Bette’s mind was racing she wondered how many of the scars Tina had seen. Bette was ashamed and embarrassed that Tina had saw them and that she had cried out in the night like a child to the point of needing comfort. Usually after those kinds of nightmares Bette was up for the rest of the night and only went back to sleep out of pure exhaustion.

She was pulled back to the present by the sound of Tina’s voice calling her name. “Bette…are you alright? Where did you go?”

“Tina the scars you saw were my punishment and before you ask no I did not do it to myself. As you know there are points in my life that I do not remember but I remember every one of the scars. It was a lesson I learned well. A man well actually he was my pimp for a while found me one night on the street…high…very high and took me in. When I started coming down and I needed more drugs we made a deal…you see I had no money and a habit to feed. I would work for him and he would supply me with drugs. But first he had to train his employee…if you know what I mean. So anyway one of the first rules I was to learn was you are not to speak unless the customer wanted you to. That way you could be anyone they imagined you were. Well during my training after about the third night of training I let my guard down.

In the middle of training… I spoke out. I guess I just let my mind carry me away to a better place and time. You know went somewhere else so I did not have to be in the here and now. Well as punishment and a reminder to not do it again…he cut me. Anyway so this form of punishment continued each time I made a slip there after. To be a Yale graduate…you could say I didn’t learn very fast and apparently a lesson I had to repeatedly relearn quite a few times…from the number of scars.” Bette said with a sad small smile.

Tina was silent while Bette continued to talk. The tears rolled down her face and she used the napkin in her hand to wipe them from her cheeks and chin. She noticed that Bette would not make eye contact with her during this exchange. She knew she was going to have to be forward with Bette to get the answer to the one on her stomach and her mind wondered what else Bette had endured and survived at the hands of cruel individuals.