Plata by Ivy Mason

That’s all you have to do.”
    She was right, Madison thought. Be brave. Easy money. That was what she was there for. When the men finished talking, they were called back to the table. It was not a difficult night, but it was the longest of her life. The group closed out the place, until the only remaining lights were those illuminating the lounge. Cesar dozed in his booth, rousing only when the men shouted at him, demanding requests. The Colombian was very drunk, and cried when Cesar played a sentimental song about a man and his elderly father, and made him play it again and again. Madison perched dutifully, but exhausted, on the sofa beside Ramon, who mostly spoke with the other men about soccer and sports cars. Madison thought it would never end.
    Finally, the men stood to go, all of them weaving drunkenly. Madison’s legs had gone numb from sitting for so long. She turned to say goodnight to Ramon, but before she could speak, he’d pulled her close and kissed her on the lips, pushing his tongue into her mouth. He slipped a hand into the top of her dress and rolled her nipple between his fingers.
    Madison gasped. She glanced at the last remaining security guard, who watched them, stone-faced, and looked away. Ramon nudged his crotch hard against her with a little grunt, and then let her go. As if nothing had happened, he pulled an envelope from his pocket and shoved it into her hand.
    “Until next time, blondie,” he mumbled, slurring the words.
    Madison stood there stunned, still feeling the sting on her nipple. She felt dirty and disgusted, and very, very tired. She watched as the men lumbered through the dark, empty dining room and filed, one by one, out the back door. Nicolette and Andrea chatted giddily together, already thumbing through the bills they’d been given. But Madison just wanted to go home. There was only one house taxi left on the clock, and she grabbed it before the other two girls had finished changing.
    The house was dark when she slipped through the door. There was a message from her mother’s friend, Lidia, on her cell phone, informing Madison that her mother was slowly coming around and asking for her daughter. She collapsed onto the bed and chewed her thumbnail, something she hadn’t done since high school. Her mother had been too medicated to remember Madison’s tearful goodbye at the hospital, or how she’d promised to make everything all right. She’d have to call Lidia in the morning and come up with some lie about where she was and what she was doing. The money had been good, but she was still far from her goal. Enzo had been right. There was a lot of loose cash floating around in Mexico. And somehow she had to get more of it.
    Finally, she opened the envelope and pulled out the money Ramon had given her. She tried not to think about how he’d helped himself to her body, as if he’d bought the rights to that as well. And she tried not to think about the fact that it was drug money. Blood money.
    Madison counted the bills, laying them in little stacks on the bed, her head throbbing, eyes burning with fatigue. To be certain, she counted it again and again. In a daze, she stared at piles of cash, trying to wrap her head around it. In the six hours she’d spent with Ramon, she’d made ten thousand dollars.

Chapter 12
    It was one of Madison’s treasured days off, and she wanted to make the most of it. She slept with the pillow over her head until almost one o’clock in the afternoon, ignoring the incessant chime of the doorbell,which was always followed by voices and laughter downstairs. Enzo’s house never stopped jumping, even when she needed peace and quiet. But Daniel hadn’t come again, which was fine with her. Madison felt used and a little embarrassed about their encounter, but she didn’t have a lot of energy to wallow over it. After spending most of her waking life engaged in obligatory conversation and forcing on the charm, it was the silence and the solitude she