Vivian

Chapter 5: An Invitation from Vivian

My hopes of ever hearing from Vivian were getting dimmer and weaker when suddenly I got a text from her informing me that she had a free Sunday evening and night and consequently was inviting me for a heavy snack. The news came at a time when I was in serious want of an outing. She proposed that we have our date outside town at a named restaurant at 4pm local time.

At exactly 3:50 pm, I arrived at the named restaurant and texted her to tell her that I had arrived at our meeting place. A minute later, an immaculately dressed lady came out of the premises and was coming straight at me. It was not until when she was a metre away that I recognized her as Vivian. "You should have told me and I was going to wear something more descent befitting your outlook." I groaned. "Never mind my dressing, I just thought of rolling the years back. Anyway thank you for honouring my invitation it's rare that as prostitutes we get such privileges. It makes me feel respected and appreciated. Allow me to entertain you as my guest, shall we!" she said leading me into the building.

"Am sorry I can't accord you the opportunity of choosing our meeting place, hope you forgive me," She said as we headed for our table. She picked a table on a dark and quiet corner conducive for private business meetings. Once at table, she asked me if I took alcoholic beverages. When I said no, she laughed at me and asked me why I didn't. I frankly told her that I was afraid that I couldn't drink without drinking too much. She nearly laughed herself to tears at my response and subsequently offered to be my regulator for the evening. I told her that it was a good idea but even though I had every right to drink, it was not the right thing for me to do. Moreover I was not a fan of censorship in whatever form it took. To my relief she was quick to mention that she was going to respect my interest especially since I was her guest.

"I intend to keep you hostage for four and half hours and during this time, you can ask or do anything with and to me. I would be more than willing to have a feel of your innocent and tender lips but one thing I will not do is to answer the question you asked me the last time we met." Joyfully, she said. "I doubt if any man can turn down your offer, I don't know whether to take your offer for my lips as a blessing or a trap." Mockingly, I said. "I see, you look very innocent but underneath you are a little devil." She retorted.

We were starting to enjoy our first round of drinks when I paused and stared at her intently for a good number of seconds. Noticing my stare she put her bottle down and said, "What! Are you fantasizing about my breasts? You can have them if you want." With a compassionate and empathetic look, I said to her, "No it's not about that, tell me something, you look very healthy do you ever worry about your health and safety as you go about your day to day business?"

With a spark in her eyes she light up and began saying, "that's a big question you have just asked and let me take this opportunity to explain something to you which most people fail to see. Often if not always when people look at a tart as you like to call us, they rush into scolding and condemning them. They warn us that sickness will kill us because of what we do." Failing to see any deficiency with such thinking, I said to her, "But is that not a fact?" Shaking her head she said to me, "Open your mind there is more to truth than mere facts.

"You see," she began, "the risk of sickness is not the most dangerous that a prostitute faces. If you come to me and tell me that if I get HIV/AIDS today then I will die in five or ten years time, that's a life time for me and frankly speaking, I cannot be moved by that fact. Any normal thinking prostitute is not bothered by the risk of dying at the hands of a disease." I didn't know what to make of her sentiments.

Picking her line of thought, she continued saying, "A prostitute has many serious and dangerous challenges that she faces on a daily basis. Just like any other person every time she wakes up, she has to think about putting a roof over her head, she has to think about putting something in her mouth and stomach, she has to think about the survival of her children and most importantly, she has to think about how she is to survive the cold of the night and how to put up and cope up with that violent client that she has to entertained solely alone in a private room. Put all this together and you will understand why the risk of disease is something which does not cause great alarm for a tart."

With a slight change in her tone of voice, she went on to say, "The risks that bother a whore are immediate, they are lethal and fatal they border on life and death, they are basic needs that need to be met on a daily basis or else one may die within no time. So looking at five or ten years that is a ransom and any prostitute will certainly sign up for that deal, it is a lucrative deal in this industry."

I was left startled by what she said and with literally nothing much to say, I asked, "so safety means nothing to you guys?" with a deep sigh, she calmly looked at me and said, "talking about that, a life of a tart is always a risk and at risk, these fellow men of yours whom you are seeing right now can easily turn into beasts once in a private room with a lady of pleasure. The violence that we have to put up with is something that no average woman can cope with. In most cases if a prostitute dares to raise the issue of using condoms, she is rewarded with a good beating and if you are not strong and smart enough, you may even end up being used and left without any payment."

Getting slightly emotional, Vivian went on to say, "As if that is not enough, you have to fight for clients among yourselves as prostitutes. You can't afford to go through two or three nights without having any client, if you do, hunger and the land lord will be knocking at your door and the streets will be more than ready to welcome you. You must be a leader who is astute, assiduous and meticulous in the way you carry yourself and conduct your business otherwise, any slight mistake, you are gone. I can assure you that if you want to find top leadership full of practical experience, you are certain to find it among prostitutes."   

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