Mercedes Bends

"That's bullshit Mercedes!"

"It is what it is."

"No, we have a group in New Orleans, something can be done we..."

She stopped as Mercedes shook her head.

"Not an option, if I force that upon them they will poison her against me, most likely that is happening as we speak. I...my brother was home and took the phone from his wife. We argued as always and...I have no idea if I'll even be able to talk to my friend again never mind Jennifer."

"Pardon me for saying this, but your brother is a piece of work."

"He's worse than that; he thinks he's a man of god."

"Zealot." Victoria nodded. "The worst kind of ignorant."

Mercedes put her phone in her purse so she wouldn't keep looking at it and sat silently. In front of her Victoria was toying with a napkin appearing to be lost in thought. Looking back up at her she said, "That's a tough situation Mercedes and I'm sorry you have been dealing with it, but may I ask what this has to do with our discussion? I mean other than being upset in general?"

"It's all connected in a sense." She told her. "Victoria, I run a sex club and a very profitable one at that. It is not unreasonable to say I owe everything I have to sex and men and women's desire for it. But on the other side, the side that only I know, sex is also the reason I lost all that once was dear to me, including to some extent a big part of myself."

"Many in the group are not close to their families, our lifestyles and personas are not conducive to being close to people and even family can't understand the...shall we say tastes some of us have developed."

"My situation is beyond that. Simply put Felicia..."

"Victoria, please I'm just your friend right now Mercedes and before you go further know this does not leave us."

"I appreciate that," she bowed her head slightly, "My point is that for certain reasons I no longer enjoy sex, at least sex that I feel is thrust upon me."

"But the videos are for fun Mercedes we're supposed to enjoy them."

"I do not and I have reached a point where if Scarlett is going to hold me to this, she can seek out my replacement."

"I don't think it needs to come to that." Victoria put her hands out, "Why don't you tell me the story? You seem to want to. As I said, with a legitimate reason, I can come up with something."

"I suppose I owe you as much, you've always been good to me Victoria and you were one of the reasons I joined the Circle in the first place, but understand it's not my story."

"What do you mean?" Victoria looked confused.

"Well the latter part is, but the beginning is not the story of Mercedes, but a poor, but ambitious teenager named Tonya Cooper."

*****

"I was born and raised in ever so promising Bridge City Louisiana." Mercedes began. "Right from the start I didn't fit in because well..." she shrugged. "My parents were expecting twin boys, but guess they didn't look too closely at the sonogram and got a little girl in the deal."

"My father was never close to me; I think he regretted I wasn't a boy and he was..." she sighed, "A zealot and want to be preacher like my brother is now. My father believed that women more so than men, were sinners because Eve was the one who caused Adam to sin."

"What?" Victoria asked in disbelief, "You were born in this century right?"

"Bridge City may not have gotten the memo yet." Mercedes replied disgustedly. "Women were certainly second class citizens. Roger went with my father all the time and I stayed with mom and baked and cleaned the house and..."

"Wait, you bake?" Victoria laughed, "That's..." she froze when Mercedes gave her a hard stare.

"Sorry." Victoria said, but couldn't cover the small smile still playing about her lips.

"There was one member of my mother's family who left Bridge City. Her oldest sister Mary who married a police officer and moved with him when he got a job in Baton Rouge, everyone else just stayed. They went to school and from high school got a job, married someone local and kept wallowing in the same poverty and dead end life generations of their family had."

"Mary came to visit and spent a lot of time with me. She had gotten out and seen the opportunities for a smart young woman like myself and wanted to help me. Behind my parents back she helped me fill out applications for scholarships and under the pretense of taking me to visit her, took me to several colleges."

"Your parents didn't want you to go to school?"

"My mother felt a woman's place was at home and my father felt a woman's place was somewhere beneath the shit on his shoe. Roger had no interest in college and my father point blank told me that if his boy couldn't go, there was no way his daughter would, just think of the disgrace."

"I..." Victoria searched for the words,

"You can't comprehend," Mercedes finished for her, "And don't try to, you have to be from there to understand it. Just know that was how he felt."

"Incredible that still exists."

"I didn't help my cause any. The first time Mary had spoken to me about being able to do more for myself I was twelve and from that point on I taught myself to speak without my tell tale bumpkin drawl. If I spoke slowly enough I could do it and at one point a member of the church approached my father and asked if I was special needs."

"I was going to say, I always thought you were from the east coast the way you speak."

"If I get angry enough it comes out."

"Can I hear..."

"Absolutely not." Mercedes snapped.

"Lighten up Mercedes, it could be funny some time that's all. "

"There is nothing funny about your father beating you until you spoke proper as he called it. It cost me whippings that would put anything you've done in the Circle to shame, to lose that accent."

"I'm so sorry Mercedes." she reached out and put her hand over hers.

"I don't want your pity Victoria, you asked for this story and you're getting it."

"Careful what you wish for right?"

"I got to a point where I would speak with my accent because whenever he beat me I had to stay home from school because of the marks. I was afraid if I lost too much time my grades would suffer so I pretended I was obeying him, In the meantime every night I would sit out under a tree in the back yard and read out loud from library books and practice not using it."

"Meanwhile Roger could do no wrong and was starting to spout out scripture and chauvinism just like all the cavemen before him. He began dating my best friend Michelle and I discovered through her, he was quite free with his hands. I kicked his ass one day for it and received a beating that sent me to the hospital from my father. There was never an investigation, because around there a disrespectful woman got what they deserved."

"Zealots and women beaters. Note to self, never send Lovecraft down there" Victoria muttered.

"I think it's safe to say you can assume there was also a lot of racism in Bridge City. The blacks and whites were not officially segregated, but it was not far from it. Because of the stellar examples of manhood living with me I had no interest in men."

"That upset my father because to him my sole purpose in life was to get married and give him some grandsons. He fixed me up several times with sons of his friends, several of which seemed to be point blank looking for me to just give up my cherry." She grunted disgustedly. "When I wouldn't I would get classy comments like, "Well, can you just suck it?"

"That is not limited to the rural south." Victoria pointed out to her.

"True. The point here is all of them were the sons of the outstanding members of my father's church. The minister's son referred to me as a stuck up cunt when I wouldn't put out then spread a rumor I was a whore. You know what that got me."

"I don't want to." Victoria said softly.

"In the meantime there was a very sweet young man whom I did like. His name was Robert and he played football and his father owned the hardware store. They were one of the few families that had a little bit of money. The problem was, Robert was white. My brother caught us kissing behind the store and ran to my father."

"Two nights later Robert was jumped by several of my brother's friends and put in the hospital. I was beaten as well and was accused of being a black whore who wanted to be used by white men. After that I never bothered to leave the house, the good thing is since they all thought I'd fucked a white boy, my father stopped trying to get me knocked up by his friends kids."

"I'm seeing where your high opinion of men stems from."

"Well senior year comes around and I get accepted to LSU. I'm thrilled and make the mistake of telling my mother. The family gets together and I'm told I'm not going. I was distraught and late that night called my aunt Mary who said not to worry about it. She said to accept the offer, never bring it up again to my parents and she would call me. Two weeks before the fall semester started she called me and told me to go the post office where they had a package for me. It contained a bus ticket to Baton Rouge and two hundred dollars in cash. A week later, I packed two suitcases and left."

"Did they try to come get you?" Victoria asked,

"Nope, well not right away, but I'll get there. When I got settled onto campus I sent them a letter saying I was okay. I never got a response and called them. My father told me I'd chosen to turn my back on my family so he was turning his back to me."

"No great loss there."

"I was upset, but at the same time, "She smiled at the memory. "It was so amazing, Victoria! The city and all the other students and everyone spoke to me as an equal and my color didn't mean a damn thing. I was out in the real world and it was better than I thought! And the boys?" she laughed, "I was a pretty girl and was getting asked out quite often. I went on a lot of dates and had a good time, but still wouldn't sleep with them."

"Why not?"

"Honestly, I was a little shy. I was a country girl whether I would admit it or not and was afraid of being used. I was also deathly afraid of getting pregnant and losing my chance at an education. But I was having fun and doing well in school, but then a problem arose."

"I had a feeling something would."

"My scholarship covered a lot of things, but the grant it went through ran into money trouble. My tuition was still paid, but I could no longer live on campus unless I could afford to pay for part of school. I was able to find an apartment with another girl and had a job at a coffee shop, but the rent was more than we could handle. More hours would take away from school and..." she shrugged, "I ended up behind on the rent and was a week away from being thrown out. My aunt Mary had taken ill with Cancer and it's not like I could call back home."

"I think I know where this is going."

"And you would be right. A friend knew the situation I was in and told me she worked for an escort service. The company paid you by the hour to go out with a man for the evening, but she said the real money was made afterwards. I was nervous, but desperate. I had nowhere else I could go and would be damned if I would let anything stop my education."

"You know Mercedes, like I said, I get the picture I don't need all the details."

"But you do, if you want to understand me. "

"Then go ahead I just don't want you to get upset."

"Too late. So I agree to a date and it's a man maybe in his forties. He's white, successful, not unattractive. We go to dinner then to a club for some dancing. After that he tells me he'd like me to go back to his hotel. I tell him no thank you and he says don't worry he'll make it worth my while and shows me a hundred dollar bill. I say no again then again. Finally he takes out a money clip and counts out five hundred dollars. He says he doesn't usually go that high, but has a thing for black girls."

"So you took it?"

"Victoria, I am not lying when I say until that point I had never seen five hundred dollars in some one's hand. I went back to his place, but I..." she grunted. "I was still a virgin. I was almost nineteen and the most I'd ever done was let a kid get his hand under my shirt. He asks me to undress and I...my fingers were shaking the entire time. He didn't say anything, but he was smiling. I think my being nervousness was turning him on."

"He sits on the bed and takes his cock out and asks me to come over and show him what my pretty lips could do. I...had no idea what I was doing. I'd seen a porno once in the dorm and took it in my mouth and just," she shrugged. "Moved my head around. I guess I didn't do too badly because the next thing I know he's cumming in my mouth. I hadn't expected it and it was nasty. I tried to swallow it, but gagged and spit a lot of it out. I started telling him I was sorry and he told me it was fine, he liked my innocence."

"I bet he did."

"He asked me to sit back on the couch and he went down on me. I was trembling, but he...it didn't feel bad and I'd never had anyone do that and I came for him. Then he asked me to stand up and..." she paused then finished in a subdued tone. "I lost my virginity bent over a couch. He wasn't all that rough, but he was big and it was my first time and it hurt and I was so ashamed. All I could hear was my father calling me a whore and he was right."

"If he'd been a real father he would have been helping you." Victoria pointed out disgustedly.

"After that I swore I wouldn't so it again, but I not only paid the rent, but I got some new clothes." She shook her head. "I hadn't mentioned that the only thing about school was I did get made fun of by the other girls for my clothes. I really didn't have a lot of nice things and had no clue how to dress. So the clothes made me feel better about things. The agency called again and I...I said okay."

"I went through with it again and this time the guy was a little less patient and very demeaning. He made me blow him twice because I'd done such a shitty job the first time. I stayed and did it and when he fucked me it was doggy and rough. I was sore for two days after that. They called again and well let's just say I never said no. The money was not only paying the bills. But I was buying nice things, better than I'd ever had and was even putting money in the bank."

"Can I ask if, you know since you'd broken the ice so to speak, you were sleeping with guys for fun?"

"I fooled around with a couple of guys who asked me out, but...I never really got into it. I just kept seeing it as I was just doing a job. And speaking of the job I was doing a couple a week at that point and letting them do what they wanted. One paid me two hundred extra to fuck me in the ass. The way I was raised that was of course disgusting, but I was close to being able to buy a car so I let him. It hurt like hell and I could tell he loved hearing me squeal."

"But you can imagine how it went. It got easier and easier. I started to play along with them, flirt at dinner, rub up on them if we went dancing and make them feel like I desired them. Faked orgasms and gave them a good time. I started getting regulars and that wasn't as bad as I got to know them. But a lot were from out of town so I had to keep taking new clients. By then I'd learned to detach myself and there were times I would be sucking cock while thinking about my term paper."

"You never got into it?"

"No, it was a job. I fucked the way my mother would vacuum the floor, just something that needed to be done. So I'm starting to become in higher demand and making more per night. Things were going well at school and I now had a decent car, a nice wardrobe and I justified what I was doing. All in all life wasn't so bad. Then Roger shows up."

"To take you back?" Victoria asked.

"Yes, but that wasn't why he was supposed to be there. A friend of his from school who had gotten a job in Baton Rouge was getting married and invited Roger and some friends up for the wedding. They were staying with him and Roger would be in town a few days. He told me my parents didn't know he was seeing me and it was him asking me to come back, telling me I didn't belong there."

"So a fun visit I take it."

"Honestly Victoria he seemed jealous. I had my own apartment, well with a roommate, but still. I had a car and things that belonged to me that I had paid for. He kept looking around like he couldn't believe it. I told him he should try to stay in town, see if his friend could get him a job, told him there was so much more there for him."

"He got haughty and started telling me there I was being too good for my family, started being a tool and mocking the way I spoke and how I dressed like a slut asked if I was selling it. That was a hard one to ignore, but I just told him to leave me alone."

"A couple of nights later the agency calls and asks if I can do a bachelor party. One of the girls who were supposed to go was sick. I didn't like doing those, but they told me how much it paid and added there would a lot of, shall we say, opportunity there. So I decided to go."

"It was a large party and pretty wild. There were older men there as well and they had money and I...I ended up in the back room with two of them. They were offering me several hundred dollars to let them both take me. I had never done that, but said I would. After all who was I to have standards at that point? I got down in front of them and sucked them both hard. They started degrading me, calling me a good little black whore. I should have left, but didn't."

"When they were ready I got on my knees and let one take me from behind while I sucked the other. I guess they didn't lock the door and it opened and...my brother walked in. It was his friend's bachelor party."

"Jesus." Victoria exhaled loudly.

"For all the ill will I harbor my brother, I still feel for him in that moment. Coming into that room and there's his twin sister between two men like a pig on a spit; a cock in each end of her. He...he just stared and almost fell backwards out of the room closing the door behind him. I sat up, thinking I would follow him, but one of the Johns asked where I was going and I...I stayed."

"You what?"

"What was I going to say to Roger even if I caught up with him? So I let them continue. They'd paid a lot and I let them have whatever they wanted. They took turns lying on their backs with me riding one, while the other fucked my ass. The entire time I was between them, my pussy sore and my ass burning, I was trying not to cry. They saw I was upset, but assumed it was because of them and they got off on it, started calling me names. I...I didn't even care at that point."

Mercedes stopped and looked down at her hands around the tea cup, they were trembling. She took a deep breath and went on. "At the end they whipped their cocks out and both of them came all over my face. While I remained on my knees they got dressed and on the way out one of them threw another fifty at me for being a good little coon as he put it."

"That's in the past my lady," Victoria reached out and put her hand on her arm. "That will never happen to you again. I..."

"Really? Then why am I being told to fuck someone? But we'll come back to that because it did happen again and recently."

"When?" Victoria demanded "And who? I can assure you..."

"Oh, we'll get there." Mercedes nodded.

As she'd told that last part of story she'd recalled the last time she had been degraded like that and not only was it causing anger to replace her sorrow, but she was going to be putting Victoria on the spot very shortly. Even when she was not at her best, The Lady Mercedes could manipulate with the best of them.

"Uh..okay. For now I take it that your brother..."

"Roger couldn't call home fast enough. By the time I'd gotten home my roommate had told me my father had called. I didn't call back right away, I couldn't. I showered, trying to wash away my shame and tell myself I was just doing what I had too. Fact was Victoria I didn't have too. I didn't need their money that bad, I had regulars that were decent to me. But I was caught up in having more than I'd ever had."