by Tim Sabados
“You mean sexual relations, no?”
“Yes,” Aryssa confirmed. “Sexual relations for money.”
“Every day.” Kami ran her finger under her lid to stop the tear from dribbling down her cheek. “Sometimes many a day.”
“More than two?” Aryssa questioned with disbelief.
“Sometimes four or five.”
“That’s just not…” Aryssa cringed. “It’s got to be painful.”
“I do what they tell me.”
“And you don’t get any money?” Aryssa did her best to temper the rage that burned deep inside her.
“No.” Kami shook her head violently. “I told you. I get no money.” She held her thumb and forefinger close together. “Sometimes only a little. They keep because I owe money for passport.”
“How much do you owe?”
Kami shrugged. “They no tell me.” She scoffed her displeasure. “Many months. Always say many more months.”
Aryssa leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Don’t do it anymore.”
Kami’s eyes widened with fright. “You no understand. They will kill my mother. Make my sister do this.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “They know where they live. Show me pictures to prove it.” A lengthy pause. “Weeks ago someone try to quit. Try to walk out.” Worry glazed her tone. “You know what happen to her?”
Aryssa silently shook her head.
“They took her in room and beat her.” Kami shivered. “Beat her until she cry no more.” An uneasy silence lasted several heartbeats. “Never see her again.”
Dread tingled along Aryssa’s skin. Her body went numb with fright. She pulled her knees into her chest. Was this her fate, too? Gestured at the other women in the room. “Do you know them?”
“No,” Kami answered. “Never see them before.” Took a deep breath. “We come in the night. I get here first. They come later. Could be first time…I don’t know.”
The woman, who had tattoos running the length of her arm, shuffled her body across her mattress. Aryssa smiled at her. “Where did you come…?”
A large man burst through one of the doors near the far corner of the room. Aryssa recognized him as one of the bouncers from the club. Couldn’t pull his name from the files of her memory. Did it matter? He strode to the middle of the room. “You all are going to a party tonight,” he said in his thick voice. “You’re expected to dress like you’re going out. You know, like clubbing. Do you understand what I’m telling you?” He glared at each of the girls. When he reached Aryssa, his eyes grew cold. “That means each and every one of you. We leave in a couple of hours.”
“Clothes. We need clothes,” said a short-haired brunette who looked like she might be a few months past her twentieth birthday.
The bouncer pointed to the closet. “Dresses and shoes are in there.” Chopped his hand downward. “No flats. Everyone must wear heels. Panties and bras are in that dresser. Makeup is on the table.” Gestured at a filth-stained door, adding, “Showers are in there. Make yourselves extra clean. And I mean extra clean.” He jabbed his thick finger at the women. “You’re going to the Cad. If you don’t know the place, you will.” He articulated his words to weigh them with significance. “There’ll be important people where you’re going. Don’t screw it up by being unkempt. They’re expecting a lot and paying for it.”
“Am I getting some of it?” asked the young woman who looked like she might be a teenager.
“Some of what?” the bouncer retorted bluntly.
“Money,” the teen said, somewhat defiantly. “If they’re paying more, I deserve more.”
The bouncer folded his arms over his chest. “That’s not how this works.”
“Some of us have traveled through the night.” The woman stifled her yawn behind closed lips. “I, for one, could use a night off.” She gestured around the room. “I’m sure they could use some rest, too.”
“Did you not hear what I just said?” the bouncer questioned sarcastically.
The young woman ran her hand through her hair. “I heard you loud and clear. It’s just that we were made to stay awake. We’ve barely rested and now you want us to ready ourselves for some important people.”
The bouncer’s brows furrowed. “And your point?”
“You want us to do all these extra things and yet we see none of the rewards.”
“And you won’t if you keep running your mouth.”
The teen stood up off her mattress. “None of this is what you promised.”
The bouncer’s eyes narrowed. “Take it up with customer complaints. Until then, you will get ready for tonight’s festivities.”
The teen cocked her hip. “No. I want what I work for.”
“Or what?”
“I won’t go to this party of yours.”
“Oh, really?”
The teen nodded. “Yes, really.”
Anxiety plunged its chilled hand into Aryssa’s chest and squeezed her lungs. Nothing good was coming out of that argument. She started to lift her arm to prevent the teen from saying anything else, but Kami nudged it down. “Don’t. It will be bad for you, too.”
The bouncer stepped close to the teen. Pointed at the showers. “Get your ass in there and get ready.”
“No, not until I get some guarantees,” the teen said with determination.
“The only guarantee is the one that says you will do as I say!” The bouncer grabbed her by the arm and thrust her toward the filthy door.
“Let go!” The teen tried to wrangle her arm free. “Let go of me!”
“Not until you do as I say” The bouncer forcefully pulled her across the room.
“Get off of me.” The teen dug her heels into the floor. She staggered against the overbearing strength of the bouncer. “I’m not doing a damn…” She raised her hand. Slap!
The bouncer touched his cheek. His stunned look morphed into anger. Face reddened like a demon. Lips snarled. “You bitch!” His fist became a battering ram.
Bam! The teen’s head snapped sideways. Agony burst from her lungs. She flew through the air and tumbled across the floor.
Several of the women gaped in horror. One screamed. Another gasped with fright.
“Don’t you ever, and I mean ever, do that again!” the bouncer commanded. “That goes for each and every one of you.”
The teen landed a short distance from Aryssa’s feet. Aryssa started to reach out to her, but hesitated. The teen struggled for a breath. Torso heaved. Bloody drool dangled from her lip.
Two other large men entered the room. Neither of them looked familiar to Aryssa.
“What the hell happened?” the one wearing a dark shirt questioned.
“Wouldn’t do what I told her,” the bouncer stated. “She had to pay the price for her disrespect.”
The other man walked over to the teen. “Oh man, you really messed her up.” A gesture toward her face. “Damn, that lip is all jacked up. She can’t go out looking like that.”
The teen tried to shake it off. Grunted several times to try to ease the pain. More drool oozed from her mouth. She spat a wad of bloody mucous onto the floor.
“Not my fault,” the bouncer reiterated. His voice grew firmer. “The rest of you will have to work harder to fill in for her.” Huffed his irritation. “This is what you get for disobeying what you’re told to do. Remember that for the next time.”
Filaments of fear bound every woman in the room. Kami cowed. Several others buried their heads into their knees. Someone pouted. Aryssa tightened her arms and legs to prevent them from trembling.
The bouncer thrust his arm toward the teen. “Tie that bitch up.”
The other two men nodded their understanding, dragged the teen by her arms and threw her onto a mattress. Handcuffs were shackled to her wrists. The head bouncer flung a thick chain that hit the ground with a serpentine thunk.
Aryssa looked away. Stared at her feet as the two men chained the teen to the hooks embedded into the wall and floor. There was somethi
ng near the tips of her shoes. Something that caught Aryssa’s eye. Something in the teen’s bloody ball of spit. Something white. Could it be…?
There was no time for second-guessing. No time to get queasy over a wad of bloody phlegm. She quietly leaned forward and pulled the tooth toward her. Tucked it under the edge of her mattress.
The men snapped the locks around the young woman’s ankles. “She isn’t going anywhere,” the one in the black shirt said.
“Serves her right.” The bouncer kicked the edge of her mattress. “The rest of you get yourselves ready.”
“You heard him.” The black-shirted man clapped. “Get a move on.”
One by one the women began to make their way to the closet. Some toward the showers. Aryssa studied the chairs at the makeup counter—more particularly their metal legs. Could she use it to crush the tooth? Would the one tooth be enough?
25
“Mommy!” Mackenzie burst over the threshold and sprinted across the room.
“Mom!” Zoe wasn’t too far behind.
The lightning of euphoria zipped through Mary. Her heart overflowed with gratitude. With love. They were alive. Safe. “My babies!” she said with joy.
The two girls ran to either side of the bed. A nearby nurse reached out. “Go easy on your mom.”
Mackenzie was oblivious to the warning. She hopped onto the bed and threw her arms around Mary. “Mommy!”
Zoe was a little more cautious. She gently laid her head against Mary’s shoulder.
Mary flinched from the pain. Clenched her teeth. She fought back the tender ache that sent pins and needles churning down her extremity before she gingerly caressed Zoe’s arm.
“Are you okay?” Mackenzie questioned with concern.
“I’m better now that you and Zoe are here.”
Mackenzie tapped the plastic collar. “What’s this for?”
“It protects my neck.”
“Why?” Zoe ran her fingers across it. “What’s wrong with your neck?”
Mary hesitated. Did she want to bring up everything that had happened, so quickly?
“What happened to it, Mommy?” Mackenzie’s brows arched with fright.
“I hurt it during…during…you know, during the fire.”
Mackenzie gasped. “Can you move your arms and legs?”
“Of course I can,” Mary said reassuringly.
“Are you sure?” Mackenzie dared not move. “I heard that you can’t move your arms and legs if you hurt your neck.”
“She can move them,” Zoe commented.
“How do you know?” Mackenzie glared at Zoe. “She could be stuck this way for the rest of her life.”
“No, she couldn’t.”
“Yes, she could,” Mackenzie countered. “I heard it.”
“Where?”
“I just heard it and I know it’s true.”
Zoe pinched Mary’s arm. “Can you feel that?”
“Ouch.” Mary recoiled. “Yes.” She fluttered her legs. Lifted the arm that had just been pinched. She tried to reposition her other arm, but the sling prevented any movement. Instead, she wiggled her fingers. “See, they all work.”
“Oh,” Mackenzie responded with relief. “Why didn’t you say so?”
Smiles creased the faces of the doctors, nurses and police officers standing in the room.
“I tried, but…” Mary sighed. For once their argument was joyful music to her ears. She could feel her lips curl from her smile. “I’m so happy to see you both. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Mommy,” Mackenzie said.
“Me too,” Zoe chimed.
Mary studied Mackenzie’s complexion with motherly concern. Then Zoe’s cheeks and eyes. “What happened to your faces?”
Mackenzie shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t remember,” Mackenzie answered. “It’s kind of fuzzy.”
“Yeah,” Zoe agreed. “It’s like a dream. Especially everything that happened after we left her house.”
Was this the right time to delve into it? Mary looked over at the detective. Cocked her head in uncertainty. The detective readily tipped his chin to express his approval.
A snippet of the conversation she had with him before the girls entered the room echoed in Mary’s mind.
“Are you sure this is the right time to bring it up?” Mary had asked with concern. “I mean, I don’t want to traumatize them any more than they might already be.”
“That’s a concern,” the detective had answered. “But the doctors have assured me that they’ve recovered with amazing speed.”
A doctor wearing light-blue scrubs had laid his hand on the head of Mary’s bed. “Kids are resilient. Yours are amazing.”
Mary had grinned with gratitude. “And you think they’ll be okay reliving those memories?”
The doctor had nodded. “I do. They’ve shown a willingness to talk, but what they’re saying is kind of confusing.”
“Confusing?” Mary had asked.
“It’s my experience that the sooner you can get someone talking, the less clouded the details will be. Unfortunately, we’re a couple of days behind the ball, so if we allow Mackenzie and Zoe to…”
Mary shook away the memory. “Whose house?” she asked Zoe.
Zoe rubbed her cheek. “Umm, I don’t remember.” She glanced at Mackenzie. Uncertainty arched her brows. “Do you know her name?”
Mackenzie opened her mouth and held up a finger. Her arm dropped to her side. “I…I don’t remember.”
Mary cautiously spoke. “Was this the same woman who helped me fight off that man?”
“Yep.” The shimmer in Zoe’s eyes brightened. “She’s the one who got us out of the house.”
Mackenzie nodded enthusiastically. “It’s true.” She rolled onto her knees. “She took us to her home.”
“Her home?” Mary blinked. “Do you know her?”
“Of course, Mommy,” Mackenzie answered. “Everyone knows her.”
“But, I don’t think that I do.”
“Yes, you do,” Zoe said.
“I do? Are you sure?” Mary asked doubtfully.
“Very,” Zoe countered. “She’s the tooth fairy.”
“Yeah, Mommy, the tooth fairy.” Mackenzie bobbed up and down on the bed.
Mary bit her lip with uncertainty. “The tooth fairy?”
“Yes, the tooth fairy.” Mackenzie confirmed again.
“Umm…” Mary paused. Had those drugs messed with their memory? Had Mackenzie and Zoe been brainwashed? The detective used a hand gesture to encourage Mary to continue. “How do you know she was the tooth fairy?”
Zoe pointed to the gap in her mouth. “She had my tooth.” Closed her lips and licked them. “She had a whole bunch of them in a purple bag.”
Repulsion trembled through Mary. “An entire bag of teeth?”
“Yep,” Mackenzie confirmed.
“What was she doing with so many?”
Zoe shrugged. “I don’t know; she’s the tooth fairy.”
“What else is the tooth fairy supposed to have?” Mackenzie leaned to her side. “That’s why she’s the tooth fairy.”
Mary silently sighed. “What did she look like?”
“She was nice,” Mackenzie said. “And pretty.”
“Yeah, her friend thought so, too,” Zoe added.
Mackenzie giggled. “He likes her, I could tell.”
“I know,” Zoe chuckled like a schoolgirl that had a secret. “I think she likes him, too. They’re both too scared to tell each other.”
Mary held Zoe’s hand. “Was this friend of hers nice to you?”
Mackenzie nodded enthusiastically. “Very. He helped when she tried to bring us to the hospital.”
Zoe yawned. “It was so early; the sun wasn’t even up yet.”
“I don’t like getting up that early,” Mackenzie said.
“They tried bringing you to the hospital?” Mary shifted uneasily.
“Did they hurt you or something?”
“No Mommy, we weren’t hurt,” Mackenzie answered. “They were trying to get us to you.”
“That’s when those men in the car came up and…and…” Zoe’s voice trailed off.
“And what?” Mary encouraged.
Zoe sniffled. Wiped her eye. “They grabbed me and Mackenzie. And…and…it’s all kind of fuzzy after that.”
“Is that when you got hurt?” Mary’s body stiffened with maternal protectiveness. “Did those men hurt you?”
“I don’t know,” Zoe said.
“They hurt the tooth fairy,” Mackenzie chimed in. She rubbed her forehead as if trying to loosen a piece of her memory. “I think…I think…they punched her and then took us.”
Mary did her best to calm the distress that infiltrated her tone. “What did those men look like?”
Zoe squinted. “I don’t remember.”
“Me neither,” Mackenzie said.
“Where was that friend of hers?” Mary asked more pointedly than she’d intended. “You said he was with you.”
Mackenzie thumbed over her shoulder. “He was waiting in the car.”
Mary exhaled sharply as she looked up at the ceiling in frustration. “I don’t understand,” she mumbled. What had happened to her daughters? Who was this woman who claimed to be the tooth fairy? Why were they kidnapped? “What did they want?”
“They wanted this, Mommy.” Zoe reached into her pocket and pulled out a coin.
“We each got one,” Mackenzie pulled out hers.
Someone gasped. The detective stepped forward to get a better look.
Mary gingerly pinched Zoe’s coin between her fingers. “Where did this come from?”
“My animal bank,” Zoe answered.
“Mine didn’t have any,” Mackenzie said. “Only Zoe’s had them.”
“Animal bank?” Mary asked curiously.
“Yeah, Mommy,” Mackenzie confirmed. “The ones we bought with our own money, remember?”
The trauma from being hurled through the window had thrown Mary’s memory into disarray. “I think so,” she answered doubtfully. She paused to collect her thoughts. “Whose coins are these?
“He gave them to us,” Mackenzie said. “He needed to keep the rest.”
“You mean these belong to the tooth fairy’s friend?”