(Desi translation of “whore”: ahreh or sharmuta or ehira)

When the two older women scooped her up from where she was begging on the street in the Arab city that she didn’t even know the name of, Valqua didn’t know why. The piece of fruit they gave her occupied her attention for a bit. She was very hungry and dirty, clad in filthy rags. After a long walk on the crowded streets they approached the door of a large walled compound, one of many in the city. Being recognized through a peephole, the door opened so the women and their charge could enter.

Valqua had never been in such a place. She’d spent her years in hovels or on the teeming streets, sleeping where she could. This place was a city block in size with dwellings at each corner of the square and a central building with tables and a cooking space. She had no time to examine any of that since the women hustled her to one of the corner buildings and led her to a room with a washtub. Her clothes were stripped off and thrown in a corner, too ruined to save. One woman inspected her budding adolescent body while the other drew a bath in a big tub. Were they going to drown her, she feared, not having been cleaned that way in her memory?

Her hair was washed, untangled, and washed again, then she was shown how to scrub her body. That took a while and some sores were revealed. The women dried her and gave her a simple dress called a caftan. This extended family was not Muslim and had few of those restrictions in private but dressed conservatively in public. She was then taken to the central building and given a modest portion of a rice soup. This would be done at intervals because they knew her stomach was shrunken by starvation. She was so skinny that her breasts had barely developed even though she appeared to be well into adolescence otherwise. She gobbled it down and then looked at the women, speaking for the first time, “Why am I here?”

The older of the two spoke, “We have saved you from death on the streets. You will be fed and protected here and given a responsibility in return. It is a fair exchange which you will learn more about tomorrow.” One of the two would be with her at all times, she was told. “Now you must rest. I will show you where.” Valqua was led to a large room with many sleeping pallets and one was pointed out as hers. She slept while her escort sat nearby and prayed.

It was morning before she awoke. Most of the other pallets were occupied by slumbering women and she had to use the toilet so the other of the two woman, now with her as escort, took her to the place where she squatted down over a hole and relieved herself, the way it was done in this culture. Back to the central building for more food and then the older woman found them. “Valqua,” for they now knew her name although withholding theirs, “I am taking you to a clinic to check your health. We take care of our own.” The doctor probed and took samples of blood and urine and vaginal fluids among other things. They waited while those were processed and the doctor made some recommendations for her nutrition plus some pills to take. When the little capsule was embedded under the skin on the inside of her upper arm she wondered why but no one told her. Back to the compound and more food to rebuild her scrawny frame.

She was initially given simple cleaning tasks to do as her strength built. One morning the two women took her to a special room in the central building. It had two actual beds instead of a pallet and seemed quite luxurious in comparison to where she had been staying. A middle aged woman in a similar caftan was sitting on one of the beds and was introduced as Ilya who would be her escort and teacher from now on. Valqua thanked the nameless women for all they had done for her as they bowed and departed.

Ilya spoke and it was the first time she was not just given an order, “Welcome to the household. I was told about where you were found and I had a similar start. This will be much different than your previous life but I have liked it. You have been brought to me as a helper since the work I do has grown to be more than one person can handle. I’m sure you are wondering what that work is. Have you had sex?” Valqua looked towards the floor as she nodded, not yet daring to speak. Ilya asked, “Tell me about it. Do not be ashamed. I probably had similar experiences.”

Valqua spoke shyly about being raped and exchanging the opening of her legs for food and shelter. Ilya nodded as she listened.

“As I said, that happened to me as well. We were fortunate that our poor nutrition helped keep us from getting with child. Now that you are eating well the little bump the doctor put in your arm will prevent it. That is important because you will have a lot of sex here. We provide it as needed to the men of the compound whether they are married or not. They must treat us well or they will be punished. I am to teach you the ways to please men and you will find it can bring great pleasure to you as well. Do you have any questions? Always ask me when you think of them because I am your teacher.”

Valqua was absorbing all of this but asked, “How many men live here?”

“More than a dozen of many ages.”

“How often do they want sex?”

“Depends on their mood. Some once a week and some several times a day.”

Valqua shook her head, “No wonder you need help. I guess I have little choice to do this or starve. I will take it as a salvation.”

Ilya hugged her, “That is a good way to think. There is much to learn about pleasing men but I also want you to learn to read and write too.” That brightened the anxious girl’s face.

There was a knock at the door. Ilya directed Valqua to sit on the chair in the corner and be very still but watch carefully. A man entered and Ilya greeted him. Her caftan came off easily and revealed her whole body with no undergarments. She bent over the table and the man pulled out his hardened tool, entering her from behind with no preliminaries. His hips thrust repeatedly for a short while until he made a groaning sound, extracted his organ and put it away as he exited without a word.

Ilya used a cloth to clean her crotch and addressed her student, “That is one of the least enjoyable ones. I know each of the men and what they like. He was in a hurry so paid little attention to me. Sometimes they just appear and other times it is arranged. Those are better because we can take the time to do it right. You look like you have a question.”

“How many men have done that to you today?” was the question.

“I often don’t keep count but I believe he was the third so far. It is early so you can see why I need help. I want you to watch me the rest of the day and we’ll talk about each one after they finish. There are some things I want you to learn before you begin the actual help.”

Ilya paused when a younger man came through the door and was greeted by name. This time she was on the bed with her legs spread and her knees up. As this male removed his pants, Valqua got a good look at the stiff organ with balls dangling below it. He clambered between Ilya’s thighs and plunged in to her well lubricated place. As he thrust he fondled and sucked her bounteous breasts. Ilya glanced over at her student and smiled. Her hips were matching his and she made a soft squealing noise as her body tensed. He matched that soon enough, then withdrew and thanked her. She motioned her student to be beside her bed.

“That was good sex. He is well trained and gave me the big pleasure. Did you see how I responded?” Valqua nodded. There were three more visitors before lunch, a busy morning.

At lunch Valqua approached and introduced herself to Saleem, a shy young man and asked to have supper with him. She discovered he was too shy to request sex for the first time so Valqua decided he would be her first partner here and invited him to her room to watch the next morning.

After a busy early afternoon Ilya stopped and took Valqua to the market. She bought her a necklace with a porcelain love symbol hanging from it. Valqua cried with joy on getting her first jewelry.

Saleem’s brother was one of Ilya’s visitors the next morning. Ilya saw Saleem’s pants tenting from watching so she gave him a blowjob for Valqua’s instruction. His tool was as big as any she’d seen there in spite of his small stature. She ordered Valqua to do the same thing when Saleem enlarged again. After the next visitor Ilya offered guidance and Valqua was proud of herself.

Saleem was told to accompany a brother early the next day. While the brother was with Ilya, Valqua took Saleem to the other bed and gradually seduced him. Ilya and the brother watched as Saleem joyfully thrust into Valqua and applauded when he finished. Both were encouraged to return the next morning.

Later that morning Valqua met the Patriarch, the oldest male and the ruler of the compound. She watched Ilya do him in a rather traditional way. Valqua was requested to be at his room at bedtime. Ilya selected a couple of more visitors for Valqua to service and they talked about each one after they left. Valqua’s anxiety diminished even more with each one.