Porn Star (12 page)

Two hours later, Cassidy awoke on a table in
the basement of the medical examiner’s office groggy and in pain.
“What the fuck am I doing here?” she asked.

A med tech heard her voice and walked over to
the table she was lying on. “Are you alright Miss Rayne?”

“I have an incredible pain in my back.”

“I can get you some pain medications if you
like,” the tech replied.

“Yes, I need some Ibuprofen.” Cassidy looked
around and saw that she was in a white room filled with medical
equipment. Cabinets filled every wall and IV poles were scattered
all over the room. It was like she was in some sort of store
room/emergency room. “Where am I?” she asked.

“You are in the basement of the city
hospital,” the tech replied.

“What am I doing here?” she asked still
groggy.

“We were waiting for you to recover, I need
to get the doctor.”

Cassidy laid still on the table waiting for
her Ibuprofen. She was wondering if that guy was going to bring it
or if the doctor was, either way she still hurt. A few minutes
later a short Asian woman walked in the room wearing a stethoscope
around her neck.

“How are you feeling?” the Asian woman
asked.

“My back hurts,” Cassidy replied.

“Anything else?”

“No, I just feel weird, very tired.”

“We ran x rays and labs already and we know
that you are basically fine. My assistant is running upstairs to
get you some Ibuprofen.”

“Doctor, what the fuck am I doing here?”
Cassidy asked.

“What is the last thing you remember before
you woke here?”

“I was being shot at by five guards.”

The doctor paused for a moment. “You’re
memory seems to be intact.”

“Why wouldn’t it?” Cassidy asked.

“The pole you were strapped to was hooked up
to an electric circuit. When the order to fire was given, you were
given a shock strong enough to knock you out, but not strong enough
to kill you. In a nutshell, your execution was faked.”

“Faked? Why?”

“There is very large group of people who
dislike Governor Rayne. They think she is a power mad pig.”

“Pig? Is that a fat joke?”

“She is a glutton, she takes what she wants
at the expense of others. Who else would pass legislation making it
illegal for skinny girls to do porn? She makes laws that benefit
her and her alone. In a way, letting her kill you might incense the
people to rebel, but at the same time, maybe not, and we felt your
life wasn’t worth ending for her personal gain.”

“So now what?” Cassidy asked.

“We have very few options. We think plastic
surgery to make you look different may work, and relocating you out
of state.”

“I’ve had plastic surgery before, I had my
tits and eyes done. I was planning on having my lips done
eventually.”

“That’s not the kind of plastic surgery we
are thinking about. If you want to stay alive, you need to look
like someone else entirely. “

“Like who? or what? If I do that, she wins. I
won’t be the skinny girl doing porn anymore, I’ll be some hideous
monster that had to be created in order to hide from her.”

“Would you rather be full of holes?”

“Maybe, if I can’t be me, I might as well be
dead anyway. I don’t want the surgery.”

“You have to have the surgery, if you get
caught, they will trace you back to us and we’ll be the ones
standing in front of the firing squad.”

“I didn’t ask you to save me! And I’m not
going to let you disfigure me either!”

The doctor stood back in amazement. Amazed
that this woman was so ungrateful that people put their own lives
on the line to save her and all she could do is bitch. “I guess the
road to hell really is paved with good intentions,” the doctor
said. “If you don’t agree to this surgery, I’ll kill you myself.
I’m not allowing my staff to go down on this. Maybe I should forget
about the surgery all together and kill you now. You seem unstable
enough that even if we did the surgery, down the line you would
still out us in some attempt to get back at the governor.”

“What do you expect? It’s not like I look
like you? If I were short and plain looking I wouldn’t care, but
I’m a porn star. I’ve been in over three hundred DVD’s!”

The doctor, in disgust walked away and left
Cassidy sitting on the table alone.

“Where are you going?” Cassidy asked.

“I need some coffee,” the doctor replied.
“And a gun.”

Two hours later there was a knock at the door
that surprised Cassidy. “Who is it?” she asked.

In stepped a familiar face, that of Dennis
her photographer. “How’s it going porn star?” he asked with a
smile?

“Where have you been all this time?” Cassidy
asked.

“I went back to South Dakota and took a part
time job as a mall photographer at a kids store. I also talked to
your husband.”

“What did he say?”

“He wanted to know why you didn’t invite him
to your execution.”

“He’s really busy, I didn’t want to bother
him.”

“I think it hurt his feelings.”

“Oh, I’ll call him later.”

“No, you can’t, only a few people know you’re
still alive and he isn’t one of them.”

“Why do you know he doesn’t?” Cassidy
asked.

“The people who wanted you saved thought I’d
be better and keeping my mouth shut. Once you get reestablished
somewhere else, we will contact your husband. This is sort of like
the witness protection plan. Only those who need to know do.”

“In the meantime he gets to mourn my
passing?”

“It was either that or let you die for real,”
Dennis replied.

“So are you here to save me? Be my big strong
hero?”

“I’m here to take you to a place where you
can start over.”

Cassidy sat and thought about what Dennis had
just said. He said something about starting over. For some reason
that line didn’t register with her. “What do you mean start over?
Like get a day job?”

“Yes, you need to blend in and become
invisible.”

“Dennis, I’m a porn star, I don’t blend.”

“I realize that, but you need to stop being
such a show off and become one of us for a while. Your life depends
on it. “

“I’d rather be dead than dull,” Cassidy
replied with a very straight face.

“I know you too well now Cassidy, I know
you’d rather be naked in a mall full of shoppers than stuffing
groceries into a bag, but things have to change. If you don’t want
to go along with the program, I’ll leave and you can get your ass
caught again and this time do it right.”

Staring at her feet, Cassidy had a hard time
looking Dennis in the eye. She almost felt guilty, but at the same
time felt like she had too much to offer the world to just give up.
“What if I...”

“Don’t say it, a lot of people put themselves
on the line to save your ass, you owe them,” Dennis snapped
back.

“They only saved me to get back at the
governor, they don’t give a shit about me.”

“Maybe not, but you are alive nonetheless.
Those people will go in front of the firing squad if you don’t
bring it down a lot, and I mean a lot.”

“Without porn, I’m dead anyway.”

“You can channel your interests and energy
somewhere else. You don’t have to fuck and suck everything you find
just to get attention.”

“That’s easy for you to say, you’re a
man.”

“So the fuck what?” Dennis asked pissed. “You
don’t think I like a little attention myself sometimes? I can get
attention without dropping my shorts and letting my dick hang out
for everyone to see.”

“That’s because nobody wants to see your
dick. Everyone wants to see me naked and having sex. I am every man
and woman’s fantasy. They either want to be me, or fuck me.”

“I’ll give you a choice right now, either you
agree to do what I say and save your ass or you are on your own.
You can make all the porn you want and in a month I’ll watch the
news when they haul your dead body to the morgue.”

Cassidy turned away from Dennis and shook her
head in disgust. She rubbed her eyes and thought hard about what
she would say next. She was never at a loss for words, but this
time she thought she should choose her words wisely. “Let me think
about it,” she said still facing away from Dennis.

“What’s there to think about?”

“Give me a day.”

“No, if you don’t agree to my terms right
now, I’m leaving. I’m not married to you, I’m not your boyfriend,
or your lover. I’m some stooge that you hired to take naked
pictures of you while you sucked some guy off. My only investment
in you is purely financial, so unless you’re paying me to stick
around, this is goodbye.”

“Goodbye,” Cassidy said with a tear in her
eye.

Dennis turned and walked out of the room
leaving Cassidy behind.

The next day Cassidy Rayne was on the road
hitchhiking to who knows where. She had nowhere to go, her last
friend had left her due to her own selfishness and she was now
drifting aimlessly down the highway. Then a car pulled over onto
the shoulder behind her and tapped a little honk on the horn.
Cassidy turned around to see an early eighties silver Grand Am
waiting for her with two people in the front and maybe a third in
the back. She approached the driver’s side door and watched the
window roll down. “You need a ride?” a dark haired woman asked. She
was young, maybe in her early twenties.

“Yes,” Cassidy replied looking in the window
at the other passenger. She was also in her twenties. She didn’t
see anyone in the back seat, maybe she was seeing things.

“Where to?” the woman asked.

“The next big town would be fine,” Cassidy
replied. “I’m looking for work.”

“Get in,” the woman replied and Cassidy got
in the back seat. The car took off onto the highway and the three
women began a new journey.

“Where are you two going?” Cassidy asked.

“To my ex’s house, going to pick up some shit
I left there last week.”

“Where is that?”

“Oklahoma City.”

“That’s quite a drive,” Cassidy replied.

“Yeah, about four hours on the highway, what
kind of work are you looking for?”

“I’m thinking about getting back into
dancing,”

“You mean stripping?”

“Yeah, I guess you can call it that, I prefer
to call it dancing.”

“You danced before?” the woman asked looking
in the rear view mirror at Cassidy.

“Since I was old enough to get in the bar. I
used to be the pole trainer at three different clubs.”

“Pole trainer? What’s that?” the second woman
asked. She was turned in her seat so she could face Cassidy face to
face.

“I taught the other girls pole tricks,”
Cassidy replied with pride.

“I’ve been doing pole tricks for two years
myself, and so has Missy here, what kinds of pole tricks do you
teach?”

“You’re dancers too?” Cassidy asked. “Maybe
you could help me get a job.”

“I know a lot of bars and bar owners in the
Oklahoma City area, I probably could hook you up.”

“Are you two dancing now? I mean we could
apply together.”

“I do dance, but not as much as I used to,
and Missy’s old man doesn’t like her in the club anymore, so she’s
been living off him for a few months now.”

“Oh, I’d never do that, a woman should take
care of herself, never depend on a man for anything.”

“You’re lucky, this is a man’s world you
know, like it or not. What kinds of pole tricks do you teach? You
never answered,” the driver asked.

“I know some real cool upside down spinning
tricks, and I can flip on the pole without using my hands.”

“Cool,” Missy said.

“What’s your name?” Cassidy asked the
driver.

“Rhonda,” she replied.

“Are you married, got any kids?” Cassidy
asked.

“Divorced, two kids,” Rhonda replied.

“And you?” Cassidy asked Missy.

“Just the boyfriend, no kids. “How about
you?”

“Oh, I have a husband back home taking care
of my kids.”

“Are you divorced?” Missy asked.

“No, not at all, I love him to death.”

“Then why not go back to him? Why are you
hitchhiking and looking for work?” Rhonda asked.

“I don’t know, I like it this way. He’s a
good father and very good with the kids.”

“How often do you see your kids?”

“Now and then.”

Hours passed and the girls stopped at a gas
station for gas and snacks. Cassidy headed to the bathroom while
the other two looked for something to eat. In the bathroom, Cassidy
noticed a text on her phone, it was from Dennis. It read, “Sorry
about what went down, I’m here for you if you need me, just let me
know.” The message made Cassidy feel much better as she posed and
modeled in front of the bathroom mirror.

Missy and Rhonda walked back out to the car
and waited for Cassidy to get back from the bathroom when they
heard a news report on the radio about a woman who escaped from the
Kansas state prison. Seems this woman somehow faked her execution
and was on the run. A group of employees were rounded up and jailed
for conspiracy to defraud the government by helping her escape.

“That’s fucked up,” Missy said chewing on
some beef jerky.

“Wonder if Cassidy is the woman they are
looking for?” Rhonda asked. “Did they say the woman’s name on the
radio?”

“Yeah, Linda Miller,” Missy replied.

“Could be an alias, is there a reward?”

“Not that I heard of, just said to call crime
stoppers.”