Lucky 13

She had spent many years in this brothel, so many that she had almost forgotten how she had arrived there. She couldn’t even decide if she hated it or whether she enjoyed what she did. Most times when the guy was fucking her to his dick’s content, she spent the time staring at the ceiling, taking in his smell, wondering whether she would ever stop spreading her legs or if her fanny would swell up and eat him whole at that moment.

Clients came in.

Fucked her.

Clients left.

She funnelled away money to get her out of there, the other half of the money went to the landlord – that was the fancy title Pimp had given himself to make himself seem more legitimate to his mother. He used to get his money’s worth from the girls too. He liked to test drive them. He’d stopped harassing her. He liked to fuck his girls when they were new and  fresh; not old and used like she was. There were some clients she liked, they didn’t really want sex; they wanted companionship. These were the ones that didn’t want to be beaten, humiliated, pissed on. These were the ones that wanted to be held at night, to speak of their lost loves or that their wives treated them like a son instead of a husband. They were her favourites.

Her life was contained in that house, in that dark bedroom that always smelt of sex by choice. The town that existed beyond the gravel driveway was only for necessities. She never visited the beautiful gardens, interesting museums or the vogue cafes. She just worked because whatever you thought of her this was her career – not chosen, but thrusted – literally – upon her. The days of fucking were sometimes broken up by an argument between two of the other girls, usually one of the new ones that Pimp had started fucking and the other one he had stopped. They would come together as a family to celebrate birthdays, religious festivals and any big tip from a John.

There were 13 rooms in that house, she was in the unlucky numbered one but she didn’t feel unlucky. Her clients were faithful to her. She got her trade through word of mouth – the best marketing in any business – as she had some special skills none of the other girls had. As it would happen the unluckiest room turned out to be the luckiest usually with punters. She never told the other girls the tricks she pulled on her tricks.

Over breakfast one day Room No. 3 girl told Lucky 13 that there was some big construction project going on in town. She was sure that this would bring in new business. Pimp started frequenting the bars that the workers went to and put the word about for his girls. He had the foresight to up the rate because he knew these guys were getting good money. Pimp also knew it was only a matter of time before the men got horny being so far from home. All 12 girls got three or four new clients, Lucky got no-one. The girls all had new toys and clothes to use on the guys.

One day whilst sitting in the waiting are; some of the regular construction guys came in with a new guy. He was nervous, she could tell it was his first time. She carried on reading her book, she didn’t feel the need to bother him. The other girls took their men to the bedroom. They both sat in that waiting room listening to the ticking of the clock. He grew more nervous as the minutes counted down. The sweat on his brow made his light brown hair stick down and become a matte black. She watched him over the edge of her book as he nervously twisted his wedding band. She asked him if he wanted a drink. He said no but she got up to pour him one anyway.

“Don’t worry, I don’t want to fuck you tonight. I want to finish my book,” Lucky said as she handed his double shot vodka. “Drink this and piss off.”

Pimp burst into the room, grinning from ear to ear. “You’re one lucky guy cos your mates have paid for you to get lucky tonight!” He turned to Lucky, “They want him to have the full works. You’ve got 7 hours, I'm sure you can do something with him.”

Fuck, she thought and then chuckled at his ill-fortune. She walked up towards her bedroom. He wasn’t going to resist, it was now a question of his manhood at stake. They walked into her bedroom with its candles burning and the smell of incense wafting through the air trying to cut through all the fucks. She went to the drinks cabinet and poured him another shot.

The John came into the bedroom with her. She looked at him and could tell that this was his first time. He nervously twisted his wedding band. Beads of sweat had started to appear on his brow, making his dark brown hair darker in hue. Lucky chuckled to herself,  but kindness took over, “We can pretend we fucked. No one will know.”

“They expect me to stay the night,” he spoke for the first time. His voice sounded warm and gentle. There was something in his voice that made her take pity on him.

“Then stay. I'll stick on a porn tape and no-one will know any different” Lucky said.  

She put on a porn tape that she kept lying around to get some of her customers off. The noises started in the background. There was something about John that made her want to just sit and look at him, to talk to him all night, for there to be nothing more than words that flowed between them.

Minutes ticked by as the air was filled with a comfortable silence though John still felt uncomfortable.

“How did you get into all this?” he asked awkwardly.

It took all of Lucky 13's strength to remember how she had ended up in that dank, sexpit of a brothel. The old her had runaway from home when she was 13.  Both her parents were alcoholics and took turns beating the shit out of her. They left marks on her body, marks that you couldn't see now but that were still there all these years on. The beatings she could take because she knew they would heal. The abusive words she could ignore because she knew they would be erased but it was the day her 'dad' decided to come into her bedroom, that's when she couldn't take it. He had come to her room that night, every pore of his being breathed out the vodka that he had been drinking all these years. He sat at the edge of her bed, she pretended to be asleep, trying to snore as loudly as she could to deter him. Her heart was beating hard for some reason she couldn't explain. She snored louder to cover the sound of her beating heart. He started touching her legs over the covers. She peeked from behind the duvet to see a glint in his eyes, a look she hadn't ever seen before in a man his age, only one that she'd seen in Tommy from next door. His touch started to become harder and went under the cover. He pulled back the sheet, still she kept her eyes squeezed shut and dare not move. She thought of those good things that were in her life: her school, her friends, her younger sister. She didn't want to think about what was going to happen next. She vaguely vividly remembered the weight of her 'dad' bearing down on her as he pulled up her cotton nightdress. The pain of him entering her, the tearing sound in her  mind, the back and forth. She screamed loudly in her mind and she cried at the pain. The shame. The disgust of it all. She wanted to claw his face off, but she didn't do any of that.

Unlucky Lucky lay there motionless pretending it never happened. She could feel his breathing getting heavier. He got up, tucked himself in and walked off like it had never happened. The next morning she couldn't walk properly from the pain. She didn't go to school and it wasn't like anyone in her house cared. Her 'father' knew she would never tell anybody and he knew that no-one would believe her either. Days passed. And she resumed her life of beatings, abuse and school.

One day at school she felt sick and fainted in the classroom. In the school sick bay the nurse noticed that she was bleeding heavily. Lucky was rushed to hospital and there they discovered that she had miscarried. Her mother and 'father' were informed. They came in screaming at her to tell her who the father was and under hushed tones when the doctors and nurses weren't looking told her what a slut she was for carrying away with someone. He looked at her with those steel blue eyes full of lust and menace. The kind nurse tried to get Lucky to confide in her, but she refused to speak. She was sent home the following day. Lucky packed a few essentials in her satchel – pictures, diary and made out as if she was heading for school, instead she got the first bus out of town. The first few nights she slept rough and then Pimp came by. He was gentle, he offered her a bed for the night and some warm food. She accepted never having known the kindness of strangers. That offer turned out to be at the brothel.

Pimp didn't fuck her straight away, he built up to it, made her feel secure first and then made her aware that she owed him and he owned her from the day he had helped get her out of the cold. That's how she came to be in room 13. She didn't tell John any of this, just that she had left home at a young age and Pimp had helped her at time when she was most vulnerable. She asked him why he had agreed to come there that night when she could tell he was obviously married. She lit a cigarette as she sat there watching him. Lucky offered him one and he took it, she lit the cigarette for him. He inhaled whilst thinking of his response.

He had just recently married his childhood sweetheart. They had always known they were going to be together and marry. John had never known the touch of another woman or spent time with anyone other than his wife, curiosity and wanting to protect his manhood got the better of him and felt he had to stay that night. He liked talking to Lucky, she made him feel comfortable. This was the one time that Lucky didn't want to use a condom, she wanted to know what it was like to make love without it being mechanical, or being raped. She wanted to know that feeling of abandonment where the world stops and you can't hear anything but the breathing of the other person, the taste of their lips, the weight of them on you. She felt safe in his arms when they finished. She stroked his face and cared for him like she never had for anyone else. She had lost herself in his mind and didn't want to come back. John left that morning, she didn't give him cause to feel that he should stay or feel guilty about staying. She and he both knew it was just for that night. She would never forget John, she knew he was going to give her something special in her life, though she knew that she wasn't going to see him again.

After several months of morning, noon and night sickness – she discovered life was growing inside her. Pimp told her she'd have to get rid of the baby but she was 7 months gone at this point and she refused. 'How will you keep whoring and raise a baby they all asked her?’ She didn't have an answer, she just knew it was going to be that way. Never for a moment did she think to tell John what had happened, by that time the construction company had left the town.

Mae arrived in Lucky’s life late one June day. There was never a time she wasn't loved or cared for. Lucky made it her mission to save up enough money to never allow Mae to whore like she had. She wanted her to get out of that town and make something of herself. Mae grew up knowing her mother's wishes. She studied hard, avoided the taunts from the other children about her mother, and grew into a beautiful reminder of that night Lucky had spent with John.

Lucky’s prayers weren’t to work. One day all that whoring caught up with Lucky and she became ill and died. Mae was left all alone in the world at 16, every fear her mother had came true. Mae planned on leaving straight after the funeral with the money Lucky had been saving for her. She hadn't spoken to a soul about it, but Pimp being Pimp followed her home and into her room. As she pulled the oak jewellery box where her mother had been sequestering her money, Pimp walked in.

“I think you'll find that money belongs to me,” he said.

Mae glared at him and said confidently, “No it doesn't.”

 “It does and if you try to take it we'll just call the police.” He held her by the arm, pushing her onto the bed he said, “and you've got to finish off paying your mum's debts, so I don't know where you think you're going.”

Mae broke down and cried her eyes out. She screamed until she had no more voice left. Room No.3 Girl who had known lucky all her life came in and tried to console Mae. She convinced her that she could do it for a little while, save and runaway one night. Mae knew what she had to do to save herself from that point onwards.

The clients came in.

They fucked her.

Clients left.

She funnelled away half the money that she didn’t have to give Pimp.