to know it’s getting cold out.”

Two rolled her eyes. “He’ll see. He’ll know.”

“Good. Get. Smoke on your way to the corner, because he doesn’t want to see a cigarette for the rest of the night.”

“How does he know I...” Two was bewildered. It was unusual for clients to know anything about her before she met them. A crawly feeling wormed its way into the base of her spine. Probably a stalker. Great.

“I don’t know how he knows. I don’t care.” Darren looked her in the eyes, a rare occurrence. “Look: you make this guy happy... price he paid up front for you don’t even make sense. He goes home satisfied, I may throw in an extra ration for you.”

Two’s eyes lit up. An extra ration was Christmas. Her birthday. The return of Jesus Christ himself. She grinned, turned, and left, tossing her purse into her room as she went by. She’d let the guy do whatever he wanted, even the things that normal clients were forbidden. She’d take him to the moon. She’d endure hell itself for an extra ration.

Outside it felt like Autumn was supposed to feel. Cool, but not cold. Dark. Two lit a cigarette and glanced around. A girl with bright purple hair was leaning into the window of a police cruiser, smiling and snapping her gum. No trouble there. Across the street, a man was pretending not to look at the various girls loitering around. Was this her guy? If it was, he was welcome to stay where he was, looking nervous, for as long as he wanted.

Two was still comfortably held in the afterglow of her heroin, but this had passed enough for her to feel a twinge of annoyance. The nervous ones were always a big pain in the ass. They needed constant reassurance. It was almost like babysitting, except it paid more, and you skipped right to the part where the father tries to cop a feel on the ride home.

But no, the guy across the street was heading toward another girl whose name Two didn’t know, and who looked nothing like Two. The guy who had contacted Darren had known exactly who he was looking for. This couldn’t be her client.

Darren insisted they call them “clients.” Never “Johns” or, God forbid, “tricks.” Two didn’t understand why it mattered, but she supposed that girls who were forced to behave in a professional manner when it came to the little things, would do so instinctively for the big things.

A woman that Two knew wandered over. Tall, with jet black skin, Janice was gorgeous. She was one of the few girls in Darren’s employ whom he didn’t own. No drugs, no desperation. Janice was paying her way through law school with money she earned on her back. She was loud and quick to laughter. Two liked her immensely.

“’Sup girl? You look evil tonight! What’s the occasion?”

“Client request.” Two gave a ‘you know how it is’ grin. Janice’s look said she’d been there.

“You best go on, then. Look sick to me, but I guess the goth thing just isn’t my style.”

Two sighed. “My style’s whatever I’m told it is.”

Janice inspected her for a minute. “You’ve been down lately, Two. Bad times, I know. For what it’s worth, I always liked you. Never thought you deserved this. You need to figure out how to fight through this drug bullshit.”

Two shrugged. “Thanks. It doesn’t matter though, Janice. I don’t care anymore. I don’t know how I ever lived without it, now. I’ve gotta go.”

Janice nodded, watched Two leave, and headed for her own corner, shaking her head.

* * *

Two dragged at her cigarette, blew smoke out into the October night. No rain tonight. The moon was bright, not the bloody, bloated full October moon that would arrive later in the month. It had been a hot September, but edges of winter were lurking on the wind. The nights would be cold, before long.

Two used this time, normally, to prepare herself for the indignities ahead. Tonight, though... tonight was different. It was more than the simple promise of an extra ration. In truth, this was already slipping her mind. Tonight her heart was beating a little too fast. Her lungs pulled in air differently. Smoke which had not bothered her in years made her cough. She felt shaky, without shaking. Nervous though calm.

Tonight felt new.

The client, whoever he was, was late. Two had been standing at her corner for nearly half an hour. Three cigarettes consumed, she loaded up