Warning: Contains themes of coerced sex and racially insensitive language. And probably some typos. silkcita
*****
Standing at his office window, Manny Tisdale stared out at the vehicles parked in front of the adjacent buildings beneath the bright morning sun. The sky was blue and the Arizona air was dry, and yet the stockbroker's jaws were clenched murderously tight as he seethed beneath darkening shadows.
He'd been played. Again.
"Those little Latinas played me like a goddamn sucka," he muttered as their imagined, sexy voices mocked him.
That gringo so stupid! He'll do anything for a phat culo
.
Having spent most of his formative years preparing for his chosen career, these fictitious utterances held some truth, as the thirty-year-old's internship in romance didn't begin until his twenties, where savvy, unscrupulous women made easy acquisitions of both his heart and wallet. It was only in the past couple of years that the young professional restructured his approach to the fairer sex, implementing safeguards to protect his emotional and financial health against conniving, no-good, cheating bitches, vowing to be goddamned before being played again like a sucka.
But over the past weekend, Rosa's mother, using her phat Spanish culo as a distraction, gave a persuasive oral argument on behalf of her daughter.
She a good woman, Mr. Tisdale. She young, pretty. She perfect for handsome businessman like you
. Slack-jawed, Manny gave an incoherent reply to the back of the milf's bobbing head. (Her normally adroit hands had spilled beer onto his crouch, rendering his shorts and everything underneath in need of cleaning.) Manny agreed to see Rosa that following Monday morning, while his Latina maid licked the Bud Light from his balls.
It was now Monday morning, 8:45 a.m., fifteen minutes before Rosa's scheduled arrival. Whereupon, according to her mother, she would be ready to work for him...
very hard
.
"Oh, she gonna work," the finance specialist declared, returning to his desk. He glanced out of the window on his right, where sunlight lanced the blinds with bright bars across his desk. "Taking my money and laughing behind
my
back," he fumed, biting his lip. "Just like those females on food stamps—gaming the system."
The realization that he'd been duped hardened the stockbroker's heart. Despite his inappropriate motives, he had been up front and fair—better even—paying the illegal immigrant the going rate of a
qualified
secretary, plus a $200 dollar signing bonus—all tax free.
And still she lied to him, played him, made him look like a goddamn sucka.
No more, and never again.
Sitting behind his desk, Manny fired up his laptop, his face set with firm resolve. No more being polite, no more 'sucka' shit. If those two Latinas wanted his money, then he would make sure they earned it, bending them over his desk and sink, respectively. And if they didn't like it, then, they could kick rocks. Because he'd be goddamned before he got played again.
Taking a deep breath, he distracted himself with work, and began perusing the tickers on MSN Money. Textiles and steel were flat, while gold crept northward on a slow, wiggly line. Housing, however, was still booming.
These subprime loans are selling like pop icicles in the dead of June
.
Then came a knock at the front door, and the proud finance broker shoot up from his chair, his heart booming beneath his business shirt and tie. He hurried out of his office and glanced at his watch, his expensive Italian shoes clacking across the lobby floor in quick strides. It was 8:51 a.m. She was early. He reached the door then smoothed down his tie and his hair before twisting the faded gold knob, pulling the door open...
He stared longer than he wanted. There she was, standing in front of him, bathed in the bright, golden light of the sun. Her obsidian hair glowed with an iridescent shine, absorbing the sunlight like a simmering black hole. Thick, space-black locks fell long and full down her back, while two swirly bangs framed her oval face. Her makeup, though light in presence, exploited every indigenous feature on her exotic face—mascara, thick lashes, berry-colored lips. Dressed in a blouse/skirt combo that clung to every curve of her voluptuous physique, she could've doubled as a Mexican politician's secretary... and/or his mistress.
Seeing this, Manny hardened his jaw. This was the first time she'd put this kind of effort in her appearance. "Can I help you?" His icy tone making her hugged herself, despite the eighty-degree weather.
Holding a well-loved purse in hand, the young Latina appeared expectant of the frosty reception and looked at him contritely while gathering her nerve. "Mr. Tisdale, I'm ready to... work," she said softly, the South American accent adding deference to her humble words.
Pleased by the young woman's suppliant demeanor, but not yet mollified, the well-dressed stockbroker gave her a pointed look. "And why should I believe you, Ms. Martinez, after I spent a week watching you do the opposite. A week's worth of my time and money—
wasted
," he snapped, suddenly incensed, recalling how she played him.
"You knew full damn well what I wanted when I hired you," he gritted viciously through his teeth. "But your lying ass didn't want a job—just a goddamn hand-out."
He gave a wry chuckle and slowly shook his head with insight. "In finance, there's a thing called the sunk-loss fallacy, where a person would rather keep dumping money into a dead investment rather than cutting it loose." Manny folded his arms and leaned against the doorjamb. "Why should I spend another dollar on you when I could ride down to your apartment complex and hire someone else? I'd bet your paycheck that it wouldn't be hard to find a replacement."
A shadow of fear passed over Rosa's face. With the job market already flooded with unskilled labor, competition among young immigrant women was fierce—a cold, hard fact that wasn't limited to the workplace and one the young single mother was intimately aware, as her dark eyes glistened with unspent tears. "You're right," she softly admitted, averting her gaze downward. "... Most work six days a week for less than what you were paying me. Working for you would be like a vacation."
Manny nodded. That had been his guess. "Looks like I hired the wrong one."
Rosa sighed, clenching her jaw. "I was stupid," she said, admonishing herself. "But I
need
this job, Mr. Tisdale." She looked up to him earnestly, meeting his eyes briefly before turning her eyes down again. Standing small and desperate at his door, the young immigrant woman looked to be at the edge of her rope. "...
Please
. I'll do whatever you want..."
Looking down at her slumped and defeated shoulders, Manny heard the sincerity in her voice, it was clear she'd meant every word, but it was her vulnerability that affected him most. She was in dire straits, willing to do anything to get her job back.
Grabbing her elbow, he pulled her inside and closed the door, pressing her back against it, while his tall, athletic frame towered over her. He grabbed her by the chin and she breathed sharply but didn't resist, staring up at him despairingly.
The depressing look of resignation on the Latina's face softened the stockbroker, and released her jaw, slipping his hand into his pocket. "Rosa, I want you to really think this through," he urged her gently. "If I take you back, you'd be like my personal whore, sucking and fucking my whenever I told you. Understand?"
Manny leaned closer, his expression severe. "And if you pull any of that shit from last week—I promise, on everything I love—I'll make you regret it," he said with grim resolve. "So if you want to turn around and walk out my door, now's the time. But if you stay, and if you quit without my say so, or be
anything
other than my obedient slut, I strongly suggest you have your green card handy. Understand?" He watched the Latina's face fall. Manny nodded, leaning back straight and sliding his hands into his pocket. "So you still wanna a job?" Checking his watch, the stockbroker clucked his tongue, not caring either way.
Blinking once, then twice, Rosa dabbed the corners of her eye and was incapable of meeting his gaze, as she held her purse tightly at her waist. Their Arrangement had become an all of nothing proposition: she would do whatever he said or risk being reported to immigration. Looking down at her purse, she looked to be in shock, and with a weak and quivering voice, she asked, "... I only have to be with you?"
Manny understood her trepidation, but she desperately needed his help, while he didn't owe her anything. She could either agree or fend for herself. It was that simple. He huffed. "Yep, just me."
She dabbed the corner of her eyes again and sniffled, then opened her mouth to speak only to hesitate.
Manny's patience ran out. He glanced down at his watch with a huff. "Female, you need to hurry up and make a decision. I've already wasted money on you, and I'll be goddamned if I waste anymore of my time."
The Latina hugged herself to keep from shaking. It was obvious something was on the edge of her lips, something she desperately wanted to say but afraid to speak aloud, as if it would shred the last thread of her dignity. And just as Manny was about to tell her to go, she gave in, drooping her neck and shoulders with a desolate sigh. "... Before... last week... you said I could call you, if I needed," she said with a soft, weak voice.
"You burnt that shit," Manny said immediately. "You can have your baby daddy, or whoever you were fucking instead of me, fix your flat tires and water leaks or whatever."