Digging (Information) Through Her

Alessa: "You have my money?" she asked me.

I pulled out the envelope, counted the money, and put it on the table. She took it and started counting it. After counting the money, she stares at me suspiciously.

Alessa: "So, you're Vlad's friend huh?" she asked me while putting the money inside her bathrobe.

Mike: "Uh-huh."

Alessa: "You seem to be rather young to be friends with someone like him."

Mike: "You seem to be rather young to be working here as a prostitute."

Alessa: " ... what did he tell you about me and my brother?"

Mike: "Nothing, he doesn't tell me anything about you two."

Alessa looks confused.

Mike: "I came from your brother's school. One of the teachers there told me about you two."

Alessa: "Oh, so you know from her."

Mike: "You already know sen- I mean Miss Shizuka?"

Alessa: "We already met a few times. Did she force you to be involved in this?"

Mike: "Yeah, she did."

Alessa: "That lady sure is persistent."

Mike: "Can I ask you why didn't want to talk to her and tell her about what happened to your bro? Is it because you didn't trust her? Or is there something else?"

Alessa: "I barely know her. She just popped her head out of nowhere and told me she knows my brother and will help me bring 'justice' to the people who are responsible for his death. You really think I would talk to someone like that?"

Mike: "Yeah, you have a point there."

Alessa: "It's not just because I didn't trust her. I also didn't want to talk to her because I don't want to be involved in this mess anymore."

Mike: "You don't want your brother's killer to be punished for their crimes?"

Alessa: "I don't care about them. I just want them to leave me alone."

Hmm, I can already sense that I won't get anything from her.

Alessa: "What else did she tell you about me and my brother?" she suddenly asked me while sipping her cigarette.

Mike: "It's not much, she just told me who killed your brother. I'm kind of surprised, to be honest. I didn't know that the people who killed him are his own peers."

Alessa: "Those people who killed him are not just his peers, they were his closest friends."

Mike: "Close friends?"

Alessa: "Shouldn't you already know about their relationship? You come from his school right? Haven't you seen him hanging out together with them?"

Mike: "Nope, but I guess I just didn't notice since I'm not really that familiar with the upperclassmen."

Alessa: "He's been friends with them since middle school. They pull him into their group after they know our parents have passed away."

Mike: "Group? Are they part of a gang or something?"

Alessa: "It seems so. I didn't really know anything about their 'group' since my brother rarely talked about it."

Mike: "Aren't you worried that your bro might be friends with gang members?"

Alessa: "At first, I didn't think bad of them because they were actually helping us with our financial problem."

Mike: "You two were struggling with money?"

Alessa: "We were just 15 when our parents died. Since then, we started living on our own. I and my brother were struggling to search for a job that we can do. Because of our age, no one was willing to give us a chance."

Mike: "Wait- shouldn't you have relatives that would help you two?"

Alessa: "We have some relatives, but since our mom and dad don't really have good relationships with them, no one really came to help us."

Mike: "Oh ... why didn't you two go to an orphanage?"

Alessa: "You really think that would make a difference?"

Mike: "... I guess not."

Alessa: "It wasn't that bad, really. With the money my brother got from those people, we are able to comfortably continue our school and live our life like ... normal."

Mike: "How much money did they give your bro?"

Alessa: "1000 to 3000 dollars, a week."

"Whistle* Do those people really just give your brother that amount of money for free?"

Alessa: "He gets that money from working with them."

Mike: "What did they do to get that amount of money?"

Alessa: "I have no idea. He never told me anything about what he was doing with them. What I know is that they were doing something terrible."

Mike: "How can you say that?"

Alessa: "Once in a while, my brother comes home with bruises and wounds all over his body. I often see a small trace of blood on his clothes too. I always asked him about those things, but he never said anything to me. He just kept quiet and told me not to worry about it."

Mike: "You okay seeing your brother comes home like that?"

Alessa: "Of course not. We always had a fight every time he came home like that. Since that time, I started to worry about him. I always told him to stop going out with them, but he always made an argument that we couldn't live without the money he got from working with them. I actually already proved that it's possible for us to live on our own with only the money I got from working at a bar. But still, he wouldn't quit."

Mike: "Your brother must have a good reason for not wanting to cut ties with them don't you think?"

Alessa: "He does have a reason. But that reason was the one that cost him his own life."

Mike: "And that is."

Alessa: "He was trying to expose what he and his friends were doing. At the time just before he was killed, I heard those people asked him where he hid the pieces of evidence of their wrongdoing-"

Mike: "Wait, you were there when your brother was killed?"

Alessa: "Yes, I was there ... "

Mike: "Can you tell me how it all went down?"

Alessa: " .... It won't really help you, you know."

Mike: "Well, I'd like to hear every information that I can get."

She stared at me for a second and put her hand in front of me.

Mike: "Um, what are you doing?"

Alessa: "Your envelope isn't empty yet right?"

Mike: "What? I already paid you 1000 dollars, is that really wasn't enough for you?"

Alessa: "Talking for so long is the same as a blowjob for me, that's plus 100 dollars."

Mike: "You fucking kidding me?"

She just went silent while waiting for me to hand over another 100 dollar bill from the envelope. Seriously this fucking bitch. I can't believe I'm being ripped off here.

Mike: "You know you're being a bitch right now."

Alessa: "I am a bitch."

... Oh well.

Mike: "sigh* Here! You better tell me some fine ass story." I gave her a 100 dollar bill.

Alessa: "Alright ... sigh* let's see, I wonder where I should start ... " she exhales slowly trying to calm herself down.

Mike: " ... you ok? You seem to be pretty tense for someone who just wants to tell a story."

Alessa: "I'm fine. I'm just trying to remember the night when it all happened."

Mike: "If it's too heavy for you to tell me, you could give back my 100 dollars."

Alessa: "You already paid me, you're getting what you paid for."

Said it like a true professional sex worker.