Scavengers: August Read Online Free PDF Page B

wouldn’t happen
to know where he resides, would you?” James asked, straightening
his back to appear taller and more confident. Much to his surprise,
the looks his interlocutors gave each other were quite
unsettling.
    “I know him all
right,” said the sailor, “Though sugarpie here knows him even
better.” The prostitute chuckled again, giving James a funny
look.
    “You do...?” he
asked. He didn’t know Ira also liked women. Maybe he just took
whatever came his way? He felt miserable at that thought.
    “I do, kind
sir,” answered the prostitute with a surprisingly low voice,
lifting the hem of her rich, red dress and curtseying playfully.
Her hair was of a fake fiery red color and her make-up was
heavy.
    James squinted,
to see better through the goggles of his mask. “Do you think it
would displease him if I visited?” he sighed, trying not to look at
the intimidating sailor.
    “I am sure he’d
be delighted!” answered the harlot, who immediately grabbed James’
arm. She was almost as tall as him.
    “You don't
mind?” he asked the sailor, just in case. He wouldn’t like to take
the prostitute without his consent.
    “Oh, go ahead!”
laughed the other man. “There’s plenty of him to go around!”
    James furrowed
his eyebrows and felt suddenly uneasy, when he noticed an Adam’s
apple under the prostitutes jaw. “Oh. Thank you,” he muttered.
    “Very welcome,
sir!” the harlot said, winking at the sailor and yanking James into
the same narrow street they just came out of. She was definitely
too strong for a female. What was he getting himself into!? He knew
the docks where a wretched area, but a man in ladies’—harlots’
clothing!?
    “So you say you
know him well?” he asked, now more and more curious.
    “Very deeply,”
breathed his guide, smiling at him in a seductive manner as they
walked through unpleasantly wet and dirty streets, mud staining
their shoes. The low tenement houses and cheap brothels seemed to
lean over the rigid passageway.
    “Are you saying
he pays for you?” James asked, not caring if it was blunt to put it
like that. For over a month now, he imagined what Ira could be,
what he might do, and that maybe it was all make-belief.
    “Oh... depends,
really. Why... jealous?” his companion cackled, with obvious
amusement. James was pulled into yet another street. It was
slightly broader, but that didn’t make it any less intimidating or
ugly. At least, wearing a mask helped him feel somewhat
anonymous.
    “No,” he said,
but knew it didn’t sound very convincing. “Does he take a lot of
lovers?”
    “You ask’im
yourself, dove. I’m not gonna tell,” the prostitute said, stopping
in the middle of the street. “You see that house?”
    James hesitated
but nodded. He was hoping for a bit more gossip. The house seemed
slightly bent forward, like a tired old man, but the roof was in
decent shape.
    “Go up the
stairs on the left. He lives there.”
    “Thank you for
your kindness,” James said, pushing a penny into his hand. All
tense and nervous he walked up to the house. He knew it might be a
gruelling and unpleasant talk, but it needed to happen. The
staircase squeaked with his every step, but he saw light in the
window, which meant that the other man was home. There was
something in the smell of the place that he didn’t appreciate, lots
of dust and dampness. After a deep breath, he finally knocked on
the door. Immediately, he heard some movement and it flung open,
revealing a handsome boy of about sixteen. He was shorter than
James, of a delicate posture, with a slim, elegant neck. His face
was quite angelic, with a narrow nose, large, pitch-black eyes and
a sensuous mouth that almost begged to be kissed. He kept his
black, curly hair long, but very tidy. Only after a moment, James
noticed that the boy was dressed in a white nightshirt so thin it
was almost transparent.
    “Uhm...” James
cleared his throat. “Is this the apartment of Ira Russell?” He
asked