Nathaniel walked in the semi-darkness through the busy downtown. Cars passed him but he didn't take much notice. Late night stores with their neon "open" signs in their windows lit the wet sidewalk as he passed the other homeless, tweakers and prostitutes. They knew better than to ask him for money, though, because he didn't have any.
That's why he was in this mess.
He felt fortunate, however. The ground was wet but at least the rain had stopped.
He rubbed at his runny nose with the back of his hand, finally breaking down and just using his red flannel sleeve. He was cold but he couldn't figure out if his nose was running because of the cold temperatures, or if he actually had a cold.
Either way, his predicament sucked.
His wife - it was the nicest four letter word he could use to describe her - had decided to move her brand new boyfriend into their two story suburban house. So they both had ganged up on Nate and had kicked him out. Currently he was living in his car with absolutely no money, as she'd - of course - cleaned out their joint bank accounts right before they had evicted him.
Thank God he had his car. Otherwise he'd be sleeping on the wet ground like some of the poor bastards he was walking past.
The liquor store he was headed to was just up ahead and around the corner. He wasn't really a drinker, but what else was there for him to do? He'd drink himself silly until he'd fall asleep, just like he'd done for the last week. At least then he'd feel warm so he could sleep comfortably once the temperature began to really drop.
The El train roared above his head as a huge black Cadillac Escalade slowed down and caught his eye. It pulled up beside him at the curb and it stopped.
Curiously he stopped and looked, but the passenger window was too dark for him to see inside. As he stood looking, the window slowly slid down.
There were two women inside, he noticed. A brunette was driving and a blonde was in the passenger seat closest to him. It looked like they were arguing but he couldn't hear anything from the clacking and the roar of the train above him.
Suddenly the blonde turned her head and looked at him. Her mouth moved but, of course, he couldn't hear her.
He cupped his hand behind his ear and pointed skyward towards the train as he shook his head, noting that he couldn't hear.
She nodded.
They stared at each other for a few seconds until the train moved a little farther down the track and the noise settled down a bit.
"What?" Nate then called out.
"How much?" She yelled.
Nate blinked. He figured he was going to be asked directions. Getting propositioned was the last thing on his mind.
"I'm n-not a p-prostitute!" He stuttered. But...he might as well be. He had no money. Payday wouldn't come for another week and a half. What was left for him to sell but himself?
The women began arguing in the SUV again. Finally the blonde turned back towards him. He could see her determined blue eyes as they looked at him.
"I'll give you a thousand dollars," she blurted out.
Nate gawked in shock at the woman. A thousand dollars?! He wasn't sure what the going rate was, but that was far above it, he was sure.
"Not enough?" She quickly said. "Two thousand then," she amended.
Nate closed his mouth. What he could do with two thousand dollars! He could at least stay in a shitty hotel for a week or more instead of sleeping in his cramped car. He could get a daily shower. He could have food on the regular.
He paused, imagining what his life would be like for a hot second. Then, numbly he nodded. "Okay. Sure," he croaked out.
"Get in," the blonde said, motioning her head towards the back seat.
Like an automatron he opened the back door to the black Escalade and climbed in.
"You are a fucking idiot, Madison!" The brunette said as she squealed her tires on the wet pavement and pulled away from the curb back into traffic. "You're going to get yourself killed! I can't believe we've just picked up a homeless man!" She wailed.
"It's fucking nice to meet you too," Nate grumbled from the back seat.
The brunette glanced at him through the rear view mirror. The blonde looked behind at him and then back at the brunette. "It's fine. He's safe. I'm sure of it," she said with confidence that her quavering voice belied.
"Do you have any weapons? Are you on meth?" The driver asked him, her eyes narrowing.
"No. And no," he grumbled. He did have a pistol, but it was safely locked in his car with his handful of bullets in the Dollar General parking lot. It wasn't on his person at the moment, anyway.
This conversation was doing its best to rile him up. "You're so concerned about me...but how do I know that you two women are safe?" He countered. "You could be picking up men to murder," he mumbled.
The brunette scoffed. "Right. As if," she said with an eye roll that Nathaniel could see in the rear view mirror.
"Well...you still could be," Nate grumbled, though in all likelihood he knew the odds of that were hovering around zero. Brunette lady was slightly chubby and looked like a soccer mom. Blonde lady was thinner, yet still screamed suburbia.
The driver turned to the other woman in desperation. "Madison, tell me you're not going to go through with this?" She said. "Please!"
"Caroline. Take us to the Ritz Hotel," Madison said instead with a quick glance back at Nate.
Caroline pursed her lips together but did as she was asked.
The short ride to the Ritz was in silence.
"You call me immediately if things go south," the brunette yelled as they both got out of the Escalade. "I'll be waiting in a parking garage nearby in my SUV for you!! And I promise not to tell Mom about this if you decide to change your mind!" She called just before both doors slammed shut.
Nate watched the blonde woman raise her hand in a short wave to the driver.
They both turned towards the entrance to the Ritz. Nathaniel had to squint as they walked under the bright lights that ran around the hotel awning. When his surroundings were all lit up, he got his first good look at this woman he was going to...what...sleep with? Fuck?
He frowned. Well. She was alright looking, he guessed. She was slightly built and was just a bit shorter than he was. Then he noticed her heels. So she'd be even shorter in her bare feet. He studied her. He wasn't crazy about her huge head of long, blonde hair, but she otherwise looked almost kind of alright. She wore a fancy-looking skirt and suit jacket combo. She looked like she'd just come from church.
He held the door to the Ritz for her and motioned for her to go in first. He watched her small ass swing back and forth as he walked behind her while they made their way to the front desk.
Nate balled up his fists. Shit. He had done some crazy shit in his time. But he'd never done anything like this before. He'd only ever slept with three women in his life - his high school girlfriend, then a brief relationship in his twenties, and then, of course, his wife. But, God, two thousand dollars for a nut! How could he turn that down?
He waited as the woman gave the man behind the desk her credit card. Shit - this hotel room by itself was nearly a thousand dollars. Who was she that she had that kind of money to throw around on just sex?
