Hard Candy - Andrew Vachss [41]
"Her old man's name was Dice. A sweet mac—he never made his girls turn hard tricks or anything. Let them go shopping whenever they wanted. You were waiting for them when they came back to the hotel room. You must've had a passkey or something. You pointed a big gun right in Dice's face. Told him you were taking the girl. There was another guy with you. Big guy—he didn't say anything. Dice tried to talk to you and you started whaling on him with the gun. Danielle said she could hear the bones break in his face. She'll never forget it. You took all her old man's money and jewelry. Then you put her in a car and drove her to Long Island."
I shrugged again.
"Why'd you do that?"
"You think it's right to fuck fourteen–year–old girls?"
"Her father did. The man who paid you the money to bring her back. He loved to do it. In the basement. Danielle told me he had a special room for it. She only has one nipple—he burned the other one off. To teach her not to run away again."
I didn't say anything. Shuffling the memory cards. Going right past Dice and the sleazy hotel room. Looking for that address on Long Island. The world was still black&white, but a piece was out of place.
"And Train saved her?" I asked.
"Train saved us all. Men like Danielle's father. Powerful men. They're always after him. It's not that they don't understand. They know. And they hate him. Our family too. They hate us all. And they use men like you to do their dirty work for them."
"How'd he save you?"
"You think you're smart, don't you? You think you know everything. You don't know everything. We're saving for a place. Our place. Not in this miserable country. Where we can be free. We're in a war. You make sacrifices in a war. Not everyone will be able to go, but that's all right."
"And you all live in that house in Brooklyn? Raising money for your new country? You sell flowers on the street? Phony magazine subscriptions? Blowjobs in parked cars? What?"
"Whatever we do, that's okay. It would never be as bad as what people did to us."
"Sure."
"Sure. You don't know. You're a mercenary. That's what Train calls you. You only serve yourself—you have no honor. Your god is cash."
"That house must be pretty crowded, what with Train saving the world and all."
"We don't all live in the house. Some of the older ones, the best ones…if they show the commitment, prove themselves…they work other places. For our family. Outriders. The special people. I'll be one someday."
"Danielle's an outrider?"
"No. She lives with us. Outriders are special. I only met one. She went to prison for seven years for the family. And she never said a word. That was her commitment. That proved her true."
"So how come this family let you go?"
"It was a test. I know it was a test. We have to act for ourselves. Train isn't running a mission or a runaway shelter. It's only for those who are worthy. I had to find my own way back."
"Which is why you're running this game on me?"
"It's not a game. I thought if you knew what we really did, you wouldn't bring me back again."
"I don't know any Danielle."
"You know me. Maybe you're a good man inside. You wouldn't fuck me when I asked you. Maybe you really thought Danielle's father was sincere."
"I don't think anybody's sincere."
"Yes you do. My mother thinks she knows you. Maybe I know you better. And you don't know her."
"But you…you know a lot."
"Don't mock me. You know why my mother wanted me back?"
"To fuck you in the basement?"
"Bastard! You know what my mother is?"
"Your mother's a whore. She was a whore before you were born."
"No. Danielle was a whore. My mother…I was on the street when Train found me. I was turning tricks in cars. Like you said. Cars just like this one. My mother didn't care. I was too old then. Fourteen. Too old. When I was a little girl, my mother trained me. I thought ice cream was the stuff that shoots out of men's pricks when they come. My mother would hold my face between her legs while one of her customers fucked me behind. I used to scream right into her cunt. And the pictures.