People Like Us
Emma lit a cigarette and then tugged down her skirt.
It was still an hour before sunset, so she wasn't surprised that traffic was light and that not a single car had stopped, even to inquire about prices and availability.
She smiled when she saw Sofia exit the Go-Go Mart and then waved. When Sofia saw her waving, she smiled and began walking over to her.
"Hey, chica," said Emma. "How'd it go last night? You were still out by the time I headed home. Mei said you got a late client?"
"Yeah," said Sofia, yawning as she cracked open her can of energy drink. "It was this insurance guy, said he'd just gotten into town or whatever. He was ugly as hell, let me tell ya, but he wanted two hours of the whole enchilada, so I couldn't say no to that."
"Wow, really?" said Emma, feeling slightly envious. Two hours of the full Girlfriend Experience didn't come cheap.
"Yeah, no tip thought," said Sofia, wrinkling her nose as she took a sip. "And he kind of smelled like talcum powder, even though I didn't see any. Weird, eh?"
"Yeah," said Emma, tossing her cigarette butt onto the sidewalk and stubbing it out with the heel of her shoe. "I guess after a while, all you remember is the oddities, you know? Like, everything else fades away."
"What's up with you?" said Sofia, giving Emma a little elbow in her bare midsection. "You have a rough night or something?"
"Nah, just the usual, same old, same old," said Emma. "I only made five hundred bucks, give or take. I don't know why I'm feeling out of sorts. Maybe it was something I ate."
"Yeah, or maybe because we're out here night after night, freezing our asses off," said Sofia, lighting a cigarette. "I'm from Mexico, you know? We're not built for this kind of weather."
"Right, and I'm some kind of Viking chick or something?" said Emma with a laugh. "It's cold for me, too. I don't know, Sofia. Some days, all I can think about is getting the hell out of here."
"And go where?" said Sofia. "There ain't no place for girls like us, not unless we got a man or a fuck ton of money."
"Or a college education," said Emma, her voice quiet.
Sofia nearly spit out her energy drink when she heard that comment. "Come on, are you being serious right now? Half the guys we meet have a college degree. That don't get you shit these days, except for drowning in student loans."
"Yeah, you're probably right," said Emma, wistfully. "Anyway, where's Mei? She said she wanted to start working early today so she could go see that new theater play or nothing."
"I don't know," said Sofia. "Last time I saw her, she was getting dropped off by a redneck in a blatted out old pickup, real tractor driving looking fucker."
"Yeah, she got another customer after that," said Emma. "Couple of Hispanic dudes. I told 'em you were around, but they insisted on Mei, something about how they liked 'em petite."
"Ugh, that's so sick," said Sofia, scowling. "Men are all pretty much sick, you know? If I wasn't a good Catholic girl, I'd seriously consider becoming a lesbian."
"Yeah, right," said Emma with a grin. "You? The girly-girl who likes brightly colored fingernails and hoop earrings? I don't think you're their type, chica."
"Not all lesbos are butch, manly types," said Sofia. "Some of 'em might be into a fine femme fatale like myself."
"Femme fatale? Sofia, you crack me up sometimes," said Emma. "I swear to God, you ought to get into comedy. You're wasting your time out here, walking the streets, when you could be telling jokes on stage."
"Yeah, but the money's better here, ain't it?" said Sofia. "Hey, look alive. We might have our first customer."
Emma pushed up her halter top in an effort to make her bust stand out, while Sofia swept back her long, raven hair. But the car, which had been slowing down, suddenly sped up and then drove off out of sight.
"Eh, these window shoppers, they kill me," said Sofia with a sigh.
"I know, right?" said Emma. "Sometimes I feel like I'm a monkey in a zoo. Only thing missing is some kid throwing peanuts at us."
"Hey, who you calling a monkey?" said Sofia, feigning outrage for a moment before breaking into a grin.
"Seriously, though, Sofia," said Emma. "I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this. If it ain't a guy trying to jam it into my ass, it's some broken down loser, wanting me to hold his head in my lap because his wife doesn't love him anymore."
"I know what you mean," said Sofia. "Sometimes, I think about that movie, that old one with the rich guy who lets the working girl drive his fancy sports car. Why can't I ever meet a rich guy who wants to fall in love with me at first sight?"
"You mean Pretty Woman? With Julia Roberts and Richard Gere?" said Emma. "Sweetie, that's a movie. That's Hollywood make-believe shit."
"I know," said Sofia. "But a girl can dream, can't she?"
"Sure," said Emma. "Just like I dream about not having to wear a skirt where my ass is hanging out the back. But this is real life, Sofia. And real life costs money."
"Yep," said Sofia. "Oh hey, there's Mei. Mei-Mei!"
The two girls turned and watched as their friend Mei came walking up the street, dressed in a fishnet pair of stockings and neon pink booty shorts, her long black hair separated into two pony tails. She called it the "E-girl look," which Emma had never heard of, but the clients seemed to like it.
"Hey, there you are," said Emma. "I was starting to get worried about you."
"Yeah, what's up, Mei?" said Sofia. "You're looking kinda pale. Did something happen?"
"Guys, I'm fucked," said Mei. "I got picked up by the cops last night."
"What?" said Emma, her eyes going wide. "Those fuckers. As if we're the problem, not the damn johns."
"What's the fine up to these days? Three hundred bucks?" said Sofia. "Highway robbery."
"No, it's worse than that," said Mei, her green eyes wide with anxiety. "It wasn't a solicitation sting. The guy who was in charge of the whole thing was this old, fat white dude, a detective. I think they were looking for someone else, but when they patted me down, they found some pills."
"Aww, shit, Mei," said Emma.
"But you're not in lockup," said Sofia, growing wary. "What happened?"
"That's just it," said Mei. "That old dude sat me down in, like, an interrogation room, and he said if I didn't cooperate, I could get five years in prison for felony obstruction."
"What the fuck?" said Emma, growing angry. "That's bullshit."
"He said the only way I could stay out of trouble was to do a job for him," said Mei, her voice low.
"What do you mean?" said Sofia. "He wanted a freebie?"
"No," said Mei, hanging her head. "He wants me to wear a wire and go into this club or something, talk to this guy. Says I'm his confidential informant now."
"That sounds like trouble," said Emma.
"Yeah, big trouble," said Sofia. "Fucking cops. Why can't they just leave us alone?"
"But here's the worst part," said Mei. "The guy he wants me to talk to is a senator. Like, one of those politicians who works in Washington."
"Oh shit, this is not going to end well, is it?" said Emma.
"It never does," said Sofia. "Not for people like us."
