Anastacia looked over her shoulder as she walked briskly down the dark, dirty street. She could swear she heard footsteps behind her. Every time she looked back, no one was there. She’d just finished up with a trick, pocketing the $50 and making a hasty exit from his car in the alleyway. Anastacia tightened her grip on the pocket knife she kept in her purse, but it provided little comfort.
Even though she’d been a hooker for almost two years, it still felt dirty to her. Anyway, she had a drug habit to support and needed to pay for a place to stay, a squalid apartment nearby. Her mother had always called Anastacia “my little queen” while combing her long blond hair. “One day you’ll be rich and famous my beautiful Anastacia. You were born to be special.” When she was 11, Anastacia’s father was killed by a drunk driver on his way home from work. Her mom started drinking heavily.
At 13, it seemed like things would get better when mom brought home a new boyfriend. He was super cool and nice to Anastacia. Taking Anastacia and her friends out all the time, hanging in the backyard and watching movies with them after school. After about a year, mom’s new boyfriend started becoming too friendly with Anastacia. Way too friendly. Nick said that’s how a good daddy would treat his daughter. But Anastacia remembered how her real father treated her and it was nothing like what Nick did to her.
When Anastacia told her mom what Nick was doing, mom called Anastacia a liar and said she was just spoiled and ungrateful for how Nick provided for them. The abuse continued over the next year until Nick was coming into her bedroom almost nightly. One day Anastacia decided she couldn’t take it anymore. She hopped a bus into the city. Arriving in the middle of a cold winter evening, she walked off the bus and walked into the arms of a waiting pimp.
When Michael offered her a hot coffee at the bus stop she thought he was just a concerned guy. Eventually she opened up to him. In his mid-20s, with a steely calm demeanour, Michael had a gentle handsomeness to him, toughened up by a scar running from his top lip to below his chin. He seemed nice enough, listening to her story and then offering her food and a warm place to stay for the night. It was a small but nice apartment in central downtown. Michael took her shopping for new clothes the next day and told her she could stay at his place as long as she wanted. Anastacia felt a little uncomfortable accepting his generosity but reasoned with herself, what choice did she have right now.
Michael had few household rules, but asked her to keep the place tidy and always kept his bedroom door closed. Sometimes he disappeared for hours at a time, especially in the evenings. He told Anastacia he had a business that kept him on call 24/7. After a few weeks, Anastacia started feeling better about Michael. He treated her well, although there was a distance he seemed to always maintain, especially when talking about himself.
She’d called her mom and told her everything was fine. Her mom freaked out on the phone and said she’d called the cops to report her missing. Anastacia said not to worry and that she’d be home eventually, hanging up before her mom could object further. Overall, Anastacia thought she’d come into a pretty good situation, considering.
Things were about to change drastically…(part two of she died a queen)
