To Find a Queen

Once upon a time, in a land far away… HAHA who am I kidding, this is definitely no fairytale. Hi, my name’s Athena. I know, I know, weird right? Well I’d like to say there’s some dramatic story behind it, or that my parents choose it for a special reason, but the truth is that my mum was high when she gave birth to me so I should be lucky I didn’t end up with a bunch of mumbled letters as my name and I have no idea who my dad is so he couldn’t have exactly helped choose one for me, all I know is that he must be blonde, because I certainly didn’t get my platinum locks from my brunette mother. Anyway, my name is Athena, Athena Knight, and this is my EPIC story of how I became Queen of Hell. ‘ATHENA?... ATHENA!’ my mum yelled from outside my bedroom door as she smashed her fists against the flimsy material. ‘Yeah, yeah, alright I’m up! Jeez!’ I yell back, or at least try to. I’m pretty sure my still half-asleep body only actually grumbled a few syllables out the corner of my mouth as I stretched and yawned. Meh, she must have got the jist as I heard her stomp her way back down the trailer towards her room. It was definitely Friday night. The only time my mother actually leaves her pit is to use the toilet, meet her dealer, or to make sure I was up for work, so I could make the money necessary for her to use said toilet, and to meet said dealer. I know I shouldn’t be paying for her habit, but the one time I withheld it and tried to get her to quit, she went missing for 2 weeks and was found half dead in a junkie’s house with a needle in her arm and her ex-dealers d**k inside her. Not fun for a 16-year-old to find. Too cowardly to risk going through that again, I now just make sure she only takes the ‘milder’ stuff and work to keep a roof over her head and food in her stomach. I managed to find a job working weekends at a strip club in the seedier side of Hellgate, a fitting name for the city we live in. Vinny knew I was underage when he hired me, but sleazy men like him don’t care, as long as you have a pretty face and a body that looks good in the ‘uniform’. I crawl out of bed, and head to the bathroom to get ready for my shift. As I glance up at the clock, I realize I’m running seriously late. s**t my phone must have died again. I really need to get that thing fixed when I have the money. HA! Who am I kidding, I don’t have spare money for that sort of s**t. Instead of a wash I end up wetting the cloth and doing a quick pits, t**s and bits rub down (we’ve all been there, ladies and gents), spray on some deodorant and thrown my long blonde hair into a messy bun on top of my head. I look at myself in the mirror and give myself a wink. Yep, may look like I’ve been dragged through a hedge, but still fit-as-f**k. What can I say, I learned at a young age to love my whole self, don’t have to be relying on nobody else to do it for me. I rush back into my room, tripping over my floordrobe and banging my foot against something hard. I sang some profanities whilst throwing on my less dirty jeans, a black bra, and a tank top. I find two relatively clean socks, asking for a matching pair right now just feels like I’d be pissing off a deity somewhere, and then throw on my combat boots. I sprint for the front door and grab my leather jacket and purse on the way past the hooks. I may or may not have also pulled the hooks out the wall in my haste, but I didn’t look back, so if I didn’t see it then it wasn’t me. I make it to Vinny’s club and race through to the locker room to change into my underwear, I mean ‘uniform’. I pull on the matching black miniskirt and bralette, then swap my combat boots for stilettos and let down my hair, I run my fingers through it and tussle it up a bit to give it that ‘messy, post s*x’ look that the patrons like then plonk my butt down next to the mirror to slap on some makeup. I don’t wear as much as the other girls, I hate how it feels on my skin, but I go heavy on the mascara and eyeliner to make my large blue eyes stand out, then run a deep red lip-gloss across my naturally plump lips. That will do. I take a deep breath and prepare myself for the night of grabs, gropes, and crude remarks. I hate this place and I hate this job, but this town doesn’t exactly offer a lot of legitimate career opportunities, and I was lucky I ended up as just a waitress in a club getting groped by strangers. I knew a lot of girls growing up who ended up a lot worse off than me. Anyway, I only needed another couple hundred in savings then mum’s ex-boyfriend, who also happened to be the ex-dealer mentioned earlier, would be paid off and would finally leave me and mum alone. Apparently when I ‘interrupted’ them she was ‘paying what she owed’ for the needle in her arm. A night I want to forget for as long as I live. Anyway, we came to an agreement that night. If he was anyone else, I’d have just upped and left with mum when I first got the chance but over the years he has worked himself into a very powerful position within Hellgate and I wouldn’t have anywhere I could go to anyway. I have no option now but to pay off what mum ‘owes’. I take one final glance in the mirror, plaster on my best flirtatious smile and make my way out onto the floor. Time to play the temptress.