I woke up and my muscles screamed at me in serious protest. Defensive training with Benjin was not something that was enjoyed by anyone. I had muscles sore in places I didn't know muscles existed. That was the reason I had decided to stay home. It was Sunday but I knew Frank and Duane would understand my absence.
That was why I was lying on my bed staring at my cracked and stained ceiling. It probably wasn't the best thing to be doing because the more I stared, the more I wondered about the stains and the images my head was supplying were both disturbing and mildly hilarious.
The sound of pounding feet were my only warning before my door was thrown open. Quinta barged into my room, pulling up short as she sniffed the air in one long drag, "Who's been in here?"
Her question took me by surprise, as it was the first thing out of her mouth, "Hello to you too." I mumbled sarcastically as I lifted an eyebrow as I reached over and pulled a sucker out of the top drawer of my nightstand, unwrapping it and popping it into my mouth. I needed the sweetness if I was to deal with her this early in the morning.
She sniffed a little more, and I watched her curiously, "Seriously, who was in here?"
I twirled my tongue around the sucker, enjoying the spark of artificial citrus on my tongue, "The usual crowd, you, me--all the girls. Why?" I sniffed at the air myself, I couldn't smell anything but my usual attic.
She gave me a look that said she didn't believe a word coming out of my mouth, "Because it smells nice in here. Really nice actually, but very male." She wiggled her eyebrows up and down at me, "Are you sneaking boys up to your room without saying anything? Not even to me? I'm very good at keeping secrets."
I rolled my eyes at her comment, "You're terrible at keeping secrets." I turned my back to her as I reached on the other side of my bed, grabbing a shitty romance book that one of the girls must have returned to me while I was out yesterday. I flung myself back onto my mattress, rolling over onto my back, "Maybe you're smelling Benjin on me. I was around him all day yesterday."
She nibbled on her lip for a moment, contemplating the thought before shrugging her shoulders, "Whatever, if you want to keep your boy toy to yourself I won't push it."
I rolled my eyes, before lifting the book and opening, "Awesome. Now, if you'll excuse me..." I motioned for her to leave with a wave of my hand, not caring to look in her direction and give her the impression that I wanted to have any more company. Today was my first day off in about two weeks and I was planning on not doing a damn thing.
"You're not going to that barbeque that couple invited you to? I thought you told them you were going to stop by?" The way she asked the question was as if she was pushing for a particular response.
I turned the page in my book, focusing on the words, "Nope. I don't really feel like it. They'll understand."
"But it such a nice day out it would be a shame to waste it inside this musty attic." I could hear some disappointment in her tone of voice, she was definitely pushing the topic. I let out a sigh of annoyance as I found myself reading the same sentence.
"I like the smell. It makes this place more authentic." I replied dryly.
"It's not like a little sun would kill you, Sutton..." She threw back at me as I rolled my sucker into my cheek, turning to the next page--though I wasn't really focused on the words anymore. I was simply trying to give her the impression that I didn't care for the topic, hoping that she would take the hint and leave me to myself.
"Well, we can't all be blessed with perfect complexions like you Quin..." I could tell she was pushing the topic for a reason, "And why do you suddenly care how I'm spending my day off?"
I lowered my book a bit so that I could peek over the top of it at her. She was standing in the center of my room, nibbling on her bottom lip like she did when she had something on her mind that was really getting to her. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, "Out with it, Quin..."
"I really want to go to the barbeque! I even asked Carolyn if she would cover one of my regs just so I could have the day with you." She blurted out with a sharp whine that grated on my ears. The beast in me growled at the sound not appreciating the pitch of her voice.
"Quinta." I groaned her name as I shifted on my mattress, kicking my legs in a slight tantrum that she had done all of that without talking to me first. She came over closer to my bed with a serious pout on her lips, puppy eyes focused on me, "Please, Sutton?" She pressed.
The urge to chuck my lumpy pillow at her perfect face flashed through my mind, "No, I don't want to." I snapped quickly, wanting to drop the topic. Her face and shoulders dropped in overplayed defeat. I watched as she slowly slunk back to the door like a kicked puppy, it was pitiful and only mildly amusing.
When she reached the door she turned back around to pout at me some more, proving that she wasn't completely ready to give up on hope that she could get me to change my mind if she tried hard enough, "Please, Sutton...for me? Your very best friend."
I popped my sucker off the roof of my mouth, "I don't want to go out. This is my day off and I want to spend it in peace and silence." I lifted my book to block her from my view, hopefully she would get the hint and go quietly without any more whining. Of course, I couldn't be so lucky.
She moved back into my room with small forced whimpers that grated on my ears, "I never get to go out. Mama won't let any of the girls leave the territory you know that but I know if you're the one taking me she'll be more willing to let me go out. She trusts you, Sutton. Please...please! I won't ask you for anything else for at least a month."
She stood over me with her hands folded together like she was hanging on a prayer. I shifted the sucker around in my mouth, knowing that she was not going to give up on this like I wanted, "If I do this and there's no guarantee that Madame is going to agree." Quinta was already smiling big, body shifting around with her barely contained excitement, "But if I do this you have to promise you won't barge into my room without knocking anymore. That's counts for the other girls too. I know they listen to you." I held her gaze, if I was going to subject myself to social interactions I was going to make it worth my while. That was one thing I had learned on the downworld--always make every encounter worth something.
"Deal!" She jumped at me, practically laying her body on top of mine while she squealed with excitement, "Thank you! Thank you!" She squeezed me in an uncomfortable and awkward hug.
"Okay, okay. I get it you're happy. Now, get off me." I grumbled as I pushed her off.
She was wearing a smile from ear to ear, "I'm going to go tell Carolyn!" She raced off out of my room with another squeal of excitement.
I rolled my eyes as I tossed my book onto the side table, pulling myself off my bed. My body ached from all the movements Benjin had me doing and I was disappointed that I was sacrificing some personal time but Quinta had been so excited I felt bad saying no. I swirled my tongue around my sucker, frowning to myself as the thought of the lecture that I knew was coming my way, "Guess that means I'll talk to Madame..." She had left me with the hardest part--Typical.
It wasn't that talking to Madame Lao was bad. It was that asking her if I could take one of her girls out of her territory without an armed escort guarding them, was a terrible idea. She was a mama bear with her cubs at times. To be fair that was only really a bad issue after I moved in and the few times I ended up seriously hurt. It showed her just how bad the territories could be.
I got dressed quickly, sniffing the clothes before I put them on. I needed to do laundry but the fact they weren't terrible smelling made me shrug and put them on anyway. I would take them to Denny's Laundry later but at the moment I needed to prepare myself for Madame Lao.
I shoved my feet into my worn sneakers. I grabbed the old style smartphone Benjin had given me after he had broken my band phone and left my room. I bit my sucker, chewing up what remained of it before I placed the stick in the nearest garbage can. Madame preferred it if I could enunciate properly when speaking to her and 'you no speak properly with stick in mouth. Spit out!'. However she was, my beast and I quite enjoyed her.
Her office was on the second floor and I trudged down the stairs but made sure to try and pick my feet up. Madame Lao preferred when we 'walk like ladies' instead of 'herd of elephants! Bad girls!'.
Her office door was open and Madam Lao sat behind her desk in her office glasses, sitting on the end of nose, barely hanging on. She was focused on the pile of paperwork as I peeked in, giving a gentle knock on the already opened door. I had enough things thrown at me to know to knock first whether the door was open or not. She glanced up at me over her glasses, dropping the papers in her hand to the desk as she eased back in her chair, "Sooton, What problem? You tell Madame."
I took that as a sign to enter her office, "There's no problem. I actually had a question--"
I didn't get to finish my thought before Quinta barreled in through the opened door, "Mama!" Madame grabbed the pen from her desk and flung it at Quinta's head. She was quick and ducked down low, used to the behavior.
"That very rude, Kinta! Very rude! Sooton talk first. You wait!" She waved her hand dramatically in the air. I half expected her to throw some more objects in Quinta's direction. Quinta looked in my direction and I couldn't help but grin with amusement at her expense. Madam Lao wasn't finished with her lecture, she never was finished, " What you say?"
Quinta tongued her cheek for a moment before responding, "Sorry, Mama."
"Not me, Kinta. To Sooton." She corrected her again, crossing her arms over her chest--giving her a pointed look, nodding in my direction impatiently. Quinta glanced in my direction with a look that said she would return the favor, which had me doing my best not to outright laugh in her face.
"I'm sorry, Sutton."
"What you sorry for?" Madam pressed her.
Quinta clenched her jaw, but didn't talk back. She knew better, "I'm sorry for interrupting you, Sutton."
I waited a second, letting her hang on her apology before I decided to respond, "I guess it's okay. I forgive you." Quinta's eyes narrowed a bit and I hid my smile.
"That my good girls." Madam praised us both for our ability to take direction and use of the social etiquette that I had been teaching the girls since I started living here. She rose up from her seat, "Now Sooton, what your question? I got busy day." She patted her paperwork daintily with one slender hand.
I shifted from foot to foot, ready to dodge if her hand got twitchy with the urge to throw anything else. "I got invited to a barbeque in the city and I was wondering if I could bring Quinta along with me. Is that alright with you?"
She got a stern look in her eyes as she glanced between Quinta and myself, "No good Idea. Bad man in city, very bad man. Hurt my girls, make me worry! I worry for you enough, Sooton! Come home with bruises on face and sometimes barely walking, you hurt bad! I no want worry about Kinta like that." She was usually the one to patch me up after the couple of times I had been rolled. Each time she had very upset--even offered to buy my debt from Octavia so I could work off the remaining debt in the brothel. As much as I was flattered by the offer I refused it every time she made it. I had nothing against what the girls had to do to survive, but I wasn't looking to join them. I was a runner through and through
"Please, Mama." Quinta whined, pouting her lips, "Sutton would never let anything happen to me. Plus, I'm more than a pretty face. I still remember everything you taught us in defensive training." And that was a lot. Madame worried incessantly to the point where all the girls knew how to snap an arm with one single motion. They were pretty but dangerous.
Madam Lao still looked very unconvinced by her words or whining, "No. No. No. Too dangerous. Not safe girls. Mama worry." She patted her chest, showing her worry and concern clearly. She cared deeply about her girls.
Quinta hung her head, hitting Madame with the same puppy eyes she had used on me, "Please, Mama. I'm your best girl. I always do what you ask without complaining and with a smile. I just want to go out with my friend...Just this once." She looked in my direction with a pleading look, trying to get me to back her up.
I let out a silent sigh, "Please, Madame? I promise that Quinta will be very safe with me. We will only go to the barbeque. I'll call you to check in when we arrive and when we leave." I pulled the smartphone from my pocket, showing it to her and she narrowed her gaze at it before her dark eyes flicked to my face.
Madam Lao held my gaze in a baited silence. The beast squirmed under my skin, feeling the discomfort of the situation as much as I was, "You take care of Kinta. You keep girl safe, anything happen, I blame you. I punish you, no slipper." Her gaze was intense with her warning and she flashed her teeth to make certain that I got the point. Quinta was lucky I was in such a generous mood.
Quinta perked right up, "You mean I can go?"
She swung her stern eyes toward Quinta, who squirmed under it just as I had, "You no wander off! Stay where Sooton watching. Mama beat you with slipper if Sutton say you leave. Beat you bad for no listening."
"Yes, Mama. I understand." She bowed her head in respectful submission.
"Sooton, I mean what say. You be very sorry if you not follow rule or you or Kinta get hurt." She wagged her finger at me. "I worry. Mamas worry."
I nodded my head at her as I reached out and grabbed onto Quinta by her shirt sleeve, "I hear you loud and clear. No wandering off. We will return in the same condition we left in." I hoped.
She watched us with a predatory gaze as we slowly backed up out of her office, "Expect back by moonrise. If you late, beat you both with slipper. I know you, Kinta! Behave!" Her expression was stern as it latched onto Quinta who hunched her shoulders under it. She needed the warning to be honest.
"Okay, okay. We will." I pulled harder on Quinta, moving us faster out of the Madame's office before she decided to change her mind. She called after us more things even as we walked away. Quinta was practically jumping up and down next to me with her excitement. "Are you ready to go?" I looked over at her and her eyes went wide as she looked down at her clothes.
"No! Don't leave me behind!" She bolted towards the stairs and I shook my head, rolling my eyes. It figured she wouldn't be ready to go even after managing to convince me and Madame. It showed she hadn't actually expected to get that far between the both of us.
When she came race back down the stairs in a different outfit and her curls fixed up, make-up highlighting her natural features. I was always amazed at how little time it took the girls to look so put together. I figured practice made perfect but sometimes I wondered if a few of them hadn't sold their soul for make-up black magic. I had worn it often on Haven and I had never been that good.
"Ready to go?" I watched as she nodded quickly and I started for the front door. If we were going to make it to the barbeque we would need to leave right away.
The streets outside were devoid of everything but a few rats and squatters that nodded to us as we passed by. Neutral territories were never busy until night fell, most people stayed in their territories under the protection of the Doyens. It was simply how it was. It didn't take us long to pass into Octavia's territory and Quinta fairly vibrated with excitement.
She buzzed around me like a bug, moving around me in big sweeping circles nearly bumping into the people on the sidewalk. Every time she saw something that sparkled or stood like giant stretching into the heaven she would stare at it wide eyed, pointing at it as if I had somehow missed something. The people on the street watched the ongoing scene like predators when they saw a sickly prey straggling behind the rest.
She pointed to a tall skyscraper with a giant lit up billboard hanging from the side of it, "Look, Sutton!" She waved her hand in front of my face as if I was too blind to see the damned thing, even though it was glaringly bright even in the middle of broad daylight.
I smacked her hand down, turning my face in her direction with narrowed eyes, "Why don't you just paint targets on our backs with all your yelling and pointing."
She gave me a small frown as she glanced back up toward the skyscraper, "I'm sorry. I'm just so excited because I've never been in this city before. It's so big and bright, nothing like the slums I came from."
I felt a bubble of guilt build in my stomach over my reaction. I let out a small huff as I pulled her off the the sidewalk and across the street toward a familiar short cut, "I know you are, Quin. I might have overreacted but you need to tone it down. These people will think we're not from around here and try to exploit that or worse. I promised Madame that I would get you back in one piece--so help me out a bit, okay?"
She gave me a small smile, "Alright, you got it. I'll keep the excitement to a dull roar."
I shook my head at her attempt to lighten the mood, as she usually did. My lips twitched with the urge to smile, "How about you keep it at a barely contained whisper?"
"Deal!" She whisper yelled into my ear. I rolled my eyes and playfully shoved her away from me. Sometimes she acted more like a teenage girl than the grown woman that she was, maybe it was only around me and the other girls she felt safe enough to relax and let her guard down.
We passed through a couple of dirtier streets until we crossed into familiar slummer territory. This particular slum was practically a safe zone, which is why I felt comfortable enough to bring Quinta through it without any chaperones. If it had been just me then I would have pushed my luck and taken quicker shortcuts. Since I wasn't alone and I took my responsibility of babysitting Quinta seriously, I knew this was the best slum to pass through. Mostly because every slummer in this section either worked for, bought from or was in some way in alliance with Octavia.
"This looks like the slum I grew up in--" Quinta remarked as she smiled and waved at a group of young girls playing some kind of game on the sidewalk. I tried not to think to hard about the privileged life that I had back on Haven, before everything happened. Before I came to the downworld, before I found out who I really was--I had never struggled or wanted for anything. I always had food in my stomach, friends and family who loved me, and a warm and safe place to rest my head at the end of the day. I couldn't have imagined a life where someone struggled everyday to simply survive. Yet, here I was meeting people everyday who had lived everyday the best they could without complaint.
I cleared my throat and redirected my thoughts to my current situation, "Over here." I corralled Quinta down the nearest alleyway. As we rounded the corner we stumbled into a pair of familiar faces. Dom was leaned up against the far wall, smoking a joint with Pat and Tim. They looked like they were seeking out the little bit of shade that the rusty fire escape could afford them.
"Wonderful." I grumbled to myself as I continued to push us forward toward the group.
Dom glanced in our direction, a toothy grin spreading over his lips as his eyes raked over Quinta. That male seriously only thought with his dick and where the closest thing was he could could stick it. He shouldered Pat as he pushed off the wall, passing him the joint he'd just taken a hit from. Dom stepped directly into our path, letting out the puff of smoke he'd been holding in his lungs right in my face.
"Hey Em." He smiled at me before meeting Quinta's curious gaze, "Who's your pretty friend? And how come we haven't met before?" He winked at her, doing his best to be what he believed was charming. Quinta let out a flirtatious giggle in response, one that I had heard her use on her regulars at the brothel. I rolled my eyes at the two of them. I did not give up my free personal time so that I could play a game of love connection.
"This female, who is way out of your league and price range, is Quinta. Quinta, this cheap and flea infested male, is Dom." I gestured between the two of them half-heartedly, not really caring to introduce them. Pat and Tim laughed in the background, clearly amused by my slighted introduction of their friend, "Oh and Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum back there are this flea infested idiot's friends--Pat and Tim." They choked on their laughter giving a narrowed look in my direction to which I gave them a toothy grin in return.
Quinta gave me a slight elbow as if to say I was being rude. She gave the group a friendly smile, just like she had been taught, "It's nice to meet you, Pat and Tim. Dom. Are you guys some of Sutton's city friends?" She asked with eager curiosity.
Dom laughed at her question as he reached out and pulled me under his arm, our bodies pressed together too intimately for my liking. The smell of the bud was strong and beginning to sink into my relatively nice smelling clothes, "You could say that we're friends. Em and I go way back, isn't that right?" He teasingly blew on my ear in a suggestive manner, knowing that it would irritate me, the asshole.
I lifted my foot and stomped my heel down on the tops of his toes. When he hunched forward in pain as I expected him to do, I delivered a stiff elbow to his stomach. I slipped out from under his arm. While Pat and Tim roared with laughter in the background at the expense of their friend's pain.
Dom was trying to catch his breath after I knocked the wind out of him, "Not...nice...Em..." He held his hand to his stomach. I smiled down at his his hunched form with a feeling of accomplishment. All those hours I had clocked with Benjin in defensive training were already paying off.
Quinta rushed past me, bending forward a bit as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay?" She asked in a tone that said she was babying him. I knew Dom well enough to know, even though he was perfectly fine, he was going to milk this opportunity for everything it was worth. Quinta wasn't some hooker on the corner and she wasn't a girl from the slum brothel's. She was a girl that males paid their weight and more in marks to be with and despite how he looked, Dom was not stupid.
He stood up a little bit straighter, favoring his side, " I'll be alright. Don't worry about me too much, sweetheart."
She nibbled on her lip, "Are you sure? That looked like it hurt, a lot." She threw me a glare and I rolled my eyes.
"Give me a break." I mumbled under my breath, as I crossed my arms over my chest.
"I appreciate the concern, beautiful. A little love tap from your skinny friend, is nothing compared to most of the wounds I've gotten out here on the streets." He said it with a heaving sigh, as if his life on the streets was terribly difficult. Dom was no battle hardened beast and he certainly wasn't at the bottom of the food chain. I heaved out a big, irritated sigh before pushing forward, ready to get moving before I was forced to listen to Dom's stories about his life in slums. A real tear jerker, not.
I grabbed onto Quinta's sleeve, pulling her away from Dom, "Come on. We've got places to go and more civilized people to meet."
"You're breaking my heart today, Em," He called after me in a mocking tone, "I can be very civilized when I want to be."
"When you want, being the three key words." I called back to him over my shoulder, Quinta walking slowly beside me.
"Maybe we should invite him to barbeque? I feel bad about you being so rude to the poor guy. He seems harmless enough to me. Do you think you think your other friends would care?" Quinta whispered under her breath, but not nearly quiet enough for the lot of us who had ultra sensitive hearing. I mentally face palmed myself, knowing that there was no way he hadn't heard her comment and there was a slim chance that he wouldn't want to come along. Duane and Frank, loved the company and Dom amused them with his ridiculous stories.
"What's this about a barbeque?" He called out toward us. I tilted my head toward Quinta giving her a look of annoyance, she gave me a sheepish grin in return.
I turned around with a dull expression on my face, "Frank and Duane invited me over for supper."
"Well I know I'm starved." He rubbed his stomach with his hand, "Plus, I've been meaning to stop in on those two for a couple of days, ran into Frank and promised him I'd come by. So how coincidental that you guys would come through this way." I really was beginning to regret the fact that I had given up my free day for Quinta.
"Great, then we can all go there together." Quinta proclaimed, clapping her hands together.
"Great...just great." I mumbled sarcastically, mocking her chipper tone.
Dom moved towards us, waving goodbye to Pat and Tim, "I'll catch up with you later tonight for the deliveries." They nodded back. He came up between the two of us, separating us from another before wrapping his arms around our shoulders, "Shall we, ladies?" I gave him another elbow to the side and he dropped his arm with a breathy chuckle.
I had to listen to Dom attempt smooth talk Quinta for the next twenty minutes, I could have cheered happily when I saw the familiar front door of Frank and Duane's run down little house. I knocked on the front door, Dom still hanging off of Quinta.
The door opened to reveal a glazed eyed and smiley faced Frank, hair hanging loose instead of in his usual ponytail. He wasted no time pulling me into a big bear hug, popping my feet up off the ground, "Sutton, I'm so glad you actually showed up. Duane has been worrying about if you would all afternoon."
I gave him a small pat on the back, "Well I'm here now so you can tell him to stop worrying." He placed me back down on the ground and I stumbled over my feet as I tried to regain my footing.
"Tell him yourself." He smiled as he turned his head back into the house, hair swaying, "Duane, Sutton is here! She brought company with her."
He turned back to us with his big grin, eyes focusing on Dom, "My man, you've got perfect timing I was just about to light up."
Duane pushed into the small space that Frank left between him and the doorway, he looked over the three of us, "The more the merrier." He commented quickly before sending a friendly smile in Quinta's direction.
I pulled Dom off of her and took his place beside her, "This is one of Madame Lao's girls and a good friend, Quinta."
Quinta gave him a small wave, "Hello." Frank nodded his head in her direction, clearly lit off his ass.
"Hello, Quinta. I'm Duane and you've met my mate, Frank." Duane lifted his hand and patted Frank on his chest, "I apologize he's pretty ripped right now. I tried to get him to hold off until Sutton got here...You can see how well that went."
Frank grabbed the hand resting on his chest and pulled him into a surprise kiss. A growl of pleasure rumbling from deep in his chest. I could see Duane's cheeks growing redder by the moment, though he didn't break away from the kiss, obviously enjoying himself. Frank was the one to end the kiss, admiring his work with a satisfied smirk.