“Hold on,” Crystal yelled, popping the first stick of gum of the day in her mouth and chewing vigorously.
But the knocking continued. She pulled on one of her long T-shirts, then realized as she moved toward the door that she had no idea who it was. The only people who knew where she was staying were from Lewd and Lascivious.
“Shit.”
Leaning her shoulder against the door she inched it open, the chain still latched, and peeked out.
“You! I’m finished, not coming back. So fuck the contract and keep the money,” Crystal shouted, and slammed the door.
She turned and leaned her back against the door.
“I have word from Jan,” said the muffled voice.
Crystal turned, unhooked the security chain and flung the door open. She’d started another stick of gum and was chewing faster then ever.
Hubble stood in the doorway, not attempting to enter.
“Come in, but I warn you, you’d better not be lying, cuz no matter what you say I’m not going back to the set.”
Hubble stepped across the threshold but made no attempt to enter the room.
“This has nothing to do with your contract. Jan is sick, apparently got a little food poisoning— maybe from salmon at the big dinner at the mansion. Not sick enough to need medical care, but pretty sick. Anyway she asked if we could come get you.”
Crystal was thunderstruck; she’d spent the past twenty-four hours vilifying everyone at Lewd and Lascivious, in particular the director, and especially Hubble who she viewed as the person who started her in the business.
“If you draw me a map to the mansion,” she said, “I’ll leave right away. I’ve got a rental car. Do you know how long it’ll take to get there?”
Hubble could see that he’d won her over and slowly entered the room.
“Mr. Simms feels responsible and sent me to provide transportation. I’ll follow you to the rental place in town where we can turn in your car. I’ll drive you from there.”
Jan must have gotten sick during the day, too sick to stay up until eleven. But why didn’t she call during the day and leave a message or something? Jan knew she’d worry.
“Sure, I just need to shower and change, you don’t need to wait,” Crystal said.
“You sure you’ll be alright?” Crystal just glared her answer.
“OK, sure. I’ll just wait for you in the front of the Hertz lot. If I don’t see you pulling in within the hour I’ll come looking,” Hubble said, with a smile.
Crystal stood in the middle of the room watching Hubble walk out the door, then walked to the window and pulled the curtain aside, peeking through to watch him pull out of the motel parking lot.
Jan had said in her last phone call that she had to keep her cell phone on her so no one would find it.
Picking up the motel phone, Crystal dialed 0 to get an outside line then punched in Jan’s cell number. She let it ring twenty times. Nothing.
As she climbed out of the shower and began toweling off a wave of relief passed through her. She was going to see Jan and be free from this horrible pornography business. But as she dressed and packed, she began to wonder just how sick Jan was. Hubble had said not sick enough to need a doctor. It didn’t matter; she’d bundle her up, throw her stuff in the Subaru and take her home.
She spotted Hubble in a black and red Dodge Caravan and gave him a feeble wave as she drove into the Hertz Rent-a-Car parking lot. Hubble’s intentions seemed OK, but something just didn’t feel right.
Fifteen minutes later when he opened the rear hatch of the Caravan so she could stash her two suitcases, she couldn’t help but notice that the entire back was packed with cardboard boxes filled with videotapes. She shuddered and could only guess the contents.
Hubble caught her hesitation at seeing the boxes of tapes and with a leering smile said, “You’re in some of those.”
She ignored the comment, tossed her two bags on the boxes of tapes and walked around to the passenger side of the van, got in and fastened her shoulder harness.
She ran scenarios about how sick Jan was through her mind until finally she knew she’d drive herself crazy if she kept it up.
“How far to the mansion, I mean how long will it take?”
Hubble didn’t answer for a minute and she was about to repeat her question when he spoke.
“Sorry, just doing a little figuring. About six hours to the turn off, then another half an hour to the property. You might as well get comfortable.”
But she couldn’t get comfortable and began chewing her gum. She couldn’t stop thinking about Jan, and the feeling that something just wasn’t right.
“Did you see Jan? How sick was she?”
“Actually, I was still in L.A. when I got the call from Dr. Simms. You know most of the women that fulfill their contracts and end up at the mansion could drop off the face of the earth and no one would care. But Dr. Simms really takes an interest in the welfare of the girls, considers them like family. Your friend is lucky.”
She felt a cold chill at Hubble’s drop off the face of the earth comment.
“Jan and I have a lot of friends and family,” Crystal bleated.
“Yeah right, your parents are eagerly awaiting the next release from Lewd and Lascivious to see who their daughter’s banging,” Hubble said.
Crystal was suddenly frightened and now began popping her gum. Hubble’s attitude had changed. But she was determined to put up a strong front.
“Well, maybe not our parents. Shit, but a lot of friends. I’ve been calling them almost every night.”
Hubble gave a little laugh, then turned a half smile on Crystal. “Sure you have. Hey, remember me? I’m the guy who recruited you.”
He changed his voice to a falsetto.
“Oh Mr. Hubble, I wouldn’t be doing this but I need the money.” Then with a sneer, in his own voice he said, “If I’d laid out the money you’d have blown me on the spot. So don’t lie to me.”
Crystal felt revealed and vulnerable, but most of all pissed.
“Get fucked,” Crystal said.
“Don’t tempt me, bitch. There’s a rest stop up ahead.”
As they sped down the freeway, her heart pounded and once again her mind went into overdrive. And so did her jaw, chomping on her gum until she had rendered it to a tasteless pulp.
“Hey, get rid of that fucking gum.” Hubble hit the switch that rolled down the passenger side window. “Right now!”
She gave Hubble the finger as she took the gum from her mouth, and rolling it into a ball between her thumb and index finger, flicked it out the window.
Just as the rest stop came into sight, Hubble slowed and put on his turn signal, turned and looked at Crystal cowering in the space between the seat and the door, then started laughing. He turned off the blinker and accelerated. “Just kidding, don’t pee your pants. Simms wants you delivered unmolested.”
Crystal was in a panic. Delivered? What’s that supposed to mean?
“Oh shit,” Crystal said. She wasn’t responding to Hubble’s taunts but was looking at traffic. Suddenly the cars that had been jockeying for position, each trying to get ahead of the other, began to collide. Crystal gasped then began to point. “Stop the van.”
Hubble was looking at Crystal, who was now bouncing in her seat as she pointed.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?” Then he looked back at traffic. “Holy shit!”
“Pull over!
“Forget it, there’ll be a cop along in a minute,” Hubble said.
Crystal unbuckled her seat belt and began climbing into the back with the tapes
“Hey, what the hell are you doing?” Hubble yelled.
“Goddamn it, pull over or these tapes go out the back.”