Chapter One

Harriette's POV

I was sitted sprawled on the floor just out on the pavement of the dump of an apartment that sheltered I and the other girls. I had just gotten off from work at the club "Diner". Renee my only friend, confidant, had just been shot dead in our presence and it was because of something I had done . 

 I could not hold back my tears, there was a burning sensation in my throat. The painful reality of what I had just gotten myself into hit me raw and hard. My friend Renee had just been shot and tossed into the ocean like some animal. The other girls , though surprised, managed to remain calm, but not me, Renee meant too much to me. I regretted ever coming to work in the club, I regretted everything.

 My name is harriette and I met Renee when I was 15 and she was 17 at the time, I had just run away from home after my mother's boyfriend tried to harass me and I hit him with a base ball bat, I did not wait to see if he had died before stealing my mother's money and taking off. 

 I was on the streets for days with no food and water, I took the train to San Francisco but my bag got stolen from me almost immediately I alighted. I chased and chased the person but she was long gone.

 I wandered the streets of San Francisco barely even alive , untill a girl walked upto me and dragged me down town as I had already blacked out. 

 I woke up in a shed hours later, a shed that housed about 5 girls within the age range of 13-17 . Renee was the eldest as she was 17. Apparently, they had all escaped from a foster home and chose to live on the streets instead, they were involved in robbery, car snatching, pick pocketing and the likes. They lived like a family and always looked out for one another. 

 I stared at her with a confused look. I panicked and she assured me everything would be fine, I found my bag with them, apparently they were the ones who stole my money when I arrived. 

 "You…you were the one"

 "Yeah baby girl, that's how we get by, welcome to San Francisco ". Renee said with a sly grin on her face ,smoking her cigarette.

 The gang helped me get better, Rennee grew particularly fond of me too and they introduced me into robbery and pick pocketing. They did it with so much love in their Heart untill one of us , Jane, was run over by a car during one of their operations, then it dawned on them that they had to get out of the streets.

 Renee met Mark, who was her boyfriend , he worked at Diner club which was owned by a powerful Russian family. He promised to take Renee and the rest of us off the streets. He introduced Renee and the rest of us to the club and we started off as dancers. It gravitated into pimping us for clients, they would abuse us and pay us peanuts. When we would complain to mark, he would tell us to be patient and endure if we don't want to go back to the streets. We were also made to sell drugs in the club and remit a certain amount every night or face punishment, we never knew what the punishments were but we never saw any girl work at the club again after she had "served her punishment ", almost like they disappear into thin air.

 That day it was our usual night to take care of clients . We were lined up in front of them in an orderly fashion as they drooled and examined us like we were some commodity to be bought. 

 The men picked the ones they liked . Then it got to my turn and Igor Vladimir who happened to be the elder brother of the club owner Ivan Vladimir, picked me. Every girl feared Igor Vladimir , he was a brute and didn't have any respect for women. Every girl he picked to serve him would always return with a lot of bruises, he took joy in brutalizing them as he saw them as less than humans. At this point when he pointed at me, I was shaken, mike was in the room too, he couldn't look me in the eye as he knew what this meant. 

 "Are you deaf woman?, I said you're coming with me!!!"

 Igor said with his bloodshot angry eyes and thunderous voice. 

 I vehemently refused to follow him, I was so scared, I was the first person out of our group to be picked by Igor and mark looked upon me with pity in his eyes.

 "Just follow him harry, it would be alright". Mark said re assuring me.

 "I will not ask twice girl!". Igor thundered which sent shivers running through my veins.

 "I'll go with you Mr Igor". Renee said

 There was a bit of silence. No one, I mean no one had ever done that before. We feared for Renee at this point.

 Igor burst out into laughter.

 "Well alright , since you want to be a hero". 

 Igor and his men escorted Renee to the hotel. 

 I was so scared, there was a lump in my throat and I was so uncomfortable, I wondered if Renee would be fine, just before we returned to the club, I had asked Mike if Renee would be fine and he assured me every would be fine. So I went back to my club duties while the thought of the selfless sacrifice Renee had just given for me lingered in my mind.

 Renee's POV:

 There was no way In hell I was going to let harriette follow that brute, not after seeing the fear in her eyes. Ever since Jane died, I've had it difficult keeping it together. I would not be able to forgive myself if anything happened to Harriette too. I'm tougher and can definitely take it. I brought them here, i brought Harriette here. Saying I wasn't scared would be a lie. I was escorted into a dimly lit room, all his men were heavily armed with guns. I looked to a corner of the room, I couldn't believe my eyes. My mouth dropped and my eyes raced. I saw different "tools" ranging from whips, hammer, machete, baseball bats, gloves, you name it. At this point I was dead scared. I looked atop a desk, it had a suitcase. Filled with cash. If only i could run with it, every where was heavily guarded, I looked down the window, it was a two story building. 

 I had to think of how to escape this and come for my girls later. This was a whole mafia. How do you escape from them?. This man would definitely teach me a lesson after he got out from the bathroom where he was freshening up, or worse, even kill me. I looked to the cash on the desk, perhaps I can take a few and bolt. I can't be running with a suitcase. I decided that I must act fast , I took a few bundles of cash and stashed it down my dress, I let down the window curtains, tore it in halves, took out the ends and tied them together before I let it down the window. I started hearing footsteps of Igor coming, and I didn't know when I jumped out of the window and let my self down the building, I ran . 

 Apparently Igor came into the room just as I had taken off, 

 "That damn bitch!!! Stole my cash and took off???!!!, Get me that bitch!! And I'll make an example of her, Get her Alive!!!. Igor's men trooped out en masse and armed to bring me to him.

 I had taken off into the bushes as I couldn't stay on the main roads for fear of being seen. I ran and ran but I couldn't run far as my leg got stuck to a an animal trap and I started to bleed, the pain was mind blowing but not as much as the fear of Igor's men catching up to me.

 But I wasn't so lucky as I got caught. I actually thought they would shoot me on sight but they didn't, they just hit me and I blacked out, I was brought to Igor tied up. I woke up and found myself on a beach, surrounded by Igor's men . Then I saw the girls, all of them , their eyes filled with pity and agony. I saw Harriette, i saw her fear. 

 "This little bitch here, trying to be a hero brought trouble upon herself, nobody steals from me and lives to tell the story". Igor snapped and hit me across the face, my blood splurging all over my face and his too, he wiped it off and he spat at me". At this point my vision became blurry I could barely even see what was going on around me, I knew this was the end. What a rough run I had. I saw Harriette , the tears running down her cheeks, I could only but smile. 

 "I am going to make an example of you bitch!! Nobody can leave !!! You leave you dieee!!! You can't work and dine with us and just leave !!. Much more stealing my money!!!! .", Finish her off.

 Igor's men cocked their rifles and several bullets riddled my weak body, they made it quick , that at least ,I was grateful for. Igor spat at my body and ordered them to dump me in the ocean.