TWELVE DAYS OF REIGN

RUN

I wasn't surprised that night when the pickup truck came to my corner. Reuben rolled down the window.
"Get in."
I hesitated, knowing full well where my obedience would lead. I took in a drag thinking of what to do. It wasn't like screaming for help ever helped me in the past, not with him. He'd soon as bash my head in the concrete before I could get away. I looked down the sidewalk at the other girls. A few were being collected by Johns while the others sashayed about, blowing kisses, trying to compete. None of them would help me if I begged them. They were too afraid of me. It didn't help that I was too proud to try.
"Go home to your wife and kids, Reuben," I chucked the cigarette away putting on a poker face, hiding my fear beneath the skin. "I'm not for sale tonight."
He smirked, "You owe me for helping you with my family today. Time to pay up, Reign. So get in the car before I get angry."
"Turn green all you want to, Reuben. I said I'm not selling tonight. By the way, I don't owe you anything."
I backed away from the lamp post headed towards the girls, hoping there was safety in numbers. But then, I heard the car door open and slam shut. I kicked off my shoes and ran, pumping my legs hard. I dodged through the throng of girls not bothering to look over my shoulder. I could hear his long stride steps, the pat of his sneakers slapping against the sidewalk. I made a sharp turn through someone's yard and leaped on their fence, climbing over it. His fingers scraped the bottom of my foot as I fell over the top and onto the ground. I quickly scampered up and raced down the neighborhood digging in my purse for my utility lighter, but I forgot Reuben got rid of it the other night.
I deliberately slammed into a car making the alarm go off, and then another and another. Car alarms blared through the neighborhood. A porch light came on. A man in a house robe came out with his keys and cell phone in hand. I screamed.
"Help! Please, help me!"
But before I could reach the man, a pair of hands grabbed me from behind and yanked me back, slamming me against the ground. The air knocked out of my lungs. Reuben came around the front of me, gripped me by the neck of my sheer shirt and cut his fist across my face. My head snapped to the side as blood filled my mouth. I dizzily turned my head back around only to feel his fist drive under my chin. My head snapped upward. The blow knocked me backward sending me soaring through the air and down to the ground. Darkness began to tunnel my vision as Reuben came up to me. He knelt down on one knee, yanked me by my shirt and spat on me.
"I bet next time you'll do as I say, won't you?"
His fist collided with my head. Darkness.

______________

I woke up in my apartment, naked, gagged, and my wrists tied to the bedposts. Reuben was on me getting his payment like he liked it. Long and rough, until my body could take no more.

______________

I was there on the corner that morning, wearing a large pair of shades that covered half my face when Joseph pulled up in his black SUV to come and get me. He got out of the car and opened the door for me. I got in but he didn't close the door. Instead, he stood there staring at me like an owl until he finally had enough and spoke.
"What—happened?"
"Just a crazy John," I tried to smile it off but my jaw was still too swollen. The ice packs hadn't brought the swelling down enough for it not to show.
"I'm fine."
"Is it the same crazy John that gave you that busted lip the other day?"
"Yeah," I confessed. "But I'm fine so let's go see the preacher before your family comes."
"You can't see my father like this, woman," he countered. "It would break his heart. It's breaking mine! I'm taking you to the police."
"No!" I panicked. "No! I'm fine. I can handle him."
"You can't handle him! Look at you!"
"I'm a prostitute, Joseph. The police will arrest me if I go to them. Besides, these things happen. I'll be fine."
Joseph went quiet a moment. His golden-brown eyes turned as hard as gems. His jaw flexed as he silently shut the door, came around and got into the driver's side. A moment later we drove away.
He didn't stop driving until we reached a neighborhood I had never been in before. The houses were huge, a hundred times bigger than my apartment. Joseph came around the car and opened the door for me. He extended his hand out like a gentleman, reminding me of the preacher.
"You're going to stay with me until my father gets out of the hospital."
"What?" I breathed.
"Stay with me, Reign?" He tilted his head. "I'll keep you safe."
I glanced between his hand and face, not sure what to think. I wondered if it were a trick, a ploy to get me in the house so he can do to me what Reuben had done to me last night. Maybe they were conspiring to have me at the same time. I didn't know. Joseph didn't seem the type, but Reuben didn't either in the beginning.
"Come on," Joseph reached towards me and gently took my hand in his, leading me out of the car. My heart raced as he shut the door and led me to his house, a massive assorted stone house that looked like it came out of a magazine. The front door was a keyless entry. He pushed a code in and the double doors opened. Once we were in he let my hand go.
My sore jaw parted. Red and white sofas and chairs surrounded a fireplace in the living room. The dining room was lined with a shiny polished red oak table with twelve designed chairs. The kitchen held double islands, a pizza oven, and lamps that hovered over the countertops. The bathrooms had heated floors and columns in them surrounding the tub. They also had a shower big enough to hold nine gluttonous people, complete with six shower heads. The bedroom I was to stay in was massive. A seventy-inch TV was mounted on the wall across from a queen-sized bed filled with pillows. A balcony that went around the entire outside was just beyond the door wall of my bedroom. Joseph's bedroom was next to mine, and his father's was next to his.
"Here," he handed me a shirt, pants, slippers and a nightgown. "These were my mother's. They may be a little too big for you but wear them for today. Tomorrow I'll get you something that fits. Dinner is at six o'clock."
With that, he left me in the bedroom. I waited to hear his footsteps trail away, but I could hear nothing. I opened the door and glanced out. He was halfway down the steps. I came out into the hallway and leaned over the banister.
"Joseph!" I called. He looked over his shoulder at me.
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"No, Reign. Thank you for being so kind to my father."
I watched as he continued down the long staircase and disappeared into the kitchen. I went back into the bedroom and stripped down. I stared at the six-head shower and then turned to the large jacuzzi tub and smiled.

______________

Joseph leaned in the refrigerator and took out the steaks with his cell phone pressed to his ear. He set the steaks on the counter, leaned down and took out the broccoli and a handful of carrots. He shut the refrigerator door just as his brother finally picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Reuben, hey."
"Hey, Jo. What's going on?"
"Are you at work right now?"
"You know me," Reuben chuckled. "Always keeping the streets safe for good citizens like yourself."
"You cops are so underappreciated," Joseph laughed.
"You're preachin' to the choir, brother."
"How long have you been on the job now? Twenty years?"
"Twenty-two."
"Then I called the right person," Joseph added. "I have a problem."
"What is it?"
"It's about Reign," Joseph began, "She got knocked around pretty good by some—John. She refuses to go to the police, but this is the second time he's hurt her in the last two days. I'm worried but because of her profession, I'm not sure what to do. So, I brought her over to my house to keep her safe from this nut job."
"Well, she is a prostitute, Jo. Things like this are bound to happen. But, if I were you I would just keep her there for a while. Let this—John—whoever he is calm down or move on. If she goes to the police she may get locked up, set on charges of prostitution."
"Yeah," Joseph nodded cutting up the carrots. "She said that too."
"Well, it's true man. Look, I'm not working tomorrow. If you want, I can come by and talk to her. Try to get a description of this guy. Maybe I can ask around, see if any other prostitutes ran into the same guy."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Ok. See you then."
Joseph hung up the phone feeling better now that he talked to Reuben about the situation. If anybody could catch this guy, Reuben could.