Walke

osure shattered. He spun me around, pressing me back against the cheap wood, his b

ething that looked a lot like nervousness. He was trying to be the aggressor, the one

ger and no substance. In my 28-year-old life, I'd d

, suggestive murmur. "Don't you want to g

a deliberate, appraising look. "W

y wondering how a supposedly shy, impoverished girl knew how to play

rk returning to his fac

heavy thud. He thought he was being casual, but he was

said, my voice drippi

shut. The sound of the s

estled between a chemistry textbook and a crumpled jersey, was exactly wha

I remembered the number from a flyer tacked to a telephone pole, one I' d seen a thousand ti

woman answered on

gent. "I need your prettiest girl. And I need her

essly on a chair. I flipped it open. It was thick with cash. Hundred-dollar bills. Of course. Javier'

about t

ighteen years. I took out a thousand for myself-enough for a security deposit on a new l

bra, the safest place I could think

ct ti

pard-print dress inside when the shower turned off. I pressed the five hundred

ly the dim, sleazy glow of the bedside

called from the bathr

le

bed creaked as the woman, clearly a profes

to sound confident, but the tremor gave away his excitement. His ba

ned by the dim light from the window. "Are you under t

k corner by the door, I watche

and yanked back

ure, but of pure shock. The woman, true to her profession, wrapped her arms

other clad in leopard print, tangl

k. F

ated the scene in a brilli

my p

He looked from the woman, who was now sitting up and looking a

," the woman complained, pull

letting him get a good look at it. I smiled, a cold, sharp smile that d

fury. "You bitch!" he roared, trying to untangle himsel

s a two-thousand-dollar photograph. You ca

my half. There's five hundred in there for your new

. "He's all yours. Ge

ack over my shoulder and wa

ucking bitch!" Javier screa

arm. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?

way. I didn't slow down. I pushed open the heavy

behind me, shutt

tion, Javier, I thought. There's