Bought and Sold (Part 2 of 3) by Stephens Megan

Author:Stephens, Megan [Stephens, Megan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2015-01-28T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

When I was in England, I used to dread getting my period. It always lasted for at least a week and was really painful. Even in Greece it was so bad that Jak used to give me the time off. I looked forward to those few days every month when we would do things together that normal couples do – except that when we went out shopping, it was only Jak that would be buying clothes and often gold for himself. He had a lot of money to spend, because I earned well over 1,000 euros almost every day for the rest of the month, plus tips, which I used to give him too. There was no question of trying to hide anything from him, because he checked my phone and went through my bag regularly.

I believed Jak when he told me he had been brought up in poverty, so although I was earning the money by doing something I desperately didn’t want to do, I was happy when he bought himself expensive clothes. He would often say to me, ‘One day, we’re going to eat the best meat. One day, we’ll be rich.’ And I would feel pleased that he was pleased. It makes me very sad when I think about that now.

On the days when I had my period we would also go to cafés and eat in fast-food restaurants. I only ever held money in my hand for as long as it took me to walk out of a client’s house or hotel room and give it to Jak. Consequently, he paid for everything, which I interpreted as a sign that he really did love me. (You can see signs of anything anywhere if you look hard enough for them.) After I had been in Greece for a while, my periods got a lot better, but I didn’t tell Jak. I pretended they were as bad as they had always been. In fact, I would sometimes exaggerate how much they hurt and how long they lasted, just so I didn’t lose those precious days off.

After the day when I ran away from the man with the axe and Jak punched me and sent me flying across the room, he was often violent towards me. Surprisingly, perhaps, I did sometimes try to stand up to him. Occasionally when he shouted at me, I would shout back and we’d have a loud, angry argument. I wasn’t being brave; I think I did it because I couldn’t bring myself to accept that we weren’t ‘in a relationship’. If I’d had to admit that, there wouldn’t have been one single thing to make my life worth living.

If Jak got into a rage with me when we were out, he would sometimes just walk away and leave me stranded in the street. I didn’t have any money, so I couldn’t get a taxi, and there were times when I would have to walk a long way to find whatever hotel we were staying in.

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