All Night

Cooperation

Toni

He told me that it would take a while until she would get used to it and that she would need my help. He said I should be as nice as I can to her because she's important and that I shouldn't leave her alone. He said that because he knows that being nice takes me a lot of strength but I’m asking myself why she is so important and why we are doing all of this. 

I've never seen a girl crying like her. I've seen many girls cry but not like this. She's such a crybaby but she manages to do it silently and I can see pain in her eyes. Not the type of pain we are giving her. There’s something else in her eyes and the way she looks at me. She’s trying to tell me something.

Every girl that we got, was either already fed up with her life or already ready to do this. They weren’t like her and they were older. She isn't and that will make things really difficult for me but I know that my boss made it clear that she has to do this. For some reason she has to be here. That’s all I know and all I need to know.

“You did a great job. I'm proud of you, son.“ he said earlier. He's not my biological father but for me, he is the only father that I could ever have. My dad left me when I was ten years old and my mom is a stupid alcoholic who acts like everything is fine. My dad didn’t only leave me, he also left her. He didn’t want any of us. She thinks she can make everything alright by acting like nothing happened but she can't. She has a big heart and a clean soul but she's helpless and desperate. I know she loves me but I don't love her. I don't love anybody. I can't love anybody. There's nothing as love in this world.

My boss got me out of my broken family when I was eleven. I was walking through the streets, all alone, with flames in my eyes that could burn everything down. I was as angry as a child could be. I was abandoned, tired of already being the man at home and heartbroken by life. While all the kids where playing soccer outside, I was stealing things to survive and seeing dangerous people as role models because I had no one else around. One day he was standing in front of me with two of his bodyguards. He crossed my way, out of nowhere and had me amazed from the first second on. For me, he was a superhero that couldn't be found in movies. He was and still if one of a kind. He smiled at me and I was hypnotized. He was a wonder and he still is. He helped me without wanting anything in exchange. He only told me to work for him, help him out and that I'd have everything I always wanted. He also told me that he would take care of me until I would grow up. He kept his promises and he still does. He doesn’t have to and never had to but he did and does. He saved me and was always there for me. My childhood went by with stealing things so I could somehow help my mom, my brother and stay alive instead of starving. I didn't have any friends and I didn’t want any. I've always been alone and I've never been loved. Friends don’t help you out when s**t gets serious. They wouldn’t risk their lives for you and show effort because they believe in you. Pablo did. He did all of that. 

Of course I'm going home sometimes to check on mom or just chill but I'm trying my best to not spend too much time at home or with her because she makes me sick. She is like poison and I know that I need to stay away from her to stay healthy and safe. She reminds me of all the bad things in life. Unfortunately she is my mom and I can't let her die. She doesn't know what I'm doing and I know it would hurt her and break her heart into pieces but I don't care about that. I only don’t want her to know so she doesn’t talk about it.

Pablo was something like my savior. I don't know why he chose me but that doesn't matter either. He did and I'm thankful. Now I have everything that I need and I don't want more. I'm only doing my job and living my life. Not more.

I thanked him and he handed me a big envelope with money in it. Ten thousand dollars.

“You know I don’t-..“ I said but he cut me off. I don't like taking money from him, although I'm working for him. He already gives me everything I want and need and it seems wrong to take more money from him than I need. I owe him. 

“Sshh.. if I die one day, you'll take over this place… You need this.“ he said… I know he trusts me and I won't betray him or let him down.

Lucille

When the sun goes down, he stops near to the sidewalk and turns the engine off. He gets more comfortable in his seat and takes his phone out. I look at him and he turns to me.

“I’m just waiting until you get your s**t back together so we can start this thing.“ he explains. I wasn’t able to stop crying during the ride. Apparently we can’t continue until I get numb again. 

He turns back to his phone and I wipe my tears off.

“You could at least give me a tissue.“ I say and I know I shouldn’t expect that from him but the big boss told me he would help me out. I doubt that this means that he is my right hand too. I'm asking myself what we are going to start but I'm too messy right now to do anything. My whole face is wet and swollen. He probably doesn’t care but I am tired of crying and feeling this way. 

He raises a brow.

“You have your sleeves.“ he says. He is right. I use my sleeves and watch how he rolls his eyes and mumbles something that I don't understand. I'm sure he's swearing at me. He's an asshole.

I close my eyes for a few second. I really need to calm down. 

When I open them, I notice that it’s getting darker with every second and that makes me nervous. Darkness makes me nervous but I can’t lose control again. Not after what happened today. I also hate crying next to him. He must think I'm very weak. Obviously I am but that's not my fault. I've never gotten into something like this and I don’t know how to handle it. Usually I wouldn't even talk to people like him. Now I'm stuck with him.

After a few minutes I feel okay again. As okay as possible in this situation. I just need to accept this. Obviously I don't have another chance. I'm doing this for Tyler and dad. Even if they would never want me to do this for them, I don't want them to get hurt. He could be lying but something tells me that he isn’T.

“Get your s**t back together. We’re losing time. This is gonna be a long night.“ he says and I frown, nodding at the same time. I shouldn’t be surprised about his rudeness anymore. He really doesn't even care a bit and that hurts. Can't he at least try to understand me or act like he does so this is easier for me?

He turns the engine on again and when he starts driving I ask “What are we doing now?“ because I finally got the guts to. He takes a deep breath. “Capo already told you, you would have to answer me some questions.“ he calmly says and I raise a brow. “Boss.“ he sounds annoyed again. I nod. At least now I know how I can call that noble, old douchebag. “I’m going to ask and you're going to answer. That's what we're doing now.“ he continues and I nod again. That's okay. That's good. Speaking is good.

Tyler

“Dad, don't you think we should call the police? It's almost been a whole day and she's still not back!“ now I'm sure that something happened to her. She would come back if she could but she’s still not back… She probably never will be. Those people out there were only waiting for a girl like her to come out. There are way too many bad people out there. I should've stopped her. I should've done something or stayed with her after our conversation…

“I think so too but first call mom…“ he says and I just keep looking at him. She left us and now I should call her to inform her that her daughter is gone…

Lucille

We walk into the same club that we got out of earlier. That I slept in. But this time we don't walk downstairs, to the room I was staying in. We enter the actual club. I look around. It feels weird to be here. I can sense immediately that I don’t belong here.

I’ve never been to a strip club before. The walls are purple and there are big spotlights on the ceiling. Stages with poles, seats and tables, a bar and curtains on the wall that probably lead to other rooms. I feel sick again. Really sick. I don’t believe that I can stay here longer than necessarily. 

We sit down across from each other on a table with two seats. I feel so uncomfortable. Can’t we do this somewhere else? I would even be better to do this I the car than here. It feels so wrong to be here but I feel like this is my new work place. It’s empty. We’re the only ones here. The only people I see are some employees who are cleaning up and preparing everything to open the club. I can already imagine all the people who are coming in here and cheating on their wife's or wasting their money, getting drunk and doing things that they'll regret the next day.

He stands up to get a pencil and a questionnaire. Is he hiring me? I thought I got the job? 

He sits back down and I can see how he's filling out my name and my age.

I'm still wondering from here he got my name but I’m too scared to ask. Maybe I’m too scared of the answer. 

I squeeze my hands between my legs and bite my inner cheek. He looks at me and says “The questions are very simple and you're going to answer them all or you know what happens and then we'll go over to the next thing.“ and he looks annoyed, as if he's doing this for the thousandth time. He probably is and I would be annoyed too of doing this over and over again.

I nod. I want to make this easy for us all, as much as I can, although it's still pretty hard for me to accept there's nothing else I can do.

“What do you need to know?“ I ask, a little quiet. Maybe it's better if I cooperate. He looks up at me and I can see that little smirk of his...