blood. Your lady's a whore."
"She is not." Eric took a step forward.
"Ah-ah," Jasper said, pressing the gun into her side. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Eric looked into Naomi's face. He looked stricken, helpless. On the porch, Claire stood beside Eric looking even more helpless. Tears were streaming down her face. The trio were so entrenched in their standoff that neither saw the two men from the nearby lot. And Jasper suddenly found that he wasn't the only one armed when he felt the barrel of a gun pressed to his temple.
"Don't think I won't pull the trigger, hombre," the young man said. "You need to let that girl go and drop that piece. Pronto."
Jasper did as commanded. The gangster pushed him backwards as his friend picked up the gun.
"Nice piece," he said, tucking it into his belt. "Gracias!"
The man holding Jasper pushed him roughly down and then with a laugh they ran off into the night.
Eric hopped off the porch.
"Get up," he said to Jasper.
Jasper got to his feet.
"You want to be the tough guy now?"
Jasper made as if to turn away and then rounded on Eric, just as he'd done to Naomi in the dressing room. But Eric was ready. His fist slammed into Jasper's face. Naomi heard the bones in his cheek and nose break. He fell back to the ground, blood pouring down his shirt.
"Come on," he said to Naomi and Claire.
"Can I get my things?" Claire asked.
"Anything you need we'll get you when we get out of here," Eric said.
"Hold on," Naomi said.
She walked over to Jasper and reached into his jacket pocket. The remaining money Eric had paid for his "date" with Naomi was still there, folded in a wad.
"The next time you think of selling something that doesn't belong to you, remember this," she said.
She turned then and walked to the cab with Eric and Naomi.
It was only after she was safe inside that she felt safe enough to cry.
Naomi did not delude herself this time. She knew this homecoming would be even more awkward than the previous one, even though she did not tell her father or mother where she had gone. The fact that they did not ask only confirmed to her that they feared her, feared the difference she represented.
Their cold, detached reaction to her homecoming, and suspicious attitude towards Claire - seemed to be a wake-up call to Eric. After a week of observing the awkwardness, he tendered his resignation.
He broke the news to Naomi first and she broke down when he did.
"You're leaving?" she asked. "You're leaving me?"
They were in his office, and her look of disbelief, of betrayal caught him off guard. In a flash he was up from his desk and taking her by the arm. Sitting down, he pulled Naomi over his knee and gave her a dozen hard smacks on the bottom. Then he raised her back to her feet, his face angry.
"Do you really think I would leave you? I should blister you raw for even saying that." He paused. "But I'm not. If I spank you too hard you might refuse my offer."
"What offer?" she asked, sniffing pitifully.
He smiled. "Two offers, actually. Your experience with Claire has laid on my heart the need for a youth ministry, one that can help runaway teens and other young adults. I'm ready for a change, but I don't want to do this alone. I want you to do it with me, Naomi."
She looked at him, shocked and then threw her arms around his neck with a delighted squeal.
"Are you serious?" she asked. "Are you really serious?"
He laughed. "Of course I am. You have such a way with kids. I saw that at the camps. They relate to you. And I know your experiences will resonate with at-risk kids. It's hard for sticks-in-the-mud like me to reach these kids. But you, Naomi - you can do it."
