The Lion’s Mail Order Menage

“America.”

“America?  What about it?”

“That’s where we’re going, as long as you don’t mess it up.”

This wasn’t possible.  It seemed like too much of a coincidence that Elaina would have just told her that she was moving to Texas and now, only an hour or so later, Meena herself was being told that she would be moving to America as well.  Was it some kind of messed up joke?  Had some of Victor’s men been following her? 

Had they heard her conversation with Elaina, seen the longing on her face and decided to make use of her only friend to make her feel bad about it?  But she couldn’t see Kyra going for a thing like that, even if she was threatened, and looking at Kyra now it seemed pretty much impossible. 

But that meant the only other explanation was that there was really a chance that they would be leaving Russia for something new and that also seemed impossible.  She was too old to believe in fairy tales like that coming true. 

“There’s no way.”

“Isn’t there?  Are you calling me a liar?”

“Well, we both know you’re a liar,” Meena said with a shaky laugh, “but I don’t think you would really lie to me about something like this.  But how?  Why the hell would Victor let us go to America?  Why would he just let us go?”

“Well, that’s a stupid question, but it has a very simple answer.  He wouldn’t.”

“Then what are we talking about?  You know I hate it when you do this sort of thing.  I hate it when you act all cryptic.  It’s not a lot of fun to have a conversation where only one of you know what you’re talking about.”

“He’s selling us.”

“Selling?”

“Yes, selling.  He put us up on a website and we were for sale, just like that.  It happens all of the time, actually.  It happens in all different kinds of ways, and for us, Victor put us up on one of those sites for mail order brides.”

“Are you kidding me?  Those things are for real?  I would think they would be illegal or something.  They sound illegal, anyway.  Isn’t it pretty much like putting prostitution up on the internet for everyone to see?”

“Kind of, except that the people who run them are too clever to get caught for that kind of a thing.  And honestly, most of the girls who get traded over the sites would rather be going across the seas than staying put where they are.  Wouldn’t you?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe.”

“Just maybe?” Kyra asked with a smirk, clearly back to her indifference. 

It made Meena angry and reassured her all at the same time.  This was much more like the version of Kyra that she was used to dealing with.

“Yes, just maybe.  Because how do we know that where we’re going will be better?  What if the men who bought us are just as bad?”

“Somehow I don’t think that’s possible, but even if it is, it’s a chance I’m willing to take.  I’d rather deal with the devil I don’t already know than with the devil I do.  Oh!  And I still haven’t told you the best part.”

“There’s a best part?  I don’t see how.”

“We’re going to the same place.  Like the exact same place.”

“Same city, you mean.”

“Yes, the same city and also the same area of town.  From what Victor told me, the men who want us are friends.  So we’ll still be in each other’s lives.  We’ll still get to be friends and we can explore America together.  How does that sound?”

“It sounds like it’s too good to be true.”

“Excellent!  That’s exactly what I was hoping you would say.  Now here, start packing.  We were supposed to be already doing that.  If Victor sends someone this direction and realizes that nothing’s happened yet, you could be in some trouble.”

“Why just me?”

“Because, there’s a bunch of girls in this place and they aren’t all friends.  If one of them saw you coming in and knew you were already supposed to be back, they could easily have gone to Victor and tried to mess this whole thing up.  They’re jealous.  Everyone wants to get chosen.  Everyone is in the catalogue and they wish it was them chosen instead of us.”

“Well then, we’ll just have to make sure we don’t give anyone a reason to keep us from going.”

Kyra laughed and started tossing clothes in Meena’s direction haphazardly, something very close to joy on her face.  It was contagious and so Meena put aside her lingering concerns and started her own packing, visions of a country she had never even visited dancing in her head.

* * *

“Meena?  Meena, honey, you should try and wake up, if you can.  I don’t think you’re going to want to miss this.”

Meena could hear her friend coming to her from some place far off, as if Meena were listening from deep underwater and straining from the difficulty of the task.  She loved her friend. But she was not happy to hear her now.  She was so comfortable in the place that sleep had allowed her to travel to, so glad to finally feel some kind of real and genuine peace.  Victor’s place hadn’t been one to inspire a good night’s rest, that was for sure.

There had always been something there to be afraid of, some illicit activity or dangerous, overbearing man looking to use her in some way.  There wasn’t a lot of hope, being owned by a crime lord, and it wasn’t something she ever really expected to feel.  It wasn’t something she had grown up with an expectation for. 

But something happened to her when she stepped on that plane, a feeling that only grew once she was strapped in and the wheels of the plane came up.  She couldn’t say what the feeling was at first.  It was too foreign for her to be able to place it but the further away the plane took them from Russia, the more clarity she was able to attain until finally, there suspended in the middle of the sky, she realized what it was.