The Purchase

“George, this is Charlie Collier. Hey, have you got a minute? You’re not going to believe this. Remember, you owe me a favor. Keep that in mind so at the end of this call you don’t tell me to go pound sand.”

“Oh, this is going to be good, isn’t it?” George replied.

“Okay, so I ran to Wally World for a couple of dock lines for the boat. I saw this cute little redhead crying on the bench out front with a sign that said Girl Scout. Not Girl Scout cookies, just Girl Scout. I asked her if she was OK, and this mean, nasty looking lady told me to move along if I wasn’t buying. I said how much. She said three hundred for the afternoon or a hundred for a quick BJ. I offered her a thousand bucks now and $19,000 after she signed adoption papers turning her girl over to me. She started laughing and said ‘Deal’. Now I need some help. I think I just bought a little girl. Says her name is Brenda. Brenda Worton.”

My friend George was a judge and a golf buddy. He’s a better judge, but then I’m not good at golf either. I just love the game.

“OK, Chuck, first, how old is she?”

“Sixteen, almost seventeen. She’ll be seventeen two months.”

“Wow. OK, here’s the deal. Believe it or not, it’s not illegal to pay money to help someone out of a bad situation. It IS illegal to accept money to pass that person along. To sell them. You are bad. She, the mother, is a felon waiting to happen. All right, here’s what you do…” And then he went on to tell me my future.

The story of Charles, Charlie, Collier, just kept getting weirder. One thing I could say though, there was never a dull moment.

“Brenda, are you okay?” We had just gotten out of the taxi, walked down the dock and climbed over the gunwale of my boat.

“Yes, sir. I think so. I guess so. Why would you do this? I reckon you’re my father now, huh?”

“Guardian, protector, provider, any number of titles, but father? I don’t know about that one. I just didn’t want that lady, woman, whatever, ughh, hard to call her that, pimping you out.”

“You mean my aunt? My father’s older sister. She got custody of me when I was thirteen, almost fourteen. Three years ago. Three long years.” She shivered. “Do not want to face that again. So, what am I doing here, on a boat, on the river, watching barges go by?”

“Before I answer that, Brenda, I need to know how long that’s been going on. Her selling you to strangers at Walmart.”

“That, sir, was the first time. I think I’m very lucky if you saved me, or very unlucky if you bought me, especially if it was for the same purposes. Mr. Collier, I am what they would call, on the river back in the day, unsullied. Yes, sir, I am unsullied by any man. I guess that won’t last long.”

“Miss Brenda Worton, I do declare I hear venom in that voice of yours. Trust me sugar, I am working with a judge to keep you off your back, not making things worse for you. I’m not making any demands of you other than to clean up after yourself, but I’ll need some cooperation. There are going to be people asking questions and wanting answers. If you want to stay free, and out of the foster system, answer them. Truthfully. With Brenda’s answers, not with what you think Charlie wants you to say. Sound good?”

“Yes sir. Again, why are you going out of your way to help a trailer trash piece of shit like me?”

“Promise not to laugh?”

“No, I don’t promise. Not at all. This is a weird situation. I’m gonna laugh if it’s funny. Sorry. I want to start out our (air quotes) ‘relationship’, as you said, ‘truthfully’, and with honesty.”

“OK, I’ll give you that one. I have a thing for redheads, number one. Your hair is beautiful. Authors would call it the color of a new penny. You are a very, very pretty girl, Brenda. Gorgeous eyes, cute little button nose, kissable lips, and you would have been sucked up into the sex industry faster than your aunt could have saved you. Second? This is the one that will hurt me if you laugh. Your eyes. When I looked at you, sitting there in tears, I wanted to help. Your eyes said you needed help. Your eyes asked me to help you.” She smiled at me. I continued, “You didn’t laugh.”

“Nothing to laugh at. As soon as you looked at me, I felt safe. When you handed Lucy the money, I exhaled. My fear released itself from me. I walked away with you willingly. Because of YOUR eyes. I guess I’m just as weird as you are. Mr. Collier…” I interrupted her.

“Charlie, Brenda, or Chuck, but Mr. Collier is a little formal for this situation.”

“Okay, I like Chuck. Chuck, I had nothing to lose by coming with you, but your eyes showed kindness. Safety. I don’t know how. They say the eyes are the window to your soul. Your windows were clean and bright and cheery. Lucy was going to have me fuck the first guy with three hundred bucks or blow the first one with a hundred. Yeah, your eyes looked better than anything I was facing.”

“All righty then, here’s the deal. We’re going to Quincy and going shopping. You game for that?”

“You understand I have nothing. I thought I mentioned that, but I have nothing. Not even enough change for a phone call.” I handed her three quarters. “Oh, cool. Now, I need twenty bucks for a taxi to the nearest pay phone. Do they even have those anymore? Thank you for the symbolism, though. You’re a class act, aren’t you?”

“I try. Actually, I try pretty hard.”

“What do you do, Chuck? Besides buy little girls and rush them off their feet to your humble aquatic abode?”

“Think, usually. I’m on a sabbatical right now. I have a problem to solve, and I can’t seem to get over or through it. I hit a wall. I’ve given up and try not to even think about it for now. I’m just running from it for a while, then I’ll come back and start beating on it again.

“A problem? Personal problem? Work problem? Money problem?”

“Yes, no, yes, no. It is a problem. It is not a personal problem. The only personal problem I have is loneliness, or maybe solitude, and that doesn’t bother me much anymore. After enough time, you get numb to it. It is definitely a work problem. I’m in the middle of a project. An invention, if you will, and I need to figure out how two things can work together. I’m having a problem with that. I think it’s solvable. It’s not like turning lead into gold. It’s more a matter of numbers and such. Money problems to me are like personal problems. Won’t happen. I’m lonely at times, but I have enough money to eat and buy gas for the boat. I can go somewhere and meet different people. I’m fine. Yes, no, yes, no.”

“Wow. You really don’t have any intention of raping me and leaving me for dead, do you?”

“Nope, just trying to help a little in my corner of the world. Your room is down and on the left. It’s not very big, but it’s private, or you can use the bench seats in the galley. I have the cabin up in the bow. You can go look around while I get us underway. I’m going to head us up to Quincy for a couple of reasons, but the first one is to get you away from your aunt. I don’t think I like her.”

“Join the club.” She went below, then I heard, “I’M SLEEPING IN THE KITCHEN?”

“Galley. The galley, and those benches fold out to a really big bed, and is fairly comfortable, from what I’ve heard. But, no, your berth is behind that little door further back on the left.”

“Oh, sounds good. Wow, about the same size as my room in the trailer. Only nice. This wood is pretty. Are you going to buy food, too?” She was standing down below looking up at me.

“Whatever you think we need. We’ll be in Quincy for a few days before we leave.”

“Leave?”

“Yeah, leave. Head south. The Gulf. The Bahamas. Anywhere but here. I was leaving here when I found you. I stopped in to buy some ropes. Shit. I forgot the ropes in all the commotion of buying a street urchin. I still need those ropes. These are a little worn. Oh, yeah, I still want to leave, but I need to make sure it’s legal to travel with you before we take off. I guess I should have cleared that with you first, huh?”

“Why? You bought me. Fair and square. What about school?”

“Just the fact that you asked about school makes me think you care about the future. Lots of different options available, I’m sure. Internet. Home school. Something. Anything. Where are you at with regards to schooling, anyway?”

“High School Junior, in September. Honor Society. It was going to be my way out, until you ruined that by absconding with my physical being into your nether world.”

I had to laugh at the verbiage. “College scholarships? ‘A’ Plus system? Were you planning on them?” She nodded. “I’ll make you a deal. Finish your education and I’ll fund you through your doctorate, as long as it’s an accredited U.S. school, or something I agree to.”

“This isn’t real. You’re going to rip my panties down and rape my virgin body any second now, aren’t you?”

“No.”

“Oh, I guess I’m the talkative one now. Chuck, why are you doing this? Why really?”

“Trying to help someone. Someone cute. Well, pretty. Or pretty cute. Brenda, I’m using you. I’ll admit it. You are a beautiful distraction and I think I can help someone, too. Good enough?”

“It has to be. It’s the answer you gave. I can’t deny it. It’s yours.”

“OK, we’re getting underway now.”

“Hannibal in the rear-view mirror. Lately, I haven’t been able to imagine that. I like the sound of it, though. Chuck, when you do rape me, will you be gentle?”

“Isn’t that like saying… Never mind. Brenda, if anyone rapes you, or takes you against your will, it won’t be me, and it probably won’t be on this boat, if I’m on it. If I need to do something along those lines, I can call any number of people, or get me a (I made air quotes) ‘date’. I can certainly afford a ‘girlfriend experience’. Do I need to stop at the chastity belt store and hand YOU the key?”

“No. You made your point. Chuck, why aren’t you married or have a woman with you or anything like that?”

“I do. I just bought one. Ah haves all the womans ah needs.”

“Stop. I’m being serious. I’m not stupid. You’re obviously wealthy. You’re easy to look at. Probably smarter than the average On The Run clerk. Why are you lonely? Or is it solitary?

“I work too much. Most girls want to be the center of attention. I can do that, until I get an idea, then my idea is my center, until it runs its course. It would take a very special woman, an intellectual equal, maybe even someone to work with, to make it work. She may be out there somewhere. Until then? I’ll just fish and think. And buy me some purdy liddle girlies. Did I bite off more than I could chew here? Would you rather go home and get rid of the guy in the boat?”

“Not yet. I’m still considering my options.”

We got through the lock, reaching Quincy, just upriver, then docked and got tied up. I brought up my Uber app and got us a ride into town. We went out to the back side of town, the east end, to the mall and to Kohl’s, shopping for her. I wish J.C. Penney’s was still around. They would have had everything we were looking for. She needed everything, too. Then we hit Wally World for some personal items and some food. We used ice and cooler bags to get the cold stuff back. She almost pooped her britches when I asked her what kind of beer she drank.

After she stopped choking, she said Coors Light, so I got a case of that, too. Neither of us made any comments about getting her drunk first, THEN fulfilling her nightmare. We just let it go this time.

I got a text from George. He said it would be a week, and everything would be final. She wasn’t being adopted, so much as emancipated. I was listed as the employer, and she was in Home Schooling. I knew he’d come up with something. ‘Congratulations, it’s a girl’, he said. Then he said I was ‘fucking crazy.’ True, that. But a little girl wasn’t being forced into sex, putting her body, and safety, out there for money. We got our loot and headed back to the boat.

It’s a 43-foot Tiara Open. Not big, by any means, but big enough for me. It got a lot smaller when I brought her on board. It wasn’t really a river boat, but a while back, when I ran away from one of my problems, I flew to the ocean, then had a stupid idea to buy a boat, learn to drive it, and just take off into the Gulf. It’s been fun. I don’t feel I made the wrong decision… Yet.

This time when the problem hit me, I flew off to Mississippi, got into the boat, had come weird urge to come up the river near home, then go back, so… there I was.

We unloaded our plunder onto the boat and got everything somewhat organized. She needed some of my closet space for her stuff. Mostly blouses and a couple of jackets. She had some skirts and slacks on hangars, too. Pretty conservative dresser for a teenage girl.

“Can you take notes, and type, and keep a calendar and things like that?”

“I’m a slave girl to a pirate ship’s captain. Why would I need to prove administrative assistant skills?”

“You are being emancipated. That means you need to have a job. And a place to live. I have need of a Personal Assistant, a PA, and there’s an open cabin off the galley.”

“Oh. Was that the job interview? Or…”

“Yes, that was it. Here’s my phone. Call Sally Hernandez, she’s my HR director. Tell her you’re my new PA and answer all of her questions. Tell her my friend George is working on the birth certificate. Do you have a driver’s license or a learner’s permit or anything?”

“Yeah, I do. A permit. Never thought I’d use it for anything. Lucy never let me drive. Good thing. Her car was a mobile wreck looking for someplace to happen. It’s ringing. Hello? Sally Hernandez, please? (Pause.) Yes, ma’am, it’s his phone. He handed it to me and told me to call you.”

“HI SALLY! HOW’S ROBBIE DOING?!?” I yelled, over Brenda’s shoulder.

(Pause.) “She told me to tell you he’s coming home next week.” I nodded at her. “He nodded. I didn’t hear any noise, no rattling, so I guess that’s a good sign.” Giggle. (Pause.) “I know, huh! (Pause.) Oh, yeah. I’m evidently his newest PA. (Pause.) Brenda. Brenda Worton. (Pause.) Yes. Missouri. P1178356. It’s just a permit. (Pause.) Sixteen. Seventeen in a couple of months. (Pause.) August 15^th, 2002. (Pause.) No, ma’am, it’s not a joke. Maybe if you call… George? He is working on some paperwork for me. Mr. Collier just said it’s Falstad. George Falstad. (Pause.) Yes, ma’am. His judge friend. (Pause.) OK, I’ll be here. Nowhere else to go. (Pause.) Yes, ma’am. If you say so. (Pause.) Bye, now.”

That was a preview of The Purchase. To read the rest purchase the book.

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