Tabitha watched her boyfriend warily as she licked and ate the fat man’s ass. Another stranger, another humiliation, tasting of stale sweat and fermented shit. She was exhausted as her tongue slid along slime from her spit mixed with his hairs and worse. And he was so fucking hairy. She almost retched but held it back. All that would earn her was a punch or worse, followed by the smile he always got when he hit her now. It was a game, he liked moving quick, suddenly, to see her flinch. And if she started to cry, all the better for him.

It hadn’t been that way in the beginning. In high school, he’d been her white knight, loving and protecting her from the world. Yes, he had a temper, but only when he got drunk and he would always buy her something nice after. He had been her first, 18 and after her prom. Feeling him slide inside her, despite some discomfort, had been magical. His first shudder, pulling the condom from him after, was better than the sex itself. She had played with his cock endlessly, feeling it grow and shrink, limp and hard, which had fascinated her.

Perhaps the first sign of trouble was as graduation approached. He’d gotten her into drinking a lot with him, and when drunk, he liked to have her flash his friends. It was funny, though sometimes they groped at her. He would always stop them, protecting her. Looking back now, she wondered though. She remembered graduation night, drinking beer after beer, till things went fuzzy, then black with all his friends. She woke up in her gown the next morning, hurting so bad between her legs. Her thighs were bruised and when she asked him about it, he only said they had had some rough sex at her insistence. She loved him, so therefore what he had said was true.

Her parents had all but disowned her later when she chose him and the big city over the local college. They were furious, but they didn’t understand true love. Their lazy marriage was held together with inertia and apathy. They couldn’t understand passion, lust, or love. The joy in a hidden blowjob in a theater, in a soft kiss in bed, or in his infectious laughter. They were blind to life. So she chose him over them and joined him in a tiny apartment on the first step of their life post-school.

Life had other plans, however. Jobs were tight, and their only income from her job in fast food was not enough when rent came due. He came to her in tears one night, eyes wet, as their landlord looked on. Holding her hands as he told her how much he loved her, but that this was the only way. She would never forget how the landlord licked his lips as they spoke, undressing her. She didn’t want to, but he promised her it would only be the once, that he’d land a job soon and they could put this all behind them. So, for him, she let the landlord into their bed. Her boyfriend watched, the tears gone from his eyes, as the stranger climbed on top of her, grunting and thrusting. He didn’t try to kiss her, but she felt dirty from him, and when he got close she begged the landlord to stop but he shoved in deep, pumping her with his seed. He left and they sat there in silence. And then her boyfriend hit her. Not a slap, but a punch, calling her a whore, despite him begging her to do it. He said if she wanted to be a whore, he’d treat her like one. And so, with the landlord’s cum leaking out, he shoved her on her belly and took her ass. She screamed but he didn’t stop, telling her it was all her fault. She cried on the toilet after, blood dripping, pale and shaking. He apologized and hugged her and told her things would get better.

And they did. Until they didn’t.

It became a monthly visit from the landlord, but her boyfriend no longer got mad. He always watched, however. And then, he brought another suggestion to her. She was pretty, and he had a friend who had told him how much strippers made. It would be the help they needed. It would be only for a little while, and most importantly, she wouldn’t have to worry about the landlord anymore. That alone decided it for her. She felt sick every time he looked at or touched her. She wanted mostly to just go home but he wouldn’t hear of it. And so, she auditioned to become a stripper.