I wasn’t sure, but I think he was calling me honey. The last thing I wanted to do was fall off his bike, so I wrapped my arms around his flabby midsection and held on for dear life. My hair was whipping my face, I was blindfolded, and his body odor was practically choking me. I needed to find a way to get out of there.
Thankfully, we only rode for a couple of minutes before I felt the bike stop. He grabbed me and pulled me off of the bike and dragged me into some building, which was where I was now.
Another way I knew it was a restaurant was because I could hear whats-his-name in the kitchen banging around. He’d tied me to a cast iron sink with some zip ties, and so the chances of me getting away at the moment were pretty slim. My poor wrists were bloodied and raw, and I’d cut the back of my arm climbing out the window. And, I really had to pee.
“Excuse me?” I said, calling to my abductor. “Can you come here, please?”
He had been humming and somehow cooking something because I smelled food coming from the kitchen. Either he didn’t hear me or was ignoring me so I said it louder. “EXCUSE ME?”
“What do you want?” he yelled from the other room.
“I need to use the bathroom.”
He walked into the area where I was and was literally eating a bowl of food. It smelled like beans and rice, and lord only knows how old it was because this place appeared to be abandoned. Where did he even find electricity?
“Do I look stupid?” he said through food-filled cheeks.
I didn’t give him my honest answer and said, “I really have to go.”
“The last time you were in a bathroom you broke out a window. Pee where you are.” He turned to walk back into the other room.
“Please? You can leave the door open to make sure I don’t escape. I just really need to go.”
A wide grin spread across his greasy lips. “Oh yeah. I like that idea. I’ll watch you.”
He was so disgusting I shuddered. But it was either that or pee my pants. Besides, it would get me out of being tied up.
He set the bowl down on the counter and got a knife to cut me free. For a second I thought about grabbing it, but realized that he was probably better at knife fighting than I was. My dad took a fencing class at the country club once, but that was the extent of our family’s weaponry experience.
It only took a couple of minutes for him to free me, and then when I stood up he leaned in really close and took a deep breath. “You smell really good, chica. We’re gonna have some fun.”
He reminded me of a big fat cat who played with a mouse he’d caught before he killed it. As soon as I thought that, my chest gripped in fear. I needed to get the hell out of here or I’d end up dead, like a mouse.
He grabbed my arm and I winced because his fat fingers poked right where I’d been cut. He dragged me through the kitchen area and I could see that we were indeed in an abandoned restaurant. He’d managed to find a can of Sterno and use it to make rice and beans.
Honestly, the guy looked like he could stand to miss a meal or two and I wondered why he was so desperate to have food that he’d break out scavenged food and eat like we were camping buddies.
“You go in there. Leave the door open and I’m going to watch you.”
As I pulled down my jeans, I felt something in my back pocket that made me smile. It was my phone! I thought I’d left it in the car when I went to explore that sound and found the girls. The battery was probably dead, but maybe not. And if not, I might be able to get a text out.
“You smile, huh? You like to be watched?” He was rubbing his crotch and I could see a hard on growing. I’d better think of something fast, or I was going to be his dessert.
After I finished peeing, I wanted to distract him before he got any ideas, so I said, “Are you a chef or something?”
“No, why?”
“I just wondered because you managed to make some really amazing smelling food in what appears to be an abandoned restaurant.” I wasn’t even lying. I was so hungry and the food did smell good.
“No, chica. But I did work in a taqueria in downtown LA before I came to La Playa.”
“Have you ever been to LBJs in Redondo Beach?”
“Naw, man. Mi familia didn’t go to those rich neighborhoods. Unless it was with a can of spray paint.” He laughed that raspy sounding laugh again.
“My name is Paige, by the way. Did you know that?”
“No.” He got up and grabbed the bowl of food and handed it to me. “Here. Since you seemed to like it.”
