A foreign room harbors her fears as she slowly slides off her pants one leg at a time. Tina’s mature body overshadows her misled motivations. This strange man is sitting on the bed touching her bare legs, one at a time, as he asks, “So what are we talkin’ here?  What do you want for it?” It, as if it’s an object that she has in her possession. As some kind of drug trade, exchanging one addiction for another.

Tina looks up shyly, stiffening with his touch, “I don’t know. What do you got?”

Amateur, he thinks; she doesn’t even know what she’s worth. He was hoping for the type.

“Well Sweetie, I’ll tell you what. You seem like a nice girl. How about $200 for you to treat me real nice. You know, I’ll show you what I like. And if we have fun we can do this more often. What do ya say?”

She shivers not from the cold, but the lack of dignity missing in her soul. He lingers around until she finally lies down. The strange man then disappears inside of her like fresh snow falling on moist ground. Awkward tones and fake moans cry out for deliverance only to be ignored. She’s blinded by the potential future money will bring. They both roll over and smile, staring up at the stucco ceiling that reveals itself as the only witness.

Written by Nicole Murray