Author's note: Hi guys, thank you for reading! Here I am with a new chapter of Otis's story. Anon, I also like the name Otis to pieces, I think it works so well for this character. MarcLuciFer, I am unveiling Otis's past little by little, and the picture will became clearer as the story progresses. Exluke1, yes, that is something that speaks about his vulnerability a lot. cannd, Hudson discovers things about himself in this process of 'educating' Otis. And it's going to work just swell for him in the long run :)
Chapter Thirteen -- The Straight and Narrow
So far, things had worked out just as Jackie had described them to him. Maybe there wasn't as much frisking involved as his unwitting partner in Jasper's escape had liked, but Hudson could do very well without it. The memory of his earlier pursuits involving Otis still lingered, and despite freshening up for his job, he could swear the sweet taste of his neighbor was still there on his tongue.
"This is so boring," Jackie said, working a kink in his neck and rolling his eyes. "Seriously, I thought being a bouncer was a lot more than this. Now, I'm starting to suspect the boss of trying to get us to quit only because of all this boredom." To give more weight to his words, Jackie looked around at the well-behaved patrons who were busy dancing and drinking without causing any problems that would warrant that much-desired bit of frisking.
"Would you quit because of something like this?" Hudson asked, while he scanned the place with different eyes than Jackie. At least the security personnel knew very well what took place inside that half of the club hidden from plain view. As always, he was fishing for clues. He couldn't and wouldn't exclude anyone.
"Are you kidding me? No way," Jackie said. "Now, my man Vegas, you might look at me and think that I'm this slick city boy, who's got it all figured out." Hudson was quite certain he didn't see Jackie like that but nodded in agreement only to hear what the guy had to say. "But when I came here, I was nothing but a country bumpkin, I'm telling ya."
Seeing how Jackie was waiting for a reaction, Hudson rose to his expectations. "You don't say. I'd never have suspected it."
Jackie smiled, pleased with that answer. "Yeah, like I said. I had nothing but the shirt on my back and a bag full of dreams, as they say. Well, not exactly nothing. My momma gave me this number to call, right before she passed." A short silence followed. That bit about Jackie's history had to be true. As impressionable as the young man seemed to be, there was real emotion there whenever he mentioned his mother. "So, I called this number, and that was the boss. At first, he showed no sign that he knew who my momma was, but I insisted, you know. I was like a dog with a bone, 'cause I was down to my last dime and didn't want to start washing dishes or doing some schmuck job."
"How did you convince him to hire you?" Hudson asked. "Did he recall your mom's name, after all?"
"Yeah, after a while. Maybe he was just testing me? I don't know. Probably he gets calls like that every day, and he didn't want to be taken for a dope."
"What was your mom to him?" Hudson asked, pretending to make conversation for conversation's sake and nothing else, while he continued to watch the room for signs of any wrongdoers.
"Momma didn't say, and he didn't either," Jackie replied. "But I bet that they knew each other well enough for him to pick me up from the street like that and give me a roof over my head."
"You mentioned that you worked the stage, too." Hudson didn't want to believe that Watkins would put his own kid -- if that was the relationship he had with Jackie -- up to that kind of work, but he had seen too many monsters in his life to be too surprised by anything.
"It was for a short while. I liked it, but then, you know, those boys got to serve the more generous patrons, and that was something the boss didn't think I was up for."
"Why not? I'd say you're pretty enough," Hudson said and offered Jackie a crooked smile. Yeah, the little asshole wasn't bad to look at. Hopefully, Otis didn't think the same. Damn, he really needed to get his head screwed on right or he risked losing it. Thinking of his cute neighbor out of the blue led him down a dangerous path.
"Not 'boy pretty' enough, though," Jackie explained. "I mean, I have these guns." He flexed his biceps although he had his usual suit on. "Men who pay don't like guys like me. They want the weaker type, you know, all innocent and stuff. Like my Otis."
Hudson turned his head away from Jackie so fast that he heard the bones crack.
"What? Some drunk scumbag causing trouble?" Jackie asked and moved closer to stare in the same direction.
"Nah, I just thought I saw some guy I know," Hudson offered as an explanation and moved a smidge away as a measure to control himself.
Jackie snickered. "A guy like you, I bet you've seen plenty of action. Be on the lookout for jealous exes, right?" He elbowed Hudson in a friendly gesture. The poor schmuck had no idea how close he was to getting a fat lip.
"So, you weren't fit for playing the innocent boy for the big buyers?" Hudson chose to steer the conversation back to what he considered safe ground.
"Yeah. Although I liked the attention, to give it to you straight. I mean, I even had a regular. The guy was a bit of a weirdo, but he paid." Jackie rubbed his fingers together in a suggestive manner.
"And why did the boss give up on this lucrative relationship that you had with the guy? I suppose he gets the lion's share of what you boys make."
Jackie seemed pensive for a bit. Hudson briefly examined the frown etched between those dark eyebrows. "Yeah, he does. That was why he surprised me a little when he pulled me off of doing that kind of work. I was good at it. Anyway, as I said, that guy was sort of giving me the creeps sometimes. Better off, I guess."
Hudson felt his nostrils flaring. "Why was he giving you the creeps?"
"Are you asking me to dig around for some old history now, man?" Jackie complained.
"You brought it up," Hudson pointed out.
"Right." Jackie seemed to consider for a moment. "You know, the boss told me to keep my mouth shut about it, but what the hell? -- it's been a while, and that guy didn't come back after I wasn't on the shelf anymore. But, between you and me, Vegas," he added and leaned closer, "the boss can't know I told you anything."
"My lips are sealed. And it's like we're only doing this to kill time, right?"
Jackie's laugh was a bit forced. "Yeah, kill time. So, this guy," he began, a bit more lively, "he was a super freak. He would put me into this cold bath, in a tub filled with ice, until my lips turned blue. I was supposed to keep my mouth shut and close my eyes and just lie there until he said so. And then, he got me out -- he was really strong, you know? -- and carried me to the bed. And I was supposed to be completely limp, and then he began fucking me. It hurt, too, 'cause he used nothing, the fucking asshole." The more Jackie remembered about that john, the more he seemed to see his past as a sex worker in less rosy colors. His lips had set in a grim line, and his eyes were blank. Hudson was all ears now. "So, one day, when the boss asked me how it was going, I spilled the beans. The guy, the john, I mean, he paid me extra not to say anything, but I felt like I had to."
"What happened next?"
Jackie shrugged. "The boss seemed annoyed. He told me that could get me sick in the lungs or something. And two days later, he moved me to other stuff. And he said, I kid you not, he said 'from now on, you'll walk the straight and narrow, Jackie, you hear me?' Like hell, man. Straight and narrow. Yeah, I ain't lying."
Straight and narrow. What a strange choice of words indeed. Hudson's eyes followed a couple of security guys disappearing through the door leading to the secret part of Twinlight. "Some hot shindig tonight?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Jackie asked. "It's like a really slow night."
"I'm talking about people going in and out all the time." Hudson pointed at the door through which the two guards had just disappeared.
