Belle Read online

  If Lucas could have seen her now, he would have lifted her chin and said, “Head up, buttercup. The world would love to see you fail. But we are Duboises, and we don’t fail.”

  Belle wiped away the remaining tears on her face and blinked her eyes until her vision was clear. She couldn’t believe that God could be so cruel. She didn’t want to live in a world without her family. Why couldn’t she have been killed too? She looked back at the church. People had started to file out and clear the way for the pallbearers. Belle contemplated going to the gravesite to pay her last respects, but when she started her car, she didn’t follow the others.

  “I have to get out of here,” Belle said to herself.

  There was nothing left in Nebraska for her, and it was time to say her final goodbye. She drove in the direction of the interstate, not knowing where her final stop would be. Texas was out of the question. The only reason she’d been there was for school, and she couldn’t even imagine going back. She had no destination. She just paid attention to the road and blasted her music so that the faces of her family wouldn’t flood her mind. The only time she stopped was to get gas.

  When the sun was completely gone and the moon had taken its place, she had arrived in a hick town in Illinois. A sign on the side of the highway said that there was a gas station up ahead called Jim’s Fuel, Dine & Go. Something told her to keep going to the next exit, but her gas hand was warning her that if she didn’t fill up again soon, she wouldn’t make it anywhere. She also really wanted to get out of the funeral clothes she’d had on all day.

  She veered off on the exit that led her to Jim’s, and she parked at the nearest pump to the door. There were a few trucks and Jeeps parked in front of the station, but mostly there were motorcycles. Checking her surroundings, she saw that all of the roads were dark. Across the street from the gas station was a junkyard that looked as creepy as a cemetery. She could hear old rock and roll songs coming from the building when she stepped out of her car. She popped her trunk with the car remote in her hand and from it got a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved cream shirt, a pair of Chanel boots, and her red bubble coat. She shut the trunk and took a deep breath.

  Just get in and get out, she told herself. You don’t know what type of time these white folks are on.

  As she made her way to the front door, she noticed that the majority of the men dining inside had turned their attention to her. The way they were peering at her through the glass was making her uneasy. She pulled the door open, and instantly the smell of grease hit her and reminded her that she couldn’t even remember the last time she put something in her stomach. Still, she would take her chances elsewhere.

  The place was set up like something she’d seen in a movie. One side was the gas station, where you could get all of the things a person would need for the road, while the other side was set up like a diner from the fifties. The two waitresses even wore blue and white checkered dresses with red aprons. Belle tried not to be bothered by the fact that, besides her, they were the only other women in the building. She pulled two $20 bills out of her pocket and pushed them toward the tall, lanky clerk. His graying blond beard was unkempt, and although the hair on his head was long, there was a shiny bald spot at the top of it. He had all of his teeth, but that didn’t say much given that they were all yellow. His name tag read JIM, so naturally Belle assumed that he owned the place.

  “Can I put forty on the Camaro out there?” she asked and pointed to her car outside.

  “Anything for something as beautiful as you,” Jim said and winked. “What you doing out this way by yourself, sugar?”

  “Just passing through and needed some gas.”

  “Well, if I were you, I’d be more cautious about stopping into strange places. This town is full of wolves,” he said with a chuckle. Behind Belle, many of the men in the diner began to howl.

  Belle glared behind her and was met with even more cringeworthy stares. She clenched her jaw and swallowed the spit in her mouth before turning back toward the clerk.

  “I can handle myself,” she said.

  “Oh! Well, lookee here, fellas, we have a lady here who can handle herself!” Jim shouted to the guests in the diner. They returned his declaration with whistles.

  “Where is your bathroom?” Belle asked.

  “Down that hallway right there,” he said and pointed down a hallway to her left. “Be careful, that knob is a little tricky.”

  Belle turned before she saw his sly smile or his eyes travel down her entire body. Her feet made their way on the tiled floor to where he’d directed her. When she finally found the bathroom, she flicked the light on and was pleased that it was cleaner than what she expected. Shutting the door behind her, she locked it and began to undress. The music in the diner seemed to grow louder, but she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was hurry up and get dressed so she could go pump her gas. Belle had just fastened her jeans and was about to put on her shirt when she heard the knob twist and the door open. Instantly Belle covered herself up and whisked around.

  Standing behind her were Jim and two other men from the diner. One was a redhead while one was completely bald. The things they had in common were that they were both big in size and they both wore leather. The redhaired man’s eyes went to Belle’s cleavage. He licked his lips while the other grinned sinisterly at her.

  “I’m not done yet,” she said, trying to hide the fear in her voice.

  “I warned you about that knob, didn’t I, sweetheart?” Jim said. “The lock don’t work.

  “I said I’m not done yet,” Belle repeated.

  “I saw the plates on your car,” Jim said, ignoring her again. “Nebraska, huh? You’re a long way from home. Fellas, what do you say we give this beautiful young thing right here a nice, hearty welcome? Bob, tell me, when’s the last time you had some nigger pussy?”

  “It’s been a while, Jim,” the bald man said and watched as Belle backed away from them until her back was on the opposite wall. “But I can’t help but wonder if this one here is as sweet as what I remember.”

  “She looks like she’ll be sweeter,” the redhaired man said, licking his lips and unbuckling his belt. “There is nothing like a pair of chocolate nipples in your mouth with black pussy around your cock.”

  “Please,” Belle begged, covering herself with one arm and putting the other up in a stop motion. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “Of course we don’t have to do it. We want to,” Jim said and flicked the lights off.

  Belle screamed and tried to fight them off in the dark, but it was no use. They just laughed at her as they fondled her body. She felt a hand cup her crotch while another pulled her breast out of her bra.

  “No point in screaming, sugar,” she heard Jim say in her ear. “Those sons of bitches out there don’t care about what we do to you. They’re waiting for their turn.”

  His breath smelled like whiskey and cigarettes, and at that point Belle was sobbing while the men had their way with her. She felt two different mouths around her nipples at the same time while someone was trying to tug her jeans down. She screamed one last time in hopes that someone in the establishment had a heart.

  By the grace of God, the door to the bathroom burst open and the lights flicked back on. “You sick white motherfuckers!” a woman’s voice shouted. “Kidd, go get Jay and them! They back here tryin’a rape some girl! Bring the fires!”

  The next few moments of Belle’s life seemed like a blur. The men on her were pulled off, and she was able to see a young black woman around her age standing there and pointing a gun at them.

  “Get out!” she barked at the men, and all but Jim listened.

  “Hey, hey! This is my establishment, and you need to get the fuck out of here!” Jim yelled.

  The woman sneered, and her eyes traveled to his unbuckled pants. “It’s not hard to figure out the kind of shit that goes on here,” she said. She aimed her gun at his crotch and fired.

  Jim’s high-pitched screams wer
e like nails on a chalkboard. He gripped his bleeding penis in his hands as he fell to the ground, yelling in agony. The young woman turned to Belle, who had finished getting dressed, and threw the bubble coat at her.

  “Put that on,” she instructed, and when Belle did, she took her hand. “Let’s go. Stay behind me.”

  As they walked, the woman kept her gun drawn until they were out of the hallway and far enough away from the bathroom. In the diner, there were two grown black men pointing automatic guns at the guests while another was waiting for the young woman. He was a handsome guy with thick black waves on top of his head. His thick sideburns made way to a well-kept short beard on his face. He looked at the young woman holding Belle’s hand and grabbed her by the shoulder.

  “You good?” he asked her.

  She nodded. “I shot that motherfucker in the dick,” she said with a grin. “So yeah, I’m good. She’s the one you should be worried about.”

  “Are you good, mami?” he asked, and Belle nodded.

  “I didn’t get to pump my gas,” she said in a low voice.

  The guy looked at her with shock in his eyes and then back toward the hallway where Jim was still shrieking in pain. “Those men just tried to hurt you, and all you’re worried about is putting gas in your car?”

  “Yes,” Belle said and pulled her hand free. She turned to the young woman and nodded. “Thank you for saving me. But I have somewhere I have to be.”

  She moved past the guy and walked out of the gas station to her car. Her hands were shaky as she pumped her gas, half surprised that Jim had even put her money on the pump. When she was done, Belle put the nozzle back on its holder and bent slightly to close the door to the fuel tank of the Camaro. When she stood straight again, the young woman who had saved her was blocking the driver’s door.

  “You left these,” she said and handed Belle the clothes she left behind.

  “Thank you. You all should go before they call the police,” Belle suggested and went for the door handle, but the woman slid her butt over to block that too.

  “I don’t think that will be a problem,” she said. “None of the cameras in there work. Plus I’m sure they don’t want their guilty pleasure to get out in the streets. I have a feeling this isn’t the first time this type of thing has happened. With the whole Me Too movement, I doubt they’ll want to be under that judging eye.”

  Belle took in the girl before her. She was casually wearing designer clothes from head to toe. The snake skin YSL bag with the long strap on her shoulder was the exact one Belle had eyed a few weeks ago. She had on an oversized tan cargo coat that went well with the Gucci boots on her feet. Her skin was brown, like Belle’s, and she had thick, full lips that pursed in Belle’s direction. Her hair was pulled up in a sleek ninja bun, which brought out every feature her face had to offer, such as her bright hazel eyes, long eyelashes, and slender nose.

  “What’s your name?” Belle asked.

  “Aria. Yours?”

  “Belle. I just want to thank you, Aria, for saving me from having twenty white dicks shoved inside of me. Now if you please, let me go.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “What?”

  “You don’t even know, do you?” Aria guessed.

  “I do know where I’m going,” Belle lied through her teeth.

  “Right,” Aria said, staring into Belle’s pupils. “Who died?”

  “H . . . how do you know—”

  “Your eyes. You have the eyes of someone who just experienced great sadness, such as a loss. You acting so nonchalant after what just happened, plus seeing my Gs standing there with automatic guns, told me either this has happened to you before, or you’re numb from death. I opted for the latter.” She shrugged. “Who was it?”

  “None of your business.”

  “All right.” Aria moved out of the way so Belle could get in her car. “Just here to help. Oh, and I don’t know how far you think you’re going to make it with five hundred dollars, but good luck to you. You left this too.”

  She gave Belle back all the money she had in the world and turned her back on her. Belle watched Aria walk toward what looked to be something like a tour bus. On the side of the bus, it said GENE’S GIRLS, and the guy who had spoken to her earlier was standing next to it, waiting for Aria.

  “Wait! Aria!” Belle didn’t know what made her call Aria’s name. Maybe it was because her words had more than a little truth to them.

  “Yes?” Aria stopped and turned back to Belle.

  “My entire family.”

  “Huh?”

  “That’s who died. My entire family. My mom, my dad, and my little brother. Murdered in their sleep last week. This is all the money I have, and I don’t have anywhere to go. All I have is this car and some clothes in the trunk.”

  “What about your other family?”

  “If you can call them that. They’re the reason I’m homeless.” Belle shrugged. “I was going to college in Texas.”

  “Why not just go back there?” Aria asked.

  Belle shook her head. “I can’t go back there,” she breathed. “I wouldn’t be able to afford tuition. I’ve never had a job before.”

  Aria studied Belle for a moment, searching her face for a lie. When she didn’t find one, she looked back at the bus and then back to Belle. She held up a finger and jogged toward the guy. They exchanged a few words before he glanced around her at Belle. When he turned back to Aria, he nodded and said something else before disappearing on the bus.

  Aria jogged back to Belle and smiled. “You wanna roll with me?”

  “Roll where?”

  “Does it matter? You don’t have anywhere to be. You’ve already proven that you shouldn’t be alone, and I have a way for you to keep some money in your pockets. You down or what? You have about five seconds to decide.”

  “Okay,” Belle’s lips said before her mind had fully comprehended what Aria had said. She didn’t even think to question what kind of job Aria was putting on the table. All she knew was that she was alone. And them? They had guns, and from the looks of it, they had money, too. She didn’t ever again want to feel as helpless as those men made her feel, and for some reason, Aria made her feel safe.

  “Okay?” Aria asked to double-check.

  “Yeah. Okay.”

  “Yes! Follow that bus,” Aria said, going over to the Camaro’s passenger’s side.

  Once they were both in the car and driving away from the gas station, Belle made sure to follow closely behind the bus as they got back on the highway. Aria was leaned back in her seat, messing with Belle’s radio.

  “Man, this hick-ass town doesn’t have any good radio stations!” she complained.

  “You can hook your phone up to the Bluetooth and play whatever song you like if you want,” Belle suggested.

  “I left my phone on the bus,” she replied. “We were only stopping because I wanted some snacks. Which I didn’t get because I heard you screaming from the bathroom. I knew something was off about that damn place. Hey, you sure you’re okay? I saw what those guys were doing to you and—”

  “I’m fine.”

  “No, you aren’t.”

  “If you know that, then why did you ask?”

  “I just wanted to see if you’d talk about it.” Aria shrugged. “That’s the only way to get past shit. Put it on the table.”

  “Yeah, well, what they did to me is nothing compared to the pain I feel inside. I’ll get over it. I was in college, for crying out loud. I’ve woken up naked more than once next to a guy I barely knew after a drunk night. I’ll live.”

  “Sounds like you’ve lived quite the exciting life there, Belle,” Aria said, smirking at her.

  “Yeah,” Belle scoffed. “Hardly. So where are we going?”

  “Indianapolis. We have some clients there.”

  “We?”

  “Yeah, me and the other girls.”

  “Wait, there are other girls?”

  “Um, yeah. Why do you thi
nk we need a tour bus, silly?” Aria giggled.

  “Uh, what do you guys do exactly?”

  “You can’t tell from my long, acrylic nails or this fat ass draped in designer clothes? I’m an entertainer, girl! An exotic dancer, to be more specific.”

  “Gene’s Girls are strippers?”

  “Ah, ah! Exotic dancers,” Aria said with a finger in the air.

  “Excuse me. Gene’s Girls are exotic dancers?”

  “Yes, we are. Any problem with that?”

  “Not at all,” Belle said. “But I’ve never done that kind of dancing a day in my life. What kind of job would you have me do?”

  “You’re over twenty-one, right?”

  “Yeah. Twenty-three.”

  “Me too,” Aria said, smiling. “All you have to do is put on something alluring—not too much, since you won’t be dancing—and welcome the guests into the party. Seeing a face as gorgeous as yours, those thirsty motherfuckers will be lined up at the door to see what else we have to offer. And don’t worry, you’ll have security standing right next to you, making sure nobody gets out of line.”

  “The guys with the guns?”

  “Ding, ding! Let’s just say Gene doesn’t play about his merchandise.”

  “And this Gene, he won’t care that you’re bringing in a stray?”

  “He won’t know until we’ve gotten back to Miami. We’re on tour right now and have about five more stops on the road ahead of us. That’s a quick li’l band for you every night we do a party.”

  “A thousand dollars a night?” Belle asked with big eyes.

  “Yeah, but don’t get too excited. Not to burst your little bubble, but we dancers make about five thousand a party. And if you’re fucking the guys, which I could never, you can make double that.”

  “Five thousand?” Belle almost swerved the car. “Who comes to these parties?”

  “Ballers, bosses, celebrities. We were just at one of Blac Youngsta’s parties a month ago. That man throws cake, okay?”

  “Wow.” Belle’s voice trailed off as her mind was reeling. “And all I have to do is welcome them?”

  “Yes. You’ll be the first form of contact for them. Stand there, smile, tell them to have a good night and get paid. If you do good, by the time we get to Miami, Gene might want to make you a permanent part of Gene’s Girls.”