Traffic

Chapter Eight

Three months later, Kelly learned what exactly was worse than being starved or stripped to try on a new outfit. Three months later, Kelly was sent out for her first night as a Pimped out prostitute. She was standing alone with a handful of women much older than her, and a few teenagers, all wearing clothing similar to her own. Tight, low-cut, short. Barely there.

The first man that came up to her offered seventy dollars for the night. Kelly had been instructed that she was worth more than that, that she was to accept no less than two hundred. Robotically, she told him off and awaited the next man. Standing with her hip cocked to the side, elbows bent and phone in hands, letting Mr. P know how many she turned down so he could document it.

"You're special, Kelly. Don't forget that. You're fresh, a virgin in this area. You're worth more than a few bucks, you're worth two hundred a night at the least. Try to find someone who will give you at least two hundred and I'll let you off the hook for cleaning for a week. Okay?"

Kelly had been enticed by that offer and promised to find someone who would give her what she was worth.

"You don't need friends, family, nobody. You have me, Kelly. I'm your friend. The only family you'll ever need. Stick with me and I promise to keep you safe from harm. Do you understand that, sweetheart?"

"Yes, Mr. P. I understand."

Kelly had been brainwashed by the enticing and charismatic words of Mr. P and obeyed him with the diligence that she had learned from Paul not four months previous.

As she stood on that corner, a young man came by, a sarcastic smirk on his face, hands in his pockets, and a leather jacket on. He had a cigarette in his mouth and smiled through it as he walked by, admiring the women he saw until he laid eyes on Kelly.

"Ooh," he exclaimed, taking his cigarette out of his mouth and tossing it aside, returning his hand to his pocket, "You're a sweet little thang," he said, walking around her to get a better look.

"Like what you see?" Kelly asked, looking off into the distance until he came back into her line of sight, then she locked eyes with him and didn't look away. This was a trick Mr. P had taught her. State her dominance by maintaining eye contact with the potential buyer.

"Sure do," the man replied, "The name's Scott. Scott Quincy. What's your name, sweet thang? Or may I call you Candy, because, girl, you look sweet?"

"You can call me anything you want at the right price," Kelly said, standing straight, then cocking her opposite hip to the side and resting her hand on it.

Scott Quincy stared for a second, his gaze trailing down her body, then back up, "How's fifty sound, Candy?"

"I just hung up on you," Kelly replied, taking her gaze off Scott and staring at her fingernails now, buffing them against her chest and looking again.

"One fifty," Scott said.

"I hear it ringin'," Kelly said, a teasing smile on her face.

"Two hundred, final offer," Scott said.

"Hello, Mr. Quincy, you've just bought yourself a night with Candy."

Scott smiled, then he cocked his head to the side, over his shoulder, telling her to follow

him. Kelly held out a hand and he took it, leading her toward a convertible that sat a block away. She got in the passenger seat and he walked around the car to the driver's side, starting the engine and pulling quickly away from the curb.

Once back at his apartment, he walked Kelly to the door and opened it. As soon as they had stepped inside the apartment, he pushed Kelly up against the wall and started kissing her. Kelly didn't know what to do. This action had taken her completely by surprise. She had been trained on what to do by Mr. P, but this was faster than he said it would happen. Though she knew what was coming before long, she had hoped she'd have more time to think about it and maybe have the experience numbed by some alcohol, which Mr. P had said would help.

Instead, Scott Quincy pushed the door shut with his foot and picked Kelly up, carrying her to his bedroom where he dropped her on the bed and crawled on top of her. Once there, it wasn't long before Kelly was stripped and defiled in every way humanly possible. It was fast and painful, but as Kelly lay in Scott's arms as he slept through the night, her body shivered with pain and cold sweats.

This is worse than the time I broke my arm in three places when I fell out of a tree.

Worse than the time I went for a seven mile bike ride and couldn't sit for three days after word.

This is indescribable pain. I want to kill Scott and Mr. P. I want to KILL THEM!

It wasn't long before the thought finally struck her. She had just been raped. The word sounded worse than every curse word she could think of in her head. It sounded vile and foreign. Something she had never been taught about besides when she watched a television show or the news. She was one of those girls who had been taken advantage of and hurt by a man who didn't care a lick about her wellbeing. All he cared about was getting satisfaction, and now that Scott had it, Kelly meant nothing to him.

She couldn't let him see how much it had hurt her. Mr. P said he would reward her if she came home with money, and punish her severely if she didn't, or if she ruined any prospects for future work.

When morning dawned, Kelly had not slept a wink, and guessed she would never sleep again after the living nightmare she went through the night before.

By six o'clock, Scott's alarm went off and Kelly was startled when he told her she had to leave quickly because his girlfriend was arriving home that day. She wanted to slap him and kick him, but she refrained, simply smiling and putting on her game face until she was dressed, paid, and out the door. Once his door closed behind her, she began the long walk back to Mr. P's house and cried the entire way.

She was stared at, glared at, and called a 'slut' by passersby before she finally reached Mr. P's house. Once inside, she wiped her tears and put her game face back on before searching the house for him. Carrying her heals in one hand and the cash in the other, she walked into his bedroom where he was still sleeping and dropped the cash on his face, waking him.

He smiled as he counted it and stood, giving her a kiss on the cheek, "You did good, Sweetheart. Go shower up and get some rest. You have the week off to prepare for what I've got planned. Use it wisely."

Kelly hurried from the room before she started to cry again. She quickly stripped out of the dirty clothes from the night before and got into the shower. Sitting on the floor and hugging her knees to her chest, she cried for a very long time.

\gpSoM