I woke up with my nose buried deep in a clump of grass by the side of the trash bins. My hands were tied at the elbows by some scratchy twine, as were my legs. As I slowly became conscious, I marveled that I was still alive, remembering vaguely how I had walked home from the bar that night, and had gotten invited into a loud party in one of the neighboring brownstones. That’s all I remember of my nighttime escapades.

I stretched out my sore limbs and yawned, only now tasting the foul stench that lingered across my teeth. This wasn’t the first time I had ended up like this, and knowing me, it wouldn’t be the last. I was never any good at life, I knew that, but somehow I always managed to keep moving forward. Letting out a groan, I attempted to roll onto my back. I had to squint, as the morning sunlight invaded my eyelids and made me more conscious than I ever wanted to be.

Nearby, a looming shadow with a cellphone alerted me that I had company. I couldn’t quite make out the conversation, but the shadow seemed to be coming closer.

“Mom says I can bring you home,” was all the shadow said.

“Tell her thank you,” I mumbled, half with sarcasm, half with doubt.

The shadow bent down, and with big brawny arms, a thirtyish, muscular man with a slightly rounded belly carefully lifted me off the ground. Stepping with a labored gait, he carried me over to a nearby car. The door opened and I was dumped haphazardly in the back seat.

“Oomphhh!” I uttered as I hit the hot vinyl, but no one seemed to notice.

The man closed the car door and got into the front passenger seat and we were off. After about fifteen minutes, the car pulled to a jolting stop, almost tossing me onto the floor. The back door was opened, and the same man carried me up along a walkway and through a set of double open doors. Must be Mom’s place, I thought with a snicker.

As my eyes became adjusted to the dimly lit hallway, I heard a female voice suggest that I get cleaned up. Yeah, like that was possible. I mean, I was still tied up and couldn’t do much about it, could I?

I was carried to a bathroom where my mud-encrusted clothing was cut from my body with a cold steel scissors. By this point, with my head aching, I really didn’t care what happened next. The brawny man apologized for taking off my clothing, and true to form, I told him not to worry – didn’t bother me in the slightest. Never let fear show, was how I went through life, and this time wasn’t going to be any different.

“My name is Bradley, by the way. And you are?”

“Oh,” I replied, realizing he was addressing me, “Tisha.”

“Is that short for something, Tisha?” he asked.

“Well, I was born Christine, but no one ever calls me that.”

“How about I call you Christy, since you’re making a new beginning.”

I didn’t quite know what he meant by that, but I was ready to play along. I had nothing better to do, anyhow. I noticed he didn’t bother to untie me, but dropped me bound and naked into a cold porcelain bathtub. He ran some water from the tap and began to fill the empty space around me with the soothing liquid. I was actually beginning to feel almost good for the first time in two days.

“Mom says I have to clean you up.”

“Do you always do what ‘Mom’ tells you to?” I asked Bradley, with a tone in my voice.

“Everyone does what Mom tells them around here.”

That was the last thing he said to me as he reached for a nearby sponge and started soaping up my body.

“Hey, watch it,” I snapped at him as he lingered a bit too long across my breasts with the sponge.

“You’re in no position to complain, and you are going to be clean by the time I get through with you.”

I closed my eyes and decided to just ignore him. as he commenced with the cleaning process. If I was going to be sponged, I was going to be sponged. Might as well enjoy it.

He continued his thorough job of soaping all around, and was even polite enough to announce his intentions before he reached down to scrub between my legs. He didn’t try anything funny and, in a way, I guess I had expected him to. No, I guess I had wanted him to, but he didn’t. Oh well, his loss.

He lifted me out when he had finished getting me nice and clean, and wrapped me in an oversized purple towel.

“Um, couldn’t talk you into cutting off these bindings, could I?”

“Didn’t think so,” I said, when no reply was made.

I was carried into a large room with a high ceiling and unloaded into an overstuffed chair. A few minutes later, a large woman, about six feet tall, came sauntering around me. She was about late fifties, with dark red hair and a stern expression.

“You will refer to me as ‘Mom’, as everyone here does,” she warned, with an edge in her voice. “You clean up nicely.”

“Thanks, I think,” was all I could muster.

“Brad has an eye for potential.”

“Potential? Are you talking about me?”

“Yes, young lady. I didn’t bring you here, for you not to improve yourself.”

I didn’t respond to that last comment having no idea what she had in mind for me.

“These are the ground rules:

You will do what you are told, with no complaint.

You will never sass your betters -- that means all of us.

You will earn anything you receive by doing work here.

If you cooperate, you will be treated well, and treated fairly.

If you make any attempt to leave, you will receive harsh treatment.

Do you understand?”

I nodded quietly, being at a total loss for words for the first time in my life. Like, who was she to care what happened to me? My curiosity was certainly piqued, and this new life, as ‘Christy,’ couldn’t be any worse than the miserable existence I had led up until now.

Mom came over and cut the cords that held me, allowing me to move my limbs for the first time in a while. As I rubbed the cord marks, I thanked her, and readjusted the purple towel that wrapped my existence.

“Serge will bring you a set of clothing, momentarily. He will leave it on the desk and you will be expected to dress and come to the dining room to help serve the dinner meal.”

With that she left me alone. A few minutes later, a short elderly man with slicked- back hair brought in the clothes I was to wear to dinner. He left, and I began to slip on the outfit. There was a short red pleated skirt with a wide elastic waistband, and I put it on first. I looked through the pile, and saw no underwear, so I reached for the light blue cotton blouse, slipped my arms through the sleeves, and buttoned the front. It fit rather well, and I was pleased with the clothing they had chosen. I opened the door and let myself find the dining room by the sound of the voices I heard downstairs.

As I entered the room, I saw six people already seated at the table, Bradley included.

“Come, come.” said a man by the kitchen door as he beckoned to me.

He handed me a tray filled with small bowls of salad, which I took and began to place down in front of each person at the table. As I made my way over to where Bradley was seated, I felt his hand reach quietly between my legs and work its way upward. I glared at him, and opened my mouth. I was about to say something, when the man by the kitchen door admonished me, saying there was to be no speaking while dinner was being served. I just looked at Brad again, as he withdrew his hand and smiled up at me with a quirky grin. I finished serving the salad and went back into the kitchen. Mom came over to me and said I might sit at the smaller table in the kitchen, and have some salad as well, until the next course was to be served. Then she left to join the main group in the dining room.

I sat by myself, picking at my salad, and wondering about this new life and what it had in store. Here was a chance for me to start fresh, a new beginning. And I still felt a tingle from Brad’s hand. This definitely had some exciting possibilities!

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