“A man that’s obsessed and holding me hostage.” I corrected her.
“Look I get it,” She sighed smacking her lips.
“Grand is wrong for taking you, especially since you’re not a fuckin’ fiend. What I will say is that he really likes you. It’s different seeing him treat a woman with care. The women he brings around to fuck are treated coldly. They never got to sleep in his room,” She held her hands out for emphasis.
“He said you made him laugh. I wanted to jump for joy but couldn’t in front of Tone because he thinks a part of me still wants his brother.” She rolled her eyes.
“You slept with Kenric?!” I asked, a twinge of jealousy rose inside of me, I frowned at her, as she eyed me with wide eyes.
“You call him Kenric? He allows you to call him that?” She asked in disbelief. She easily ignored the tight expression I offered her.
“He insists that I call him that.” I said, ready for her to get back to the question that I asked.
“Oh, wow. Yeah, he’s far gone off you.” She smirked.
“I slept with him, but it’s nothing like my baby Tone. Don’t get me wrong…Every bit of what Grand gave felt good…he’s packing a fucking eggplant, he knows how to make you cum back-to-back…but there was no connection, just a destination for him to get a good nut. I want a connection; I yearn for it…me and Tone don’t fuck…we make love.” Staress eyes glistened.
I eyed her as she looked away. Her eyes held a sadness that only came from a broken heart.
“Kenric kidnapped you?” I asked softly.
“Grand saved me,” She corrected me with sadness in her eyes. “
Doesn’t matter to me what you view it as. I was so far gone, so lost, and lonely. No telling where I would be if he didn’t save me. Grand is a broken man, filled with resentment, pain, and buried hurt. He goes around saving people like a guardian dark angel. I sometimes wonder who will save him. Accept him and love him for who he truly is.” Her eyes bore into mine as she nodded her head for me to look behind her.
“Enough of the small talk… Grand set out two different gowns for you to wear tonight. He likes your hair down, so I brought you some hair supplies that will help you get it together. You know your way around.” Staress said.
I looked at her and nodded my head; I took in her raw chocolate beauty. The painful look in her eyes still pulled at my heartstrings. Staress took her stitch braids out, her hair was shoulder length full of loose crinkles.
“Do you have the freedom to leave this place?” I asked her.
She crossed her arms over her small chest and nodded her head slowly looking off in the distance.
“I could leave; I got a nice home right on the beach.” She smiled.
“Why stay here, and not enjoy your freedom?” I frowned, confused at her answer.
I loved the ocean; the tranquility of the water calmed me. I just didn’t understand why Staress admitted to having freedom and not deciding to take it. Maybe it was Stockholm Syndrome…
“My mother sold me when I was fifteen,” she said, keeping her eyes on the black wall. Her voice was flat like she was forcing herself to detach the feelings that came with her confession.
“Star—”
“She sold me to a forty-year-old pimp, her words still play in my head.” She chuckled bitterly.
“Make momma some fucking money bitch… She hated me and till this day, I never figured out why. I tried to be quiet and good for her, none of that shit mattered. I was a mistake that ruined her life.”
Her words landed like stones; I held my breath as my heart cracked for her.
“So, I got high to blur it, I wanted to stop the feeling, all the dangerous thoughts I had at a young age. I didn’t want to live.” A lone tear slipped down her cheek.
I stepped forward, wanting to console her but she put up a hand stopping me in my tracks. Her pain-stricken face smoothed back into a half-smirk as she shook her head at me.
“I don’t want to leave this,” she said with a steadier voice.
“You might think staying is weak of me, but I’m happy I was saved. I don’t want to go back to feeling lost, out there I’ll probably die. In here I survive and feel wanted.” Her smile dropped.
“I’m not strong enough to make it alone, and I refuse to apologize for that. I love Tone, more than I should…He makes me feel like I matter, nobody ever made me feel that way, not even Grand. I want to hold on to that for as long as I can. In here there’s no abusive ex pimp, I don’t have to spread my legs for acouple of bucks to strange men. Tone kissed all that away, now I’m just waiting for him to accept me fully and understand that I would never want his brother. I’m just loyal to Grand because he saved me. That’s it.” She cleared her throat.
