The fat old Lady let us call her Mrs. Carey. She threatened us with death for listening to her. She shocked everyone by using Fiona's death as a cautionary tale. She demanded that we receive every client as unconditionally as a p.rostitute, and the only reward she could give us was food. She thought it was a gift to us, because in her eyes we were all women who had been abandoned by our families, and we should be grateful that she had given us a chance to live.

I cursed the damn old woman in my heart. She killed Fiona. I've carved her name into my death list. As...