Five minutes later, someone knocked on the door. Andrei left me and unlocked it. "Come in." He was beaming. "Close the door, darling."
The winner girl was there. She was quite wary -- I would have guessed she knew him. "I've come for the money." In the semi-darkness of the VIP room, she looked older -- I'd say in her early twenties. She was much prettier from up close -- her dark skin and curly, short hair made her an exotic beauty.
Andrei quickly wrote her a check. "Here, this is yours." He pointed at me with his head. "Now, before you go, I think my friend here would like to talk to you."
No, I didn't. ... But I did. I looked at her.
She was obviously uneasy about this. "What do you want."
"I'm... I guess I'm just curious. Why do this."
"Pays well."
I walked up to her, and softly caressed the scar on her cheek. "Is this...? ... Do you work at the club?" The club was a curious place, if by curious you mean sick and twisted. Never mind the basement cage fights -- what happened upstairs was even worse. Being a club worker, the mark on the cheek meant she'd do special clients. So, yeah, she had seen everything.
"Used to. This pays better. A night a month, and that's about all the money I ever need."
"... Is it worth it? I mean, why not, like, leave this hell? ... Could you?"
"Why would I? ... It pays well enough to keep coming."
"And if you lose?"
"I try again. I have nothing to lose, anyway."
"The other girl wouldn't say the same."
"I don't know how much do you know him, but..." She brushed my cheek --the ever healing wound-- with her fingertips. "Someone like you should know that, once you get to know him, you realize there's nothing to lose. You realize you've already lost everything."
"I know him quite well, actually. That's why I'm asking."
"You ever been, you know, on the other side?"
I smiled at her. "You don't get to know him without giving up your very soul, don't you think?"
"Then why are you here. How can you be here."
I shrugged. "Beats me. But what about you. How did you end up in this place."
She finally smiled. "I was just an idiot of a kid. I fell in love with an older guy, and run away from home to be with him. Except he wasn't the nice guy I had thought, he worked for the mob. He made me work in a brothel." She showed me her wrist, a crudely done barcode tattoo. I had heard of those. "That was hell, I'll tell you. Then..." She pointed at Andrei with her head. "He rescued all of us. Offered us a job. Not nice, but definitely better. And I've been here ever since."
Same old story. It always made me sick, knowing well that he could have offered them a real chance at a new life, and instead... he never did.
She turned around to leave, but Andrei was leaning against the closed door, smiling creepily. "Darling, before you go... Say, how much have you made tonight?"
"Enough." She was back to cold indifference, trying in vain to hide the fear.
"Andrei..." I muttered.
"Shut up, Sandy." He kept talking to her, his usual sick grin showing up in his eyes. "Give me a number."
"About ten in bets. Plus the special prize."
"So... twenty thousand, huh? Okay, so, what do you say if I offer you another twenty, huh? Just a private show, if you follow me."
Shit. No, you bastard, she's had enough... hasn't she? ... I didn't say a word -- I knew he wouldn't listen anyway.
"I've made enough for today. Now, let me go."
He sighed. "Okay, okay. Let me make you another offer, huh? A hundred. Down there. A fight against me."
She seemed to realize that it wouldn't be that easy to get out of there. Plus he'd risen the money bar a lot and a half -- now saying no wasn't so easy. "... What happens if I say no."
"Nothing, really. But, think of it, it's a lot of money. You could get a nice vacation, forget about this place for a while. Or disappear and never come back, for all I care."
She looked at him. The fool was thinking making a deal with the devil could be a good idea. "Double it. Two hundred."
Andrei grinned. "Are you sure about that? ... More money means putting more of a show."
"So, how bad can -- what, half an hour?... How bad can it be?"
"Hell." He wasn't even trying to convince her. Shit. He knew exactly what he was doing.
"... Why should I, then?"
He sighed, apparently frustrated. Though I could clearly see through his mask. He opened the door. "Fine. Then go. I won't insist anymore."
She stepped out, apparently sure of herself. Andrei was closing the door when she turned around. "Wait. Two hundred and fifty. Thousand." She offered her hand to seal the deal.
"I won't try to trick you, darling." He shook her hand. "Go to the waiting room, get ready. ... Place some bets if you want, just know that you won't win, okay? I'll be down in a moment."
