Unlikely Beginnings

Jessica Morgan stood still trying to catch her breath. Her head was spinning out of control, and she felt like she would collapse at any moment. Joe Spencer lay limp at her feet. She did not mean to hurt him, only to protect herself. She knelt with her heart trying to jump out of her chest and placed her fingers on his neck. She could not feel anything. She had never checked anyone for a pulse before and did not know if she was doing it correctly.

She could hear the music and chatter outside the door. Life was going on as usual all around her. She had to get a grip. She had to take control of the situation. She cupped her head in her hands and tried to clear all the thoughts. Had she just killed a man? This had to be a dream. She began to pace around the room, avoiding Joe’s body. She had turned eighteen two weeks before that, and she thought that Joe would lay off her once she was legal. No such luck.

Jessica’s lost her parents when she was a preteen. From there, she went through a series of foster homes. The one she was currently in seem to be the best so far. They did not care about the kids, only the money. If she stayed out of their way and out of their hair, things were good. She met Amber at the one of the first foster homes she was in. Amber was now nineteen and introduced her to Joe so they could work together.

Joe was exactly what you would think of when you imagined a gangster. He was tall and buff. He wore expensive suits and jewelry. He was raised Italian, but at least one of his parents were not. He was in his early thirty’s and married with two children. At seventeen, Jessica was not naïve to the ways of the world. She knew that being married did not mean anything to a man like Joe. She was relieved at first that he had not hit on her. She walked into his office and he stared her up and down. She was extremely uncomfortable. He told her to undress.. He needed to see her, to know if she had the body of a dancer.

She stood before him in a bra and panties that did not match, feeling more insecure than she ever had before. Joe instructed her to dance. She started swaying back and forth, still uneasy. Amber chimed in. “I can take her on with me the first couple of dances until she loosens up.” He did not get a chance to speak before the phone rang. He nodded and shooed them out with his hand.

Jessica had worked at the club for a couple of weeks. She had loosened up. She felt good being on stage. She would lose herself in the music. It was a good set up. She would get on stage and dance, men would give her money, but they were not allowed to touch her. Sure, some of the other girls would take things further with the customers for money or drugs. Jessica was not interested in taking things that far. The bouncers took care of her. Donnie had quickly become her personal protector. He would see to it that she made it home safely every night. He was younger than the other bouncers, closer to her own age. She did not think anything of it when he escorted her to Joe’s office for the first time she had started.

Things took a turn for the worse. Joe told her he knew about her age. He gave her the option of him reporting her and sending her to jail or him putting her up in an apartment and letting her keep her job. The latter came with the stipulation that she would make herself available to him whenever he wanted. She made her choice with her back against the wall.

She was officially eighteen and had just graduated from high school. She knew she needed to get out of the arrangement she was in, so she went to a competing club. This was going to be her last night working for Joe. Her apartment was all packed up and ready to go. She thought everything was on track until Donnie escorted her to Joe’s office.

“You’re so ungrateful. I took you in, stopped you from becoming street whore! Who do you think you are?” He screamed. “You aren’t going anywhere but right back there to unpack!”

She drew her shoulders back and stood up a little taller. Inhaling deep, and staying calm, she replied, “I’m not staying. I don’t have to be afraid to go anymore.” She thought about calling Donnie for help, but realized her phone was in her locker with her clothes.

Joe came from behind his desk and screamed, “You need to be afraid, you stupid cunt!” He raised his hand and brought it down against her face. She fell to her knees. Joe grabbed her by her hair and started to pull her to her feet.

Without even thinking about it, without weighing the consequences, she grabbed his legs and pushed with all the strength she could muster. He released her hair and fell back, hitting his head on the corner of the desk on his way down.

He lay there, the blood puddle growing around his head, not moving. She started to pace, trying to decide what she would do next. He would kill her for this, she was sure of it. She noticed the duffel bags sitting in front of the safe. She did not think through the plan completely, but she was able to come up with the first step. She knew the code to get into the safe. She would take his money and leave. She did not have enough saved up to go far, but she was sure there was enough in the safe to go as far as she wanted. She went to empty the duffel bags, and realized they were filled with cocaine and a little black book. She had to remove some of the drugs to make room for all the money. She put on a shirt of Joe’s and snuck out the back door with the bags.

She made her way to the train tracks. She had spent a lot of time there before she started working for Joe. She knew her way around and the people there remembered her. She found her way to an empty train car, and jumped in. It smelled of stale urine and bad body odor, but she knew she would be safe from Joe there. She did not know where the train was going to take her. She only knew that she needed to get out Chicago. She curled up in an empty corner of the car, lay her head on one bag while holding tight to the other. Unsure of what was in store for her, she knew she would be okay. She had enough money to start a fresh life, and free herself from the world she was living in.

Things moved along swiftly for Jessica Morgan. In six months, she had put herself in all the right situations with all the right people. She followed the news closely and knew that she had not killed Joe. She took precautions to stay hidden. She found a lawyer as soon as she made it to Los Angeles. He assisted in helping her set up a corporation of her own so she would not have to use her own name very often. Everyone who knew her, knew her as Jesse Reese. It was not uncommon for celebrities to use their middle names in place of their last. He had helped her invest her money wisely so she could have a stream of income without using the bulk of what she had taken from Joe. She was introduced to the night club scene by another newfound friend. A few months in, she had decided to buy her own club. Her lawyer started the procedures and Jesse took a couple of business classes at the local college. She did not want to go into anything with a blind eye.

It had not been too difficult to get rid of Joe’s drugs. She started by selling to some of the LA contacts that were in Joe’s little black book. Once she was in with the night club crowd, she never seemed to be carrying enough. What had been a little harder was getting ahold of more for up-and-coming clientele. Jesse would feel a pang of guilt from time to time. Her childhood dream was not to become a drug dealer. It had not started out that way, but the stuff she had was good, and the situation seemed to take on a life of its own. Her reputation seemed to put her in place with the boss of the local gang, Tony Ricci.

It was opening night, and there was a line around the corner of people wanting to get in. Jesse walked around the club, double checking to make sure everything was in place. She had been lucky to find that kind of space in LA. Two floors and maximum square footage made space for everything she wanted. The dining area utilized both floors to the far right of the club. The top floor was, of course, for the VIP diners. The top floor wrapped all the way around the club. The heart of her club was a lounge of sorts, with the upper floor also being VIP and connecting to the restaurant. To the far left, about a third of the total space was the entertainment section. It hosted two DJ stands, a stage for performers, a huge dance floor, and the largest bar in the place.

The night was wrapping up, and Jessica made her way around the club. She could not believe that it was all hers. She wanted to have her hand in everything that went on. This was a pulse she wanted to be sure about. She made her way to the VIP section last. She dropped a bottle of her finest champagne at a table of a movie exec, exchanged niceties, turned and bumped smack dab into Donnie.

She could not find words to speak. Her smile dropped from her lips immediately. Donnie had her by the arm and was taking her to Tony Ricci before she could get away. When they got to the table, she saw him. Joe. Her heart seemed to stop. Donnie, Tony, and Joe forced her to her office.

“This little thing is the one that took you?” Tony asked Joe, puzzled.

“Don’t let her looks fool you. That’s when she gets dangerous.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just protected myself.”

“You stole from me. You took my goods and everything from my safe. Now, you’ll pay.”

Tony put a hand on Joe’s shoulder. “Calm down. This is my wheelhouse. Nothing goes on here unless I give the go-ahead.”

As the two men began to argue about what to do and Donnie stood guard at the door, Jessica made her way to the top drawer of her desk.

Joe did not like the direction the argument, pulled out his 9mm and shot Tony in the head. Without much time to think, Jessica pulled her own gun and shot Joe. She aimed the gun at Donnie. She did not want to shoot him. He was a good guy only doing his job. He began to approach her angrily; she pulled the trigger. It was him or her.

Jessica had no problem convincing the authorities that the men were trying to strong arm her and use her club for illegal things. It was clear self-defense.