The Nothing (25 page)

“
Call me Frank Baby.”

“Is this Mr.
Simmons’ house?”

“Yes it sure is.”

“Is it a church too? Should I get out of the car now?”

Frank took out a large
white cell phone with a bitten apple on the back, which amazed Katy because she had never seen one up close. He held it close to his face and spoke into it, “Call Nick.”

“What Mr. Frank? You want me to yell outside for him?”

Frank laughed. “No honey, I’m telling the phone what to do. It’s like talking to one of my bitches!” A faint hello could then be heard coming from the phone. Frank then held it to his ear.

“Yo b
rother, I have her at the house...... Ok, alright. Don’t want to get in the middle of your good time dude…… Yeah I will tell her and show her…… Ok I will tell her. Later.”

Katy wanted to hold the phone.
It would be the first time she has ever held a cellular phone. “Frank can I hold your phone?”

“No babe, I might be getting a call.
Don’t worry; you will probably be getting one shortly. Get your bags out and lets go inside.”

“Nick isn’t here?
Where is he?”

“Nick is at a club called
Rendezvous. They got good food, good women and lots of boot knocking. He said to put you to sleep in his room and he will get home when he gets home.”
Wow a club. Like the Boy Scouts or something? I have always wanted to eat good American food with good waitresses. I’m guessing boot knocking has something to do with Texas.

“Is b
oot knocking a cowboy thing?” Frank laughed then coughed and spit a large wad of mucus on the ground as they got to the front door.

“Yeah you could say th
at. Front and reverse cowboy if you get my drift. You a player like that? If you are, Nick is going to be really happy. That lucky fuck……”

“I have never played cowboy games before.”
After they got inside the front door and into the main foyer, Frank realized that Katy had no clue as to what he was talking about.

“Well let me tell you Katy.
You are probably going to go through some culture shock. Especially since you didn’t get anything of what I just said. Being married to Nick, is umm… well how do I put this… fortunate and unfortunate at the same time. You are also going to be home a lot. He wants someone to take care of the house. Cheap fucker doesn’t like paying someone to clean his house. His last volunteer from the church died. You know how to clean?”

“Yes, cook and fix yard.”

“Good then. There are other things that I know of that Nick has a liking for.”

“Liking for
what Frank?”

Frank
hesitated, yet was having fun laying it all out for her. “Well you probably won’t know what I mean but I’m going to tell you anyway. He likes to fuck a lot of women and fuck often. A man has needs; Nick’s are at the high end of the scale. I mean you have to make sure you fuck him all that he wants if you want things to go well. Nick can get mean when he doesn’t get laid. Other than that, life should be great for you. But like I said, you probably don’t know what I was saying anyway.”

But
Katy knew exactly what Frank was saying. Men in her village had spoken that way in front of her before, trying to get her to sell her body to them. Katy was concerned, but like Frank had said, she probably didn’t understand any of it. It might be different here.
Maybe I misunderstand a lot right now and just need to be patient and enjoy my new house!

Frank
began walking up a round staircase and turned around to see Katy still standing in the foyer. “Come on up Katy, I will show you the bedroom. It’s time to go to sleep and Nick will see you when he gets here.” Katy noticed the marble top on the railing and how quiet the wooded steps were as she took each step. Most buildings in Pai would creak or shake when you walked up stairways. There were paintings along the wall with wood frames painted gold. The whole house smelled like soap, almost like Nick did in the office at Thaiworld. Once she was led into the bedroom, she jumped for joy at the size of the bed. It was a California king with a six-inch pillow top on a fifteen-inch mattress that was high enough to be level with her chest. “Well girl, this is it. Home sweet home. I know you feel like sleeping. But I gotta ask, were you a working girl in Thailand?”

“Yes Frank, I
was a working girl. I worked hard and did everything that was asked of me.” Just what Frank wanted to hear. “Well I will give you five hundred dollars if you will let me crawl in that bed with you and you show me a good time.”

“Five hundred dollars?
What are you asking of me?”

Frank had been trying to
feel her out in hopes of having sex with her.

“You said you were a working gir
l right? So you sucked dick? Or should I say, you put your mouth on men’s penises and let them have sex with you?” Katy laughed. She thought Frank was being really funny. Maybe he was making fun of the men back home. Yet he wasn’t. His real intentions were beyond her. “No Frank! You are a funny man. I worked at rice stand with my mother. I wasn’t a prostitute! Is that what working girl here means?” Frank giggled in defeat and accepted that he would have to find a girl for the night somewhere else. “Yeah girl. Though you could use a laugh. Listen I am going to leave now. Take a shower, then get into bed.” Katy immediately jumped into the bed and pulled the covers back. “That’s the spirit girl. I assume you want me to leave before you get comfortable or undressed and shit.”

Katy
sat up with a happy smile. “Frank, when is the wedding?” He was walking out the door as she asked and turned around. “Wedding? Oh yeah, that’s right. As far as I know, you and him will be going to the courthouse and do the JP thing.” Frank’s answer instantly frightened her. Back in Thailand, you only went to the courthouse when you have committed a crime or a crime has been committed to you. But Katy decided she wasn’t going to panic. She figured she may have misunderstood him again. In America, Katy would soon learn that so much is different for her now.

“Oh
, ok Frank. And what is shit?”

Oh man, fucking Nick!
This broad is one buzzkill after another! What tha fuck were you thinking?

“Shit is what
flies out of someone’s face who is talking about something they don’t know anything about, and shit is also something that flies out your ass after a good meal. Gotta go. Goodnight.” Frank walked out of the door and turned off the lights.

L
andscaping lights glowed through the bedroom windows leaving a dark orange glow on the walls. Katy felt like she was in Heaven. Yesterday she was sleeping on a small mattress on a hard wooden floor. Tonight, she is floating on a mattress more plush and luxurious than anything she had ever experienced. To Katy’s right, was the bathroom that even thought the lights were off, she was able to see that it was huge with shiny surfaces. In Pai, everyone shared a bathroom in her house. It always smelled horrible and was only big enough for one person at a time. Her brothers shared two rooms while She and her mother shared another. Now she felt like she was in a dream. In a bedroom that was as big as her old house all together.
Mr. Cruise was so right! This is better than I could have ever imagined. I am so happy!
Katy wanted to keep her eyes open so that she could enjoy the glow in the bedroom. Plus she badly needed to take a shower. But Katy fell asleep thirty seconds after Frank closed the door behind him. Katy had many dreams that night but none that could be remembered. A vast assortment of random memories juggled together in a single vision. It would be when she awoke for the first time in America, that the nightmare would begin.

***

First thing that caught Katy’s eyes as they opened slightly, was the bright glow of the outside daylight that brightened the room. Next, came the feeling of warm wetness all over her face along with a hard pressure against her groin area. Heavy weight on her chest was making it hard to breath. Katy finally came out of her slumber with the sight of a man’s face pressed against hers. She tasted beer and sweat. A man was on top of her, kissing and licking her all around her mouth and face. His hand was on her crotch poking and squeezing. The disgusting taste of this man’s mouth and the smell caused her to start gagging, then dry heaving from an empty stomach. As the man pulled away, she felt the skin on her face rip away painfully from his. His face was very sticky with the smell of leather and fish. The mysterious man laughed and said, “Hey Krystal, it’s me Nick. Don’t you be puking now!” Katy coughed and took a few deep breaths, but Nick’s smell kept nauseating her. “My name is Katy, not Krystal.” Nick nodded his head, smiled and rolled off of the bed and began to dance like a stripper. He was only wearing his underwear, which had a yellow stain on the front and appeared wet.

“Please w
ait, what are you doing?” Katy finally remembered where she was and that she was in Nick’s bed. Nick’s face came into focus. She began to worry that he was planning on having sex with her, which was frightening because she was still a virgin. This was not how she dreamed of making love to her new husband for the first time. Katy could see a large bulge pushing the front of his underwear outward. Katy also noticed that Nick’s hair was sloppy, greasy and that he really needed a shower. And somehow, women’s perfume radiated from him as well. He was very drunk. And now, he was getting antsy.

“What
am I doing you ask? Well I am getting ready to take my underwear off and mount you like a bear in heat!” With each second, his gargled breathing grew louder, making Katy think that there was something wrong with him. Or that he was high on drugs aside from being drunk. Katy felt like she must make a stand. “I don’t want to make love to you yet. We aren’t married and I want to be ready for it. I really would like to just talk and get to know you. I really want to fall in love with you.” Nick climbed back on the bed, stood up, and started jumping like a little kid. “Well baby, you are in my bed and in this country that means you are mine to do with as I please.” Nick came crashing onto the mattress next to Katy, who had the covers pulled to her neck. She was still wearing her blouse and jeans from the day before. “You mean I have to right now? But I dreamed of it being a certain way!”

She wanted to say more but felt like she was going to cry
if she opened her mouth again. Nick was able to notice, but didn’t care and was growing impatient. He then decided he would just go get laid somewhere else; just to hold him over until later. “I tell you what, we’ll have our wedding night this afternoon. Now go and make me some lunch. Then we’ll head to the courthouse, get married and be done with it. I was not in any wedding bullshit type of rush since the whole thing is a formality anyways. But hey, if it will make you feel more comfortable, then we can go. I have to make you my wife anyway.” Of course that didn’t make Katy feel any better, but it took some of the pressure off. Nick rolled off the bed and started walking towards the bathroom to take a shower.

“Oh and Katy, you need to take a shower.
You smell like buzzard bait.”

“What?
What is buzzard bait?”

“Oh nevermind.
Why don’t you go make me a plate of food and after I eat, we’ll go do the wedding thing. You’ll just take a shower after we finish this afternoon.”

Katy
found Uncle Ben’s rice and some frozen sausage. She managed to get the top of the line stovetop to work and found a pot to cook with. When Nick came into the kitchen, he took a box out of the fridge with a half eaten pizza and ignored the bowl of food Katy had put together. Growing up, if you made food for a man and he doesn’t eat it, or worse, makes his own food while ignoring what was prepared, it was a sign that you had disrespected him somehow or that he was angry.

On the way to the courthouse there wasn’t any conversation.
Katy could smell herself and was disappointed that she didn’t take a shower when she first arrived at Nick’s house. It has been three days since her last shower. Justin Bieber blared from the stereo during the twenty-minute drive to the Harris County Courthouse Annex. Katy had heard Justin Bieber music before because all the girls in Thailand loved him. But if a man listened to his music, he would be called names and labeled a homosexual. Katy wanted to talk to Nick but the music was too loud. Nick played one song called ‘Boyfriend’ three times in a row. The dread and fear that had engulfed her before arriving to America was beginning to return at an intensity much higher than she has ever experienced.

After Nick
found a spot in the courthouse parking, he hurriedly got out of the car, walked around to the passenger side, opened the door and lightly yanked Katy out of the car. “Sorry girl, but I’m kind of in a hurry.” With Nick still holding her arm and pulling her along at a fast pace, Katy asked, “What all do you need to do today? Maybe I can help?” But Nick didn’t saying anything. They went through the front doors into the lobby area and turned to the right and entered the county clerk’s office.

“Listen woma
n, don’t ask me or anybody here any questions. All you need to do is answer questions asked of you.” Katy nodded yes and stayed quiet. Nick stopped and looked her in the eyes. “That’s good, you have learned your first lesson.”