Chapter Sixteen

"Huh?" I couldn't believe what I had heard.
"Yes, we should sign a contract marriage."
It was a no from me. "Contract marriage, with you? No way! I'm beginning to feel you had this all planned out, Keddy. You just wanted to get me from your father and the Sherlock Head Mafia Gangsters. And have me to yourself. What the fuck is so different about me? Why can't you just get yourself another girl! Must it be me?"
Why can't men just let women be?
Why does your gender have to be so inconsiderate?"
"Shh!" He hushed at me. "My friends are home, and you don't want them to hear me arguing with my enslaved wife. Didn't I swear to you by the only people in the entire world that I treasure, that I won't touch you? I'm just looking for ways to make this more believable, and your stay here a pleasant one. We have to think of a way of getting you a better life, but before then… you have to accept this. There isn't much that will be in the document, just enough to make anyone believe us."
"And how long is this contract going to run?" I was still hesitant, but I was beginning to see reasons with him. I didn't trust him, but he did swear by his parent's grave not to touch me.
"A few weeks. I will be at my father's today, I'll be going information hunting. We need to know what is going on with him, and what their next move is."
"I'm yet to understand why they trust you so much, since you aren't one of them. Don't you think you might be a suspect?"
"I'm a mafia gangster in this town… so everyone thinks! But no, never. I have never done any of the things they do. Never raped a young girl, never killed, never will."
My father was a murderer too? I kept my question to myself.
"Okay, Keddy. Let's get this contract over with."
"We'll need a lawyer." His deep voice resonated.
"What for?" It was getting obvious he had ulterior motives.
"To make it legal, and more believable!"
"Okay!" I shuttled to his position and stood in front of him, just a few feet away. "First, my father and his gang men were coming and we needed to escape. Next, you are no longer a mafia gangster, but a boy with a decent job, next I need to act like your sexual slave, next we need to sign a contract for marriage. What the fuck do you take me for, a baby?"
"No, I take you for a lady." He stepped a few feet backwards, I bounced closer. My eyes had threats written on them.
"Of course. A lady! To be molested, enjoyed and abused. A lady! A sex toy. What more?"
"Not so, Camilla. A lady to be protected, a lady to be on the lookout for her safety, a lady to be loved. I'm sorry I lied to you, but it was for your safety Camilla. Be good, and sign the contract."
"For my safety…" I nodded sadly with a Chuckle. "The same reason I was never allowed to date, the same reason I had no male friends, the same reason my father molested me. The same reason your father wanted to use me. Guess who else is here, doing stuff for my safety? You! Another male." I squeezed my hands tightly, it helped me fight the tears. "Guys… all the same!"
"If it helps you feel better, you could date me." The moment he said that, he wished he didn't. The look on his face showed that he didn't mean to, but he had already disclosed his true intentions, to date me.
"Ohh. So, that's the plan all along?"
"No! The plan is to keep you safe."
"Fuck! I don't need it. I'd rather die in the street than sign that contract."
"Fine! If you don't wish to, don't sign the contract. You will understand why you need to, as events unfold." He turned and left immediately, I sank into his bed occupied by thoughts.
As events unfold! What events did he have planned out?
How was I supposed to sleep in the same room as him, and expect nothing to go wrong?
How would I get the privacy I needed to do things for myself?
I had just one pair of clothing, a pair of sneakers, my phone and my father's credit card.
If what he said was true, then the gang was probably out there looking for me.
Every second came with an air of uncertainty, every day brought a new story with it.
A phone call interrupted my train of thoughts, it was Shully.
"Camilla! Where have you been, why haven't you been active? I miss you, when will you be back? I have done my research and I am worried about you, that city isn't safe at all."
I whimpered silently, my heart was too heavy to speak up. "I'm no longer at the hotel, Shully. I'm with Keddy."
"Who?" I had completely forgotten that I told her nothing about the previous day.
"You know what, never mind!" I wasn't ready to tell her anything now. I wasn't ready to bother her. She had a life, and her own things going on. A broken home, a single mom, siblings to take care of! Why would I add to it?
"Camilla, you don't take me for what I take you." She began to sob, I could hear her from my end. "You know every detail of my life. But you? I didn't know about something as big as this, until the last second. Now that I know what is going on, you still aren't willing to let me know what is going on."
"Fine!" I began to speak, my tone differed with every word I spoke, I told her everything that had happened from the second I left my father's house, until the second she called. When I told her about my Keddy's request to sign a contract marriage, she told me not to.
"I will sign the contract, Shully."
"What do you think you are doing?" She sounded displeased.
"Shully, I'm trying to survive. Man after man, I'm nothing but a toy. They want me as nothing other than a sex toy."
"Keddy too?" She was crying loudly now, and so was I.
"I wouldn't know, but I do know I'm tired of waking up to see life the same. I wish I didn't run from my father. I wouldn't know any of these, you wouldn't know it either. I would still be his slave, and I wouldn't be out here."
"Don't say that, Camilla. I think the way out is to report to child services. Take the first bus you can find and come back before today ends. That city is so crazy and risky I don't want you there."
"My father is a mafia gangster, one of the most deadly gangsters in the city. I cannot take such risks, he'll kill me."
"What do you want to do then?"
"I don't know! I just don't know, Shully. But I'll have to do something eventually."
She sighed deeply. "We'll talk later, mom is knocking on my door. I don't want her to hear our Convo, you know how delicate this topic is."
"Alright! Goodbye, Shully. I'll survive, I promise you. I won't die." She hung up