Enticed:A Dangerous Connection (Secrets) (9 page)

Late in the night I’m awakened by a lot of door slamming and bashing going on somewhere in the house. I try to block out the noise by singing to myself, but eventually I hear someone screaming in pain and it’s impossible to ignore. It sounds like one of the girls is being beaten. I pray for her until the screaming stops and the house grows quiet again — deathly quiet.

Somehow I manage to fall back to sleep. But when morning comes, I feel like I am climbing the walls. Literally. It’s like I need to do something to purge the sounds from last night from my head. So I start doing handstands. I used to be in gymnastics, back in middle school before I got too tall.

To distract myself from the madhouse I’m imprisoned in, I try all sorts of old tricks, sometimes crashing and bashing around so loudly I’m surprised Tatiana doesn’t come in and tell me to shut up. I think I understand why these walls are so scratched and scuffed and banged now. Trapped animals tend to claw at their cages.

I can’t believe that just one week ago I went to early church with Mom. Or how we stopped by Rosie’s Deli to get a quick breakfast afterward. What would I give for a meal like that now? I’m also ashamed to think of how I griped and groaned about having to babysit that day. What wouldn’t I do to be babysitting Leo and Lacy instead of being here? Maybe we really don’t know what we have until it’s gone.

But to distract myself I continue with my old gymnastic moves and am in the middle of a back bend when the door opens. Pulling myself up into a standing position, I’m surprised to see a blond guy gaping at me like he’s seeing an apparition. I make a dramatic bow and then smile broadly.

“Not bad,” he tells me.

“Well, now thank you, thank you very much,” I say in a corny Elvis imitation.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I heard the noise.”

“Sorry about that. I was just really, really restless.” I continue babbling away about nothing, willing to do anything, including acting like the village idiot, to delay his exit for as long as possible. That’s how hungry I am for human companionship — as well as food. “So what happened to Tatiana? I haven’t seen her lately.”

“She’s, uh, sleeping it off.”

“Oh.” I nod like this is no surprise. “So, are you going to let me out of my cage now?” I smile hopefully, remembering my plan to win his trust.

He presses his lips together, rubbing his chin, as if he’s actually considering my request.

“I promise to be on my best behavior.” I smooth out my permanently wrinkled and probably ruined black dress.

“I almost believe you.”

“So, are you Jimmy? The one Tatiana says takes such good care of us?”

He nods. “That’s me.”

I stick out my hand and he shakes it. “Nice to finally meet you. Are you friends with Marcia and Bryce too?”

“Yeah … you could say that. Business associates at least.”

I study him closely. Dressed in a plaid western shirt and holey blue jeans, he’s about my height or maybe even shorter and somewhat slight in build. My best guess is that he’s late teens to early twenties. His hair appears to be naturally brown but has been highlighted to look blondish. He’s actually pretty good looking. But like Tatiana, there’s a toughness in his steely blue eyes. Or maybe it’s just sadness. I silently send up a prayer for him.

“Well, I’m willing to let you out, Serena. But I’m warning you, if you try to pull anything, I guarantee you, you’ll be sorry.”

I force another smile. “I give you my word. You can trust me.”

He shrugs. “Yeah, well, I’ve been around long enough to know that people sometimes say things they don’t mean.”

“I just want to be with people.” At least that’s not a lie.

“Okay. But you mess with me and you’ll be sorry.” He gives me a hardened look. “Marcia and Bryce might want you to look good for Mr. T, but I can make your life miserable until then — without leaving any marks.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you can.” I let out a weary sigh. “But honestly, I’m just lonely and I’m going stir crazy. I promise to be good if you let me out.”

“All right.” He steps aside now and waves to the open door. “Just so you know, all the windows are locked and barred. We have dead bolt locks on all the doors. And I control the keys.” He pulls out what looks like a bulky iPhone from his pocket. “You know what this is?”

“A phone?”

He chuckles as he points it at me. “It does send a powerful message.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a Taser.”

“What?”

“A stun gun.”

“Oh.” I nod like this is no big deal. “It doesn’t look like the one Rod had. His looked more like a gun. Kind of a sci-fi gun.”

Jimmy’s brows lift slightly. “Did Rod have to use it on you?”

I shake my head. “No way. I was a perfect little lady for him.”

“Okay.” He slips it back into his shirt pocket and snaps the pocket closed. “You just keep that up and we won’t have any problems then.”

It feels strange to follow him out of the room. As we pass the bathroom, I ask him if I can use it and he just shrugs. “Sure, whatever.”

“And would it be okay if I took a shower too? It’s been almost a week and — ”

“Yeah, no problem. We don’t expect you to be all stinky and gross.”

“Thanks.” Now I look at my sad little black dress and frown. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance I could get a fresh change of clothes?” I ask hopefully. “I mean, I don’t want to sound whiny, but — ”

“I’ll ask one of the girls to find you something.”

I thank him, curious as to the other girls. I go into the bathroom where, to my surprise, he doesn’t even lock the door once I’m inside. I consider locking it from my side, but why bother since I’m sure he can get in if he wants to? Besides, it would probably only make him suspicious. Why rock this boat?

It feels like such a luxury to take a shower and wash my hair. I help myself to the bath products and take my time to scrub off what feels like layers of filth and grime. Then I dig around in a messy linen cabinet until I find a clean towel. I’m just drying myself off when I notice the small pile of clothes next to the sink. It’s not much. Just athletic shorts and a baggy T-shirt and a pathetic pair of underwear and a bra, but at least they look and smell clean. Or cleaner than my sad little dress.

After I’m dressed, and since no one is knocking on the door yet, I take a few minutes to wash out my dress and my underwear. I’m hoping I can dry them in front of the window in my room, and I’m just rinsing the soap out when a petite girl walks in. She has shoulder-length hair that has been dyed magenta and is in need of a good conditioning treatment. As she gets closer to me, I can see that the roots are brown, just like her eyes.

“What’re you doing?” She frowns curiously at my hands in the sink of murky-looking water.

I give her a smile as I lift the dripping black dress. “I’m just washing my clothes.”

“You know, we do have a laundry room for that.”

“Oh?” I nod. “Good to know.” I’m being extra friendly, hoping to win this girl’s trust. She’s very petite and seems a little younger than me. “But this dress is supposed to be hand washed anyway.” I study the poor misshapen garment, wondering if it will ever be useable again. “This was my choir dress in high school.”

“You were in choir?” Her big eyes brighten with interest. “Are you a good singer?”

I shrug as I squeeze water out. “I’m okay.”

She’s sitting on the counter now, kicking her heels as she watches me finishing up my washing. “I was never in choir or anything like that,” she says wistfully, “but I do love to sing.”

“Are you any good?”

Just like that, she breaks into a Katy Perry song, and although she’s a little off-key, her enthusiasm is genuine. So I smile and tell her that she sings beautifully. Really, what can it hurt?

“Thanks.” She grins. “You’re Serena, right?”

I nod. “What’s your name?” I grab another towel to wrap my dress and underthings in so they won’t drip all over the floor.

“Ruby.” She hops down from the counter. “Ruby Red.”

I blink. “Really?
Ruby Red?
”

She laughs. “Well, you know.”

And then I realize that, like me, she’s been assigned a fake name. “Yeah … I know.” I hold up my wet laundry. “I’m going to put these in my room to dry.” But now I’m worried I might get locked up again, so as I go down the hallway, I continue talking to her about music and singing. I’m hoping I can entice her to follow me. At least if I go into lockdown, I’ll have company. “
American Idol
is one of my favorite shows,” I say as I go into my room.

“Yeah, me too. And I used to dream about being on it someday,” she admits as I’m putting my soggy dress on one of the hangers.

“That’s cool,” I say as I hook the hanger over the top of the blinds, hoping the sun from the window will dry it.

“I guess that won’t be happening though.”

“Why not?” I arrange my underwear on the other hanger, hooking it on the blinds too. “You can keep auditioning until you’re twenty-eight. And I’ll bet you’re not even old enough to try out yet.”

“Yeah. I’m just fourteen.” She stops herself like she’s given out too much information.

“It’s okay. It’s not like I’ll tell anyone.”

She looks relieved.

“You shouldn’t give up your dreams,” I say. “And you should keep on singing, too.”

“Really? You think I have talent?”

“I think you have a sweet voice and you should keep working on it.” At least that was honest. “Maybe we can sing together sometime.”

“Yeah, that’d be cool.”

“So, how long have you been here?” I use my fingers to comb my damp hair.

Her brow creases. “You mean here in this house?”

I shrug, trying to figure this out as I go. “Yeah, whatever.”

“We all came to this house in May, I think it was.”

“Oh …” I try not to act too interested since I know everyone here is pretty tight-lipped. I just act like I’m making conversation.

“We were all in different places before coming here.”

“All? You mean besides Jimmy and Tatiana?”

“Yeah, the other girls.”

“Oh, yeah. So you’ve only been together a couple months …”

“Well, I’ve known Jimmy longer than that. About a year I guess. Maybe a little more.”

“Uh-huh.” I try not to look shocked, but I assume she was only thirteen when she got stuck in this lifestyle. “How did you, uh, come to be here?”

“It was pretty messed up at home. At least my mom’s boyfriend was messed up, you know what I mean?” She peers curiously at me.

“Yeah.” I nod like I get this — and I think I do. “That sucks.”

“Tell me about it. He’s a total loser who thinks he can use me the same way he’s using my mom. So one day I was fed up with the jerk. And I confronted my mom and I was like
,
‘It’s him or me, Mom. You gotta choose.’”

I shake my head sadly. “And … ?”

She looks down at her feet. “She chose him. Duh.”

“I’m sorry.” I place a hand on her shoulder. “That’s so wrong.”

“Yeah. So then it was like, what do I do? I stayed with a friend for a while. But then her mom was going to report everything to CPS. So I was like see ya later. And then I was on the streets and it wasn’t so bad since it was summer. And a lot of kids were homeless.”

“So you kinda banded together?” I’m trying to wrap my head around this.

“Yeah. But the weather started getting cold. So some of us came out here and that was better for a while. But then it started getting pretty rough. And I didn’t really know anyone and I was ready to just give up.”

“Did you ever think about going home?”

“I called my mom’s phone and the jerk answered and I just hung up.”

“Oh.”

“That’s when Jimmy found me.”

“Oh … yeah.” I nod like this makes sense, like I can totally relate.

“Jimmy was the first one to really help me. He had money and he gave me clothes and food and stuff.” She shrugs. “He gave me a place to stay. Sure, it wasn’t much, but it was better than being on the streets. Especially in the winter.”

“So winter is pretty cold up here?” I’m hoping she’ll divulge where we are. “I mean, colder than LA. That’s where I’m from.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure Portland is a lot colder than LA.” She smiles. “That’s cool you’re from LA. I’ve always wanted to go there. That’s where I thought I was headed, but then I stayed here instead.”

So I tell her a little about LA and then ask about where she came from. She lets it slip out that she’s from Idaho, but that’s all. I can tell she’s worried about giving too much information.

“Well, I’ve never been in Portland before,” I say before she can get too concerned. “But I’ve heard it’s really pretty up here.”

“Oh, yeah, for sure. There’s lots of trees and some pretty gardens Jimmy took us to once. Portland’s pretty cool.”

“You don’t miss Idaho then?”

She shakes her head. “Sometimes … I guess … I mean, if things were different.”

“So, it’s your choice to be here?” I ask tentatively. “And if you wanted to leave, you could?”

She frowns. “Well, I owe Jimmy a lot, you know.” She waves her hand around this dismal room. “I mean, this house is a lot better than where I was living. I know it’s not cheap. And he’s put out a lot of money for me. So I have to earn my keep, you know?”