Chapter 9
Lewis: We let Deanna go as the sun was setting on Sunday evening. I was exhausted but Rodney wanted to go get some dinner and discuss the next step in Deanna's development.
"I'm not sure she's ready for clients, even the cherry-busters I usually use for new whore wives," Rodney said over the rib-eyes and baked potatoes at the best steakhouse in town. "We might want to go another week and weekend with her just to make sure."
I was ready to make some money. "What could a client do to her that we didn't do this weekend?"
"I'm not worried about client demands -- that will be cake for her," Rodney said. "The problem is letting her get treated too gently before she's fully broken. It can really set back all the progress we made these past few days."
"We could put her out for a night in the middle of the week, then give her the same treatment next weekend."
"No, it will take all week for the whip-marks to go away, and my cherry-busters prefer weekends for breaking in a new bitch. Keep to the same schedule this week as before and I'll let my guys know we have some fresh meat available on Saturday night."
"Will they just take her for the night?"
"Yeah, I like to get them back fast so we can make sure nothing goes wrong," Rodney said as he motioned for the waiter. "Let's get out of here, I need some sleep."
Deanna: I stumbled into the apartment around ten and was not surprised to find Ted waiting for me in the living room. I was so exhausted I knew I couldn't even talk to him. I was relieved to find him almost asleep on the couch. Then I noticed the bottle on the coffee table.
"You even talk to your friend about the key?" Ted asked.
"You're drunk, Ted," I said as I walked toward the bedroom. "I'm going to bed."
"Did you even ask him?" Ted was slurring his words.
I turned to him at the bedroom door and lifted my blouse to show him my battered breasts.
"It didn't come up."
"Why are you letting him do this to you, Deanna? Why are you letting him do this to us?"
"I can only answer for myself, Ted. I can't answer for you."