Chapter 2

The streets of the city were filled with grime and muck. Dark shadows lay along alleyways and street corners. Rats scurried along the drains and among the heaps of trash along the sidewalks, hoping to find a decent meal.
All of a sudden, lightning flashed and thunder roared, bringing down rain from the heaven’s above. The rain came down hard and fast. Wind’s blew swift and cold through the streets.
Hobo’s hid in boxes to get out of the wind and rain. Their tattered clothes not providing the comfort nor the protection. They shivered and cowered in their boxes in the rain.
In the slums of Varren City, prostitutes and pimps were rampant. Red neon lights flashed on and off, cheap w****s were offering themselves to taxi drivers, pimps were beating their w****s who couldn’t turn a profit and loud moans could be heard from the windows of a grungy and low apartment building.
Julia Stone was on her work shift. Dressed in a low-cut tank top, stilettos and leopard-print leather tights. She pulled a cigarette out of it’s box and lit it, taking in deep gulps of smoke and blowing them back out, creating a thick and ashy cloud.
She hated her job. She hated her life. She ran away from her home in San Francisco at 15 with no money, no where to go and no family to go to. She hitchhiked herself across 100 miles of American road. Hitching rides from college kids to truck drivers… all for a certain private service.
By the time she reached Varren City, she had become a pro in the business of prostitution. She began working for the city’s biggest pimp only known as Mr. Hoffer. He ran the biggest prostitution ring in the entire city. Policemen, congressmen, hell, even the Mayor of Varren City hired one or two of his girls on the weekends. But that was 10 years ago.
Now, she was on her own. 2 months ago, Hoffer was caught in a drive-by staged by his rival, Don Marino. Both crime lords at the time were fighting for control of the city’s underworld. Street fights and shoot outs were commonplace in the slums of the city during this time. People died everyday in the streets. No one was safe. Even worse was the fact that the cops were paid to shut an eye.
As soon as word got out that Hoffer was dead, people started going to Marino for protection. The slums weren’t exactly the safest place in town. Cutthroats and thieves littered the streets of the Varren City slums. No less than 10 people died everyday. Men, women, children, beggars. Anyone that couldn’t pay up.
As she stood against the wall smoking her cigarette, passer-bys looked on at her. Her physique, the desires of men. Since high school, boys had thrown themselves at her, hoping to get a closer look at that sweet bodice of her.
Her brunette hair and curvaceous body were still intact, not to mention her bust and butt had grown exponentially since high school. Now, men were practically her slaves. She could get 5 men in a night without even trying. However, she grew colder over the years, distancing herself from other people. The only person she ever trusted now was her friend, Kimora “ChiChi” Jones, another one of Mr. Hoffer’s girls. They had been best friends since Julia’s first day on the job. ChiChi had given her some advice on how to pick her customers and how to survive in the city. She put out her cigarette.
She had enough of standing around. She walked off in the other direction towards her apartment. She’d had enough for today. She screwed at least 3 men that night… 3 men and 2 women.
She hated her job. She hated men. So soft and weak. Having to pay for sex when they can perfectly f*** their own wives. God, she couldn’t believe how low men have sunk. When she was a little girl, she thought that when she grew up she’d be whisked away on a horse by her knight in shining armor. Now she knew what mean were really like : low, boorish… and plain stupid.
The walk to her apartment would take her, at the least, 10 minutes, unless some scumbag tried to grab her a**, in which case he’d be dead. Loud, high-pitched whistles coming from the various men could be heard as she walked along the sidewalk.
“Hey baby, gimme a good time and I’ll make it worth your while.” called a young man in his 20’s while showing the wad of cash he had in his hands.
‘He’s gonna die soon.’ thought Julia. Anyone who showed off that they had money in the slums was bound to be killed. She kept walking, ignoring the further advances of the man.
The young man stood back laughing, he was drunk. He had been partying and drinking. He smelled of cheap beer, cigars and women’s perfume. He tried to remain upright as he was walking along the sidewalk. He held a bottle of beer in his hand, drinking it as he walked along.
Pretty soon, he ended up sprawled on the sidewalk… dead. His neck slit open with blood running down the side. A cutthroat had easily knocked him out and dragged him into a nearby alleyway and stole all his money. He slit the man’s throat for added measure. The cutthroat ran off a rich man… for now.
Julia kept walking. Soon enough she reached her apartment. She took one look at it and felt disgusted. The place was dilapidated. Paint was peeling, the drains were filled with rubbish and the windows were broken in. The place was a haven for drug dealers, addicts and pushers.
She walked up the stairs towards the entrance. To her dismay, as she stepped inside, there lied a sacking heap of human debris on the floor. It stank of piss. She kicked it aside and made her way through the corridor. She took the stairs up to her apartment on the 4th floor.
As soon as she reached her floor, she took a brisk walk towards he room. She just wanted to be alone for a while. The life of a prostitute was no easy one… it wasn’t rewarding either. It wasn’t as if there was and award given to the best prostitute in Varren City. Prostitutes here in Varren City were the lowest of the low, even the cutthroats were above them in the food chain.
She reached her door, opened it and stepped inside her apartment room. Surprisingly it was neat and tidy, and with decent furniture and lighting. Her bed was a four-poster bed with a clean bed sheets, pillows and duvet sheets. She took off her clothes and threw them on the floor. Revealing her bodice. Tender, soft baby-like skin. Her breasts were round temples from heaven. She made her way towards the bathroom, switched on the light and turned on the taps of her bathtub. Warm water ran out from the taps and into the tub, making a light steam. She pulled out a bottle of bubble bath and sprinkled a little into the hot bath. The bubbles started to form and foam up. She wrapped her hair in a towel to keep it from getting wet while she bathed. She slowly stepped inside the hot bath. She felt the warm water slowly take its effect on her. It calmed her and loosened her muscles. It felt good.
As she bathed in the hot water, she dreamt back to the days when she was a mere 15 year old. She was aspiring to become an actor and get on Broadway. Since she was a little girl she enjoyed movies, dancing and acting. She always acted in the school plays. But when she told her parents what she wanted to be on her 15th birthday, they disapproved. They wanted her to become a clerk instead. She ran away that same night. She came to Varren City because it was the closest city to San Francisco. She needed to earn some money to get all the way to New York. Instead, she was forced into prostitution. She served herself on a platter everynight.
She had enough of the bath. She got out, but didn’t bother to dry herself. To her being naked and being fully clothed were the same thing nowadays. She opened a window to let the cold air in. She could feel herself cooling down from the hot bath. She lay on her bed, feeling the soft silk sheets and pillow coverings she had worked so hard to buy. She was dozing off and decided to get under the duvet. It felt nice and warm. She nearly forgot to close the window, but decided she’d give her eyes some rest for a few minutes. That was her big mistake.