Page 29 of Hodge
“They’re whores, Kemah. Girls who want to be fucked, but you know what? They don’t get their money. Their boss does. They get drugged. Is that what you wanted?”
“I don’t believe that.”
“You don’t believe that?”
“No. How would you know that?”
“How would I know? Kemah, we were the ones transportin’ them! Fuck, I’m the one who vetted them all to make sure they wanted to be there!” He roars at me.
“I … I don’t look like them.”
“You think that matters to the assholes who pay to fuck and hurt them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well fuckin’ surprise, Kemah. It doesn’t! A fuckin’ pussy is a pussy to them. They don’t care what kind of body it’s attached to,” he snaps at me. I step back, unsure what to say now. What do I do? I need that money. I want that money. It’s the only way I can start my life over.
“You’re still thinkin’ about the money? After what I just said to you?”
“You don’t understand, Hodge. That’s all I have left.”
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “That’s not all you have. You have us, you have me, Kemah. You can start over here,” he tells me.
“And do what? Be the fat club whore? I don’t think so.” Hodge yells into the air before storming toward me and wrapping his hand around my neck.
“I warned you about talkin’ about yourself, Kemah. I swear to God if I have to spank your ass and brand my goddamn name on it to make you understand how fuckin’ beautiful you are, I’ll do it.” His hand isn’t so tight that I can’t breathe, but it’s tight enough that he makes his point. His loudness has earned us an audience. There are guys and a few girls who stand outside the clubhouse now watching us.
“I call it how I see it, Hodge.” Why I’m pushing his buttons is beyond me. Hodge nods his head, his eyes turning dark before he smirks at me. It isn’t a nice smirk. It’s a deadly smirk. Like what he said, he meant.
“Locke! Bring me a lighter and some rope,” he calls out. One of the guys moves and disappears before returning with what Hodge had asked for.
“What are you doing?” I ask him, but he does little more than smile at me.
“You think I’m playin’ games here, Kemah? You think I’m jokin’ around with you?”
“Hodge, what are you doing?” I ask once more as heat and anger roll off that man.
“You’re gonna think twice about fuckin’ with me. You’re gonna think twice about playin’ fuckin’ games with me, Kemah.” The guy, Locke, steps up next to us when Hodge pulls his hand off my throat and reaches for the rope first. “Help me out, Locke,” he says, nodding toward the light pole. Locke smirks and lets out a chuckle while Hodge quickly grabs my wrists and ties them together before I have the chance to pull them away.
“What the fuck?” I hiss at him. Before I know what’s happening, he and Locke are dragging me toward the pole.
“Hodge, what’s goin’ on?” His dad asks him.
“Not much,” he responds.
“Do you know what you’re doin’ right now?” he asks.
“Yeah, I do.” His dad just chuckles as Hodge forces my wrists against the pole and Locke wraps the rope around it. There’s no fucking way I can move even as I tug at it.
“What the hell are you doing? This isn’t funny!”
“Not supposed to be funny, sweetheart.”
“Don’t call me sweetheart,” I snap at him. Both he and Locke laugh now as I pull at the binds keeping me in place. Locke passes Hodge the lighter, which he flicks to life and holds the flame up in my face for me to see.
“I like fire, Kemah. I like it more when I see it in your eyes,” he says.
“I don’t have fire in my eyes.”
