Meat Debt

Ramón had been thinking for days about how he was going to handle Sara. It wasn't that he felt anything for her, not even pity. It was more a question of power, of control. He had seen her move around the hotel with that mix of shame and desperation, like a cornered animal. He knew she had nowhere to go, that she was trapped. And that excited him. In his head, Ramón had already possessed her a thousand times while watching those pornographic videos on his cell phone. Young girls fucking without inhibitions, moaning as if they enjoyed every second. But they were actresses, professional whores. Not Sara. Sara was real, vulnerable, and that gave it a different flavor. Rawer. Dirtier.

When he reached the door of the room, he knocked twice before opening it without waiting for an answer. Sara was sitting on the bed, staring into space. Her hair was disheveled and her dark circles were marked. She didn't even look up when he entered. Ramón closed the door behind him and crossed his arms. "Today is the day," she said in a cold, almost mocking voice. "The month I gave you is over, babe. Do you have my money?"

Sara pressed her lips together until they were almost invisible. She didn't answer right away. Her mind was a whirlwind of rage, fear, and self-hatred. She hated being there, she hated having to face him, but most of all she hated not having options. Alicia was right. This was the only thing left for someone like her. To survive, to not starve. But that didn't mean it was easy. Every time she thought about what she had done, what she would probably have to keep doing, she felt something inside her break a little more. "I don't have the money," she finally muttered, avoiding looking him in the eyes.

Ramón let out a short, dry laugh, as if he had just heard the most pathetic joke in the world. He took a step towards her and leaned down, grabbing her chin tightly to force her to look at him. "And what do you think is going to happen now, huh?" You think I'm going to let you stay here for free because you're embarrassed to pay?" His breath smelled of stale coffee and tobacco. Sara tried to turn her face away, but he tightened his grip. "I warned you, whore. If you don't have money, then you're going to pay me some other way."

She felt nauseous, but she didn't say anything. She knew it wouldn't do any good to argue with him. Ramon wasn't the kind of man who listened to reason, especially when he was aroused. And she could see it in his eyes, in the way he looked at her like she was a piece of meat. "Get up," he ordered, pushing her down onto the mattress. Sara reluctantly complied, shaking from head to toe. She didn't want this, but she didn't know how to stop it either.

As Ramon unbuttoned his pants, his mind drifted to those videos he'd been watching all night long. Young girls fucking older men, faking pleasure as they moaned to the rhythm of his thrusts. He wanted that. He wanted to feel like one of those guys, dominant, powerful. He needed to show Sara who was in charge, who owned her body now. "Take your clothes off," he growled, pointing his finger at the floor.

"No…" The word fell from Sara's lips like a broken whisper, but Ramon didn't even hear it. He ripped her blouse off, revealing her cheap bra. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out what was happening, but the sound of the fabric ripping brought her back to reality. Her hands were shaking so much she could barely stand. She felt disgust, repulsion, but also a strange sense of resignation. This was what she deserved, wasn't it? This was what the world had in store for her all along.

Ramon pushed her face down onto the bed and pulled down her pants along with her underwear in one movement. Then he positioned himself behind her, panting like a hungry dog. He didn't care if she cried, if she screamed, if she hated him. He just wanted to fuck her, mark her, make her his. "This is what happens when you don't pay your debts, bitch," he muttered as he roughly entered her. Sara gasped, but he covered her mouth with his hand to silence her. "Shut up, bitch. No one's going to save you."

Tears ran down Sara's cheeks as Ramón continued to move inside her. It wasn't sex. It was violence. It was humiliation. It was everything she had feared and more. When he finally ejaculated, leaving her sprawled on the mattress like a used rag, Ramón pulled up his pants with a satisfied smile. "Now we're even," he said before leaving the room, closing the door behind him with a thud.

Sara lay still for what seemed like hours. Her body ached, but the physical pain was insignificant compared to the weight she felt in her chest. She thought of Alicia, of the words she had told her months ago: "It's the only way I feel alive." Was this what was in store for her? To become a version of Alicia, selling her body to survive? The thought sickened her, but she also knew there was no alternative. The world had given her no choice.

She crawled into the bathroom and stepped under the shower, letting the cold water wash Ramón's traces from her skin. But no matter how much she scrubbed, she couldn't get rid of the dirty feeling. She looked in the mirror afterward, noting the red marks on her wrists and the bruises beginning to form on her thighs. She looked like someone else. Someone she barely recognized.

Outside, Ramón walked down the hotel hallway with his hands in his pockets, whistling a vulgar tune. He wasn't thinking about Sara anymore. To him, she was just another one. A girl who owed him money and who had now paid her debt. But in some dark corner of his mind, he knew he would come back to her. Because this world wasn't fair, and neither would he.