House of Carp

I came across this case about two years ago. It involves a woman who works in a brothel. She asked me not to use her real name. So I will call her “Jade.”

Jade came to me two years ago. I will give you the shortened version of her life story. She came from a broken family. Dad wasn’t around. Mom spent life in the bottle. Jade wasn’t a lost cause, however. She did the best she could. However, Jade made some bad decisions and wound up here.

She worked at a brothel called the Red Rose. (Not the real name.) This was a high-class place. Only the rich came here. I’ve walked by this building once or twice. It’s hard to miss with the golden exterior.  And I mean gold. This building seemed to glow in the dark. Hard to miss. My mentor thought it tacky. I chose not to say a word.

But I am getting off track here.

“You know about the Red Rose’s reputation, yeah?” Jade asked. I looked up at her.

“I’ve heard the rumors,” I said. Jade took a breath.

“Yeah,” she said.

Where to begin with Red Rose? The girls were beautiful, that much is true. The inside was glamorous, however it hid ugly truths. Nothing too earth-shattering. Just…

Everything has its dirty secrets here.

Jade learned the night before she came to see me. It all started with a knock on her window.

“I was on night shift that night. I thought it was going to be a slow shift again. Lately, customers have been going to other brothels in the city.”

(I had a guess as to why. Still, I held my tongue.)

“I thought about calling it a night when I heard tapping on my window. Huh? Who was knocking on my window? As far as I knew, customers came through the door.” She laughed at her own joke.

“Anyway, I had to look. I put on my pink wig and walked over to the window.”

“Why did you put the wig on?”

“It’s like putting on make-up before heading out the door.”

“Okay, okay. What happened?”

“Right. I looked out the window. That’s when I saw him.” Her breath caught in her throat.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man that beautiful before. His smile calmed me down after he scared the life out of me. He just popped up when I got a better look.”

“I’m sorry, what floor were you on?”

“Third. No, fourth.”

“Right.”

Jade shifted in her seat. “Anyway, I don’t think I have seen such a beautiful man before in my life. I couldn’t stop staring at those deep red eyes. However, my awe turned to fear when I saw his right shoulder. I backed up and gasped when I saw he had been shot.”

“Shot?”

“Yeah.” Her face kind of dropped.

“He saw the scared look on my face. He assured me that he was okay. He just wanted me to let him in so that he could hide.”

“So what did you do?”

“I let him in. What else could I do? He collapsed once I got him into my room. I guess the adrenaline wore off.” She leaned back in her chair.

“I tended to his wound the best I could. I managed to stop the bleeding with hand towels. He needed to go to the hospital.”

“Did you call an ambulance?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Jade took a breath. “Didn’t think about it. House of Carp had a doctor anyway.” She smacked herself in the head.

“Sorry. That’s the old name. We rebranded last year. Mama hates the House of Carp.”

“Mama?”

“My boss, sorry. The madam.”

“Ah. What happened to the man?”

She pressed her lips together. “I secretly got the doctor to help. I had to beg him.” (Such a nice fellow.)

“He took out the bullet and patched him up. My guest was going to be fine. I stayed by his side in my room.”

“What was his name?”

Jade shook her head. “I never asked.”

“Why?”

“Don’t know.”

“Is he still alive?”

“Of course he is.”

“Okay.”

Jade took a breath. “He woke up around six in the morning. He asked where he was. I told him the House of Carp.” She rubbed the sides of the bridge of her nose.

“Damn it! I did it again. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

She shook her head. “Anyway. I stayed with him and we talked.”

“What was he like?”

“Polite. He kept apologizing for last night. I told him I was glad he was alive.”

“So what happened to him?”

Jade made a face. “How long do I have?”

“As long as you want.”

“Okay…” She took another breath.

“He’s like me. He just made a bad decision. He wanted to help out a friend. To make a long story short, his friend had no bail money for his brother, they went to a loan shark, it went sideways, and he ended up at my window. But he’s a good person.”

“Didn’t say he wasn’t.” I still have one more question.

“How did he end up at your window so high up?” I asked. Jade kind of laughed.

“He’s good at parkour. It was how he escaped.” But then she frowned.

“It’s so strange.”

“What?”

“He asked me why I was there.” She looked up at the ceiling.

“Honestly, I don’t know. He didn’t judge me. He didn’t try to hit on me. He just treated me like a person. It felt nice, really.” She smiled to herself.

“So what do plan to do now?”

“I don’t know.” Jade frowned.

“Now that I think about it, I am starting to notice things I don’t like about House of Carp.”

“House of Carp?”

“Yeah.” Jade sat up in her chair.

“That man made me see the truth.”

“Like what?”

Jade broke down and told me everything. And she wasn’t the only one to me things about House of Carp/Red Rose.