...And The Beast

Intriguing Encounters

Stacy took another drag of her cigarette as she considered my question.

"I don't know if I could." she answered finally.

"How hard could it be?" I challenged.

"To swallow a sword?!" Her blood-shot eyes shot slightly open.

"With your throat muscles?" I emphasized.

"Bitch, there's a difference between meat & metal." she laughed.

I laughed along with her as a car pulled up. A 40+ year old man rolled down the window, smirked and nodded at Stacy. She sauntered over in her high heels and slightly ripped tights and after a brief conversation I couldn't hear, walked around to his passenger seat door. She nodded at me before climbing in. Then she was gone.

Now I was alone.

Well, not necessarily. To my left or right, I could easily count three or four drug addicts and a couple more prostitutes. But I stood alone.

About 10 minutes later, a person in a hoodie walked up to me.

"You're pretty." the girl commented.

"Thanks." I said shortly. Looking busy was bad for business. Plus, the girl talking to me was a dyke. Which made it worse.

"How much would a night cost?" she asked.

I scoffed, looking at her hoodie. "For who?"

Her face scrunched, humorously. "You see someone else here?"

Oh. Ew.

"Too much for you." I replied, looking away from her.

She scoffed, chuckling. "I could buy you if I wanted to, sweetheart. I'm just asking about a night."

"Ask about someone else's night." I rolled my eyes.

"But you're the pretty one."

"Listen," I huffed. "I'm not about that life, okay?"

"That life?" she quoted.

Now I turned to look at her. "I am a woman. And so are you. Which means between the two of us, there is no sale."

She threw her head back, bass filled laughter coming from her mouth. "Let me get this right: You're not too good for random, community dick but you are too good for women?"

I rolled my eyes again, turning to walk away. It was damn near 5 a.m: almost time for cop patrols. But before I got far, my arm was grabbed.

I turned around to shout at the dyke for touching me. But my words got caught in my throat. She was standing discomfortingly close to me which made the fact that she was a good 5 inches taller than me really obvious and she was glaring down at me.

"I really really don't like the word 'no'." she growled.

I paused before snatching my arm away. "That's unfortunate. No sale. Goodbye, dykie."

I turned again and continued to walk off.
She didn't stop me this time and I refused to look back.

When I reached my apartment building, the sun was pushing it's way through the clouds. I stopped in the kitchen and counted my earnings for the night. $525. Not bad but I had to work harder tonight if I was gonna meet rent.

I took an hour nap, then a shower and was in the process of getting dressed when my older brother stumbled in.

And I literally mean stumbled. Brandon walked through the door, threw his keys on the counter then fell straight to the ground.