“Can you lie flat on your back?” Rory asks in earnest, knowing that this didn’t work earlier.
“I can’t breathe on my back.” Tina announces helplessly. “Can you bring me something… I can use?”
“What if I help you over to the pit?” Rory proposes thoughtfully, nodding to his left. “You can pee off the edge.”
“How far away is it?” Tina asks in a doubtful tone, turning her head to the left. “That big, open area in the floor? There’s no way in hell I’m moving that far.”
“Hold on.” Rory replies as he starts to slide out from underneath her body. “I’ll go find something.”
“No!” Tina pleads, grabbing him by the leg with her right hand. “Don’t move! I can’t breathe if you move.”
“Okay. Let me think…” Rory begins to look around the room, but decides that finding a makeshift bedpan is useless if he can’t move. “Here, let’s do this.” He says after a few seconds of thought.
The young man pushes her body up slightly and pulls his shirt up around his chest. He then allows Tina’s head and torso to rest on his bare stomach as he pulls his sweatshirt off.
“Soak it up with this, and we’ll toss it in the corner of the room.” Rory advises as he passes the shirt to his companion.
Tina takes the shirt in her right hand and gazes at Rory as if he is a madman. However, her modesty soon fades as the need for relief is reinforced by her bladder. The young woman places the sweatshirt on her stomach and slowly uses her right hand to pull down her panties.
“Close your eyes.” Tina demands as she places the sweatshirt between her legs.
Rory shuts his eyes and turns his head away, allowing the young blonde to have a moment in their improvised bathroom. After a few seconds, Rory hears the sound of a wet garment falling in a sloppy heap on the cement. He immediately turns his head and opens his eyes to see Tina staring at him.
“Thank you.” She says with a more relaxed face. “So how are we going to do this?” Tina asks gently, looking at Rory with her right eye.
“How are we going to do what?” Rory responds slowly, pretending he doesn’t know what she means.
“Anthony said that I need to be pregnant by morning. He said that he would feed me to the dogs if I wasn’t.” Tina says slowly. “It’s almost morning, Rory.”
“Sweetheart, he’s just bluffing.” Rory reassures her with a bit of hesitation. “I’m sure he just put us in here tonight to teach me a lesson-“
“Don’t be an idiot!” Tina interrupts immediately. “I’m just… a play toy. I don’t mean anything to these men.”
“Tina, there’s no way…” Rory begins, trying to think of an eloquent argument. “He’s just trying to bring us down to his level.”
“We don’t need to have sex. You just need to get yourself ready and finish inside me.” Tina says slowly, trying to make it sound like a noble deed.
“Even if I got you pregnant tonight,” Rory states, “it would take over a week for them to see it on a pregnancy test.”
“So either I die in the morning, or I die in seven days? Those are my choices?” Tina asks as a tear streams from her right eye. “Rory, I want to live!”
“You can live… I promise.” Rory announces with a soothing voice. “Just help me get through the night, and…you’ll live.”
“Just be a man and do it!” Tina orders in a desperate tone, being careful not to disturb her broken ribs. “You always want to do it… until we need you to… just don’t think about it. Please, Rory.”
“I can’t, Tina!” Rory erupts with frustration. “I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Do you think I can perform with you in serious pain, dog shit in the corner, and the smell of a dead body in the room? He put us in this situation knowing that it was impossible. I know what he wants, and he’s not going to get it from me. I’m sorry, but we need to find another way.”
“This isn’t romantic for me either, but I’m willing to do what I need to survive!” Tina responds with disenchanted rage. “My body hurts like hell, and I’m scared to death, but I’m not ready to give up on this life. There is so much I still want to do.”
Tina rolls over onto her right side, feeling terrified at the thought of not meeting Anthony’s demands. She begins to sob quietly, and Rory reaches out to comfort her, but she nudges his hand away with her body.
“Tina, he’s going to kill us anyway.” Rory finally admits. “Let’s not give him the satisfaction of taking away our dignity. We have one shot to survive… that means we’ll have to escape.” He looks toward her for a moment, and realizes that she doesn’t believe him. “Tina, Pezzloni has murdered every woman that I’ve gotten pregnant. Do you really think that he’s going to pay you a million dollars after you have the baby..? No, he’s going to use you as a punching bag, and dump your body in the lake.”
“Just stop talking!” Tina says in a defeated tone. “If I’m going to die- I’d rather not know…”
“We’ll tell him that we had sex, Tina.” Rory offers in an optimistic tone. “That will give me seven days to get us the hell out of here. Please just give me that much time.”
“I hope you’re right…” Tina says slowly, fighting back a torrent of tears.
“We’ll get through this.” Rory says with a comforting voice. “Let’s just play the game by our rules; not his.”
The young man reaches out for her slowly, feeling her soft hair on his stomach. She shifts slightly to her left, allowing his strong hands to caress her face, shoulders, and neck.
“Don’t let me die tomorrow, Rory.” Tina states boldly.
“I won’t let you die. We’ll make it through this.” Rory says with certainty, praying silently to himself that he is right.
XI. Brave
“Why is this damn thing covered in grease?” Pezzloni’s muffled voice beckons from just beyond the steel door. “Well, use your shirt to clean it off… I don’t care, you fucking peacock. I’ll buy you a new one; just open the door!”
Rory is awakened by the disturbance at the door, and as he looks around the filthy room, all signs indicate that it is morning. When he raises his head a bit, Tina is startled out of her slumber by his movements, and her face rapidly turns pale. She still appears ghastly with her left eye swollen shut, and the swelling apparently increased during the night. Despite her best efforts to clean her face, the young blonde still has a residual pattern of dried blood on her upper lip from a broken nose.
Tina’s breathing becomes panicked as the door opens and Dimitri enters the room followed closely by Anthony Pezzloni. The older gangster looks rugged in the morning light that is shone through small windows at the far end of the room. His face is covered in scruffy, salt and pepper stubble, but his hair appears clean and styled. The tall man looks like a soccer player in his solid gray track suit and black sneakers. Despite the casual sports attire, the gold chain around his neck gives off more than a hint that he is a violent criminal.
Dimitri has dolled himself up as usual, wearing a lime green, button-down shirt that is smudged with grease at the bottom right. His designer slacks are beige, and he wears a turquoise belt with a gold buckle that fits snugly around his waist. The criminal diva is well-groomed, and his shoes are made from expensive, bl
ack Italian leather with a nice sheen.
“So, lovebirds; are we pregnant, or are we dead?” Pezzloni inquires with a suspicious gaze. “Last night you told me that you’d do anything, Rory. I hope by now you realize how dangerous it could be if you say one thing, and do another.”
“She’s pregnant.” Rory says with disgust, looking down and away in shame.
“Is that true, my dear?” Anthony asks with a deranged smile. “Are you going to have a little Rory?”
“Yeah, we did it last night.” Tina answers with a frustrated gaze, obviously tired of the persecution. “He played with it for a few minutes, and shoved the tip in me.”
“What do you think, Dimitri?” Pezzloni asks, turning to his colleague.
“I believe him, but she’s full of shit…” Dimitri says with a smile. “So I guess he’s a good liar, and they’re both full of shit.”
“I agree.” Pezzloni states with his hands at his hips. “Tina, women never give a lot of detail when a man finishes inside of them. Most women won’t even acknowledge that it happened. Get on your feet!” Anthony says with sudden aggression, sticking out his chest at the terrified woman.
Tina pulls away from the large gangster, moving feverishly toward Rory for protection, but Pezzloni grabs her firmly by the right arm, and yanks her up from the floor.
There is an earsplitting shriek of pain as the young woman’s broken ribs and arm are jolted by the aggressive gangster’s movements.
“What the hell are you doing!?” Rory shouts as he leaps up from the floor wearing just his sweat pants and shoes. “We gave you what you wanted; now let her go!”
“Look, you little douche,” Dimitri begins with his index finger pointed at Rory’s chest, “we’re taking the girl, and if