Surrender To Me

You practically saved her life. I don’t know what I would do if I was caught.” Jesse looks remorseful enough for me to want to forgive her. She has such a burden when it comes to Jackie, who is constantly in and out of hospitals due to her chronic illness.

“How is she? Is she doing well?”

Jesse nods. “The new treatment and the rehab place is working wonders. She even says she likes New York now.”

“That’s amazing! But won’t you need more money? Because he took three hundred from the apartment.”

“Oh that. I need a hundred more, which I’m sure I can get from another source.”

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t know what I was thinking when I did it-”

“You were thinking of Jackie,” I cut in, “And that’s all that matters.”

She must be embarrassed that she had to resort to stealing to pay back those debtors. She’s not telling me, but if I have any idea, the people she borrowed from were threatening her. I can see how the topic is hard for her. I don’t blame her. Loan sharks were some of the worst types of human beings to ever walk on earth.

“Did you pay them everything?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Promise me to never do something that stupid.”

She raises her little finger. “Pinky swear. I think it’s my turn to say let’s not talk about this anymore.”

“How did you do it though? Steal the money, I mean. Where are you swiping?” That’s how most dealers steal. Taking a few of the chips that the customers have won before handing them. But still it wouldn’t explain how she got that much money unless she’s been doing it for a while. And I doubt Dante would know the exact figure as he did when he questioned me. Jesse doesn’t respond. She shrugs. “I’m embarrassed by it as it is,” she says to me, “I don’t want to distress you anymore.” She is right. Talking about this here when Rob and Bruno are in the next room is not wise.

“I wanna know more about you and Sal,” I say, changing the subject. “I don’t get how you two would talk.”

“Well, not talk, talk. You know, he’s not the ghoul people make him out to be.”

“I can’t imagine what you would have in common. Since when did this friendship blossom? I feel like I should have known about this.”

“As if you ever told me about this?” She waves her hand around the room. “I’m starting to wonder if you two were seeing each other longer than you made it out to be.”

“Come on.”

“Come on what? I’m not the only one who’s saying it. I just think you should have told me that, after all.”

“It wasn’t my choice. He didn’t want us to be public.” She looks like she doesn’t believe me and I get it. I don’t sound convincing at all. If I were her, I wouldn’t believe me too.

Jesse strolls around the closet and stops at the shoe rack. She picks up one ankle boot I hadn’t worn yet, examines it, and places it back. “And now he’s taking you to all the best parties in town.”

Now I’m apologizing for something that’s out of my control. “I’m sorry Jesse. I know how much you love to party, but I wasn’t exactly invited. Only a plus one.” I take her hand and put on a mock pout. “What do you want me to do to atone?”

“Nothing.” She turns back to face me, a smile plastered on her face. “You’ve already done enough. Thanks again.”

“Anytime. But I wish you had told me it was a lot more.”

Her cheeks redden. “What did he say? Did he get angry?” Did he? He doesn’t seem to get angry when confronting me about the money or any other perceived transgression. He looks more… disappointed than anything else. I shake my

head. “I just wish you had told me the truth.”

She looks away. “I was embarrassed.”

I feel terrible for dragging that out of her. Jesse is not the type to look for help from other people. She would rather scrape and hustle until she got what she wanted. I want to tell her it’s okay. She can come to me anytime, but just as I’m about to stumble through the words, she glances at her phone and screams. “Oh god! My break is over. I should get back.”

“Already?”

She pouts. “I know. I wanted to sip a mimosa with you while we chilled on the balcony watching the plebs below

us, but I have to go. Brian will have my head.”

“Thanks for coming.”

“Sure babe.”

We bid each other goodbye, and in a few minutes, she’s out of the apartment. I’m left alone again with Bruno and Rob and the boredom sinks in again. I wasn’t expecting to spend my off day in the apartment, but I don’t have the compulsion to do anything else. Maybe if I take a walk down the street, it would change my mood. I only need to tell Rob and Bruno to accompany me. After changing into suitable clothes, I go over to them. They’re in the living room chatting.

“I’m going for a walk.”

They both stop talking and turn in my direction. Rob is already getting up, but Bruno stays seated. “Right now?” Rob asks. I nod. “I need some air. I’m feeling cooped up and constricted.” Rob seems unsure. “You’re not supposed to go further than five miles away from the casino.”

“I get it. I wouldn’t want to put you boys into trouble.” “You’re not going anywhere,” Bruno interjects.

“What?”

Bruno doesn’t look away from his phone. His frame is tilted away from me as if I don’t warrant enough attention to him. “I said you’re not going anywhere. You’re staying here. Those were the orders.”

I glance at Rob, who’s gaze jumps to Bruno. “There’s nothing wrong with her going out for a walk,” Rob says.

“But there is. The boss says she’s only supposed to go to the doctor, and she already did that. There was nothing mentioned about walking.”

“Come on. It’s just a walk!”

He jumps up, shocking me and says, “Don’t you dare raise your voice at me, you slut!”

Rob’s eyes widen. He seems more shocked than me. “Calm down, Bruno.”

“No. Tell that to the whore.” Bruno’s gaze is squarely on me. The disgust I had been sensing before was apparent in the curl of his lip. “A whore doesn’t tell me what to do. I tell her what to do. And what she should be doing is sitting her ass down.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I can’t help shaking my head. “I’m pretty sure this is supposed to work the other way round. You’re supposed to be my bodyguard.”

Bruno bursts out in laughter. I feel my cheeks redden. He stalks over to me and stands right in front of me so that I have to look up to face him. I suddenly realize how big he is. He’s over six feet, muscular and has a large build. He could lift me up and toss me out of the window like a sack of flour. “What makes you think you’re so precious? You’ll be dead in the next couple of days, anyway. The boss is only keeping you alive so he can fuck you.” He closes into my space. I

step back, heart hammering against my chest. There’s a menacing look on his face and a flash of lust in his eyes that freaks me out. “Make no mistake, just because he’s keeping you around, doesn’t mean you’re anything special. I’m pretty sure once he’s done with you,” he grabs a lock of my hair and lets it slide in his hand, “he will pass you around to us.”

“Bruno,” I hear Rob behind us say. It sounds like a tentative warning.

He can intimidate me, but he can’t scare me. “Whatever.”

I look at him square in the eyes, “But I’m here now, aren’t I? And as far as I can see, I’m above you.”

What happens next, I don’t see coming. It happens so fast that I’m too shocked to react. All I see is the contortion of Bruno’s features and feel a sudden and hard impact on my cheek. I stumble to the floor on my side and my vision blurs as the pain moves from my cheek to my temple and spreads down to the side of my neck. I’ve never been punched. Maybe a long time ago in kindergarten, but I don’t remember it being this painful. When my vision clears, I see Rob tackling Bruno to the ground. He’s screaming at him. I’m trying to get my bearings straight. “What the fuck!” I

hear Rob say. “You’ve fucked up, man!”

Bruno laughs. “You’re being hysterical!”

Rob rushes over to me and helps me stand up. I feel a throbbing in the back of my head. Holy shit, he packs a punch. “Are you okay?” Rob says to me.

“Yes.”

He turns to Bruno. “What is wrong with you?”

Bruno is making his way back to the couch where he sits back and takes hold of his phone. “Stop acting like a bitch. It was just one smack.”

Rob looks me over. Panic is setting in his features. “He’s not going to like this at all. You’ve really fucked up, man.” To me he says, “Let’s get you an icepack,”

As Rob is helping me get up, we all hear the door open and close. Dante marches in and immediately takes in the situation. He first glances over at me, then to Rob, then to Bruno. “What the fuck just happened here?”