Ladders

Sleep

Emil slowly walked from the brothel with Matthew in the pale moonlight. Matthew walked with a limp and so their walk from the hell hole they both worked at took longer than expected. Emil and Matthew both had late costumers and were expecting a ride from Alfred but he was no where to be found. Matthew shivered as they walked "god damnit, Alfred's been too invested in this new boyfriend of his". Too say the least Matthew was pretty upset he had too walk especially after such a harsh customer. Emil nodded as his last customer was quite harsh on him as well "if it gets too bad I can always call my boy...friend". It felt weird for Emil to call Leon such a intimate name. Matthew shook his head "no it's fine, I don't want to make anyone drive us this late". Emil shrugged "if you say so, but I need to sit down soon". Matthew looked ahead for a place to stop because he also needed a break "I think there's a park near here with benches we can stop at". Emil almost sped up his pace much to his body's dismay as to reach the destination quicker. Matthew did as well trying to keep up with his friend "slow down Emil, I'm not as young as you". Emil rolled his eyes "you're not even that much older than me". Once they both made it to the small park, both of them quickly sat down and let a sigh of relief out. After a few moments of silence Matthew looked over at Emil "going back to how old you are, why are you in such a situation as me and Alfred?". It was a blunt question, and not one asked very often in the brothel. Emil shrugged as if he couldn't find the right words to explain why he sold his body and looked up at the stars until he finally answered "Mom and dad died years ago and the family I have now was in debt, if I didn't do anything we'd be out in the streets. They'd done so much for me so I had do something for them". Matthew closed his eyes as he leaned back into the cold metal bench "I wish this wasn't a world where we have to sell our bodies to survive". Emil sighed "don't we all. Now, my turn for a question. Why'd you turn to the brothel?". Matthew let out a small exasperated laugh "if only I could answer that question myself. Though if I had to pin point a real reason it's because me and Alfred were thrown on the streets and moved from foster home to foster home. Nobody had faith in us becoming anything so nobody gave us any time of day. Kids in the foster care system are just seen as a one way rode to jail. We were never given a chance to be good enough for society so it drove us to Mr.Vargas". Emil frowned "wait, why were you both in the foster system anyways?" Matthew felt his eyes water, he always tried to be strong when reliving the memory and not let it bother him but it will always hold an emotional scar on his heart "well I was about five when my parents started to fight. I mean, they would fight so constantly that our neighbors would always call the cops on them. Then one day, after months of them fighting my mom just left. At first I thought she was just on one of her business trips that she usually took, so I waited for a month. That's how long her trips usually took. After a month me and Alfred would just sit at the window of our house and stare at the drive way, but we never saw her car pull up again. Then our father started drinking so heavily that we'd be neglected for days and just left to stare at the window wanting our mother to come back. She never did, and my father made sure to tell us it was because of us. Then one day he drove off and never came back, but not before dropping us off at our school but never coming to pick us up". Matthew felt tears stream down his face as he tried to regain his composure. Emil slowly put his hand onto Matthews "I'm sorry Matthew". Matthew wiped away the tears with his opposite hand and smiled "it's okay. We can't change the past, we can only work for a better future". Emil shivered as a gust of wind blew past "a future without the brothel". Matthew looked down "Emil I want to give you hope of escaping the brothel, but I can't. Nobody has ever escaped, those who have even thought they'd escape with age haven't been released. I want to escape as much as you do, but don't put too much of your hope into leaving this horrible place. Just try and make the most of your life outside the brothel". Emil slowly stood up from the park bench "I know what you're saying Matthew, but I'm going to leave there. As long as I can still fight, I'm going to keep trying to escape. Don't you want to?". Matthew shook his head "I gave up trying to leave. I really only think Alfred with be more than the brothel". Emil raised an eyebrow as he offered a hand to Matthew as he sat up from the bench with help from Emil. Matthew stretched his arms out "once you loose all hope Emil, it's hard to ever gain any back". Emil started walked as Matthew did and looked down at the sidewalk "Matthew, I don't think you should just belittle yourself to being a prostitute your entire life. There has to be more for you".Matthew laughed "god Emil I wish you were right. The real world isn't nice though, and I think you've already figured it out. I mean especially with one of your family members coming into the brothel and having sex with me". Emil's face scrunched up in confusion "what do you mean?". Matthew tilted his head in confusion "remember you talking about one of your family members cheating on his partner? His names Berwald isn't it?". Emil sighed in relief thinking Matthew misheard Emil's story about Tino cheating and happened to have a costumer named Berwald as it was a common name around Emil's country "oh no. Tino is the one cheating on Berwald with this guy I hate". Matthew coughed and rubbed the back of his neck "um Emil. I have this customer named Berwald and he'll call me Tino when he fucks me. I think Berwald's also cheating on this Tino person". Emil stopped walking and Matthew looked at him "Matthew, does your Berwald costumer have glasses, blue eyes, and is really tall?". Matthew slowly nodded "I'm sorry Emil". Emil shook his head he wanted to deny it, but all the pieces fell into place in his mind. The missing chunks of money, the family car at the brothel, and Berwald being up so early when Emil got home. "I can't believe he'd go and use our money like that!". He mind then raced with questions. Had Berwald seen Emil at the brothel before? They're going to find out just like Madeline and Feliciano did. You're going to have nobody left soon. Emil held his head "oh god, Matthew I can't believe it". Matthew took Emil's hand "hey calm down Emil. It's going to be okay. We are close to my apartment. Let's go there, and you can just rest". Emil's eyes watered and he let out a sound of distress "Matthew they're going to find out about me!". Matthew pulled Emil forward as they walked back to his apartment "breathe. It's okay". Matthew was genuinely worried as he watched Emil go into a panic attack. It was just like when Alfred came back from the brothel the first time. All Matthew could do was bring Emil to his apartment and try and calm him down. Little did Matthew know this would lead to a larger spiral for Emil's life then Matthew could even imagine.