Chapter 11 - Artists

The Octopus Arms had a clever name, Lupe had to admit, but that was it's only redeeming feature. It was so far from the Epimetheus Park station Lupe was almost certain she had the address wrong and was almost about to turn back when she found the already rusty rooms for rent sign at the end of a block of factories. Helena had sent her a letter, inviting her to come visit now that she had a permanent address. Dorothy had sent Lupe out on another long errand, this time to retrieve a very specific lotion, and told Lupe to take as much time as she needed.

The last week had been pretty boring. Dorothy had insisted that Richard accompany her to a social engagement nearly every night. She and Richard had had a few short and flirty conversations and a great deal of passionate kissing and petting in the pantry, but nothing Earth-shattering. He seemed to be waiting for something, but as for what Lupe didn't know. His interest in her was still strong, however, and that morning before work he had put his hand up her skirt and pulled her underwear off. "Have a good day," he whispered into her ear and left.

The building had clearly been hastily converted into rooms by the owner when they realized the need for housing was very profitable. Lupe's eyes widened in surprise when she beheld the dozens of names listed on the pneumatic tube's delivery box. The space was smaller than the Stone's apartment but there had to be nearly fifty people living there.

How? Lupe thought in shock as she rang the bell. Someone shouted for her to enter and Lupe let herself in. She was given a list of the names of the residents and found Helena. 34B? Oh my, Lupe thought with discomfort as she saw that not only were the rooms ridiculously narrow, only wide enough for a cot and the space to walk between it and the wall, but the rooms themselves were divided vertically as well into three sections – an A, B, and C unit. Each 'room' had a 'door' that was a pulldown window shade.

Helena's room was the middle one and thus at eye height. Lupe knocked by rapping on the side of the wall next to the 'door'. A few moments later the shade fluttered open and she was greeted warmly by Helena. "Ah, you found my little mansion here," she said as she kissed Lupe on the cheek.

"Hello Helena," Lupe greeted her back. Helena smelled of strong perfume and cheap gin. "How are you?"

"Richer each day," Helena answered. "They call me the Pole for your pole. Come, let's go somewhere with less ears." Helena somewhat awkwardly climbed out of her quarters and clambered down some footholds to the floor.

Helena led Lupe through a narrow alley and into a warehouse full of barrels. "I know the owner, he lets me in here if I need some space," Helena explained as they climbed up a ladder to a small room. There were a couple of rough chairs clustered around a low table laden with bottles and plates, but it was empty of people.

"How is it going? Your building, it's-" Lupe said once they sat down.

"An awful little flea ridden place, I know. I'm saving money though, that's what is important. I've got nearly a thousand dollars already saved up."

"Then you'll be out of here before you know it," Lupe whispered, excited for her friend. "A few months, a year maybe."

Helena frowned. "The price went up. It's thirty-thousand now. I'm afraid that by the time I get that it will go up again. We need to get cash fast if we have any hope. How much are you bringing in?"

"A hundred dollars a month as a maid." Lupe knew that her official salary was a dead end. "But at least I don't have to pay rent," she joked.

Helena laughed darkly. "My rent is three times that, perhaps I should be become a live-in fuck maid. How much are you getting for that?"

"None," Lupe answered glumly.

Helena threw her hands up. "What do you mean none? I thought you were working on it."

Lupe sighed. "I don't want to do that to him. I like him Helena. He's very sweet and surprisingly nice. He's also very sad, I couldn't bear to make him any sadder than he already is." Lupe had come to recently realize that in Rapture kindness and compassion were forms of rebellion. Opting out of the endless cycle of mercenary egotism was setting her own terms of existence, as useless as a gesture as that may be.

Helena rolled her eyes. "Oh Lupe, you are hopeless. Have you at least slept with him and convinced him to leave his wife? If you're going to stay down here you may as well be as comfortable as you can.

"No. We've done other stuff though." Lupe then told Helena all about the dress shop and the shower several nights ago.

Helena lit a cigarette. "You'd make an excellent prostitute, you know that? Men love that sort of nonsense."

"I like that sort of nonsense too. Would that help my prostitution skills you think?"

Helena shrugged. "Probably. If you enjoy your work you'd be better at it I suppose. How's cleaning and cooking? Do you enjoy that?"

"It's not so bad. Richard is at work all day and Dorothy is usually out with her terrible friends. She makes a bit of a mess every morning in her bathroom but it cleans up pretty fast. She doesn't realize how quickly I can tidy up. I don't think she knows a thing about cleaning. I made breakfast, that's easy, and they are both gone for lunch and half the time Dorothy sends me out for supper and half the time I make some small little dish."

"Does Dorothy know her husband's been dry humping you in changing rooms and rubbing it on you?"

"She's got to know something, she's not stupid and he looks at me like he's about to fire off in his britches half the time. She's meaner vinegar piss in the devil's cocktail but I am perfectly polite to her. I act like I don't know." Lupe also found solace in controlling her interactions with Dorothy. I'm playing both of them a little, aren't I? Controlling Richard's sexual energy and putting up a blank wall to his wife was holding both their throats in her little hands.

"I'd watch my back if I was you," Helena advised. "Dorothy cannot be happy with this."

Lupe nodded. She was aware of the possibility of harm. "You need to watch yours as well. Someone Van Der Graf was paying tried to grab me off the train a few days ago."

Helena ashed into a beer bottle. "Yes, I'm aware, that's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. He tried the same thing with Susanne, you remember her?"

"She was from…I don't remember exactly where, some little town in Canada, right?"

Helena nodded. "Yes, she's a waitress at The Seahorse now, I see her all the time. She told me the same thing you did. She got away too, gave him a kick in the potatoes, I saw her just last night so I think he's backed off. I spoke to one of my clients about it, he's a lawyer, and he said that it's probably a cause of fraud, which is one of the few things the Central Council cares about. I don't know if Van Der Graf knows this, but if you get hauled back there just tell him that. Or better, I'm sure that Richard knows a lawyer. Tell him next time he's poking around at your muff you need to talk to a lawyer about a former employment contract, then you find out how much he cares about you as a person."

Lupe frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean if he stops and asks you why and you have a real conversation about it then I would say he cares about you as a person. If he just agrees and continues then he doesn't. It's as simple as that, wouldn't you say?"

"Not necessarily. What if he asks after he finishes? Some men have very focused minds, just one thing at a time," Lupe pointed out.

"Then even more so, with the one track mind," Helena explained. "If he stops and talks to you, then you know he's got more than your muff on his mind. I believe that if you care about someone you should be more concerned with legal troubles than with squirting poor sauce on them, hm?"

Lupe didn't exactly agree with the plan. It seemed like a trap to divert him so much from what she had been thus far trying to get him interested in. The general idea was correct though. If Richard did care about her he should also care about her legal woes as well. "I will speak to him about it," she agreed. "You're right, he should care. If he doesn't then I will take him for a ride like you think I should."

"Good," Helena said. "That brings me to the second thing I wished to speak with you about. Please don't take this the wrong way, but I am not going to wait for you to earn enough money to-" Helena lowered her voice and looked around. "-escape. I promise you though, I will tell someone that Rapture exists. I will send help. I won't forget you. This place cannot exist alone forever."

"They'll think you're crazy," Lupe said sadly. "A city at the bottom of the sea? Impossible."

"I'll bring something to prove that it isn't a fantasy. A directory from the telephone booths, maybe. That may be enough to show them I'm not making it up."

"Maybe," Lupe responded, trying to think of something better but drawing a blank. "I'll think on it. You won't leave soon, right? Give me enough time to think on it."

"I will. And when I do leave, don't worry. You'll see me again when I come back with thousands of brave soldiers and dozens of bureaucrats who are unhappy they aren't getting their cut of the money," Helena promised.

Lupe smiled hopefully. She wanted to believe that Helena could do this. Otherwise what were her options? Die down here? Live out the rest of her life like a mermaid? No, mermaids got to go to the surface and seduce sailors, they got to see the sun. "I won't be mad if you go by yourself. I trust you."

"I, I may have a chance to go sooner rather than later," Helena said quickly. "I can't tell you more and it's not a sure thing, but we may get out of here sooner rather than later."

"Then I may as well have as much fun with Richard as I can now," Lupe said with a smile.

"I am a little jealous of you, you know? I'm not saying I wish to be a maid, but it would be nice to have a little bit more of a quiet life. I did not get home last night until four in the morning and I've got to go out and do it again tonight. Having a good time is exhausting."

"Are all the tenants in your building in the night life?"

"A few are, but others work in factories or on the farms. I try not to talk too much to people, I don't want to be remembered or draw attention to myself." Helena flicked her cigarette into an ashtray across the room and looked at the watch on her arm. "Damnation. I've got to go pick up my cleaning and get something to eat. I've got a client before too long."

Lupe and Helena climbed back down the ladder and out of the warehouse. "Do you wear lots of lacey underthings?" Lupe asked as they walked down the street.

"Yeah, that's what I am getting cleaned. You can't show up with another man's sauce on your negligee, very few men would like that," Helena guided Lupe down another alley. "This way, it's a shortcut to the station."

Lupe had never worn fancy underthings before and if Helena was going to bring an end to this place she may as well do it down. Anything is possible down here, after all. "Are they terribly expensive?"

"It's a business cost for me," Helena answered and quickened her pace. "Why, do you want some?"

"Yes, if I need to convince Richard to get me a lawyer I'd best be at my best."

"Alright, go three blocks down that way, then take a left and it's in the plaza there, it's called Madame Mimi's. Not too expensive, but not too high quality either." Helena gave Lupe a peck on the cheek. "I'll be in touch."

Helena strode off down the way and Lupe realized she was almost already back to the train station. She had certainly taken the long way around. This section of Rapture wasn't nearly as tidy as Adranos Place or even Little Eden. Lupe had to dodge piles of trash and stinking remains of sea life. Great stacks of crates towered over Lupe at one point, and she was surprised to see a fat rat hiss at her when she passed. Crowded tenement buildings were next to repair shops next to restaurants next to workshops. There was clearly no grand design or plan for Epimetheus Park.

Madame Mimi's was a sorry looking place with just a hand painted cardboard sign on the door. It was locked with an 'out for lunch' note pinned to the cardboard sign. Lupe fingered the knife handle in her coat pocket as she waited. Her altered dresses had been delivered yesterday and although she was wearing her simple grey uniform she was still better dressed than most people in Epimetheus Park. Yesterday there was an article in the paper about a young woman found dead – nude and beaten and robbed – on a rooftop in Apollo Square.

Lupe kept her eyes open and hand on the knife until (presumably) Madame Mimi arrived, cup of seaweed soup in hand, to unlock the door. "Your mistresses send you to me?" Madame Mimi questioned, seemingly bewildered that someone with the money for a maid would send her here to buy lingerie.

"No, I'm here on my own business," Lupe replied as Madame Mimi unlocked the padlock. "My friend recommended you."

"That makes a lot more sense. You becoming a pick-up girl as well? I've got a starter set for that," Madame Mimi ushered Lupe inside.

"No. How'd you know she was a pick-up girl though?"

"Most of my customers are. What are you looking for then?"

"I'm sleeping with my employer," Lupe said bluntly, even though it wasn't exactly true yet. If this woman was cavalier about sex work she was probably understanding of Lupe's situation as well. It felt liberating to say it aloud. There was a libertine air in Rapture as well; it was intoxicating to even housemaids. "I'm looking for something to keep him interested. Something he's never seen his wife wear."

"It's your outfit doll, that's what he's never seen his wife wear. I don't think I can sell you anything that's going to wet his whistle more than that. But I do have other things that will get his attention. How old is he?"

"Mid-twenties, I don't know exactly."

"Young then. Was he in the war?"

Lupe nodded, wondering how this was going to help Madame Mimi narrow it down.

"Where?"

"Where in the war?" Lupe repeated, bewildered by the question. "He was shot by Germans, so Europe I guess. Why does it matter?"

Madame Mimi took out a small box from under her desk. "Pick-up girls in the East use these, but they should be fresh for his eyes if he wasn't there." She flipped the box open, revealing two small metal balls connected by a silk ribbon that dangled from one of the balls and ended in a loop.

Lupe picked it up by the ribbon loop. "What am I supposed to do with this?" She'd never seen such a device.

"They're called Venus Balls. What you do is have your young mister shove them up in your kitty and you keep them in there while you do the dusting and cooking and serve him and his missus tea. It'll drive him wild," Madame Mimi explained.

That does sound like that'd be up 'Mr. Stone's' alley. Lupe had learned to not show interest in an item, however, as that'd drive the price up. "Do they hurt?"

"No doll, look how small they are. You do need to clean them very carefully though, I've had lots of girls get infections from having unclean things in their kitties. Boil it after you use it," Madame Mimi advised. "Seven dollars for you, that's my new customer special. But you've got to come back to me for all your business. You'll find no one in Rapture knows more than I do about pleasing men. I ran a cathouse in Philly for thirty years. My advice is free but only to my customers, hm?"

Seven dollars was a big hunk of Lupe's cash on hand, but it did seem like a good time. She had forgotten about her original lingerie desire and now thought about the look on Richard's face when she explained to him what this was. "You really think it'll be new to him?"

"Oh yeah, only the ones who were in the East will have seen it. European women have other tricks. Next time you come around with some pocket money I'll tell you about them, hm?" Madame Mimi tantalized.

Lupe opened her purse. "If this works as well as you claim it does next time I might be in the position to send my maid to get it."

Madame Mimi laughed. "I'd like to see that."

Lupe counted out seven dollars in five single bills and the rest in coins. "Do you make them yourself?"

"My husband had a little workshop. He makes all sorts of things, some sex, some not," Madame Mimi took the money from Lupe and recounted it herself. Trust did not come cheap in Rapture for anyone. "Which one of my customers sent you here?"

"Helena," Lupe answered and put the Venus Balls in her purse. "We are, or were, both artists. I don't know if we are anymore."

"Ah yes, the Polish girl. She's new here in Epimetheus. Good work ethic on her. And you are an artist still doll, pleasing men, that's an art. The oldest one. Before there were painters and sculptors and poets there were honest girls like us, using our wits to make our way in the world."

Lupe thanked Madame Mimi and left. Lupe wasn't going to pretend that she was better than a pick-up girl, but she wasn't sure she'd put herself in the same class as one. She didn't want money from Richard, at least not in the transactional way Helena encouraged. She just wanted him.