mary

She answered the ad on Craigslist for “a model.” Her friends told her what that meant – stripping, porn. She’d never been to a strip club, but she’d seen some porn. She watched some with friends, now and again. Mostly with her old boyfriend, Eddie. The one she remembered was called “Girls Do It All Night.” It was pretty gross, she’d thought, then, and still, now, kind of, but not as much. Whatever, she felt she had no choice. She had a baby and she needed money for rent. Her parents had kicked her out, She figured she would check it out and see. The place – the office – was cold and almost sterile, though she wouldn’t’ve used that word, exactly. The guy was pretty creepy. His name was Robert, or so he said. He had a gut. She’d worn a t-shirt and short cutoffs. He said she looked hot and took a few photos before asking her to strip. She wanted to cry, but didn’t. Didn’t even let him see that she wanted to. She sort of pretended that it really wasn’t her, that someone else was doing it – whatever he asked her to do. She even said a prayer, not for forgiveness, but for help. She was, after all, Catholic. Her name was Mary.