Page 10 of Thirst

All I can do is shake my head as I back out of my parking space and head to the club. Traffic is moderately light on the drive, and I make it to work with time to spare. Inside, the place is just starting to come alive. The bartenders are getting their areas put together upstairs and down, security is having a meeting next to the main stage, and girls are slowly coming in and heading to the back to get glammed. As I approach my locker, I see my favorite coworker sitting in front of her vanity next to mine.

Michelle “Majesty” Wilson is my work homegirl. When I first started at Fantasies four years ago, Majesty was the first girl I met. She took a young, twenty-one-year-old under her wing and showed me everything like she was proud to work at a strip club, and her personality just fit with mine. While I was being glared at by most of the older girls, Majesty kept it cool and never gave me the impression that she was threatened by me. When Shay quickly became my biggest hater, it was Majesty who kept her away from me. She had my back and told Shay to mind her business. She even kept Von from becoming too overbearing. Out of everyone here, Majesty is the most humble and down to earth. That's why we’re close.

“Hey, girl,” she says as I sit down next to her. I take a second and watch her put on eyeliner meticulously. She’s so pretty, with impeccable sepia skin and a pixie cut that just seems to match her vibe perfectly. She has round, light brown eyes that stand out like candles in a dark room, and dimples that make you smile whenever she does.

“Hey,” I reply, turning to look in my own mirror. I can see the annoyance on my face like dried marker, and apparently so can Majesty.

“You good? Did you have a pet die this morning?” she asks.

“Nah, just my livelihood,” I quip. “My head is bumpin’ from drinking last night, and I woke up to a rent increase notice taped to my door.”

“Oh shit. So life is life-ing.”

“Like a motherfucker. I'm already struggling just to get by, now this greedy landlord is forcing us to pay more. He might want it, but I might not have it. I'm getting so sick of this, girl. I need to make more money.”

“I feel you,” Majesty says. “Well, you already know what you could do.”

I stand up and start pushing my extra clothes into my locker. “What?”

“You know,” she says with a playful smile in the mirror. “Just do something strange for a piece of change.”

“Oh my god,” I exclaim, rolling my eyes. “I am not becoming a Viper Girl.”

Majesty shrugs as she laughs to herself. “Hey, I'm just saying. Your girl Shay is up there making a killing.”

“I bet she is,” I reply, glancing over my shoulder to make sure Shay isn't within earshot. “And she has to get tested every other week. I'm good on that.”

“Hey, I feel you. I'm good on it, too, but my landlord isn’t raising the rent. Just saying.”

“Ugh. You're supposed to be encouraging me to follow my dreams. I want to be an artist, you want to be a singer. Remember?”

“I know, I know,” she says, standing to face me. She gives me a lighthearted hug. “One day it’s gonna happen for both of us. Maybe this place will burn down and that’ll be all the push we need to pursue our dreams to the fullest. Or, maybe you’ll meet a man who comes in here and sweeps you off your feet, and you’ll never have to worry about money ever again.”

I sigh. “Oh my god, don't get me excited. It’s like getting hype after buying lottery tickets, knowing damn well I ain't gonna win.”

The two of us share a laugh, and we spend the next half hour getting ready as the rest of the girls come in and do the same. Music starts to boom through the walls as Fantasies on Fourth comes to life, and the sound of rowdy men fills the building the second the doors open. Before it all begins, Davon comes through the locker room wearing black slacks and a red button-up, his cornrows looking fresh and his eyes twinkling with the ambition of getting money.

“Alright, ladies,” he says as he makes his way in. “Get out there and let’s get this bread. Shake them titties and twerk them asses. Viper Girls, head upstairs and get to it. You know the motto—time is money. Aaliyah, you're first on the main stage tonight, so don't be in here talkin’ all night. Your music is startin’ in two minutes. You better be out there. You hear me?”

“I hear you, Von,” I reply, trying to keep from rolling my eyes.

Von leaves, and every girl in the room starts moving. Viper Girls quickly head upstairs, the servers rush to start taking orders for the bar, and the rest either leave to start on the main floor and VIP booths, or stay behind to prepare to hit the stage soon. The shift has started and it’s go-time.

“Knock ‘em dead, girl,” Majesty says as I leave her behind on my way to the stage. I glance over my shoulder and smile just as my music starts to play. Then I push the curtain aside and sashay down the runway to the sound of men’s cheers.

Another night on the pole.

Seven

Ididn't wake up with a hangover today, but my head hurts just the same. My routine was normal, with coffee and breakfast to get me going, but as time ticked down and I prepared to leave for work, I decided to take a look at my finances. Now that my rent is being raised, I had to make sure I'm good for it. I opened up my banking app, did a little bit of math, and calculated my typical monthly income versus my expenses over the next six months. The conclusion I came to is the reason my head is bumping right now. Basically, I'm screwed.

Money is such a fickle thing. When you don't make a lot of it, it doesn't take a drastic change to ruin your life. With my rent increasing three hundred dollars a month, it looks like I will slowly drain my account over the next six months, ending with me being short on rent in half a year. I didn't realize just how much I was truly living paycheck to paycheck until now, but I don't really have time to cry myself to sleep. I'm a stripper. I make money from tips, even though a lot of it is taken by Von. Nonetheless, the moral of the story is that I have to make more money, which means I need to earn more tips … which means I may need to consider …

The idea of selling my body to men has always disgusted me. Just the thought leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. Ironically, that’s what would happen every day if I told Von that I was willing to go to the second floor and meet men in those rooms. I could always imagine myself having to brush my teeth and use Listerine on the regular just to get through my shift. Not to mention all of the cleaning I’d be doing on repeat after every hookup. Von has always made sure the men up there use protection, even when receiving a blow job, but latex and spermicide don't taste good either, and my mind would run wild with thoughts of diseases fighting their way through condoms to infect me like little microscopic soldiers storming a beach. Whenever I was asked, my answer was always a resounding no. But, like Majesty said, life is life-ing, and when you're in the mud, you have no choice but to adapt so that it doesn't bury you.

After the usual routine in the locker room, and the same tired speech from Von about time being money and who’s first on the main stage, I don my black lace outfit and make my way onto the floor. At first, I'm just doing my usual thing—eyeing the men in main seating and flashing smirks at people standing at the bar in the hopes that they'll ask for a lap dance in a booth. I give it twenty minutes before contemplating going back into the locker room to change, blaming my outfit for the lack of interest tonight, when it’s probably my anxiety-stricken demeanor. But before I make a final decision to go change, I see someone coming down the stairs from the second floor wearing an all-white lingerie set, with a black and white, sheer shawl draped over her shoulders.

Lashayda “Shay” Greene is Von’s main girl. The two of them started Fantasies together, and they came off the streets. Literally. Von was Shay’s pimp, and they continued that relationship when they went into business together. At first, the entire place was just stripping, but then Shay came up with the idea of morphing the VIP area upstairs into the Viper Rooms. Seeing the opportunity to make more money and get back to true pimping, Von immediately put the VIP booths downstairs and renovated the second floor to add rooms for the men who were willing to pay more money to cheat on their wives with complete strangers. Fantasies’ income skyrocketed, and Von and Shay haven't looked back since.