1978

The girls were off-limits to Mouse. All he could do was watch. That was his favorite thing to do anyway, and he had watched it all from behind the bed. CJ was the best. He would always imagine it was himself instead of whomever. He had always hoped she would love him more than she did Skinny. At least he would not beat her. He would hold her so softly.

Still, Skinny sent him there to watch, and when he put CJ or any of the other girls in one of those rooms Mouse knew his job. Skinny always wanted to know all about it; what they did, how many times, what they said, and especially how much they paid her. Mouse did not see any more than the twenty go into her pocket and he would tell Skinny when he saw him later.

Still, CJ was his favorite. They moved here together, and they formed a bond he felt with no other woman in the place, especially the one called Sara. He watched CJ with Harry and found it hard at times to keep quiet on the other side of the wall. He watched her having sex like he watched a movie, he even stored candy in the one room he would spy from.

The more he watched, the angrier he got and the more he fell in love with her. He thought about not telling Skinny some of the things that went on in those rooms. He liked to keep that to himself. He had strong feelings of rage and remorse, and they confused him. He liked the girls like a man should, but never had the courage to do anything about it. He would convince himself not to, saying Skinny would not like it. Even when he got excited he wouldn't do anything about it and just hold it all inside him. Killing was his only relief, and he had the opportunity over the years to do some of that for his boss. Then he could stop thinking about the women. It hurt too much.

CJ found Mouse in the bar after she left Harry and followed him to the kitchen and made sure he had his head in the refrigerator before sneaking past the open door. Then she made her way down the hall and the stairs in the back. It was dark and she kept the lights off for fear Shithead would wake up. She sneaked along the hall to the end, through the dusty tunnel, and into the safe room.

"I'll show you all right, you bastard." She knew where the safe was and even remembered the combination from last year. Skinny never changed it; he didn't know how. She opened the safe and searched through its contents; cash she had. There were guns, passports, deeds, and a bunch of papers that she couldn't identify. None of that mattered. She wanted more and knew that what was in there was worth a fortune. And he would miss it, and that was satisfying enough. She found the hefty leather bag that was tied with a string and opened it and made sure it was all still there. Then she closed the safe and quietly sneaked back up to her room and closed the door.