why; she couldn’t tell me, you see, about what she knew was going to happen to me. If she had I might have changed my mind, so … Anyhow, I was kept totally in the dark until after when I found myself locked inside. By then of course, it was too late.
Thinking back now, I must have been either totally naïve or just plain stupid because the proverbial penny didn’t drop right away and when it finally did, my jaw dropped with it.
Doctor Colter took me down a flight of stairs to a heavy-looking door with an equally heavy-looking metal bar which when pressed hard opened, but only from one side. When that door closed, I was alone in a world as alien to me as the surface of the moon.
I stared, open faced, down the length of an indoor swimming pool while high above the afternoon sun radiated through a glass dome, illuminating the room in a spectacular fashion. It didn’t just shine; it glistened thanks to a wealth of one-inch tiles which I would later learn came all the way from Morocco – emerald green, gold, tan and black on all the walls and the floor, in the pool; decorating the lower portion of stout pillars that supported the upper floors like miniature mezzanines. This was my first impression of a world beyond comprehension so it was not surprising that the penny still hovered somewhere in the stratosphere.
The air was moist and warm which, I remember thinking, must please the potted plants dotted around but the strange thing was that the air smelt like a freshly cut bouquet of flowers. Shouldn’t it smell of chlorine like all swimming pools do? In time I would find out that it was a heated salt-water pool which is a lot kinder on hair and skin; two very important factors as I would soon discover.
Two girls suddenly appeared from a side room. Simultaneously they slipped out of the terry cloth robes they were wearing. They were both totally naked underneath. That was my first shock quickly followed by another. They had no pubic hair yet they would be old enough to … I could see everything. They slipped into the water like seals then began to swim with arms like broad open fans, breast-stroking the pool’s length with fingers cupped, totally oblivious to anything but each other. They both had long black hair piled atop their heads, clamped in place with matching hair clips in the shape of a butterfly.
Movement on the balcony above and to the left attracted my attention. Capritzo was there in conversation with a woman. He was doing all the talking and she was doing all the listening, and the nodding. Beside her stood a huge black man dressed for all the world like Friar Tuck. He was as bald as a billiard ball and just as round. Looking at him, I think that’s when that penny began to make its descent.
The two girls had obviously seen me by then because they were hugging the edge of the pool, engaged in whispered conversation. They smiled and I smiled back which made them glance at each other and giggle.
At the time I remember thinking that they were very rude so rather than just stand there with my face hanging out, being laughed at I decided to investigate the room next door. I was intrigued by the shape of the archway; like a broken horseshoe and when I peeked in I thought I was on the set of a movie like 1001 Nights or Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves; the room was that bizarre.
The tiles beneath my feet ended abruptly where burnished hardwood began, playing peekaboo with a wealth of Persian rugs in a riot of color and design. Above me one of three cane fans cut through the air with a soft whooshing hum.
I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Scheherazade go walking by but as far as I could see there was no one there although there were several free-standing, decorative screens which would offer a measure of privacy I guess for the little recesses along the far wall. Each of these recesses - and there were five of them – were not built into the wall but out from it like miniature market stalls. Each contained a divan which filled the space and each was strewn with brightly colored pillows. It all looked so very inviting and …
Remember the penny I mentioned? It wasn’t just falling; it was plummeting and when I turned around I could see Capritzo, alone now, standing with both hands on top of the mezzanine railing watching me intently, a sort of half smile playing across his face. That penny bounced off my brain like a million dollar idea.
This was a harem; his harem and I was in it.
I eased back into the room, kicked my shoes off then stepped onto the first rug; smooth as silk against bare skin. There was a door at the far end of the room so I made for it, twisting and turning around potted plants, more stout pillars, little round ornately carved wooden tables and a fountain that spewed scented water; the source of my bouquet of flowers.
The door was locked.
‘You must be new here otherwise you’d know that you’re locked in tight.’
A young girl lay on her stomach on the last divan in the last recess dressed in a green silk kimono decorated with golden fans. As she began to sit up the kimono opened to reveal her left breast. I looked away, obviously embarrassed. She laughed.
‘Yeah, you must be new. I’m Karen and you are?’
‘Elizabeth Lambert.’
Karen reached inside a small bowl and extracted a black olive. ‘Want one?’ she asked. I shook my head. I was most certainly not in the mood for food of any sort let alone a black olive. ‘I’m addicted to them,’ she said with a casual shrug. ‘Tell me, Elizabeth Lambert, how old are you?’
‘I just turned sixteen.’
Karen stared. ‘You’ve got to be fucking joking. Does he know that you’re here?’
‘You mean Mister Capritzo? Yes, I’ve met him and yes, he knows that I’m here.’
‘Sweet sixteen, never been kissed and a virgin no doubt – yum-yum. This should be interesting. Have you met the dragon lady yet?’
‘I’ve met Doctor Colter.’
‘No, I mean Madame Tremblay.’
‘No, not yet. How many girls are there here?’
‘Five and I guess you’re number six. Congratulations. He’s a right bastard you know so you’d better watch yourself because if you don’t behave and do as you’re told he’s more than happy to do you a major injury.’ I swallowed hard which seemed to amuse her. She reached for the bowl again, sorting through the selection for just the right olive before adding a further titbit of information just to alarm me that little bit more. ‘It’s said that his bedroom is soundproof. So what does that tell you?’
‘I don’t expect that I will be staying very long,’ I said, although I don’t think I sounded very convincing.
‘Oh I see, so you think that he’s going to find you a super-rich sheik and you’ll live and love in luxury in some exotic land dripping with honey. Jesus, only a sixteen year old virgin would believe romantic shit like that. Wake up pumpkins and smell the heady perfume of reality. That door you no doubt came through swings only one way.’
She stuck her left leg out, dangling it in mid-air. ‘Like my ankle bracelet?’ By this time the kimono’s sash had pretty much parted from itself and I could see all the way to China which was bad enough but I also noticed several slash marks on the inside of her thighs. Marks that looked like they had been made by something like a razorblade. Karen too had no pubic hairs but she did have a slender gold band which circled her ankle.
