Circling Carousels (14 page)

In itself all of this information was enough, but then Sienna told Bonnie of her mother’s death. Bonnie gasped when she realised the horror of the way Marcus disposed of Candice and her heart almost physically bled for the dear girl she once knew so well and for her children who had had such a terrible life since she had last seen them. Bonnie told Sienna that she had tried to contact them time and time again and Marcus would always intercept the calls. He promised to pass on the messages, but she suspected he might not have been doing that. Sienna confirmed she had never heard anything from her friends at the big house.

Sienna confessed her now three-year relationship with Marcus and how he had fooled a gullible and vulnerable little girl into loving him and how he had taken her as his lover when she was too young to understand and too awestruck by his attentions to say no. He had, she said, treated her well, but she had grown tired of the secrets and lies and had begun to be suspicious of him. In other words, she had grown up, and the
madam was proud of the young lady before her who was being so brave.

At this point, Bonnie, who had missed this little family terribly, promised to do whatever she could to help Sienna find her sister. There would need to be a trip to High Street so that Sienna could see her sister, and then they would need to find a way to get her free from her pimp. Bonnie warned her that this was never easy and sometimes cost a great deal of money if it were possible at all, which she doubted. She would find out whom she belonged to and try to figure out a deal. None of this could be done under Sienna’s name and would simply look like a business deal made between madam and pimp, a straightforward purchase with no emotional attachment.

Bonnie went to her office drawer, produced a mobile phone, and handed it to Sienna. “My numbers are in here. I will phone you when I have news, but I will only phone you at precisely one o’clock during your school lunchtime so that Marcus will never hear you get a call and our mission will never be compromised.” She continued with her most serious face on. “I promise you that as long as your sister is still alive, I will find her and retrieve her. I will get her help and medical attention and return her to you a whole and free young lady! I promise I won’t give up!”

With those words and a whole hour before Elsie would pick her up again, Bonnie and Sienna got in her black town car, equipped with driver, and they were chauffeured to High Street. What they would find there they had no idea. Crystal may not be working at this early hour, but they considered it well worth the chance, as Sienna may not be able to escape Marcus’s watchful eyes for long should he become suspicious of her movements.

On the trip over, the privacy screen up in the car, Bonnie told Sienna what she knew of Marcus and his dealings. She confirmed with no doubt that Marcus was indeed a high-end drug lord and that he was also the principal owner of a number of girls who worked the streets on the east side of the city. Bonnie was surprised he didn’t just put Crystal to work in his own business, but then she realized this might be too close to his
own nest, so he chose to make her payment to another pimp way on the other side of town.

As they drew closer, Bonnie warned her that she may be upset by Crystal’s condition should they spot her. She mentioned again the state in which she saw the girl she thought she recognized and that this lovely, willowy creature was too thin, ill looking, sad, and black around the eyes. The temptation to try to make contact with her right there and then would have to be resisted, as in Bonnie’s wise planning, this would alert her employer to something being afoot. It was best if for today Sienna just looked at her sister and believed that soon she would be able to be with her and hold her, as Bonnie was sure she wanted to. Sienna would have liked simply to pull her into the town car, drive away, and rescue her from this horrible existence, but it wouldn’t work like that and Bonnie knew it. Pimps were extraordinarily cruel and without going through the proper channels and paying the appropriate fees, Crystal would never be free of that part of her life. Sienna steeled herself, and they turned the corner onto High Street.

Despite their desire to spot her, she did not appear to be there. She may not have been working until later or maybe she was already with a man, even this early in the pre-evening part of the day. At Bonnie’s insistence, the driver parked the car, and they watched for ten minutes or so. The girls who were there were scruffy looking, unkempt, and looked malnourished. Sienna could only assume Crystal would be the same. This was not the same sort of business Bonnie ran, and although Sienna was slightly upset by her mother’s employment choice—or maybe it was a lack of choice—she was pleased that Bonnie, and not some other piece of scum, had taken Candice under her wing. Bonnie was the best employer in an industry full of very bad people, and for this and many other things, Sienna was grateful.

Now as they sat looking a little conspicuous on the other side of the road, Bonnie agreed Sienna should return another time and they would try again. They drove the streets around High Street to see if Crystal was close by, but then they headed
back to the big house and Sienna hopped straight into Elsie’s car and headed home. On the way, she told Elsie all she had learned and what she had seen and in her desire to help Sienna and Crystal. Elsie agreed to drive past the girls working the corner every evening on her way home to see if she could see Crystal and report back. She gave her word that the very next time they had the opportunity, preferably during the night, she would take Sienna there herself. Between them, they would find her sister and in time, she would be with them again. This was the hope in all their hearts.

Dear Diary, I don’t have much to say. I just want to find Crystal. Please let me find her! She’s my sister and must be so lonely and so sad. She is being hurt over and over again by men even worse than Marcus, and I need somehow to save her and bring her home.

Chapter 20

O
n a street corner, stood a girl of only sixteen years of age.

She wore a skirt so short, there was nothing one couldn’t see. She wore a top so low nothing was left to the imagination, and she had stiletto heels on that must have been blistering her aching feet. Her hair, although long and honey blonde, looked as though it needed a good cut and a brush run through it. Her face showed a reddish-purple mark where a hand had obviously connected recently. She was far too thin, and although Sienna, who was watching from a car a distance away, was slim herself, her twin was a good twenty pounds smaller and looking ill. As she looked, a man in a battered green sedan pulled up just near her. She sauntered over, a cheeky swing in her walk and a wild look in her eyes.

Sienna was somewhat camouflaged, her hair up and under a baseball cap, her clothes baggy. She was quite unrecognizable as a beautiful girl, the twin of the teenager now getting in a car with yet another man who had stopped. This one was obviously prepared to pay the required amount, and they drove off together. Sienna shed a thousand tears.

Elsie was touched and saddened by the whole scene. She, too, was wearing clothes that made her look dowdy and old, and it was impossible to tell if she were male or female in her tracksuit and beanie. Looking at Sienna now, she saw a broken person, broken because of what she knew was happening to her sister and because for now, she would go along in relationship with the man who put Crystal there.

Sienna felt the full strength of her anger as she watches her once stunning sister give parts of herself away to total strangers who happened to have the cash and the desire. She felt the irony of being the chosen one, as it could just have easily been Crystal in her place and she in hers. Their looks, although now different because of lack of lifestyle and basic care, were always the same back then. It could have only been the differences in their personalities and the betrayal, which Marcus blamed solely on Crystal that put her in this situation and Sienna living on cream! Although it made no sense to feel guilty about the different lives they now led, Sienna felt that she wanted to reach out and change her sister’s life, pluck her from the disgusting streets, and give her all the luxuries she now had.

Bonnie kept in touch with Sienna and told her that she had a few of her friends from other camps looking out for Crystal, secretly watching over her, but for now, it was all she could do. She had tried to arrange a meeting with Mr. Sawtell, the man who kept Crystal prisoner and he had come back at her with suspicion and an unpleasantly worded show of disinterest. He told Bonnie he would be back from his European trip in five months and may agree to meet with her then. He was very forceful in his attempts to find out what she wanted from him over the phone, instead of seeing her in person, but Bonnie held her ground and said she’d see him when he returned if that was the best he could do. He offered for her to speak with his younger brother while he was away after Bonnie was persistent about the need for a speedy conversation with one of his staff. She thought if she could convince a younger, less experienced family member she may pull the rug out from under Sawtell while he was away and purchase Crystal quickly.

The meeting was set for next Monday night, and Bonnie opened up the doors of the big house as a show of trust for the younger Sawtell—Jason. Jason was a clean cut–looking man; he almost looked like a real businessman who worked in an upmarket office with a decent, wholesome job. His executive look was a well-groomed act to trap unsuspecting girls and create trust, but it didn’t fool Bonnie Leslie. She served him bourbon and cola per his request and offered him a platter of cheese, crackers, and dip from the table in the lounge room.

Jason was keen to know what it was Bonnie wanted, and he wasn’t at all interested in talking shallow shop talk or current affairs. He turned in his chair within five minutes of arriving and asked point blank what it was the wealthy madam wanted of him and his family. Bonnie wasn’t quite ready to lay her cards on the table in a forced instant, so she framed her proposal in a story about her desires for a perfect set.

“A perfect set of what?” Jason asked.

“I don’t want to bore you with my wants and needs, but I have always liked to have a group of girls who appeal to all types of clients. Some customers like brunettes, some redheads, some short, some tall, and some curvy and voluptuous. Right now, I am missing a certain type of girl, and I know a number of my clients are looking for just that type.” It was a longwinded answer and only half an answer. Jason tried to get her to reach her point. “Well, I need another type of girl. She will be tall and blonde, and she will have soft blue eyes and very few curves. She needs to be thin and look kind of like a little girl in her innocence. I am

willing to pay for that exact type of girl.”

“Right,” said Jason. “What exactly has that got to do with us?”

“I’ve seen the girl I want, and she is in your employ.” She stopped and looked into his dark eyes. “I would like to purchase the girl I have seen who will be the missing piece for my set.”

Jason reached for another biscuit and some Camembert cheese, put it in his mouth, and chewed slowly. When he finished, he took a long swallow of his drink and asked another question.

“So, if I’m hearing you correctly, you are saying you want me to break up
my
set so that you can make
your
set complete, yes? This could be very costly. I may not want to lose a girl, especially if she is a particularly good one.” He halted and then raised his eyebrows. “So, Ms. Leslie, who is it to be? Which of my girls have you got your eye on?”

Bonnie spoke with as much nonchalance as she could. “I like the tall blonde, the one who works on High Street, the one they call Crystal. I will pay whatever you want for her.”

“Why?” Jason said. “She’s skinny and not really pretty. She’s a junkie. She’s been around for years now, and she’s pretty messed up. Why her?”

“I just like her look,” Bonnie said. “I reckon I could clean her up, dress her up, and make her what I need her to be. It’s a challenge, Jason, and I really like a challenge. Underneath that mess is a real beauty, and I would like her for my own. And as I said, for my set to be complete, I am willing to pay.”

Jason stood up from his chair and began to leave. Bonnie wasn’t happy with this, and she tried to keep him from leaving by talking more, but he was undeterred.

“You know what I’m going to do, Bonnie? I’m going to go back and have a look at this girl. She must be really something if you want her so badly. You only choose the best, and if she’s that good, maybe I don’t want to let her go for
any
money. Maybe I should have her for myself, and I mean all to myself. Maybe Crystal should be my private prostitute. I won’t sell her to you until I’m finished with her. When I am bored and done with her, I might just kick her in your direction. Then again, maybe I won’t.”