Own Strength
When police turned up at the prime Dallas location, it was a quiet, sunny July morning and Mercedes Jones was catching up on sleep, awoken by the commotion, she and four dozen other women were handcuffed and marched out of the lucrative massage parlour.
Mercedes, 18, was terrified, she had been taken from Lima, Ohio she had been coerced into prostitution by Dean where the punters beat her with numbing regularity. Now there was something new to fear, she didn't even know where she was going, Dean had warned her that if she got caught again she'd be for the high jump, she couldn't trust anyone, she had no idea how the law worked and she was just so scared all the time of this happening. She sat in the van searching her mind for excuses, second guessing what would happen and looking at the faces of these two officer she knew meant business.
At 14 Mercedes was bullied and jeered at School for being, black, big, different, clever, good at stuff, bad at stuff, she actually felt like nothing she did at that place would ever be good enough so when Martin, the fit senior, with the Jesus tattoo on his right upper arm and a cross on his left arm, showed her some interest she jumped on it like a rash. He loved her, took his time with her brought her things, pretty things, took her places she shouldn't be in and paid her some damn attention, so on her 15th birthday when he brought her a gold bracelet and the latest iPhone she felt obliged to give herself to him as a thank you, it wasn't too much to give. So when he suggested that run off and get married she could think of nothing more she wanted to do, 10 months into the relationship Mercedes left everything and ran off with him to Vegas to get married. As far as her friends and family were concerned, Mercedes had vanished, one moment she was on the way home from school, the next she was gone. Vegas turned out to Delicias in Mexico, marriage turned out to be his friend Dean's hide away house, love turned out to be with other people behind a locked door she rarely saw the other side of.
Some Officers from the sex crimes unit in Dallas, had now arrested her for prostitution-related offences, but at least she was safe behind bars' she thought as she sat there wondering what would happen next. Her first day in custody was the first, since her arrival in Dallas six months earlier, that she hadn't been forced to have sex. She had been raped by different men 50 times a week on average, often violent, drunken strangers, she knew if she was released from prison, she would be murdered by the gang who held her, she was on someone's radar now, she had seen it so many times.
Eventually, the female police officers; Captain Clarke and Sargent Reid discovered that they were innocent victims of, a Romanian trafficking team, the Dallas outfit headed by 23 year old Dean Lovejoy, he'd recently arrived in the area, Mercy quietly hoped, when caught, he would receive the longest sentence for what he did in history, as she sat telling them her extraordinary story as evidence against Dean; scared but, seeing a way out for the first time in nearly 5 years.
At first she had the obvious reluctance to describe her experiences because of the shame, fear and stress but, once she relaxed and came to terms with the fact that she was going to die anyway, Mercedes agree to be identified. She seemed to be motivated by a courageous desire to expose this sordid, violent world, as she sat revealing the full horror of her ordeal in an account that could only reopen the debate about how society deals with its sex industry, as Captain Clarke asked her intrusive questions
"How did Martin get you out of the country?"
"I invited him to a barbecue at my house, he came with a load of friends and they were all over the place I didn't mind because they were his friends and I trusted him" She replied before carrying on to say "I saw Marcus give him my passport and I asked him why he was looking at it, he just looked at me blank like, we started making out later and I forgot about it" Mercedes admitted
"Why didn't you call anyone when you realised you weren't where he said you would be?"
"He said he had to just pick someone up and then when we got to the house I asked to use the phone and I got beat up, by this Dean guy, I didn't want that to happen again so I never asked again and Nico said if I did everything they asked I'd be treated well so that's what I did"
"Then what happened?"
"I was introduced to their world" she shouted "I can't remember every trick, but it was much of the same, we moved around a lot. I got fake ID once so I guess I went over a boarder from Mexico somewhere but I only used it that once and Dean took it back. This last spot was the most stable I've been in all the years I've been working for Dean and I got that because he said I've been so good" she said looking up at the female officer that wasn't speaking
"Do you have any marks on your body Mercedes?"
"I got a few from punters; punches" Mercedes said showing a cut on her face and back to the officers "But none from Dean
"Do you use drugs?"
"No not now I tried them once or twice, because Dean thought it would help but, I convinced him I was better without and I wanted to remember everything for when I killed the bastard" she said venomously
"So how much did you make for Dean; say daily on a good day?"
"On a good day that would have been back in the rooms and, I really have no idea I didn't see money then" Mercedes offered considering the question "But in this spar I'd make up to say $5k a day" she said proud like
"How much of that do you actually get?"
"I get a fair bit I get about $400, I'm what Dean calls his asset" she said puffing her chest up "We don't really get drunks at this place so the violence has died down a hell of a lot, and Jean, the Madam leaves us to it really, we get to choose she just handles the money and gives Dean his share, she lives in the basement" Mercedes added voluntarily, before an outburst professing her stupidity and peoples thoughts before suddenly stopping mid sentence as they watched her persona change, she pulled her legs up onto the chair looked straight at Captain Clarke and said "You know in the past I've actually trained girls to do what I do, how fucking sick is that, I mean I know it's wrong, I don't know what's got me thinking this way, that doing this is alright" she said hugging her body now a frail shell of her curvy 14 year old self "Those that couldn't cut it were never seen again, I don't know what happened to them, truth I don't want to know it's too horrible" she said putting her head to rest on her knees as her feet rested on the chair she was sitting on and her arms left her body hug to pull her legs into her chest as she spoke "There are a lot of us going through this, why aren't you guys helping people like me?" she asked looking up at the two officers standing in the room "I'm dead now you know that don't you, he'll find me and kill me for sure" she said as a single tear fell down her face as she verbalised her fate.
"We need to do tests for infections and stuff but, once that's done we'll send you to a safe house, you'll get some support from the team there"
"Safe house are you for real?" she asked laughing "I don't think you realise how big this thing is" she shouted "I'm fucking dead, I squealed like a banchi because I'm dead already" she laughed
"Come get these tests done and we'll see what we can do"
So there was 4 hours of tests and conversations before Mercedes was left to sleep things off and the team were charged with the task of finding her a safe place to stay. "Lieutenant Nichols are you able to do something for me it's a very important parcel I need transporting and storing for a while?" Captain Clarke said on the phone
"I can do that, for how long?" Nichols asked
"As long as it takes to collect it" Clarke shouted down the phone
"Can do" Nichols replied
"Briefing in my office 30 minutes, bring Reid with you please"
30 minutes later Nichols and Reid were standing in the Captains office hearing how, Mercedes was going to be the parcel and Reid would be back up, and how they should report back any abnormal activities. Nichols was ordered to take Mercedes, to the safe place later that day, outlining how detrimental losing the witness would be not only for the witness but to the agency on the grander scale. The drop would start at 1800 hours and any extra instructions would be forwarded to them on the secure phones the Captain handed them, and they left the office shortly after. At 18.00 The Captain made the call and started the ball rolling
Mercedes had been taken to live in Eagle Rock, she had been placed with Lieutenant Nichols a nice enough lady that had taken her to this quiet, mind your own business place and she was pretending to be a young lady fresh out of school in Lima, whose parents had tragically been killed in a helicopter accident a few months ago, she had to say that she had been placed with a family there in Eagle Rock. She called herself Mercy Riley now, put weave in her hair and, after two weeks of lounging about she was about to start Arcadia High School on Monday, dreading It because of the past experiences with school, Martin "What the hell, fuck Martin" she hadn't dare think that name for so long let alone ponder on it "I hate him" she said even louder
Soon it was Monday and Sally Nichols took her to the school, where her husband James taught, Mercy sat in his class looking at him wondering how much he'd be willing to pay for a day with her in private "Leave Mr. Nichols alone he's a nice guy" someone said shocking her out of her thoughts
"What?" she asked looking around to see a blond haired guy with the greenest eyes and the widest sexiest mouth she'd ever seen on a white guy, and she'd seen plenty, which took her breath for a second "What did I say?" she asked looking back at her book 'blushing Mercy Jones no fucking way' she thought to herself
"You were undressing the man with your eyes, they say a hell of a lot those do" he responded
"I don't know you, keep out of my eyes" she said swinging round to face him as she said it
"Note you didn't say I was wrong" he replied as she looked at him again
"Note I said fuck off" she spat at him moving her chair further away to send home her message
"Okay I'll try again next year, yeah?" he asked moving his chair further away from her too
"Next life" she snapped back 'but you are cute' she thought
Mercy playfully got through the first day, week, month and had forged friendships with some girls, so during the day she was bright, bubbly even, life and soul of the class and surprisingly bright academically, she found herself in top classes for maths, English, Science, Art and Music
"You like music?" the blond haired, green eyed, sexy mouthed boy now known as Sam asked her
"I like a lot of things Sam Evans" she sassed back "You; battery, are not included"
"What?" Sam asked puzzled
"Skxawng (Moron)" she said laughing as she walked away
"Kawyg (Bad) girl" he shouted after her making her turn to look at him and smile but she carried on walking
At the end of school that day Sam was standing at the gate waiting for her "Mercy, Mercy Riley" he called above the crowd making her look around for him, she knew who it was, she just needed to make eye contact to tell him to shut the fuck up "Mercy" he said when she finally found his eyes, making her not want to shout anything back at him
Mercy stood thinking it had been so long since she had felt the warmth of a man between her legs, she'd gotten used to feeling the wet sloppy kisses they placed on her, only a wife could be grateful for such kisses from such dirty bastards she thought and now I'm standing here craving that feeling "What do you want Evans?" she spat out trying to look and sound angrier than she actually was
"Tsap'alute (Apology)" he said "You called me a Skxawng (Moron) and I need you to apologise to me" he laughed "or come to the coffee shop, for a drink whichever you feel is easier"
"What do you really want Evans?" she asked with her hand on her hip giving as much attitude as she could muster
"Nga (You)" he said staring straight into her eyes as he said it
Mercy saw red, she went to hit out at him, all she could think was Martin in sheep's clothing, this bastard had come to sell her out to the highest bidder and, being the silly bitch that she was she was falling for it all again "Why do I attract fucking men like you" she shouted at him lifting her hand to strike as she felt someone grab her from behind firmly
"Sorry Sam, she's still getting over her parents death and we've not quite figured out her triggers yet" James said holding on to her as she kicked about shouting profanities "Mercy" he said calmly about four times before she stopped kicking and he held her for another 5 minutes before the urge to fly at Sam left her body "You need an after school activity" James said as he let her go "Get rid of all that hate for the world and it's brothers"
"You should come join singing club" Sam butted in with
"What; shit hurts so sing about it?" she asked
"Helps me" he said walking away "I'll try again tomorrow you know Tsap'alute (Apology)" he reminded her smiling as he walked
'That fucker is relentless' Mercy thought as she walked away with James
"What happened?" he asked as they got in the car
"He wants to sell me or buy me or something, he's another bastard wants in me and I'm not having it, I'll kill him first" she said getting mad again
"What did he say?" James asked
"He's been bugging me since day one and today I actually asked him what he wanted and he said me, what kind of mad dog answer is that to give anyone unless you want to buy or sell them?" Mercy asked
"He might just fancy you have you thought of that as a possibility?"
"Men don't like me James they see money how they can make it, spend it, throw it around, beat it not fancy it not in my case anyway" Mercy stated
"You might be wrong Mercy, sleep on it, Sam has his own issues but I know for a fact he's not a bad guy" he confirmed
"One hundred percent sure?" Mercy asked
"One hundred percent"
"I believe you, and I'll apologise to him tomorrow" she said side eyeing him still suspicious
"You've got your meeting with Sonia in an hour so I'll take you straight there" he said "and we can talk for a bit till it's time to go in"
"You're still not sleeping Mercy" he said once the car stopped outside the offices where her counsellor worked
"I still got all that Martin and Dean stuff on my head and I'm trying hard with Sam, he's a good friend but, some of the things he says and does reminds me so much of that trap" she said "but I'm working through it with Sonia, it's just that sometimes it's so bad, I question why I left how sick is that?" she asked him
"I think it's a natural feeling after five years of that life but the key is resisting" he finally said as she left the car to attend her session before going home
The next morning when school started Mercy was waiting in the hall for Sam to appear "Aahh Tsap'alute (apology)" he said with a smile
"No I think you're buying the coffee" she said with a laugh "But I am sorry for kicking off at you yesterday" she said catching him off guard
"Wow result" he said putting his two hands up over his head "I'll take that" he said laughing as he leaned against the lockers as if he would fall if he didn't "After school?" he asked as Mercy stood with a blank face "The coffee" he enlightened
"Oh yeah I'll have to okay that with Tina but yeah, erm I'll let you know later today" she said walking away from him 'he's cute when he really smiles' she thought bringing a smile to her face
Mercy got to her class "I'm going for coffee with Sam later today" she announced to Katie and Demi in the middle of the conversation they were having about her joining the cheer leading team
"What Sam Evans?" Demi asked for clarification
"Yeah Evans" Mercy replied rolling her eyes
"He's hot" Kate said ringing alarm bells for Mercy
"What do you mean hot?" she asked
"Come on Lady, you got eyes, any girl would want on those lips of his but, he never gives it up, I don't know any girl he's been out with"
"Why are we talking girlfriends? I'm going for coffee" Mercy added not understanding why the conversation had taken this turn
"Coffee and?" Demi asked
"Coffee and conversation, come if you want" she said wondering if she was going to regret inviting her friends as they moved around on their chairs with excitement "And stop with the ass wiggling it's a cup of coffee" she said as they all laughed
"Girl, I'd love to come but something tells me he only wanted to invite you, we've been at school with Sam for like 3 years and he's never said anything other than hello to us. I know he sings a lot and dances with the girls in singing club but I've never, and I mean never, seen him with a girl" Demi told her
"Shit he's gay" Kate whispered as they all covered their mouths for the word that just came out her mouth
"So he'll be a really good friend then" Mercy said and they all laughed again
So it was soon 3.15 pm and school was out Mercy threw her books in her locker and let out a breath "Sam" she said thinking how she was going to deal with this coffee thing without blowing up on him for everything he said 'remember I won't be far' James had informed her after their chat last night 'if in trouble mess with my jacket top button and he'll be there' she reminded herself before stepping off to go meet Sam
"Hey Seyin (pretty)" he said as he walked towards her
"Please don't say that Sam" Mercy said holding her hand up to him "And I'm not into the touching thing just yet either" she added for good measure
"Grief is a bitch don't you think?" he asked as he saw the pain in her face "Coffee" he said rounding back on himself to get to the exit. They walked the short distance from the school to the coffee shop, found a booth and sat in it "What do you want?" Sam asked taking his coat off and throwing it on the seat "Wait let me guess ice tea with rocks" he guessed as he sat down
"Wrong" Mercy said smiling
"Cold water with milk" he asked laughing
"No hot choc…"
"…olate with sprinkles" Sam finished as Mercy nodded her agreement "We have the same order, how weird is that" he laughed as he got up to go get their order. "So" he said sitting down opposite her giving her, her cup of hot chocolate and putting a plate with two cookies in the middle of them "Who is Mercy Riley" he asked before looking at her for a response
"I lived an ordinary life until 3 months ago when my parents died in a freak accident, that nobody will really give me the details about, and I came to stay with the Nichols family" she said taking a sip of her drink
"That's your situation not about you" Sam said when she finished "Okay I'll go first" he said grabbing his drink and taking a sip followed by a full mouth bite of one the cookies on the plate "Oh that's yours by the way" he said pushing the plate across to Mercy with the other one on
"Thank you" she said picking it up to take an equally big bite of hers, making Sam laugh
"Sorry" he said, covering his mouth for laughing with it open "Me First" he said when he composed himself "Well I came to Dallas about 3 years ago with my parents, my Dad lost his job in Texas, where I was born, and we moved here. I thought it was shit at first but then I went into high school and I found the singing club and I'm cool. My sisters not so cool though, she went missing about 2 years ago, it's killing us inside but we carry on with life because Mom's not doing too well keep thinking about it, she's the only girl" Sam said
"How old is she?" Mercy asked
"She's 16 now" Sam said getting all sad about it
"What do you think happened to her?"
"We've tried everything, she doesn't respond, we've been on the news asking, leaflet dropping, looking ourselves everything, we've been to crack houses, parlours, paedophiles' properties everything and no joy. Dad mentioned the D word about four months ago and Mom flipped so we can't even mourn her. I really don't want to think about not seeing my little sister again but, with every day that passes it becomes more real" Sam said
"Sorry" Mercy said, 'sitting opposite her Sam would have thought she was apologising for asking him the question or the loss of his sister or something but in Mercy's head she was saying it just case, and there was a very likely possibility, she may have been the one to stamp his sisters fate. "I hope you find her and she's well" she told him
"Lighter note" Sam said sitting up and drinking the last of his chocolate "I'm in the football team, I play the guitar and I sing quite good I think, have been known to bang the drums a little too" he said laughing "I've never had a girlfriend and no, I'm not gay just choosy, she has to appeal to me you know be the real deal not superficial like most the girls here"
"You're looking for Miss doesn't exist" Mercy said
"Oh she exists alright, my future depends on it" he laughed
"Come on Sam, get real, even the most perfect girl has flaws"
"I didn't say flawless I said she has to fit physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, history don't matter shit, I just need somebody for me you know?" he asked
"You; Mr. Evans, need to be careful what you wish for" Mercy said laughing
"So what do you wish for Mercy?" Sam asked
"I've wished for a hell of a lot in my short life but, sitting here now I guess, someone real you know" she said looking around the café "Someone that can stay the distance with the ball of fire called Mercy Riley"
"Real, Fire, Distance; I hear that" Sam said looking at Mercy until she felt herself blush "You didn't tell me about you" Sam added after the comfortable pause in the conversation
"So where you heading career wise?" she asked
"Oh I just need to get to MARVEL don't care how I do it but it has to get done" Sam said excitedly
"Where's that?" Mercy asked not having a clue what he was on about
"Maybe in LA or somewhere exciting like that" he said looking up in the air, obviously dreaming on it
"Where do you plan on going?" he asked
"UCLA" Mercy said, that being the only University she had ever heard about, that she remembered just then
"To do what?" he asked
"My drinks finished and we agreed one drink yeah?" she asked before carrying on to say "That story's for another hang out session" as she picked up her coat and put it on "Thanks for the drink Sam, James is coming for me any minute now; bye" she said picking up her bag and leaving the café as Sam sat watching her leave, before he remembered he meant to ask something and ran out to her
"Mercy; singing club will you come tomorrow after school?"
"I'll try" she said as James pulled up and she opened the car door before turning to say "Yes I'll come see your little club" and jumping in the car as James waved to Sam and drive off
"Everything went well?" he asked as they drove off
"I didn't tell him anything if that's what you're asking and I know the script" she said getting defensive "You didn't tell me his sister was missing" she added staring at James who gave no response
"Your first HIV results came back today, your clear, there's another one in like a month, speak to Sally about it" he said and the rest of the journey was quiet bar the music on the radio
"When's this trial thing coming up?" Mercy asked out the blue one day, it had been 2 months since she had been placed in protective custody, which was fine, on the one hand, because everyone was being nice to her, she'd been bowling, café, fayre, pictures with Sam, everyone was treading super light for her to get over this dead family of hers and James had said something to Sam that she wasn't privy to but things were cool between them. But she'd been sitting still for far too long, she craved for a man's touch so much she was visiting the bathroom at school to get off. She would have made moves on Sam a while back but Sally asked her to be mindful that she didn't make him a player in her game, and she hadn't cleared for STD's yet, she didn't trip she knew Sam was a virgin and she'd be cruel to use him that way he was fast becoming a friend, more than a friend if she was honest with herself. Singing club was a fun place to hide in, she'd go in seek Sam out and sit there most of the time never volunteered for anything and pretended to sing when they done group stuff.
"I told you we have to wait until they collect all the evidence they need there's no point in going after them with no evidence they'll be right back on the streets again" Sally replied "Just be patient Mercy"
"Hey every day's a bonus for me, its Demi, Kate and Sam I worry for, I don't want to invest and then leave you know" Mercy said
"You told them this placement was temporary didn't you?"
"Yes but I still want to say goodbye" she said looking at Sally "I don't want to be dragged off in the middle of the night in a puff of smoke" she said mimicking smoke exploding with her hands
"How are your sessions with Sonia going?" she asked
"She's talking to me a bit now, just sitting there for like two hours every other day was a real piss take but, we talk about stuff you know and she's kind of cool" Mercy said bouncing at the achievement of making a friend of someone older than her other than Sally and James "Not as cool as you guys though" she laughed seeing Sally's dead eye from the side.
"What are you doing today?" she asked
"Well I've got as far as getting to singing club so I'll, as usual, text James if anything changes" Mercy replied jumping out the car as it pulled up at school
"Mercy" Sam said walking towards her bringing a smile to her face "I got you a solo at club today" he announced
"You got me a what?" Mercy asked looking round at Sally who was smiling widely in the car before she drove off waving "You did what Sam?" Mercy asked horrified
"I notice you never sing when we do group things and, I figured that was because you wanted your own spot, so I got you one" he said pleased with himself
"Well you can un-get it, I'm not doing it" she shouted
"I knew you were scared" he said teasing her about it "They said you were maybe shy but, I've seen you fly so in my head I went for scared" he said laughing "How are you so strong about everything else and so weak about singing in front of a group of friends?" he asked
"Your friends Sam not mine" she answered
"Hey" Sam said stopping her from walking to look in her eyes to say "They got you're back, their our friends" he told her "Don't dis people like that it's not nice"
"Okay my bad, I'll do this one song, for you Sam just one song" she said hugging her books and she started to walk towards the school entrance with Sam beside her
"You two an item?" some guy asked making them look at him but neither Sam or Mercy answered watching him pass before looking at each other and laughing
"You okay with hugging yet cos, I so want to hug you?" Sam asked her, she took about four more strides before she fell into his side as they walked and he threw his arm around her shoulder "Tslolam (I understand)" he said as she smiled to herself 'I think you really do' she thought as she snuggled in under his arm the perfect fit. "We'll meet at break to get a song together yeah" Sam said stopping outside her classroom, as she nodded a yes before he watched her walk in. Sam went some way down the corridor before jumping in the air and doing a fist punch for his great achievement "Mercy Riley Mllte 'ampi (agree touch)" he shouted at some random guy walking down the hall
In no time it was the dreaded performance time and Mercy stood in the girls bathroom sweat dripping from her, heart racing like no bodies business and feet sticking firmly to the floor suddenly Mercy was back there in that room waiting for some damn punter
"Mercy" she thought she heard but her face wouldn't leave the mirror she was looking in, her memories flashing before her like some horror movie "Mercy; what are you doing?" Demi asked as Mercy looked down from the mirror to see herself clawing at her skin with her nails not quite making blood but nearly there "What are you doing girl?" Demi asked again looking at her wrist as Mercy re-adjusted her sleeve to cover the damage
"Stressing about this song thing Sam roped me into" she forced herself back into the now saying
"He sent me in here for you, he said come on you need to practice one last time. I think he just wants to hear you sing before everyone else does, he's hot for you girl" Demi said laughing
"Yeah right, we're friends, he's cool and he's got my back" Mercy said grabbing her bag and walking towards the door where Demi stood.
"You sure you're alright girl?" Demi asked lifting her jumper to see red marks on her wrist
"Yeah I'm sure" Mercy said giving Demi a smile and pulling her hand away before pushing the door and making her exit to find Sam stood leaning against the cupboard door waiting 'I swear the only thing stopping me from fucking the brains out of you is that fucking HIV check sheet Mr.' she thought smiling at him
"Those kawng menair (evil eyes) look a word I can't say to you" he said smiling back "let me hear the song" he announced
"If I sing it to you it would spoil the effect" she said laughing
"Okay which one of the two songs are you going to sing?" he asked
"Again if I peng nga (tell you) I'd have to tspang nga (kill you)" she said still laughing
"Okay it's performance time for you then baptism by fire" he said offering his hand for her to hold, Mercy grabbed his hand to follow him Sam felt a bolt of lightning go through his body and wondered if it had passed through to Mercy he wanted to quickly remove his hand but it was fused to hers locked, welded, engaged, stuck. It seemed like he stood there for an age before he finally remembered they were supposed to be travelling to singing club and he turned in that direction still fused. In slow motion it seemed they travelled down the corridor and it seemed like a massive effort to jerk their hands apart as they got to the door "Good Luck" he said pushing her in and standing back for a few seconds to check for burn marks on his hands from the shock, surprised when there were none
Mercy fell into the room all she could think about was the electric shock she just got from Sam's hand it wasn't really a shock more like a fusion she thought yeah like two things sealing together, it was profound, like floating but firmly on the ground, like I didn't have a fucking care in the world for those few, I would have said hours but, surely it took seconds to get here, there was definitely electricity in there somewhere "Thanks" she said as she walked into the room 'and why was letting go so hard?' She said in her head, looking at her hands for signs of glue or something and found none
"Okay Mercy, you've been sitting quietly in the rafters for the past 6 weeks so it's great you decided to give us a song, we don't know if you can even sing" Mr. Edwards said smiling at her
"She's a bit shy Sir so we need to help with the chorus' you know" Sam said putting his thumbs up at Mercy
Mercy walked over to the guy on the electric piano and started playing her melody as she started to sing 'The Cure' by Lady Gaga everyone looked around rocking to the music surprised at Mercy's voice, Sam was mesmerised just sitting listening totally blown away.
"Mercy that was fantastic" he went towards her saying as she finished the song "Where did that come from?"
"It what I was thinking, I never sing if I don't mean it" she said
"I'm not even joking when I say, you need to do something with that voice girl, it's good I'm talking Whitney good" he told her making her laugh
That night Sam lay in bed thinking on what Mercy had said about her meaning her songs, he was serious about his singing, song writing and performing he was sure of that, but no way did he fill it with passion the way she did she really felt what she was saying. There was no sleep for him just now Mercy was resting too heavy on his mind for some reason, she was always on his mind but it was just different today, what with the electricity and then that song there was something there for him to investigate. Sam got his Laptop out and typed in the few words he could remember of the song 'If I can't find the cure, I'll fix you with my love' pressed the first search find and that was it, at least he thought it was, but he knew for sure once he heard the chorus. He sat excited trying to make the song fit for them playing around with the words for a while before the pen then the paper dropped out of his hand as he fell asleep.
Mercy was laying in bed, thinking on her performance at club 'Why was I singing about Martin today, he's the past, or is he?" she asked herself,'yes you most definitely are Mr. pretending to love me' she told herself 'someone can fix me I just need to let them and stop being so damn scared about it, and why have you just popped in my mind Sam I am my loveable Dork, if I get you I'm fixed' she though as she caught herself moving in familiar ways "Is it sex I want with you Mr. Evans" she asked herself "no girl you want to make love to Mr. Evans" she thought hugging into her pillow and falling asleep
"Mercy, Mercy" Sally said shaking her out of her sleep
"What's up is it the court date?" Mercy asked
"No your final test results have come back" she said waving a letter in front of her. Mercy jumped up and grabbed the letter and ripped the top open before looking at Sally "Good luck girl" she said
"It's not exam results" Mercy said seriously
"Do you need me to leave?"
"No, I need you to stay" Mercy said holding on to her "Here goes" she said pulling the letter out and opening it "Does that say negative or positive?" she asked, showing her the letter
"Negative girl" Sally screamed as they hugged it out "But girl that don't mean you can jump on Sam remember his feelings and everything he's going through"
"Don't sweat it we're nowhere near that yet, he's gonna have to put some work in" she said giving her a high five "I got to get dressed now" Mercy said jumping up out of bed as Sally left the room. Once Mercy was dressed she was down the stairs and on her way out the door when James called her back
"Toast, at least girl" he said pointing to the tray of toast on the table
Mercy grabbed two slices and waved them as a goodbye as she went to the door "Don't forget Sam's bringing me back tonight in his new car" she shouted as the door slammed
At about 1p.m. Mercy got a text asking her to get home as soon as possible, she went to Sam's class and called him out, there was an activity going on so he asked to go to the bathroom and went out to her "What's up Mercy?" he asked
"Will you take me home?" she asked
"Yeah sure, but what's up?" he asked again
"I'm not sure until I get there" she replied and they didn't speak again until they were in the car "I might be leaving" she said not looking at him
"What?" he asked swerving the car
"Sam" she shouted touching the steering wheel "I might be leaving" she said again once he straightened up
"Are you going back to that guy, the one you were singing to yesterday?" he asked really needing to know, he'd woke up thinking about it again this morning
"I wasn't singing to him Sam" she said before adding "and I'm sorry but that subject is closed and, no I don't have feelings for him not like that anyway and, definitely not like the electric that passed through us yesterday" she said throwing caution to the wind
"You felt that?" he asked
"This conversation can't happen I might be leaving" she said closing it down as they finished the journey in silence "Thanks" she said stepping out the car before he could get round to open the door "and Sam I'll say bye before I go, I promise; you better get back to school" she said looking at him for the longest while before turning to go into the house as Sam sat watching her go in.
"I'm never going to see you again am I?" he asked but she didn't hear him, he didn't mean her to "what?" Sam said as he watch Mercy get dragged into the house "that was not Mr Nichols" he said getting his phone out and calling his number but got no answer. He saw movement in the curtains and decided to move his car further down the road, calling James again he answered on the second ring
"Hi Sam you in crisis?" he asked
"No sir but Mercy's just been dragged into your house, I know you're against violence and I just need to know if I need to act"
"Our house, how do you know it's our house"
"I just dropped her off after she told me she needed to get home, and that she might be leaving"
"Okay Sam don't go in, those people are dangerous, someone is on the way, move away from the house"
"I have, is Mercy in danger?" he asked
"We're all in danger Sam keep away"
Sam hadn't been sitting in the car for 2 minutes after the call when he saw two cars rush up the road and stop at the house. There was some stand off stuff, conversation and the like and then gun shots started flying. Sam sat crouched in the car thinking Mercy's in there but he was much too scared to go in to see what was going on after his own drama. He sat there remembering that morning when he had walked downstairs in his parents' home to find his 15 year old sister servicing two men in the living room "Sam get back upstairs unless you want to join in" she'd said laughing and he'd almost run to get back to bed the two guys being too big for him to handle. The following day he'd told his parents about her antics in the hope she would stop messing around and get a proper job, if she needed money, but the next day some Joe came to collect her and her belongings and she was gone. They got a letter from her about 6 months later saying she couldn't do the drink, drugs and forced sex any more, she was wrong and she wanted them to forgive her but she could only see two ways out and in both she was dead so she was going to determine when that would be and she was going to kill herself. His Dad and him, had driven to the location on the letter, getting there the same time as the police and, just like now there was a shoot out in which his sister, Sherone had been shot dead. "Why do all the women I love die" he cried holding onto the steering wheel he remembered standing looking at her lifeless body as his Dad tried to breathe breath into a body with half its head missing and the shriek of his Dad's cry as he realised his daughter was dead, he remembered his mother telling his Dad to shut up as he tried to tell her what happened and, she's done the same thing every time any of them have tried to tell her that Sherone has gone, she didn't even attend the funeral "Is that Mercy?" he asked nobody, as he now sat in the driver's seat watching this memorable horror movie play out.
Inside the house; Mercy went to open the door and found herself being dragged into the house "What's up" she asked as she felt herself being forced to turn around by her shoulders "Martin" she said when she focused on who it was "what are you doing here?" she said looking through the window to see if Sam had gone "Have you come to take me away from here?" she said moving away from the window because she didn't need him seeing Sam sitting there "I've been taken by the police" she said putting a smile on her face. She knew how to act the part she'd been doing it for 5 years "babe I thought I'd never see you again" she said falling into him "We have to go now" she said running upstairs to grab a few things when she saw the car coming from down the street "grab some food" she shouted down stalling for time, noticing Martin hadn't spoken yet so he was still checking her out
"Here Mercedes now" he shouted back up the stairs "Now" he repeated
"I'm just getting…. I'm here" she said stumbling down the stairs as the front door burst open and guns were all over the place shots fired and she curled up in a ball on the stairs refusing to move. Suddenly Martin was slumped against her legs
"I've got to kill you or I'm dead" he said looking up at her with a gun limply in his right hand "Help me to kill you" he said before closing his eyes and taking his last breath and before Mercy could say anything Reid was there kicking him to make sure he was gone and signalling for Mercy to get up and go to her, which she did.
Seconds later she was being almost carried to a car outside and thrown in "I've got to see Sam" she said but everything just kept on moving "I need to see Sam" she said again and still nobody listened "Sally I need to see Sam!" she shouted and everyone stopped and looked at Sally
"We don't have time to go to the school right now Mercy" she replied "We need to get out of here we've been compromised"
"He's just there" she said pointing to the car down the road
"It's not safe Mercy" she replied
"I promised, I'd say bye I need to see him" he aid beg in her voice "We are not leaving without me speaking to him and I promised" she said pushing her way out of the car
"It's in your best interest to get back here Mercy, it's dangerous out there" Sally shouted after her as she ran towards Sam's car "Mercy you're putting him in danger doing that here, now" she said as a last resort, stopping Mercy in her tracks
She looked up towards Sam's car to see his face lighting up, tears in her eyes as she shook her head indicating to him not to approach her, as Sam put his hand on the door handle to release it a sharp breeze whizzed past Mercy's face, she heard glass breaking and turned to see where it was coming from "Get down Mercy get down" she heard as she instinctively hit the cold floor and looked up to see where Sam was. As she looked at him she saw him fall forward onto his steering wheel
"Sam" she gasped, no one would have heard her, then there was another gust of wind going past her back lifting her weave off her head
"Stay down Mercy" Sally shouted as shots were being fired from behind the car into the nothingness, Mercy stayed down reflecting on the last shoot out she'd been a part of, she was on the toilet, best damn place to be' she looked around thinking 'What if the enemy gets me, I'm dead, I'm going to get killed looking in the eyes of the man I love, love where the fuck did that come from Ms Jones, check that shit' she thought looking up at Sam still slumped on the wheel "he's been shot" she said lifting her head up as she said it to get a better look
"Stay down Mercy" someone shouted again the voice getting closer, Mercy felt someone touch her as Sally's voice came to her saying everything was alright, Mercy sat up and hugged her for a short while before Sam came back to mind and she ran to the car
"Sam" she shouted as she neared the car but he didn't move "Sam's hurt" she shouted as she carried on running towards him "get help" she almost ordered as she reached him and opened the car door "Sam" she said as she checked the areas of him she could see and found blood on his head "He's bleeding" she shouted in a panic
"Reid have a look at him will you?" Sally asked one of the armed police that had assisted her "Are we clear over there" she shouted across to Armed officers who gave an affirmative
"It's a graze he's knocked out" Reid said pulling him up off the wheel and resting his head back on the pillow of the headrest about a minute later Sam started to come out of his unconscious state
"What's going on Mercy?" Sam asked as he started to come round and focused on her face
"I really can't tell you right now Sam but, when I can you'll be the only one I'll want to tell" she said as they waited for help
"Don't move" Reid said as Sam went to lift up to get a better view of Mercy
"I thought I was going to die again Mercy" he said touching her arm and surprisingly she let him touch her "I need to tell you something before I lose the guts or the opportunity, listen to me" he said trying to confirm he'd got her full attention
"Mercy we have to go" Sally shouted
"Hold that thought Sam I really have to go I just needed to see you were safe, and I promised to say bye didn't I?" she said moving away
"Will I see you again?" Sam asked
"In my dreams yeah" she said as she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, her lips fused to his cheek, they became hot, dry and wet all at the same time, her head spun making her grab him to steady herself as his hand grabbed onto the chair he was sitting on. Lights flashed as their minds thought nothing just basked in the experience of outer body they were experiencing
"Mercy" they heard and yanked themselves apart, Mercy quickly looking at Sally before looking back at Sam
"Please tell me you felt that?" he asked
"I felt it" she confirmed as she turned to walk away
"This isn't finished I'll find you, I'll wait for you forever" Sam shouted after her
"Bye Sam" she turned to say waving at him 'and I'll be waiting for someone like you, no you, for a lifetime' she thought as Sally forcefully grabbed her back into the car and they sped off as Mercy took her mobile out and tapped in a message to Sam
'I want to explain everything to you and hopefully one day I will' she wrote and sent before sending another one
'Please miss me' and put her phone away
"You need to give me that phone all ties must be lost from this place otherwise people can get hurt" Reid stated as Mercy took her phone out and gave it to her
"Captain we just had a shoot out but, one in the house we believe to be Martin but Lovejoy may have been outside as shots were fired at a civilian" Reid reported via phone as they travelled
"Is anyone hurt?"
"The Young guy she goes round with but he's not fatal" Reid reported before cutting the phone call off
Mercy sat in the car thinking about transportation over the years how they'd put them in the back of a black windowed Limo so nearly everyone they passed would look at the car but never suspect that they had young girls in there taking them to another house to be abused, beaten, drugged and even killed. She sat in the silence as Sally looked at the other officer in silence, looking back and telling the driver to go faster every so often. About 40 minutes later they got to a farm house type building, everyone hurried out of the car and into the small house, where a grey haired man greeted them, well everyone except her that is. Mercy was brought to a room at the back of the house and given some food and a drink and told to rest, she lay there listening to mutterings as a voice bellowed over them making her jump
"So what went fucking wrong then, why is she here?" the bellowing voice asked
"That fucking Martin was in my fucking house, that was not in the plan James could have been there, I flipped and shot the bastard. That wasn't part of the plan that wasn't in the agreement my family wasn't to be involved" Sally blurted out
'Did I hear that right, Mercy thought to herself did Sally just say she knew Martin was coming to kill me, but it shouldn't have gone down at her house'
"Who sent them to my house?" she shouted and Mercy knew it really was Sally this time
"It was me I sent them they found me, threatened my family and I told them" another familiar voice said but Mercy couldn't place it "Well I had no choice you must see that" the voice said again
The bellowing voice answered back "There's always a choice Sonia, you chose wrong"
'Sonia, Sonia is this shit really happening, it's the fucking therapist what is she doing with Sally, Dean's racket is bigger than I thought my life is so over' she thought flopping back on the bed in the corner of the room 'I'm never going to see Sam again' she said crying into the pillow on the bed for a short while "I need the bathroom" she finally shouted to anyone who could hear her, she knew they all could but it was Sally who came to sort her out
"What's happening, how long we got to be here?" she asked
"I'm just about to get hold of the boss and get you moved again" she replied not looking at Mercy as she spoke
"Martin's dead isn't he?" Mercy picked up the courage to ask
"Yeah and that's why we had to move because they found you, we have a snitch in our midst" Sally told her
'Yeah Sassy fucking Sonia' she thought as she looked back up at Sally "Have you got Dean already?"
"Yes" Sally said pointing to the toilet "Thought you were bursting?" she asked as Mercy went to the bathroom, she came out asking more questions
"Have you heard if Sam's alright?"
"Yeah he is he just had a head injury" Sally told her "We're going to another safe house just minutes away, we think everyone's out the way now" she smiled at Mercy saying
"We're going back then?" Mercy asked excitedly inside
"I am" Sally teased
"Where you go I go Mrs that's what you said and I trust you otherwise I'll run" Mercy said, Sally just looked at her and looked at her bedroom door indicating that she needed to go back in and she did
Mercy sat on the bed thinking about her life and how that chance meeting with Martin had changed everything for her, his charm, kindness, understanding and not forgetting his looks had her hooked from day one. He must have genuinely loved me first, no one could keep up that sort of pretence for like nearly a year he must have, he told me he did and made me believe it, how the mighty fall, she smiled, to find himself in a house begging the person, he supposedly loved, to kill themselves to save himself how selfish was that? Now I'm sitting here unable to trust anyone, hating all men and needing them to survive because of you Mr. Martin, god I don't even know the surname of the man who loved me, why do I not know that? Does it matter because he's fucking dead now, and you're as good as dead Mercy Jones at least you know your own name girl' She said bringing a smile to her face. "Right a plan" she said to herself as she sat quietly scheming something up.
Mercy fell asleep planning, un-planning, giving up and finding hope, she dreamt about Sam as far as she could remember, and was woken up by Sally just before her explosive orgasm for the feel of Sam's mouth on her "Shit Sally" she said when she came out of her sleep "You made me miss it" she said under her breath her body still at fever pitch, if she had concentrated she could have done it but the picture of Sally standing there watching her brought bad memories and she abandoned the task and got up.
"We're going back to Eagle Rock, you need to go back to school but no more following instructions unless James or I speak to you okay?"
"Okay" Mercy said too excited to say anything else she was going to see Sam again, fixing herself and following Sally to the car
"We need to get our story straight for Sam, when you get back" she said as she started telling Mercy what she needed to say. Mercy listened and repeated what Tina said but her intention was to tell Sam the truth about herself, he'd taken a bullet for her and she wasn't about to leave him out the loop, plus there was this connection between them that made her believe he'd understand.
"Sally; why would Sam have told James about this?" Mercy asked once they were in the car
"It's his favourite teacher he tells him everything" she replied, Mercy knew that was a lie Sam's favourite teacher was Mr. Edwards and his favourite lesson was Sports and then singing club but she said nothing
50 minutes later they were sat outside a high rise building with about 12 floors "We living in these flats now?" Mercy asked
"Yeah, if we get found here we'll have to move out of Eagle Rock all together" Sally informed her "We're on the top floor" she informed Mercy as they entered the block and made their way to the elevators. When they got to the flat it was a spacious 4 bed apartment that more or less covered the top floor except for the laundry room and emergency stairs that were at the end of the of corridor "this is your room" she said showing Mercy a room next to the bathroom "It's the smallest room but it's big enough for what you need and no boys, in fact no visitors" she finished "James will be bringing you to and from school every day no exceptions he'll wait if he has to" she added as an after thought
"Okay with all the rules" Mercy butted in thinking it was all too much "Martin's dead, Dean's locked up I don't think any of the others have the guts to come after me if they had to send little old Martin in the first place" Mercy said laughing
"I didn't see you laughing when those bullets were flying" Sally commented
"Neither were you from what I remember and, you left an innocent man out there to die" Mercy stated
"My priority is always going to be you Mercy" she looked at her saying
"I'm going to bed" Mercy announced leaving her standing in the living room "Can I get my phone back" she asked when she reached the doorway as Sally searched her pocket found it and gave it to her "Thanks" she said as she finally left the room