Introduction: The continuing need for money drives Charli to make some serious, potentially disastrous choices. She makes some significant changes in her appearance, but that's not the problem. She's going to work as an underage prostitute. She's found a pimp who seems to be pretty decent. At least the money's good.

This is another story in the Cynthia Chronicles series. Other stories in the series are An Incremental Journey, Cynthia and the Reluctant Girlfriend, Cynthia and the Dumpster Diver, Cynthia and the Moment of Truth, Cynthia and the High School Years - Part I, Cynthia and the High School Years - Part II, Bobbie and the Glass Ceiling; and Randi and the College Professor,. The time frame of this story parallels Cynthia and the High School Years.

Once again I must thank Holly H. Hart for her encouragement and invaluable help in proofing and straightening out my poor English.

This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.

Chapter 9

Charli did not feel very well the next morning. She had cramps and a slight fever, or at least she thought she had a fever. She'd have to go to Walgreens and get one of those inexpensive electronic fever thermometers. It was probably due to all that rich food she'd had the night before.

Padrona had not been pleased about her being away as late as she'd been. 'Do you think it's necessary for you to do that sort of thing? Why can't you just stay here? We'll take care of you.'

'That's what I mean. I'm a girl in a boy's body, just like your litter mate. I want to keep looking like a girl. I don't ever want to start looking like a boy, but I will if I can't get the hormones that will keep me looking and growing in the direction I want to go. The only way I can get the hormones is to make money. Hormones are expensive. I've been lucky enough to find enough money to stay fairly comfortable here, but I can't keep going without additional money. I am going to get someone to look out for me while I make money. He'll make sure I don't get hurt. I also met someone who will help me get the hormones. It just takes money. It won't always be like this, but right now, I don't have much choice.'

Padrona countered, 'I still don't understand why you just don't go to the police. They'll protect you,'

'They might, but Pilonetti and Luca are still out there. And we know for sure now that there's a price on my head. The other thing is that the authorities will put me in a home, and I won't be able to be a girl. They'll try to force me to be a boy. I think I might kill myself if they do.'

Padrona decided not to try to argue with Charli about the direction her life was taking. The whole culture was alien to her. She just knew that Charli was a young pup who probably didn't have enough life experience to capably cope in the world where she was trying to live. She would look out for Charli as best she could.

The following Friday, Charli was back at Taneesha's corner. Tommy Morrison was with her. Tommy was a rather ordinary looking black man with an air of extreme self confidence about him. Charli had no trouble convincing Tommy that she was genuine, especially after ducking into a dimly lit alley.

She didn't hate her appendage, after all, it was part of her, and she knew that she would need the skin it supplied for her surgery. The biggest problem she had with it was that it just didn't fit her mental image of herself. 'All in good time,' she thought.

Because of the uniqueness of her situation, Tommy thought that it might be best to work 'special assignments': ones where his clientele would contact him concerning their needs. He would then notify Charli where to meet the client. There was one problem. Charli didn't have a telephone. That was remedied quickly by Tommy giving her a cell phone. Charli would have to get a charger on her own.

Then there were the financial arrangements. Tommy quoted a flat rate for each date, a number that made Charli's eyes pop. Had she known what Tommy would be getting for this underage girly boy, she might not have been quite so impressed. Tommy was being paid by credit card, and he would pay her in cash. This was probably not the wisest thing; however, Charli wasn't making all the wisest decisions as it was.

"Are you a virgin?" he asked. "Although I can't imagine that you are, having gotten to this point."

"No, I am not a virgin." She decided to leave out the part about her being raped.

"Just checking; make sure they use condoms. The best way to do this is to put the condom on your client. Make it as sexy as possible. They enjoy that. Always be clean and smell nice.

"You don't live around here, do you?"

"I live several miles from here, and I don't need anyone to know where I live," Charli replied.

They made some additional arrangements, and Charli settled into life as a teenage business girl. Her routine involved: sleeping most of the day, eating breakfast, playing on the internet, and then getting ready for the evening's activities if there were any. She used the shower facility as she had before. It was just that she had to be clean inside and out. The nightly trip to the shower now involved carrying a satchel with everything she needed in it. Body and hair maintenance was becoming very expensive, and so were the hormones, but at least she was now able to get them through Taneesha She also had to get some sexy lingerie, but she passed so well at first, it wasn't a problem to visit the mall and get what she needed. Still, after the first two weeks, she found that she had more cash than she had ever had before.

She kept her money in a box hidden behind the cardboard wall. Not having any identification meant that she couldn't start a bank account.

She found that the best arrangement was to take a cab to a designated meeting point. She would have her date with the john, and then call Tommy to pick her up. Some of the johns were very good tippers, and she could often get as much in tips as Tommy would give her. Tommy would leave her at an all-night restaurant where she could get a cheap meal before taking a cab or public transportation back to the salvage yard. By this time, she had acquired a key to the employee gate. It was relatively easy to slip into the yard unnoticed by anyone other than Padrona and Willie. They were usually waiting for her as she came to the gate. She had to hide a couple of times from late night vehicles or the cops.

The johns were a strange bunch. She never knew what to expect. It could be bondage, S&M, water sports, blow jobs, whatever. She just knew that she would get paid the same, regardless. Tommy had done a good job screening his clients, and Charli never felt threatened. Maybe she should have.

She was sick again the next week. She had more stomach cramps, a fever, and diarrhea. The latter made it impossible to conduct business. She stayed warm in her cave, but her intestinal upset made it difficult.

There was another problem, one that terrified her. In spite of the hormones and the Finasteride, she seemed to be becoming more masculine. It wasn't a lot; however, there were tell tale signs. The growth of hair on her face was increasing. She felt her shoulders were broadening, and her feet had increased two sizes. Her breasts, she loved her breasts, were still satisfactory; however, her chest was becoming more and more masculine. She was starting to get the stocky body she'd inherited from her father. Another thing that scared her was that her voice broke. She had to be very careful to keep her register as high as possible. It was terrible. Her parents' killers were still out there, she was going to lose her source of income, she was sick, she couldn't go to the police, and she was becoming a man. This was not good at all.

Winter had changed to spring, and spring into summer. Her bouts of illness continued to come and go. Padrona and Willie kept after her to go to the doctor, as did Tommy. Finally, Tommy called an end to their arrangement. He couldn't rely on her, and besides, she was changing, and the customers wouldn't like that. Charli wasn't angry. It was a business, after all.

Charli's stash of money had become pretty substantial; however, it wouldn't grow if she didn't work. The days of getting change from vending machines were long past. She had purchased a new laptop, and that ate substantially into her stash. Finally, the inactivity was more than she could handle. She decided to see if she could find any business on her own.

She ventured into a neighborhood that she hadn't been in for more than a year. It was one of those trendy, eclectic neighborhoods with a little of something for everyone. Charli decided to see if she could find some activity in one of the bars in the area. She wasn't a stranger to alcohol by this time. Some of her clients wanted her to partake; however, she kept her intake to a minimum. Since her illness began, alcohol seemed to have a much stronger effect on her, and the effect seemed to linger.

She immediately got thrown out of a bar because she didn't have an ID.

"Look, we don't cater to your type here, anyway. Go on down to 'Three Sheets'. They serve your type there, and you can get in because they are a restaurant and bar."

'My type? That guy read me. No one has read me in three years. This is getting very bad. What am I going to do?'

She made her way to Three Sheets. It was next to a nice seafood restaurant, and there were some high class people around the area. Maybe she'd get lucky.

A drag queen met her at the door. "Just sit anywhere you want sweetie; things won't start jumping for a couple of hours."

Charli found a table for two against the wall across from the bar. She ordered a hamburger, fries and a coke. About ten minutes after she finished her hamburger, four rough looking guys came in and sat at the bar. She had them pegged as macho gays, but she wasn't sure. One of them looked her way, and smile at her. She smiled back. The men kept looking her way, and would talk quietly among themselves. Finally, they picked up their drinks and moved to a table next to hers. The guy who had smiled at her before, smiled again and nodded. She nodded and smiled again.

"Hey, why don't you join us? We'll buy you a drink. They won't say a thing." He turned to the bartender.

"Hey Mack, bring the lady another Cokeâ„¢. We'll have two more Rum and Cokesâ„¢, and two more tequila sunrises.

"What's a little girl like you doing in a place like this?" he said as he turned back to Charli.

"A girl likes to have a good time, and I was lookin' to see if there was anyone in the mood to party. What about you guys?"

"We're always in the mood to party. Do you think you would like partying with four big guys like us?"

"Four handsome guys," she added. They really weren't. She took a sip from her coke, and realized that her drink had been switched. There was a lot of rum in it.

"We have a nice suite at a hotel not far from here. Would you like to join us?"

"It's late, and I'll need money for cab fare."

"We'd be glad to take care of that. Would a couple of hundred do?"

"I think that will work just fine, in advance."

He slipped her three crisp one hundred dollar bills under the edge of the table.

They ordered more drinks, and somehow the one she had had quite a bit of alcohol and something else. She was getting very light headed and fuzzy. She was having trouble figuring out what was going on. Apparently they were going to a hotel. She was having trouble standing, and two of them grabbed her rather roughly by the arms. She could barely walk.

Things were happening very slowly. About a half block down the street they turned into an alley.

"Thish ijent the way to the h'tel," she slurred.

"No it ain't, but it's the end of the road for you, faggot."

The man who had caught her attention in the bar delivered a very powerful blow to her mid section. She felt something give, and the pain was excruciating. She fell over in a tight ball. Things were starting to fade very rapidly. She could see her attacker starting to get ready to kick her, but somehow the blow never came. There was some yelling, and she thought she heard sirens. She realized that someone was trying to help her. It was a beautiful redheaded woman. There was also a beautiful golden haired woman. She couldn't figure out why it was so bright. Then just before the world closed in on her she saw the headlights and the flashing lights of a police car.

Across town a large dog howled and howled. When they opened the gate in the morning, she almost made it through the opening.

"Frank, what's going on with Bruno?"

"I don't know. She's never been like this before. We finally got her into her pen. Al, it's the goddammest thing I ever seen. There was a huge cat sitting on her dog house. I mean this is one huge fucking cat. I figured it was a goner for sure, but Bruno just went into her house and curled up, and the cat curled up next to her. I never seen anything like it."