Lara Pencis:  

Life well,It's that time in my life,getting ready to turn 40 next year, that I feel the need to write my autobiography.This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it will save me 50% on a goldmembership.I woke up this morning because I was cold.Ireached over to grab the blanket that I thought Jack,my husband, had hogged to himself as we slept.instead of feeling a warm body or blanket,all I felt was an icy floor.I opened my eyes and thought I was having some kind of weird nightmare.I was lying on the floor of what appeared to be some kind of run down building.I proceeded to examine my surroundings , surmising that I was in the hallway of a dirty tenement I had never seen before.I heard drunken laughter coming from behind one of the doors.The door marked 307 opened, and a fat, dissheveled latino man was playfully pushed into the hall by a pale, freckled arm .A hoarse woman's voice said,"next time,you pay me for the whole night in advance ,Jorge, or I'll have to sic Slim's dogs on ya.Awoman with a tangle of red hair a shade much too intense to be natural,almost too intense to look at,leaned out and kissed "Jorge" on the top of his head, as she was at least half a foot taller than he.She spied me from the corner of her eye and said"oh,honey, you look terrible.What happened?A trick kick your ass or something?Before I could respond,she sent the man on his way and knelt down beside me.I don't think I've seen you before,are you Chino's new girl?In any case,we can't have you out in the hall half naked like this,passed out, your works left out for everyone to see."She colledted a sooty spoon,lighter, and insulin syringe from the floor next to me and helped me to my feet.I was totally nauseated and if she hadn't had such a strong hold on me,I would have fallen down.She guided me into her apartment,actaully just a room with a small bathroom,talking all the while."I'm Peaches,I've been at this all my life and I'll never get used to the way some men treat us.I mean, we're ...Expand for more