We flew her out as soon as we found out. Our stepsister had been victimized by someone, although it’s still a mystery who.
“Wasn’t me boss, nuh uh,” said Ralph over the phone. I could almost see him chewing his cud, he was so fucking gross. But he had a point.
“Why would I endanger my living?” he asked. “You pay me good money to scout girls, I fuckin’ love this job, why would I throw it away?”
“Because, you fucking asshole, journalists pay for scandal, it makes or breaks their careers,” I snarled. “Did some fucking reporter come by the Donkey Club looking for a scoop?”
I could hear him chewing.
“Naw,” he drawled. “Naw, nothing outta the ordinary.”’
“Well nothing better have happened,” I raged into the headset. “You lost control over those videos and now a little girl is destroyed!”
“What the fuck?” ground out Ralph. “She was lookin’ to be a porn star, this is a step in the right direction.”
I stopped to consider his words. There was some truth to that, to be sure. Many a reality TV career was launched on the back of an illicit sex tape, but Melanie wasn’t a Pam Anderson or Kim Kardashian. She was a sweet co-ed, trying to earn money for tuition. She was smart and resourceful, not total hos like those women.
“Listen,” I said wearily. “We’re keeping an eye on you. DON’T FUCKING LET ANYONE INTO YOUR OFFICE!” I roared into the phone.
“Got it, boss, got it,” Ralph mumbled, before hanging up.
But I wasn’t so sure that he got it. We’d dispatched a PI in New York to trail that skeezeball, figure out what the fuck had happened with Melly’s tape. In the meantime, I’d encouraged her to fly out to LA.
“Listen baby, it’s bad, I know,” I soothed. “Why don’t you come and hang with us? Stryke and I miss you, and you were going to come back anyways.”
“I know I was, as soon as exams were over, but Saxon,” she cried, “what do I do about right now? Everybody looks at me when I walk by now, I’m a pariah,” she sobbed tearfully into the phone.
My heart broke. How hard it must have been for an eighteen year-old girl to realize that her college career and future job prospects had probably just been flushed down the toilet. That’s what the adult entertainment industry does. Good-bye to a white collar job. These days, with social media and all that whatnot, Melanie would likely never be able to escape the claws of her past.
I was floored. I didn’t know how to comfort her except to say, “Come to Los Angeles honey. Everything will be better here.”
And feeling hopeless, our baby agreed, due to arrive in a few days.