Billie Bossa Nova

42.

The night passed without Billie having slept a blink. Her entire body was surrounded by pink and blue belt marks, the same that were keeping her from sleeping. If she could have it any other way, Billie would have floated and slept in midair so that nothing could touch her sore skin, but that was obviously impossible. Like a grown woman, she had to brave through it.

Billie spent the day in bed. Didn't answer when Layla called her down to eat, and Kayden seemed to think it best to leave her alone. At dinner, though, Billie came down because she needed to eat something. If it was up to her, she would not have eaten. But she knew more than anyone that she needed the energy. Her escape would be tonight. Granted, she hadn't gathered anything on Kayden or Rivera yet, but she had to get Lula out of here.

It's going to be tight, she thought. She only knew of a single guard by the door and another at the back door. Any further than that, she had not a clue of. There could be an army waiting for her and she doesn't even know. Moreover, fighting her way through would do little to challenge Adan's suspicions about her being an agent. But did she care? Not as much as she did about getting Lula out of here. If she could save Lula out of thousands of other girls, she would do it. It was not a logical choice for her line of work, she knew.

Billie pondered this as Layla was guiding her up the stairs and to her room after dinner. She had made sure that they were the last ones going to bed. Kayden and everyone else had gone to sleep while her and Layla stayed up to wash up the dishes. Billie now had a new knife and fork hidden from dinner. It was all the resources she had. Unlike Lula, she was far better at stealing them.

"Can I ask you something, Layla?"

The young woman glanced up at Billie. She shrugged, "Sure."

"Does Kayden often bring girls like Lula here? Ones that are only going to stay temporarily instead of permanently like us?"

Layla brooded before replying, "No. It's on very rare occasions. We don't mind, though. Some of them usually give daddy a lot of trouble, so we're glad when they leave."

"Trouble how?" Billie was frowning.

"Oh, don't worry yourself about that." Yet suddenly, Billie found reason to worry. Especially after last night's ordeal. "It's not worth losing your sleep over."

"Okay." Not okay. "Well, do you perhaps know where he takes these girls when they leave from here?" Layla went silent. For a long time. Like she was pondering something. Billie feared that she might be trying to conjure up a lie. "You can tell me honestly," she pressed. Putting pressure on her. "I won't tell the others."

"It's nothing like that. I just don't know if I should tell you. Daddy will get angry."

They were now on top of the stair case. Layla was looking down on the polished wooden rail in guilt. Billie asked softly, "Why would he?"

"Because I did something naughty." Billie resisted cringing upon hearing a grown woman refer to herself as having been naughty.

"I won't tell him, I swear." She took Layla's hand from the wooden rail and clasped their fingers together. "I'm your friend, Layla. I don't want to see you get punished. I'm not going to say anything, please trust me"

Billie pitied the girl, really. In fact, if Layla didn't have Stockholm syndrome, she would have ran out of here along with her tonight. But she knew that the odds of convincing Layla were very slim. The girl was in deep. And the last thing Billie needed was either being told on by Layla or double crossed. For Lula's sake, she had to get out of there. Contrary to Billie's promise, Layla couldn't trust Billie at all.