Skin (6 page)

“Midnight it is. Shall I meet you out front?”

“The stage door on the alley would be better.”

“Then it’s a date.”

A date.
That was a laugh. He figured he could fuck her was all. Maybe she’d let him. If he spent enough money on her, she might even let him do anything he wanted.

And then maybe she would rub it in Lilith’s face.

She rushed back into the dressing room and stripped off her costume, then pulled on her clothes and began removing makeup.

Caresse came in and stared. “What’s your hurry, honey? Got a hot date?”

“Give the lady her prize.”

“With one of them jerks?”

“They’re not all jerks,” Hannah protested, thinking Caresse sounded as disapproving as Lilith. “This one isn’t, anyhow.”

“Then what is he?” Caresse threw herself before the mirror and started removing her own makeup.

“Call him a student of human nature.”

“Well, don’t let him study you too hard. It could be dangerous.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Like Rosie Harriman could?
And that working girl who was murdered a few weeks back?”

Shaking off the creepy feeling, Hannah muttered, “A coincidence is all.”

“Don’t you believe
it.
We gotta take care of ourselves, child, ‘
cause
no one else is gonna. So you be careful out there, hear?”

Already waltzing out the doorway, Hannah rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, Dr. Caresse.”

“I’m tellin’ you!” the other dancer called after her.

There was nothing to worry about, Hannah thought as she flew out the stage door. She could take care of herself. Michael Wyndham was leaning against a light post on the other side of the alley, his gaze focused on her as she left the club.

“My car or yours?” she asked, cutting across the alley toward him.

“Let me lead you into temptation.” He held out his arm.

From the corner of her eye, Hannah thought she caught a movement in the shadows, but when she turned and stared, nothing was amiss.

Her imagination.

She took Michael’s arm and let him lead her off.

oOo

SHAKING WITH FURY, Paul Ensdorf stepped out of the shadows and watched the vehicle speed away.

How dare Anna cheat on him?

He’d arrived at the club at the last minute, hoping to catch Anna, to tell her the good news that they could have the house to themselves tonight. A friend of Grandmother’s had taken a turn for the worse, and she was holding a vigil at the nursing home. It wasn’t often that he had unimpeded run of the house.

He’d envisioned himself and Anna naked, playing sex games in every room of the house... maybe even taking their play downstairs where he would do her in a top-of-the-line coffin. This time he would finish it. This time he would be hard enough, long enough to enter her and satisfy her.

He was hard now.

Mewling with disappointment, he unzipped his trousers. How he ached for her. He began stroking himself. Imagining Anna sprawled on his bed, handcuffed,
begging
him to take her.

“Hey, sweetheart, need some help with that?” asked a husky voice from behind him.

“How much?”

He never even looked at her, didn’t want to see what the whore looked like. In his mind, he envisioned long dark hair, dark eyes and an angelic face.

“Well, you’re already started,” the husky voice said. “Cab fare would do. Make it a twenty and you’ve got a deal.”

He gave her the money, and they moved closer to the brick building on the other side of the alley. She knelt before him and took him in her mouth.

“Aah! Hot and wet, you’re so hot and wet for me, Anna.”

She gave good head, sucking and pulling at him, raking him with her teeth, stroking him with the tips of her nails. Eyes closed, he tangled his fingers in her hair and imagined she was Anna. He could see her eyes widen as he pushed her into the wall and shoved himself in as deep as he could. In his mind, Anna’s face gradually transformed, becoming Melinda’s. His sister appeared dazed and grateful that she finally saw him for
who
he was. Unable to hold on any longer, he let go.

Whimpering, he opened his eyes, saw the woman still attached to him and shoved her off. Wiping her mouth, she cowered against the wall as if she were afraid.

A fact that made him smile in satisfaction as he walked away.

oOo

LILITH HAD INHERITED her green thumb and affinity to nature from Mama. Her favorite haunts weren’t shopping malls or dance clubs but conservatories and zoos. Luckily Elena shared her interest, so she set out for the Botanic Gardens with her on Sunday afternoon.
Her way of distracting herself.
Otherwise she would sit at home, waiting for Hannah to call and be disappointed yet again. She couldn’t force Hannah to take her back into her life.

They spent the morning having breakfast overlooking a waterfowl pond, followed by walks through the rose garden and across the Japanese islands.
A good, if temporary, distraction for the thing really bothering her.

On the train ride home, Lilith decided to tell Elena about finding her sister.

“You know that ad for Club Paradise? The reason the woman in the ad looked like me... that was my sister. I finally found her.”

Elena gaped at her. “You’re sure it was Hannah?”

“I went to the club myself, Elena. Unfortunately, Hannah wasn’t exactly glad to see me. She thinks I don’t love her. She’s changed so much.
Hardened.
I can only imagine what she suffered through all these years. I might have recognized her, but she isn’t the same person I remember. Her innocence is long gone.”

“Hey, Lilith, we were all innocent once.”

Lilith’s heart grew heavy as she thought about it. “Now the question is
,
how do I rebuild my relationship with her?”

“That’s a tough one. Take it slow, I guess. Let her know you’re open to her being in your life and see her reaction.”

“So far, her reaction isn’t good. She blames me, Elena, because I abandoned her.”

“You didn’t abandon her. You went to school so you could get a decent job.”

“Try convincing her of that.”

If only she could understand Hannah’s satisfaction with her life, Lilith thought. Why would any woman want to take a job where she was just a thing to a man? Maybe because she’d never learned to respect
herself
. How could she, living with a stepfather whose sole purpose in life
had
been terrorizing women.

She let the subject drop. The rest of the ride played out in an uneasy silence.

When the conductor announced Elena’s stop, her friend said, “That’s me.
Stay strong, honey.
It’ll all work out. You’ll see.”

“From your lips.”

Lilith hugged Elena good-bye and prepared herself. Her stop came next.

Walking several blocks from the train station to her building, she decided she’d be best off giving Hannah breathing room, at least for a while, before trying to fix things between them. No matter what she thought of Hannah’s job, she wanted her sister close. Now if only that job weren’t so dangerous. To her dismay, she couldn’t save Hannah from herself.

As if thinking about Hannah had conjured her, Lilith spotted a Jaguar parked in front of her building. Her heart raced. She hadn’t thought she would see her sister so soon.

Hannah got out of the car and used a beeper to set its alarm. Dressed in hot pink capris and an embroidered top, her hair intricately French-braided, her feet encased in fancy heeled sandals, Hannah could be the girl next door.

Lilith wanted to rush over and envelop her little sister in a hug, but that hadn’t gone over too well last time, so she held back and, her insides a-tumble, walked the few yards to the car.

“This is some surprise.”

Her expression neutral, Hannah leaned back against the Jaguar and lit a cigarette. “Guess you didn’t expect to see me.”

“I’m really happy to see you, Hannah. I just don’t remember giving you my address.”

“You gave me your telephone number.” Hannah took a long drag, released the smoke over Lilith’s head,
then
said, “Reverse directory.”

“How resourceful.”

“You learn resourceful on the streets.”

On the streets.
Lilith swallowed hard. Life must have been hell for a scared thirteen-year-old without a home.

Hannah asked, “So, who’s the kid?
This Carmen.
What’s her story? What are you doing with her? ”

Lilith noticed Hannah was playing with the cigarette, as if she were nervous.

“I’ve been trying to help Carmen stay in school, to help her see that there’s a world of possibilities out there, if only she wants something different from what she’s used to.”

Just as Hannah could, if only she would open her eyes.

“Doesn’t she have her own family?”

“She has a big family. Carmen is the oldest of nine kids.”

“Well, at least she’s got company.
And on the plus side, she’s first to get new clothes, right?”
Hannah joked. “No hand-me-downs.”

“They barely have the money for thrift shop purchases. Thank God for food
stamps,
or those kids wouldn’t eat.”

Lilith couldn’t miss Hannah’s stricken expression. She wondered how many times her sister had gone hungry. Or what she’d had to do for food. And unless she was crazy, Hannah was jealous of Carmen.
Or of her relationship with the girl.

Quickly covering whatever she was feeling, Hannah dashed the cigarette to the sidewalk and ground it out under her heel. “So what’s her deal?”

“Carmen is smart and has decided she wants to finish high school and go to college. But her father just told her that since she’s seventeen, legally she can quit high school and go to work and buy shoes for her sisters and brothers instead.”

“He made all those babies, not her, the pig! So is she going to do it? Quit?”

“I hope not.”

Not that Lilith knew if she did have influence beyond Carmen herself. But she would try to talk to Carmen’s parents and ask them to think about their daughter’s future.
About the futures of all the children.

“So you’re really into this Carmen, huh? Sounds like a lost cause to me. People do what’s easiest.”

The words shot through Lilith like an arrow. Did Hannah believe that of her?
Surely not.

Lilith wanted to ask Hannah if stripping had really been that easy. The thought of getting on stage and taking off her clothes for a roomful of men tied her own stomach in a knot. Who knew what Hannah’s options had been at the time she took the job?

Now she had other options, Lilith reminded herself, wondering how to broach the subject. Hannah had money. She could set herself up otherwise. Perhaps she would have to live a more modest lifestyle, but at least she didn’t have to continue to play victim to men she didn’t even know.

“The kid’s got to learn to toughen up,” Hannah said. “Crying won’t get her
nowhere
.”

Crying?
She hadn’t mentioned anything about Carmen crying. Had Hannah seen them, then? Had she been at the zoo?

Lilith didn’t dare ask. But her pulse rushed faster as she realized the import of that
discovery, that
Hannah was jealous enough to spy on her.

Which gave her a ray of hope.

She gazed at the heart-half Hannah still wore, and her fingers crept up to touch its match. They were sisters.
A bond that couldn’t be broken.

Lilith smiled at the thought and said, “Why don’t you come in.”

“That’s why I’m here.”

oOo

ACTUALLY, HANNAH didn’t know why she’d come. Curiosity, she supposed. She wanted to see this wonderful life Lilith had made for herself firsthand.

The neighborhood wasn’t bad.
Looked safe enough.
No gang bangers on the street or graffiti on the walls. But Lilith had approached the building on foot. And now they were walking up enough stairs that she’d be winded if dancing hadn’t put her in such good shape.

“So where do you park around here?
Garage in back?”

“I don’t have a car.”

“No car?” Chalk one up for herself, Hannah thought.

“Can’t afford one or the insurance.”

“You got a college degree.”

“The scholarships only paid for so much. I worked, too, but I had to take loans, which I’m still repaying. Besides which...” Lilith hesitated, her expression intent, as if she were going to divulge more about her finances. Instead, she shook her head. “Now I’m saving to go to law school.”

“You want to be a lawyer? They’re the scum of the earth. Did you hear the one about the lawyer who–”

”I’ve heard the jokes.”

“Who’s joking?” A shudder passed through Hannah, who’d never met a lawyer who’d been nice to her.

“The woman I work for is a guardian ad litem and works pro bono. Lots of her clients are kids who need protection, and she protects them for free. I don’t think that’s anything to joke about.”

Yeah, the story she’d read had been about the lawyer. And Lilith had gotten a mention and had been in the photo. That’s how Hannah had known she was in Chicago.

Not wanting to debate, Hannah remained silent and took in the nicely furnished if small apartment loaded with plants. While Lilith checked her mail, Hannah got the feel of the place, peeked into the single bedroom where a cat flew off the bed and under it, then strolled to the front windows with their view of the tree-lined street. Nice, but nothing
like
her view of the river, of course. Chalk two more up in
her own
favor.

“Valkyrie,” Lilith called. “C’mon and eat, kitty.”

But the cat didn’t reemerge.

“She’s under the bed. I guess I scared her.”

“Well, you’re a stranger.
For the present.”