"Aaahhhhh" Tammy comes to, screaming in a C note.

As the blackness fades into light and all becomes vicinle, her head pounds. It aches and Tammy feels pulled from underwater as she viciously kicks and scratches at a blurry figure in front of her.

"The Fuck!!!" Mark bellows before slapping the breath out of her.

The action completely stuns Tammy. Her fear and the tears, that had been forming in her eyes, are halted.  Immediately a strange calm replaces the hysteria. Maybe she's calm because her face is throbbing or maybe because she realizes they are all alone now; Mark could hurt her.

Tammy looks around. They definitely weren't in the car anymore. Her chest becomes right at the understanding. They are alone and they are somewhere she doesn't know. She could never be heard from again.

There is panic that she fights to breathe through as she realizes time has been lost and anything may have taken place up to this moment.  Her eyes dart to Mark before back around the room as she swallows a vibrating fear.

The room is nice, modest size, decorated minimalistic, and not shabby at all.

It could pass for a ,not too fancy, but not too cheap Motel room. That's something nice to think about. Tammy wants to use this thought to become calm. They aren't in a dark and ugly dungeon, that's a plus.

Tammy swallows and wills herself to breathe calmly and deeply. There is no use of panicking now, because now, now they are on Mark's turf and she needs to adapt. This is what she signed up for. Somehow she begins to search herself for strength, suddenly feeling unsure and not ready. 

Tammy sits on the bed and now quietly waits for what Mark will do next.  Mark is examining two deep gashes in his cheek from her nails.

"Damn it! You're fucking crazy!!!" He frowns looking toward her as though she's a feral animal, that needs to be tamed.

Tammy's face and neck hurt a bit and Mark's not even acknowledging he hit her, and so hard.

Anger bubbles up within, that she fights to quell. Oddly, she feels afraid because she knows she's supposed to be afraid but the feeling doesn't actually seem to be there.  "I'm crazy? I'm crazy! You chloroformed me in my car! My bad for fighting when I woke up not in my right mind"

Mark glares. "I did it like that because I thought it would be fun, to make you feel better about leaving.

Wouldn't it be more anxious to know exactly when I was coming?"

There's no way that makes true sense to him.  "You're insane. You can't tell me that makes genuine sense to you. "

Mark looks at her blankly, the way a toddler would look befuddled toward a parent.

Tammy blinks before lightly, with thin control, tapping the back of  her head against the wall. This stupid white boy now held her fate in his hands.

"Yo anyway, now imma have to lie to my girlfriend, to make sure she doesn't beat the breaks off of you" Mark looks in the mirror again and says the words with a careless, playful tone. His behavior throws her off.

Tammy remains quiet.

She observes Mark as he vainly examines the scratches.

He is tall, taller than her and she isn't short. Tammy is 5'7 and suddenly Mark seems to be so much bigger than herself but she knows that isn't too true.

Mark has to be 6'2. He's muscular like thick rippling and defimes muscular. His hair is natural dark brown but with dirty blond pieces from the sun. Currently his hair isn't manipulated. Mark sports springy curls that gives him a slight boyish look but doesn't make him appear less dangerous. In fact, his dressed down appearance makes him look very dangerous. His nose is blushed slightly red.

Of course, he's heavily tattooed with intricate work. More of the ink is on display than the stuffy suit he'd worn. Mark is a man that will never be comfortable in a suit for long. No, the sweats and tee fit him just right.

Mark sports Dahlia Bite piercings. Looks-wise, he actually isn't too extraordinary looking but not ugly either. It's really good body language and overall unspoken energy that attracts you head over to him.

He looks just good enough for you to be obsessed but still like a normal person so you don't feel he's unattainable. You just feel a little less confident, a little questioning of yourself. You just feel maybe he's a little better than you, maybe you aren't as beautiful as you thought.

Tammy breathes deeply at the crazy thoughts running through her head. This is all real. She must have lost her mind that day Mark and his men assaulted her father. What kind of fantasy did she think she was being set up for?

"Don't you people have something for this?" He turned around pointing to the marks. "Like that lumpy yellow stuff?"

She scrunches her face up. His 'normal' conversing is tightening the ball and her stomach and making her irritated because none of 'this' is 'normal'. "Are you talking about cocoa butter?"

Mark snaps his fingers. "That shit! Does it work for this?"

Tammy bit her lip. She had really gotten him good. It had to be an inch deep. It was red and ugly. Mottling to a dark purple around. She breathes out knowing that it's time to just become imersed in this reality, follow his lead.

Getting off the bed she comes over to him. He smells really nice.  In the direct light, it looks even worse. He has pretty fair skin.

"Ugh...once it scabs up...or maybe...maybe just a tiny tiny bit of stitches then after that definitely something" she tries to give hope to no scar being left.

Mark shruggs, still careless and still playful. "well then if it doesn't heal up and look good, you're going to have to sleep with Rosco to get me a cover-up. "

Great, so she is a prostitute. "Whatever, so with that being said...are we in a brothel? Am I a prostitute now?"

Mark laughs while raising an eyebrow. His teeth run over the bottom edge of his top teeth in a seductive motion that requires no thought. "First you claw me like you're some wildcat, which your hair kind of looks like a lion mane right now, and now you wanna be a prostitute?"

"No, I don't want to be a prostitute. I'm just assuming that's what gangsters do." Tammy lifts and drops one shoulder, resigned to her fate.   She wonders if any of her things are here. That would be comforting.

Mark leans against the door now. He's being so, so normal.  "
You're going to work in my home for now and kind of be a secretary. "

"So I'm a secretary?" Tammy replays his summery back and doesn't quite trust that things are that simple.

Mark nods in confirmation. " Look, there is a bathroom connected to your room. I put some shit in there. I have a few clothes in that armoire and I'll talk to you tomorrow." He cuts conversation abruptly.

"Wait! Mark...what about food?" She follows him as he was leaving the room. Actually she feels more panic about him leaving her in a strange place than him having "kidnapped" her.

"Kitchen...what the fuck, you think I am Chef Boyardee? That's your job but I'm eating out tonight so do you. " He goes straight to the fridge and grabs a tiny bottle of alcohol out it.  He pops it and begins drinking like water.

He then swipes his keys from the counter and left.

Tammy returns to the bedroom, sits on the bed and tries to figure out what exactly everything meant for her life going forward. So far, admittedly, things weren't looking too bad. She could almost count herself lucky. Mark isn't too bad but she couldn't help but wonder what his end game is out of all this. It couldn't be this simple, could it?
**********************************

"Tammy!" Mark screeches through the apartment. "Tammy!!!"

A groan of frustration pushes passed her lips as she groggily leaves the bed.

How long did rest? Her head still hurt and she still felt that drowning feeling.

"Fucking Tammy..." Mark bellows but she can hear frustration without the threat of violence in his tone. She knows what the threat of violence sounds like.

Why is this man yelling her name at the top of his voice like Fred Flintstone?

Her breathing techniques have come in handy as she tries to make sure she isn't making a face. Tammy met Mark in the open kitchen, dining room, living room area. It didn't take much to see he is pretty wasted.

"Yes?" She didn't know if it should be 'yes sir' but she definitely didn't think they were on using his name status.

"I need you to give me stitches." he pouts the words as he sits at the island with various tools in front of him. "My girl gonna be here soon and this cut keeps bleeding through the gauze." He wines and it's not a childish weak wine it's flirty, maybe even a hint of his raw sexual energy.

"What makes you think I can give you stitches?" Tammy comes over and starts examining everything that's out on the island countertop.

"Because everyone knows black parents don't take their kids to the ER. That's why black people know so much like stuff about fixing being sick" Mark is drunk and you can only slightly hear the slur in his words.

His cologne and heavy liquor smell just wafts off of him heavily in the air. He smiles goofily but it's cute on him. Tammy bites her lip resisting the urge to smile at his shenanigans.

He said that shit like it is a fact. "Are you like a racist or something?"

"What? No..." He scrunches his face. "I can show you how not racist I am." He wiggles his eyebrows playfully.

"Then why do you keep saying such like stereotypical things?" Tammy grabs some of the cotton wads and the alcohol.

He shrugged. "Idk I guess I have some stereotypical exes? My parents weren't like all there and I had like a black caretaker that did all this stuff for me." He grabs her wrist and pulls her into his personal space, the way a drunk affectionate type would. Only they don't know each other. "can you do this for me?"

Tammy feels her temperature rise. It's the little crack in his tone. . . It's the deepening of his voice. . . It's the way he sounds so vulnerable and like he needs her. . .

"Yeah" She removes the bandage and clears her throat. She wants to keep a clear head. Maybe she's imagining things, again. She has a habit of vividly daydreaming.

The wound looks so much worse. She had a feeling it was going to need a few stitches, that's why she brought up the idea of stitches earlier.  Tammy is thankful for the bit of nursing experience she has.

Working so close to Mark is a little distracting.

Another strange thing about Mark is that he just eludes this raw sexuality.

He is so distracting.

Little things kept happening like his bottom lip rubbing against her thumb. Somehow they'd come to the conclusion that her sitting straddled him would be the best way to stitch the wound.

Still only wearing the skirt from work, her panties were barely any barrier from his hard dick covered with sweats and her privates. She tries so hard not to focus on it. She regrets sitting on him like this. She's stupid. Neither one of them could sincerely think this was a smart idea. It's not about the stitches and she should be honest with herself about that.

It seems like he feels her wanting to stand up, wanting to create space and then his face moves so close to her neck. His breahing tickles her.

"C'mon Mark, stop being a baby!" She becomes fed up with the tension between them.

He'd sat fine for the other three but now kept wincing and moving away. Luckily, there were only two more and then disinfect and dress.

"But it fucking hurts." He moans in a deep timbre,right by her ear, that spreads through her body.

Tammy didn't even say anything. Keeping her breathing even she let the surgical needle do the talking. The last stitch was in and she knots it before cutting off the excess. She gently cleansed the area and applied some ointment, before loosely covering it.

"Who the fuck is this!" The question permeates the silence.

The woman's voice was about the last thing Tammy got a good listen to before the other female just dived at her.

Next thing, Tammy finds herself being choked and pinned on her back by the agressive woman. Tammy has never really been in a fight before but she wasn't going to lay here while this, Hershey special dark chocolate woman, chokes the life out of her. Her fist clench out of sheer self preservation and she hit the other female in her jaw.

"You slut ass bitch!" The dark-skinned woman yells like a madwoman as Mark tore her from a top Tammy.

"Cookie, chill out!" Mark bellows and Tammy sees the veins in his neck as he pushes Cookie against the wall.

Tammy flinches as she hears the impact of Cookie's body hit the wall. Mark shakes Cookie as she fights to get out of Mark's arms and back to confrontation. Cookie is emotional and Tammy feels really bad because Mark shouldnt have been acting the way he had, knowing he has a girlfriend.

Tammy also feels bad because even if she was unattracted to Mark, she willingly placed herself in the position she can't truly tell him 'no'. Tammy feels panic realizing the gravity of her situation, once again. The underwater feeling returns and her stomach aches as she almost forgets the scene before her. 

"Nah, you in here playing fucking Dr. With bitches while I been blowing up your cell. Who the fuck is she!!!" Cookie tries to look away from Mark as Mark keeps trying to force her to look at him by grabbing Cookies face forcibly.

"No one is fucking bitches" Mark finally has a firm enough grasp on Cookies cheeks to where Cookie can't look away.  Mark sounds genuinely frustrated.

Tammy has gotten off the floor and caught her breath. These two are fucking crazy. She sees that things are turning between the couple and they begin sharing a few kisses. It's probably time she go to her room.

It made sense that Mark has a black girlfriend. Tammy definitely wouldn't have expected a Taylor Swift. Something about Mark just gave interracial relationships vibes.

Cookie is urban beautiful. She has very ethnic features and a thick hourglass frame that she isn't afraid to show off.

Cookie isn't wearing makeup and didn't need to. Her skin is absolutely beautiful and so deep toned. Cookie  appears completely real time photoshopped.

Her lace wig had to be expensive and the exotic curl fit her well. Her outfit was nice and she looks expensive.

"What you looking at!" Cookie snaps at Tammy her face full of attitude and distrust.

Before Tammt could think her frustration seeped out. "A real-life dysfunctional relationship. "

Mark laughs, now hugging Cookie from behind. "Yeah, but we sexy though. " he kisses Cookie's ear.

Cookie giggles and the softness makes her even more pretty.  "Stop it, I'm mad at you."

"You can be mad at me but you can't be mad at all these inches." Mark moves Cookie's hand to his crotch.

Tammy rolls her eyes. Mark is giving very much fake right now.  "Um so, well...can I go?"

Mark was sliding his hand in Cookie's black leggings, literally his mind only on Cookie.

That's Tammy's sign to head back to her room. Throwing herself on the bed, sleep was finding her easily. She still felt exhausted. The fact her head was still spinning and everything still felt oddly like a daydream.

"Oooh, I missed this huge monster ass dick!!!" Cookie moans out so loud and adult movie actress like.

Tammy turns on her back, making a face. This bitch loud and she corny. And monster ....well she decides not even about the think about that part. Tammy doesn't even want to think about how long it was going to be before the next time she gets some real dick. Hopefully things stay pretty stable and for the most part herself out of harms way. Today can be interpreted optimistic if she really aims for it.