Page 96 of Seven Oars
Sassa shook her head in disgust, letting her dirty, stringy hair fly.“You’re behaving like an escort.”
“Oh, I’ve done that, when I was, like, sixteen. Too much work and no real money.” Alyesha put down her hairbrush.“Yes, men want the same thing, and it’s your body. So use it. You aren’t completely without agency.”
Sassa stumbled backward.“I’d rather die!”
“Well, I’d rather not,” Alyesha snapped.
Angrily, she marched to the shelf and grabbed some breakfast food.
“I didn’t survive poverty and orphanage by hiding in a corner,” she threw over her shoulder.“No one ever handed me anything. I had to claw everything I’ve ever owned out of life with my own wits and hard work. Yes, there were men willing to be used. I’ve learned to think strategically.”
Fawn was listening attentively, hanging on Alyesha’s every word.
Sassa’s eyes filled with tears.
“Come on, Sassa.” Alyesha’s voice gentled.“Rix males are territorial. If one likes you, he won’t want to share. That scarface, Esseh, is a good choice.”
Sassa’s mouth dropped open.“A good choice? You think I’m stupid?”
Even Rosamma blinked at Alyesha.
Regardless of any potential benefit to thinking strategically, imagining a pirate touching her body, joining with her down there, made her shudder.Their six-fingered, clawed hands. Soulless black eyes. And those scars… the burn scars…
She clamped a lid on her runaway imagination.
No point in dwelling. Unlike the rest, her womanly charms left much to be desired. Even Massar only wanted to torture her.
“Control your destiny,” Alyesha was telling Sassa.“He may not be your type, but how about big and strong? Calm your raging hysterics and look around. Esseh is top-tier goods in this rusty flying can.” She started counting on her fingers.“He isn’t on drugs. He isn’t rabidly impulsive. And he doesn’t abuse women.”
Sassa gaped at Alyesha.“Doesn’t abuse women?”
Alyesha’s eyes turned cold.“Being fucked hard is not the same as being abused.”
“You’re vile,” Sassa whispered.
Alyesha’s mouth thinned.“Esseh likes you. Be nice to him, and you’ll get an easy ride.”
Sassa covered her ears and shut her eyes, rejecting Alyesha’s message.
“Nice advice there,” Gro said snidely.“Anything for the rest of us? The old and the ugly?”
Alyesha didn’t miss a beat.
“Spare me your sarcasm. You may think yourself lucky‘cause you don’t get railed by an alien. But I’ll tell you this: When times get lean, as they inevitably will, you’ll be the first to go to the chute. Ballast tossed overboard.”
As she imparted that piece of wisdom, Alyesha wasn’t looking at Gro.
She was looking at Rosamma.
Abruptly, Daphne stood up.
“Mama?”
Everyone froze, then turned to her.
Daphne’s vacant eyes roamed the room, brushing past every face. Her brow furrowed.
“Mama?” she repeated, her voice wooden and insistent.“Mama, mama, mama…”
