Never Be Alone Read online

  “But what if something bad happens, like a fire or someone has a heart attack or something?”

  Angie shrugged. “Shit happens, and there ain’t nothing you can do about it. People are here one minute and gone the next. Welcome to Kensington.”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Angie pulled the shed door open and pushed Joon inside. Joon just barely managed to stay upright and quickly sized up the other two girls. One girl immediately jumped to her feet and faced Joon. Then she turned to Angie.

  “Ya ain’t sticking her in here too. This fucking shit hole ain’t big enough for three people,” the girl growled.

  “Shut up, Tori. It ain’t like you have a say in this. This here is Joon. That’s Tori, and that,” she said, pointing to the girl squatting in the corner like a scared cat, “is Elf. She’s scared of everything and everybody. Ain’t ya, Elf?”

  Elf averted her eyes and buried her face in the nook of her arm.

  “Well, I’ll leave you to get to know each other.” Angie laughed, closed the door behind her, and snapped the lock closed.

  Joon looked around. There was a large bucket in the corner she assumed was a toilet—and the source of the foul odor. There was a light bulb overhead and a small space heater near the door. Against the back wall was a milk crate that held a double-burner hot plate. Next to the crate were canned goods, a can opener, and a few gallons of water. Extension cords stretched across the dirt floor.

  Tori glared at her. She was a beautiful mixed-race girl. She had long, wavy, black hair, a round face, and plump lips. Her green eyes made her look exotic. Joon turned away from Tori and took another look around the shed.

  Elf shyly met Joon’s eyes. “Your sleeping bag and pillow are over there.” She pointed.

  “Who said she can have those?” Tori thundered.

  “We…we…we…all get them,” Elf murmured.

  “She can get one if I say she can,” Tori yelled.

  Joon had spent enough time on the streets to know this was a test. Her next action would determine her existence with Tori.

  “No. Elf is right. They’re mine.”

  When Joon walked over and grabbed the sleeping bag and pillow, Tori grabbed a fistful of Joon’s hair. “What did I just tell ya, bitch?”

  Joon acted swiftly. She pulled her hand back and punched Tori in the gut. Instinctively, the girl let go of her hair and bent over, holding her stomach.

  “I don’t want to fight with you,” Joon stated, teeth bared. “But I will if I have to.” She was pretending to be much tougher than she felt—it was a technique Ragtop had taught her early on. “I’d like us to be friends.”

  “Fuck you! I ain’t never gonna be your friend,” Tori hollered.

  Joon took her belongings and moved to the other side of the shed, where Elf was sitting. She settled in next to the other girl.

  “How did you two end up here?” Joon asked.

  In a voice just above a whisper, Elf responded. “I ran away from home. I was only on the street for two nights when I met Pug. He gave me food and brought me here.”

  Joon turned and looked at Tori.

  “What are you looking at?”

  Joon let out a heavy sigh. “Well, it looks like we’re gonna be living together for a while. Maybe if we got to know each other, things would be easier.”

  Tori snarled as she stared at Joon.

  “Look, none of us asked to be here. I thought I was coming here to live in a house for the winter.” She lowered her voice. “I trusted my boyfriend, and now I don’t know what he’s gotten me into. All I know is he fooled me, he never loved me, and I fell right into his trap.”

  Tori still stared at her with hatred.

  “How long have you been here?” Joon asked Tori.

  Tori snorted a sarcastic laugh. “I told ya already, we ain’t friends. You and that dumb bitch there,” she said, gesturing toward Elf, “can build your little girlfriend bullshit thing. Leave me the fuck out of it.”

  Joon shimmied into the dirty sleeping bag. It smelled like dried-up saliva and piss. Then she tucked the thin pillow under her head and faced Tori.

  “Sure. We’ll leave you alone, then. We don’t want to bother you.” Joon looked at Elf. “How long have you been here?”

  Elf was Asian, and as Joon took in her details, she could see the pain of the past in the girl’s dull brown eyes. Elf pushed her black hair behind her ears. “Since right before Halloween.”

  “You’ve been living in here for a month?”

  Elf nodded. “Tori came here the day after Halloween.”

  Tori was on her feet, standing over Elf, who put her arms over her head to protect herself. “Bitch! Did I ask you to tell that girl anything about me?”

  “No. I’m sorry.”

  Joon jumped to her feet. “Whoa! Come on. She’s just trying to be nice. Leave her alone.”

  Tori took a few steps toward Joon and, with both hands, pushed Joon backward into the wall of the shed. Joon smacked into it with a thud that sounded much worse than it felt.

  This is my second test, Joon thought. She composed herself and stepped closer to the girl. “Tori, there isn’t anything you can do to me that will ever hurt as much as I’ve already been hurt. I think you’re an asshole who is mean for no good reason. I’ve met a lot of people like you, so if you’re gonna be a jerk-off, then I won’t bother with you. I just thought that if we stick together, it would be easier for all of us. Maybe we could even figure a way outta here.”

  Tori grunted and retreated to her side of the shed.

  Joon settled down and looked at Elf. “Why are we here? And when do we get out?”

  Elf placed her hand over her own chest. “You don’t know. Do you?”

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Elf clutched at her own neck. “You really don’t know why you’re here?”

  Joon shook her head.

  Elf looked at her fingers and nibbled on a nail. “We all…” She paused and looked at Tori, who was glaring at her. “We, you know…we…have sex for money.”

  Joon was stunned. “Who is ‘we’?”

  “All of us. The girls in the house and…us,” Elf explained.

  “I don’t understand. I didn’t agree to come here for that. Quinn never told me anything about this place. That asshole brought me here and left.”

  “Who did you say?” Tori barked.

  “What?” Joon asked, confused. All she could concentrate on was what Elf had just told her. She couldn’t even remember what she’d just said.

  “Did you say Quinn?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  Tori’s nostrils flared and her hands balled into fists. “Does Quinn have long, brown hair and brown eyes?”

  Joon nodded cautiously.

  “He works for Pug, right? Sells dope for the fucker.”

  “Yeah. How do you know him?”

  “Ha! That asshole pretended to be my boyfriend. He would come to my cousin’s apartment where I lived. We’d go out on dates and shit.”

  “Dates?” Joon asked, staring in disbelief.

  “Yeah. What are you, dense? Dates. You know, where you go out and eat, party and have sex?” Tori snapped.

  Joon flinched. She instinctively leaned away from Tori and looked over at Elf, who was watching intently. “That’s impossible. Quinn is my boyfriend. He was with me all the time.” It was too much for her to process all at once.

  “Yeah, except when the bastard wasn’t with you, that’s when he was here, in my fucking city, selling his drugs and pretending he loved me.”

  Joon rubbed her jaw and flopped back against the wall. “Oh. My. God. He’s lied about everything. He killed my best friend too.” Then, she lay down in the sleeping bag and curled onto her side, turning her back to the other girls. But Tori and Elf knew by the way Joon’s shoulders shook that she was crying.

  Joon suffocated in the darkness that suddenly clung to her, working its way inside her soul. Why did I trust Quinn? Pringle knew he wasn’t a
good person.

  Her regret over falling for him was all consuming. After two hours, she sat up and looked at Tori. Joon’s eyes were red and swollen, but Tori returned the gaze, her eyes narrowed and her eyebrows pinched together as she concentrated on Joon.

  Tori leaned forward. “You ain’t the only one here that’s been played, so don’t go thinking you’re all special and shit. We’ve all been made a fool, or we wouldn’t be sitting here on this dirt floor in this cold-ass wooden box.”

  “But I loved him,” Joon moaned.

  “Love. What the hell do you know about love? Quinn is a selfish prick. He does whatever it takes to get what he wants. He told me he loved me too, but I wasn’t dumb enough to believe it. I was just dumb for thinking I found me a dude that was willing to take me out and treat me good for some damn sex. There are others who thought Quinn was their boyfriend…others who live in the house.”

  Joon sucked in a quick breath. “Others? How many?”

  Tori shrugged. “I don’t know. Four or five.”

  Joon turned away and covered her mouth with her hand. “He brings girls to Pug, and he’s a killer.”

  Tori was seething. “It doesn’t surprise me a bit that he’s a killer too. Anyone who works for Pug is a piece of shit.”

  Joon glanced over at Elf, who shook her head slightly. Left to face her own regret, Joon’s hands trembled, and she rocked back and forth. To stop her hands from shaking, she crossed her arms, hugging herself and tucking them under the opposite elbow. She was taking fast, shallow breaths.

  “It’s not that bad,” Elf said, trying to comfort her.

  Joon turned to her. “What?”

  “I said it’s not that bad. All you have to do is lie there.”

  “You’re kidding me, right?”

  Tori could practically smell Joon’s fear. “What? Are you a virgin or something?”

  Joon paused. “No. But I don’t wanna have sex with people I don’t know.”

  “Yeah, well, join the club,” Tori snapped.

  “What’s gonna happen? I mean, when? Please tell me,” Joon begged the other girls.

  Elf sat up straight. “They take us inside almost every night. You get to shower and put on clean clothes. Then they bring in all kinds of men.”

  Joon’s guts twisted, and she wretched.

  “Ew, girl. Clean that shit up. I better not step in your puke,” Tori growled.

  Elf got to her feet and went to help Joon. “You’ll be okay,” she whispered.

  “I want to believe you, but I can’t do this. Do you understand me?” she demanded, her voice rising. She felt the hysteria taking hold, and she was sure she was close to passing out or somehow physically flying apart.

  Elf nodded and rubbed her back. “It’ll be easier if you don’t fight them.”

  Tori smirked. “That’s the only smart thing I’ve ever heard come outta your mouth.”

  Elf grabbed her sleeping bag and placed it next to Joon, snuggling up close, trying to give the new girl comfort.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Joon lay on the dirt floor next to Elf. She didn’t know if hours or days had passed. No one came to check on them. The shed had been rigged so no light could get in under the door, and there were no windows. The only sounds were wind and an occasional car honking or police siren screaming in the distance. Joon’s stomach felt like a black hole as she anticipated the degradation to come. When the shed door opened, the girls looked up to see Angie standing in the doorway.

  Immediately, Joon looked beyond the girl. Outside, it was partially dark, but she could still see blue sky in the fading light.

  “How long have I been here?” Joon asked.

  Angie shrugged. “What difference does it make?”

  Joon scooted out of the sleeping bag. “This is all a big mistake. I want to leave.”

  Angie grabbed Joon’s face. “Quinn brings lots of girls here. It’s not a mistake. It’s called business, and Quinn does it better than anyone else. You was just stupid enough to listen to him. Your fault.”

  Joon stared at Angie with watery eyes filled with desperation.

  Angie glared at her. “Girl, those tears don’t mean nothin’ to me. Right now, you just do what you’re told. Period. Now, you and Tori gotta come with me. Time to get showered and dressed.”

  Tori stood, and with her head held high, she followed Angie.

  “Move it!” Angie screamed at Joon.

  Joon’s feet stayed planted. Elf stood beside her. “Please, Joon, go with her. Please. You don’t have any idea how bad they’ll make it for you…for all of us. We all get punished when someone doesn’t go along with it. Most of the girls hate me because I refused in the beginning, and no one got to eat for two days and practically everyone got a beating. Some of the girls beat me when no one was looking. Please. For all of us.”

  Joon couldn’t bear the burden of others suffering for her actions, so she slowly followed Angie back into the house. After she took her cold shower and dressed, she sat on the toilet while Angie roughly applied her makeup and fixed her hair. When she was finished, Joon looked in the mirror. Her eyelids were covered in pink eye shadow and accentuated by thick, black eyeliner. Her cheeks were covered in a pink-orange blush, her lips slathered in bright-red lipstick.

  “I look ridiculous. Why do I have to wear makeup?”

  Angie pushed Joon’s face against the mirror. “Because that’s what Pug expects. I ain’t your personal fucking stylist. Next time, you’ll do it yourself.”

  Back in the bedroom, Angie gave Joon a pair of six-inch heels. Joon turned one shoe over in her hand, then looked across the bedroom at Tori. “I can’t wear these,” she stated.

  Tori looked at her. “Girl, you just ain’t getting it. There is no can’t or won’t in our world. Put the fucking shoes on and shut the hell up.”

  Joon sat on a small wooden chair in the corner of the room and strapped herself into the shoes. Slowly, she tried to stand, but the heels were so high she wobbled, her ankles shaking until she lost her balance and landed on the bedroom floor. As she fell, Angie walked back into the room and scowled at her.

  The older girl walked over to Joon and slapped her on the back of the head. “What the hell is wrong with you? You better practice walking until it’s time to go downstairs.”

  Joon clomped unsteadily around the room for a bit. Then carefully descended the steps to the first floor, clinging to the railing every step of the way. She sat next to Tori on the battered sofa. She could feel her heart throbbing inside her chest. Two men entered the gloomy living room from the kitchen, each holding a can of beer.

  Pug lagged behind them. When Joon saw him, her whole body tensed.

  “Look here, boys. We got a new one tonight,” he said, pointing to Joon.

  Joon unstably stood in her too-high heels. “I want to go back to the city.”

  Pug waltzed up to Joon and backhanded her. She landed on the floor and curled up into a ball. He loomed over her, pressing his shoe down hard on her ankle. “Get up, whore.”

  Joon wiped at her mouth, and the back of her hand came away bloodied. Tears streaked through the blood dripping from her lip and down her chin.

  Angie stood nervously off to the side. She glanced at Pug and gave him a small, fearful smile. His eyes met hers as he scowled at the older girl. “What the fuck are you hanging around for? Go get your fat ass ready.”

  Angie nodded and scurried off to change her clothes.

  “Now, let’s get to business,” Pug announced. He grabbed Joon’s chin and pulled her head up, roughly pushing her hair back from her face with his other hand. “Pretty. Ain’t she?”

  Both men nodded and grunted.

  “How much, man?” the heavier man, Warren, asked.

  “Two hundred.”

  “What’s she got, gold between her legs?” Warren said.

  “Why don’t you give me two hundred bucks and find out? You won’t be disappointed.”

  Warren wavered.
<
br />   Pug spun Joon around and slapped her ass hard. “This is her first night here. You gotta pay for that, you know what I’m saying?”

  Warren beamed. “Yeah, all right. She know what she’s doing?”

  Pug gave Warren an evil grin. “I just said it’s her first night here, motherfucker, so no, she don’t know what she’s doing. You get to teach her, big fella.”

  Warren slinked up to Joon. His eyes roved up and down her body. Joon’s head spun and sweat was dripping from her armpits down her sides. She looked at Tori with pure terror, but the other girl turned away quickly. Joon whimpered and Warren smiled.

  “Yeah, that’s good. I like that innocent thing you got going on. How old are you, girl?” When Joon didn’t respond, Warren grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her face close to his. “I asked how old you are.”

  “Four…Fourteen,” Joon stuttered.

  Warren let go of her hair and ran his hand down her back and over her ass. “You are a fine piece of ass.” He looked over at Pug. “I’m ready to get this party started.”

  Pug nodded. “You yell if you have any problems with her.”

  Warren grabbed Joon’s arm and headed toward the stairs. “Don’t worry. We ain’t gonna have no problems, and if she decides to give me any, I’ll take care of her myself.”

  Joon threw one last desperate glance at Tori, but there was nothing any of them could do. The girls were at the mercy of a group of unpredictable men. Knowing she had no choice, Joon walked up the stairs with trepidation.

  When they reached the second floor, Joon focused her thoughts on the darkness, going to her safe place where pain didn’t exist and her mind slipped into nothingness.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Inside the bedroom Warren glowered at Joon, like a hungry lion in dense cover waiting to attack his prey. She backed away from him slowly, feeling his hunger for her. Anxiety rushed through her body and her insides quivered. Feeling dizzy, she tried to control her short, rapid breaths as Warren thumped across the bedroom and put his arms around her waist. He pulled her into him, and when she resisted, his jaw stiffened and his eyes grew hard. “Don’t make me hurt you.”