Jillian Chantal

This week’s Tuesday Tale word is hideous. I like this word and I made it an adverb for my snippet!  🙂  I’m still working on my thriller with the former policeman looking for a runaway he’s afraid has been taken for human trafficking.

Be sure to check out the other tales here.

I glanced around for where to start. There were several groups of ladies. From across the space, I could tell the biggest grouping were all either passed out or seemed doped up.

Over in the dim area of the warehouse where eight women were resting on thin mattresses, I spent a few minutes trying to communicate with a woman who spoke broken English in a Russian accent but she didn’t understand what I was trying to say. She kept reciting prices for various sex acts. I couldn’t get her to realize I was there to help her.

Finally, another young lady called over to me. “Svetlana isn’t all there in the head. Come over here. I’ll talk to you.”

I patted Svetlana on the shoulder and excused myself.

Crouching down beside the hideously dirty mattress the new woman was lounging on, I asked, “What’s your name?”

“Does it matter?”

“I would hope it would matter.”

“I’ve been a piece of meat using a false name for so long, I don’t really remember who I was before.”

Her words turned my blood to ice. She looked to be under twenty years old. What kind of life had she had? Horrific for sure. “Hopefully, after today, your life will get back on track.”

She laughed. A raspy, harsh sound. “You think you’ve rescued us and we’ll now all be off the streets? You’re delusional.”

The girl was probably right but her words were like a kick in the gut. “I’m sure some of you don’t have the skills to find regular employment but my friend who mounted this operation has some ideas and the funding to aid those of you who want to try to come out of the life.”

“Good luck with that.” She spat on the floor. “Do-gooders. Bah.”

“Look, whether you love me or hate me, I could use your help.”

“What? So you and your friends can brag about all the poor, poor prostitutes who you saved? Spare me. People are always all about wanting us not to do the job but they soon lose interest and we’re back where we started, hungry, cold and homeless. There’s no magic solution to the end of women being used by men. It’s been like this forever. You’re spitting in the wind, dude. Spitting.In.The.Wind.”