I’d just given my last shakes, zipped and flushed, when I heard the girls come in.
Their voices, muffled by the sounds of running water from the sink and the cycling of the toilet, were boisterous, mirthful, and full of merriment.
I dried, flipped the light switch, and stepped into the conversation.
Tyler barked, wide-eyed; recapitulating, “This fool tried to negotiate, talking about three hundred.”
Cami countered. “Wait, what? That deal was settled. I’d already worked it out with the lead. It was supposed to be a thousand each. He tried to play you like that? Did you get it?”
Tyler twisted her mouth. She removed the folded bills from her bra. “Fuck yeah…as soon as we got to the room… Before the motherfucker even took out his key.” She looked to Sway. “To you, right?”
Sway nodded, opening her palm. She spread the ten one hundreds out for view.
Tyler continued. “I knew he had the money. You don’t come all the way from Kansas or wherever, a whole group, and you’re broke.”
“Right?!” Cami reached into her hip pocket. “I got mine too, Sway. It’s all there.”
“A thousand?”
“Yeah. It should be six hundreds and the rest in twenties.” Sway started a count, facing and edging. “Tyler, it was so easy, I got worried it might be a setup. He was more nervous than I was. I don’t think he’d ever paid for pussy before.”
“He did look like a spoiled rich kid.”
“Oh! He’s rich. You’re not going to believe this. The fool went to take a shit and left his Rolex right there on the dresser.”
“What?! A fucking Rolex?! He left it there?”
“Diamonds all around the outside of it! Gold!” Cami quick-glanced my Submariner. “My man don’t even have one with diamonds yet. If I was a dirty bitch!”
Tyler broke into laughter. “Bet!”
Sway looked to me, straight-faced, expressionless. I cut in, “When was this? Tell me that it could not have possibly happened just now.”
Cami turned to me. “Yeah, we just got back.”
“Back from where?”
“Here. There’s a convention going on. Lots of tricks. They don’t leave until Tuesday. We can make…”
“Stop!”
“What’s the matter, Daddy?”
“Do I really have to fucking break this shit down for you?!”
“I don’t understand.”
“Let me help you, Cami. If someone saw you and Tyler leaving those rooms and watched you come here… Then, say they call the fucking police, what do you think would happen?”
Her voice trembled. “We’d get arrested?”
“Who is we, Cami?”
“Me and Tyler.”
“And who else?”
Her eyes began to well. “I wouldn’t let you get arrested, Daddy. I swear. I would tell the truth.”
“Do you think they would actually give a fuck about what story you had to tell them? You’d be a victim, and I’d be the pimp forcing you into prostitution. Before it’s over, they’d have pinned pandering charges on me from bitches I’ve never met before in my entire fucking life!
“Where’s your street smarts?! What were you thinking?!”
“I was just trying to make money for the family.”
“And you, Tyler! You have a brilliant mind. You’re the most intelligent person I’ve ever fucking met. I expected way more than this from you!”
“I’m sorry.”
I stepped to Cami, close, face to face. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “These tricks. Where are they now?”
“Still in their rooms? I’m not…”
“Did anyone see either of you with them?”
“I don’t think so.”
“How many people did you pass on your way back?”
The two looked to each other, conferring. “There was the lady with her two kids on the elevator.”
Tyler added, “Some people were being waited on at the front desk. I don’t think they noticed me…”
“You couldn’t possibly go anywhere without someone noticing you, Tyler.” I looked over towards their suitcases, clothing, and belongings. Start packing! Both of you!”
Cami grabbed me, locking her arms around my chest. “No! Wait, Daddy. Please. Are we done? Are you throwing us away?”
“I’m trying to save you. Save all of us. Stop asking questions, listen, and do as I say. Can you do that?”
“Yes.”
“You’re in charge. I want you and Tyler to tote your shit up the road to the Wendy’s.
“On your way there, I don’t want you to talk to anyone, speak to anyone, or even make eye contact with anyone. Order some burgers or whatever you want. I don’t care.” I looked to Sway. “Give them a couple hundred each… Those twenties Cami gave you.”
Cami eyed the Popeye’s boxes and bags. “What about all this chicken, Daddy? What do we do with that?”
“Pack that up, too. If we make it, that’s dinner tonight.”
Creole Gaudet
If you enjoyed this content and would like access to all my books, stories, and series episodes, please visit my Patreon page.
Copyright ©2020 by Creole Gaudet. All rights reserved.
No part of this chronicle may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system – except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper – without permission in writing from the publisher, Creole Gaudet.