IRINA FOUND HER MARK outside a convenience store. She watched him from the shadows.
He was about her age. Pale, his skin pockmarked with acne. He was alone, and he appeared to Irina as though he were used to it. He had sad eyes and a slight frame. He did not look threatening.
She’d been in her hiding place for ten minutes, watching customers pass in and out, trying to work up her nerve. A group of swaggering young men in baseball caps lingered by the front door, smoking cigarettes, laughing, swatting at flies. There were five of them, cocky and brash. Irina shied away from them, stuck to the darkness. Prayed they wouldn’t look in her direction.
The men finished their cigarettes and disappeared inside the store. Irina let herself breathe. Inched out of the shadows a little bit. Within a minute or two, her mark showed up.
His car was old, but it was clean. It ran okay. The young man parked and fiddled with his radio, and then he climbed out of the car and started for the store. Irina pushed herself off the wall. Now or never.
“Hey,” she said, stepping out of the shadows. Her voice came out harsh, too urgent. The young man flinched. Irina tried again. “Hey,” she said. “You.”
The young man turned around this time, his expression guarded, his body tense. He didn’t look interested in her; he looked wary, as though he could read her intentions already.
“You,” she said again. She put a smile on her face, approached him slowly. “Do you want to have me?”
The young man shifted his weight. “Um,” he said. “I don’t—”
“I want you.” Irina tried to sound seductive. Put her hand on her hip, dared the young man to admire her legs. “Will you take me somewhere?”
“Um.” The young man looked around again. “I just need some milk, lady. Whatever you’re selling, I don’t really—”
“Forget the milk,” Irina said. “Take me.”
The young man laughed, a childish burst, surprised. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t—this is too weird.”
He started toward the store. Irina followed him. “Wait,” she said. “Please.”
The young man ignored her. Reached the front of the store just as the gang of men emerged from the front doors. The young man nearly collided with them. Ducked aside as they came out, pushing and shoving each other. Then the men saw Irina and stopped, nudged each other. Their eyes roved up her legs to her hips and the swell of her breasts. One of them, the tallest, said something to his friends. They all laughed.
“What’s up, cutie?” the tallest one asked her. “What are you doing tonight?”
Irina didn’t answer. Didn’t move, just stood frozen in place. Felt a tightness in her chest. Behind the men, the young acne-faced man slipped into the store. Irina, desperate, watched him go. Wanted to call to him, but he was gone. She was alone out here, now, with these terrifying men.
“What’s the matter?” the tallest one said. “You don’t like me? Why you acting so scared?”
One of his friends called out something, and all the men laughed. The tall one spun around, faked a punch at his friend. Then he smiled at Irina, his teeth gleaming, his eyes narrowed.
“You don’t want to be friendly?” he said. “You want to be mean?”
He took a step toward Irina, then another. Not cautious steps; he was coming for her. He would take her if he wanted, and he knew that she knew it. His friends followed close behind him. They spoke to Irina. She didn’t know what they said, but their voices were mocking, singsong. They swaggered toward her. Irina ran before they could catch her.
She could hear the men’s voices as she fled the parking lot, away from the convenience store and into the darkness, the night, through an industrial neighborhood, the men’s laughter echoing off the vast warehouse walls. She ignored them, kept running until she was far away from the store and the men were gone.
She crawled into an alcove and huddled in the darkness. She didn’t dare move. Didn’t dare close her eyes, afraid she’d see the tall man leering at her. Or worse, she’d see Catalina. Instead, she huddled there, wide-awake and hungry and scared, cursing her failure, her ineptitude, her fear, waiting for the morning.