The taste of leather and burbon lingered on my tounge when i awoke. Aah another night ill never remember waking up on the floor of franky's apartment. It was still dark but maybe thats just because she hasnt paid the power yet a month late again. I sat up holding my throbbing head feeling across the mangy beer bottle littered floor to find my way to the bathroom. The dim light from the small window above the toilet hardly lit the small bathroom but i didnt mind, i didnt really want to see myself right now. The mirror was slighty cracked but i could still see my pale face in the reflection. I looked excactly how i felt... Like shit. After i splashed my face with water i walked back out towards frankys room, i gently opened the door then crept up to her bed. I stared down at her round face for a moment, she looked peaceful, innocent. Her blonde hair framed her face perfectly dropping perfectly down her shoulders. Anyone would have thought that we were normal 18 year old girls living with our parents at home. But thats not the life we picked, i dont know if its perfect or anyting we thought it would be but its our life now. Sonetimes when it gets hard i say to franky " we are only on a road trip, i tell her to close her eyes and picture my beat up mustang cruisibg down the highway, our hair floating through the air, sunglasses stuck to our faces with her boots up on the dash board, i tell her to block out the voices, the faces and the pain...." "dont worry well leave this place one day franky oneday we will finally be free, like we always wanted" i whispered to her before booting the bed and nudging the guy lying next to her entangled amongst the blankets. "Come on sleepy heads get the fuck up the days a wasting" All i recieved was a grunt. I chuckled as i drew open the curtains revealing the dusty windows with their cracked window panes. "fuck me franky this place is a mess" I smirked while bundling a pile of clothing in my arms. "Come on franky we got work to do... Its friday our busiest day, we dont wanna be late johnny will kill me.."
It didnt take franky long to get out of bed, although we both had grizzly hangovers we managed to get to the mustang alright. Franky likes to call it the funky hunk. I just laugh at her, Shes still so young at heart. Which is very rare in this kind of job we do. As we headed down towards palmers ave. I decided to switch the radio on, i usually leave it off because we never get reception but we were heading into town so i decided to try my luck. To my amazement it tuned into a station without much tuning. "holy shit Charlie its our song, do you remember it?" frankys face lit up with excitement as she glared at me, her long hair whipping fiercly around her jaw bone. I returned her excitement and threw a smile her way " ... Im the wild one" we sung along loudly to as we sped down the road. I saw joy in frankys eyes, like proper joy. She looked happy and free, she almost looked like lisa again. Before the tattoos, booze, sex and drugs. Lisa... Man she hated that name. I cant blame her i hated mine too i mean come on how plain is the name sarah?
Everything changed when we met johnny. Including our names, we got to choose our new names which was pretty exciting, we thought it would be interesting if we chose boys names. So thats how i ended up being Charlie and how she became Franky. When we finally pulled into town on jefferson ave. Johnny was already waiting leaning up against a brick wall with a ciggarette hanging out of the right side of his mouth. His face was shadowed by his tipped cowboy hat sheltering his skin from the unforgiving sun. "where the fuck have you two been?" He seemed angrier than usual. "sorry johnny, we got held up" I tried to recover gracefully. "well thats not fuckibg good enough, you work for me and when i say 3 oclock i fucking mean 3 oclock not ten past, youve just costed me three clients and you will make up for it" He was now leaning towards me his eyes dense and serious i could see he was very very serious. "yes johnny" I swollowed hard and attempted to side step him but he grabbed aholf of my hair. I squealed in pain as he pushed me hard up against the brick wall he was just leaning on. "i fucking mean it Charlie" He gripped his hands around my throat with a look that was all too familiar to me. " now to make it up, one of you will come to my place afterwork to discuss a punishment. He looked crazed and wild. You didnt have to be smart to know what he wanted..
He released me harshly and i fell on my hands and knees, scrapping the skin off the palms of my hands. "look at your self" he laughed at me. "no fucking dignity, but what more can you expect from a whore" he laughed again as he fumbled for his keys. I stood up straight away and brushed my self off. I looked up at Franky, she was standing in one spot glued there like a statue. She had tears in her eyes. When i composed myself i made my over to her and pulled her into my arms. "Im okay Franky it was only scratch look im fine" She looked up at me and smiled. "your my best friend in all this world charlie" "i should fucking hope so" i giggled loudly" The night went really fast, and surprisingly there wasnt many clients considering it was a friday night. When we were done Franky looked exhausted. "are you alrighr Franky" She struggled to hold herself up. "yeah ill be fine, ive just got to lie down" i hobbled Franky to the car and laid he across the backseat with my jacket. Laying acriss her. As i stwrted up the car she didnt even stir.It looks like im going to have to take johnnys punishement. I swallowed half in fear and half in discust.not because he was ugly but because he was wild who knows what he was going to do to me..
I made to johnnys house at about 8. It was dark and had become very chilly. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms to try heat them up as i walked up the steps leading towards johnnys house. When i got to the door i paused for a moment, took a deep breath then knocked hard on the old crusted door. Johnny arrived in seconds inviting me in. I smiled pleasently and walked in. It smelt revolting in his house as soon as i walked in. You could tell that he hadnt had anyone around lately. "would you like a drink before we get started charlie?" he cslled from the kitchen. " no thanks johnny" I looked around the room studying every crack and stain. " it aint flash but its home" johnny chuckled as he walked over to sit beside me. I turned to look at his face. He had some nice features, but i would never beable to see past his horrible persobality. He leaned in closer and rubbed the palm of his hand up and my thiegh. I flinched beneath his touch. I was scared. Many men had touched me before but i safe knowing that johnny was watching right across the road ready to save me if something went wrong, but who was here now to save my from johnny if something goes wrong?
" come sit down and make yourself comfortable baby" he gestured to the bed. I sat down awkwardly beside him awaiting my next command. I sib conciously began tapping my knees with the palm of my hand. " dont be so nervous " he grabbed my hand and my whole body shuddered. I had been with many men before. Well heck it was my job after all. Butfor some reason this felt unfair and wrong. Johnny was using me. But i half expected this, i knew what i was getting into from the start and now i would just have to wait till it was over. I looked up at him and gained eye contact. He dropped my hand and stood up so fast that i was almost startled by the sudden movement. " take off your shoes and jacket and get a bit more comfortable" he chuckled as hos voice faded away to another room. A moment later he returned through the door with two cups in his hand. " here drink this " he placed a cup beneath my nose. "no thanks" i smiled dryly at him tilting my head away from the cup. " it wasnt a question Charlie " I could see the seriousness in his eyes so i gripped the cup, swieveled the contents around for awhile before taking a swig. " that wasnt that hard was it " he sniggered. But as soon as i swallowed the liquid my stomach disagreed. I leaned foward suddenly as it lurched violently. Gripping my stomach i threw my head back in pain. As he just sat there observing. I tried to yell or scream or do something but my body was just in too much pain. I forced my blurred eyes shut, and eventually passed out.