by Gary Beck
Beth and Peter quietly packed everything that they wouldn’t need before the next night into four plastic garbage bags. The only things they left out were breakfast items and bathroom stuff for the morning. They idly wondered whether they had accumulated too much or too little in their stay at the hotel but agreed that they certainly didn’t have any luxuries. Beth took out her list of what everyone would need for the new apartments and added coat hangers for clothing, since it might be a while until they got dressers. Peter mentioned that the rest of the group would need blankets right away and that it was a good thing they still had the blankets the fireman gave them. They came up with more and more things, until the list threatened to become overwhelming. They finally decided that they’d all have to do the best they could and get what they needed gradually. Beth sweetly kissed Peter goodnight and they drifted into comforting sleep, without any thoughts of the threats from the upper floors.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Peter was distracted at work on Monday, constantly thinking about picking up the keys to the new apartments that evening and getting out of the hotel. There was a big conference about summer programming and the staff was asked for their input. This was an opportunity for Peter to advocate more jazz programming that would have been timely because of the recent success of a Miles Davis documentary. But he just sat through the meeting nodding agreeably at every suggestion, not proposing anything. There were so many programs under discussion that no one noticed Peter’s lack of participation. He drifted through the day, an idle clock-watcher neglecting the selections for public radio in his haste for departure. Hector also had a hard time concentrating at work. Fortunately, he only had rote chores that day, so by working slower than usual he didn’t make too many mistakes.
Kiesha had a difficult time sitting through her classes. She tried to pay attention, but after a minute or two she would lose focus and not take in any information. In a keyboard drill, her fingers lost all acquired skill and flexibility. She produced a document that was complete gibberish and could have been a new NSA code, or the declaration of independence of an alien species. She became increasingly restless and decided to cut her last class and go home early. Miss Lily was the only one of the group not overwrought about the impending move. Once the older children were on the school bus, she told stories to the younger ones, then let them play together. She had packed her personal things, and the children’s the night before. The only items left were the cooking equip.m.ent and ingredients for dinner, so they could eat before the big move. She knew how jittery her friends were and she radiated calm and serenity that she hoped would rub off on them.
Beth had a lot on her ‘to do’ list for the day, but her mind kept wandering into fantasies of life in the new apartment. She pictured different pianos and where she would put the one, she finally selected. The concert grand at the downtown music store danced before her eyes like an animated cartoon. She knew she would have to settle for renting an inexpensive upright, but the vision of that beautiful Steinway, shiny new, glistening, yearning for her fingers, drove away the images of its drabber cousins. She would snap back to awareness and return to her chores, but a few minutes later sit down on the bed and forget to complete the task at hand. After several hours and accomplishing little, she went to Miss Lily’s room and helped make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.
While the children munched away contentedly, she brooded about their not having vitamins and not eating enough fruit and vegetables, until Miss Lily patted her fondly. "Don’t worry, chile. Everythin’s gonna work out."
Peter and Hector phoned several times during the day on the pretext of asking about the children, but Beth knew they were feeling as disconnected as she was. Kiesha came back from school shortly after the school bus dropped off the older children at the hotel. Once all the children were settled in Miss Lily’s room, Beth suggested that she and Kiesha take a trip to the thrift shop to see if they could find bedding and coat hangers. By the time they got to the lobby it was beginning to get dark outside. The street had an eerie, detached quality that made everything look strange and unfamiliar, as if they were in another city, another world. Beth didn’t mention how alien the streets seemed, or how she felt isolated in a foreign place, but she did notice that Kiesha was unusually subdued. It was getting colder and they walked quickly to stay warm and get to the stores before they closed. They didn’t find any sheets or pillowcases, but they did get two old quilts, a frayed blanket, and the manager at the 27th Street thrift shop gave them a batch of hangers free of charge.
They hurried back to the hotel eager to finish their moving preparations and bid farewell to the King Charles. The lobby was overheated after the cold streets and as they opened their coats, Mister Singh watched them from behind his Plexiglas barrier like a lizard, motionless, blank and impenetrable. A man was waiting at the elevator and Kiesha mumbled "Excuse me," and reached past him to press the button. The door opened and the man gestured them to enter first. They started in and saw several black men already there. Before they could react the man outside shoved them forward and two of the men punched each of them hard in the stomach. The air whooshed out of her and Beth doubled over, gasping for breath, tears spilling from her eyes from the pain.
Someone threw a down coat over her head and whispered in a high-pitched voice, "Shut the fuck up, bitch, or you’re gonna get messed up." One of the men punched Kiesha in the stomach again and she vomited on the coat that he threw over her.
An indignant nasal voice complained, "Shit. That bitch puked all over my coat."
A stern, exasperated voice said, "Shut the fuck up, man. Now you bitches keep quiet, or we’re gonna hurt you." Beth was just getting her breath back and could barely move. The man holding the coat over her had pinned her arms to her sides. She felt like a trussed fowl on the way to the marketplace. Her mind raced to make sense of what was happening. She remembered the shove and her instant surprise as she fell forward, but everything else was a blur. The pain in her stomach was diminishing and she breathed in and out slowly, trying to think of what she should do. Her legs were free, and she shifted her weight, considering kicking her captor and trying to break free.
The stern voice struck terror in her heart, "You bitches stay still. Don’t make no fuss an it be easier on you." It took a moment for it to register to Beth that Kiesha was in the same situation, but it wasn’t consoling. A growing feeling of terror enveloped her and she bit her lip to keep from screaming.
Nasal voice, who was holding her said: "My dick wanna get me some oreo. When we gonna fuck these bitches?"
Stern voice rebuked him sharply, "I already tole you once to shut the fuck up. Now don’t make me tell you again. There be plenty of time to have some white meat and a taste of dark meat." The men giggled like juvenile hyenas savoring a helpless victim. Beth fought to control her panic and tried to force herself to think of some way out of this nightmare. She knew it wouldn’t do any good to scream, since no one could hear her and they’d hurt her. She wasn’t strong enough to overcome the men, so all she could do was wait and hope for a chance to get away.
She asked tentatively, "Kiesha. Are you all right?"
Nasal voice hit her across the head and she slammed into the elevator wall. "You been told to shut the fuck up. You like to open your mouth so much I put my dick in it later." She was dazed from the blow and hitting the wall, but she felt his hand reach between her legs, grab the soft flesh of her inner thigh and squeeze hard. Her agonized scream was cut off when he stuffed her coat in her mouth.
The elevator stopped and when the door opened she heard someone say, "Boss. There’s a certain guy waitin’ on you. He come downstairs a while ago and he be gettin antsy."
"Take the bitches to Popeye’s room and keep em quiet," stern voice said.
"Can we fuck em, boss?" nasal voice asked.
"Don’t do nothin til I gets there."
"Can she at least suck my dick?"
"You don’t hear too good.
Just tie em up and I be there soon." The men dragged them into a room and Beth heard the door close. Rough hands pulled off her coat and used it to tie her to a chair. Then they pulled off her pants and tied her legs with it. The man’s coat still covered her head and she felt detached and disoriented as she struggled for breath, inhaling the stink of unwashed body, lust and sweat. Hands crudely fondled her thighs and pulled her panties aside and poked at her vagina.
Nasal voice whispered: "You a sweet piece, white meat. It makin me hard watchin you."
Beth was so terrified, that she couldn’t control her bladder and urine ran down her leg.
Nasal voice cackled: "Lookie. Lookie. White meat done piss herself. That make it easy to stuff my dick in her."
The men roared with laughter. Another voice called, "Look at dark meat. She got fine thighs. They be strong enough to squeeze the last drop outta my balls. I’m gonna spread her an see if her hole be big enough." Kiesha clamped her legs together, but the man punched her in the stomach and forced them wide apart. He tore her panties off and jammed a finger into her vagina. She screamed in pain and tried to move away, but the man growled, "Sit still, bitch, or I hurt you bad. My dick a lot bigger than my finger. I gonna tear you open like the Holland tunnel and drive all the way in."
The men laughed again and nasal voice, not wanting to be outdone, boasted, "I’m gonna fuck miss white meat up the ass, then make her suck my dick clean."
The door flew open and stern voice yelled, "I tole you to shut the fuck up. I doin’ serious business out here and I don’t want no one knowin’ our personal business. Now don’t make me tell you again."
"Sure, boss. It’s cool. I hear you," nasal voice mumbled. The door slammed and there was a tense silence. Beth knew that Kiesha was going through the same horror that she was and that somehow, they had to escape. The idea of the assailants penetrating her body in different places sent icicles racing through her. She shivered in dread of what was to come, as tears of pain mixed with tears of shame. She took a deep breath and a spark of determination flickered. Even with her captor’s hand idly fondling her between her legs, she began to bring her frantic thoughts under control. The men had made their intentions clear. They were going to do awful things to them and they’d probably kill them afterwards. Her body trembled, but Beth resolved to survive, no matter what.
Her captor felt her reaction and murmured to the other men, "Miss white meat shiverin’ cause she know she got a big treat comin’. How miss black meat doin’?"
"She getting ready," Kiesha’s abuser answered.
"Let’s put em next to each other and see which one’s pussy look better." The men moved the chairs so the women were side by side. Nasal voice tore Beth’s panties off and she shuddered at the sudden shock of being exposed. She tried to close her legs, but nasal voice yanked her pubic hair and she gasped in pain.
She didn’t resist as he spread her legs and announced to the others, "Let’s have us a pussy contest. We see which bitch got the nicest pussy."
What you mean, nicest?" Kiesha’s abuser asked.
"You know, who got more hair. Who got a bigger chick dick. Who got bigger lips. Who got the biggest hole. Which one get juicier."
A third voice asked, "How we gonna decide?"
"We judge each part, one at a time," nasal voice answered.
The third voice said, "Then maybe we have a ass contest and…"
Nasal voice cut him off, "First we have the Miss Pussy America contest."
Nasal voice appointed himself the organizer and he quickly set up the order and rules of the competition, stressing, "It take two votes for a winner, so if we can’t decide, we look again. Now this is the order we judge em, hair, chick dick, lips, hole, juice. Whoever win three out of five is Miss Pussy America. How that sound?"
Third voice answered, "Good. What we do in case of a tie?"
"We see which one is the best fuck. Any other questions?"
"No, man. Let’s get it on."
When everything was ready, nasal voice announced, “We gotta untie the bitches legs, so we gets a good look at their pussies. Now you bitches behave and don’t kick no one, or we hurt you." He followed his instruction by hitting Beth in the head and Kiesha’s abuser hit her.
"Which bitch go first?" third voice asked.
"Little miss white meat," nasal voice answered, "cause she so small and she gotta compete with a sister. Turn em around so they facin the light." The men adjusted the chairs for better viewing and Beth pressed her shoulder against Kiesha and felt an answering pressure.
"We gotta smoke us a blunt before the big contest," Kiesha’s abuser said. "The men went through the lighting up ritual and soon the odor more familiar to Americans than the bouquet of Bordeaux permeated the room, seeping under the coats, adding to the surreal quality of captivity for the women.
The men passed the blunt back and forth and third voice suddenly asked, "Which bitch got the home field?" They all burst into laughter and argued about whether or not it made any difference. The women sat transfixed with horror and disgust, as the men debated the value of home field advantage. The sports analogies made the women’s flesh crawl even more and the men drew out the conversation, no longer as urgent to begin.
Nasal voice announced, "Miss white meat got the home field."
Kiesha’s abuser asked aggrievedly, "Whatsa matta? You got sumpin against a home girl?"
These provoked peals of laughter, but before they could debate the race issue the door opened and stern voice said, "I thought I tole you to shut the fuck up."
There was a lengthy silence, then stern voice ordered, "I need you boys outside. Lobo done come down from upstairs with a complaint. He say one of our boys fucked one of his chicks and took her coke without payin. He say he don’t care none about the chick, but he wanna get paid for his dope. He got the chick outside an he want her to I.D. someone who gonna pay. Now if one of you done it, tell me and we’ll take care a the problem."
The three men vigorously protested their innocence, until stern voice cut them off. "I hears ya and ya betta be tellin the truth. It be a little thing that we settle real easy if ya did it. If ya lie to me an make me look bogus to Lobo, I fuck you up good."
Further denials apparently proved satisfactory and stern voice ordered them, "You come with me for the chick ta eyeball ya. Don’t say nothin’, no matter what. I take care of it. Let’s go."
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The door slammed and the battered Beth and Kiesha sat frozen in place, still in shock from the vicious assault, uncertain whether or not they were alone. Beth pressed her thigh against Kiesha and the warmth of her friend was comforting.
Beth decided to risk punishment if one of their abductors was still in the room and whispered urgently, "Kiesha. Can you hear me?"
Kiesha was scared, but her spirit wasn’t crushed. "Don’t yell. My ear hurts."
Beth couldn’t suppress a giggle. "I’m glad one of us is sassy."
"I’m so scared I’d wet my drawers if I had them on."
"We’ve got to get out of here before they come back," Beth said
"What can we do?"
"I’ll lean over as much as I can. See if you can reach over with your foot and pull this coat off me."
Kiesha shifted her hips, crossed her foot up her leg and worked it up Beth’s body, until she touched the coat. She tugged at it until it shifted and she felt it slide.
"Ow," Beth yelped.
"What’s wrong?"
"The zipper scratched me. But don’t stop."
The coat slid off and Beth looked around, blinking to clear her eyes. She saw they were alone, leaned over, grabbed the coat that was covering Kiesha in her teeth and pulled it off.
There were some dried vomit streaks on Kiesha’s face and some emerging bruises, but a gleam of hope went through Beth when she said, "Hi, missy. What’s next?"
Beth had been thinking quickly, "We’ve to get loose. Let’s turn our chairs so we can reach the knots and untie e
ach other." They quietly shifted the chairs and groped behind each other until they reached the knots. They had limited mobility, so it took a few minutes to loosen the knots that had been yanked tight. They shook their aching arms and stretched their shoulders to relieve the strain. They quickly put on their pants, stood up and looked around the room. It was like the other rooms in the hotel that they had seen, except dirtier and smellier.
Beth tip-toed to the door and listened fearfully. "I don’t know how long they’ll be," she whispered, "so we’ve got to come up with something fast."
"What if we open the door and run for it?"
Beth shook her head. "We don’t know what room this is and where they are. It won’t help if we run into them."
Kiesha’s voice started getting shrill. "What’ll we do then?"
"Sssh. Keep it down." Beth went to the window, opened it and peered out. She couldn’t see anyplace to go. "There’s nothing out here, not even a ledge."
"Can we tie something together and climb down to the next floor?"
Beth looked around the room. "I don’t think so. There aren’t any sheets on the bed and our clothing isn’t strong enough to hold our weight."