C4 Chapter 4

Juanita slipped out through the backdoor. Her chest thumped heavily as she made her way briskly through the hallway. As she rounded a corner, she ran into the bartender and had some wine splashed on her.

"Hey!" The sneer on the man's face nearly rattled her. Obviously, there was some wine on his uniform, though it was safe to say she got the lion's share.

“Sorry. I am so sorry," she quickly muttered and moved from the door in a hurry, leaving the bartender gazing at the door in wonder.

Juanita could not stand on the roadside to wait for taxi. She had to hurry soon or the repercussion of her earlier actions would come upon her.

Soon someone would find the lifeless body of Mayor Hernandez. Soon they would start looking for her.

Juanita racked her brains thoroughly, trying to access the situation.How many people in that club saw her left with the mayor? How many heard the scuffle? How many heard her scream?

She had her shoes in her hands and walked barefooted towards the opposite direction from the way that led to her house, occasionally taking glances behind her in fear. She was sure no one saw her sneak out of the room.

“It was a mistake," she kept muttering under her breath and her shaky teeth. She wished the night was a bad dream which she would wake up from. Or at least let it be an illusion. Let it be that someone hypnotised her at the club and she was just imagining things.

She sniffed, wiping the tears that threatened to roll down her face and looked behind her. Someone was coming and she felt the person was after her. She increased her pace, folded her lips inward to stop the chattering of her teeth. She bit her lips and felt the blood in her mouth. She had no idea where she was going but she had to keep walking or she would be caught. A sob escaped from her and she swallowed hard.

'This is not the time to cry.' she thought. 'Stay strong.'

How did everything go wrong so fast? How did she get into this ridiculous roller-coaster?

Juanita's day had started like every normal day. She had taken her son back to school and bid him farewell.

“Mistress said we would be going out today," Rosa had said to her over the phone.

“Where?” Juanita asked.

“I don’t know. She said some important men are meeting in a hotel and would need entertainment after their meeting,” Rosa answered.

For some reason, Juanita had felt worried about this particular job. Something didn't seem right. She felt a cold shiver across her body, a feeling that had always signalled an impending disaster. Some could call it a gift, but she always had that kind of feeling since she was a child. And it never proved her wrong.

“Rosa, I don’t think I want to go for this one," she said.

"Why?" Rosa had asked.

"I can't really explain it, but something feels off." Juanita breathed deeply.

“There's nothing to worry about,girlfriend," Rosa scoffed at the other end of the line. "We only have to do our job, give those big babies some lap dance, probably let them cop a feel or two and send them off to sleep…”

“You know how the last time ended,Rosa. One of the men almost beat you up for saying 'No' to him.” Juanita resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

“And what happened after? Didn’t I get my pay? Look Juanita, we are big girls and have been on this job for years now. Nobody will make you do what you wouldn’t want to do."

“I don’t know, Rosa," Juanita sighed in a sceptical tone. "I don’t want to be going for these outside jobs again. Some of the guys we meet there are not normal. They would want you to do some nasty things. We are not hookers."

“Hookers. Nude dancers. Strippers. What difference does it make? We are all the same. After all, we fuck some of those men. Take a chill, dress up and come have some fun," Rosa laughed over the phone.

"Alright, I'll see you there," Juanita said and ended the call.

Tossing the phone aside, she heaved. The feeling hadn't left her but she hoped she could be proven wrong.

Hours later saw her at the club where everything took place. It was a mask club. They had danced nude to the pleasure of men they weren’t giving the privilege of seeing their faces. The girls had danced with all abandonment. Boobs the sizes of big watermelons and small coconuts bounced and flapped like they were owned by no one. Fat butt-cheeks separated by ropes shook and clapped that one would think they would fall off from their owners bodies. Vagina lips clasp the poles as the girls curled and hung loose on the poles. And when the girls spread on the dance floor, with ropes doing poor jobs of hiding their pink holes, the men went wild. Some of them ripped their women off their clothes and had sex like animals right there in the club hall. By the time the girls were done, the floor was covered with cash.

‘So far so good,’ Juanita thought as she walked towards the dressing room to get her things and wait for her pay. That was when she met the man. That was when everything went downhill.

“You are an enchantress. A goddess in fact.” He startled her. The man had no mask on, but she had hers.

“How….Are you referring to me, sir?” Her voice came out shaky.

The man eased himself from the wall and walked with an air of supremacy towards her.

“Oh, you wonder how i recognized you?” He pulled on her bra strap and let it fall on her skin with such force. A frown appeared on her face as she quickly pulled her cloak to cover herself.

“Of all the girls that danced today, you are the only one with the perfect thick ass and thick brown nipples that can make a man wet himself." The man growled huskily, giving her nipple a pinch.

“Besides, your red lingerie is not difficult to pick out.” He winked. " You stand out like a daffodil in a garden of plain roses."

Juanita stepped away from him.

“With all due respect sir, my job here was to entertain and I have done that. If you will excuse me, I have to…”

The man caught her by the arm and she stumbled against his strong chest.

“Of course you are not done entertaining me. I have an offer for you," He muttered, dragging her along as he walked towards the top floor. They passed some persons who ignored them and walked on.

“This offer will make both of us happy." He smirked, licking his lips.

The man had brought her to a room and locked the door behind him. She had never been scared in her life like she was that night. Not even when her mother was about giving up her last breath. She felt naked and ashamed, with her hands around her breast trying to cover the skin which her flimsy bra didn’t cover. She ran towards the end of the room and the strange man laughed.

“No, girl. Not me.” He walked towards her and roughly held her by the neck. “I would have loved to have you now.”

He traced his hand down to her butt and gave it a hard squeeze while licking her cheek.

“I have to share. The boss wants you. So.…”

He took her lips and gave her a bite.

“I will let him have you.” He pushed her to the bed. “Be a good girl. We paid your Mistress heavily for your service.”

He walked towards the door.

“I will have you the way I want to later." He winked at her in perverted fashion.

He gave a loud laugh and left the room, locking the door from outside.

A few minutes later , the door was unlocked and the big man entered the room and sank his buttocks on the tail end of the bed.

"I'm not a hooker, please," Juanita pleaded as she caught sight of the man's leering gaze all over her body.

“Oh, come on, darling." He tried to touch her leg but she pulled away from his reach. “We can make each other happy. Isn't that what you were paid for? ”

“I swear I only come here to dance. That’s all i do. I don’t want anything more than my pay," she replied.

“And you will get more than your pay. I already paid your mistress a lot to have you here all weekend.And I will reward you handsomely. Come babe…” He reached for her and dragged her by the leg.

Juanita kicked and fought like a wild animal. Everything happened so fast. She didn’t even know where her kicks landed on the big man. He slipped off from the bed, kicking and stretching like one who was having a seizure.

Everything was quiet for few seconds. Only the buzzing of the Air Conditioner and her own heartbeat interrupted the silence. Juanita slowly crawled down from the bed and hurried towards the door. She was expecting him to come after her but the big man lay still. She walked back to the man. Fidgeting, she carefully touched him with her feet. The big man didn’t move. She bent down and gave him a gentle push, yet he didn’t budge. His steady gaze to emptiness, his cold body and bared teeth that seemed to be mocking her told her that something was wrong.

“Sir…sir?” Her voice shook. “Sir, wake up.”

Nothing.

Juanita slid out of the room and looked at the other end of the long passage to make sure no one took notice.

She stumbled on an abandoned water pipe and bumped on a passer-by.

“Watch where you are going, woman.” The passer-by gave her glare and mumbled something while walking away.

“Sorry," Juanita muttered, pulling her cloak to covered herself. She roughly wiped the tears that was threatening to flow.