Chapter 3

Dad drank a lot more when he lost his job at the factory. We had less money too. I didn't get anything I didn't absolutely need. A lot of it went on whiskey. We ate rice and beans almost every day. It was better if we had a little sausage to put in it. I tried to get a little variety by making soup from what ever vegetables he would find on sale. It was usually a cabbage, sometimes green beans or turnips from a roadside stand.

I could have tried out for the cheer leading team at school and would have made it but I knew I wouldn't be able to pay for the uniforms.

That situation lasted almost a year. I was still thinking I could stay home until I graduated from high school. I only had a few months left. I was thinking about running even then but didn't know where I could go. I liked the lunches at the school although everybody else complained about them. We didn't have milk at home. A month ago, things changed.

"Come on baby girl. We're going to the store," he said. "Come on in here," he said from my bedroom. "I want you to wear something different today." He rifled through my drawers, finally finding a sheer pink tank top and short skirt that went together. As I was getting ready to put it on he said.

"Whoa there. Leave your bra off today. You look real nice that way."

"I need to layer something else over it then. It's too sheer. You can see my nipples through it."

"Don't be silly darlin." He said, pinching my nipples gently through the material and tugging on them, making them stand up. "I like the way you look in this. Besides, no one will notice."

He took my hand and pulled me from the house. I quit struggling when we got to the side walk. I didn't want to attract any attention. He held onto my hand until we were almost at the grocery. Two girls from my school were walking towards us on the sidewalk in front of the snow ball stand. I saw them looking at me and grinning, whispering in each others ears. I flushed red and kept walking.

"Hey Molly," one of them said in a singsong voice as she passed us. It was Audrey Blair, one of the more popular girls in school. Her dad owned the lumber yard just out of town. She had never said hi to me before in school or anywhere else. She and her friends with their perfectly matched clothing, snubbed me when ever they had the chance. I raised my hand in a wave and didn't look at her. I was sure I would be the gossip of the school next week.

We climbed the three wooden steps that led from the dusty street into the store. I loved to come here for the smells. The kegs of dried fish, the vegetables and potatoes in bins along one wall, the herbs and soaps gave a different smell to each area of the store. The candy was in the front where he could keep an eye on it.

The owner lived on the second floor. He or his wife were always in the store. He was a tall older man that had a protruding adam's apple and kept a wad of tobacco in his cheek. He was friendly to everybody except kids. He was always watching us with a suspicious look when we were in his store.

We stood in front of Mr Henry's worn, wooden counter. He turned and looked up the stairs leading to his apartment where his wife was. I could tell he was looking at me differently. He was almost smiling. I turned away from him, looking at the raised designs on the big brass cash register in front of him.

"She doen't look old enough but she sure has the right equipment." He said, eyeing my tits through the thin material of the tank top. I could feel my nipples hardening under his gaze and I was tempted to cross my arms over my chest. I held my hands behind my back to keep from doing that.

"She's old enough," said my dad, "and she'll do what ever you ask." He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him.

"Lets go into the back and see what we can find." said Mr Henry. He scanned the aisles to make sure there was no one else in the store and locked the front door. We walked back through the tall shelves to the store room at the rear.

I was expecting to be put to work in the store. I followed them into the back store room. It was dim, and quiet in there.

Mr Henry stopped at a pallet piled with large sacks of rice just inside the closed loading door.

This will do." He said, sitting on the rice sacks. "Come over here honey. Do you know why you're here." he asked me as I went to stand in front of him.

"Yeah. You want me to work for you."

"Well, you're close but not quite," he said. "Your dad has an account here and I have been giving you guys grocerys for the last few weeks on credit. Now he says he can't pay because he's out of money. He says that you'll work off the debt with me."

"Okay." I said. "What do you want me to do first?"

He just looked at my dad with raised eyebrows. My dad nodded back at him. He looked back at me and smiled. "Take your clothes off."

"What! Dad, how can you stand there and let him say that?"

"I have to be able to feed you." He said "We've been eating his food all week. Now it's time to pay and I want you to help."

"By taking my clothes off?" I said.

"Yes." he said. "And sucking him off or letting him make love to you. What ever he likes to do." I was shocked. I could feel the blood leaving my face and thought for a moment I was going to faint. "Baby," he said. "How are we going to eat?"

"I don't care. I'm leaving." I walked quickly to the store room door and tried to open it. It was locked. I turned around and looked back at them, a sinking feeling in my belly.

"Look honey." Said my dad. "We are going to stay here until this is done. Just get it over with and we can be out of here in ten minutes. This is the responsible thing for you to do."

I couldn't think of any other way to get out of there. I looked all around. The windows had grills over them. I couldn't fight them. I felt like I was in shock. I was numb. I walked back to Mr Henry and stood just out of his reach, looking at the floor. He pulled me to him so I was between his knees.

"You're doing the right thing Molly." He said softly. He hugged me, then started feeling my breasts. I just stood there, not moving. He grabbed the lower edge of my tank top and pulled it up. I raised my arms to allow it to be removed. He hugged me against him, squeezing my breasts and leaning over to kiss my neck. I shuddered as his beard scratched me. He had bad breath too.

He reached around me and slid my skirt and panties down, I raised each foot so he could remove them. He reached down and used his hands to feel me down there. His fingers were smooth and his nails scratched me when he tried to push a finger into me. I was dry and it wouldn't go. I winced. He stopped doing that and started sucking and squeezing my breasts. He was still sitting on the pallet of rice sacks during all this.