My Father's Friend
My Father’s Friend – Chapter 17

-Casey, are you all right? -the brunette asked, observing his pallor.

-That name sounds so familiar.

-Have you been able to remember anything?

-No,” she shakes her head. “I still don’t remember anything, I just feel like I’ve heard that name before.

-Well, the truth is, I think it might be your real name,” the brunette answers, looking towards the door. Otto doesn’t assign us names, we usually all use our first names. But not to mention the surname.

-Do you think that’s my real name? The red-haired girl asked a little hopefully.

Serena didn’t want to excite the girl, but maybe she wasn’t wrong about that. She would have to call her Casey for now, it was a nice name.

-It’s a nice name, don’t you think? -She smiled at her.

-Yes.

-Then we’ll call you Casey,” Serena pats her shoulder. Now, let’s see how you do with those steps on the stage.

A week later, the girls were preparing for that night’s show. All huddled in a small room where they got ready and whispered about how they didn’t want to leave work to sleep with the creeps outside. Many had families who probably thought they were already dead, that was the worst feeling they could all feel every day. The feeling of oblivion and abandonment.

Every day the girls tried not to lose hope, but every time they had to go out to sell themselves for money they lost a little confidence that they would get out of that place.

Discouraged, they dressed with few clothes and made up their faces, some to hide the dark circles under their eyes, others some bruises and many others because of the long hours they spent crying… in the middle of the commotion, Lucilda came running into the dressing room, attracting the attention of all the girls.

-Girls! -she bursts out at the girls.

-What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you coming in like that? And why the f**k aren’t you dressed? You want Otto to beat you to death, you’d better replace something to wear, stupid,” Erika admonishes, standing in front of them all.

-I have something to tell you,” she ignores the scolding, and focuses more on the information she had to give them.

-What are you up to now? -Erika folds her arms.

Serena looked through the mirror at the redhead, curious as to what she had to tell them. That woman was usually never wrong.

-He’s coming today! -She blurted out surprisingly as they all fell silent.

-Are you sure about that? -Erika was the one who spoke.

-Completely, I heard him, he’s coming today to take one of us.

-We all know who he’s going to take,” Erika rants.

-Because you’re such a bitch, Erika,” Serena shoves her aside. Stop talking shit, we’re not sure who he’ll choose. So shut up.

The blonde and brunette go head to head, ready to put on a show if only one of them can win… but before they can touch a single strand of each other’s hair, the dressing room door bursts open and with it comes Otto’s entrance with Casey by the elbow.

That day, like all the others, Casey was in the kitchen. By this time she was scrubbing the floor, feeling her whole body want to give up. She was so tired that the only thing she longed for, crazy as it seemed to her, was that awful bed she slept in.

Suddenly the kitchen door opens and through it Otto enters, setting his eyes on her, and for some strange reason she felt that something was wrong.

-You, you’re coming with me,” he grabs her by the arm to pull her to her feet.

Casey is dragged into the girls’ dressing room area, in the week she had been there she already knew most of the bar. But it had been the worst week of her life, or well, she only remembered that… she still felt sorry for what Serena went through because of her, every day she explained to her how to move on that f*****g stage, but she felt she wasn’t cut out for it.

And since she was failing miserably, Otto realised that she was making absolutely no progress and therefore ended up brutally beating the poor Serena. According to him, she wasn’t doing the job he ordered her to do. Casey shamefully treated her wounds and stayed up all night so that she could get the rest she needed.

But no matter how much Otto threatened her, she couldn’t get a grip on the thread in that place. It wasn’t her element, and that was more than confirmed… by the time they both reached the end of the corridor, Otto threw open the door and forced her in. All the girls were there, half naked, and in that instant Casey felt embarrassed.

-Serena, I want you to fix her up nice for tonight,” he pushes Casey into the pile of girls. Make her look like a virginal goddess, so do your best work or you’ll regret it.

-You plan to take her out tonight?

-She’s ready, she’s making her debut today.

-But Otto, she can’t dance yet. She’ll only make a fool of herself on stage.” Serena tries to protect her from the danger she was being dragged into.

-You meddling bitch,” Otto walks towards her violently.

Casey knew what he intended to do to her, and she wasn’t about to tolerate any more of him beating her up because of her. So she steps in between them, watching the man who called himself her boss closely.

-I’ll be ready in time,” Otto looks at the redhead and then at the brunette, but with hatred in his eyes.

-Hurry up,” he demands angrily, and as he walks away, the girls look at Casey who had defended Serena. She was the new girl and had put her life on the line for the brunette’s.

-Why did you do that? Don’t you see what I was trying to do, I was saving your a*s.

-I have to face the fact that I had to get out of the kitchen at some point, he’s been warning me a lot,” she replies guiltily. Besides, he was going to hit you, I couldn’t let him.

Serena denies feeling angry, she didn’t care if he hit her. In the end one way or another it always happened. All she was trying to do, was buy herself some more time. Maybe one more month, if the executioner chose someone else, she’d be safe from being taken away. Something told her Casey had a good chance of getting out of there, and with her, maybe everyone else.

-You’re a fool, I didn’t want you to protect me. I’m looking out for you, if you leave tonight you’ll never see us again.

-What are you talking about?

-You’re an idiot, you signed your own death warrant. For defending this stupid girl, now you’ll have to go out tonight, and guess what little girl… he’s coming tonight, and because you’re the new one, he won’t hesitate to buy you,” Erika was the one who cleared up the redhead’s doubts.

-Serena? -Casey asked, as if looking for the lie in the blonde’s words.

-It’s true, he’s coming tonight. For that reason, Otto has decided to take you out. His motive is very clear, he wants the executioner to buy you.

Casey blinked as she bit her lips, that news wasn’t all that surprising to her in the end. She was aware that at some point she would go on stage and be bought by some man. And her suspicions were not far from reality, even so, she was terribly afraid of this man. And yet she didn’t know him.

-You should have let me talk to Otto, maybe I’d…

-You weren’t going to get it, you were only going to get a beating from that brute. Either way, I was determined to get this day out of me. Nothing I did was going to change his mind.

-She’s right,” Lucilda replies. Otto left this girl for the hangman, and he’ll buy her.

-Then you’d better say goodbye to the new girl,” Erika adds. We won’t be seeing her again, so everybody get dressed up if you don’t want to get beaten up,” she finishes to turn around and finish getting ready.

Casey stands crestfallen, trying to face her uncertain fate, what was in store for her with this man couldn’t be good.

-Casey, you’re going to be…” She watches his horrified expression.

Serena had no heart to say the same words to him that she had said to poor Claudia when she was bought by the hangman. It was cruel of her to tell him that everything was going to be all right, when the reality was different. Things were not going to be all right, and the most unfortunate thing of all was that… he would never see her again.