Page 24 of Thirst

With nothing more than focusing my mind, I make the world pause. There is no more movement from anyone—no more breathing, no more blinking, no more gyrating on the stage. Everyone is stuck in a frozen stupor of timelessness.

Everyone but me and Von.

It takes him a second to realize what has happened. When I turn around to look at him, he sees that I'm the only one moving. His eyes dart around the room, trying to make sense of the bartender pouring a frozen liquid into a cup and dozens of dollar bills staying suspended in mid air. He looks at a person who was descending the stairs from the Viper Rooms, and his eyes widen at them frozen in time, one foot levitating over the tread like a paused movie.

“What the fuck?” he whispers to himself before looking at me. “What is this? What the fuck is goin’ on?”

I step closer to the newly-terrified man and smile. “You have no idea how badly I want to butcher you, Von. I want to kill you so bad it makes my blood itch, and the only reason I haven't yet is the woman behind me. You should be thanking her every day that I let you live, yet you continue to tempt me.

“You asked who I think I'm talking to, and I need you to make no mistake about it. I'm talking to you—a bitch ass boy who gets off on scaring people smaller than yourself. You're a pussy, and a coward, and you don't deserve the air you breathe. But, nonetheless, I'm not here for you. At least, not right now. But keep it up—keep disrespecting Aaliyah, and I'm gonna torture you until you beg me to let you die. Now, swim in confusion and question your sanity while I take my woman upstairs.”

Von stares at me, unblinking as I turn back around and return to Aaliyah’s side. I intertwine my fingers with hers again and release my grip on time. Everything returns to normal as the world comes back to life—the money falls onto the stage, the drink sloshes into the cup, the man continues down the stairs, while Aaliyah and I walk away. She looks over her shoulder at Von, wondering why I didn't reply to him, then smiles at the dazed and confused look on his face as she follows me to the stairs. I hand the bouncer at the bottom two hundred and fifty dollars in cash, and we make our way up to the Viper Rooms.

AALIYAH

Sixteen

What is happening tonight? Amari checked Von? Shay is hating because of Amari? And to top it all off, Amari is now leading me where I never thought I'd go. The Viper Rooms. A lot has happened in a short span of time, and I am reeling.

As we ascend the stairs, my mind goes berserk. What the hell are we doing going up to the Viper Rooms? I'm not a Viper Girl, but am I willing to be one? For him? Amari never even asked if this was something I was down for before he agreed to it for the both of us. But as my blood rushes through my veins like a firehose, we keep going up, higher and higher until we reach the top.

We’re greeted by an open space that looks like a loft, with a few couches on the edges where Viper Girls sit and wait to be approached. There's a second bar up here, fully stocked and surrounded by a black light running along the underside of the wood. A pole stands in the back right corner, with one of the Viper Girls working it. She's completely naked and has one leg wrapped around the pole while she plays with herself and stares at a man seated nearby. Everyone up here paid two-hundred-fifty dollars just to walk up the stairs, so they get to see the girls going all out, unlike downstairs where penetration and simulated masturbation is prohibited.

To the left of the pole is another bouncer and a dark hallway. From here, I can see that the hall is lined with doors on both sides like a hotel corridor. Those are the Viper Rooms. It’s five hundred dollars to go into one, and tips are still required for whatever goes down inside. This is where Von makes all of his money, and that's why he loves it so much. It’s financial heaven to him, where the angels are actually devils who will do anything for money and pay anything for pleasure.

Before we reach the bouncer, I stop and turn. “What are we doing? Why are we up here, Amari?”

As calmly as ever, he looks me straight in the eyes. “We’re just here to shut your boss up. I would never make you do anything you don't wanna do. Just trust me.”

“Trust you?” I say aloud, when I meant to keep it as a thought. “I admit that I wanna get to know you more. I'm surprisingly interested in you, and I even came here tonight with plans to see if you wanted to maybe meet outside the club. But I was never prepared for this.”

“I understand,” he says, nodding. “You already know how I feel about you, and I know what it is the rest of them do up here. But what they do isn't what we do.”

“You paid two-hundred-fifty dollars just to get past the bouncer downstairs, and it’s another five to get past this one. That’s seven hundred and fifty dollars. You're willing to pay all of that just to go into one of these rooms and talk?”

“When it comes to you, I’d pay anything. Money isn't a concern.”

All I can do is shake my head. Who the hell is this guy? Where has he been all my life?

“Do you trust that I won't hurt you?” he asks.

I nod my head. “Yeah. I trust you.”

He mirrors my nod, then leads us to the bouncer. The two of them exchange a few words, money is passed along once again, and we start down the dark hallway until we reach the second door from the end, as directed by the bouncer. Amari opens it and I follow him into a room with a plush red couch and a twin-sized mattress with a headboard made of gold bars. There's a nightstand with a bright lamp on it and a credit card reader, just in case customers aren't carrying as much cash as Amari always is. Then, there's nothing else but the violent sound of my heart drumming in my chest as Amari goes to the couch and sits down. Doing my best to trust him, I follow his lead and sit, awkwardness floating in the air like black smoke from a fire.

The music from downstairs comes through the speakers in all four corners of the ceiling, keeping it from being totally silent, but I still feel like we suddenly need an icebreaker now that we’re all alone. I don't even know what to say. All I can think about is how these rooms are constantly used for sex, and while I like Amari, sex wasn't on the table yet. When we make eye contact, he smiles.

“I didn't come here to force you into sex,” he says, clearly reading my expression. “What we were doing downstairs was perfectly fine with me. We can talk like before, or you can give me a lap dance like before. Or we can just sit here and stare at each other. I'm with whatever you wanna do. Nothing more. But at least we don't have to worry about your boss watching like a hawk, or that other girl hating from afar.”

“Oh, I'm sure she's still hating, but at least I can't see her.”

Amari lowers his eyes to the floor and smiles, nodding his head. “Yeah, she’s definitely still hating. She's jealous of you, you know?”

“Who, Shay? No way. She's the best paid girl in here, and even though I don't like her, I can admit she's gorgeous.”

“But she's still jealous,” Amari says with a shrug. “Sometimes all it takes is seeing a woman who is effortless in her charm and secure in who she is. She sees the potential in you and hopes that you never reach it.”

I laugh, but it turns to a frown. “That’s crazy. How could you know all that?”