long time, but the last time was when me and Ben caught a steward tryin’ to steal inventory for hisself ‘afore we got to port! You know what we did to him in there, Addie? I’ll give ya a hint: it involves pliers and fingers.”
Nausea rose in my stomach and I clenched at my abdomen to prevent the sickness from coming. The idea of someone being tortured was enough to make me ill, but knowing full well that I was within the area of said torture was horrifying. I was not naïve enough to think that these things didn’t happen, but seeing it in reality and being able to envision those who had done it disturbed me greatly.
I didn’t want to know Charlie was qualified to hurt people like that.
Hanging from the confessional were strings of velvet tapestry, stained with some brown fluid. I cringed.
“Stop it, Charlie.”
“No, Addie.” He was back to being stern. His face was like a stone, hard and smooth. For the first time since I had woken up on board, I was truly afraid. “This is how it is.” He pointed to the confessional. “This is what we do with stowaways.”
The tears began to swell, and in spite of the humidity, I wrapped my arms around myself as though they could keep the words away. “I don’t care what you’ve done in the past, Charlie. It can’t be undone, so there’s no point in dwelling on it.”
“It ain’t just the past.” Violently he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small card of plastic. It took me a moment to realize it was the Wi-Fi receiver for the computer. He then stepped up to me, slowly and deliberately, each of his steps more heavy than the last. “I lied ‘bout not havin’ reception.” Every word slithered in my ear.
“This ship ain’t that old,” he continued. “Only the real older ones can’t get the satellite signals…”
My insides recoiled, my intestines welded to the sides of my body and pulsed to be released. I cupped my hand to my mouth to prevent the sickness from coming and closed my eyes. Though I begged them not to, the tears began to fall freely. He had lied to me the entire time, let me lie in worry about my family without any contact with them for days. Had I been so very wrong about him, about who he was?
He threw the card at the ground and stomped on it until it was no more than a few pieces of plastic and bits of shiny metal.
Those moments of dark that were always lingering were no longer threatening anything. They worked their way over him freely now, making Charlie pace back and forth along the panel, tearing at his hair, raging at me, himself, and no one.
“Ya know what I was thinkin’ ‘bout when I tossed you in the back of that SUV?”
I stood motionless and silent.
“I was wonderin’ how much money a pretty little thing like you mighta made over here.”
I backed away. The crowded compartment was closing in and my tears were suffocating me from the inside out. What he was saying wasn’t true, it couldn’t be.
“Alotta money in girls anymore.” His steps began following mine as I backed out of the hold. I needed to get away from there, away from these lies he was telling me.
“Been thinkin’ ‘bout it for ’while. Lot more profit and fewer trips every year. Could retire in less than a year or two if we did it right…course we couldn’t take girls like you, we’d have to get runaways or junkies. But there’s a lot of ‘em out there who don’t have nobody lookin’ for ‘em. The only reason you ain’t disappeared is ‘cause you get us so much Gawddamn attention!”
I reached the end of the aisle and turned the door desperately. By now I was sobbing, panicking openly, but I couldn’t keep myself from looking at him—the exterior of his handsome face was cold and glazed over with a cruelty I had let myself believe was only crucial for when called for. Yet I had been fooled, duped by a thin layer of charm and humor.
I fell into the hall and even tripped over myself as I tried to get back up. On the way down, my ankle became caught under my weight and twisted at a funny angle, sending a twinge of pain up my leg, but I ignored it and bolted for the direction of the crew cabins. I