Ray watched as Sherry walked back from the curb, as the squad car sped away. For a minute he thought she was hurt, as she was almost limping, but as she approached he saw no cuts, no bruises, just an uncomfortable waddle in her step. Clearly the boys had used her pretty hard, but it didn't look like there was any permanent damage.
He shot a look at his watch. It was getting late, and he didn't want to push this too far. The last thing he needed was for the drugs to wear off before he got her home. "I think we're done for tonight", he said, and moved across the sidewalk to exclaim a few words of thanks with Tommy, slapping his shoulder as he turned back to Sherry, to propel her back down the sidewalk to the now-familiar parking lot where they had left their car in what seemed like the long distant past.
As they approached the small attendant's booth, Ray stopped. "Don't forget," he fixed Sherry with his gaze, "Tommy said you have to pay off the parking attendant on the way out." Sherry face mirrored her confusion. She pawed through her purse. "With what?" she thought. She had given all the money she had taken in to Tommy, just like she had been told. She didn't have her wallet with her. No money. No credit cards.
She looked imploringly at Ray. He laughed. "Don't ask me. You don't give me enough money to have any cash left lying around by the end of the week. You know that. You must have something you can give him." She looked down. She had nothing of value. Heck, she barely had clothes on.
That gave her an idea. She had something of value after all, something that men had been handing over money for all night. She walked to the door to the booth and swung it open. The boy inside – Sherry guessed he was just out of high school, probably not much over eighteen – had an unruly shock of blond hair and a wispy start at a goatee, which didn't conceal the smattering of zits that still marred his chin and cheeks. He looked up from his little TV, pushed his glasses up his nose, and swung his chair around, sticking his hand out. Sherry surprised him by not stuffing a wad of bills into his palm, instead grabbing it and using it to pull herself up into the tiny booth. She pushed his chair into the corner and leaned back against the counter.