Love For Sale

The clock from the church down the street chimed ten o’clock. I counted the chimes as I walked the streets, my streets. The chimes of the clock distracted me from my thoughts, but once the last chime ended, I found myself thinking about what had happened to me over the past year. It had seemed like I was in a dream since January, and everything I had with Cole was just something out of a romance novel. I thought that my dream would last forever, but recently, my dream turned into a nightmare and I was shaken awake by reality. Now I have found myself walking the same streets again to make my living. I didn’t want to, but it was the only way to pay off my rent. When Cole threw me out for the final time, I didn’t know where to go, and found myself back at the brothel. Kris was surprised to see me, and I told him what happened. He felt sorry for me, and told me that there was an empty room available. However, the room wasn’t free.

“If you are going to live here again, then you have to work.” Kris told me.

I agreed to his terms, and began selling my body again. However, I was not too thrilled about it like I was before, and would not go down as often to the lobby when the door bell rang. But when I did, I would not have any passion in bed, resulting in almost no income at all. My clients were telling me that I was a lousy lay. Kris noticed that I was not really pulling my weight around the brothel, and sat me down to talk. But it was not a very good one, not the ones that Chad would give me after I was dumped by my clients. Kris’s talk didn’t help. All he said was that I needed to pick up the pace or else I would be out on the streets, so I called the only friend that I had, Chad.

It was nice to hear his voice again, and he picked up his cell when he saw that it was me who was calling. But not even his words helped me that much. It had been forever since I last talked to him, and we caught up with each other before I told him what had happen. When he asked me what I was up to nowadays, he just about chewed my head off when I told him I went back to selling myself and that Cole broke up with me. I allowed him to rant on about how I was a little shit for ever going back to prostituting. After his rant, and after he cooled down a little bit, he offered to wire some money to me so that I could rent myself an apartment. I told Chad that was a nice offer, but I refused and thanked him for it.

“Just remember, Kyle,” Chad said before he hung up the phone. “I’m just a phone call away.”

We said our goodbyes after that, and I hung up the phone. When I finished talking to Chad, I tried to call Cole again to explain. But he never picked up. Every time that I would call, he would send it to voice mail. I had tried talking to Cole about what happened at Daniel’s wedding many different times, but he would never answer. I even left messages on his cell, but I knew he didn’t listen to them. This time, when I tried to explain to Cole what happen, he had his phone disconnected. Tears welled in my eyes when I heard the recorder say that the number was no longer available, and I no longer wanted to try to explain to Cole what had happened that day. He had moved on without me, and no longer wanted to deal with me. That was last week, and now I am walking the streets to pay for my rent for next month.

A cold chill ran down my spine and I zipped up my jacket. The jacket that I wore was tattered and torn, which didn’t do any good in this cold weather. When I was living with Cole, he had bought me some new clothes, but when he kicked me out, he threw every piece of clothing he bought me in the trash. I bought myself new clothes with whatever money I had with me, and I was able to get a few things at Goodwill. Snow danced in the night air, and had lined a thin layer on the ground. I huddled my body together as I rounded the corner, and I saw the awning the other prostitutes would stand under. However, there wasn’t anyone under the cover now, and I crossed the street to stand under it. It was colder under the awning, and I lit up a cigarette to try to keep me warm. I let out a few puffs of the stick, and I began playing the waiting game.

I didn’t wait long, and shortly after I arrived on the street, a black SUV rounded the corner. I extinguished my cigarette when the car approached, and I put on a smile. The car slowly came to a stop in front of me and my smile got bigger. When the SUV stopped completely, the driver rolled down the window and I saw that he was a high earning business man. He was wearing a tan three-piece suit with his jacket slung over the passenger seat. His blue eyes had dark circles under them and his red hair was a mess indicated he had just finished a long day at work. From his expression, he looked like he had a bad day and looked like he needed some fun.

“Hello, love.” I gleamed, resting my arms on the open window. “Care for some fun tonight?”

“How old are you?” The driver asked, looking me over.

“I laughed, “As old as you want me to be.” I replied.

The driver laughed, and I knew that I had him. Now all I needed to do was reel him in.

“How much are your services?” He then asked.

“Depends on what you want.”

“Well, I would like an hour of your time.”

“Then that will cost you fifty dollars.”

The driver smiled, and unlocked the door for me. I jumped into the passenger seat when it was cleared of his jacket off, and shut the door just as fast. The driver had the heater on, and I turned all of the vents on me. I placed my hands over them so I could get them warm, and I let out a long sigh of relief. Once my body had heated up, the driver rolled away from the curb and we were off to the motel. I turned and smiled at him, and he gave me a sideways glance and a smile.

“So, what is your name?” the driver asked. “Or are you one of those boy’s that don’t do names?”

“Tell me yours and I might tell you mine.” I replied back.

The driver chuckled, and I gave him a light smile. “My name is Officer Kent Marshal.” the driver said, flashing me his badge.

“Fuck!” my mind yelled seeing the officer’s badge, and I didn’t say another word. I felt embarrassed that I fell for an undercover cop, and now I was going to jail for what I have been doing (or at least that was what I was thinking). My heart raced as my mind filled with what was going to happen to me, and I couldn’t think straight. All that I could do was to stay quiet. If they could not get anything out of me, then they would not find out who I am.

“Let’s take a ride, shall we?” I didn’t say anything, and he turned off the road and headed back to the police station.

Everything was a blur as we traveled back to the station, I didn’t even notice that we had stopped and exited the car until I felt a firm grip on my arm. I gritted my teeth as Officer Marshal squeezed my upper arm as he led me into the police station, dragging my feet as we walked up the stairs. Once inside, he led me to the first door on the right, and I was overwhelmed with how many police officers were in the small room. There was four desks in the room, each spread apart so there was enough room for one person to pass between the four large desks. Apart from the desks, there were three other doors leading out of the room (other then the door we just came through). To the right was another room that led to the captain’s office, and to the left, were two other doors. I knew that one of the doors led to the interrogation room, but I did not know where the other door led to.

“Who do you got there?” One of Marshal’s fellow co-workers asked, seeing us enter the room. He stood up from his desk and made his way through the maze of desks so he could see who Marshal brought in. “Hello.” I didn’t say anything.

“I don’t know who he is, Mark.” Officer Marshal replied, tightening his grip on my arm. “I caught this boy on Fifth and Pine, selling himself.”

“Wow.” Mark was shocked to know that I was brought in for underage prostitution, and he stayed quiet as Officer Marshal brought me over to his desk. “Does he have any I.D. on him?” Mark asked, sitting down in Marshal’s chair.

“Haven’t checked yet. I need to fill out some paperwork on this one, so could you see if you can get some information out of him?”

“Sure.” Mark replied, and he pulled me over to his desk. Once Officer Marshal had gone out of the room to fill out his own paperwork, Officer Mark Strife started to work on his own questions for me. “Okay, son, can you tell me what your name is?” I gave him a blank look, and he moved on to his next question. “Can you tell me how old you are?” I blinked, and looked down at the piece of paper in front of him. Officer Strife sighed and shook his head. “Listen, you are not in trouble. All that we want to know is who you are and where you live so we can take you back home.”

“Get anything out of our John Doe here?” Officer Marshal asked, coming back to us, his finished paperwork on me in his hand. Officer Strife had been asking me questions for the past half hour, but I did not utter a word.

“Nothing, he is using his right to remain silent.”

Marshal sighed and massaged his eyes. I smirked at how this was getting stressful for the two officers of the law. “If he is staying quiet, he might be in the system; that may be why he is not talking.”

“Think you are right? Have you been arrested before?” Mark asked me, seriously. I turned my head. I did not have to answer that question, and pursed my lips together. “I think he might be in the system. Alright, come with me.” Officer Strife took my by the arm and led me to the booking room (the door on the right). Marshal followed us in and stood back as Strife pressed my fingers to the hi-tech printing machine to see if I was in their police system. Once I was fingerprinted, Strife handed me over to Marshal, and he placed me in the holding cell that was in the room. “You sit tight. We will know everything about you in a few minutes.

I took a seat on the cold metal bench and tucked my feet under my legs. It would be a while till the police find out who I was, so I tried to relax. However, holding cells weren’t meant be comfortable. Within ten minutes, my left foot had fallen asleep and I was getting a pain in my lower pack. The floor looked more welcoming then the metal beach, and I slid down to lie down. I let out a sigh and stared into the florescent light above me. I closed my eyes when the light started to give me a headache, and I tried to concentrate on something else to make my headache go away.

“Kyle?” a familiar voice called, and I pulled my head up to see who had entered the room. My mouth dropped open and I was surprised to see an old lover of mine walk into the booking room.

“Hello, George.” I replied, sitting up so I can see him better look at Officer George Rose.

“What are you doing in there?” He asked me, coming all the way into the room. He looked like he was doing well by the way he was dressed. He still looked the same as I last saw him, a little thinner, but still the same person. I could not tell if he was on or off duty because he wasn’t in his black and blue, and wonder why he was here. He didn’t work at this police station, but then again, it had almost been a year since I last saw him walking out of my bedroom.

“Some undercover cop caught me selling myself.” I told him truthfully. “What about you? What are you doing here, or did you get a transfer to this station?”

“Actually, I am a detective in homicide now, I work up in Portland.”

“Congrats on getting a promotion.”

“Thank you.”

The booking door swung open again soon after Officer Rose came in, and I saw Mark Strife coming back in. He stopped short when he saw Rose in the room, he choked up when he saw the detective, but advanced further into the room. “Hello, detective.” Strife said, acknowledging the other man in the room. Rose nodded and Officer Strife approached the holding cell. I quickly got off the floor when the officer approached, and I held my breath.

“Officer, can you tell me why Kyle here is in a holding cell?”

“You got to tell me your secret to making people talk.” Mark was surprised that George got me to talk, but he pushed that aside and answered the detective’s question. “We caught Mr. Wolf here soliciting himself. He invoked his fifth amendment to answer who he was, but after getting his fingerprints, we got all the information we needed. However, since you got Mr. Wolf to talk, we should have just called you in,” he laughed. Officer Rose gave Mark a stern look, and the officer stopped short.

“Then who is the boy?” Rose asked.

“Well, he is a ward of the state.” Officer Strife replied.

“What?” I thought. I stepped closer to hear what Office Mark Strife found in my file. It had been so long since I saw my file, so I knew that there must have been some new things that were added in there.

“So he has no living relatives?” Rose asked.

“Nope. He did have a mother, but she died three years ago.”

“What, how?” I cried. My heart broke. My mother, who had saved me from my father when I was a kid, was now dead. I didn’t even know about it; no one told me.

“She died of alcohol poisoning, and an overdosed on her depression medication, but it was the alcohol that really killed her.”

“Why was she taking medication?” I asked.

“From what the report of her death reads,” Mark said, looking through my file. “She had gotten out of Bedford Hills five years ago, and had been fighting the courts to get you back. However, during the process, her parole officer said that she has slipped into a depression and kept on talking how she was a bad mother, and that the state would not give her son back to her. Guess her depression got the best of her. I am sorry, Kyle.”

I sat back down on the bench. I didn’t know what to think about my mom dying. I never really knew her, except for when I was little. But that was all that I knew of her. She was a good mother to me, and I really appreciate her saving my life. Now she was dead, and I didn’t know about it. As everything sunk in, I couldn’t take the bad news and hid my face in my hands so the two officers would see my tears.

“What is going to happen to him now?” I heard Rose ask.

“Well…we were going to inform foster services about where their client was. But unfortunately, their service is no longer in business.”

“Did they close?”

“No, their building burned down five years ago, and all their computer files got burned in the fire. So, we cannot pull up his file.”

“Then how did you pull up his information?” Rose asked.

“Well, when Officer Marshal brought him in, Kyle didn’t say a word. We thought he was in the system, so we ran his prints. Apparently, Mr. Wolf here was brought into a New York Station when he was ten for selling himself there, but they didn’t press any charges. The captain has called in the D.A. to see if the state wants to press charges for his new count.”

“I want my phone call.” I blurted out. Both policemen turned to me when I talked, and I sniffled away my tears. “Can I please have my one phone call?” I asked more politely.

The two looked at each other, and after a small pause, Officer Strife unlocked the holding cell door and led me to a phone where I could have my call. He left me alone to make my call, but I did not know who to call. I knew that Cole was totally out of the question, and Chad was out of the country in Rome doing a photo shoot. Chad’s friends were also not people who would bale me out. I picked up the phone and held it up to my ear. I listened to the dial tone a little while I was thinking of who to call, and then I dialed the one person who I knew would help me.

“Hello?” A groggy voice sounded on the other end of the line. I let out the breath that I was holding when I heard Daniel’s voice. “Who is this?”

“Daniel.” I let out a squeak.

“Kyle, is that you?” Daniel asked. He sounded more awake this time.

“Listen, Daniel, can you come down to the police station?”

“What? What did you do?” Daniel asked. He was fully awake now, and I could tell that he was not happy with me. I let in a breath as I told Daniel about what happen to me tonight, and I could tell by his breathing he was not please. He sighed, and I could tell Sarah was awake too, as I heard her voice in the background. “Kyle, don’t say anything that might get you into any more shit then you are in. I am on my way.”

“Thank you, see you in a few.” and I slowly hung up the phone.

“Who did you call?” Officer Strife asked.

“A friend.” I replied. I didn’t want to tell him that I called an assistant defense attorney to come and get me, so I just said I called a friend. In a way, Daniel had become a friend of mine, and he was there for me when I was in the roughest situations.

Daniel arrived thirty minutes after I called him, and I couldn’t be happier to see a familiar face. I didn’t move from the spot where I called Daniel from, but I stood when he came in. George decided to baby-sit me until my “friend” came, and he stood when he noticed that I got up. He did a double take when he saw Daniel walking over towards him, and he stood straight up. Daniel looked like he was dressed for work, but he also looked tired. It was past two in the morning, so I guess he would be tired. We exchanged glances, and Rose quickly got to business.

“Daniel, the D.A. office sent you for Mr. Wolf’s case?” Apparently, George knew Daniel personally from other police cases, or else he would not have used his first name.

“No.” Daniel said tiredly. “I am here because Kyle called me, and I am going to take him home with me.”

“Now, Daniel, you cannot do that.” Daniel turned to see another state lawyer behind him, and I could tell that things were going to get complicated. “You know that you cannot assist a criminal, or else you will be put on trial too.”

“Excuse me, but who are you?” Daniel asked.

“Dwight Bishop. I am the A.D.A. that is handling this case. So you can just go home; I can take it from here.”

“Bull, Kyle called me to help him, and that is what I am going to do. Besides, Kyle is only fifteen, still a boy in the eyes of the state. Now, the only thing I have seen Kyle doing was get into a car with an undercover officer. Is his guilty of dealing in underage prostitution, yes, but that does not mean that he is guilty of anything else.”

“Then you should know that it is against the law for anyone to solicit themselves in this state. At most, Mr. Wolf here will get two years in a juvenile detention facility. However, since Mr. Wolf here is fifteen, and did not have a pimp, I could charge him as an adult.”

“Listen, Dwight, I am too tired to listen to any of the bullshit that is coming out of your mouth right now. Now I am going to take my client home. If you do not like it, you can take it up with the D.A. Come on Kyle, we’re leaving.” A bright smile rose across my face, and I could not have scurried out of the police station faster. “What the fuck were you thinking?” Daniel yelled at me once we were in his car. “Do you know how much trouble you are in, how much trouble I am in? I could be kicked off the bar for aiding a criminal, and you can be sent to jail for what you have done.”

“I am sorry, Daniel, but I didn’t know who else to call.” I cried. “You were my only hope. Thank you though.”

Daniel let out several deep breaths to try to bring his blood presser down, and he shook his head. “You are welcome. But you can thank me by showing me that you are not going to do this ever again.” I chuckled, and sat back and tried to enjoy the ride over to Daniel’s house.

Daniel’s cell phone rang three times when he was driving, but he never answered it. All he did was pick it up, look to see who was calling, and then turn it off. I caught a glimpse of Daniel’s phone when he picked it up, and I saw that it read “office”. Normally, Daniel would pick it up, but due to these circumstances, he ignored it. He cared so much about me that he would risk his job to make sure that I would not go to jail. When he pulled into the driveway, he couldn’t ignore his phone any longer and ask me to go inside. I climbed out of the car just as Daniel picked up the phone, and I could hear his boss yelling at him over the phone. I felt bad because Daniel might lose his job because of me, and I started to feel guilty. The door was unlocked, and I stepped out of the cold and into a nice warm house decorated for Christmas. I was surprised by how much Sarah and Daniel decorated for the holiday. I didn’t even notice that Sarah was standing in the dining room. When I did notice her, I saw that she was still in her pajamas and she greeted me with a hug. I welcomed her hug gladly, and she wrapped her arms around me similar to a mother’s hug to their young child. Her hug was warm to the touch, and I didn’t want the warmth to end, but it did, and Sarah led me over to the dining room table. She sat me down in one of the side chairs and disappeared into the kitchen. She came back a short time later with two cups of hot chocolate with a large mound of whip cream. She gave me one of the cups and I took a sip. Sarah sat next to me and took a sip of her drink, and we stayed quiet until Daniel came in.

Daniel came in shortly after I did, and he looked exhausted. Sarah stood when she saw her husband, and she welcomed him with a kiss. Daniel kissed his wife in return and he sat down at the head of the table. Sarah disappeared into the kitchen again, which allowed me to get some time to talk to Daniel before she came back in.

“Did I get you fired?” I asked in a hush tone. I was almost afraid to ask him, but I wanted to know. I would have felt bad if he did, because I knew it would be my entire fault.

“No, you didn’t get me fired…yet. The D.A. wants me to have you arraigned for court.”

“What?” I was getting scared. I was going to go to jail for what I had done.

“Don’t worry, this is your first offence, so you would only get a few months of probation. I, on the other hand, am a different story.” Sarah came back with an empty coffee cup and a full pot of coffee. Daniel paused so Sarah could fill up his mug, and thanked her with a peck on the cheek. “The D.A. is angry at me for taking you from the squad room, but his is pissed even more that we know each other, and that I am interfering with their case. Right now, if I do not present you at your arraignment tomorrow, then I will be suspended.” Daniel took a swig from his coffee cup and downed the rest soon after. “I am sorry, Kyle, I wish there was something that I can do to help. But we just have to face the music.”

I sulked in chair, and felt my whole body fall under the pressure about how I was going to be on probation. But then again, since I brought Daniel into this mess, my mind was racing about what other worse sentences I could get if the judge saw the crime fitting the punishment. “What would happen if the judge doesn’t give me probation?” I asked.

“Well,” Daniel sighed, refilling his coffee mug. “Prostitution is a serious crime in this state. It is considered a misdemeanor. If convicted, those who are soliciting their bodies, would normally get one year in prison and/or a$6,250 fine.”

“Is it the same for others who are deal in the solicitation?”

“It is for those who are paying for the services, but it is different for pimps and owners of brothels.”

My interest piqued when Daniel mentioned that the fine for owning a brothel is different than those who are selling their bodies. This gave me an idea, one that might help me reduce my penalty if I was convicted and sent to a jail for minors. “What is the sentence for those who are convicted of owning a brothel?”

“Well, let’s see, that is a class C felony. For owning a brothel, you would get up to five years in prison, and a bigger fine. Up to $125,000. Why do you ask?”

I sighed. I didn’t want to bring down Kris, but after he screwed me over and made me go back to selling myself, in order to pay rent, I thought I could screw him over. “Because I know where a brothel is.” I replied.

“You do? Did you use to work at it?”

“Yes and no. I did get about one-third of my clients from the brothel, but the owner of the home did run the house like it was a brothel. The guy who owns it; his is name Kris, and he is an asshole.

“Kyle?” Sarah snapped, surprised to hear such language coming from my mouth.

“Sorry. But he is one. He treated the attendants like they were his employee’s and did not keep the building up to the state’s safety code.”

“Did he know that you were underage?”

“Yes.”

“That is good, because that will add to the charges, and might just get you off the hook with what you just told me.” Daniel smiled, and I smiled too. “Just stick with what you told me and give the D.A. the address of the brothel tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Daniel, for everything.” I said, feeling relived that I was going to get a lesser sentence then before.

“You’re welcome Kyle. Now I suggest that you get some sleep. Your arraignment is at nine, but I would like for us to be there by eight to tell the D.A. what you just told me.” I nodded, and with that, Daniel said good night to me, and Sarah showed me to the guest room.

“Good night Kyle.” Sarah said, hugging me goodnight. “I hope everything goes well tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Sarah.” I replied. “I hope so too.

“You know you always have a home here, so if things go right for you, you can stay here as long as you want to get back on your feet.”

“Thank you,” my smile brightened. “I really appreciate that.” Sarah gave me a soft smile and leaned in and gave me a peck on the cheek. I chuckled softly and turned a bright red. That was the first time that I had ever been kissed by a woman, other than my mom. She laughed at how I reacted, and we said our goodnights once more, leaving me to dwell on what had happened today, and what was going to happen tomorrow.

Daniel woke my ass up bright and early for my arraignment. He told me that I had ten minutes to get ready before he left, and I didn’t waste any time. I was dressed and ready within in five minutes, and I drank two cups of coffee. Daniel was impressed, and we were on the road earlier then he expected. I was nervous as Daniel drove to the court house, and I felt like everything that I talked about with Daniel meant nothing. I got so nervous that I started to shake. Daniel noticed that I was shaking and told me that everything was going to be okay, but with everything that had been happening to me, I thought that everything was not going to be alright. I thought that what I was going to tell the D.A. wouldn’t be enough, and I would be sent to a juvenile detention center. I had calmed down a bit when we got to the court house, but once we entered, and I saw the two lawyers, I wanted to run out of the court house. Daniel pulled me along though, with his hand gently resting on my shoulder, and introduced me to the D.A and to the lawyer that the state provided me with. On the ride over, Daniel had told me that he could not represent me in my arraignment because I he knew me. So I was scared shitless when I was introduce to Mr. Dari. All four of us shook hands, and I felt even more uncomfortable in this situation.

“Hello, Kyle.” Travis Knit, the D.A. said as we shook hands. “Daniel says that you have valuable information to tell me; is that true?”

“Yes sir, it is.” I told him, looking him straight in the face. “Though, I don’t think it will do me much good.” I lowered my head.

“Well, from what Daniel has told me, I feel like we can work something out. But why don’t we talk in a quieter place.” Travis then led my court appointed lawyer and I to an empty room for us to talk. My heart beating even faster as I went into the room and gulped as Travis shut the door behind him.