El Tango de Roxanne (El Tango de Raven)

Disclaimer: lyrics on this page aren't mine. they belong to the writes of Moulin rouge, or whoever wrote 'El Tango de Roxanne'1

“Raven, you don’t have to do this, you know.”2

A burgundy-haired young man with brown, gold-flecked eyes walked beside his companion grumpily, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, and his face turned decidedly away. He wore tattered, dirty jeans a couple of sizes too big, desperately in need of repair, and a shirt that was just as ill fitting. His companion, on the other hand, looked a lot better off. She pulled her detective-style coat around her tighter as a bitter wind swept down the empty street, flicking an annoyed glance at him as she did so. The air between them was thick with tension, and both of them had their bodies slanting away from each other.3

“Is that the only reason you wanted to walk me to my job tonight, Hunter? To try and talk me out of it?” Raven asked quietly, sweeping her wind-tousled black hair out of her face yet again. Enraged, Hunter stopped and grabbed onto Raven’s arm.4

“Well what the bunny else do you expect me to do? Every bunny night I-WE watch you walk out the door to your sleazy joint, so you can go screw some greasy, perverted old man, or worse! Why can’t you stop? Why?” he yelled, his voice echoing around the street.5

‘Never fall in love with a woman who sells herself. It always 6

ends bad!’7

For a moment Raven stood stock-still. Hunter had never been the emotional type. This sudden outburst was so out of character for him, and… was he worried about her? Then the full meaning of what he said sunk in and anger overtook her. How dare he! She spun around to yell right back at him, but her mouth snapped shut when she saw the look in his eyes. The troubled depths of his golden orbs were filled with jealousy, and regret. As the blood rushed to her face from this insight into his emotions she turned away, ripping her arm from her grasp and heading down the street again, but at a faster pace. For a moment she thought he wouldn’t follow, but then her ears picked up the sound of his almost-silent footsteps behind her. For her, the tension had suddenly become unbearable, and by the time she arrived at her… workplace she was almost certain that you would have been able to cut the air with a knife, and a blunt one at that.8

‘We have a dance that tells a story. A prostitute . . . and a man who falls in love with her’9

Raven stopped at the old, wooden back door, putting one hand against the frame. Taking a breath, she turned to Hunter.10

“Look, I…I know this must be hard for you all. You know that the last thing I want to do is make you unhappy, but… this is the best-paying job around for somethi- someONE like me. At a time like this, with Sandy out-of-action with the flu, it’s especially important for me to keep this up, all these extra hours with extra customers. Without them, I can’t get the herbs we need for Sandy’s medication. You know that!” she said, her eyes wide and pleading, willing Hunter to understand.11

“…Why the hell do you care so much about us anyway? You hardly know us! We only accepted you into our coven 4 years ago! Down here, that’s nothing! Why do you look after us so much? And anyway, there are plenty of other things you can do for money around here! Why don’t you charge for all that healing you do on Sundays?” He asked suddenly. Raven stayed silent, he eyes showing disappointment and despair. Slowly she turned away from him. 12

“I don’t know why I care so much, okay? It just feels right to look after you all, to be the provider. And this… pleasuring men… is just about the only thing I’m good for.” She answered, bowing her head. “It’s the only thing I deserve. Thank you for walking me here, Hunter. Goodnight.”13

Raven opened the door, and disappeared into the steamy atmosphere of the local brothel, leaving hunter on his own in the cold alley, face contorted in anger. Determinedly, he strode around to the front of the loathsome building and entered through the front. As his eyes adjusted to the smoky air, a picture of filth was revealed to him. A mixture of old men and younger men, on their own and in groups sat around, with heavily made up girls perched upon their laps, or wedged between their heated bodies. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Hunter sat in the corner by the door where the air was clearest and waited. He had a really bad feeling about Raven tonight, and he felt like he needed to be there, just to make sure she didn’t get into any trouble. He didn’t trust men who went to brothels.14

Looking around, his eyes locked on two familiar faces. ‘Ice and spice’, they called themselves, and they were Raven’s pimps. Hunter knew that they cared for Raven, and that they wouldn’t knowingly let anything happen to her, but just for tonight, he would watch over Raven, even thought seeing all those other men around him would probably hurt him.15

Hunter had only just began to let his eyes wander away from ice and spice when they got up from their seats abruptly, and went over to the back door. A moment later it swung open and a very different Raven walked through the door. A fair few eyes turned towards her as she stepped into the room, feasting their eyes upon her. Although he would never admit it later, Hunter was one of them. Raven was still wearing her brown coat, but now it hung open, and she wore what looked like black lingerie under it, draped in black silk. Since she had left Hunter, she had gained about an inch of make-up, but by looking at her you wouldn’t know it without looking at a photograph of her without any… it all looked so natural. And her hair…Hunter flushed. He shouldn’t be thinking about her like this. He shouldn’t…16

‘First there is desire,’17

…want her like this. He couldn’t fall in love with a prostitute. It was just… wrong. Hunter sank back into his chair, his face now as red as his hair. But still, she was so… beautiful. She had somehow managed not to look fake like all the other bunnys in this joint, just… surreal. 18

‘then passion,’19

Ice leaned over to Raven and whispered something into her ear, gesturing towards a table with 4 rowdy lads seated around it. She looked over at them, and then spoke one word. 20

“Paid?”21

Wordlessly. Spice walked up and pushed a jar of herbs into her hands. She opened it, sniffed, then nodded in approval. Slipping her coat off her shoulders in a sensual way, she sauntered over to the boys, who were waiting with lustful eyes. When she reached the table she stopped. With a jolt, Hunter realised that if she turned around the she would be looking at him, seated only 6 or so feet away from the table. Raven asked the boys something, and the one closest to he broke into a grin and pulled her down onto his lap. She giggled playfully, pouting at the other boys. They all reacted instantly, making a space for her to slot in between them.22

‘then suspicion.’23

As the boys draped themselves over Raven, it took every ounce of self-control he had not to go over there and rip them to shreds. He hated those boys, but at this particular moment, he hated Raven more. How could she do this to him? To herself? It was so degrading. And he was sure she knew he liked her. No matter how hard he tried to understand, he couldn’t… he just couldn’t…24

‘Jealousy, anger, betrayal. When love is for the highest bidder. 25

There can be no trust, without trust there is no love’26

…forgive her. What she was doing, it was inexcusable. Dai, Neil, Sandy, Trixie, Bianca, even Oli, they all hated what she did. Raven was worth so much more than this to all of them. They all loved her so much, they trusted her. And they thought that she cared for them too, but she could never seem to bring herself to trust them fully…27

‘Jealousy, yes 28

jealousy, will drive you mad!’29

… it hurt them more an more every time she walked out the door. She seemed to be so at ease with these strangers, so affectionate, so warm. Yes, Raven looked after them, but most of the time she threw food, water and medicine at their feet then rushed out the door to her next job. 30

Getting angrier and angrier by the second, Hunter found himself leaving claw marks in the wooden table. When Raven leaned over and kissed the boy closest to her passionately, he physically broke a piece of it off. The youth on her other side ran his hand under the black silk, and caressed the smooth skin beneath it.31

‘ROXANNE! You don't have to put on that red 32

light. Walk the streets for money. You don't care if it's wrong or if it 33

is right.’34

Hunter snarled, then burst out of his chair and through the door. He collapsed on the cold, hard earth beneath him and dug his fingers into the dirt. That bunny! He hated her, he really hated her! This whole thing was wrong!35

‘Roxanne, you don't have to wear that dress tonight. Roxanne, you 36

don't have to sell your body to the night.’37

Still breathing heavily, Hunter got up from the ground and peered in the window. The four boys were leading her into the back rooms now, to get down to ‘business’. Hunter moved with them, walking along the outside of the building until he found the window to the room where they were. Raven was laid out on the bed, only her lingerie now covering her up. 38

‘His eyes upon your face.’39

Her pale white skin was exposed to the weak moonlight coming through the window, and the boys feasted their eyes upon her. Hunter felt his blood boil.40

‘His hand upon your hand,’41

Two of the boys had stripped down, and they had taken one of Raven’s hands each to pull her further backwards onto the bed. A possessive emotion overcame him, and Hunter looked away suddenly.42

‘His lips caress your skin. It's more than I can stand’43

When he looked back, one of the boys was laid parallel to Raven, and was kissing his way down her neck and over her exposed collarbone. Suddenly it was too much to bear. Forgetting about his promise to himself to watch over Raven tonight, Hunter bolted. He tore down the street, tears pricking at his eyes for the first time in 5 years.44

‘Why does my heart cry?’45

‘He didn’t care. He didn’t care. He didn’t-’. Wrong. He did care. Hunter stumbled and fell, landing on the ground heavily. Now he wasn’t crying anymore. He was sobbing.46

‘Feelings I can't fight.’47

He didn’t know why he cared. He shouldn’t care. He had told himself over and over again not to bother, but now… her betrayal hurt more than anything he had ever felt before. He wanted her to stop. What she was doing… it wasn’t fair!48

‘You're free to leave me, but just 49

don't deceive me.’50

It wasn’t just him who was suffering now. It was her too. She would never be able to break free from all these… these…lies!51

‘And please, believe me when I say’52

Screw it all! He wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all himself. He really did… he really…53

‘I love you.’54

…loved her.55