The Secrets of Sin
Chapter 4
Mari
I want to get far away from Mr. Keats and what I just did. I don’t even think about the bus stop or what time it is. I just run.
I don’t look back to check if he’s chasing me. I can feel him. His disgusting gaze trails after me.
I run through crowds, from one block to another, and across intersections; the buildings and people I pass mean nothing to me.
My hair flows behind me, my bag hits the bottom of my shoulders with every step, and I keep my arms over my chest, so no one knows I’m braless.
When I finally stop, my knees buckle under me and I hit the hard, unforgiving blacktop.
I don’t know where I am, but I think I must have run into the bad part of town.
“Hey, honey, you okay?” A Fran Drescher kinda voice has me lifting my head to see a blood-red wig on top of a full face of clear makeup and a fur coat over a tiny frame.
I scramble away from the woman and trip again.
“Oh, honey, let me help you.” Her small hands grab me by the waist and pull me to my feet. Her hazel eyes roam my face, looking at me for any sign of injury.
“Hi, there. Are you on anything?” She pops her bubble gum out and flips it back in.
“N-no, ma’am, I was just running. I’m okay. Thank you.” I take a step back from her and her heavy cherry blossom perfume.
“Honey, no one runs like that for no reason,” she says.
Just then, Mr. Keats runs around the corner. He’s out of breath and looks furious. I scramble away, hiding behind the woman.
She takes one look at me and Mr. Keats and immediately knows what’s going on. She turns to face him.
I’m terrified for her. She’s not that much bigger than me, and she’s wearing such revealing clothing. She’s going to feel so vulnerable under his gross gaze.
Mr. Keats will just make her move aside, and then he’ll take me back to his house, and…
But what happens next makes my jaw drop.
The woman stomps up to Mr. Keats, fearless. She screams in his face and demands he leaves me alone. She shoves his chest, standing tall and strong like a superhero.
And impossibly, Mr. Keats listens! He looks like he’s in shock. No, he looks like he’s scared. He turns around and leaves, and I let out a sob of relief.
I feel gentle hands around me.
“Let’s get you inside, honey.”
I let myself be led inside the nearby building. I don’t even know what’s happening until I’m sitting on a chair with a cup of water in my hands. They’re shaking and some of the water spills.
The woman sits beside me, comforting me. “He’s gone now, sweety. It’s okay now.”
But I shake my head. “No, I was supposed to do whatever he said.
“Now he’s going to fail me, and I won’t be able to go to college, and I’m going to let my brother down. He’s working so hard for me and all I had to do was focus on studying, but I screwed it all up!”
I feel warmth over my shoulders as she wraps her arm around me.
“Don’t worry about that weirdo, doll. If he does anything else, I’ll see his ass goes to prison. I’m a witness. The police will believe us.”
Her words calm me down, and I take a deep breath to steady myself. I look up at the woman who saved me with a grateful smile on my lips as I thank her a thousand times.
She shakes her head. “You don’t owe me anything. We girls gotta stick together. Girl power and all that shit. My name’s Brittany Hicks.”
“I’m Mari,” I say. “Thank you.” I feel the suffocating weight of what I’ve done. This guilt feels like a chain around my neck and I don’t know how to get it off.
“Will you tell me what happened, honey?” she asks, softly.
I don’t know if it is because I feel like Brittany is genuinely trying to help or maybe I’m just naive and gullible, but I tell her everything.
I tell her about Mom dying and Erik taking care of me. I tell her how much he works and how I can’t fail high school.
How much work I put into my academics and how Mr. Keats is the worst. Every detail about what had happened and how I had to get a passing grade and how guilty I feel.
Brittany told the truth when she said she would listen because she does. After I am done, she gives me a hug. She even pats my back, like a mom would a daughter, and gives me a reassuring smile.
“Okay, so first, this wasn’t your fault. You’re an innocent young woman and he is a grown man who took advantage of you. This is on him, not you.
“You are so strong for carrying all this with you every day.” She gives me space to breathe.
“How did you stand up to him?” I ask in wonder. “I could barely breathe when he looked at me like that. When he was telling me to…” I stop, trying to hold back tears again.
“Please, we deal with weirdos like him all the time. Don’t take any of that crap. He’s a weak, small man, and if you stand up to people like them, they’ll shrink away.”
“We?” I ask. I look around, realizing where I am for the first time. I see the stages, the neon lights, the long, metal poles.
Oh my god, I’m in a strip club.
“Welcome to The Silky Bunny,” Brittany smiles.
I blink, surprised and flustered. I feel my face heat up.
“I wish I could be as brave as you,” I say. “You looked like a superhero when you stood up to Mr. Keats.”
Brittany laughs. “I’m no superhero, honey. Just a stripper. A real good one.” She winks and I blush.
She looks me over, but I don’t feel disgusted like I did when Mr. Keats stared at me. I can see that Brittany cares about me, even though we’ve just met.
“And you can be as brave as me,” she says.
My heart skips a beat. I couldn’t even imagine myself being as confident as she is. Is it even possible?
“How?” I ask with hope in my heart.
“I know this is gonna sound crazy but when something like this happened to me, I craved control. I did that by owning my body.
“It’s a little out there and maybe it’s not for you, but I gained my control, raised my self-esteem, and made crazy money as a stripper at The Bunny.”
“M-me? A stripper?” My face goes as red as a tomato.
She smiles gently.
“Think about it. I could teach you how to work the pole and some dance moves. I think you’ll like it. Especially after making some good money. You’ll be able to help your brother out a lot.”
She seems so sure, so positive. I don’t want to tell her that there is no way I could do that. I can’t have a normal job, let alone one as a stripper. My brother would kill me.
I thank her and tell her I will think about it. She even gives me a ride home, and I thank her ten more times.
It’s already gotten so late, and I only realize how exhausted I am after I step inside.
Erik isn’t home yet. He’s probably still working. I leave a note for him to tell him I love him and I missed him today. I thank him for working so hard and tell him how proud I am.
When I fall into bed, I laugh, thinking about what kind of stripper I’d make. I’m more than thankful to fall asleep.
Continue to the next chapter of The Secrets of Sin