AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The lecture hallis buzzing as I take my seat, and I’m afraid I know why. As soon as it was confirmed that Patricia is a student here, the entire school wanted to see the interview, and now it’s all anyone can talk about.
No one knows my part in it, at least not yet, although some of my classmates that had seen me with Patricia and Elise around campus did ask me if I had any idea about her escorting incident. Of all the scandals I have been a part of at this school so far, this one eclipses anything else by far. There’s no escaping it.
Professor Josianne comes in the side door on the floor of the hall, and her frame shifts the moment she hears how distracted the class is. She has to know the reasoning, but I’m sure she was hoping that she could get through the lesson without having to acknowledge it.
I watch as she takes a deep breath and squares her shoulders, walking to the middle of the floor and waving her hand in the air for silence. Eventually, the room settles, and we all wait quietlyto see what is on the agenda today. I’ve got everything out for taking notes, but something tells me it isn’t going to be the normal lesson.
“I’m going to keep class short today, since it’s clear our minds are elsewhere,” Professor Josianne begins. “I’ve already been briefed, like all the staff has, about one of your fellow classmates being interviewed about a negative experience she had, and it is my understanding that the interview has recently aired. It’s impossible for me to tell you to forget about the whole thing and move on, so I want to address it all here and now so next class we can continue with our forward momentum.”
She clasps her hands in front of her, turning her head to take all of us in. The room is quiet, respectfully waiting for her to continue. I’m on the edge of my seat about what she is going to say, and I’m positive I’m not the only one.
“Your fellow student, who I won’t name, unfortunately fell into the trap that is escorting, being tempted with the promise of easy money. With this city’s reputation for being a place that sex can be bought and sold like any other product, it isn’t surprising that a number of students have turned to escorting to make some money. From what I understand, the hours are low, and the pay is high. As a young person, that’s about as good as it can get.”
She takes a deep breath before continuing, as if the subject makes her uneasy. “The problem is that unlike other jobs, escorting leaves a mark on every person that partakes in it, whether it be just a tiny bit of uneasiness or the loss of self-worth. It may fill your pockets, but your body will remember the things that you had to give up to earn that pay. Escorting is not a job that you can keep for a long period of time, and by partaking in it at all, you run the risk of not having any other marketable skills once you want to stop. All I’m trying to say is that all of you need to be careful. There’s no glamor in being a college-agedescort and servicing old men who look at you as nothing more than a product to be consumed. That student took the risk, and is paying for it now. Let her story be a cautionary tale for you all. Stay safe, please.”
Everyone around me murmurs to one another, but I’m feeling the first stirrings of victory in my chest. If a professor feels this way, then there’s a good chance some of the students do too. If I can keep just one student from falling into the trap of escorting, then this will all have been worth it.
Professor Josianne dismisses class early like she promised, offering a willing ear if any of us had any more questions about the risks of that industry. Cleaning up my desk, I check my phone for the time, only to see I have a few messages.
The first is from Elise, filled with an unsurprising amount of vitriol:Congrats on your shitty move! Dad’s furious for what you did, you fucking moron.
It hurts, like I knew it would, but I had already been expecting this reaction from my sister.
I did what I had to do,I reply simply.
Fuck off!she retorts.
I type up a few paragraphs but end up erasing them all in the end. I’ll let Elise stew in her negativity for a while, and I’ll talk to her once she’s calmed down. In my heart, I know I did the right thing. I helped someone that wasn’t able to help themselves, and it’d help save other girls from the same fate that had befallen Patricia.
My second text is much more pleasant, and it’s from Roxanne:Are we having dinner tonight?
I’m glad to tell her yes. I know Roxie must have seen the interview by now. Hell, I think the whole country has seen it at this point, but I haven’t dealt with the fallout yet when it comes to her. Patricia and Kenneth both played by my rules and didn’t mention Roxanne specifically, but it was a fool's errand to thinkthat she wouldn’t be affected in one way or the other. I’ll just have to see how the cards fall. As of right now, she isn’t scolding me or telling me not to come over tonight, so that’s a good sign, at least.
I don’t make it over to Roxie’s until after class, and I’m exhausted by then. It has been a long day, and while Professor Josianne tackled the Patricia issue head on, none of the other professors chose to do the same. That meant I was forced to slog through those classes even though it was abundantly clear that no one was really engaged in the lessons. Patricia, as expected, wasn’t to be seen around campus, so I didn’t even get to see how she felt about the whole thing. Oh well, I guess I can always call her later.
Roxanne isn’t waiting at the door for me in lingerie this time. In fact, she isn’t waiting for me at all, and after pushing the open door and making my way in, I find her curled up under a blanket on her velour sofa, reading. She barely looks up as I walk in, depositing my backpack on the floor.
“There’s wine in the fridge,” she tells me absentmindedly, turning a page without acknowledging me anymore.
Feeling spurned, I take her up on the offer of wine, bringing two glasses back with me. She holds her hand out and I hand her the glass, and after a long sip of the Pinot Grigio, she marks her book and closes it.
For the first time since I walked in, she gives me her full attention. “Why didn’t you tell me you were the one who set up that interview?”
I sit down next to her and am hurt when she subtly moves further away. “After you gave her permission and support togo to the police, I figured you were done helping Patricia and weren’t interested in her case anymore,” I tell her, my tone even. “It felt like a nonissue.”
She purses her lips at me, looking both annoyed and upset. “Of course I was still helping her, Andries. What happened to her was horrible. The thing is… I didn’t even know you were involved. All this time I thought it was your sister sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. Meanwhile, I’m sleeping next to you at night, and I have no idea what’s going on.”
“I tried to separate myself after she initially pressed charges, but you are right about Elise fucking with things. She and my Dad were trying to get Patricia to drop the charges in exchange for money. I did what I had to do. What I thought was right.”
“Oh,” she says quietly, swirling her wine in her glass. “Is that so?”
“Yes,” I huff, feeling like she’s being intentionally dense. “She was about to sign the settlement, so I told her I’d pay her instead to go ahead with the case, as long as she agreed to also do the interview.”
Roxanne looks taken aback, opening and closing her mouth a few times as if she can’t figure out what to say. She’s looking at me with wide, incredulous eyes, and it's starting to make me uncomfortable.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask finally. “You were onboard with her going ahead with the case, weren’t you?”
“Yes, with the case!” she exclaims. “Not with that interview! I really thought you would have given me a heads up about a hit piece that talks shit about my agency.”
