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“Try to escape. I’m bored.”
Anthony should have refused to play along, but he wasn’t sharp enough to pick up on the obvious danger. The minute he was able to stand on his feet, he pushed Dima against the wall with all of his remaining strength, causing him to fall to the ground. Anthony turned toward the door, but before he could take two steps, Dima leaped to his feet, pulling him back and sending him sprawling on the bed. Punches began to land, each one with a clear purpose to bruise and to wound. Anthony stopped protecting himself because Dima’s fists always managed to hit.
He had lost consciousness eventually, but not soon enough.
“Hey, I said you smell bad.” Dima came closer and leaned down to sniff. “Disgusting. Come wash.”
“I can’t move.”
“Why? I didn’t break your legs. Walk slowly. I have time for a nice stroll. Is this the right word?Stroll. Funny word.” He nudged Anthony. “Get up, smelly piggy.”
“Where’s Tobias?” He had been asking that every day.
“He’s coming later,” Dima surprised him by answering. “He asked me to clean you up. You know he doesn’t like dirty toys.”
Tobias hadn’t come back since Anthony’s first morning in this apartment, but his final words had been echoing in Anthony’s head every single day.To truly own you, I will first need to break you.He couldn’t have imagined how committed Tobias was to his threat.
“Up.” Dima painfully pinched Anthony’s nipple and slapped his stomach. “I need to make my little piggy shiny and clean. Oink oink.”
Anthony hadn’t been in the small, windowless bathroom in days, because what was he supposed to pee or shit? This would be his first shower since he became a prisoner. As he stepped into the small bathroom, a thought kindled in his foggy brain. He was going to drink, to let water fill his mouth and flow down his parched throat.
“First brush your teeth and shave,” Dima said.
Anthony moved to stand in front of the small mirror above the sink.Who the hell is this?His cheeks were hollow, his eyes lifeless. Combining that with the bruises on his skin, and he looked like a sick homeless man after a brawl. When he brushed his teeth, his gums bled. He was about to rinse his mouth, but Dima said, “No, use the towel.”
Anthony wiped his mouth on the small hand towel, leaving smears of toothpaste mixed with blood. He carefully shaved his face, fighting to keep his hand steady. The end result was a mess, but he still felt a bit more human.
“Ready to be less stinky?” Dima asked once Anthony was inside the small shower cubicle.
He couldn’t have been more eager to feel the water on his skin, but mostly inside his mouth. It felt more precious than freedom right then. “I’m ready.”
Dima reached for the shower valve and moved it sharply. A gush of cold water hit Anthony like bullets. He shrieked and tried to turn away, but the slippery floor caused him to lose his footing and fall.
“Stop!”
Dima crouched down and started rubbing his hands roughly over Anthony’s skin, purposely pressing on bruises.
“It’s freezing!”
“In Russia, that is how I showered every morning in my little village. It makes a man strong.” He reached his hand between Anthony’s legs and washed his asshole and the back of his balls.
Anthony couldn’t stop gasping as ice needles kept attacking him, shrinking his lungs as he fought to breathe. Suddenly, the water stopped. Dima pulled him up and shoved him out of the cubicle. He dried him off quickly, and before Anthony realized what was happening, he was back in his prison room, lying on the bed with his head spinning.
Dima leaned down and sniffed him all over, from his pits to his crotch to his feet. “Now you smell like a clean little piggy. I’m going to watch television. Stay quiet until Tobias comes.”
He left, and it dawned on Anthony that he hadn’t managed to drink a single drop of water.
He crawled into a ball and contemplated death.
*
Tobias finally came at sundown.
Anthony watched him through a screen of blurriness, past feeling hunger or thirst.
“Oh, my dear Anthony. It’s tragic seeing you like this.” He had the audacity to sound sad.
Anthony mumbled, “Make it stop. Make it...” He stopped to cough.
