Jamie was a good kid. She graduated from high school, the first in her family. Her older sister hadn’t been seen for about a year, and her father; he was gone since before she could remember. Her mom persevered, working long hours so her children could have a future. Then, one day, she decided not too. Jamie could remember the day a social worker stopped by to tell her that her mom died of an overdose. Jamie flipped out, mostly from panic, and started yelling at the social worker. He got angry, told her she was white trash, and left. The next month Jamie enrolled at a public university. They paid almost all of her tuition; she was expected to pay the rest through work study programs. Jamie was ready to start life over and forget the past.

 

She got the forgetting part down all right. Overwhelmed after only the first two weeks, she discovered the joy of, well, forgetting. By going to parties. First a couple on the weekends, just to chill, yknow? Then she got a little more serious and discovered the curious phenomenon that Wednesday really far from the weekend to come, and at the same time a really far away from the previous weekend. The answer? Well, it was a good idea at the time. She began using any substance she could get her hands on. She would wake up in strange places, not sure where she was, or more importantly, where her clothes were.

 

Needless to say, her grades stank. The days that she actually showed up to class she had such a big hangover she couldn’t see straight. She got kicked out of the extremely demanding job of sitting in the library for two hours a week, mostly because she didn’t come. Not that anyone really noticed; it was really her own fault she lost the job by coming in an hour late and getting fired 5 minutes later when they discovered she hadn’t been there before, ever.

 

It wasn’t a happy time for Jamie. She was having sex with people she never even saw, doing things she couldn’t remember. Not that she wanted to remember it, but still. Something had to change. And it did.

 

At the end of the semester she sat down opposite some dean or other. The dean politely informed her that she would be a probationary student the next semester, and if she didn’t achieve at least a B-, the university would have the pleasure of kicking her out. This wasn’t news to Jamie, but it was the only time she heard it sober and not hung over. It was winter break and most of the other party goers had either been hospitalized indefinitely, or went home. Jamie was shocked to discover she didn’t actually know anyone on campus, the only people she knew were the ones at all the parties, which, it later dawned on her, was a haven for all the ex-student rejects.

 

When the next semester started, Jamie was determined to give it one last shot. She would actually try her hardest. Make something of her life. It didn’t help that when she looked in the mirror she looked almost exactly like her sister.

 

Although she would have gotten an A and maybe even a gold star for effort, she was struggling. She wasn’t used to working, to actually applying herself. But it was more than that. She didn’t know the basics that you were supposed to absorb from high school. And she had no one to help her.

 

It was actually her pre-calc professor that saved her. Frustrated with the class, she decided that today they would experiment with a new form of learning that didn’t involve the teacher. They would all pair up and answer each other’s questions while the teacher ‘observed’. Most people either knew everything and just spent the time socializing. The rest, well, there weren’t so many of those. Most of the girls had to somehow find a way to convert a nerds lecherous staring into a source of answers. The dumb studs didn’t even bother trying to figure it out.

 

Jamie had a different problem. The class had an odd number of students, and, since everyone naturally paired up with someone, she was left out. She had a problem talking to random people, and random people had a problem with her. She was ‘too’ hot. No guy would risk talking to her; they all figured she already had her boytoy. The more confident studs already had their blondes in tow, and Jamie was left somewhere in their wake. Luckily, the teacher had a brilliant solution. Why not let the TA discuss things with her? She didn’t much like him, and he looked like he noticed that she was trying her hardest not to teach. That should teach the kid.

 

Jamie was too embarrassed to ask any questions. The TA’s name was Gary, and she enjoyed discreetly staring at him during lecture. After the humiliation of answering “who doesn’t have a partner?”, she was just too startled when Gary sat down next to her and asked her if she had any problems. Hell yes she had problems. Only she just turned red, mumbled something, and shook her head.

 

Gary wasn’t convinced, and since the old hag was going to make him stay the hour anyway, he opened the book and decided to ask this skanky little kid some questions. She tried her best to do the problem, but to no one’s surprise, got it totally wrong and almost started crying. Gary was gentle; he pointed out what she had gotten wrong and discovered she didn’t have a clue. He started explaining some of the more basic concepts, and just as Jamie was starting to get it, everyone stampeded out of the room. He gave her a number and asked her to call him later, when she had more time. Just wanted to help the poor kid out, but when he handed her the number she almost had a heart attack.

 

Jamie practically ran out of the classroom. She couldn’t concentrate in her next class. Or the one after. It was really her loss; the professor discussed in painful detail exactly what was on the next exam, but her mind was elsewhere. Deep down she knew how lucky she was that he even cared.

 

Later that evening Jamie and Gary got together and had a very mature, exciting conversation on pre-calc; or more exactly, a discussion of everything you should have known before you took pre-calc. After the first hour Jamie was comfortable enough to ask him direct questions, and for the first time actually felt like she learned something. And on top of all that, no other skinny little blonde showed up and held hands with Gary while he apologized profusely about how he had to go, He was there for her, as long as she wanted.

 

They departed at a conservative 8 pm with an agreement to meet up again the next day. As it turned out, Gary was quite good at all the subjects she was taking, and since she was the polar opposite, he offered to help.

 

They began to see each other every day. To study. Jamie needed that much help from a guy like Gary, and he evidently didn’t have much to do with his time. With his help, Jamie actually got a B+ on her exams. It was her first B in a very, very long time. And in the mid-semester probationary meeting, the dean unhappily informed her that, because of her grades, she would be reinstated as a ‘full’ student. It was the first in a long time, she told Jamie. “Keep up the good work, and if I see you here again you get the boot.”

 

It was the best time of Jamie’s short life. She had no idea academic achievement could be so exciting, although to be fair her relationship with Gary quickly became less and less academic. Gary was her guardian angel sent from heaven to help her when she needed him most, as the saying goes. Like any true alcoholic, she became dependant on him far sooner than expected.

 

The semester ended, but not before her roommate was arrested. Jamie was in good academic standing, with higher grades than she ever dreamed possible. And a guy she loved more than anything in the world. She was high on life.

 

Since that was the spring semester, Gary decided they should go on a trip during the summer. He saved up enough money from his various TA jobs to afford a low budget romp of wherever they could afford to go, and, they went. Jamie had never traveled far outside the town she grew up in, and even the state school was in a moderately secluded area. She was overawed by everything she saw, which, most of the time, was Gary. They would be sitting in a train booth carefully selected because of wide and credible rumors that it was constantly overlooked by the little french guys in the hats that made you pay, and Gary would be staring out the window as the Alps rolled by. Jamie would be staring at Gary and smiling. Such was their trip in a nutshell. Nutshells crack very easily.

 

One morning, Jamie woke up in a motel. That’s not the point; the difference was that Gary was not there. Where could he be? Had some evil foreigner who spoke in a weird language all the preppy kids learned in high school abducted him? Maybe those preppy kids abducted him! Jamie quickly got up and peeked out the window. No preppy kids there. She was afraid to go out in case he came back and found her missing. She just sat on the bed, watching the door, willing it to open with Gary behind it.

 

He came back in 10 minutes laden with food, but to Jamie it seemed like 10 hours. She got up and hugged him as soon as he came in, holding him tightly as if it to make sure he never left again. She never said a word, but she knew Gary understood. Things went back to normal that day, and Gary spent the day sight seeing; Jamie spent the day watching Gary sight see.

 

The next day, Gary and Jamie strolled out of the motel they had been in for a week or so. It was an unusually long time for them to stay in one place, but Jamie didn’t complain. And they didn’t stroll this time; it was more of a purposeful stride. Gary didn’t look at her as they walked, but Jamie could feel his hand holding her tightly. At least all was well in one department she figured.

 

They were walking away from the usual tourist haunts, but that in itself wasn’t too surprising. Gary didn’t like the cliched places you see tourists standing around open mouthed. They were walking into the slums. Jamie knew instantly; after all, it was where she grew up Why, she wondered?

 

They came up to a shabby looking building and Gary knocked on the door. No one answered, so he pushed the handle and let himself in. It was dark and a little smelly. The place looked strange with sunlight streaming in through the open door. This was more the place you would expect to be dark and filled with smoke. It was a seedy bar.

 

There was someone lying on the floor towards the other end of the bar. Gary silently walked around the bar and into a narrow hallway, leading Jamie by the wrist. Jamie was scared, mostly because they were in a place that reminded her strongly of her sister, but also because Gary was acting weird. He didn’t usually hold her by the wrist that way, and his hand wasn’t usually cold.

 

Gary opened at the end of the corridor and looked in with Jamie peeking in from behind him. He was still holding her by the wrist. There were two people sitting at a table, one of them staring back at Gary. No one spoke.

 

Gary then stepped to the side and shoved Jamie into the room, resuming his position at the front of the door. She turned around, shocked, and looked at Gary. He was staring at the Short Guy, who was standing up now.

 

Short Guy stepped forward, dangerously close to Jamie, so she stepped back. He was standing directly in front of Gary now. No one said anything yet. The other guy still sitting at the table, the Drunk Guy, started laughing suddenly and poured himself another drink.

 

“Deals a deal kid, now get the hell out of here,” the Short Guy said to Gary and handed him a roll of money. Gary’s face was unreadable as he took the money and counted it, right there. The Short Guy shifted himself slightly. Jamie was still standing off to the side, as far away as possible from the Drunk Guy.

 

Gary finished counting the money, pocketed it, and folded his hands. “I can wait, buddy, got all the time in the world,” he told the Short Guy.

 

The Short Guy fidgeted and dug some more money out of his pocket, handing it to Gary.

 

Gary put it into his pocket without even looking, and resumed standing around.

 

“I gave you all you asked for,” the Short Guy said. No answer from Gary.

 

“You didn’t even friggin count it, asshole,” he said. Still no answer. Short Guy thought for a second, then punched Gary in the stomach, slamming the door after him. Jamie screamed. She could hear Gary hitting the wall and swearing.

 

He opened the door again and discovered he was staring right into Short Guy’s hand gun.

 

“I’m giving you one last chance, kid. Take it or leave it,” he said. Jamie gave one look at the gun and lunged at Short Guy. She didn’t get far because meanwhile, Drunk Guy had stealthily gotten up behind her and grabbed her around the waist with both hands. She screamed again, flailing, and Drunk Guy staggered back, crashing into the wall behind them. By the time she untangled herself from the floor the door was shut and Short Guy was putting his piece back in his pocket.

 

“W-Where’s Gary?” asked Jamie. She was breathing hard, giving a look back to see if Drunk Guy had gotten up yet. He was still trying to stand up.

 

Short Guy turned to face her, stuck out a hand, and said “my name’s Bill.”

 

Jamie shrunk back from his hand, breathing fast, until Bill elbowed her in the chest. At which point she sank to the floor unconscious and her breathing normalized.

 

The fog lifted slowly as Jamie woke up. Where am I? How long was I out? She had a throbbing pain in her chest, and she was hearing voices. Still not moving, she listened to what they were saying.

 

"And then, WHAM! I hit him in the stomach, and... Hang on, help me with this,"

 

"Yeah did you see me tackle her? That was slick man, totally." Jamie felt a tugging on her wrists.

 

"We need to get out of here before the kid comes back." Someone grunted and she felt the tugging on her wrist again. She opened her eyes and shifted herself.

 

"...we'll take the jeep and -" abruptly the talking stopped. Jamie lifted her head and blinked, adjusting to the light.

 

"S-she's awake!" The voice brought it all back. Gary! What happened between them? She sat up and discovered her hands were tied together at the wrist with a neat little bow tie. Jamie stood up slowly, feeling dizzy and more than a little nauseated.

 

"Stop! I command you to stop!" She turned toward the short guy yelling at her. He looked familiar, but he yelled so loud it hurt...

 

"Who are you?" she asked.

 

"Call me Master-"

 

"Bill?"

 

"What?" He seemed more than a little put out, and blushed for a second.

 

"Look, just sit down like a good kid, ok?" The other guy, the drunk one, was sitting against the wall, his face red. He looked like he was in the middle of a nasty hangover.

 

"Where did Gary go?" she asked. She knew he had left, but she wouldn't accept it.

 

"That's his name? He left, honey, now sit down..."

 

"Why?" Jamie could feel her eyes filling with tears. "Why did he leave?"

 

"Ummm... He left because... why would he stay?" Bill asked.

 

"He wouldn't leave me here..." She was starting to cry for real now, tear pouring down her cheeks. It made Bill uncomfortable. He walked towards her and put an arm around her shoulder.

 

"Easy now, easy..." They slowly sank down the wall until they were sitting against it, Jamie crying into Bill's shoulder.

 

The drunk guy sitting against the wall muttered "god..." and stood up.

 

"His name is Warren," Bill informed her in an effort to change the subject. She looked up at him for a second, just in time to see him grab her by the hands and shove her into the far wall. He took Bill by the hand and led him out of the room, slamming the door behind him. She could hear them talking outside the door.

 

"What the fuck are you doing?" A slurred and angry voice. Had to be Warren.

 

"I - "

 

“We bought her to sell her, dumbass, not to cry about her hubby.”

 

“Yes, but-“

 

"We're going to fucking sell her-"

 

"I know, but she-"

 

“Shutup, she’s listening.” Their voices lowered to a whisper. She could still hear everything. “When you go back, you need to act all confident and shit, like in that movie… damn I forget… it started with a V…”

 

“V for Vendetta?”

 

“What? Who would watch that-“

 

“Nevermind.”

 

“Ok. Anyway, why do you think she woke up so fast? It was barely 5 minutes…” The voices lowered even further and she could no longer make out anything they said.

 

But that didn’t change her predicament. Gary left me, she told herself. These two nutjobs wouldn’t hurt her, but… why? Why would he leave her? And in this bizarre way, too? She had given him… everything. She couldn’t imagine life without him. Actually, she could, but involved passing out a lot, and big blank spaces in her memory. She heard some poorly stifled laughter and the door opened again.

 

Bill and Warren came in, their faces almost comically straight and hostile. They looked like they were about to crack up at any second.

 

“What did you do to Gary?” Jamie blurted out. She didn’t even realize what she said until she heard herself. Of course, these two had blackmailed Gary into leaving, and he was now on his way back with the cops, or whatever they had in this country. The thought made her feel better, and more confident.

 

Neither said a word. They solemnly walked up to her and Bill slapped her in the face. She turned around and punched him as hard as she could. Both stared at each other, furious and unhurt. Warren was turning purple.

 

Suddenly unleashing all the stored alcohol in him, Warren shoved Bill aside and almost picked Jamie up by the hair. She screamed in real pain this time and tried to fend off his hand, gasping in pain. Not satisfied yet, Warren put his hand over her face and pushed her back into the wall, still holding on to her hair. She could barely breathe behind his hand. He was saying something to Bill but she couldn’t hear it. Things were becoming black around the edges and her face was turning blue. Her eyes darted all over the place but she couldn’t see.

 

“…and remember to pay whoever owns this place. I’m going ahead with Jamie,” Warren said to Bill.

 

Jamie must have blacked out for a second, because things were slowly focusing and she could breathe. She was sitting against the wall, rubbing her head where Warren had almost ripped her hair out.

 

Bill nodded and left the room. She looked back at Warren and was amazed. He was still pretty red in the face, but he was sobering up before her very eyes. It is a truly once in a lifetime event – watching someone sober up dramatically in a short amount of time. But she wasn’t in the right mindset to appreciate it.

 

Warren was certainly feeling better. It had a little to do with his rigid Army Discipline. But much more to do with the bottle of viagra he was planning to sell together with Jamie. The two items should naturally be sold together, he reasoned. Like two beer kegs. You don’t buy one without the other. And in any case, who’s counting pills? Might as well check to see if they’re… potent.

 

And they certainly were potent. He was feeling horny, and extremely aggressive. He always felt aggressive, but today even more so. Looking at Jamie’s skinny body on the floor made his dick hard, her hair was so… blonde, her body so small and fragile… but No. He had the Discipline of an Army. And in any case, it wouldn’t be fair if Bill fucked her first. Bill was a moron. He would never know. Not that it was wrong, but still. Bill will Never Know.

 

Warren smiled crookedly, looking down at Jamie. She was looking at him. She wants me… look at the way she’s staring at me he thought. He was so sexy, he told himself. He was actually doing her a favor by fucking her. Ohhh… he caught himself in time. No premature ejaculation for him. Army Discipline.

 

Bending down, he picked her up and dragged her across to the table. See the way she yells? She wants me as bad as I want her. He pushed her onto her back, her legs hanging off the table. She came right back up like one of those pop up toys or something. He read about them in books. He just pushed her right down again and began fumbling with her pants.

 

Jamie was crying now, screaming as loud as she could. For anyone.

 

Warren unzipped her pants and pulled down her tight jeans. Pushing aside her panties, he admired her smooth little cunt for a second. That’s right, he told himself. Her Cunt. He felt 9 feet tall. Until he discovered that the table was actually at most 4 feet high, which would make that a physical impossibility. Oh and speaking of physical impossibilities, you can’t fuck someone with your pants on.

 

He blushed for a second, but corrected his mistake quickly. His dick was hard already, and he admired it too for a second, staring at his Manliness… that’s gay. He pushed the thought from his mind and was just about to fuck Jamie when Bill burst into the room.

 

“..hnnh… What’s …hnnh… wrong…” He was puffing loudly, holding his chest. He stopped talking, his mouth open. Warren stared back at him, spewing his semen on Jamie’s pubic area. She was sobbing, the fight out of her. She just wanted him to get it over with now, not realizing that it was.

 

“Umm… Hi,” Warren said, waving exaggeratedly. “I was… uh…”

 

“I know what you were doing,” Bill said angrily.

 

“No, no, it looks like that but really –”

 

“You’re cheating on me,” Bill said and started crying. There was a deafening silence. Jamie stopped crying and realized she wasn’t going to get raped after all.

 

Warren turned around now, his dick still hanging out of his pants.

 

“You’re… gay?” he asked. Bill was sobbing now,

 

Warren looked at Bill’s eyes and followed them to his dick. He hastily stuffed it back into his pants. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his glock.

 

“What –” Bill managed, before Warren started emptying his gun into Bill’s body. He didn’t stop until there was a bloody mess on the floor, and he ran out of bullets.

 

Jamie slid off the table and stared at what used to be Bill’s body. She bent down and puked on the floor.