Heroine: California Dreamin' (35 page)

“Sit down on the couch”, Igor ordered me. I obeyed.

“No, not that way. The legs closed, hands in your lap and head lowered. Little timid girl, you understand?” he barked at me. I understood and he was content. For a while nothing happened. Igor and his companions stood in one corner and talked to one another quietly. I was confused. I noticed that the effect from the alcohol yesterday had evaporated.

“May I have something to drink? A cognac?” I begged.

“You don’t need that today” Igor growled back. “You would only hamper our business if you reek of alcohol.” I gave in to my fate.

The elevator door one floor below rattled and steps on the stairs announced some visitors. A tall man with broad shoulders, black hair and in a black custom-made suit, black tie and white satin shirt with shiny cuffs entered the room followed by the other two guys who had their ways with me the day before. The word
‘rape’
did no longer enter my mind. I felt like as if I was Igor’s property. The guy who had just arrived carried a camera bag in his hand. I noticed it from its Japanese company name printed on it.

“Now that is your first customer”,
I thought timidly and I hoped that he was not one of those perverts. As much as I accepted my fate I would not tolerate that somebody would beat me. I felt my heart beat up in my throat. Photos of girls from Robert’s files appeared in my head.

Igor gave the guy a hearty welcome in Russian and they hugged one another. Then he pointed with the finger to me and the stranger looked at me for a long time. I shivered under his cold stare and lowered my eyes submissively. Again the two men exchanged something in Russian but too fast so I couldn’t understand anything.

The customer stepped up to me, with his hand he grabbed me under my chin and lifted my head. I couldn’t bear looking him into his eyes and looked away. Obviously he was satisfied. He unpacked his camera and started to take pictures of me. First while sitting, the head lowered like a good girl, then while standing up in various positions. I kept on my dress and my shoes. Slowly I relaxed. I didn’t see any hand cuffs, no whips or ropes. Perhaps I had just been overreacting.

“Now, just drop your dress but slowly”, commanded Igor. “First only one shoulder, innocent look from the side, then down to the chest, very slowly.” It was supposed to be a strip show! I actually took a liking to it and became rather frivolous. The dude in his tailored suit jumped all around me and took umpteen photos from all sides. The rest of my clothing followed my dress and soon thereafter I posed all naked for the camera. I really enjoyed presenting myself. In particular I liked the eyes of Igor’s men who stood around in the room. I hoped that I made them truly ‘suffer’.

The photo shoot took astonishingly long. At one point Igor informed me that we would finish up now. I couldn’t say whether two or three hours had gone by. I wanted to ask Igor to give me back my Rolex that was a present from Erich. The visitor seemed to be content and gave Igor a hug when he said good bye. I got dressed again.

“That is looking good”, Igor said with a wide grin. “Now let’s eat something. How about a pizza?” I was happy since I was really hungry.

“Achim, Ruud, Gerd, Rainer, the usual?” They nodded. I was beside myself.

“And what about me? Do you want me to starve to death?” Achim made an obscene gesture and all of them laughed. With the exception of Igor. He was thinking again. Slowly I understood that he tried to capture a world that was unknown to him. A world in which women also have needs. Therefore he needed to start over again and again.

“You’re right. After all you’re still in our care. I had forgotten about that. But one thing must be clear: the expenses for that will be added to the total bill. If the deal today goes bust you’ll be working for that also. So now, what do you want?” I was furious but swallowed my answer. Because I was too afraid of these guys.

“I also want pizza, I prefer …”

“Forget about it. Pizza makes you fat. Look at Rainer. Ever since he had left Heidelberg he only eats that stuff. He’s put on at least twenty kilos. You may have a salad.” Then he switched into his thinking mode again.

“And a steak. Irregardless how the deal went today on Saturday it will be your turn and then you will need it.” There were two open questions I had. What kind of deal was he talking about and what were the plans for Saturday? Somehow I had to try to prevent that I would disappear in that rat hole again downstairs. Therefore I quickly added:

“Igor, whether you believe me or not but I like it here with you guys. Not in the cell where you had put me. But so far I really had fun with you. The day before yesterday with you and also today. Why don’t you let me enjoy your company over dinner? All by myself down in the rat hole I won’t be able to get anything down.”

“Well, you may help Lisa with her meal”, poked Achim who worked his way further up on my list of ‘un-favorites’. His three friends howled with laughter. Obviously this was funny for Igor’s bodyguards. Lisa had pointed that out to me briefly.

“Lisa is a specialist for oral sex”, Igor explained the background of Achim’s joke attack quite dryly. I wondered about his noble choice of words all of a sudden!

“I know that you are a master too.” His facial expression remained absolutely the same.

“But we will use you in situations that are your specialties.” On the one hand Igor seemed to lack any kind of humor because he didn’t pay attention to his bodyguard’s stupid joke and on the other hand he mentioned something that triggered my third question. What are, mind you, my specialties?

“Oh come on, can’t I stay here? Only until after dinner? I don’t wonna eat by myself”, I begged with a tearful voice and looked Igor into the eyes.

“Alright then”, Igor agreed after another thoughtful pause.

“You haven’ acted up so far although I had expected this from a broad like you. Well, you are a professional indeed. I knew that right from the start. Horst is crazy.
‘Juliane does that out of love for Erich’
he mimicked scornfully Horst’s sentence.

“I still hear the voice of that non-achiever in my ear. And there is long ways to go until Saturday. I don’t know whether it’s a done deal at all. There is no agreement yet. Let’s eat together and Juliane will serve dessert”, Igor decided in a rare attack of generosity. The enthusiasm displayed by the bodyguards revealed to me who would be dessert on the table. Begging I looked at Igor. He understood frightfully fast.

“No, from today on there is no more alcohol. Alcohol doesn’t mix with the injection we’ll give you Saturday.” I felt sick with fear. Was he serious? Now I had a fourth open problem. I focused on my questions and tried to strike up a conversation with Igor during the meal that had been delivered. In fact he became a bit more approachable and handed me some information that I wanted to hear. I don’t know whether he did it intentionally or unintentionally.

Back then at Erich’s big party Igor had taken some pictures of me for a customer. His rich client looked for a girl for himself. Igor sent him the pics already the next day and the customer was all for it. He insisted to getting his hands on me as soon as possible. He wanted to pay two hundred thousand Euros. I had heard this figure once before but didn’t take it seriously.
It just couldn’t be true.

“Why are you getting so excited?” Igor asked back. “He has enough money. He doesn’t even
realize when he spends one, two or ten millions.” Did Igor really think that I was worried about his client’s finances? Slowly I understood his view of the world. Humans were things, items in his world. You could take them, sell them or do anything else with them. He viewed all that totally without any emotions.

His next answer was like a kick in the stomach. I wanted to know what his customer had planned for me. For how long would I need to be available for him? For that much money he would probably want me for more than just a weekend?

Igor looked at me as if I had suddenly questioned the existence of the moon. My feelings, my thoughts, my person – none of it fit into his world view.

“You’ll then belong to him, of course. You understand? Now you belong to me. Then I’ll sell you and then you’ll belong to him. How hard is that to understand?” he shook his head in disbelief. When I caught my breath again I asked him quietly.

“And who is the man you want to sell me to?” Igor needed another one of his mental pauses. It seemed hard for him to comprehend that somebody else did not think and feel as he did. Whatever he had in his head needed to be obvious for everybody else surrounding him. He mentioned a strange name. I didn’t understand him.

“What, you don’t know him? He is one of the richest guys in Uzbekistan! He was as poor as can be until they found oil on his land. He then sent his camels to the slaughterhouse in Tashkent and now he’s residing in a palace.” I turned white as a bed sheet and could hardly close my mouth.

“You sold me to Uzbekistan? To a billionaire?”

“Yes, it’s good business. Why aren’t you happy? Besides that, that was then. Then you took a hike and you ruined the deal. That is a no-no, do you understand? Once such a deal has been made I must deliver the goods.”
‘How perverted can a human being be?’
went through my mind.

“So, there is no other deal?” I inquired carefully. Igor took another bite from his pizza.

“Certainly. He’s still interested. That guy today, Evgeni, was his ’ambassador’. And you did know about that, didn’t you, otherwise you wouldn’t have delivered such a first class advertising show. Like all the other broads you just want to be taken care of by one of these rich bastards. Own room, beautiful dresses, jewelry and once in a while you have to accommodate him. And if you bear him a son you may stay with him until the end of your life. The only thing is that he wants to pay less now. And only because you wanted to go to the USA under all circumstances. It’s a shame that it was too complicated to get you out and away from Roquetas. Then the deal still might have worked. Now he only wants to pay one hundred thousand.” My nerves were shattered.

“You knew that I had been living in Roquetas”, I gulped.

“Of course, your mother had given me your number. You were calling all the time. If I had been allowed to enter the country things would have been much simpler.” The rest of the pizza disappeared slowly behind his strong teeth. He didn’t have any molars any longer, as I noticed once before.

“Perhaps you think I am a bit stupid but …” He laughed and I scratched the
‘Perhaps’
. He certainly thought that I was stupid. That gave me something to work with, it actually made things easier for me. So I switched to play the little idiot.

“… what will be happening then? Do I have to marry him? May I come back to you one day?” Pouting I looked at him from below. I was absolutely certain that he was convinced that I actually had wanted to be kidnapped by him. As if all of that had just been an intriguing hide-and-seek game for me.

“Once you are gone you are gone. But the women who I’ve delivered to him so far are all happy there. Even those who didn’t bear him a son.” Again he mentioned
‘son’
, not child.

“Why, what’s happening to those?” My dumb-stricken facial expression impressed Igor. Patronizingly he replied:

“He hands them down to deserved coworkers. Once and a while they receive rewards. As I said so far none of those bitches has brought forward any complaint to me.”

“Have you seen the place?” I asked almost whispering.

“What should I do there? Eat dust and bore myself to death? You can’t even get a whiskey there. So don’t nerve me any longer.” But I continued because I was stupid and didn’t understand his comment. But I needed time to handle the information he’d just given me.

“But what is if he doesn’t want me anymore? May I then stay with you nevertheless?” I leaned a bit towards him. Only a bit so that he wouldn’t register it immediately.

“Then I will have use for you. Simple as that. We’ll start on Saturday. Regardless whether he takes you or not. You’ve already been booked for the group sex party. Why shouldn’t I make some money with a professional like you before you disappear to paradise? You owe me so much money that I will never make up the moola after you’ve gone. Be happy that at least I know how to count two and two.”

A vehement jolt in my chest told me that he was right. I owed him something. That was the one thing.

The other information was that he believed that I was a professional in matters of group sex. He obviously was sure that I had fooled Erich as well as Horst at the time. A woman that would do something like that out of love just didn’t exist in his world. But there was still the last question to be answered.

“You’ve mentioned something about an injection. What did you mean by that?” I found it hard not to run out of the room yelling.

“Oh dear Lord! Do I have to explain to you everything three times? You’ll get the injection so that you’ll don’t take a hike on Saturday. There won’t be any drinks for you at the party. You’ll be working, you dig? That injection will last for three days. Then Evgeni can take you across the borders without a problem in case we close the deal after all. What do you really want? We treat you well, you’re getting what you want and you’re still getting on my nerves. Enough of that. Strip down now, it is time for dessert”.

I was close to a nervous breakdown however I decided to postpone it. My helpless demeanor would only turn them on and I would be in a worse situation than before. The trick with the ‘helplessness’ only works with men who are relatively normal. Sick and perverted people would only abuse that situation. And I was sure that I was surrounded by the latter. The best tactic would be to put on an act, I decided. So I jumped up enthusiastically.

“Please, may I perform the strip show again? I always wanted to do that. Please, please.”
‘Only idiotic women will talk that way’
I thought. What I intended to do was to protect myself. I didn’t want them to get close to my holy temple. It was dry and I was terribly afraid that they would hurt me. Igor first looked dumbfounded but then agreed. This time his grin looked genuine.