Chapter Twenty-six
As Ms. Powers and I enter the hallway my mind wanders to that frightful night in the New York hotel.
I knocked on the door of room 827 as instructed on the typewritten note in the envelope. I expected to be greeted by Madam Chang or a bunch of horny businessmen. Instead a middle-aged woman opened the door and as I peered down at the note to assure I had the proper room she bid me to enter.
“Quickly please. You’re expected upstairs in an hour.”
I stepped in and was alarmed to see her wearing a white uniform. I could not help recalling my two years of servitude aboard The Scarlet Letter where the starched white-clothed women were the source of much torment.
“Strip. You’re to be showered and cleansed.”
The matronly woman stood over me as I removed and folded my clothi
