“They can do that? Just grab unaccompanied women?” Bobbi demanded.
“Unless you’re wearing your husband or fiancé’s mark on you, they can, Keelah told her. “This is the blue light district,” she added, nodding at the narrow, sagging houses, which all seemed to be made of gray, peeling boards. “It doesn’t look like much right now, but as soon as it gets dark, all the windows will light up blue—that’s how you know there are girls for sale inside,” she added and shivered.
“That’s awful that just anybody can be grabbed like that,” Bobbi said indignantly. “But how do you know about this, uh, part of town? I thought Zerlix found you at the spaceport?”
“Oh, he did, but my pimp owns one of the houses here. That one.” Keelah pointed to the third gray house in the row to their right. “He brought me here pretty often,” she said, ducking her head. “His name was Rep. Wheezler—he said he liked the blue light district better than the spaceport because more customers pay in jewelry there.”
“They do?” Bobbi frowned. “I haven’t noticed the Saurians wearing a lot of jewelry. Some of the wives have some but—”
“That’s because when a Saurian male gets married, he gives his bride some bangles and something that marks her as his,” Keelah explained. “When he wants to go play in the blue light district, he takes some of it back again. He might give her twelve gold bangles to start with and then take back ten of them, over time, to go pay for Pleasure Girls.”
“What?” Bobbi exclaimed. “So the men don’t even try to hide it when they go to cheat on their wives?”
“No—why should they?” Keelah looked confused. “Men do as they please—that’s just the way it is.”
“Not in my culture,” Bobbi said indignantly. “And I’ve never heard of any culture where the men were brave enough to take back the jewelry they’d given their wives as a gift to go buy themselves some side action!”
“Well, that’s how it is here.” Keelah shrugged. “And since most men like to play, not many wives have much jewelry. Of course, they might buy them some more if they hatch a lot of sons,” she went on speculatively. “But they can always take it back again. The only piece of jewelry they almost never take back is the Claiming jewelry they give when they get married.”
“The Claiming jewelry? What’s that?” Bobbi asked.
“Usually a golden chain with the man’s initial or Clan sign worked on it,” Keelah explained. “It’s like a mark of possession—it shows other males they have to steer clear. It might be a necklace or sometimes you see a head piece.”
“Oh, I see.” Bobbi nodded and remembered the thick golden chain she’d seen around Res. Tizlah’s scaly neck. It had a stylized letter V in the Saurian alphabet dangling from it. She had never much thought of it before, but she supposed that the V must stand for “Vizlar” as in Komendant Vizlar, Res. Tizlah’s husband.
“If a husband ever takes back the Claiming jewelry, it’s a sign that he intends to sell not only it, but his wife also,” Keelah went on. “And if she’s not careful, she’ll end up at the blue light district just like any other Pleasure Girl.”
“What?” This was getting worse and worse, Bobbi thought. “Husbands are allowed to sell their wives here? But I thought wives were…” How had Dragon put it? “I thought wives were sacred,” she said, finding the word at last.
“Oh, they are. Once you’re properly married, no other man can touch you or hurt you,” Keelah said. “But if your husband decides to divorce you, he takes away your Claiming jewelry and with it goes all of the protection you had.” She shook her head and sighed. “I wish a good man would give me some Claiming jewelry, but I doubt it will ever happen. Though I have heard of men falling in love with Pleasure Girls and keeping them forever, from time to time. As I hope Zerlix will keep me.”
Bobbi only shook her head. The more she learned about Saurian culture, the more misogynistic and chauvinistic it seemed. How could anyone stand to live on this horrible planet?
“Well, I guess we’d better be getting back,” Keelah said, interrupting her thoughts. “We’re not supposed to stay out too long and aren’t you getting cold?”
Bobbi had to admit she was. Even with her hands stuffed in her fur-lined pockets, her hood pulled forward, and the thick scarf pulled up high, she was still really chilly.
“I guess you’re right,” she said with a reluctant sigh. “Still, I hate to go so soon. It’s really nice being out of the compound.”
“I’m kind of surprised Res. Tizlah let you go,” Keelah said, as they turned away from the end of the Market and the blue light district. “Usually new girls aren’t allowed out for a full solar month, for fear they’ll run away.”