"New Mexican Hooker Maids"
by J.D. Savanyu
A hot summer night in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. A small hick town named after a wacky 1950's game show. A dry desert breeze wafted across the shallow Rio Grande in a glorious sunset, ruffling an American flag in front of the Cadillac Motel. A fancy name for a sleazy den of depravity. Pickup trucks were steadily arriving from Riverside Drive, pulling into a small parking lot beneath a flickering neon sign. Ten "undocumented" prostitutes from Old Mexico waited in the employee lounge, in tacky vintage French maid costumes.
"Maldita sea, odio estos estúpidos atuendos,"
Camila Valentino whined in her native language.
"Son demasiado cálidos para Nuevo México, y tan objetivantes. Las doncellas de verdad no las han usado desde los locos años veinte."
(Damn, I hate these stupid outfits. They're too warm for New Mexico, and so objectifying. Real maids haven't worn these since the roaring twenties."
"Pero nuestros 'clientes' los aman,"
Rosa Perez replied while adjusting her tight black dress with lacy white trim and a shiny white apron.
"Pone a los hombres en un modo de juego de rol de fantasía, como uno de esos programas de anime con chicas disfrazadas de zorras."
(But our 'clients' love them. It puts men in a role playing fantasy mode, like one of those anime shows with slutty cosplay chicks.)
"Yo también odio el anime,"
Camila grunted white putting on her black-and-white lacy housekeeper cap.
"¿Por qué los chicos japoneses tienen que dibujar a todas las mujeres con enormes tetas, globos oculares gigantes y un rayo por cabello?"
(I hate anime too. Why do Japanese guys have to draw every lady with huge tits, giant eyeballs, and lightning for hair?)
"El sexo vende, cariño. Y las mujeres realistas son un verdadero desvío."
(Sex sells, honey. And realistic women are a real turn-off.)
Gary Johson marched into the room with a perpetual slimy grin. The cliché pimp was decked out in a blue Brooks Brothers business suit to make him seem "respectable."
"Aright ladies, this is the busiest time of the year, so you better clean up real fucking good. I want this motel looking spic-and-span tonight, if you catch my drift. " (That white Irish dude assumed all Mexicans were uneducated hotheads.) "We got our first client of the evening in room 107. He looks like a real handful, so I'm giving him the hottest girl. Princess Camila."
"Si, Senor Johnson," she giggled with a rush of pride.
"Get your big juicy latinx ass over there, and bring home the bacon for daddy."
"Si, Senor Johnson," she giggled again. "I do right by you always."
Camila adjusted her ridiculous costume and pushed a cart full of cleaning supplies that was just for show. The real illegal immigrant maids worked in the morning hours, in modern gender-neutral sky-blue uniforms. She left the dingy lounge and stepped out to a muggy night in Truth or Consequences. The neon sign of Pedro's Discount Liquor gleamed on the other side of the Rio Grande, casting an eerie reflection on the water. The Cadillac Motel eerily resembled the Rosebud Motel in
Schitt's Creek,
her favorite sitcom. Post-war prefab architecture at its low-bid worst.
Camila was a prostitute ever since she was eighteen down in Chihuahua, earning a thousand pesos a month. Below the definition of a "living wage" by American standards. Four years later, she was earning four times as much in dollars, and loving every minute of it. She took a deep breath, bracing herself for another wild night, then she knocked on the fading red door of room 107.
"Be there right quick, baby!" beamed a deep baritone voice. She looked through the thin white curtains and saw the outline of a tall man with a ten-gallon cowboy hat getting off the bed. A big smile spread across her face. She loved ranch dudes most of all.
"Howdy,
senorita,
" said the rugged blonde cowboy in standard longhorn herder attire, including a big belt buckle that was shaped like New Mexico, with a bold warning: "Don't Mess with N.M.!"
"Howdy,
senor.
I am Camila the maid, at your service," she replied with a thick Mexican accent.
"I could tell that from a mile away, darlin'. That French maid costume is fucking awesome."
She giggled sweetly and batted her long eyelashes. "
Muchas gracias.
"
"
Vous êtes la bienvenue, madame.
" (You're very welcome, madam.)
She giggled again. "
Lo siento,
I do not know any French words besides 'oui-oui' and 'croissant.'
"That's okay,
querida.
They never teach that
frou-frou
language down in Me-hee-co. That's where you're from, right?"
"Si senor, I am from Chihuahua. I sneak to America last year." She bit her tongue, remembering too late not tell any Johns that she 'sneaked,' because they might be undercover cops or I.C.E. Agents, putting the freeze on.
"A French maid from south of the border. Holy fuck," the cowboy snickered. "Come on in, Camila. This motel room needs a good scrubbing."
She stepped into a small crappy room with an old queen size bed and an "el cheapo" television set that was turned off. A laptop computer was turned on and playing a hardcore porn scene with Missy Martinez and Jordi El Nino Polla. Riding his dick in the reverse cowgirl position on a granite kitchen countertop, with fresh tropical fruit surrounding their naked bodies. Yummy. Camila tossed her hair again and flashed her best seductive grin.
"Business first, darling," she said. "Two hundred for one hour, four hundred all night."
"Of course, baby. I'm all about the Benjamins." He pulled out his wallet and gave her two crisp hundred dollar bills. "I made a cool ten grand selling longhorns at the cattle market today, and I'm giving you a cut of the action. Here's two hundred bucks for sixty minutes of heaven. "
Camila sniffed the crisp Franklins, savoring the bittersweet aroma of success. She put them in her cleaning cart and twiddled her long jet-black bangs.