“I know nothing about what’s going on, Austin, and it’s making me fucking crazy!” She throws her hands up in the air in an exasperated motion, and then sinks in her seat, putting down her glass of whiskey after looking at it and almost giving a shocked look.
“Mistress Strokes,” I say and then trail off. “Fuck, Destiny, it’s complicated. I wish I could tell you all about Strokes, but her secrets and her story aren’t mine to tell.”
Destiny looks at me and raises her eyes. “But I fucking trust her, and that’s all I can tell you,” I finish.
“That’s alright, Austin,” I hear someone say from just outside my office, and both Destiny and I turn to look at the newcomer at the same time. Standing in the doorway, her hand still around the doorknob, is Mistress fucking Strokes.
She straightened her hair and cut it just below the shoulders, but she kept it dyed blue. Destiny is looking at her, and I can tell she’s appraising her.
She’s never seen the Mistress up this close. Judging by the look in her eyes, I realize that Destiny never thought Strokes was this beautiful.
“Destiny, right?” Mistress Strokes asks her with a smile, sitting down in the twin sofa facing us.
“That’s me…” Destiny says quietly, subdued. “And you’re Mistress Strokes,” Destiny says, more a statement of fact than anything else and I notice her voice fraught with caution.
She knows that she’s about to get her answers, and she wants to tread lightly now.
“That’s right, darlin,” Mistress Strokes says. “In the flesh,” Strokes adds as she turns to face me. “Do you trust her, Austin?”
“I do,” I reply without hesitation. “I trust her with my life. I love her.” I don’t need to say anything else; Strokes trusts me completely, and I know that she only needs to hear what I just said to trust Destiny. Its been a long process for her to accept that someone so entangled in Lester’s web can be trusted, but I guess that she’s finally ready for it.
“Very well then,” she whispers, lowering her voice, “I have a story for you, Destiny.”
And here we go; it’s time for our secrets to be let out in the open.
21
Destiny
I lean toward Mistress Strokes in my seat, ready to finally find out what’s really happening.
Since Lester asked me to come into Python, my life has never been the same, and it all started because of this woman. I respected the fact that Austin didn’t want to share a secret that wasn’t his, but now she’s here, right in front of me with that bright blue hair of hers.
And I’m ready, I’m ready for the truth.
Mistress Strokes’ lips are pursed, and she is looking down at her hands, trying to gather her thoughts. She looks slightly pale, and I can tell that talking about whatever’s going on isn’t easy for her. So I just reach for her, placing one hand on top of hers. Right now, she looks so frail and vulnerable, and I just want to comfort her.
“Take your time, sweetie,” I tell her, and she managed to look at me and show a faint smile.
“Thank you,” she whispers, and then clears her throat. She balls her hands into fists, takes a deep breath and then starts. “Austin told me that you were worried about Python being involved in human trafficking… Only Lester could dream up something like that,” she mutters then, shaking her head, but then continues. “There’s nothing of that sort going on around here, Destiny, I can promise you that.”
&n
bsp; “I know,” I tell her, squeezing her hand. “I trust him.” I look at Austin and he smiles at me, gently nodding.
“You’re lucky to have her,” Strokes tells Austin, and then squeezes back my hand. She then turns her gaze to me and continues her story. “You see, Lester is after me because I’m fighting against all the sex trafficking going on in this city,” she says in a quiet voice. “I live for it, Destiny. I do my best to find the women who have found themselves trapped by traffickers, and I do whatever it takes to set them free and give them a chance at a new life. Money, new identities… Whatever it takes.”
“Mistress Strokes is a modern-day saint, Destiny,” Austin tells me, looking at her with pride. “She’s done more for women than most politicians will ever do, even if they could live multiple times over.”
“None of this would be possible without Austin, though,” the woman continues as I feel my heart start to thump. “He’s been financing me, and Python has served as the headquarters of this operation. We hide women here, if it’s needed, and a lot of Python’s profits are used to do a lot of good.”
Her thin smile has widened and she’s even looking better now, some color in her cheeks. She’s proud of Austin, proud of Python, and proud of the work they have been doing.
God, and to think that I had my suspicions about Austin. It must've been hard for him, to know that I didn’t trust him when, in fact, he was actually the hero in this story.
“There’s one thing I don’t understand, though,” I ask, “what does Lester have to with all of this? He’s the Police Commissioner, for God’s sake. He should give the two of you a medal, not hunt you down,” I say.
They go quiet. I continue. “Sure, he’s corrupt, but I don’t--” That’s when I see anger flaring up in Mistress Strokes’ eyes. She hates his guts, and that’s putting it lightly.