CHAPTER 5: Piper
Somehow, I was able to haul my tired ass back to work the next day. Weird thing was, I think it was the thought of seeing Theo again that gave me the strength to get there. It was crazy. I didn’t even know his last name, but something had allowed me to open up, just a little, and I felt a small connection. The first connection with a man I’d had in as long as I could remember.
But it was stupid to dream. He knew what I did and what I was, and a guy like that would never want a girl that’s been ridden more than a subway train, would he? For a quick fuck, maybe, but not for marriage and kids and picket fences.
That being so, it was his face I saw every time I closed my eyes as I was getting ready. It was his look of approval and appreciation I was craving as I did my hair and makeup and picked out what to wear.
I’d forgotten all about my impending fate to be Vinnie’s sex slave, until I pulled up in the club parking lot. It all came rushing back: the scared feeling of knowing Vinnie’s time was approaching; the terror I’d feel when he leered at me with a new idea of how to abuse me; the sound of his laughter as he found new and painful items to use on me.
I sat in my car, in the car park, shaking. The temptation to just drive away was strong, but I knew they’d find me. I knew Anna and Vinnie would have little problem tracking me down, and even less problem hurting me in the cruelest ways. They knew I cared for the other girls, and they would torture, disfigure, maybe even kill at least one of them, just to teach me a lesson.
A knock on my window startled me. I looked up and saw Theo’s smiling face outside. He looked even more perfect in the daytime, the sun shooting golden streaks through his floppy, light brown hair.
“I have amazing news for you,” he beamed as he helped me out of the car. He seemed really excited. “Don’t ask me how, but I got Anna to drop the deal with Vinnie. Another month and you’ll be free!”
For a second I couldn’t believe what hearing. “What? How?” was all I could manage to stutter at him as I got out of the car
“I said don’t ask,” he laughed. “Anyway, she’s inside looking for you. I guess she’s going to tell you herself.”
I was in shock. I couldn’t believe that this guy I barely knew had done something so amazing for me. No one had ever done anything for me. I threw my arms around his neck. Fuck me, I actually felt happy.
Stepping out of the hot California sun into the cool, dark interior of Madam X’s always felt like there was a steel prison door being slammed behind me. I knew when I came to LA as a med student, it was going to be hard. I had no family left back home, no support system here, and I hadn’t counted on the effect a few bad decisions would have on me.
Living off campus, a bad roommate choice and two even worse boyfriend choices meant that, in a few short months, I was in debt for tens of thousands of dollars. Not even able to buy my college text books, I dropped out of medical school and turned to stripping and porn to make some cash. But couldn’t control myself. I was barley nineteen and the allure of drinking and partying with the other girls was too much. It was a whirlwind of drugs, booze, multiple sex partners, often at once, and I kept blowing any of the extra cash I was making, never being able to make a dent in my debts.
Then Anna found me. She offered to pay off all my debts, give me a wage and a place to live, and promised to keep me straight. If I hadn’t taken her up on it, I would have been another twenty-year-old girl on the streets, giving hand relief for a sandwich and blowjobs for a place to sleep.
But I was young and stupid and didn’t understand all the numbers she was saying to me. Now, it had taken me more than five years, but I was nearly free.
Today, when that sunlight disappeared behind me, I nearly bounced into the office on the second floor, for once actually looking forward to seeing Anna.
***
“Fabulous news, darling,” she smiled at me as I came in. Her eyes were as cold as ever, but I didn’t care. “Vinnie offered me fifty thousand so he could take care of you, isn’t that sweet of him?” I kept my expression neutral. “Only I told him no. I couldn’t let my best girl go for such a low sum. You look ravishing today, by the way.”
“Thanks,” I began, “but I have good news too…”
“I haven’t told you the best news yet. He came back and immediately offered me seventy-five.” My blood froze. “He must be in love with you, darling.” She couldn’t keep the self-satisfied smirk off her face, “and I can’t be the one to stand in the way of true love, can I?”
“What…?” was all I could manage. My heart was racing. If I ever had any hope of being free, I was going to have to match that offer and there was no way I could find another twenty-five thousand before the deal was done. And the only way I’d escape Vinnie was in a pine box.
“Nothing’s in stone yet, of course,” Anna continued, ignoring my look of horror and despair. “Now go on and have a good night, darling.”
I felt numb. I wanted to complain, to shout, scream, and rage at the injustice of it all. How could she sleep at night, buying and selling human beings? Only, with no warning at all, I suddenly felt more tired than I ever had before and I didn’t have the strength to start a fight I had no hope of winning. Anna went back to the papers on her desk while I slowly turned around and trudged off downstairs.
Ruby, the beautiful Caribbean girl, and Lucy, another of our young, blonde teenage waifs, smiled and greeted me warmly, but I barely noticed them. I continued out the side doors and stepped back out into the sunlight. I closed my eyes and turned my face up to the sun, feeling like this might be the last time I felt its warmth on my skin. I pulled a cigarette out of the packet in my purse and lit it, leaning back against the stone wall of the club. My legs could hardly support my weight anymore, and I slid down, scraping my favorite leather jacket on the concrete, until I was crouching on the ground with my head in my hands.
My car was parked just a couple of dozen yards away. I could just get in and drive. Alaska maybe? Or Mexico? They’d never find me. But walking to my car felt like just too much effort. I turned my head so I could take a drag without having to move my hands, because that also felt like too much effort and, as I blew the smoke out through my nose, I focused on Theo’s bike. He had parked it next to the club, probably to keep in in the shade. Examining it, the thin chromed wheel at the front was at odds with the massively fat tire at the back. The rest of the machine seemed to just arc around that wheel, with a pillion seat and backrest on top of it that curved into the main seat, which itself led to the fat gas tank that climbed up to the instruments and the weirdly high handlebars. On the tank was an exquisite mural of a nearly naked woman, her nipples and pubic area only just hidden by a strategically placed elbow or a wisp of smoke. She was gorgeous, blonde, nice full lips and titties. Odd, but she kind of looked a little like me.
I’d had a boyfriend with a Harley. He taught me to ride but he also showed he the weird way you start them. From the depths of my mind, I remembered that they don’t have an ignition key, as such, but a large chrome switch in the center of the gas tank. In the middle, it's off. To the left, the ignition is on and it starts. A key was used to lock the switch in the Off position but, when I thought about Theo, it felt like he was too cocky to think anyone would dare steal his hog.
Leaving my purse against the wall, I got up. I flicked away my cigarette, took a step towards his bike and through a leg over it. I had to hike up my short skirt right up past the point of decency to sit properly but, when I did, the soft leather felt warm on my thighs. I flicked the switch left and the dial lit up, the needle swinging around the clock and then returning to rest. I reached forward, the high bars meaning I had to lift my hands high up above my shoulders, and wrapped my hands around the grips.
I thumbed the start button and a deep, deafening roar instantly spat out of the tailpipes. I twisted the throttle a couple of times and a smile came to my lips. The raucous, frightening noise of the motor almost announced that it was alive. It sounded like freedom. That the vibrations from the two giant pistons thrashing away under me buzzed the seat and gas tank against my pussy at a pleasing frequency didn’t hurt, either. But, crucially, it was like I could hear the world calling, beckoning me to come find it.
The outer door flew open and Theo barged out, looking around angrily to find the one who was messing with his baby. He spotted me sitting on his bike and, for a split second, a smile crossed his lips.
“I’m sorry, Theo,” I yelled to him. He got the first two letters of ‘wait’ out of his mouth before I kicked home first gear and tore away, leaving him standing disbelievingly outside the club.
***
I accelerated unbelievably quickly down the street, slotting in gears as each started to slow and weaving the bike around in my lane, trying to get the feel of her. The wind pushed hard against my chest, battered my face and sent my long hair streaming out behind me, but I was free. I was able to just lean to the left and pass any car in my way, so simply, I felt like nothing could stop me. This was my chance. I was going to ride until I didn’t know where I was, until no one knew me, and my old life was behind me.
Before long I saw the on ramp for the I405 and slowed to make my turn, only to get the fright of my life when an old bronze Honda Civic appeared and blocked my way. My heart was in my mouth at the close call, when I realized that it was my old bronze Honda Civic that nearly rammed me. I peered into the cabin to see Theo inside, shouting orders at me. Emulating the move in some of my favorite movies, I gave him the finger and opened the gas, roaring away from him.
I guess he must have stayed behind me because, soon enough, there was a turn I had to slow for and, as I stroked the brakes, he drove past me, before turning the car side on and blocking my path. I came to a stop and tried to turn the heavy bike around in the street. I just couldn’t do it, though, my feet scrabbling for purchase in my tall heels. As I struggled. he calmly got out and stopped me by putting his hands on the handlebars.
“You started well, I’ll give you that,” he said with a sardonic smile, “but, as high-speed getaways go, you’re totally failing right now.”
Fuck him. Fuck him and his condescending voice. What did he know about being used and abused most of his adult life? Right now, he represented Madam X and I wanted to be away from him, away from everything.
“Let me go!” I squealed, trying to wrestle the handlebars out of his grip. When that didn’t work, I got up and pushed the bike over.
I got maybe five yards before he was on me. He put his hands on my shoulders and I spun around, lashing out with my hands and feet. He skillfully sidestepped my blows and tackled me, forcing us down onto a patch of scrub grass.
“Piper! Piper!” he kept repeating.
“Let me go! Let me go!” I kept yelling back as I struggled. It didn’t take long, however, before my struggling got pretty weak and, within moments, I stopped fighting altogether. “Please, just let me go,” I tried weakly but, in spite of everything, it actually felt good to feel him holding me.
“I’m sorry, Piper,” I heard him say from behind me, “but you know I can’t let you go. You know what they’ll do to you if they find you. And even if they don’t, you know what Anna will let Vinnie do to the other girls.”
He was right. I couldn’t force the other girls to pay for my freedom. I had to go back. I’d just have to play with the cards I’d been dealt, just like everyone else.
Theo left his bike behind and helped me into my car. He drove, neither of us saying anything much, until we pulled up in the parking lot behind Madam X’s. Theo shut off the engine and turned to me. He seemed to think for a long while, before finally asking, “Why did you run? I told you I got her to call off the deal.”
“I guess she must have changed her mind…” I said, softly.
“You mean it’s still on?” he sounded pretty mad about that. “What about buying yourself out?”
“Vinnie increased his offer. I can’t match it. Anna will do whatever gets her the most profit.”
“Fuck!” he yelled, hitting the steering wheel so hard he scared me. His frustration was palpable but, elated as I was to see he really did seem to care, I still couldn’t think why. I opened the car door. “Come on,” I told him, “bring me in, sheriff. You’ll get a gold star.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, but it did seem pretty redundant.
“What choice do I have?”
I headed off towards the door before he could answer. Instead, he scrambled out of the driver’s side and followed me.
“Oh, here,” he said, handing me my purse.
“Where did you find that?” I asked him, a smile creeping back onto my face.
“You left it behind when you stole my bike. What? You think I took your car because it would be good for chasing? You left your keys.”
“Well, maybe you should start locking your bike?” I had no idea why but, hanging with Theo, everything seemed a little less hopeless.
***
I stood in Anna’s office, watching her swirl a half full martini in its glass. Theo was just outside the door, standing there like some royal guard.
“I never forced you to come work here, Piper,” Anna began. “I never said you had to accept my help when you were at your lowest?”
“You didn’t,” I confirmed. “You bailed me out, true, but you also put, like, a seventy percent interest rate on what you paid and charged about ten grand for that first six months’ room and board. You take half of what I make for booking each client, another twenty percent for ‘overheads’ and I have to pay you back your loan from what’s left over, as well as reimbursing you for all the clothes and makeup you get for me. So, really, Anna, who’s doing who the favor?”
Her winsome smile and impassive eyes didn’t change throughout my whole speech. “Regardless, my dear, you made a commitment to me which I must insist you keep. And before you run away again, consider this,” she stood up, the smile vanishing completely, “not all the girls here earn as well as you do. There’s Lucy. There’s Victoria and Becky, among others. None of them are living up to their full earning potential and, most likely, they never will. I may find it more profitable in the long term to employ them elsewhere, as tools to demonstrate what can happen to employees who cause dissent, for instance.” She came around her desk and stopped very close to me. She looked up and whispered, “How long do you think they would last, bound ass up to a bed, and I just put out a sign saying ‘Pussy - $10’? Do you think I’d make some money back? Do you think those animals would be remotely capable of sticking it in just their pussies? Just something for you to consider, next time you think I’m being unfair.”