Chapter 4

                                    

                                          
*Trigger warning*
                          
Juri's fingers had long since felt the pinch of the latex balloons against her skin. She was so used to tying them that it came to her as naturally as breathing. It was an odd skill to have- tying balloons faster than blinking but she supposed it added to her eccentricities. She abhorred her boss. She was a conniving old hag who needed to be screwed into the next fucking century to loosen up. 
                          
Juri herself needed to get laid. She calculated how long it had been since she had last had sex and she was almost astonished at the time. She had barely slept with her husband during the last few months of their marriage- he refused saying he didn't want her fucking him thinking he was someone else... prude. 
                          
And afterwards- getting her life in order and moving out and... basically, her vagina had dried up like an old raisin and she was just a little sad about it. 
                          
Her poor Ouma tried drilling abstinence into her head but it had never seemed to stick and she had far too much fun having sex to just give it up and wait for someone to marry. Her grandmother had almost keeled over when she found out about it... at least she had married one of them. But she was either too busy or too tired to go out to meet anyone anymore.
                          
Her phone vibrated in her pocket and any thought of ignoring it was promptly pushed out of her head when it kept on buzzing. She knew who it was and she knew why it was they were messaging her too. 
                          
Babygirl, don't you want to help me and your dad?
                          
Babygirl?
                          
Juri? Come on baby. Just a hundred bucks? Please?
                          
Just a hundred.
                          
Your daddy needs it to pay back Uncle Paul.
                          
Remember Uncle Paul? Remember what he did to us last time we couldn't pay him back?
                          
Please baby? Just a hundred?
                          
Do you want Uncle Paul to have sex with me again? You remember the last time? He only slept with me because of you.
                          
I might just tell him where you live.
                          
Come on baby? It's just a hundred bucks. Please.
                          
Please.
                          
You know he'll rape you if he comes over there. 
                          
Please baby.
                          
She shivered in disgust. It wasn't the first time her mother had threatened to 'tell Uncle Paul where she lived' but she couldn't put it past her either. Her mother was unpredictable when she was high, and she didn't want to risk a visit from him. 
                          
Shut up. Stop fucking whining. I'll send you the money. Go to Checkers in two hours- pin number 9999. 
                          
Juri walked out of Checkers visibly deflated. She needed that money to pay back Is'haaq but between him and Uncle Paul, he was the lesser of the two evils. She was sixteen the first time he had come to their house. Her parents were still living with them and he had come to collect payment. His eyes had undressed her slowly, lecherously as she completed her homework on the couch. 
                          
Her parents begged for an extension, yet he was unyielding. It was a big amount- bigger than they had ever taken- and they were unable to even scratch for the money. They moved into the dining room, shouting and screaming. It quietened down then to whispers before her mother came back into the lounge. "Baby come with me into the room for a second." 
                          
"For what?" Juri closed her book and stood up, following her mother. 
                          
"I can't reach the tin in the top cupboard."