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“What the fuck happened last night?” I ask her, hoping she’ll give me answers.
Lexus looks at her hands which are resting in her lap. “A lot. Just make sure you get your act together. We have bills to pay. We can’t be slacking anymore than we already are.”
We’re behind on bills? Don’t strippers make a lot of money?
“I got it,” I say. I’m not really sure how to handle Lexus. One minute she’s a tough bitch who’s telling me to get my life together, but the next minute, she’s guarding me from Bully Boss Man and mother henning me in the back room.
“Alright,” she says, now a little more like her earlier self. “I’ll see you out there.”
She disappears through the doors and I hear a bunch of voices chatting, though more muffled once the door closes behind her.
I look back at the vanity and stare at the products in front of me. Tubes upon tubes of lipsticks in all shades of reds and purples and even a lime green. Sticks of liners and brow fillers. So many different colors of foundations piled next to an even larger variety of hair products. Bottles of lotions and perfumes, and multiple selections of deodorants that range from sticks to rubs to sprays.
“Holy shit,” I say, gawking at the inventory in front of me. I look over my shoulder to see if anyone is behind me, but I’m still alone in this room. Alone with all this makeup that I have no idea what to do with.
I take a deep breath and reach for a bottle that looks like concealer. That Ihopeis concealer.
“Here goes nothing.”
Chapter five
Now, Do It Again
Myfacefeelslikeit’s sticking to itself when I finally emerge from the dressing rooms. I used the photos on my vanity mirror and attempted to recreate my makeup. It looked pretty spot on, if I do say so myself.
“It’s about damn time,” Tommy says, strutting toward me.
I wince, half-hoping he’d already left.
He grabs my arm, squeezing hard, and leads me toward the stage. While he’s guiding me across the room like a scorned toddler, I notice the room looks completely different. It’s not dirty and dingy like it was the first time I walked in.
The lights are making everything in the room glow a neon purple color. Some flares of red and bright pink show in various corners, but the majority of the room looks like it’s filled with black lights.
Probably not something I’d have chosen for a strip club. Black lights pick up oneverything.
There are LED rope lights that line the bottom of the stage making it glow underneath, but leaving everything above the stage dark enough that parts of our bodies will be left a mystery.
That’s when it hits me.
I have to go up on that stage. I have to strip and dance and tease men with my lady bits.
What the fuck am I gonna do?
“Our routine from last week,” Tommy says, letting go of my arm and snapping his fingers. He folds his arms in front of his chest and spreads his feet out a little wider, standing in a pose that’s fit for the guy guarding the door, not running everything that happens inside.
Lexus is across the room with Carmen and they both look at me and nod. Alaska walks up next to them and stands there, whispering. I try to ignore the nausea in my stomach and walk up on the stage, putting my hand on the cold pole that’s emerging from the floor. I look up toward the top.
It’s tall.
Tommy whirls a finger in the air and loud music thumps through the speakers behind me. I wince. I notice Tommy putting his face in his hands. I’m frozen. I stand with one hand on the pole and my feet cemented to the floor. I don’t know the first thing about this pole. I don’t know what’s happening or where I am or… orwhoI am.
I swallow hard and Tommy whirls around toward the three girls that were with me this morning.
“What the fuck did you bitches do last night?! What did you do to Trinity?! How the fuck do you expect me to pay for this hole of a whore house if you sluts can’t keep your fucking acts together!”
His voice echoes through the room and the music cuts. Tommy storms over toward the others and his voice is hardly audible when he growls, “You have until tonight to fix her. Or you’re all out.” He looks at his watch. “Twelve hours until you’re on that stage. Tick tock.”
Tommy storms out of the building and slams the door behind him. I slide to the floor and my face falls into my hands. I can’t handle the terror I’m feeling inside. I’m ruining what these girls had before I showed up. Even if this is all a dream, it sure as shit feels awfully real.
