While Myles still saw Maggie regularly, he also opened her up to more clientele. He didn’t trust the girl any longer, and as a result, her days of being sold only to his high-paying perverts were over. On the main floor of the house, the original homeowners had built a study with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. The cartel converted the study into a waiting room for clients. For entertainment, they had erected a pole in the middle of the floor.
When John William informed the three girls that they would dance and strip for the waiting clients, Maggie pursed her lips, and her eyes bulged as if she was about to go into a full-blown seizure. Shana, on the other hand, no longer cared what she had to do. She was constantly high. Shana took pills from John William and any of the clients who offered them to her. Drugs weren’t a problem, in the eyes of the cartel, if it meant the kids would be more desirable. That’s exactly what drugs did for Shana. She was willing to perform sexual acts without the slightest trace of resistance. She gave herself over to them completely.
“Cali, I can’t dance,” Maggie confided, when John William left them alone in the basement. “What am I supposed to do?” She was always on edge now, fearing they would severely punish her again.
“Well, I’m going to teach you how, so don’t worry about it. Besides, Maggie, you can do anything. Never forget that,” Cali assured her.
Cali had loved gymnastics as a young girl. Before she was kidnapped, she’d dreamed of going to the Olympics and winning a gold medal. Those skills would come in handy now in her fucked-up life.
While Maggie had recovered physically from the trauma of her punishment, she had lost her sense of independence and confidence. Cali wanted Maggie to regain her spirit, and she was determined to teach her how to dance. She would have done anything to help Maggie. She knew that the young girl was special. Cali didn’t know why or how, but she was certain that Maggie’s life would have meaning.
Maggie was processing the new information. “If I can dance, does that mean I won’t be sold for sex anymore?”
“No, baby. It means that you’ll be able to dance for the clients while they are waiting their turns. I’ll teach you how to dance and strip,” Cali explained.
“Strip? I have to strip?” Maggie whined. She already hated what she was doing with strange men.
“Really, Mags? What’s the difference? You have to strip when you’re alone with these assholes. It just means there’ll be more guys watching you, that’s all. Hopefully, the guys that are willing to sit around and watch won’t be as crazy as the assholes that blow in here, fuck us, and leave,” Cali said, trying to present the “bright” side.
“OK. I guess so, Cali. What do you think, Max?” she asked, knowing he was listening to their conversation.
“I think it might make things easier for you. Like Cali said, the guys who are willing to sit around and wait could be less violent,” Max told her.
“I hate this,” Maggie declared, but she was resigned to doing what was expected of her. “But you swear you’ll show me everything you know? I don’t want to piss Myles off. I never want them to punish me again.”
That same afternoon, John William took the three girls up to the second floor. They all stood around the pole, looking at it as if aliens had just plunked it down in the middle of the floor. John William turned on the music. “Let’s go. I want to see what you got.”
Cali quickly stepped up and began dancing with one hand on the pole. She used some of the moves from the gymnastics routine she had memorized for competitions in middle school. Then she put her left hand on the pole above her head and placed her right hand at waist height. In one swift movement, she swung her legs up, clamped the pole with her knees, and let her head hang.
Maggie watched in awe as Cali manipulated her body in different ways. Cali was fluid and graceful. It all looked so easy. Cali’s feet were back on the floor, and she began to shimmy up the pole as if she were a monkey. As soon as her feet hit the floor a second time, John William stopped the music. “You are supposed to strip, you brainless tramp!”
When John William turned the music back on, Cali began to strip, and when the song finished, he seemed somewhat satisfied with her performance. Then Cali walked over and put her hand on Maggie’s shoulder.
Maggie flinched at her touch. She couldn’t imagine doing all the things that Cali had just done. Not without looking like a complete fool.
Cali leaned in closer to Maggie. “Come on, Mags. It’ll be fine. I’m gonna show you everything.”