TWO DAYS LATER...
“PAPA?” Lara could not understand where the intense fear that she immediately felt came from as soon as she opened the front door of their house and saw Rodolfo whimpering.
"Sweetheart, go hide, they might take you!" Rodolfo pushed her into the house and then pulled her into her room.
Lara's fear intensified because of that. “W-What do you mean? W-Who will take me? ” despite all the bad emotions that were at that moment lingering in her chest.
"Don't ask too many questions, just listen to Papa, hurry up!"
Lara could have done nothing but follow through. She hid inside her bedroom, behind an antique closet. But in spite of everything, she could still hear the arguments and all the unkind words that someone said to her father.
"Are you going to pay or will I just kill you?" the man's furious cry.
That was when Lara got up from being hidden in the corner. Her whole body grew cold and she stepped carefully to avoid making any crack on the floor made of large narra planks.
When she reached the closed door of her room she peeked through the small hole. That was when she saw three men surrounding her father. One of them is holding a gun that she thinks is the leader of the group.
"Answer me! Will you pay or will I just kill you? ” Lara heard the man furiously asked her father again.
No matter how much her father owed them, maybe that wasn't enough reason to turn his life into debt repayment. But something else happened when she heard the trigger.
Lara hurried out of the room then shouted while crying.
“Stop! Don't kill my Papa! ” she said pleading in tears as she ran then hugged Rodolfo who was obviously shocked when she came out.
“Lara! What did you do? Didn't I tell you to hide? ” Rodolfo asked her angrily but she ignored him.
"No matter how much my father owes you, I'm willing to pay. If you want, take me with you! Just promise me that you won't bother him anymore," she continued in a pleading tone as her face is wet with tears.
"Lara!" her father.
"That's how it is!" said the man with the gun happily. "Why didn't you tell me right away that you have a very beautiful daughter who can make money, Ompong?" he asked with a demonic grin on his face then held her face tightly.
"Boss, that's fine," said the other man.
“Yes, we can sell her for a large sum of money,” it's the third man.
What happened next went unnoticed by Lara. She felt at that moment that she was just having a nightmare as the man with the gun dragged her out of their house while her father Rodolfo was crying following them. Begging.
"Papa, take care of yourself, I promise I'll come back for you," she said before they closed the window of the car where they took her.
*****
THREE DAYS LATER
HOLDING a red lipstick, Lara's hand trembled as she rubbed it on her lips. She didn't think it would all end like this. She did not think that her desire to save her father from certain death would mean that she had fallen into this kind of prostitution.
After the three men took her, they sold her directly to Nati for one hundred thousand pesos. What she knew was that her father owed less than ten thousand pesos to the three demons who took her but they were able to sell her for such a large amount.
As for her, Nati said that a large part of the money she will earn every time someone takes her out will go directly to the woman as her manager.
Her tears flowed immediately.
If only those three men had given her a chance, she would have made way for her father's debt and she wouldn't have had to do this now.
But there was nothing she could do.
She is an honorable woman. Yes her mother was then a waitress but at least once she never failed to remind her. That she should not follow what her life had become. She needed to get better, and that's what Lara was trying to do.
But sometimes no matter how much you avoid sin and temptation, no matter how hard you try not to do wrong, there are really times when the only option you have to solve a problem is to do wrong.
"Hurry up Venus, they are already waiting for you, be great, and don't embarrass me!" the voice of club manager Nati was the one she heard calling to her from outside the dressing room.
When she did not reply, Nati continued.
"Guess what? You are very lucky because your first customer is extremely rich. Aside from that is the fact that he is perfectly handsome, so I can say that your virginity will not be wasted, because it will worth it," Nati said following those words with a loud laugh.
Because of what she heard, Lara stared sadly in the mirror. No matter how angry she felt at that very moment there is nothing she could do. So she decided to keep quiet.
"They actually paid a lot and because of that, you will be receiving a big share. And if he enjoys working with you later, for sure he will definitely give you a great tip. And when he likes you, he might be your regular customer!"
In the way, Nati speaks, it is obvious that she has memorized the ins and outs of that kind of work.
But Lara could feel nothing but anger.
Nati also changed her name because according to her, that is the standard operating procedure in such a line of work. It is up to her if she will give her real name to her future customers.
Lara swallowed consecutively. After that, she then went out the back door of the club, and there she saw a large box that Nati said would be used as props later. Lara laughed softly. She did not think this was true.
Back then it was only on TV that she could see women being put inside the box. Then they would get out there masked while dancing. Later, she would do that. It was as if her heart wanted to tear in pain and resentment.
She is not angry with her father. In fact, she is angry with the three men who took her as payment for her father's debt. She is angry with Nati, that even though it is illegal, she still does this kind of work without thinking about how many families she can destroy.
This will be the first time she would do this and she is really scared. Whatever life waited for her later when she came out of that box, she did not know.