Ila And The Phoenix

The RLD

Chuffing hell!

That was my first and only thought as I scurried down the street and past a succession of streetlights in a bid to arrive my destination before it began to snow heavily again. The tarred road was already half covered in snow and so it made scurrying seem pointless as well as ridiculous.

Nonetheless, scurry I did.

From the distance I could hear music and sighted a diminishing crowd about a stone throwaway. Of course I knew the reason behind such a gathering in the late hours of night.

There was a big party! As a matter of fact there rarely ever was not one.

I dragged the collar of my fur coat closer to my neck as I approached the three storey hotel building flecked with lights and littered with obviously drunk partygoers. The building itself was my destination. It was a bordello of some kind or, what most people would call a brothel; a vaulting house, pushing school, the nunnery - whichever. Point is, a lot of hoes lived there. And unfortunately, it was my home.

I was one of the hoes.

It was not the life I chose but it was the only one I had.

The bordello was called Red Light District or The RLD for short. It was the only one in town, owned and run by an Italian businesswoman - my boss - Madame Lucy Rossi. Rossi was not exactly a businesswoman per se. For what it was worth, she ran the town's largest boozer as a front organization for The RLD but everybody knew what she truly did for a living - selling off young girls to rich men for money.

And boy did it roll the megabucks in - countrywide!

The only good thing was, Rossi did not do this without individual consent and appropriation. In fact, she was like a mother to us all. Most of the girls under her were taken in during their preteen years as most of them were orphans, castaways and runaways, and regardless of how often she would cut a few dollars from my paycheck I loved her nohow.

Cursing under my breath, I shambled with embarrassment through ankle length snow. People in the crowd had already begun to notice me, deciding to make my approach their center focus instead of the liquor filled, plastic red cups in their hands. I hated that I had to walk kilometers from where my supposed "client" had dropped me off ten minutes ago, instead of giving me a ride to the front doors of The RLD like a gentleman. As much as it would have saved me a load of time and trouble, it also would have given the girls a good gossip that day because Rafael (my client) drove a really expensive sports car.

But no!

He had opted to let me walk home myself under impending snowfall and a blistering cold.

"Had your fun, Ila?" A young man chirped as I made my way through the crowd that had since parted a walkway in their middle.

"Mind your business, Dotson!" I cooed playfully even though I despised him with every fibre in my being.

Why? He shagged fifteen year olds and for that deserved to be yeeted TWICE from the window of a moving bus. Regardless of his atrocities and numerous jail times, Dotson still hung around The RLD.

A self acclaimed King of The Streets because his daddy had four stately manors in the country and easy influence over the government.

Yeurgh!

The coolness of the lobby was usually welcoming on a hot day but not today. I was tempted to take off my coat but decided to wait until I got into my warm quarters first. As I strolled down the gold lit hallway, a couple of friendly faces smiled at and greeted me.

"Good night, Ila?" Our handsome blue eyed receptionist asked with an eyebrow lift.

"I hoped it'd be six hours ago." I replied dryly.