C Box - Below Zero

The tall man continued to look her over. He walked around her, appraising.

“We can do business,” the man said to Ed.

Ed let out his breath, obviously relieved. He turned to her and bent forward, lightly grasping her arms, and stared into her eyes.

“You’re going to be staying here for a little while, do you understand?”

She nodded.

“We’re doing this to protect you,” Ed lied. “Mary Ann was going to send you back to the agency anyway. She feels threatened by you-she told me that a bunch of times. She doesn’t like the way you look at her. This is for you. Do you understand? This way you can make some money and go on with your life.”

She nodded.

“If anyone asks, you ran away,” Ed said. “That’s what we’ll say, too. Do you understand? We’ll even file a report with the agency people and the police to make it official.”

She nodded.

“So don’t even think of turning yourself in,” Ed said, showing his yellow teeth. “Don’t forget, we still have that special ‘sister’ of yours. You wouldn’t want any harm to come to her, would you? Like sending her back so you’d never find her again? You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

“No.

“Well, neither would I, kiddo.”

Ed left her standing there in her dress and sandals while he and the tall man went through a door behind the desk. In a few moments, Ed came back out patting his breast through his jacket, as if he’d just put something there. She saw the corner of a thick white envelope as he passed by her. He said, “Take care of yourself, kid,” and left.

“What’s your name?” the tall man asked after the door closed and Ed went home with his pile of money.

She couldn’t bring herself to speak. Her legs felt weak and her mouth was dry.

“Can’t you talk?” the man asked her.

“Yes.”

“Then what’s your name? Don’t worry, we can always change it.”

She refused to say the name Voricek, or use the name they’d called her.

“April Keeley,” she said.

“Nice,” the tall man said. “And you’re what, eighteen?”

She was confused. “No, I’m…”

The man stepped forward shaking his head. “You’re eighteen,” he said with finality. “You just look younger. You have nice legs for your age, you know. And a good face. You need a manicure, though. We’ll take care of that, don’t worry.”

She quickly hid her hands behind her back.

“That’s a good look,” the tall man said, “it makes your breasts stand out and makes you look all innocent.” Then he chuckled and put his arm around her shoulders.

“We’ll take good care of you here,” he said. “We take good care of our girls. Ask them if you don’t believe me. You’ll be part of the family. And we take care of our family.”

A door on the far wall opened and a man came out, adjusting his tie. He was heavy and his face was flushed. When he saw her, he stopped and looked her over.

The tall man said, “How was everything, Mr. Davis?”

Mr. Davis said, “Fantastic, Geno. Great as always. And who is this fresh-faced young flower?”

“Meet April Keeley,” Geno said to Davis. “She’s just joined the family.”

Davis said, “Welcome aboard, April.” Then to Geno, “They just keep getting younger, don’t they?”

FOR THE FIRST WEEK, she lived with the women in their rooms upstairs, which were nothing like the rooms down the hall from the reception area. Upstairs, the sleeping rooms were cozy, messy, personal, and feminine. There were posters of rock and rap bands on the walls and stuffed animals on the beds. During the daytime, they were a kind of family. They cooked for each other, went shopping, gossiped. Two of the women took a particular liking to her and bought her clothing and ice cream. One of them, a beautiful tan/black woman named Shawanna, did her hair and nails and told her to insist on protection no matter what and to never back down on that despite what the man said or offered or threatened.

“You’re a sex worker,” she told her, “you’re not a whore.”

Geno took fully clothed photos of her for the Internet site. He told her to wet her lips like Ed had and to pout and to pretend she was hungry. Shawanna urged her on, and the photo session was kind of fun as long as she didn’t think ahead to how the photos might be used.

On the night of her debut-they called it her “debutante ball”-she wore a tight maroon dress and new high heels and she followed Shawanna out into the reception area with four other girls when the buzzer rang. She wondered if she would be chosen. They emerged to find a man squaring off with Geno. Shawanna whispered to her that the man was called Stenko. “He’s a big man,” Shawanna said. “He’s one of the owners of this place.”

The six girls were to lounge in the chairs and couch, see if Stenko was interested, let things develop from there. She stuck close to Shawanna. But Stenko barely looked at any of them.

Stenko said to Geno, “Why did you call them out? I didn’t ask to see them.” He sounded exasperated.

“I thought it might be a nice distraction,” Geno said. There was a line of sweat that showed through his mustache. “I thought we could have our discussion afterward, when you’re more relaxed.”

Stenko was obviously worked up about something. His movements were stiff but sudden. His eyes darted around the room. At first, she was scared of him. He was big, his hands were huge, and his face was wide and fleshy. He kept running his hand back through his thin hair in an angry way.

Stenko said to Geno, “I don’t need to be relaxed. I want to cash out. I told you that, and I told the Carriciolis that. That is the only reason I’m here, Geno.”

Geno looked nervous. She hadn’t known him long, but she’d never seen him so pale, so furtive. Geno said, “Have a drink, relax. You look pretty good, Stenko. When I heard you were sick, I expected you’d look, you know, sick.”

“I’m on meds,” Stenko said, “and some days are better than others. But no matter what day it is, I can kick your skinny ass out that window if you don’t cash me out of this operation.” When he said it he gestured toward the girls without looking at them.

“I can’t, Stenko,” Geno said softly.

She could tell that the other girls were getting tense. There were no false smiles or purring, just quickly exchanged glances back and forth. She saw Shawanna mouth, “Oh my God.”

Stenko said to Geno, “What do you mean you can’t? I have an investment in this operation. I want it back. I’m not asking for principal plus profit, which is my due. I just want the principal back. Now.”

Geno shook his head. “Stenko, you know what’s going on. The feds are on us, too. We’re not liquid right now. You know that.”

Stenko said nothing, but his rage was building. It was as if he were getting larger. His presence seemed to fill the room, dominate it. She watched him clench and unclench his fists and stare down Geno. His stillness was more frightening than his words earlier.

Geno said, “What about your guy? The accountant? Is it true what I heard about him taking your money and the Talich Brothers and hitting the road? Maybe you should be going after him instead of trying to shake me down.”

Stenko just stood there, swelling in size. She found herself pressing back further into the couch. She thought, Shut up, Geno. Can’t you see you’re making him even angrier?

“Get them out of here,” Stenko said through clenched teeth.

The girls didn’t wait to hear from Geno. They were up and rushing the door they had came through, stiletto heels snapping on the hardwood floor like castanets. Shawanna reached back and pulled her up by the hand, said, “Let’s git, April.”