The next three weeks were hell for Maggie. She was kept in the vertical box in the closet for most of the time. Armando threw mice and bugs into the box with her after she killed the snake. It was like a game for him, and the more he tortured her, the more Maggie lost her sense of self. She was being reduced to an animal and a servant, which was all part of the wrecking period.
Armando only took Maggie out of the box for three things: to eat, to be brainwashed, and for sex. Bit by bit, he broke her down. Spending twenty-two hours a day in a cramped box was more horrifying than anything else she had endured.
“Come on, bitch. Give me your hands. Time to come out and play,” Armando said after she’d been in the box for the first three days. He hoisted her out, and she crawled into the bedroom. Armando towered over her. “Fuck, girl! You stink. You need a damn shower before I can get within ten feet of your stank ass!”
Armando walked to the bedroom door and yelled, “Trinity! Get your fat, black ass up here, girl!”
Trinity, a longtime hooker, sauntered up to the second floor. She was only thirteen when Armando wrecked her for Rock. She had run away from an abusive mother, who was hooking her out to dirt bags in the neighborhood. After fleeing her home in Maryland, she found herself on Kensington Avenue, and Rock offered her a place to sleep. Trinity had become one of the most heartless prostitutes on the street. Now, when she wasn’t hooking, she helped the men wreck the girls and punish them for disobedience.
“What cha need, Armando?” Trinity asked, reaching the bedroom.
“I need you to give this nasty bitch a shower. She fuckin’ stinks, and I ain’t havin’ nothing that smells like that,” he said. “You give me a shout when she’s done, hear?”
“Yeah, I hear,” she responded.
After Armando left the bedroom, Trinity looked at Maggie, who was sprawled out on the floor. She had shit and pissed all over herself in the three days she was held captive in the box.
“I don’t know why I get stuck cleanin’ these bitches up,” Trinity said to herself. “Look at you,” she said to a weak and unresponsive Maggie. “You done got yourself all shitted and pissed up. You fuckin’ nasty, girl.”
Trinity helped Maggie up off the floor. She took slow steps toward the bathroom. Trinity reached in and turned on the shower. “Come on, girl. Get yourself in there,” Trinity ordered.
As the water splashed over Maggie’s head, she began to feel alive again. Trinity stood with her arms crossed and the shower curtain open so she could watch her. “You need to wash that hair and clean that dirty puss and ass, girl. Ain’t nobody gonna want to tap that thing. Man, you’re gross.”
“Can I have a glass of water, please,” Maggie croaked.
Trinity eyed her up and down, and then she walked over to the bathroom sink. She grabbed an old cup from the back of the toilet and filled it with water. She handed it to Maggie, who was still in the shower. Maggie guzzled the water and looked to her for more. “Nah, ’nuff of that shit. I ain’t your momma. Don’t go lookin’ at me with those sad eyes. I ain’t no stranger to suffering, so ya ain’t gettin’ no sympathy from me.”
Maggie finished showering and turned off the faucets. She slowly got out of the tub and took a dirty towel from the hook on the back of the bathroom door. After drying herself, she walked into the bedroom. “Are there any clothes for me?” Maggie asked Trinity.
“Ha! What you need with clothes? Nah, there ain’t no clothes for you, white girl. All you need to do now is sit on the bed and wait for Armando.”
Trinity studied Maggie closely. Minus the dark circles and pale skin that hadn’t seen sunlight in years, she could see the young girl’s beauty. Trinity put her hand on her chin and rubbed it as she thought about Maggie on the streets. The girl would get a lot of business. The men liked young and beautiful hookers. Maggie was both of those things.
Trinity’s glare made Maggie squirm. She wanted to know what she was thinking and find out what they were going to do with her. “What’s going to happen to me?” Maggie finally asked.
“Lots a bad shit gonna happen to you if you don’t do what you’re told. I don’t tolerate anyone breakin’ the rules, and if you do, I’ll fuck you up real bad. When ya break the rules, I gets in trouble too, so just do what you gotta do. It’ll be a lot less painful,” Trinity threatened.
Maggie said a little prayer that her pain would stop. But as they had for three years, her prayers went unanswered.