~ I’ve been looking for a savior in these dirty sheets
Looking for a savior beneath these dirty sheets
I’ve been raising up my hands
Drive another nail in
Just what God needs
One more victim ~
“Âllo, Monsieur. You see that boy over there? He’s my brother. He’s real sweet. Talented, too,” Bella Donna asked, pointing Remy out to a likely looking man entering the bar they were lounging in front of. “You interested?”
Giving the boy a once-over, he stepped closer to the girl. “How old is he?”
“Treize,” Bella replied, voice firm, challenging the man to contradict her.
“He don’t look thirteen to me,” the man muttered, squinting at the boy who was leaning against the wall, smiling coyly.
“Take it or leave it, Monsieur. You don’ want him, there’s plenty of other people that do…” Bella Donna said flippantly, making as if to turn away.
“How much?” the man whispered, grabbing the girl’s arm to hold her in place.
“Trente for de best head you ever had, cinquante for a fuck,” she answered, trying to keep the disgust it caused her out of her voice. She didn’t like doing this any more than Remy did, but her father would have both of their hides if they didn’t.
Glancing around to make sure they weren’t being watched, the man
slipped a twenty and a ten out of his pocket into Bella Donna’s waiting
hand which immediately disappeared into the pocket of her jacket, coming
out empty just as quickly.
Nodding her head in Remy’s direction, she busied herself scuffing
at the sidewalk with the toe of one of her patent leather Mary Jane’s,
not wanting to have to see the look of quiet acceptance on the boy’s face
as he led the man into the alley at the side of the bar.
-------
Entering the alley, Remy leaned against the brick wall, giving his customer a quick once-over from behind his sunglasses. Middle-aged, graying sandy brown hair, handsome and distinguished looking…at least that made it a little easier. Smiling coyly at the man currently standing in front of him, Remy dropped to his knees at the man’s feet, forcing to make it look like he actually wanted the man.
Unzipping his jeans with a predatory grin that made the boy eager to have the job over and done with, the man tipped the boy’s chin up, guiding his cock to the boy’s mouth and thrusting in with a stifled groan.
Forcing himself to relax, Remy allowed the man to tangle his fingers in his bangs and fuck his mouth. Telling himself that it would be over in a matter of moments, the boy fought down his fear and his nausea and forced himself to suck. No matter how many times he did this, it scared him…the feeling of not being able to breathe, being choked. Praying silently for it to be over with as soon as possible, he almost cried in relief as the man climaxed, filling his mouth with the taste of his bitter cum.
Pulling out and tucking himself back into his pants, the man smirked at the boy at his feet. “Swallow it, boy,” he whispered, laying his hand against the boy’s throat to ensure that he followed the order given to him. Forcing himself to obey, Remy swallowed, having to fight back a grimace of disgust.
“You know, you remind me of my son,” the man said over his shoulder as he walked out of the alley. “He’s about your age, but you’re a hell of a lot better than he is…”
-------
Waiting until the man had disappeared from the street into the bar, Bella Donna moved to the alley and sat down on the cracked asphalt at the boy’s feet, not saying anything, waiting for Remy to acknowledge her presence.
“J‘ai peur, Bel,” Remy whispered, without raising his eyes from the toes of his sneakers.
“Je sais,” she whispered in return, reaching out to stroke his hair. “As-tu faim?”
“Oui, un petit,” Remy whispered dejectedly.
“Allons,” she answered, holding out her hand and pulling Remy to his feet.
-------
Logan sat in the darkest corner of the bar, idly watching the
other customers with no real interest. Propping his feet up on the
chair on the opposite side of the table, Logan leaned his head back and
sighed; he was bored.
Grunting as a shaft of light hit his eyes as someone entered
the door, Logan opened his eyes to see who had come in. One eyebrow
arching up, he sat up straighter. It wasn’t every day you saw unescorted
children in bars, even in New Orleans. One was a girl of about ten
or eleven with golden blonde hair and luminous eyes, the other a boy of
about the same age with cinnamon hair whose eyes were hidden behind sunglasses.
Turning his head slightly to follow the young newcomers path, Logan watched as they approached the bar, the girl saying something Logan didn’t catch to the bartender, who nodded almost imperceptibly and nodded his head toward a table hidden in the shadows of the corner of the bar opposite the one Logan sat in. Moving off to the table the bartender had indicated, they sat down, the boy laying his head on his arms with an audible sigh.
Not wanting to stare, Logan turned to peeling the label off his beer bottle, wondering idly what kids their age were doing in a bar. The girl was far too well-dressed to be homeless, but the boy looked like he could use a good meal and a good night’s sleep. He supposed she was just one of few kids around these days whose parents taught them to help those less fortunate than themselves. That would explain what she was doing with a street kid like the boy, but it still didn’t explain what two kids that young were doing in a bar in the first place. Not even the best fake ID could get them served, Logan thought with an amused snort.
His answer came a few moments later when the bartender brought a sandwich and fries over to the table and laid them down in front of the sleeping boy, taking the money the girl offered with a smile.
-------
“Mange,” Bella Donna whispered, gently shaking the boy’s shoulder to wake him.
Lifting his head groggily and eyeing the food with a mix of hunger and nausea, Remy sat up and pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head. No one in the bar was likely to make a fuss if he didn’t wear them; he’d just have to be sure to put them back on if anyone else came in.
Remy picked at his food, lost in thought. He was so tired of living this way. He couldn’t remember it ever being any other way and yet he knew that things could be different. That had to be the truth, it was the only hope he had. Looking up and Bella Donna and catching the worried look on her face, he forced himself to eat.
Forcing himself to finish his dinner under Bella Donna’s watchful eye, Remy looked idly around the bar. There were only a handful of other customers, most of whom he knew in one way or another…some past customers, some bar regulars. There was one man he didn’t recognize though; short, muscular, handsome in an unconventional way, with the blackest hair Remy had ever seen. He looked fierce, but there was something appealing about him…
Remy was pulled out of his musings by one of the other bar patrons approaching the table, giving the boy a lascivious smirk as he knelt by the table and addressed Bella Donna. “I got fifty bucks for your brother, little lady.”
“Oui, d’accord, Monsieur,” Bella answered, squeezing the boy’s hand across the table as she spoke.
Grinning lecherously at the boy, the man dug into his pocket and pressed the money into the girl’s outstretched hand without taking his eyes off of the boy. “Come on, sweet thing, you’re mine now,” the man whispered dangerously, grabbing Remy by the arm hard enough to bruise him and pulling him up from the table.
-------
Logan glared as he watched the man take the boy by the arm and lead him through a door into the back of the bar. Fighting back the urge to pound the man’s head into the ground, Logan waited. While he was unequivocally against the idea of a child being involved in this sort of business, he also understood that survival was the most important thing and that this kid was obviously trying to survive. If the boy chose to live his life like this, then there wasn’t much Logan could do about it, but there was always the chance that the kid didn’t have a choice, in which case he wasn’t going to stand around and let it happen.
-------
Standing up, Remy gathered his clothes and pulled them on, wincing in pain. There wasn’t a single place on his body that wasn’t throbbing in pain and all he wanted was to go home and go to sleep. He desperately hoped no one else was going to take an interest before they left; he didn’t think he could handle any more without some rest.
Heading back to the table, Remy saw that Bella Donna was standing, waiting for him. Putting an arm around her friend’s trembling shoulders, she gave them a gentle squeeze before leading him out the door into the chilly night air.
-------
Shaking his head in dismay, Logan watched the young pair leave. He didn’t know what their story was, but he had never seen such pain on anyone so young before. Even if the boy was voluntarily selling himself, there was no way Logan could go on with his life knowing that he had never given the boy a chance to have a better life. Sighing ruefully, he told himself that he would at least offer to help if he saw the boy again.
Even if the kid refused he would at least have tried…he had to at least do that much for someone so young who had seen so much suffering.
TBC
~ TRANSLATIONS ~
1) J‘ai peur
I’m scared
2) As-tu faim?
Are you hungry?
3) Allons
Let’s go
4) Mange
Eat