Heaven Sent

by Avelyn Paige

  Most days, Ricca and I get to work together. By the second night here, I realized why she comes home drunk every night. Every single man in this bar tries to buy her shot in hopes they can get into her pants after closing. Why refuse a good drink if they offer the expensive hooch as an incentive? She never says no. I, on the other hand, always say no. I don’t need to chance getting slipped a roofie and date raped. No thanks, not in the cards for me. I’ll stick to my glass of ice water Bobby keeps behind the bar for me. At least I don’t feel like I need to worry about him drugging me since his boyfriend would kick his ass for hitting on a woman.

  The part of this job that has disappointed me is that the man I drunkenly danced with hasn’t returned. I think deep down I was hoping that he would have been a regular here and that I would get the chance to not only see his face, but to catch his name. I’ve never had a man affect me like that before with just a single dance. It’s as if my body was already familiar with his without ever saying a word. Every time I hear a motorcycle pull up, my eyes excitedly watch the door, only to be disappointed when an overweight, geriatric biker walks through the door. Maybe he’ll come back some day but with the way my luck has been, I’ll never see him again.

  After dropping off the fries to a group of drunken frat boys, I saunter up to the bar and deposit myself in a seat. Tonight has been pretty slow and there’s no use checking on my two tables since they are so blitzed right now, I doubt they can find their own feet.

  “Tough night, princess?” Bobby asks while wiping down the bar.

  “Yeah, you could say that. Those frat boys have spent two hundred dollars in drinks tonight, but I can tell already they won’t be leaving me a damn tip.” I sigh and spin around on the bar stool to fully face Bobby. “Remind me why do I do this again?” I say, planting my face on top of my arms.

  “You need the money, D,” I hear Ricca say from behind me. She sits on the stool next to me and lays her head on Bobby’s nice clean bar. Swatting her off the freshly cleaned wood with a bar towel, Bobby slides two glasses in front of us.

  “I think it’s time to celebrate, ladies,” he says while pouring two shots of tequila and then one for himself. “Dani has made it three whole weeks in this shit hole and hasn’t stabbed anyone with a rusty fork. Cheers!” We all three laugh as we slurp down the shot. The heat from the tequila travels down into my stomach before I can even set my glass back onto the bar for Bobby to refill. He looks at me with an inquisitive look before pouring another.

  “Oh, definitely must be a bad night, Ricca. Dani’s having two shots of tequila.” He laughs before corking the bottle and setting it back under the bar. “No more for you tonight, princess. We don’t want you to lose focus on how to avoid Red while trying to grab your pay from the office.” Tipping back the shot, I flip Bobby off as I stalk back to my table to check on my customers one last time before he makes the last call announcement. Thankfully, they don’t stick around and the bar is finally empty fifteen minutes later.

  After I finish sweeping up my table area, I head back to the office. Creeping as quietly as I can, I peek around the corner to Red’s office. Thank fucking god, he’s not in here. Slipping into the room, I pick up the envelope on the desk with my name on it and quickly turn back to exit the room before Red gets back. Unfortunately, my plan fails because I run literally right into the pervert trying to escape.

  “Well now, Dani baby, looks like you were trying to give me the slip,” he utters as I quickly try to backpedal away from him, his hand sliding across my ass as I back away.

  “Oh, hi, Red,” I stammer, “Didn’t see you standing there.” The way his eyes are watching me sends uncomfortable chills down my spine. Waving my pay envelope in the air, I stuff it into my back pocket. “Well, I got my last week’s pay, so I better get out there, or Ricca may leave without me,” I say as I try to get around his figure looming in the door. His hot, smelly breath oozes down my chest as I attempt to squeeze past him. He rotates just as I am about to make it back into the hallway and away from him, pinning me to the door frame with his beer belly.

  “You know, Dani. You could be making much better money if you would agree to be my secretary,” he whispers, inches from my face. I try to turn my face away to avoid him but he grabs my chin, pulling it back to face him. “Your pretty face and nice ass is bringing in new customers for me left and right, but I don’t like sharing you with the world. Maybe I’ll just chain you to my desk instead of letting you waitress I think I’d like watching your sexy ass swaying around the office, helping me with the bar’s paperwork. Every boss needs a sexy play thing in his domain. You’d like being my baby doll, wouldn’t you, my beautiful Dani?” The idea repulses me just as much as the touch of him on my body does right now. He must notice the fear in my eyes because he lets out a hearty laugh.

  Shoving against him one last time, I break free of his grasp. I rush out the door and into the hall, hearing his laughter echo off the walls. “Remember my proposal, Dani. I’ll make it worth your while,” he yells before closing his office door. God, that man is a sick son-of-a-bitch.

  Making my way back out to the bar seating area, everyone but Kellen, the bouncer, has gone. I’ve never seen a man built as big as he is outside of a professional football field. He may look scary, but he’s the sweetest person I’ve ever met. Every night he waits for me to leave before locking up. “You ready to go, Miss Dani?” he says with his thick southern drawl. Nodding my head, he opens the bar door and walks outside with me.

  “Red didn’t hurt you, did he?”

  Kellen knows I don’t like Red or being anywhere near his presence after the first run-in I had with him a few days into my employment at the bar. Red got a little too handsy with me for Kellen’s liking, and he got me out of the situation before it got worse. He’s my savior when it comes to this place.

  “No, Kellen. He didn’t hurt me, but thank you for checking on me. Did Ricca go out to the Jeep already?” I ask, noticing I don’t see her standing around outside waiting for me.

  “No, Miss Dani. Someone came to pick her up. She wanted me to tell you that she left the keys under the floor mat of the Jeep and to go on home. She’ll get a ride back in the morning,” Kellen says as we near Ricca’s car. He opens the door for me and I feel around the floorboard for Ricca’s keys. I finally feel the cool metal of the keys and pull them out of their hiding spot under the mat, jiggling them towards Kellen.

  “Do you want me to follow you home?” Kellen politely asks.

  “You don’t have to do that, K. I’ll be fine! I know how to get myself home,” I reply as I step up into the Jeep and settle into the driver’s seat. Kellen shuts the door for me as I slip the seat-belt around my waist. Starting up the engine, I put the car into reverse.

  “Lock up when you get home, Dani,” Kellen yells over the noise of the engine. Nodding in agreement, I back the Jeep out of the spot and shove it into first gear, heading for the parking lot exit. I wave to the watchful Kellen as I pull into the street and head for home.

  Safely arriving at my apartment a few minutes later, I toss Ricca’s keys on the counter after locking the door. I wonder what the hell was going on that she couldn’t tell me where she was going. Pulling my pay envelope out of the back of my jeans, I count the cash and put half in my secret hiding spot behind a loose baseboard between my bed and the TV stand. The rest of the cash I deposit into my purse on the side table. I discovered my hidey hole after an extreme cleaning session after a particularly bad night of tequila vs. Dani. The tequila won that battle, and I spent four hours on my hands and knees scrubbing vomit stains out of the carpet.

  At first, I took to hiding my cash from Ricca because sometimes you just never know about a person’s true intentions until it’s too late, but now I hide it from her elusive boyfriend. I still find it odd that I have yet to meet the man she claims is the love of her life, but it’s not my prerogative to inquire about him. I’m not about to leave my cash lying around when he could stop by any
second. I’ve learned my lessons about trusting too soon. Cleveland is proof of that.

  Stripping off my work clothes and depositing them into the ever-growing pile of laundry by the door, I slip into a shirt and shorts and climb into bed. An hour or so later, I hear the door of the apartment open and think to myself, Ricca finally came home. Snuggling back into my pillow, I fall back asleep immediately.

  “Who the fuck are you?” a male voice screams as I am ripped from my bed and thrown onto the floor. I scramble to get my wits about me, but my attacker doesn’t wait for me to wake up fully.

  “I ain’t asking again, bitch. Who the fuck are you?” he shrieks. Before I can even reply, he presses a gun to my temple. “I’m still waiting for that name. I’ll give until the count of three to give me your name or I am going to pump this pretty fucking head of yours full of lead.” Clicking the trigger as he pulls back, I hear, “1…2…”

  “Dani!” I yell. “My name is Dani!”

  Feeling the gun pull away from my head, I feel like I can finally breathe again. What the hell is happening? Who is this guy? My vision is still blurry from being asleep but I can make out that his muscular, tanned arms are covered in tattoos. His jean-clad legs are muscular and huge.

  “Well, that wasn’t so hard, was it, Dani? Where’s Ricca? I know you know where that bitch is.”

  “I haven’t seen her since before I left work, asshole. She left me the Jeep and told the bouncer she had somewhere she needed to be,” I yell just before he kicks me in the stomach, knocking the air out of me.

  “That’s bullshit. You might try the truth this time. Where the hell is she, Dani?” he says, landing another blow to my midsection.

  “I don’t know!” I scream. “I saw her just before I left the bar. She didn’t take her car, so I just assumed she was with her boyfriend.”

  Kicking me a third time, I feel something inside me snap as a pain-laced scream rips from my throat. My hands fly to protect my blisteringly painful stomach since I’m pretty sure he just broke one of my ribs. “Well, seeing as how that title used to belong to me, I’m going to call bullshit.” He curses at me in Spanish, striking me with the butt of his gun.

  “I swear I don’t know where she is. Please stop kicking me. Please!” I cry.

  “Oh, baby girl,” he says, leaning down closer to me. “Please doesn’t work with a guy like me. If you think a few shots to your stomach is bad, just wait until we get you back to the clubhouse.” He calls out the door in Spanish and four more men walk into my bedroom. The men surround me while the man with the gun hauls me up from the ground by my hair. As he rips me from the floor, the pain from my stomach shoots up my torso. It limits me on my ability to fight back, but it’s not going to stop me. I flail my feet outward, hoping to connect to his groin, but I miss completely. One of the other men grabs me to restrain me further but I bite his hand as hard as I can while he tries to get ahold of my shoulder to pin me. Before I can move, a hand grabs me by the throat and squeezes it, cutting off my air supply and killing the fight in me.

  “You’re a feisty little bitch. I like that. Maybe there’s some use for you after all since you can’t seem to tell me the truth about where Ricca is hiding. If I can’t find her, I guess you’ll have to pay her debt,” he says with a sinister laugh.

  I fidget, trying to break free from his grasp before he chokes the life out of me. “I hope you like dick, baby girl, because you are about to become our newest whore. The guys will have fun breaking you in,” he says evilly, increasing the pressure on my throat. The room begins to blur and his laughter continues as darkness takes hold, then I pass out under his grip.

  The hum of an engine fills my ears as I slip back into consciousness before pain shocks me awake. With each jostle of the car, pain radiates across my stomach. I need to calm myself down before I pass back out from the pain. I won’t be taken prisoner by these bastards. My eyes finally adjust to my new surroundings only to discover I am lying on my back in the trunk of a moving car. I try to move my hands but they’re bound together tightly in a prayer position with duct tape.

  Shit, this isn’t good. How in the hell do I keep getting myself into these kinds of situations? It’s like bad karma has followed me everywhere since Cleveland. I rack my brain for ideas on how to get out of this when the car suddenly comes to a stop.

  I know my time is running short when I hear the doors slam shut and footsteps walking away from the car. I can hear them talking and can only make out bits of what they’re saying, but I think I hear one of them mention food. If they stop to eat, I might be able to escape while they’re gone.

  This might be my only chance before they bind me to a bed and make me their sex slave. I’d rather die before letting one of these fucking bastards touch me.

  While wiggling around in the car, I discover that they left my feet unbound. I thank God for small miracles or, in this case, their stupidity. I just need to contort myself enough to reach the trunk release. God, I just hope they haven’t removed it.

  Using my unbound feet as leverage, I shift to my side gently to avoid injuring my aching ribs any more than necessary. I feel around the dark compartment with my feet, hoping to find the string attached to the trunk release. Minutes pass by before I finally feel a piece of corded material in the corner by the trunk lid. Holy shit, I think to myself, I might actually be able to pull this off. Maneuvering the string between my toes on my left foot, I clench it tightly and start to pull. I can feel the cord trying to release the latch, but I need more pressure. Sliding my other foot on top of the string, I clamp down harder on the string and pull with all the energy I can muster. The string yanks back hard with my pulling force and I hear the latch click. Pushing up on the lid with the side of my right knee, the trunk slowly begins to open.

  I scoot as fast as I can to the edge of the trunk and peer out only to find that it’s pitch black outside, which is to my advantage because there will be fewer people on the streets to alert the kidnapping bastards inside of my escape. Seeing no one in my line of sight, I push the trunk lid higher and slip my legs over the edge of the trunk and onto the pavement. Gingerly lifting my upper body out of the trunk’s carpeted floor, I sit upright and slide out of the trunk. Closing the lid again with my bound hands, I jog away, trying to ignore the pain radiating from my stomach with every step. Broken glass and rocks dig into my bare feet as I make my way around a corner a few blocks away from the diner that the car was parked in front of. Crouching down behind what has to be the smelliest dumpster I’ve ever encountered, I lie in wait for my captors to drive off.

  Ten minutes later, my former prison roars to life and speeds past my hiding spot. While I lie in wait to make sure they don’t double back looking for me, I use a rusty and jagged edge of the old dumpster to cut the duct tape wrapped around my hands. I know from watching forensic shows with my step-dad that they can pull fingerprints from the sticky side of the tape so I stow the evidence into the waistband of my pajama shorts for safekeeping. Maybe I could use that to identify the bastards later.

  After fifteen minutes, I decide that they aren’t coming back so I push myself off of the dirty ground and make my way back to the street. Keeping to the shadows, I check out my surroundings. Fuck, this isn’t someplace I recognize, so I’m obviously not close to home. Just thinking about home sends a thick layer of fear settling over me. All my money is at home. Fuck! I can’t go back there since they are probably watching the place for Ricca, and I can’t exactly go to the police for help without shining a bright beacon on me screaming, “Here I am!” for my Cleveland demons. I am so fucking screwed right now. I don’t even know Kellen or Bobby’s number to help me get out of wherever I am.

  I wander the streets until I finally spot an abandoned house next to a salon. Looking through the boarded-up windows, I get the idea that no one has lived here in ages. Sliding between the wooden slats, I step into a dust-covered room. Just my luck, the place is unfurnished, but at least it’s off the street and seclude
d enough that no one will see me hiding in here.

  The rising sun illuminates the room just enough that I can maneuver the space without falling into a deep pit of doom, further expanding my exciting adventures tonight. Just as I determine that I will have to sleep on a dirty floor, I spot a cot propped up in the corner of the room. Looks like someone else used this old place as a sleeping place before me. Hopefully they don’t come back and find me poaching their territory.

  Sliding the cot from the wall, I set it up and use my foot to test its strength. It seems surprisingly sturdy. Scooting myself onto the rough canvas, I get as comfortable as I can. You have to rest, Dani, I coach myself. Just get some rest, then we’ll see how big of a fucking mess Ricca has gotten us into. The thought of my roommate has me seething with anger. She brought this on me. I was finally settling into life here as best as I could and yet again, someone rips it away from me thanks to Ricca. I’m so tired of running from the evil in this world. My life of hiding in the shadows has finally caused me to hit rock bottom now that I am homeless and broke. It’s at this moment I’ve truly realized how far from grace I’ve fallen. My mother would be so ashamed at what I have become. It’s probably a good thing she’s six feet under or she would realize how much of a colossal fuck up her daughter has become, just like she did. I guess the saying is right. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

  The thunderous sounds of explosions shake me awake. My body is frozen in place while I watch my brothers’ bodies erupt into flames, their hands outstretched toward me as they cry for help. Their scorched bodies pop and crackle from the intense heat as I try to escape the invisible bonds that bind me in place. The bright flash of another bomb blinds me as louder screams pour out of the fire-bombed area surrounding me. More inflamed bodies crawl toward me; their burning flesh burns my nostrils the closer they get. The smoke finally clears, and the faces of my brothers have changed to hers. Her beautiful, dark body is marred by slashes and holes while blood pours from her wounds. “Help me,” she cries as a man follows closely behind her as she runs toward me. She stretches out her hand to me. Just before she can grip it, the man jerks her back. His maniacal smile beams as he runs a knife across her throat, sending blood spurting everywhere. She falls to her knees, staring at me while the blood pours out of her body like a fountain. “You didn’t save me, Hero. You failed me,” she whispers as he pumps a bullet into her head.