Skin Trade Page 12

  Mr. Theo pushed me behind him and raised his weapon to the bushes. In a soft whisper I struggled to make out, he said, “Whatever happens, stay behind me.” Then louder, he shouted, “Come at me, you son of a bitch!”

  In a rain of leaves and undergrowth, a revenant burst from the bushes and leapt into our camp. The thing landed on all fours a few inches shy of our fire, and let out a growling howl that could match even the wildest of wolves. It was very different from the others I had seen so far. For starters, it was very fresh, so much so that the scent of waste and piss and blood was almost overpowering. The beast sported a strange band around its neck, from which there dangled what looked like a metal chain. It also displayed more feral ways than the other undead I had seen, constantly pawing the ground and sniffing the air. Within moments, the thing caught our scent and snapped about to snarl at the pair of us, exposing a slathering set of vicious pointed teeth. (Pointed!) Before it could pounce, Mr. Theo fired his weapon, knocking the beast backward.

  Once it hit the ground, I saw my chance to retrieve my weapon.

  “Don’t, Samuel!” Mr. Theo cried.

  I ignored his cries as I scurried across the gap and dove for the tree line, reaching for my gun. My hand closed around the weapon just as I rolled into the bushes. I couldn’t explain it, but even though Mr. Theo had already taken care of the problem, I felt safer now that I was armed. I scrambled back to my feet to show my mentor that I had found my gun. But the moment I stood, a sudden weight struck me in the midsection, knocking me onto my back once more.

  A cold weight pinned me to the ground by the waist. Dazed, I looked up to find a blurred shadow looming over me. But I didn’t need to see the thing to know what it was, for the smell alone was enough to disclose all. The revenant howled long and shrill, then took a swipe at me, which I narrowly avoided by turning my head at just the right time. (Lucky!) It kept clawing at me, and I instinctively raised my arms to protect my face.

  A second crack of gunfire knocked the revenant off of me. Now free of the weight, I rolled away from the corpse and hustled on my hands and knees back to the safety of my mentor’s shadow. Mr. Theo flashed an angry look down at me before helping me to my feet again.

  “What did I say?” he asked. “What did I just tell you to do?”

  “Stay behind you,” I said. Wincing, I grabbed my belly. The cramping had become an outright pain.

  “What’s rule number one?”

  “Do as you say.”

  “And first chance you get, you break that rule. Stupid kid. Stupid, stupid kid. You could’ve gotten both of us killed. People want to know why I work alone. Stupid kid. And where was your damned gun?”

  “I have it now.” I looked down at the gun in my hands, curious as to why it was so important to have it. I felt stupid with it now. What was I thinking running off like that? I wasn’t even a very good aim. “Are they dead?”

  “Of course they’re dead. A headshot will always drop ‘em. Waste of brains, though. Damn it!” He grumbled something incomprehensible to himself as he reloaded his weapon.

  “You think we’re safe?”

  “Are there any more? No. If there were any more out there, they would’ve attacked us by now. A herd moves together. Always together. Jesus H. Christ on a raft, boy. What in the hell were you thinking? I said stay behind me.”

  “I’m sorry … sir.” My knees trembled as a steady stream of warmth rose from the crotch of my trousers. How ironic, I thought, I’ve pissed myself. After all the trouble about peeing in front of that bastard, I go and piss myself in the panic of the moment. Mr. Theo didn’t seem to notice. He wouldn’t look my way. “I’m real sorry. I didn’t mean to disobey, sir. I panicked.”

  “Never mind. We’ll talk about it later.”

  The disappointed air in his voice was heartbreaking, but the fact that he wouldn’t face me hurt even worse. Not a minute before, he was extolling my virtues, and now he was disappointed. I had never felt so low in all my days. The one man in the whole of the world whom I wanted to impress, actually wanted to please, I let down. If my belly didn’t already twist with a terrible pain, it would’ve turned from lament.

  Mr. Theo gave a short huff, then said, “Go and make sure that one in the other one is down for good. Put another bullet in its head just to be sure. We’ll stay here for the night and skin ‘em in the morning. We don’t have enough brain here to tan, so we’ll have to drag ‘em back to the cabin with us. I think I have some extra brains somewhere that might still be usable-” He stopped as I groaned over his words. He raised his face and narrowed his eyes at me. “You okay, son?”

  “No … my stomach.” I grabbed my belly and sank to the ground as my knees finally gave way under me. The pain was intense. Whether the beast hit something vital when he knocked me down or this was just an extension of my earlier cramping, I couldn’t be sure. The only thing I knew was that I hurt. Really bad.

  Mr. Theo dropped to my side. “It’ll be okay, Sam. Let me take a look.” He crouched over me and fumbled for the buttons on my trousers.

  “No,” I said and weakly pushed him away.

  “This ain’t no time for shyness, son. Did it bite you?” He laid a hand on the spreading warmth at my thighs, and I groaned when he lifted a crimson-coated palm to my face. “You’re bleeding. Pretty bad from the looks of things. I need to see from where.”

  The trouble was, I had a pretty good hunch where the blood was coming from, but I couldn’t fight anymore. I couldn’t even argue about it. Lying back, I clenched my teeth as a new wave of cramping and nausea rolled over my entire being. Sensing I wouldn’t struggle, Mr. Theo took command. He pushed my shirt up my belly and slid my pants down my hips, exposing my well-kept secret.

  For a moment, he said nothing. Did nothing. He just stared at my exposed femininity, slack jawed and wide eyed. Then he looked up to my face, back to below my waist, and up to my face once more.

  “Well I’ll be a son of a gun,” he said in a slow exhale.

  The world narrowed to a tunnel, filled with the silhouette of my mentor crouching over my bleeding form. Great black bubbles swam into my field of vision, and I went numb from crown to sole. The last thing I saw before the darkness finally swallowed me was a curious look ghost across Mr. Theo’s dark face.

  Accompanied by the faintest trace of a grin.

  ****

  return to table of contents

  ****

  Chapter Thirteen

  I awoke in a bed.

  Not a cold wooden cot or a lumpy bedroll on the ground. An honest-to-goodness goosedown-stuffed mattress complete with a set of fresh sheets and a warm flannel blanket. At first I supposed I must’ve died and made it into heaven, for I was sure a clean, comfortable, warm bed was exactly what heaven would be like. But no, I could just make out a flickering fireplace, a small cooking stove and other signs of day-to-day living in the small room about me.

  “Hello?” I croaked.

  “You’re finally awake,” Mr. Theo said from somewhere in the shadows. A lamp flared to life, bringing him into a soft focus where he sat on a stool at the edge of the bed. “Welcome back to the land of the living. How are you?”

  “Thirsty,” I whispered.

  “Of course you are.” Mr. Theo helped me into a sitting position and lifted a cup to my lips. “Here’s some water. Don’t drink too much, though. Too much too soon will just make you sick.”

  I sipped a small amount, licking my now-moistened lips with a satisfied smack. “Thank you. Where are we?”

  “My home.”

  “What happened?”

  “I’m not completely sure.” He sat back, crossed his arms and cocked his head at me before he spoke again. “If I had to guess, I would say you’ve bloomed into womanhood.”

  I winced at the news. Of course. It all made sense now. The cramping. The bleeding. How could I be so stupid? I’d learned all the signs and symptoms of the female cycle, but had long since given up hope that such things were meant for
me.

  “You can imagine my surprise,” Mr. Theo said. “One minute you’re a lad, and the next you’re … well …”

  “I’m a girl.” It felt odd to say it aloud after avoiding it for so long.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Embarrassed.”

  “I meant physically. You know. Below the belt and such.”

  Patting my lower stomach, I nodded. “Fine. I think I’m fine. Just weak.”

  “That’s no surprise. You bled a lot.”

  Speaking of blood, there wasn’t any to be found. Someone cleaned me, changed me out of those dirty clothes, and carried me all the way here while I was passed out. A multitude of questions leapt to my tongue at once. “What happened? How did we get here? Did you-”

  “Hush now,” Mr. Theo said over my rambling.

  I went silent.

  “I know you’re mighty curious as to what happened,” he said. “But first you’re gonna answer a few questions for me. And you’re going to tell me the truth. All of it. Understand?”

  “Yes, sir,” I said.

  “Let’s start with the basics.” He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and grasping his hands together in an attitude of prayer as he questioned me. “What’s your name?”

  “Samantha Martin.”

  “Cute. Samuel. Samantha. That must’ve made things easy for you.”

  I shrugged.

  “So, Samantha, why lie to me about this? Why not tell me the truth from the beginning?”

  “Because I was afraid if you knew the truth you wouldn’t take me with you.”

  “You’re damned right I wouldn’t have!” Mr. Theo jumped up from his stool and began pacing the floor. “If I had known you were a girl, I woulda marched your happy butt right back to the border, dropped you off and never looked back.”

  “Which is why I lied.”

  “What I don’t understand is why pretend such a thing in the first place? What on earth would drive you to such a dangerous place under the pretense of being a boy?”

  I looked away.

  “Look at me,” he demanded.

  As I turned my damp eyes to him again, the first of many tears broke free and raced down my face.

  “What are you running from?” he asked.

  “Nothing,” I said. Which was the truth. It wasn’t a ‘what’ at all.

  “Then who are you running from?”

  That was the right question to ask, of course. And after all he had done for me, I couldn’t refuse him the truth. “My owners.”

  He gave a start at that ugliest of words. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I was someone’s property, Mr. Theo. I told the truth when I said I was raised in an orphanage in Atlanta. But when I reached my teens, they didn’t just turn me out on the street. They sold me to a woman who in turn rented my services to men. Men who took their pleasure at my expense.”

  Mr. Theo furrowed his brow at me, either out of confusion or refusal to accept the awful truth. “But … you’re just a baby.”

  Once the top of my secret life was uncapped, I unbottled in a rushing torrent of terrible truth. “That’s as it may be. It would appear that some men prefer their bedmates on the young side. A lot of men, in fact. More than I care to count or remember. Though I suppose if you insist, I can recall the last dozen encounters-”

  “Enough.”

  I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to hear about my old life. I didn’t really want to talk about it, but he asked, and I intended to answer. “You’re right. It was enough. I tried to run away a few times, but my owner always found me and dragged me back kicking and screaming. She assured me that no matter where I went, no matter where I hid, she would catch me. I could end up at the gates of hell, and she would come after me. I was far too valuable to lose.”

  “You’re just a child,” he said again.

  “I’ve not been a child for a long time, sir. You want to know what on earth drove me out here under the pretense of being a young man? The same situation that left me with a razor at my throat.”

  Mr. Theo’s mouth fell open.

  “I didn’t get the chance to act on it,” I assured him before he could protest. “Something stayed my hand before I could make that final cut. Something inside of me knew that if I took my own life, then she won. And I would be damned if I would let her win. I wanted to live, but I had to take my life into my own hands, one way or another. Death wasn’t the answer, and running wasn’t enough. I had to do more than just run. I had to hide.”

  Mr. Theo nodded his understanding as he pieced together the rest. “You cut your hair instead of your throat. You cut your hair, moved into the border zone and pretended to be a boy.”

  “Yes, sir.” The memory of it flooded my senses as I watched my trembling reflection turn the sharpened razor away from my throat and saw off that first golden lock. A shower of blond tresses followed, and Samuel Martin was born. “I reckoned she wouldn’t search for me that far out. And then Boudreaux came along, offering me passage even farther from her and that life. I couldn’t refuse.”

  “I also see why Aleixandre had you set aside special. I’m sure he told you that young ladies are worth an awful lot around these parts.”

  “Are females so rare here?”

  “Let’s just say that females are precious. Even considered a commodity for some folks. Sometimes a woman will cross the border on the heels of her man, but once they are here …” Mr. Theo paused, searching for the right words. “Did he do anything … I mean to say, did he hurt you in any way?”

  I was touched by both his concern and the gentleness of his question. “No. He didn’t. Surprisingly enough, Boudreaux was a gentleman. All things considered.”

  “He always had a charming streak. And a certain way with the ladies. I’m not shocked he figured out your game.” Mr. Theo rubbed at the back of his neck. “You sure fooled the heck out of me. Of course, I wasn’t expecting to be fooled.”

  “I make no apologies, sir. I did what I had to do.”

  “I’m sure you did. Sure explains an awful lot, though. And here I thought you were just shy.”

  We shared an awkward laugh.

  “That’s some story,” he said.

  “But true,” I said. “I wish it weren’t. I wish I was just making it all up.”

  “As do I. You’ve been through a lot, little girl. I’m sorry you saw so much trouble. So young, and you’ve suffered so much. Daddy always said the world just ain’t fair.”

  “No. It isn’t.” I looked down at my clean clothes, and questions rose anew. “Did you take care of me?”

  It was his turn to squirm as he grew uncomfortable at my question. “Yes. Well, I also did what I had to do.”

  “Don’t mistake me, sir. I only wanted to thank you. I suppose you saved my life again. I don’t know how, and maybe I don’t want to know. But thank you.”

  “It was simple enough once I figured out what was going on. You’re lucky I knew what to do at all.”

  “I guess I am.”

  “I have a-” Mr. Theo started, then stopped to correct himself. “I had a daughter. She was about your age when she first started having the same troubles with her … you know. It’s the only reason I knew what to do.”

  “Thank you for saving my life.”

  “You’re welcome. It’s sort of funny, because even when I thought you were a boy you reminded me a lot of my daughter. You’re a lot like her.”

  “I’m honored you think so.” I cleared my throat, at which he handed me the cup again. After I drank my fill, I asked the question I had been dreading since I first awoke. “Sir, what will you do with me now?”

  Mr. Theo stepped away from me, across the room to the small kitchen area near the fireplace. “I reckon I should take you back to the border. If I explain what happened, they will take you back across and find you a proper home.”

  That’s exactly what I was afraid of hearing. “I can’t go back! I won’t. I want to st
ay here, with you.”

  “I didn’t ask you what you wanted. Neither did I say that’s what I would do.”

  I held my tongue, curious as to what that last bit meant.

  He stared at me across the length of the cabin, his frosted eyes sparkling in the flickering light. “I said I should take you back. And if you had revealed yourself a few days sooner, that’s just what I would’ve done. But now …”

  “Now?”

  Mr. Theo was silent as he returned to my side, sitting as he handed me a metal funnel that had seen better days. It looked as though someone had beat upon it, squashing it into a wobbly oval, then curved the bottom opening until it bowed out instead of dropping straight down.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Help,” he said.

  I raised the ruined funnel between us. “How is this supposed to help me?”

  “It should make your work easier.”

  “What work-”

  “Should make musking a slight bit simpler.” He watched my face, searching it for my reaction.

  I blinked a few times, unsure I’d heard him correctly. “You mean you’ll let me stay?”

  “Let you? I don’t think I have much of a choice in the matter. After I watched you skin that rev, I knew you were meant for this work, child. I’ve never seen anyone handle a blade with such talent. Hell, you’re even better than me.”

  “You mean it?”

  “Sure. I can admit when I’m bested.”

  “No. I can stay? Here? With you?”

  “As much as I hate to lead a young lady down such a dark path, I suppose if I don’t take you on, you’ll only get into trouble out there. Besides, we have a lot in common. I know what it feels like to be owned and to finally break free.” He smiled, softly, but said nothing else on the matter.

  I, however, squealed with delight and pounced upon him, giving him the largest, most heartfelt hug I had ever given another human being in all my time upon the Earth. Mr. Theo took it in stride, hugging me in return long enough to show he cared, then pushing me away with a gentle but firm hand.