by Rose Perry
Barbara fell silent. She knew her illness was causing her daughter a lot of stress and she wished there was something she could do to ease the pressure. Each day she got weaker and nauseous. The insurance was about to run out and what little savings she had was already used up for medication.
What made it worse was that lately she was in constant pain. She decided that Janet was going through enough and she made the doctor promise not to say anything. It was something she felt she needed to deal with because her daughter already had enough on her plate without having to worry about her in pain.
Janet was also considering selling the tiny house they occupied, just in case they didn’t get the loan. It was just a little bigger than a trailer, but they could maybe get the entire fifty thousand for it. While her mom was in Canada, she would stay with Sara and save up for a small apartment for when her mother got home. She didn’t mention selling the house to her mother because she didn’t want to upset her.
It reached the point where Barbara could hardly get out of bed. She was looking frail and her baby-like skin started to wrinkle. She wasn’t producing enough red blood cells and appeared quite pale and somewhat ashen. She was in pain most of the time and when she wasn’t, she was drowsy from the pain medication.
There were times when nothing stayed down or she was too weak to eat. Janet struggled to come to terms with what may turn out to be inevitable. Somehow she refused to accept defeat and determined to save her mother’s life, even if it meant taking a job she abhorred.
Someone told her that there was a place she could earn huge tips but she wasn’t much of a dancer and the job entailed taking her clothes off in front of a bunch of horny men. She thought that maybe she would check it out and see for herself.
Before they finished their conversation, her mother fell asleep. She stayed a while, just lying beside her mom, trying to give her strength. She left the hospital that night with a heavy weight on her shoulders.
CHAPTER TWO
It was Saturday and she had the day off. Her plan was to clean the entire house before visiting her mother. Janet was going crazy. She’s researched every possible way to get the money for treatment and came up empty. The job in the strip club was looking more and more enticing, but she held off, hoping to find a different way.
No matter how many shifts she worked or how many tables she waited, it would still not be enough for the treatment. Her meeting earlier that week with the bank didn’t go so well. The house was basically falling apart and they refused her a loan. The realtor said it would be near impossible get the house sold, not in that neighborhood anyway. In addition, the house needed extensive repairs before she could even consider selling it.
While cleaning, she made notes of things she could do to make the house look better. Replacing the shingles would make the roof look new; changing the light fixtures and splashing some paint on would add character to the place. It would cost her some money to do it, but it was doable.
She was clearing her desk drawer and thinking about the repairs when he eyes caught something. She’d totally forgotten it was there. Janet picked up the white and gold plastic business card and ran her fingers over the words, which were embossed. The letters felt good under the fingers and she ran them over the words again.
It was a business card she had gotten from a patron at the diner. The woman had come in and sat quietly, looking around the place as if she’d lost something. Sara was busy with another table and even though it was her break time, she’d taken the order.
“Hello, may I take your order?” She had said.
The woman looked at her for a long time before replying. “You are such a beautiful young woman.”
“Thank you,” she beamed. “Would you like to order now?” Janet asked, again.
“Will you bring me coffee and a slice of you best pie?” she replied without looking at the menu.
When the woman left, Janet found a big tip beside the bill. She was back the next day and left another hundred-dollar tip. Janet was curious about her and inquired of her what she did. The woman smiled and handed her a card.
“I run a ‘modeling’ agency,” she replied with a wink.
Janet surmised that this wasn’t an ordinary modeling agency but rather an exclusive club of some sort.
“If you ever need to make some real cash, call me,” the woman had said when she handed her a card.
It was made of plastic with red and gold embossed letters. On the card were the words “Intrigue” at the top and “Modeling Agency” at the subtitle position. Her name and address were in the lower right-hand corner.
Janet registered the name Lilith Hamilton and noted that the address was in the metropolitan area of New York City. She had pocketed the card out of politeness but had no intention of using it.
For one reason, she could not leave her mother and the next reason was that escorting was akin to prostitution, just that it was more discreet. She had no desire to trade herself like that so when she got home that night she dumped the card in the desk drawer and forgot about it.
She ran her fingers over the card absently once more, remembering the last time Lilith was at the diner. Janet believed she had been scouting for new ‘models’ at the time. The last tip was well over three hundred dollars and Sara almost went bonkers.
“Who tipped you this time?” she had asked.
Jane motioned her head towards the woman sitting at table two. She wore a white skirt suit, brown hair brushed back into a bun and expertly applied make-up. Sara nudged her and they giggled, “What did you serve her?”
Staring at the woman, Jane could not help noticing the way her hips swayed as she left the table. The woman headed towards the restroom and their eyes followed her. Her clothes looked really expensive, Jane thought.
“She’s so--so--,” Sara stuttered.
“Sophisticated?” Jane offered.
“Yes!” Sara agreed.
Lilith was indeed beautiful. Her soft brown eyes smiled at Jane as she passed the counter where the girls were. It was her lips which betrayed a hardness that contrasted with her flawless face. Before she left Lilith gave one more plea for Janet to consider coming to join her ‘agency’ in New York.
“Just think about it,” she said before disappearing through the diner door.
Janet was one of the diner’s best servers, but it was rare that anyone left such a great tip. It was three months since Lilith came into the diner and Janet wondered if she would remember her. For a fleeting moment she thought of calling the number but instead, dropped the card in a drawer. She didn’t know why she saved it but being an escort was not how she intended to support her mother.
After her cleaning, she went to pick up some groceries and fruits for her mother. Barbara was on a strict diet so she had to be careful what she bought. She was opening the front door, groceries in both hands when the phone started ringing.
Hurrying to get the bags inside, she tripped and almost fell, “God damn it!” She’d stubbed her toe on the side of the sofa.
It was the house phone and nobody called that except for the hospital. She hopped towards the phone on one leg, nursing her other big toe. Her heart started beating wildly in her chest and she had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself. Inhaling deeply she held her breath for the count of three then expelled it before picking up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Miss Burns?”
“Yes,” she replied. Her voice sounded shallow to her.
“It’s about your mother. She asked that you come to the hospital, it’s urgent.”
“Is she okay?” She asked the nurse.
“I’m not able to answer that. I think you should come quickly.” The nurse politely hung up, leaving Janet feeling weak in the knees.
Leaving the grocery bags on the counter, she made a mad dash for the door. There were many thoughts gathering in her head. Had her mother taken a turn for the worse? Or more than that, is she… Janet could not finish the thought.
She refused to let her mind get that far.
Stubbed toe forgotten, she was out the door and about to get in the beat up old Corolla her mother used to drive when Sara showed up. She took one look at Janet’s face and knew something was wrong.
“What’s going?’ she inquired.
Janet sighed, “The hospital called. I’ve got to go.”
“Let me drive. I don’t think you should be driving around in that state.”
“I’m okay,” she insisted but Sara was not convinced. Sara took the keys from her hand and she reluctantly got into the passenger seat.
All the way to the hospital she kept wringing her hands. Sara stole an occasional glance at her but said nothing. Janet did not tell her what the hospital said and she never asked. She thought it best she waited until she got there to hear what was going on.
Janet got out at the hospital entrance and ran all the way up the stairs to the floor her mother was on. She didn’t stop until she was in her mother’s room where the woman was propped up on the bed, half asleep.
As soon as she entered the room her mother opened her eyes. For a moment, she hesitated before breathing a sigh of relief. “Mom!”
“Come baby,” Barbara beckoned. “We need to talk.”
“What’s wrong?” She asked.
There was a soft knock at the door and both mother and daughter turned to see Sara’s head popping around the door.
“Sara, come,” Barbara called.
The young woman walked over to the bed and kissed the older woman on her cheek, “Hi Mrs. Burns, sorry I haven’t come before.”
“Don’t worry about that, you’re here now. Sit,” Barbara replied, motioning to the chair beside the bed.
There was silence in the room for a few minutes and then Barbara took hold of Janet’s hand. She could feel a slight tremor in her mother’s hand and she held it tightly. Her heart started beating heavily as she anticipated what her mother was trying to say. She knew it wasn’t good news from the seriousness in her eyes.
“Jan,” Barbara started. “There’s nothing more they can do for me here.”
“You can’t give up hope mom,” she sought to reassure her mother.
“Listen to me. The insurance ran out.”
“I’ll work and pay for the meds, mom. I’ll talk to the---,” Barbara interrupted her.
“You will do no such thing. Do you know how expensive it would be to keep me here?”
“But mom---.”
“I want to go home, to New Jersey,” the older woman announced.
Confusion etched on Janet’s face. “What are you talking about mom? I don’t understand.”
“I don’t want to die here. I want to die in the house I grew up in,” Barbara told her daughter.
A large part of her felt selfish for telling her daughter such things, knowing how hard Janet was working to make things better, but she didn’t want to burden her any longer. She had worked it all out. Her friend Mary was willing to come with her. That would give Janet her freedom. She just had enough money left to live on for another couple of months. At the rate the disease was progressing she doubted she had that long.
“Mom, who will take care of you? You can’t go there alone. I’ll come with you then.”
“No, you stay here.”
“Mom.”
“Mary is coming with me. She offered to come with me and stay with me.”
Janet was getting upset. How could her mother do this? “Mom, I don’t want you to go. I want to take care of you,” she pleaded. They were still holding each other’s hands and tears formed in the corner of her eyes. “You’re not going mom, either that or I come with you,” the last statement was made firmly.
Janet stood to her feet and wiped the tears that had trickled down her cheek. All the while Sara sat listening, not saying anything. She walked to the window of the tiny hospital room. It was the first time she was noticing how small the space actually was.
It couldn’t be more than eight feet squared, maybe less. There was only space for the hospital bed, a small nightstand pushed into a corner and the chair, which Sara now occupied. There was hardly any space between the night table and the window. The closet was a tiny hole in the wall where her mother’s belongings were kept.
It was still light out and she could see over the hospital courtyard. There was an ambulance pulling in while several people were milling around. When she turned around her mother was looking at her expectantly.
“Don’t do anything just yet. Give me a couple days to sort something out. If I don’t come up with anything in a few days, then I’ll come with you to California.”
“What will you do?” Barbara asked her daughter.
“Don’t worry about it, mom. I have a few ideas.”
Sara also was wondering what Janet had on her mind. Was there something she wasn’t saying? Did she get the loan?
Sara noticed a difference in Janet as they walked out of the hospital and into the parking lot. Her shoulders were rigid and her jaw clenched tightly. Her eyes had a weird glow to them and her lips were set in a very tight line.
“Jan, what are you going to do?” Sara finally asked her.
“I don’t know yet. I have something in mind, but I have to check it out first, okay.”
Sara knew she wasn’t going to get anything else out of her so she let the subject drop. She was still worried that Janet might do something drastic to save her mother’s life. It crossed her mind that maybe she found her father and contacted him for help, but she knew Janet would have told her. Or would she? She began to wonder if there was something Janet was hiding that she could not tell her.
Janet dropped Sara off and headed home. She packed away the groceries, hoping the meat and milk hadn’t gone bad. The fruits she’d bought for her mother was still there. In her haste, she’d failed to take them from the grocery bag so she put them in the fridge. Maybe she would take them the next day.
She was exhausted and had little appetite. Though her stomach churned she doubted she could eat a morsel. She poured herself some orange juice and turned on the television, but quickly turned it off as the noise irritated her.
Downing the juice in one gulp she poured another, placed the glass in the kitchen sink and headed for the bedroom. The house had one bathroom sitting between two tiny bedrooms. A large room served as living and dining, with a small open kitchen separated by a counter.
The house was like a two bedroom apartment, no bigger. The furniture was worn and fading, but the house was kept neat and clean. She remembered her mother always saying that even though they were poor they were not slobs and cleanliness brought good luck.
At that very moment, Janet wished that luck would come her way. She knew that what she was about to do was risky but it was the only way. The only problem was making the first move. She would toughen up and take whatever she had to do. It wouldn’t be forever, just until she could make enough to pay for her mother’s treatment.
Slowly she pulled the drawer open and picked up the business card. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the telephone receiver and listened to the dial tone. “No!” she cried into the empty house and replaced the black receiver into its cradle.
She walked back to the fridge and poured a glass of cold water. She sipped the liquid and allowed it to cool her. The summer was upon them and it was more than ninety degrees out. There was no air-conditioning in the house so inside was a bit humid.
She took another gulp of the water and placed the gold glass to her cheeks, “I can do this!” she told herself.
Her temperature had more to do with her working herself into a frazzle than it had to do with the atmosphere. Her skin was flushed and had turned pink. She walked back to the room and picked up the phone once more where she quickly dialed the cellular number.
As a female voice answered she took a deep breath, “Hello, Intrigue.” The voice said. Janet had no idea what to say so she kept silent. The woman said hello once again.
“H
ello?” she finally replied.
“How may I help you?” Lilith asked over the phone.
“It’s Janet. I don’t know if you remember me? From the Diner in the Valley?”
“Yes, so you finally called,” Lilith sounded pleased. “So what can I do for you?”
“Can we talk somewhere?” she asked the woman.
“I can come to the diner---,” Lilith started to say.
“No, not the diner. Somewhere discreet.”
“Oh, I see. You want to talk,” she stressed the last word as if to imply that the talking meant something important. “Where is best for you?”
“There is a coffee shop near Memorial Hospital, can we meet there?”
“I know the place, how about tomorrow? Say three, will you be free?”
“Yes, I can get someone to cover for me for a couple hours,” Janet replied.
“Okay, see you then.” The conversation ended there and she plopped herself down on the bed and expelled a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
She took a shower and decided to fix herself something to eat. Though she had no appetite and her stomach had taken in some butterflies, she had to keep up her strength, at least for her mother’s sake.
She opened a can of meat sauce and boiled some pasta. It took her less than ten minutes to make her dinner. Added to her plate was some lettuce, tomatoes, Parmesan and dinner was served. She ate without tasting the food, but she did clean the plate. She put away the balance in the fridge for the next day’s dinner, had another glass of water and tidied the kitchen.
She stood in the tiny living room and envisioned fixing up the place, or getting something bigger. If she was going to do this might as well make it worth the while, she thought. At first, she thought that maybe working enough for her mother’s treatment was enough but she needed more.
Janet went to bed feeling quite calm. She’d made up her mind and there was no turning back. Well, she didn’t give herself room to even think about changing her mind. It was the only way to save her mother and maybe make some extra cash in the process.
She fell asleep wondering what escorts really did and if she could handle all that it entailed.