She knew immediatedly that her arm had been broken. The loud snapping, the intense pain along
with the lump that was quickly swelling confirmed her diagnosis.
"I'll break the other one if you don't do as I say. Now take your clothes off and don't make me
tell you again." He came quick then rolled off of her. "Now get out, and you better be on time tonight."
The pain and the swelling made buttoning her blouse impossible, so she just held it closed. She left
wondering how this could have happened. She wanted to go home and Homer had told her anytime she wanted to leave she could.
Now he was theatening to kill her if she didn't show up to turn tricks tonight.
She left Homer's office and started for her room. Homer owned the building, which acted
as his office and a boarding house for all of his girls. He liked keeping them all under one roof. It made them easier to
control. Hearing one of the girls you lived and worked with being 'taught a lesson' was a good way to maintain
control.
Candy, her street name, had been schooled. Without having to lay a hand on the four out of ten girls
who were home, Homer had still 'taught them a lesson. That was obvious by the fear Candy saw in their eyes as she walked out
of Homer's office. They stared at her arm with wide eyes and open mouths. As she rounded the corner one of the girls
approached her timidly and buttoned her blouse with trembling fingers.
"Put some ice on that." she whispered." It helps with the pain and swelling. As if on cue a twelve
year old, who spotted welps and bruises on her legs, ran for a bag of ice. Candy took the ice and placed it on her arm,
smiled, said thank you then went to her room.
Once there, she opened the window and slipped out. She was going to do more than put ice on her arm,
she was going to get medical treatment. Then she was going to go home. Maybe she would even kill Homer before she left.
The experience in the emergency room was humiliating. First Candy was made to wait while people
who came in after she did were taken back and treated. Some of them even left before she finally got a chance to give her
information.Then there was the issue of insurance. She didn't have any.
Five hours after signing in, she was x-rayed and her arm was set and cast. With no money
and no insurance, the emergency room doctor gave her four pain pills. When they were gone she was on her own.
Candy called her mother. "Can I still come home?" She asked, crying.
"Oh, Baby, yes. Please come."
"Even after what I told you? You know what I've been doing."
"I love you. I didn't even know things were that bad with us until I found your note telling me you
were leaving. Come home."
"I need money." Candy sniffed then wiped her nose on her sleeve.
Candy stood in the phone booth thanking God for the second chance she was about to receive; the very
chance she was about to blow. She checked her watch. Homer would be demanding his first drink of the day in ten minutes, and
as was Homer's style, he would ask her to make it for him.
Homer would let her make his drink because it was his way of letting her know that she was still
one of his girls. It was actually his way of apologzing. Candy pulled the container out of her pocket.
It contained four dissolved pain pills and ten pills called nitroglycerin. Candy had obtained
the pills from the bottle on the stand next to her stretcher then asked the nurse what the pills were for. With
the knowlege she obtained from the nurse, she was pretty sure the nitroglycerin pills and the pain pills would be
enough to lower Homer's blood pressure and cause him to die.
The effects were immediate. Homer's eyes widened, all the color drained from his face. He dropped
his glass, tried to stand and immediately passed out.
"Is he dead?" the question was asked with hope and fear.
"Wait a few mintues before calling 911 then get out." Candy told the girls then left.
