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Family shit? The Playground family or blood family?
“Lexi almost choked Cyrus out.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.” Promise chuckles, her shoulders shaking.
“How?”
“With Cyrus’s cane. She stole it while he was being ridden in three Lost, just as he was blissed out, his eyes rolling in the back of his head, then shoved it up to his throat.”
On our date, Cia told me Cyrus always requires two women at a time. One to fuck or suck him, and one to blow in his ear when he’s about to come. It’s not hard to guess which one Lenox was, especially if she was Cyrus’s favorite.
“And what happened?”
“She made him swear that he’d let her go.”
“It worked?”
Promise shakes her head. “No, Tommy got ahold of Lexi and kicked the shit out of her. Three Lost had to get a new door because he put her head through it. Made a nasty cut on her forehead,” she says matter-of-factly.
I work to keep my voice even to ask, “Tommy who?”
“He’s long gone.” With her closed fists up to her throat, she stares at mine while whispering ominously, “Strangled out back.”
“With a necklace?”
Promise drops her hands and lets out another chuckle. “No. A bike chain. Tommy’s bike chain actually. He had to ride a bicycle around after losing his license from too many DUIs. Somebody took the greasy chain right off his bike’s frame and used it to strangle him to death.”
“When was that?”
“Coincidentally, right after Lexi’s shift ended.”
It’s not a coincidence. Promise knows as well as I do Lenox killed Tommy herself.
Shame she didn’t finish off Cyrus, too.
“You should rub your throat, by the way. Get rid of those notches before Boss sees.”
I do as she says, massaging my neck with small circles over the impressions left from Lenox’s thigh necklace. I already wiped the blood off my bottom lip but my back is a different story. Her nails bit me good and I can’t reach everywhere she could. Thankfully, my jacket covers up any blood seeping through my shirt underneath.
“What do you mean ‘after Lexi’s shift’?” I ask Promise. “Which shift?”
“The shift from that same night. Cyrus made Lexi finish it. Blood running down her face, bruises everywhere, possible concussion, she should’ve gone to the hospital, but you know Cyrus. Said Lexi needed to be taught a lesson. Had her clean up, then sent her back out to the Merry-Go-Round.”
“Did she still perform?”
“That’s the thing about Lexi, she’s always performing.”
No shit. She gave the performance of a lifetime in her hallway. Had me convinced she was a typical jumpy hollow, when really, she’s anything but.
“So how’d she get Cyrus to finally agree to let her leave?”
“As long as I live, I’ll never fucking forget how it all went down. From the day Lexi showed up, she was detached. I’m not saying she didn’t have good reason to be, but it was more than just being closed off. She was emotionless, like a machine. That night, something snapped, and after facing off with Cyrus, then Tommy, she channeled all her emotions up on that stage. She danced everything out to “Roots” by In This Moment and ended up snagging the eye of the biggest bankroll in the club. The catch of a literal fucking lifetime. Some hollow in a three-piece fell in love with her at first sight and reserved a Lost room for them for the rest of her shift. About a week later, Lexi showed up with some serious bling on her ring finger and enough cash to persuade Cyrus to actually let her go. She ran off with her new man without so much as a glance behind her, and nobody’s seen her since. Until tonight.”
She keeps using Lenox’s stage name, so is it just her stage name or does she go by Lexi, too? A few dancers do that.
After a pause, Promise shrugs, muttering, “It looks good on her.”
