Roads Leading Back

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey all! I'm back with another chapter! I noticed recently that some readers were confused about one character's specific choice in lifestyle, and another character's choice of self-redemption. To answer all questions, please refer to my Writer's Blog [http://sfcomicronus.blogspot.com]. It may not completely answer all your questions, but it might at least put to rest some of your confusion. Anyway, on with the story, and never forget: Reviews and/or constructive criticism is always appreciated!

Roads Leading Back
Chapter Four: Crossroads of Conflicting Views


“Thanks for helping me with this goddamned thing,” Sylvia said as Jennifer finished tying the laces of the corset. “I never could get this thing to fit properly.”

Jennifer laughed. “I honestly don’t know how people wore something like this.”

Sylvia laughed alongside Jennifer for a moment. Her gaze shifted from embarrassment to curiosity. “Have you figured out an answer yet?”

“Hmm?”

“About Erica,” Sylvia said. “She’s been moody and quiet since Omi first brought Erica’s request to your attention. From what I’ve heard, you’re still considering it.”

“I know I’ve held off talking with Omi for three months, but I still don’t know what to say,” Jennifer answered. “I’ve told Erica that what you and Omi do aren’t exactly…appropriate, especially for someone who’s eighteen.”

“I know, but Carly and Katherine are as young as Erica, if only older than her by a few months.”

“Still, I…” Jennifer hesitated. “She’s my sister, and she’s only eighteen. She has so much ahead for her, and I don’t want her to throw away a potential future for a life here.”

Sylvia looked hurt. “A potential future?”

“I didn’t mean it that way, Sylvia”

“How did you mean it, then?” Sylvia put her hands on her hips. “Jennifer, all the girls here have come from broken homes, sexually abusive parents, or pimps that don’t take care of their women.” She thrust a thumb to her chest. “I came from all three. When I was fourteen, I used to cry myself to sleep hearing my mother and father scream and throwing shit at each other in the living room. My parents divorced when I was sixteen, and I was abused by both of them. I ran away when I was eighteen, and after a few months on the streets and staying in homeless shelters, I spent the next three years of my life whoring myself out to druggies and people as abusive as my parents were.

“After that, my life changed. Omi found me and bought me out from my last pimp. Omi was a whore peddler like everyone else, but there was something different about him, Jennifer. He actually cared. He took Tina and I into his own home. With the money he earned legitimately by day, he helped Tina and myself off drugs. By night, he sent us to drug-free single men and women that were simply looking to sate themselves, and he gave us half of whatever we earned. When he was gone during the day we cleaned up his house and made sure he was comfortable in his own home.”

“I hardly believe that he would have sacrificed that much for you,” Jennifer snapped. “And that he trusted you that much.”

“Believe it, Jennifer. When he first took us in, I’ll admit we weren’t the best housemates, but he was patient. He never raised a hand to us, and he hasn’t to anyone else. I’ve been with him for several years, and he made enough to get a larger house. He brought in other girls shortly after we got settled in. Tina and I helped him get them clean, get them comfortable to human contact, and get them prepared for the night.

“After several months, he approached us all with the thought of opening a sexual fetish club. Some of the senior girls weren’t exactly up for it, but Tina and I, as well as the younger girls, were all for it. He spent whatever free time he had learning about it and teaching us. Once we all earned enough money, we opened our first legitimate club, and our business tripled.”

“Tripled?”

Sylvia nodded. “We made enough to open three more clubs, and within a year we had enough to maintain them and buy this place, our home. Omi, Tina and I are the three people on the deed to this place, Jennifer. Even though he had all these girls at his disposal, he still remembered Tina and I. He calls us his first girls and his closest friends.”

“What about himself?” Jennifer asked. “Sure you had sex with people he set you up with, but did he ever ask you for anything?”

Sylvia scoffed. “Of course! He was always reluctant to ask, but we were more than eager to help him in that respect.” She sat down. “Jennifer, I know that you want to get up and move on, move away from here and get this chapter of your life behind you, but I’ve seen the way your sister looks at him. There’s more in her look than just wanting to be close to him.”

Jennifer nodded. “I know, and that’s why I want her to leave this place. She’s setting herself up to get hurt.”

Sylvia sighed. “That I can agree with. It’s the same with all the girls, even Tina and I when he first had us. There’s jealousy and betrayal, but eventually, she’s going to have to learn that a person like Omi can’t keep his eyes on only one of us. A person like him once knew what real love was like and can’t handle the pain of losing it anymore.”

“Isn’t that being cowardly?”

“I thought that at first, Jennifer, but he’s given up too much of his life to go through that again. He knows that Erica sees him as a savior and someone she can trust in her time of need, but she needs to learn the hard way that he can’t give her what she wants.” Sylvia looked down. “I know you lost your first love, and you know how tough it is to get over someone…”

“No,” Jennifer said simply. “I don’t. Even though we’re apart, I still have this feeling that somehow, some way, James will find his way back to me.”

“You truly believe that?”

“I do,” Jennifer said curtly. “I know because I loved him, and I offered myself to him. I let him go, and I know that he’ll come back.”

Sylvia stood up. “Jennifer, this is real life, not some sort of fantasy you can wake up from. He’s been gone for as long as you’ve been pregnant, and you’ll be due soon. And even if he does come back, he may not be the same person you knew.”

“I don’t think that James could change that drastically.”

Sylvia opened a drawer to her vanity and gave her a folded up newspaper, the front page’s title, Self-Defense Results In Coma, in bold letters. “I think he can.”


* * * * *


“Hey, James,” Mitch said over the telephone-like device. “You’re getting out next week, huh?”

James smiled wearily. “Yeah,” he sighed. “It felt like three years.”

Mitch chuckled. “You look like you haven’t seen daylight in that long. I’ve never seen you look so tired or pale.”

“Jail isn’t exactly something I want to get out of bed to,” James joked dryly.

“Down to business,” Mitch said after a short laugh. “I wanted to give you this.” He nodded to the guard, who slipped him a folded envelope.

“What is it?” James flipped the envelope around and upside-down. “You’re not trying to get me to break out this close to my release, are you?”

Mitch frowned. “Funny guy, but I’m being serious. Open the damn thing.”

James carefully tore open the side of the envelope and took out the lone item in it. Eyes wide, he gawked at his best friend. “Mitch, if you’re pranking me, I swear to God, you’re the worst asshole I’ve ever met.”

Mitch could barely contain his smile. “I swear, Jimmy, I’m not kidding you.”

“Do you know how many zeroes there are on this thing?”

“Enough to get you your own fully furnished house and car.”

“Is this from all three of my books?”

Mitch shook his head. “No, just the first one. The publisher wanted to hold back your other book until three months from now, and the third one three months after that.”

“Just my first book?” James leaned back in his chair. “If there’s enough going about, she’ll be able to notice!”

“Wait, she…?” Mitch stiffened. “Oh, Jimmy, man, no! Let’s not go on about this, bro. You haven’t seen her in nine months! She’s probably forgotten all about you.”

“My mother’s been looking for her old place…”

“And it’s been sold, Jimmy,” Mitch replied coldly. “Aside from that, there was some guy hanging about saying that her old man had to sell the place to pay off some debt.”

James’s face paled. “What? A debt?”

Mitch nodded. “Yeah. Your mom told me that rumors were flying around that her old man had debts to pay to some ultra-high-class pimp. When he moved out, neither her nor her sister’s belongings, not even their clothes, were there.”

“No…” James slowly shook his head. “No…He couldn’t have sold their things…”

“Believe it, James,” Mitch said. “No one knows where she is nowadays. And even if there were rumors, they’d probably be things you won’t want to hear.”

James stared at the cheque in his hands and suddenly felt hollow. “Dammit!” He pounded his side of the counter with his fists, startling the guard nearby. “This can’t be happening.”

Mitch could only shake his head. “Sorry, Jimmy. I want to help, I really do, but there’s nothing that can be done. Your mother’s found out all she could. She found out about Jennifer’s father’s debt for you and that was after months of trying to find anything. I don’t think she can find any more.”

After several breaths, James slowly opened his fists. “You’re right. There’s nothing else.”

Mitch didn’t like the chill in his friend’s voice. “Don’t worry, Jimmy. Once you’re out of here, you can start a totally new beginning.”

“One where I have to report to a probation officer every week,” James muttered under his breath.


* * * * *


“You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, Omi, I wanted to see you.”

Omi turned around from the window, his hands still behind his back. “I take it you’ve reached a decision?”

Jennifer nodded. “I have.”

Omi presented the couch as he moved to his high-backed swivel chair and took a seat, steeping his fingers.

“I don’t want my sister or myself to stay,” she started. “I know that you took us from horrible living conditions and gave us your own roof to stay under, but I don’t want my sister to become one of these girls that you sell off every night. And after I have my child, I don’t want to be lured into this as well.”

Omi nodded slowly. “I know that this is not a luxurious line of work, Jennifer, and I know that you expect more from yourself and your sister.”

“I’m also worried about her because of her feelings for you…”

“I’m aware of that as well,” Omi said, raising a hand to stall her. “I’ve already told her as much, and I’ve told her to talk to Tina, Sylvia and the other girls. She has talked to them, even though I have a feeling she won’t listen.”

Jennifer nodded. “Then you understand my situation.”

Omi nodded. “Of course I do.” He leaned forward. “This is never easy for me, because I get attached to all the women that I…rehabilitate, so to speak.”

“I’m sorry,” Jennifer said.

Omi smiled sadly. “There’s no need to be sorry, Jennifer. You’re only looking out for yourself, your sister and your child.”

“My problem is, I just don’t know where to start.”

Omi took out a small booklet and scribbled quickly on one page. He tore the page out and handed it to her. “Here, Jennifer.”

Jennifer took the slip of paper and stared at it slack-jawed. “Omi…I can’t accept this.”

Omi shook his head. “This is more than enough to get you and your sister on your feet. I’ve given a fair amount to every young woman that chose to live her own life. I’ve given triple the amount because you have your sister and your child to worry about.”

“Omi…”

Omi shook his head again. “There are many apartments that are available right now. Ask Sylvia for some help. She’ll get in touch with some of her friends, girls that I took care of and chose to leave. They’ll be more than willing to assist you.”

“Is that it, then? No conditions?”

Omi smiled. “Jennifer, there have never been any conditions for my taking care of you, nor will I give any to let you leave. It’s your choice to go or stay, and I have no intention of swaying you one way or another.” He paused. “James may not find it prudent that you’ve been carrying his child while staying under the roof of a fetish club owner.”

“But this money…”

“It’s a gift,” Omi replied. “As I said, like I’ve given to the women that sought to walk their own path. Jennifer, you have your own path to walk, and I know you still wonder about him. You won’t be able to find him here, and even if you do, do you think you’ll be able to look him in the face and tell him that you live here?”

Jennifer opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find anything to say.

“You’ll admit I’m right,” he said. “You’d better talk to Sylvia soon. The longer you stay here, the more Erica will want to.”


=[ End of Chapter Four: Crossroads of Conflicting Views ]=

A/N: I haven't started Chapter Five yet, but I do plan on working on it soon. I just have to find the right angle from which to work. Anyway, on to personal kudos...

7years: About anonymous reviews...well, in my experience, all anonymous reviewers simply type, "That was great! I loved it!" and so on and so forth, and what I deem 'basic' reviews just filter in. I guess I prefer reviews from actual AFF.Net users because they're actual writers and they tell me what they like and what they feel I should improve on. I know that there are anonymous reviewers that write somewhat in-depth reviews, but for the most part, I prefer to see some substance in a review.

born_to_do_it: Hmm...if you find the "Omi Cronus" character insertion kinky and sexy, would that mean...Naaawwww, I'm reading too much into things XD. Anyway, where James is concerned, hopefully things will start to look up for him. Mitch just wants the guy to cheer up because all he thinks about is Jennifer, and as far as Mitch knows, she's history. And in regards to the big decision Jennifer has to make regarding her sister, it's not exactly pivotal, it's just another road that may either drive James and Jennifer further apart or closer together. I don't know exactly, either, but just read along to see what happens!

Anyway, see you all in the next chapter!