“People are being murdered here,” she said, her voice growing louder. “Isn’t that bad enough?”
“I’m sorry, Flora.”
She began to trace invisible shapes on the table with her finger. “I know you own me and all and I probably shouldn’t ask …”
I waited for her to finish until I realized she was fighting back tears.
“I don’t own you, Flora. I bought you, yes, but only because I wanted to save you. You would have been taken away by some asshole millionaire who would have kept you in a box and only taken you out to rape you over and over.”
“I know,” she said, starting to cry.
I took her hand. “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it. Just ask.”
“I want you to buy another.”
“Another what?”
Finally she looked up at me. “Another Favorite Girl.”
─To Deny Her─
THE DISCUSSION ran so late I ended up falling asleep before giving Flora a definite answer. I tried to explain the logistics to her, that Ted’s bank account was being charged a million dollars a day just to keep Sean from coming to confiscate her, and if I bought another Favorite Girl, Flora’s time with me—her time in general, with Sean’s killing spree in full swing—would be cut in half.
Every argument I made was met with, “I don’t care.”
She told me she couldn’t stand the thought of her sisters and the other girls being killed while she got to enjoy brownies and wine and television and all the other trivial perks of being alive.
I told her I didn’t know how much money Ted had. She didn’t care.
I told her Patton would disapprove. She didn’t care.
I went so far as to suggest that buying another Favorite Girl might well be cutting my own time in half. She still didn’t care.
In the morning she didn’t bring it up, but I could tell she was avoiding me, waiting for me to make a decision.
I called in breakfast, a new comforter to replace the blood-stained one, and some supplies for Judy. I couldn’t wait to crawl through the air ducts and see her. In here I felt like an outcast. Flora and Liu had separate reasons for not speaking to me, but after a while it felt like them against me.
James was his usual cocky self when I answered the door.
“Lot of stuff this morning,” he said, handing me the bag filled with Judy’s supplies. “What’s the deadbolt for?”
“I needed something hard and jagged to stick up your ass, you nosy little prick.”
He laughed aloud. “I enjoy your company more and more every day.”
“I bet,” I said. “Now fuck off like a good little servant.”
“Nuh-uh!” Liu called in her muffled voice, coming up and stepping past me. “Come inside for a little while, James.”
“Goddamn, your face is busted! What happened?” The tone in his voice made even me feel bad for Liu. Like he enjoyed her being ugly.
Liu’s smile faded instantly.
“I fell.”
“How many times? You look like shit!”
He was right. Overnight, her nose had swollen to three times its size and both her cheeks were black and purple.
“So what?” she said, getting defensive. “You don’t want to fuck me?”
That changed his demeanor. Without another word, he wheeled in the food cart and followed Liu to the couch.
“I’m gonna take a shower,” I called after them.
“Good. You stink,” Liu said. James had already plopped down and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. Liu straddled him and started unbuttoning his shirt.
I took the bag over to the table and fished out the box of plastic storage bags, a common kitchen item that people who are catered to everyday have no use for, and filled a few of them with biscuits, bacon, sausage, strawberries with a sprinkle of sugar, and a few different kinds of cheeses, stuffing them in back in the bag one by one.
Flora met me on my way to the corridor.
“Can I come with you?”
“Sure.”
“What’s in the bag?”
I considered telling her about stashing Judy in the secret room but thought better of it. No need to overload her with nerve-wracking information.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said.
“Okay.”
I dropped the bag on the floor near the Jacuzzi pool and walked with Flora to the shower, the big open room with dozens of raining heads suspended from a cage of water pipes above. Flora removed her nightgown and underwear while I turned on the shower.
“I need to use the bathroom first,” I lied. “You go ahead and I’ll join you in a minute.”
“Okay.”
I watched her walk into the hot rain, a beautiful sight from which it was difficult to pull my eyes, but I had some sneaking to do.
Back at the pool, I snatched up the bag and made my way into the vent.
When I arrived at the secret room, Judy was already awake, chewing on a granola bar and reading a book. I waved at her as I pulled myself out of the air duct.
“I have to be quick.”
Judy nodded. “They’ll be looking for me today. You probably shouldn’t come back until tomorrow.”
I climbed down the staircase and started emptying out the bag one item at a time, starting with a small blanket.
“I’ll get you a better one when I can.”
“This is fine,” she said.
I pulled out the food, a six-pack of bottled water, and a six-pack of soda. Judy took a bottle of water immediately. She must have run out last night.
“The breakfast is still warm. Just ordered it.”
“Thank you,” she said after swallowing a gulp of water. “Granola bars and bananas get old pretty fast.”
Next I pulled out a small notepad and a pen and handed them to her.
“Make a list of what you need. Food, books, alcohol, whatever. I could get you one of those little portable DVD players. Or a laptop. Seriously, Judy, anything you want.”
“I’ll think about it.” Looking around the room, she laughed and said, “I’ve got plenty of time for it.”
“Hopefully you won’t have to stay here long.”
She shrugged. “I’m kinda enjoying it so far. Feels like camping.”
“Camping alone sucks though.”
“It’s not so bad. I have my books. When I read I forget where I am.”
I forced a smile. “In that case, I might need to get a recommendation.”
Lastly I pulled out the deadbolt set, along with a screw driver. I started for the trap door under the staircase, but Judy stopped me.
“I’ll take care of that,” she said. “You need to get back.”
I handed them over and hugged her, holding on for so long she had to remind me to get the hell out of here.
I looked back before crawling into the duct and found her opening the bag with bacon and biscuits. Behind her was a line of books stacked upright along the wall, held in place by the unopened bottle of wine I’d given her last night.
The girl had discipline.
Unlike me.
I made it back to the shower without arousing suspicion, and though Flora was nearly finished, she stayed with me. She even offered to scrub my back, which I soon realized was just an excuse to touch me. Back scrubbing turned into ass-groping, and when I spun around, surprised, she stood on tiptoes and kissed me.
“We can do stuff again, if you want,” she said.
“Do you actually like girls?” I asked.
“I think I might only like girls.” She paused for a moment, staring up at me with her big blue eyes through the spatter of hot water and the steam. “I think I might only like you,” she said.
If I could have changed anything about myself in that moment, it was my bisexuality. Patton and I must really be meant for one other, each of us having a Flora’s love to deal with. I was the terrible one for not resisting. What’s worse, I knew that if I found out Patton had given into the very sa
me temptation, I would be devastated. Probably condemn him as a statutory rapist, even though his Flora and mine were only six months apart in age.
What the hell was I supposed to do? Deny her sexual exploration, physical affection, emotional bonding—all the things an eighteen-year-old girl has every right to experience—when these may well be her last few weeks, or even days, on Earth?
I was a monster if I denied her.
If Patton couldn’t understand that, to hell with him.
Then again, what about his Flora? She had the same rights, and her time might be even more limited.
I could only deal with what was in front of me.
Cupping her cheeks with my hands, I gave her a slow kiss.
“Tonight we’ll make Liu sleep on the couch,” I told her.
“Let’s do it now,” she said, and I felt her fingertips tickling my thigh.
I pushed her hand away. “If you want me to buy another Favorite Girl, I need to go talk to Sean.”
Her eyes lit up and she threw her arms around my neck, squealing. “Really? Thank you, Melissa! Thank you so much. I love you!”
I hugged her back. “I love you, too, Flora.”
We wrapped ourselves in large towels and came back to the room, where we could hear the sound of flesh slapping against flesh. I couldn’t see them from here because of the partial wall dividing the bedroom area from the living area, so we rushed to the closet before they finished and got dressed.
They were still going at it when we came back out. We sat next to one another at kitchen table to have breakfast and watched them switch from a standing doggy-style position to Liu lying on her back and letting James deep-throat her.
“I could never do that,” Flora whispered.
“Some people like it, I guess.”
“Do you?”
“Hell no!”
“Have you ever done it?”
“Girls don’t do that,” I said. “They let it be done to them.”
“Well?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“What was it like?”
“I don’t know. Like being force-fed a kielbasa sausage.”
Flora laughed, spraying biscuit crumbs all over the table and covering her mouth. When she recovered, she put her hand on my thigh.
“In his case, maybe a Vienna sausage,” I said.
She laughed again, leaning against me. What a little flirt she was turning out to be.
James grunted and pulled out of Liu’s mouth. When he turned around, my Vienna sausage theory went out the window. His dick was narrow but long, like one of those peppermint sticks grocery stores sell around Christmastime.
Liu spent the next few minutes coughing intermittently. With her busted nose, mouth-fucking had to hurt like hell. I never understood the appeal of submitting oneself to painful sexual experiences. When Ted used to tie me up and choke me, it didn’t stimulate but rather diminished my sex drive—and my love for him, one selfish suggestion at a time.
“Who’s next?” James asked, toweling himself dry with his collar shirt, starting with his chest and working down to his strangely thin penis.
Suddenly he scowled, and I looked over to find the most revolted, grimacing look on Flora’s face.
“Looks like you’re not in high demand around here, James,” I said, taking a bite out of a large strawberry.
He picked his pants up off the floor. “You loose bitches couldn’t handle me anyway.”
“With that car antenna you have for a dick, I bet every girl feels loose.”
“Eight inches, baby, anytime you want it.”
“You’d have to fold it in half to make it worth a fuck,” I said, “and then you’ve only got four.”
He buttoned his shirt in silence, cocking his head several times as if starting to say something, but he didn’t. Liu came up and hugged him from behind. He turned, pulled her against him, squeezed her ass with one hand and a breast with the other, and whispered something in her ear.
He gave me the middle finger as he was leaving and left the door standing wide open. I stood to go close it and only made it a few steps.
Sean appeared first, strolling into the room like he’d just rented it at a hotel. He was wearing dark jeans and a clean white t-shirt, a shocking sight since I’d never seen him out of his usual black suit. I made some crack in my head about casual Fridays and almost laughed, but suddenly my entire image of Sean changed.
He only wore suits because his boss and older brother demanded it.
This was the real Sean. A man dressed in ordinary clothing, able to walk anonymously among ordinary people.
So he can select from the crowd.
Brian scuttled through the door about ten seconds after Sean, looking angrier than I’d ever seen him.
He sought me out immediately.
“Where the fuck is she?”
“Who?” I asked.
“Judy goddamn it!”
I’d known this was coming, but I hadn’t prepared for it. Instinctively I put on my angry face and shouted back, “Don’t come in my room screaming your fucking head off! Asshole.”
He stormed up to me, stopping short a few feet.
“I went to get her from her room,” he said with purposeful calm. “She can’t leave her room until I let her out. Now where … the fuck … is she?”
I took a step closer to him and with a mocking tone said, “I … don’t … know.”
The force of his slap spun me around and I doubled over in reaction to the sting. The pain was literally blinding, but when I could see again, I was staring into Flora’s frightened eyes.
I made myself stand up and turn around, trying like hell not to cry.
“I’m not going to ask you again,” Brian said.
“Good,” I said, “because there’s no point.”
“You’re lying.”
I raised my arms and let them flop to my sides. “Look around, dude. Seriously. Tear the room apart. She’s not fucking here.”
“You hid her somewhere else then.”
“Where? I only have access to this room and my piss-pour excuse for an office.”
“Did she talk to you yesterday?”
“Yes she did.”
“About what?”
“None of your goddamn business.”
He gritted his teeth and pointed his finger at me. “You know, Patton can only protect you for so long. We’ve been entertaining his little crush just to keep the peace. Poor bastard hadn’t gotten his dick wet in years. But your time is running out, missy.”
It was an empty threat. Of course my time was limited, but it had nothing to do with the threshold of Patton’s authority. It had everything to do with how much money I had left, and Brian knew it.
I was distracted anyway. Behind Brian, Sean had taken notice of Liu, who was just now getting dressed and crossing the room, most likely making a bee line for the shower room where she could hide.
Sean stopped her, put a finger under her chin, lifted her face.
“What happened to you?” he asked.
“I fell,” Liu recited.
Sean turned her face from side to side. Then he motioned for her to go. As predicted, she scampered down the corridor.
I watched her until she disappeared. Then I turned back to Sean. He was smiling at me. He knew I’d done it. Maybe violent people can sense the potential for violence in others. Maybe that’s why he took me up to Level E, so he could show me just how much better he was at hurting people, a warning, just in case I decided to get feisty with him.
“Let’s go,” he said, slapping Brian hard on the shoulder.
Watching Brian wince, I had a terrible moment in which I actually enjoyed Sean, but the image of Vampire Girl’s dying eyes came flooding back fast.
Brian pointed at me.
“When I find her, you’re in deep shit.”
“Maybe you should talk to the guard.”
Sean was a
t the door, but when he heard me he came back. “What did you say?”
Brian was steaming like a tea kettle.
I met eyes with Sean and said, “The guard whose dick she bit off. He’s been sneaking in her room and beating her. You want to find Judy, you should go talk to him.”
“I never authorized that,” Sean said. Now he looked angry, staring at the back of Brian’s head like it was something he wanted to core with his knife.
Brian must have sensed his glare. He turned around. “What? I didn’t authorize it either! I was the one who put a stop to you and your goons raping her, remember?”
“Let’s go,” Sean said, and this time he left and didn’t return.
“Have a nice day,” I told Brian.
He stormed away and I followed him to the door, slamming it shut behind him and bursting into tears.
Flora came to embrace me. I cried on her shoulder for what felt like ten minutes.
When I finally pulled away, she cupped my face like I had just done hers, returned the kiss, and whispered, “Where did you hide her?”
─Her Favorite Girl─
IT TOOK three hours for Sean to call me back. I tried his quarters on Level C, then his office, leaving messages on both answering machines. He was most likely spending the day raping, torturing, and killing the decommissioned Favorite Girls on Level E, and I had no number for that floor.
He was out of breath when he answered the phone, saying, “What do you need?”
“I want to buy another Favorite Girl.”
Silence on the other end for at least ten seconds.
“Another one?” he finally asked.
“Yes.”
He laughed. “Are you fucking stupid?”
“Can I do it or not?”
More silence. Then, “Which one?”
I looked at Flora, who studied my face for a sign of approval or denial. It was her wish. She should be the one to pick.
“I don’t know yet,” I told him. “I want to see them.”
“After lunch.”
“So that’s a yes?”
“You’re a goddamn fool, you know that?”
“I know.”
He laughed again, less heartily this time.
“Tell me something,” he said.
“Okay.”
“What’d that girl do to piss you off?”
I hesitated to answer. The question caught me off guard. He really had known it was me who beat up Liu.
His Favorite Girl Page 10
