2.Sometimes after I finish my chores, I sneak away towards Amir’s study and grab one of the books from the shelves. I never have much time to read, really more five minutes, or, if I’m lucky, fifteen. Brief respites between being taken to lessons and cleaning out the kitchen.
The study was only for show. I don’t know if Amir knew how to read and if he did he would have limited it to financial reports or tabloids. It was a dark little room that held his laptop and a few records of finances, but the walls were covered with shelves of books. They were from the previous owner, the one who had trained Amir in his craft and left him with the family name and the trust of the house.
I hid underneath the desk and read brief bits and snatches of Jane Austen, Vladimir Nabokov, anything and everything.
That day I was tracing a route in the atlas, trying to put together Bobby’s tour route to see exactly how long it would take him to get here. I was supposed to be dusting, but the feather duster had long since been discarded.The door opened and I heard footsteps. “You should be able to have some privacy in here.” one of the maids said, walking over past me and parting the shades. I ducked and hid underneath the desk. I was glad that Amir had gotten a rather large one with his savings, otherwise I could find my meeting with Bobby in jeopardy. “I’ll bring up some tea. Amir will be back shortly.” She left, closing the door behind her.
I could feel my pulse pounding in my neck as feet shuffled and came towards my side of the desk.
“I think he’s here, he just doesn’t want to see us.” Marilyn said, draping himself all over the top of the desk.
Clutching the book to my chest, I tried to make myself as small as possible. Which didn’t really work, but I tried. “Well, you know how he’s got video cameras everywhere. I’d say he wants us to put on a show.” Marshall said, his voice placing him somewhere near the door.
“More likely he wants to make sure that those two he’s got working for him aren’t fucking each other.” They both laughed and I blushed. The idea of me and Paige doing ANYTHING especially after how he’d been treating me, was absurd.
“I think he likes you.” Marilyn whispered, sitting up a bit. The desk creaked. I wondered if it would collapse and I’d die trapped underneath it. Marshall took a few steps towards the table and then I wished that I could just shut off my sense of hearing, because I knew that I wasn’t supposed to listen to them doing this. The sounds dissolved from frantic kissing into low moans. Marilyn’s kimono landed on the floor, a crumpled up mass of black trees on a background of red. Slurping noises were all that I could hear, that and Marilyn’s hushed whimpers for more more MORE! Instinctively I huddled even further underneath the desk, hoping, wishing with all my heart that they’d stop and go away.
“Keep...going...AH!” he squealed, slamming his fists on the desk. I put my hands over my ears. The book dropped, making a barely audible thump.
Before I knew it, Marshall was staring at me. Unlike the other geisha, he didn’t dye his hair black, instead he bleached it, and kept it shaved close to his head. His face was always ALWAYS in a scowl, as if any other expression of emotion was taboo. And now he was glaring at me. But then he smiled. “Jay...isn’t it?” he purred. “Come on out. You’re making your debut tonight, aren’t you? We’ll help you get ready.”
I don’t know why I listened. Maybe it was because I was stupid and in shock that someone so much older and other than I was paying attention to me. Maybe it was because I wanted to make the best impression on Bobby that I could.
Marilyn had his under robe strategically placed over his crotch, but I could see the wet spots. Marshall wiped off a decidedly white looking glob of goo from his cheek. I stared at the floor. But that wasn’t what I was supposed to do, apparently, as Marshall lifted my head. “That won’t do tomorrow night. The customers don’t pay to see a shy little girl. They want a woman. One who knows what they want.” He took my hand and dragged it down towards his obi, which was concealing an erection. I looked away as he made me touch it.
Marilyn cackled like an old hag. “You’ve got one yourself, you shouldn’t be scared!” he shrieked. “Just open your mouth and go for it.” He smiled coyly. “You’ll be learning from a master.”
I think I whimpered at that point, but Marshall was already pushing me down onto the floor and untying his obi. I closed my eyes. I knew that this was what it was going to come down to, but I didn’t want it to be like this. Something touched my lips and then the door was thrown open.
“Jay! What are you doing?! Get the hell away from them!” Amir screamed, storming into the room, half his hair put up in a sloppy clip, he was dyeing it or something. I crawled away, trying to keep from crying. “Go back to your room. I’ll punish you later. I should have locked you in there anyway. Ungrateful slut.”
They left me alone. Paige was busy getting dressed in his little dressing room and all the maids were helping him. Whatever Amir was discussing with Marshall and Marilyn wasn’t anything that I needed to be privy to. I spent the time staring at my fingernails and wondering what I had done wrong, why I seemed to be perpetually in trouble.Paige flounced in, all dolled up, his hair in perfectly symmetrical spikes. “You were trying to suck off Marshall?!” he snarled. “You know that I like him!” His skin was so white already, the extra makeup just made him look dead. And his pursed red lips only spelled pain for me. He picked up a hairbrush and advanced on me with it.
“That’s not what happened! I was just in there trying to read something and they came in! He was giving a blow job to Marilyn!” I screamed, putting my hands over my head and hoping that he wouldn’t give me a black eye before tonight.
“You’re fucking lying!!!” One of the maids tried to hold him back but he kept on beating me.
“Stop it! You can do that after the party!” Amir yelled from the doorway and Paige froze. “But if you ruin this for our house, I’ll send you off to one of the houses where they make you sleep with each and every client.” he snapped. Then he turned to me. “Get dressed. We’ll deal with this after we get back.”
When I stepped out of the hired car, I looked nothing like the frightened man who had been hiding underneath the desk. My skin had been turned the color of paper, the only drop of color the red that just barely touched my lips. Hairspray and gel had been applied so liberally that I felt like I was wearing a helmet. And I had to walk like I was hobbled. Plus remember everything that I had learned, how to open a door, how to pour sake, how to enter and leave the room, how to tie cherry stems with my tongue...how to flirt without flirting. All the while remembering that as soon as I got home I would undoubtedly be punished.Paige dragged me along, muttering about how he couldn’t wait for us to get home so he could help Amir teach me a lesson. If I hadn’t been nervous before, this would had pushed me over the edge.
Marshall was waiting inside, all smiles standing by reception, waiting to guide us to the party. He gave me an extra wink, which Paige noticed. I thought that maybe I could appeal my case to Amir as he had video tape of the whole thing, but I knew that he had already made up his mind and no amount of evidence would change that fact. “Come along, they’re waiting for you.” he said solicitously, leading us down the narrow mahogany paneled hallway.
Paige knelt down by the door and knocked gently. A drunken voice told us to come in. Paige cracked the door a little and bowed, then slid in gently, but not before giving me a warning glare. I shuffled forward hesitantly, following his lead. And then I was in.