Free His Favorite Girl by Steph Sweeney Page B

his dick, her tongue in his mouth.
    He might just be using me.
    It wouldn't be the first time.
    Stop it, Melissa.  Stay focused.
    I went back to the room, where Flora was stacking food trays neatly on the cart.  I thought about the Flora from last night, wheeling a similar cart in her server uniform.  My Flora had done the same, worked for Patton as an extracurricular activity in the months leading to her graduation.  So had all the ones before her.
    I helped her clear the table and wheel the cart out the door.  Then I called James to come pick it up.
    "You're nervous about something," Flora said.  "I can tell."
    For a moment all I could do was nod.  Flora waited patiently for me to fulfill my promise to tell her what was going on.
    "Would you like a glass of wine?" I asked.
    She laughed.  "In the morning?"
    "Screw it.  I need to simmer down."
    I grabbed a random bottle from the wine cooler, popped the cork, and poured two glasses, bringing the bottle with me when I returned to the table.
    Flora sipped modestly, but I downed my glass in two large gulps.
    As I refilled my glass, Flora tipped her head back and drank all of her wine.  Then she set her glass on the table and put her hands in her lap, looking guilty.
    "That's the way to do it," I said, refilling her glass.
    She looked up and smiled.  "Sorry."
    "Don't apologize to me.  You can have as much as you want."
    We killed the bottle in less than an hour, and soon I popped open another.  I can't recall how the conversation led to me telling her about my meeting with Patton and Brian, Mr. Shriver's business trip, the bruises on Judy's back, Brian's efforts to eliminate me.  I even told her about the vents.
    "You can't tell anyone," I reiterated for the fifth time, "and you have to promise me you won't go in those vents.  If Clifton finds you, he'll rape you."
    "I've never met Clifton."
    "Trust me, you don't want to."
    At this point we'd moved over to the bed.  We lay on our backs on top of the comforter, staring up at the recessed lighting.
    "I want to help," Flora said after a few minutes of silence.  She'd been playing footsy with me, her bare foot nudging my tennis shoe.  "I'll do anything to help the other girls."  She paused and I turned to look at her.  A tear streaked down her temple.  "They all have it so much worse than we do.  The Doll Girls especially.  We were always told when Doll Girls turn fourteen, their bodies shut down on their own, they stop growing, they can't speak anymore."  She turned over to face me.  "That's not true, is it?  They do something to them, right?"
    Yes, I thought, but how do they make them stop growing?
    I nodded.  Flora sniffled.
    "And the Frog Girls . . . they're not born that way either, are they?"
    "No.  Surgery."
    "So all the girls are made a certain way.  The Vampire Girls are made to be angry and mean.  It's not their fault."
    "It's not."
    She scooted close to me and wrapped her arm around my chest, sobbing into my neck, her whole body shaking.
    "I'll do anything," she mumbled, her voice going high as the crying overtook her.
    "I know, I know.  It's okay.  We're going to put an end to this.  I promise."
    She pulled away suddenly and put her forehead to mine.
    "Please," she said.  "Please let me help.  I'll die if I have to."
    Then she kissed me.

─Inventory─
     
    I SAT in the lobby and stared at my watch as employees filed past me to the cafeteria for their lunch break.  Three minutes till, two minutes, one.
    "Melissa."
    I looked up to see Judy standing before me.  She looked as nervous as I felt, despite my half-drunkenness.
    I jumped to my feet and almost threw my arms around her, but when she recoiled I remembered the bruises and stopped myself.  Then I came in slowly, putting my hands on her shoulders.  "I can't talk right now," I whispered.  "Meet me in the cafeteria when you get off work."
    She looked confused, but she nodded and walked away just as Sean stepped out of the