Whiskey Sour

Robin

   I drove with care, avoiding bumps and pot holes that were scattered throughout the asphalt. Occasionally, I would glance back over at Faye to make sure she was still asleep and not trying to do anything. I didn't worry too much about her waking up any time soon. The drugs I had slipped in her whiskey were strong enough to knock out a horse for at least an hour or so. Whether or not it hurt her to have that high of a dosage was no concern of mine. All I wanted to do was get her to the cabin without having any trouble.
   The front wheel of my truck ran over a rock that I hadn't noticed, and Faye's head bumped against the glass window. I winced at the sound. That must've hurt.
   My eyes stayed focused on the road ahead of me. After another mile or so of silent driving, I turned onto a dirt road path and continued down it. The truck shook and bounced beneath the rocks and patches of missing dirt in the road. These were unavoidable, but I knew this road well, and was able to keep the car from jerking around too much.
   It took another half an hour of driving down this dirt road until I finally reached the cabin. It was secluded, in the middle of the Georgia woods, with nobody around for miles. The closest home to this one was twenty minutes further north, and it had been vacant for years.
   I put the truck in park outside the old toolshed, and just sat behind the wheel for a minute. I stared at the sleeping little girl in my passenger seat, my face blank of all expression. She was pretty, I'd give her that. Her hair had way too much hair spray in it, which gave it a weird greasy look and an even more weird texture, but other than that, she seemed alright.
   I knew I had to act fast and get her inside. I didn't know exactly how much time I had left before the drugs wore off. Climbing out of the front seat, I made the hike around the car and to the passenger side door. I opened it carefully, and the second I did, Faye's sleeping body collapsed once again into my arms. I held her tight and dragged her out. She was so delicate and innocent.
   I rested her on the grass for a moment just to find my footing, and then lifted her up in my arms and walked to the front door. The cabin was small, plenty of space for me and one other, and it had the classic cabin look to it. The walls were made to look like logs on the outside, and the little red door in the front had a very intricate design imbedded in the glass windows. There was a chimney connected to a fireplace, but I never used it. It mainly sat there for decoration, even though I had nobody to decorate and show off for.
   My little concrete walkway to the front door was littered with fallen pine needles, which crunched loudly beneath my feet. I reached for the doorknob and opened it, thankful that I left it unlocked before I left, because I didn't have time to fiddle around in my pockets for the keys. The second the door opened, the strong smell of lemon citrus filled my nose. I loved the smell of lemon.
   I struggled to flick on the light switch with Faye in my hands, but I still managed to get everything turned on. Immediately, I walked through the living room area into the back hallway, and opened the first door on the left. The floorboards creaked under my weight, which made for an outstanding alarm system under the circumstances that one of my girls would ever escape, but that had never happened to me before. As I was walking, Faye moaned and shifted in my arms, and I froze, just staring at her sleeping body, preparing myself to make a move if I had to. But she only squirmed for a second, and then went right back to how she was before, quiet and limp.
   I walked her up to a small bed that sat in the very back corner of the room, and laid her body down gently on the mattress. I then reached for the tethers I had strapped to each bed post. Faye's high heels were still on, and I carefully slipped them off, chucking them to the floor behind me before tying a rope to each of her ankles, far apart from each other. I did the same to her wrists, and then stood back and admired my handy work.
   She looked so submissive, just laying there all tied up. I didn't know how I felt about it, but I just pushed all feelings aside and returned to the tasks at hand. In the room, there was not much. A bed, a small side table with only one drawer that sat next to the bed, a little lamp on the table, and a closet, which had nothing but dead lizards and roaches in it. There were no windows and only one door, which could only be locked and unlocked from the outside. I had been preparing for this for a long time, and was very proud at what I had made. It wasn't easy making a house that was capable of withstanding a hostage.
   I found myself occasionally wondering if my cabin could withstand two captives and not just one, but what did I need two captives for? My intentions with Faye were set in stone, and I didn't have time to be messing around with a second person on top of it.
   After double checking to make sure everything was secure, I returned to my truck. One thing had caught my attention when I was helping the drugged girl into my car, and that was her little small handbag that she never seemed to let go of. I didn't notice it at the bar or on the walk through the parking lot. Only when we got to the truck did it catch my eye. I wanted so desperately to rummage through it and find out as much as I could about the girl.
   The passenger side door was still open when I made it outside, and it only took me a second to find the little black bag, which was laying on the floorboard by an old soda can that I missed when I was clearing out the area. I picked up the bag and closed the truck, quickly making it back inside. Once inside, I dumped the contents of the purse out on the table, which was somewhat connected to the living room, and scavenged through them.
   There were the usual things you would find in a ladies' purse: a tube of red lipstick, three tampons, a fifty dollar bill, a set of keys, two pens, an infinite number of hair ties and bobby pins, and a wallet. Ignoring everything else, I went for the wallet. Not for the money, but for the cards.
   Her license read that she was twenty-one, but she had told me that she was twenty-two, which had made me curious as to what else she was lying about. I shined her license up into the light and moved it around. The holographic pictures in the background stayed shining consistently, and not just when I moved it.
   It was a rookie mistake. Her I.D. was fake.
   I kept searching through her wallet when I found a second license. It was a drivers license for the same girl, only this time, her age was much different. The date said that she was nineteen.
   I threw the card to the ground and let out a slur of curses. My teeth grinded against each other with anger as I clenched my jaw. Nineteen? She was only nineteen? She was much too young for this, rendering her completely useless to me. I already had to convince myself to take her home when she said she was twenty-two, but nineteen? What was the lying little piece of crap doing in a bar drinking whiskey and vodka anyways? Where the hell were her parents through all of this?
   I threw the kitchen chair back and slammed my fists on the table. My intentions were to sell her to very high class men who were looking for very specific girls. They did not like teenagers, and neither did I. I had twenty thousand dollars on the line for a twenty-three-year-old, I came home with a twenty-two-year-old, and ended up with a damn nineteen-year-old. It was my worst nightmare, having to go through this.
   Pulling out my phone, I checked the time. It was already almost two o'clock in the morning. I felt tired and now, I felt stressed. But I beckoned myself to calm down just long enough to figure things out. Should I just dump her on the side of the road somewhere? She hopefully wouldn't remember a thing.
   But she already saw my face and knew my name. What if she squealed to the cops? I would be busted for sure! Letting her go was out of the picture.
   Killing her crossed my mind. I wasn't a killer, but I knew I would be able to do it if I had to. Should I do it?
   I stored that thought away for later.
   I returned to the bedroom where Faye was and looked at her in disgust. She was only nineteen? She looked a little bit older than that. It must have been the make up or the slutty dress that left me that impression. I leaned my back against the wall across from her and watched, arms folded over my chest in a b-boy stance. She was still sound asleep. Maybe she would stay asleep for the rest of the night? It was possible, but I didn't want to take the risk of trying to go to bed and then miss her waking up, so I just stood there and waited.