Total pages in book: 206
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
I shook my head.
“You love this man? He kind to you?”
I didn’t know what the right answer was. I didn’t even know if Tommy was alive. I tried not to give anything away. Before I had a chance to respond he continued,
“If he does not come for you, I’m sure we can find someone to be kind to you. Or for you to be kind to?” He gave me a smile. He had a gold eye tooth. This felt like something right out of a movie. A Spanish man with gold teeth and broken English? Was I in a freaking Tarantino movie?
Okay… so Tommy couldn’t be dead.
I didn’t know if I felt relief. I thought I might, but I couldn’t exactly reconcile the emotions swirling around in me right now. I couldn’t process much. I felt sick.
“You don’t speak? I know you must be afraid. You have nothing to fear, provided you don’t give me any trouble. I have had a room prepared for you. We will speak later. Either your fiancé will come for you or we will talk again about, ah, options.” He stepped to me and tipped my chin up and then touched my face. I winced. Tears were threatening but I held them back.
“So beautiful.” he said. “I don’t know if I’d sell you or maybe keep you for myself.” His hand trailed down to a breast and he cupped it.
I felt bile rise up in my throat and remained stiff.
He sighed and let go.
“Flora!” he shouted.
A different older woman in a standard black and white maid’s uniform came in. She motioned for me to follow and took me to the basement of the house. It was an unfinished basement and it was dingy and dirty, unlike the main floor of the house. When she opened a door and led me in, I felt sick at the sight. This room was decorated. Finished. It was decorated for a little kid. A little girl, more accurately. Pink single canopy bed, rocking chair filled with dolls and stuffed animals, and a tiny adjoining bathroom. She said nothing to me, just led me in and closed the door and locked it. I noticed a mounted camera pointed at the bed in the corner where the wall met the ceiling.
I sat on the bed, feeling numb for a while, until my bladder nudged so I went into the bathroom and saw that there was a camera in this room, too. Oh man, how could I use the bathroom with a camera pointed at me? The bathroom had baby shampoo, child’s Disney character toothpaste and soap. It was weird. No, sickening.
I walked back to the bedroom deciding to hold it as long as I had to. It didn’t last long before I had no choice but to go. At least I’d been wearing a dress so I could try to keep myself covered. I tried not to look at the camera. I tried not to think about what this room might be for. But, I knew. I swallowed back the bile that rose in my throat.
I looked down at my dress. This was one of my favorite dresses, a black and white checkered dress with a red collar and belt. It was filthy and ripped at the hem.
Funny that I was upset about a dress right now. Maybe that’s all I could let myself focus on. If I focused on what was really going on here, I might not be able to handle it.
What felt like several hours later, the door opened and Flora had a tray that she left on the floor. She backed out and the lock twisted. I sat on the bed and ate a little bit of too-spicy rice, beans, and fish and drank the bottled water she’d left. There were two other bottles there for me so I supposed that might be it until tomorrow. I wasn’t wearing a watch, and this room had no windows. I guessed it was nighttime by now, but I wasn’t sure. I made myself eat so I could keep my strength, then I decided to try to sleep.
I prayed and prayed hard asking God to deliver me from the nightmare that was my life. I prayed that He would also keep the ones I cared about safe.
Later, much later, I didn’t know how long I’d been here, I started to hope that Tommy would rescue me. Better the evil you know than the evil you don’t. Even if I had to be his wife, even if I had to be his sex slave, it was back home and if I played my cards right maybe I could maybe have somewhat of a normal life some of the time. Maybe I could see my friends sometimes. Maybe I could figure out how to keep him sweet or at least not piss him off.