Then on Sunday morning Cat phoned me and said that I wasn’t to go to the Sloane Square flat and that someone would come around to collect the money. I asked why and she sounded a bit angry and said that was what was going to happen and I shouldn’t argue. I asked who would be coming to my flat and she said Sacha, the man we had seen at the flat last week. She said Sacha would be coming to the flat at seven o’clock and that he would explain things to me and that I was to give my money to him. I said that I wanted to speak to Oliver and she said that Oliver wasn’t there. And she said I had an hour incall at mid-day so I should get ready. The incall customer was called Karl and he was from South Africa and he was quite funny but I didn’t enjoy myself because I was so worried about what was happening. After he left I phoned Oliver to say that he had gone but Cat answered the phone. I asked her if I could speak to Oliver and she said that he wasn’t there and she sounded upset. I asked her what was wrong but she wouldn’t say.
She ended the call and right away Nancy phoned me to ask her why we weren’t going to the Sloane Square flat and I said I didn’t know and she said she was a bit scared and I said that I was too. She said that Cat had said that Sacha would be coming to see her about seven-thirty which means that he was coming to see me first. Nancy said she had spoken to Sandra and Sacha was going to her flat at six o’clock. So what was happening was that Sacha was going around to all the flats to collect the money from the girls. Nancy said she wanted to go to the Sloane Square flat because it was fun and we could all eat and talk and play cards and I said I agreed, it was good that all the girls get together. I said I didn’t know why Oliver has changed his plan. Before it was a good plan and I didn’t like Sacha and I didn’t like being told to stay at home like I was a child.
Then I got a call from Cat saying that I had a half hour incall in ten minutes so I had to get ready. The customer was horrible. He smelled of alcohol and cigarettes and had bad skin and he said he didn’t want to take a shower because he didn’t have time. He was rough and he bit me on my shoulder and I hated having sex with him.
In the afternoon Simon called me to see if I was okay and I wanted to tell him what had happened but I couldn’t. I just said that I was a bit tired. He said he would book me for three hours and he would come around to the flat and I could just go to sleep and he would watch television which was so sweet of him. I said okay but that I would probably be busy at about seven o’clock. Simon said no problem and that he would call the agency.
I phoned Oliver’s number again and Cat answered and I could tell that she was crying and she said that I shouldn’t call her and that Sacha would explain everything and then someone took the phone off her and it was a man and he wanted to know who I was and I just ended the call. I was shaking and angry and upset and I wished I had someone to talk to but I didn’t.
At two o’clock my phone rang and it was Oliver’s number but it wasn’t Oliver and it wasn’t Cat, it was a woman who spoke with what sounded like a Russian accent. She said that I had a customer for two-thirty and that his name was Paul and that he wanted me to wear school uniform. I asked her who she was and she said that her name was Natalie and I asked her where Cat was and she said that Cat had gone home and then I asked her where Oliver was and she said that Oliver didn’t work for the agency any more and then I was a bit scared because the agency was Oliver’s. He set it up, it was his agency, and he ran it. I don’t think he would just go away and give it to someone else. Then Natalie said she was too busy to talk to me and she ended the call.
I phoned Nancy and she said that she had spoken to Natalie too and that she agreed that something was wrong. We couldn’t talk for long because she had a customer and I was really busy all afternoon and I was so tired that I could hardly keep my eyes open. I phoned Vince and asked him to bring me some cocaine and he did and I paid him £200. He asked me if I was okay and I said I was even though I wasn’t. I wanted to see what Sacha had to say before I told anyone else.
I had a customer come at six for an hour. It was Richard, the man who wears his tracksuit and pretends to be out running so that his wife won’t know what he is doing. Richard could tell that I wasn’t happy but I pretended to smile. I had taken some of Vince’s cocaine so I had plenty of energy but the cocaine didn’t make me happy.
About five minutes after Richard had left there was a knock at my door. I didn’t open it because I only open the door if I have seen who it is on the CCTV at the entrance to the building and then I buzz them in. I didn’t know who was at my door but then he knocked again, really hard, and shouted that it was Sacha and that I should open the door. I did. He was wearing a big black coat and behind him were two men that I hadn’t seen before who were also wearing big black coats. I was so scared that my legs started to shake. Sacha pushed past me and went into my flat and I went after him.
Sacha said the two men worked for him and that sometimes they would be collecting my money now. Their names were Yuri and Sergey. He said I had to do everything they said, that they spoke with his voice. He asked me where my book was and I got it from the kitchen. He sat down on the sofa and put his feet on the coffee table and looked through the book. Yuri and Sergey kept staring at me and one of them said something and I didn’t understand because he spoke in Russian but I am sure that he was talking about my breasts because that’s what they were looking at. I went into the bedroom and got my bathrobe and put it on.
Sacha told me to get my money and I did. It was in an envelope and he counted it. I had earned £4,800 during the week so I had to give Oliver £1,600. When he had finished counting it, Sacha said that the agency was now charging fifty per cent commission which meant that I had to give him £800 more. I said that Oliver only took one third and he said that Oliver wasn’t running the agency any more. He said that the agency was now getting me more work so that I should pay them more. I said that wasn’t fair. And I said that it wasn’t fair that he was putting my photographs in phone boxes. Sacha said something to Yuri and he stepped forward and hit me. Really, I am serious, he slapped my face. No one has ever hit me before, not even my mother or father. My teachers at school in Udon Thani sometimes threatened to smack me if I was naughty but they never did. But this man slapped my face so hard that I started crying.
I ran into the bedroom and tried to close the door but Sacha pushed it open. I ran around the bed and tried to hide but of course there was nowhere to hide. Sacha pointed his finger at me and said that things had changed and that now it was his agency. He said he would pay me fifty per cent and that if I ever argued with him again he would really hurt me.
I was really crying and I said I wanted to go home and I meant Thailand. He said that I couldn’t go home because he had my passport. And he said that if I ran away or complained to anyone, he would send people to hurt me in Thailand. He said they would slash my face with a razor so that no man would ever want to look at me again. And he said he knew about my son and he would hurt my son and my mother and my father. He said he knew where I lived in Thailand because he had my ID card and no matter where I went he would be able to find me. He said he would cut me and burn down my house and throw my son into the flames. Really, he said that.
I was crying so hard and my whole body was shaking. He asked me if I understood and I said that I did. He said that if I was a good girl I would still make a lot of money. I asked him when I could go home and he said when I had earned enough money for him and I asked when that would be and he said that he would tell me. Then he told me to get his money and I went into the sitting room and got him £800 from under the carpet.
Yuri said something and Sacha laughed. He said that Yuri wanted a blow job and that I should give him one. I was so scared that I just did what Sacha said. I knelt down in front of him and he opened his trousers and I gave him oral sex until he came in my mouth. I felt sick. After he came he pushed me back and I fell on the floor and curled up into a ball and cried.
Sacha loaned over me and said that in future
Yuri or Sergey would come around every day to collect the money for the agency. Every day I had to give them half of what I earned. He asked me if I understood and I said yes, I did. He patted me on the head and said that I was a good girl and then they all went. They were laughing and I hated them so much that if I had had a gun I would have killed them.
I lay on the floor for a long time crying and then I phoned Nancy but her phone was switched off and I called Dao but her phone kept ringing and she didn’t answer.
Then Natalie phoned and said that I had a customer for half an hour incall and that the customer would be around in five minutes. I said that I was sick and couldn’t work. She said that I had to work. She said that if I didn’t work Sacha would send someone around to the flat to make sure that I did work. She sounded nasty and I knew what she meant. She meant that if I did not work they would hurt me. They would hurt me a lot. So I took some cocaine and then I showered and got ready for the customer.
I kept hoping that Natalie would phone to say that Simon had booked me so that at least I could spend time with a friend but every time she phoned it was to say that I had another customer. In the evening I had seven customers, three for one hour and four for thirty minutes. Before Sunday was always a quiet day and none of us worked on Sunday evening because we went to the Sloane Square flat. But now Sunday is like every other day and it is busy. So busy that if I did not have the cocaine to help me I think I would have collapsed.
I hate this job now. I hate it more than anything. But I don’t know what I can do to save myself.
Chapter 77
Wednesday July 8. What is happening to me is not fair. All I ever wanted to do was to work and make good money to take care of my son and my family. But now I feel like a prisoner because I have to work for Sacha. And it is not just Sacha, I think. I think now the mafia are running the agency. Russian Mafia. Oliver has gone now and so has Cat and it is always the girl called Natalie who calls and tells us who our customers are. Work is horrible now. Really horrible. When Oliver was the boss I saw a few customers a day and they were usually nice and kind and I had a good time but now I don’t like most of the men who come to see me. A lot come for just half an hour and all they want is oral and sex and they don’t want to talk to me or get to know me. Some of them ask for anal and I say that I don’t do anal and some of them get angry because it says I do A Levels on my card. It’s like before I was an escort and now I am just a prostitute and I feel dirty. I know now that there is nothing I can do to stop what is happening. I know that for sure if I do not do what Sacha says he will hurt me and he will hurt my family.
On Monday morning I went to see Nancy. Chris was there and he was very angry. Nancy was crying and said that Sacha had told her what he told me. No one had slapped Nancy but they had told her that they knew where her mother lived and that if she tried to run away someone in Thailand would go and kill her mother. They knew Nancy’s mother’s address and everything about her. I believe that they have someone in Thailand who knows all about us now. Nancy said she was scared and I said I was scared too. She said she was working very hard now and seeing more then ten customers every day and she didn’t want to because she wanted to spend more time with Chris.
Chris wanted to go to the police but Nancy said that the British police wouldn’t be able to protect her family in Thailand which I think is true. Chris said the British police could talk to the Thai police but we told Chris that he didn’t understand what life was like in Thailand. If somebody wanted to hurt our families they could. Chris said that he would talk to Sacha and see if he could get him to let Nancy go. He said he would tell the newspapers about what was happening and that Sacha wouldn’t want the newspapers to know so maybe he would agree to Nancy leaving the agency. I didn’t think Sacha would listen to anyone but I didn’t say anything to Chris.
Then my phone rang and it was Natalie telling me I had a customer so I had to go home. On Monday night Sacha came to see me and he looked at my book and then took half the money I had earned. I had seen six customers who came for half an hour each so that was £600 and I had four customers for one hour which was another £600 so I had earned £1,200 and so Sacha took £600. That means I had £600 for myself which sounds like a lot but I had to have sex with ten men for that which means I was getting only £60 each time which is not good.
I was tired and I was sore and all I wanted to do was to sleep. I told Sacha I wanted to stop work and he said I couldn’t. I said that wasn’t fair and he said he didn’t care what was fair. He took a flick-knife out of his pocket and showed it to me and he said he would cut my face if I tried to stop working. I asked him if I could pay him money to stop working and he laughed. He said a good whore could earn him £200,000 in a year so if I wanted to stop working I had to pay him £200,000 which is a fortune. Sacha said once I had earned £200,000 for him he would let me go but I don’t believe him.
I knew there was no point in saying anything to him so I just stayed quiet. He laughed and then he took a photograph out of his pocket and showed it to me and it was Ice with my mother in front of my house and I knew then that I was trapped and there is nothing I can do to save myself. I belong to Sacha now like a cow belongs to a farmer. I don’t know why this has happened to me because I am a good person and I never do anything to hurt anybody.
I went to sleep after Sacha went but I was woken up by Nancy who was crying so much that I couldn’t understand what was wrong so I had to go around to her flat to talk to her. She was crying and crying and wouldn’t stop but eventually she told me what had happened. Chris had been in the flat when Sacha went to get his money and Chris said that he didn’t want Nancy to work any more. Sacha had smiled and nodded and said that he understood. Sacha said that he would let Nancy leave the agency and then he held out his hand to shake and Chris took his hand and then Sacha headbutted him. He broke Chris’s nose and then he kicked him between the legs and Chris fell down. Then Sacha picked up a lamp and smashed that onto Chris’s head and then he started stamping on his legs so hard that he broke the bones and then he kicked him in the stomach many times. Nancy tried to help but Sacha punched her and she collapsed. Then Sacha kept kicking Chris until he was unconscious. Then Nancy said that Sacha phoned his friends and they came and took Chris away. Now Nancy doesn’t know if Chris is alive or dead. And Sacha told her that if she ever told anybody what had happened he would do the same to her and then he would do the same to her mother.
Nancy hugged me and said she was so scared and I said that I was scared too. It is like Sacha is not scared of anything or anybody and can do whatever he likes to other people. Nancy said she wanted to kill herself and I understood how she felt but I said no, she mustn’t do that. She said that being dead would be better than the way she was living now and I think she might be right. We lay together on her bed and cried together and that’s what we did all night.
I was busy on Tuesday, too. It was like I had a constant stream of customers one after the other. Sometimes I didn’t even have time to wash or shower. Every one of the customers I saw was a new customer and I asked some of them where they had heard about me and they all said they had seen my picture in a phone box. And you know, they had seen my pictures all over London not just near my flat. Not one of the customers had come because they had seen the agency website. Now I know what I am. I am not an escort any more. I am a prostitute. That is not what I wanted but now it is my life. I am so sad. Sad, sad, sad.
I want to phone Ice and see his face and hear his voice but I can not because I know I will just start crying and I do not want to upset him.
At about six o’clock my phone rang and it was Robert. He asked me if I was okay and I lied and said that I was. He said that he had tried to book me three times but that each time he had been told that I was busy. I said I was busy but I asked him if he would keep trying and he said that he would. I said that I missed him which was true.
At about midnight I phoned Dao to see if she was okay and y
ou know, she said she was happy with the way she was working. She said she was really busy and earning very good money and that really it was fair that she gave half to Sacha because they were getting her more money than Oliver did. I asked her if Sacha had threatened her and she said he had but that there was no need for him to threaten her because she was happy. And she said that Sacha was quite cute and that she had had sex with him for free when he went to her flat. I couldn’t believe what she was saying. She did FFF with the man who is threatening to kill my son. I think there is something wrong with Dao. I think she is a bit crazy.
Sacha came to get my money at two o’clock in the morning. He checked my book and I gave him £750 and he asked me if everything was okay and I smiled and said it was. After he went I cried and cried. Then I got a text from Robert saying that he missed me and that made me smile a bit. I sent him a text back saying that I missed him. Maybe Robert can help me. He is rich and rich people have power. That is true in Thailand and it is true in England, too. But I am a bit scared that if I ask Robert for help and Sacha finds out then Sacha might do something bad to him, and to me. I don’t think Sacha is scared of anybody. And even if Robert helps me, how will I be able to protect my family?
Chapter 78
Thursday July 9. It seems like all I do now is work and sleep, work and sleep, and sometimes I eat. I am so tired, so tired that my life feels like a dream. Sometimes when I am having sex it feels like it is someone else on the bed, not me. If it wasn’t for the cocaine that I buy from Vince I wouldn’t be able to do it. Actually I am making quite a bit of money even though I have to give half to Sacha. I am much busier than before. Much, much busier. And I am saving money because I have no time to go shopping and I did not play cards on Sunday night. But that does not mean I am happy because I am not happy. I hate my life now.
Desperate Measures Page 18