"What are we going to do?" One of the girls sat on the bed.
"First, rules. One, I don't wanna hear none of that no ma'am yes ma'am yes master no master crap up in this room. We're all the same. Y'all don't need to put me or anyone else on a golden pedestal." I plopped down on the bed. "Now...I figured that I do something special for y'all. Dazzle you up a bit. Get to know y'all. Talk a little history and whatnot....starting with Grace." I pulled her to a small chair I had set up in front of a mirror.
The other girls watched me. It was quiet. I brought out shampoo and conditioner.
"So, to get things going, I'll start with myself." I brought a bucket of water in and began washing her hair. "My name is Kyra Selene Hernandez. I'm 17. I don't really have an interesting life. I don't really know why I'm here. But I remember my last day of my normal life. I was hanging out with my friends the whole day. When I got home, I decided to wind it down. I got a drink. Left it alone for a while, and next thing I know, I wake up in a dirty basement. Not much, but I do have questions." I said as I began to scrub the conditioner into her scalp. "What are all of your names, ages, and how long have you been here?"
"I'm Roc's girl. My name is Maria. I'm 18. I've been here 2 years." She fumbled with her fingers.
"I'm Roc's. I'm Alex, short for Alexandria. 19 years old. Been here 3 years." She looked at the ends of her hair.
"Also Roc's. I'm Jojo. Short for Joanne. I'm 18. It's been a year since I first came here." She watched me do Grace's hair.
"I'm Roc's. My name is Eva. Im 18 and I've spent 8 months in this hell hole." She shook her head.
"Roc's. Grace. 17 years old...spent 4 months in here." She stood still as I did her hair.
"I'm Ray's. My name is Tara. Three years in this place. Im 19..." She bounced her left leg.
"My name's Mira. Im wit Ray. I'm 17. Been here since I was 16...one fucking year..." She spoke a little louder than the rest."
"Deja. Ray's girl. Been here 5 months. Im 18."
"Allison. Wit Ray. 3 years spent here. Im 19."
"Kali. Ray's. 7 months I've been here. Im 18."
"Juliana. Ray's. People call me Leelee or Juju. Ive been here...bout 11 months. Im 19."
"Im Anna. Wit Prod. Been here 1 year. Im 19."
"My name is Hope. Also wit Prod. Ive been here 2 years. Im 18."
"Kennedy. Prod. 9 months spent here, 18 years of age."
"Brandi. Prod. 3 years here. 18 years old."
"Samia. Prod. 3 years spent here. Im 18."
"Okay..." I just finished rinsing her hair. "So, starting with the ones who have been here the longest." I squeezed the water out of her hair. "Tell me what yall know about this place, how it works, who knows about it, stuff like that." I began blowdrying it.
"Um..." Kennedy began.
"There were a lot more people. A lot more girls. A lot more staff." Samia spoke, staring off into space. "You know, like how in the holocaust these small camps and the huge, major camp? That's sorta like it was here. Everyone was together. Girls from Northway Port all the way over here. There had to be way over 2,000 girls. They had people working for them. We were the originals. To get the business on a kick start, they abducted hundreds and hundreds of women. I remember seeing it on the news and thinking it wouldn't ever happen to me. But the people who it happened to thought the same thing too, and look at them."
"I remember. So many girls. So many friends lost along the way. So many dead bodies every day, in and out. The smell. The view. Prod had maybe 150 tops. Ray...maybe 175. Roc had 200+. Prince...you sure you wanna hear this?" Kennedy looked at me.
I thought for a minute. "Yeah."
"Prince had 300 girls minimum. He's the one who basically kept the place running." Kennedy looked at me with sorrow.
"I remember all of the friends I made...one of the other boys from the other ports killed them all. They were in this scandal. Planning to escape, stole food and supplies, even guns and shit. Soon as he found out, they went straight to the incinerator. No questions asked." Allison looked down.
"Wait...if that's how it was back then, what the hell happened between then and now?" I scrunched my eyebrows together while parting another row of Grace's hair.
"Oh...the break down of the business. Since Prince was basically keeping the place up, when he found you, he couldnt keep up with his girls and you. So he spent all of his time watching you. Was just a matter of time before he went to your school and getting a better view. Just a matter of time before money wouldn't be made. His girls tried to escape and began.acting up since he was gone, they got killed and sent to the crematorium. The others died of hunger and dehydration. Natural causes. The only people who knew about his whereabouts were Roc, Prod, and Ray. When the others found out, they decided to try and come after him."Allison stared into mid space, going deep into thought.
"Then we were just gonna come down here, but one of the girls got loose. A white brunette. Green eyes. Smart. Name is uh..." Alexandria tried to remember.
"CHANDLER!" Kennedy pooped up.
"CHANDLER! Right! She escaped. Roc was first to know about it since it was one of his girls. So just in case she made it to civilization, he got his girls, Ray's girls, and Prod's girls, their belongings, and he lit the place up and locked it from the outside so just in case a girl happened to make it to the exit, they wouldn't escape either. He didn't feel bad about burning the other niggas alive because they were already tryna put a hit out on em. They went to go to their houses, but it was way too many girls, so...they picked out their favorites. Killed the rest off in a field couple miles from here. And Prince had his eye on you, so he killed most of his girls but saved his favorites and gave them to Roc, Prod, and Ray. Me being one of them. The other ones of his favorites died." Alex explained.
"Wait, favorite girls for what? What made them their favorites?" I asked, begining the middle section of her hair.
"Favorite girls to have sex with. How big their boobs and butts were, how tight they were, hire clean, how old, how well they fought back. He liked it when I fought back and cried. He was way worse than Roc is now. Don't you see? They ran a sex slave shop. Still partially do." Alexandria looked down, twiddling with her thumbs.
"Word is Roc is suppose to be getting a new girl. She's under observation right now. Her name is Kalyn." Hope shook her head. "If only she knew what she was in for..."
"Grace...what's his obsession with you?" I asked her.
"I don't know." She spoke quietly.
"I know what. Her body shape, her sex, her attitude, the fact that she listens. But she gets beat the most. New girls usually do, with Grace being the newest arrival, but it's another reason. She listens, so all of the anger and stress he builds up on you, he takes out on her the quickest chance he can get." Jojo looked at Grace. Grace looked down.
"Oh my gosh. You must hate me." I put the blowdryer down and looked at her.
"No, no. It's fine." She reassured me.
"Matter of fact, wait a dam minute." I walked out of the room, on my way downstairs.
I took off my shoe and threw it at Roc's face. He immediately looked in my direction and got pissed. "Oooooohhh I hate you so much." I growled as I gave him a hug. "You fucking dumbass." I punched him in his chest, immediately hugging him again before he got mad. "You're a fucking pussy ass nigga." I mumbled while walking away.
"You said she was on her period, right?" Roc asked Prince, confused.
I made it back upstairs and continued with Grace's hair. "So...nobody made it out of the fire?" I asked. The girls who stayed here longest shook their heads. "What about that girl that escaped. Where is she?"
"Nobody knows. Nobody knows if she died in the forest or if she made it to civilization. Some say Roc went hunting late one night, found her, raped her, then killed her painfully and slowly. If you ask him, he'll act like he doesn't know who Chandler is."
"Out of the 4 of them, who is the strictest?" I asked out if curiosity.
"Girl, is that even a question?" Eva rolled her eyes playfully.
"Enough about us. Tell us about you and your Prince Charming." Kali smiled a goofy smile and looked at me.
"Wait, what?" I asked, finishing the top of Grace's hair.
"We heard the way he talked about you when he watched you. He couldn't get enough. He would go on and on. We see the way he looks at you." Leelee commented.
"It's not all its cracked up to be, actually. We still have our moments." I flat ironed the first row of Grace's hair.
"What does it feel like? To be in love?" She asked, looking eager to know.
"It's...I wouldn't say that. I love him... but it's complicated. He killed my first love, took me from my normal life, had my biggest fears rape me to the point where I passed out for a few days, beat me, yelled at me... But then again he made me feel a type of way. Like...never mind." I tried not to remind them of how they might not ever get to experience it.
"I wish I had what you have." Samia looked down with sorrow.
"Don't worry. One day, you'll make it out of here. Continue your lives." I tried to cheer them up as I continued with Grace's hair.
"We all know that will never happen. Some of us have been in here years, and still haven't seen a civilized building since we've been taken. Haven't seen our families. Hell, for all I know my mom could be dead. Anyone could be dead. I had friends. I had a family. I had a job. I had a life. Mess up and mingle with the wrong niggas for a fucking hour and your while life is fucked." Tara shook her head in disbelief.
"....Well....Wassup wit you and Roc?" Juliana tried to change the subject.
"I don't like him. I've never liked boys like him." I shrugged and made a stank face. "You mentioned a new girl earlier. Kalyn What's the info on her?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Don't know much. Neither of us have had the balls to sneak into his room to see. Thats what happened to a girl named Christie. She got caught tryna get info on Grace, and let's just say, may she rest in pieces." Maria swung her feet awkwardly.
"That's how he got all of us. Observation. All of them do it. They watch you for a few weeks, meet you where you show up at the most, talk to you, walk with you, then they push you in an alley and gas you. Put you in the back of their truck. Speed off." Brandi scoffed, recalling the memory of her last breath of life.
"Prince did it differently with you. You know how he kidnapped you, but he set up that basement and faked to be a prisoner because he studied for a long time. Weeks and months of watching you. He knew how you would react to certain situations, so he wanted to start off on good terms with you. Get himself on your good side. I remember those days you were out, I heard him talking on the phone to Ray, saying how mad he was that you wanted to escape, but how sorry he was that he had to bring in those guys." Deja explained.
"This is gonna take way more than an hour." I looked around at all of the girls hair and makeup I would have to do. "Be right back." I walked downstairs and saw Prince leaned back in the couch. His eyebrows drew close together. Ray looked up and saw me.
"Nope. Get out. Can't be here during business hours." He pointed back up the stairs.
"How long will this take?" I asked.
"The same amount it will take for you to turn ya ass around and walk up the damn steps-"
"A while. Why?" Prince cut Roc off.
"Its gonna take me more than an hour to do all of the girls." I pouted.
"To do what?" Prod smirked.
"I'm gonna purposely ignore that." I continued looking straight at Prince.
"Its gonna take us more than an hour to complete all of this shit anyway. We're way behind." Ray ran his hand through his hair, which was now down.
"Great." I smiled and turned around. I stopped for a minute and looked over my shoulder. "Oh and Chresanto."
He jolted up and gave me a death stare. "Don't fucking-"
"If you have a problem with me, let it be with me, and handle it with me. Only me." I cut him off and continued walking back up the stairs.
"When's the last time y'all wore makeup?" I asked cheerfully, smiling and closing the bedroom door. They all smiled. "Hollup wayment." I started thinking. "What's going on with you and this baby?" I whispered.
Everyone started looking around. Tara looked down.
"Shit, Tara." Samia covered her mouth.
"Nobody in this room dare tell Ray. Y'all know what happens to pregnant women in this business. They get fucking slaughtered." Tara looked around at everyone. "Besides...its his fault. He's the one who didn't wanna wear a condom."
"Well eventually he's gonna see the symptoms and the baby bump. He has y'all have all around half naked the whole time. And if he fuck again, he gone damage the baby. And in the condition you're living in, the baby might come out with a birth defect or not come out at all" Kali warned her, concerned.
"I know." She put her head down.
"Dammit, Tara....how far along are you?" Allison asked, bouncing her leg.
"I don't know. And I can't go to the doctor. I can't even go out on the front porch." She ran her hand through her hair.
"I'll ask." I walked towards the door.
"NO!" She whisper-yelled. I turned around and looked at her.
"I'll make them think its me." I turned around and walked back to the door. As soon as I heard it, I heard Prince yell.
"DAMMIT, KYRA! GET BACK IN THAT ROOM! YOU WANTED THE GIRLS, YOU GOT EM!"
"Please." I came down the stairs and poked my bottom lip out.
"No. Go back upstairs." He waved me off. Roc looked at me.
"Chresanto-"
"Its Roc." He cut me off.
"Chresanto, I wanted to know what happens-" I tried to continue.
"I just fucking said it's Roc." He clenched his jaw.
"What happens when a girl gets pregnant?" I blurted out.
"What?" Prince looked at me surprised. "You're preg-"
"Roc. What happens?" I fiddled around with my fingers.
"The girl-"
"What happens, Chres?!" I cut Prince off.
"Either the baby is killed, or both mother and baby are killed. Either way, the baby dies. Why?" He squinted his eyes at me."
"No reason gotta go bye!" I said quickly before running upstairs.
PRINCES POV
"Ima be a father." I ran my hands through my hair.
"No you're not. Nobody is. You said that girl was on her period. You can't do that if you're pregnant." Roc pointed out. "And she need to cut it out with that first name shit. Shit is disrespectful."
"If she's not pregnant, then who is?" I looked up the stairs.
"Nobody, man. Probably talking with the girls. Let's get back to work." Ray shook his head and took out the papers.
I shook it off and continued working as well.
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