“Oh, get off it. You’re seriously going to play that line with me? I’m not wired and the cops aren’t listening. You can cut the bullshit.”
“Fine.” He narrows his dark eyes at me. “Come work for me. You can live in the house and pay off your mom’s debt and then you can either leave or stay and take your cut.”
“You’re kidding, right? You really think I’m going to bang some fucking drunk in a back alley. No way.” I walk around him, but he easily catches up to me.
“I have a better offer,” he tells me and I stop.
“What are you talking about?”
Big Rick clears his throat and looks around, making sure no one is around us to hear. “I need some younger, prettier girls. I’ve opened up a new business. It’s a legit escort service. Most of my employees can’t stay off the drugs, so I need girls like you.” He gives me a creepy grin.
“Escort service is a fancy name for brothel with tax breaks. Don’t fucking fool me.” I cross my arms.
“Baby Jade, I’m serious. It’s a date/escort service. I swear it. You can leave Big Mike, come to my house, live with my girls, and date high end clientele.”
I stare at him for a moment. I wouldn’t be doing what my mom did. She’d blow a guy on the sidewalk if he paid her ten dollars. Plus, I’d have a house to stay in.
“I’m in school.” Why am I even considering this?
“These are nighttime hours.” He winks at me and my stomach turns.
“How much does Mom owe you?” I huff because I’m scared to think of the amount.
“Three hundred dollars.”
Not as bad as I figured. “How much would I make?”
Come on, Jade. You can’t be seriously thinking this is a good thing.
“One hundred dollars.”
My mouth drops. Is that it? “How much are you really charging these dumbass men?” He’s charging way more than a hundred dollars, I bet.
Rick chuckles and looks around again. “Two thousand dollars for four hours.”
“Fuck that!” I’m enraged now. “You think you’re going to give me less than ten percent when I’m the one on my back with some old fuck sticking his dick in me? No way.” I brush past him and stomp through the snow to get away from him.
“Baby Jade, come on.” He catches up with again.
“What?” I yell at him. “Why the fuck are you so hot to have me as one of your girls?”
“I told you.” He keeps his voice low. “This is a whole new set of clients. I need you and I know you can handle yourself.”
I look away from him and stare at the fresh white snow that fell last night. I need the money, but I’ll be damned if I’m doing it for one hundred dollars. I cross my arms and stand taller…well, as much as I can. “Looks like you need me more than I need you, Rick,” I grin.
“Don’t think you can hustle me.”
“I’m not. I’m letting you know that if you want me, then I want eight hundred dollars for every four hours I’m with a client. That still leaves you a lot of money.”
“No.” He shakes his head.
“Not a problem then. I’ll leave you to go search for some other girls who aren’t strung out on crack or meth.” I go to walk away, but he groans.
“You know, if I fucking already didn’t have guys lined up, I’d tell you to fuck off.”
“But…” I wait for him.
“Five hundred?”