Bombshell- Chapters 8-10 - 8-10 by Jessie Terwilliger

Eight
It felt good to know that her application had been received; it was a load off of her mind. All she had to do was wait until May when they would be doing the first round of testing. The letter said that they would send her another letter 10 days before the test that she would have to present when she arrived. Just knowing when she could expect to hear from them and begin to get an impression of the timeline until she was hired felt like she finally had control of something in her life. It was a feeling that she knew she couldn’t hold on to for very long, but it was good to have it.
The little coin shop on Beaumont Ave had a cheery welcome sign in the window, and a plump and friendly man in the chair behind the counter.
He greeted her, and she gently pulled the coins out of their sachet.
“Oh, my my my my,” he said as he looked at the coins. “You a collector, young miss?”
“No, my ex-boyfriend is.”
He looked at her like how the men in the club did if she got mouthy with them, a sudden realization that she was a firecracker.
“Your ex, huh? Does he know that you have these coins?”
“Yeah, he gave them to me, it’s not like I took them. I just want to get what they’re worth, if that’s fine.”
“Well,” he chuckled, “be glad that you came to an honest business man. I’ll give you what I can for them.”
After looking up prices in his books, he drew back, stunned.
“Miss, I don’t want to accuse you of anything, but are you sure that he knows that you have these?”
“Yeah he knows. He’s a regular at Cooper’s, and I know that Cooper will only give you what he wants to give you, not what they’re worth, that’s why I came to you.”
He grinned. “And I bet Cooper would have recognized you and you didn’t want that, did you?”
She looked at him with a shy smile. “Yeah…”
“You just break up with this fellow?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I can’t blame you for taking these in before he had a chance to ask for them back,” he winked. “I’ll give you $500 for them all.”
She choked, “Five…five hundred?”
“Well what did you think they were worth?”
“Actually I had no idea what they were worth; I thought I would have lucked out to get $200.”
He laughed, and showed her the Mercury dime. “This one alone is worth $150, and these two Liberty Head nickels are worth $150 each! And the quarters, eh, I gave you $30 for them each, just because you’re cleaning out my cash today, Miss. But I just like giving you my money for some reason.”
She walked out with $500 cash, and instinctively she looked around suspiciously to see if Matt was there. Why would Matt be in Beaumont? He had no reason! But something still gave her an uneasy feeling.
That uneasy feeling swept over her again as she got back to San Bernardino and drove past the club. She slowed the car down as she looked into the parking lot where Armando and that man fell, not even a visible bloodstain to mark the spot. The balcony railing had been put back up, but with caution tape still wrapped along it. But then she realized that there was a cop car parked there, and Graham was walking to it! Without thinking, she made a sharp turn into the parking lot and pulled up beside him.
“Marina? What are you doing here?” he asked her, sounding surprised to see her and a little bit nervous at the same time.
“I was driving by and I saw you, and I don’t know why but I stopped.” Without realizing it, they gazed at each other for a moment, before she snapped back to reality.
“Oh wait, now I know why I stopped. I wanted to tell you that I got a letter back saying that my application has been accepted and that they’ll notify me of the next testing date in May. Early, huh?”
“Hey, good for you!” he said enthusiastically. “But just to let you know now, I did go in and pull a few strings to get you moved up in the line.”
“You did? For me? Thank you so much! Oh, it’s so good to have someone on the inside,” she joked, and hoped that he wouldn’t think that it was a double entendre. “I am so excited, I just can’t wait, I can’t.”
“Well now you won’t have to wait as long, but it’s not like this sort of thing happens over night.”
“I know, but…wait…what are you doing at the club?”
“The family requested that one of the officers come and collect your boss’s personal effects, and the club just happens to be on my new beat so I came by. I guess they’re really religious type folks who don’t want to set foot in the club.”
“I can see that,” she said. “God, poor Armando. I would love to go to his funeral or whatever, but I don’t think that the family would like me there since I'm a dancer and all. Hell, I don’t even know if Armando was his real name.”
“It was. His real name was Armando Asiff.”
Marina was amazed to hear that. Armando really was an honest guy, and he even used his real name. That was pretty unlikely for the kind of guys who ran strip clubs, or at least the ones that she worked at. Their names were usually as fake as the girl’s names, like Turk Thunder or Atom Smash.
“Nice place you have here,” he said, nodding his head in the direction of the club upstairs.
“Yeah it’s um…it’s cozy.” She was a little uncomfortable and embarrassed to be talking about her work with him.
“Okay Marina, I have to know something.” Her pulse quickened as she prepared herself for whatever horrible question he could ask her. “Is it true that strippers make $300 a night?” he asked suspiciously, crossing his arms.
She was relieved, and she let out a laugh. “Back in the days before all of the hookers moved into town yeah, but now the only one who makes that kind of money is Asia. I mean, I put on a show, but it’s not like the kind of show that men pay good money for, so I make a little over average, more than most girls here get.”
“Well what kind of show do you put on?” he asked, the inflection in his voice going up a bit.
She was sorely embarrassed and unsure whether she should answer.
“I do gymnastics mostly,” she said coyly.
“Gymnastics? What you mean like flips and stuff?”
“Kind of, but more than that, like I can climb the pole backwards using my legs, and I can hold on to the top of the pole, and stretch my body out so that it’s horizontal with the floor, like a flag.”
“Can I see it?”
“What, now?”
“Well, I’d hate to be here when you’re working, and there’s no one up there right now. Unless you’d rather not…”
“No no, um…lets go,” she said, and they walked together toward the stairs. She wasn’t really dressed for the stage; she was just wearing jean shorts and a spaghetti strap tank with flip flops. His gun was on his hip, and his walk was like a cop’s. She was a little bit hesitant, thinking that it could be some kind of trap. She knew better than to fall for some guy’s tricks; after all, he could be leading her inside so he could rape her or worse…but Graham seemed to give off this vibe, one that made her lose her breath and feel calm all at once. It was like she was safe with him.
“Are you going to get in trouble for this?” she asked.
“No no, I'm supposed to be here. You’re not, so…well I guess I might get in trouble. But not really. I just want to see your moves, is all.” There was a pause, and his tone changed. “So, are you still having trouble with your fiancé?”
“No trouble at all, we’re broken up,” she said as he held open the door, placing his sure hand on the small of her back to guide her inside before him.
The club looked way different with lights on. The illusion was gone, the magic. The possibility of mischief simply vanished with the flick of a light switch; it was very humbling for Marina. The tables were set back up from when Armando had knocked them over running from the man. And she had no idea how stained up the seat cushions were until she saw them in the light.
“Don’t feel like you have to give me the full on strip show,” he said as he pulled up a chair and sat backward on it. “I just want to see if you can really do all of those things that you said you could.”
Marina stepped up onto the stage, Graham sitting in a chair back by the tables, not even at the rail where she had expected him to sit. He was smiling up at her, his short brown curly hair that seemed to stick to his head, those eyes. She was nervous about dancing on stage in front of her audience for the first time since she had very first walked up onto the stage at La Infidel and almost got too scared to go through with it, until the audience cheered her on, and encouraged her to just let her body move the way it wanted to.
“You can do it, Marina,” he said softly and sweetly. She loved the way he said her name, it sounded like a song in his voice.
She overcame her nerves and stood to go into a back flip, but something was wrong. She put her arms down and turned toward him.
“It’s sort of weird without the music, oddly enough,” she said. Graham smiled and put his cupped hands around his mouth and started beat boxing! She couldn’t help but smile, showing her teeth even, as she got back into her stance, and sprang through three quick back flips, one after another. The third one ended when she grasped the pole with her upper thighs, a tricky move with painful consequences if she didn’t land it right, but she did. She held on with her thighs for only a moment before pulling herself up and clutching the pole with her hands, and climbing up it like a coconut tree. Once to the top, she held on with her legs and bent her body backwards and held the pole beneath her with her hands. Her thighs made the pole squeak as she pulled herself back to the floor of the stage with her hands, and once she was close enough, she lifted her torso up and grabbed the pole above her once again. She opened her thighs and twisted her body around and pulled it into a crouching position, her hands still holding on to the pole. Slowly she stretched herself out, her body parallel to the floor, stiff as a board. She held this position for a few moments before jumping off and landing on her feet. From there she did her Tiger Stance, where she laid on her chest, looking right at handsome and totally awed Graham Green as she bent her legs backward over her body, and slowly placed them on either side of her head, her toes pointing right toward him. The look of shock on his face was priceless.
He clapped slowly as he stood up and walked toward her, and she put her legs back down and laid on her stomach.
“Wow, I am…speechless to say the least Marina,” he said. “I had no idea that you were, that anyone could…wow!”
She loved hearing his praises, and she bent her elbows so that she could rest her chin on her hands and just look at him.
“Marina, you…have a lot of talent, and I have to know why a girl like you would end up doing the strip club scene, when I know that you could use your skills to do so much more, like that Cirque Du Soleil show out in Vegas or something, and make a lot more money.”
“Yeah, but a stripper who ends up in Vegas looking to work the big shows will end up needing money and find themselves in a strip club to make a few extra bucks, then the big shows wont hire them. Happens all the time.”
“I see.” He walked closer to her and sat down at the rail. “I don’t want to seem like I'm just here with you because you’re a stripper and I'm a guy, because that’s not it. And I know that you just barely broke up with your boyfriend, but Marina, I really like you. I don’t want to scare you off, but I want to be honest. You’re a treasure.” He shifted in his seat. “I bet a lot of men tell you things like this, and you don’t buy any of it, do you?”
“Yes, I do hear it a lot, but it’s nice coming from you.”
He tucked a lock of her blond hair behind her ear tenderly, and on a whim he leaned forward and kissed her with his soft lips as she lay there on the stage, her dainty feet in the air behind her. She was surprised at how readily she accepted his kiss, and how it made her feel both relaxed and tense beyond reason at the same time. His head was slightly tilted, and she could feel his lips ever so gently on hers. It was the sweetest kiss she had felt in her life, and it came with electrifying pulses zooming through her head.
This was very unlike Marina, to be kissing a man who she barely knew, let alone after a big breakup. In fact, she and Matt had dated for eight months before she finally had sex with him. Hers was not an easy heart to get to, and she respected her body with great passion. But here was Graham, in his uniform, with his warm and pleasant lips to her mouth and his fingertips on her cheek, and it felt great to let it happen.
Someone cleared their throat, and they broke the kiss suddenly and looked toward the direction of the noise. Asia. She was a little older looking without the stage lights, but it was clearly her. Graham stepped back from the rail and nearly tripped over a chair.
“May I help you?” Asia and Graham said to each other at the same time.
“Um…” Graham floundered, “I’m here to pick up Mr. Armando’s things─”
“Is she one of them?” Asia asked snidely.
“No ma’am, Marina is a friend of mine and things just got carried away,” he said in his almost cop voice.
“What are you doing here, Shimmer? Club’s closed, even if it is for a private show for a cop.”
There were very few ways to answer that loaded question. So Marina turned it around on her.
“Well what are YOU doing here Asia?”
“Me? I'm in charge of this place until the new owner settles in this weekend.” She looked at the two of them for a moment. “I wont tell anyone, but Shimmer, you need to leave, and Officer Hot Stuff here, you get what you need from Armando’s office and head on out too.”
He coolly nodded toward her as Marina rolled over to get off of the stage and scamper outside. Asia caught Graham as he was going to follow out after her.
“Word to the wise, Officer, don’t get too wrapped up in a girl like Shimmer. I like the girl but remember, she’s just a fantasy, not the kind of girl that you should really pursue, know what I mean? You’ll get your feelings hurt.”
Graham smiled at Asia as he slipped his sunglasses on. “Well, I thank you for the tip, but I prefer to just try and see what kind of girl Marina is for myself.”
He got down stairs just as Marina was getting ready to take off in her car, looking quite upset.
“Marina, wait!” he called to her, and to his surprise she stopped the car and rolled down the window. He walked up to her car and bent down to talk to her like he did when he had pulled her over.
“Look,” he began. “I am not going to say that I am sorry for what happened in there, because I'm not. I am sorry if you are upset over it, but I am not sorry that I've met you. I know this seems crazy; it’s crazy to me too! I understand if you just want to pretend that it never happened, but I won’t ever forget it.”
She touched her cheek where his hand had been moments before, the hair still slipped behind her ear.
“I am off in like 20 minutes. Will you have a bite to eat with me or something? I just feel like I want to be around you,” he said with a hint of desperation.
Marina pursed her lips and glared at him a little. “You’re not married, are you?”
“Married!” he laughed. “No, not yet. I'm just 24, I haven't really met anyone…” he stopped. “I'm not married, you don’t have to worry.”
She eyed him suspiciously, nervous about what could happen. But she needed a reason to ignore Matt’s calls, if he made any. And maybe Graham would give her a good enough reason to not think about it.
“Meet me at the Brandin’ Iron at 6:00.”
Graham smiled. “I’ll be there!”

Nine
The Brandin’ Iron was an institution, like how The Mug on Highland Avenue was an institution, or Pinnacle Peaks Steak House. It was a little cowboy bar with a dance floor. She felt that it would be safe there, not somewhere that Matt would ever find himself (or her) and that it was informal enough that she could just talk to Graham and see what he was so gaga over her for. He seemed like a decent and honest guy, no tell tale dents on his finger from a pocketed wedding ring, or a real threatening nature about him. Graham just seemed…normal, and good. Not fake good like how Matt would act when he wanted to impress his parents, but truly good. Sincere.
Graham looked like he probably couldn’t get a tan; it was either his normal color of pale white or blistering red. He had hazel-green eyes and smooth clean shaven cheeks. His russet brown hair was tightly curled and very short, and he had a nice medium build with broad shoulders and just a few ounces of fat on him to give him a nice soft look, and touch. Oh his kiss, oh how it stirred her inside. What was she going to do if he did it again?
She was not looking to start a new relationship. She felt that she could do whatever she wanted, but she also knew that it wasn’t going to be quick getting rid of Matt. She could sense that he was hovering somewhere ever since she last saw him on the side of the road. As she got out of her car she looked around the parking lot for his Jeep but she didn’t see it. Maybe it was just her guilty conscience eating at her…but why would it be? It wasn’t like she was hopping into bed with Graham, this wasn’t even a date. She just wanted to talk to him out of his uniform, or…she wanted to talk to him when he wasn’t on duty, yes, that sounded better. Why was she so damn nervous anyway? She talked to guys all of the time! She thought it best to just get inside and get a table.
The Brandin’ Iron was her favorite bar. They always played country music and the atmosphere was cozy. She wore tight jeans and a sky blue plaid baby doll with wide straps and lacy trim with her light brown boots. She sat down and ordered a cherry Coke with extra cherries from the waitress, who was dressed like a square dancer. She didn’t like to drink when she wasn’t working, which might sound odd to most people, but most people don’t have to tolerate the kind of behavior that she did from drunks, and her theory was that if she couldn’t beat them (with napkin holders or shoes) she should join them. But for Graham she wanted to stay sober.
Not more than a minute after her cherry Coke arrived, he walked in wearing blue jeans and a mint green plaid shirt, so different he looked in regular clothes, and went straight to the bar to order a drink. She hoped that he didn’t plan to get drunk, it would completely spoil her evening, but he turned around and saw her, and walked toward her with his drink in hand and sat at her table.
“What’d you get,” she asked innocently.
“Just a 7Up,” he answered as he took a sip. “I don’t like to drink much,” he said to her delight. She was relieved; she didn’t think that she could handle any more Goldschlagger after the way that she had been drinking it at the club.
“So uh,” she said while drawing on the table with her finger, “what did you want to see me tonight for?”
“Gosh, I don’t know,” he said as he put his head down and smiled, but then he looked back up at her. “You’re just interesting, and I felt like I had to get to know you. I hope you don’t think that’s weird.”
“No, no. It’s not weird, I talk to guys all of the time who think that I'm interesting.”
“Yeah, but Marina, I hope you don’t think that I asked you out just to get you to, you know, you know. I just wanted to see you. You tickled my fancy,” he grinned innocently. She couldn’t help but smile with all of her teeth showing.
“And I hope that you don’t think that I am here to just try to get you to give me your cash. I just wanted to see you.”
She could tell that Graham wasn’t really experienced in the way of ladies. He seemed like he maybe at least had a few girlfriends, and that he was a little bit nervous to be around a girl who did what Marina did, but it made him seem safer, or more innocent.
And as she thought of it, she realized that he was the first guy who she had ever seen outside of the club besides Matt since she started dancing. And Graham wasn’t a customer, so it was different, and maybe different was what she needed.
“May I order you something to eat or have you already had your dinner?” he asked politely.
“Depends, is this a date?”
“Do you want it to be a date?”
“Is it a date?”
“Is it a problem if it’s a date?”
She looked at him for a minute. “No, it’s not a problem.”
“Then how about a basket of chicken fingers?”
She smiled at him and he excused himself to go back to the bar to order. Why couldn’t it be a date? Her relationship with Matt was over long before she handed back the ring. And what is time when it comes to spacing between people? Who knew if Graham would even go out with her again? She decided not to quarrel with it for the remainder of the evening, and just enjoy his company while she had it.
He returned with a red plastic basket lined with tissue paper printed with horse shoes, billowing with chicken fingers.
“Wow, they gave us a lot,” she said.
He sighed, “It’s because they know I'm a cop. One of the many perks you will hopefully experience one day.”
“I hope so. I'm so excited now that I know when I am taking my test. What kind of test is it anyway?”
“Psychological. You’ll be there for at least eight hours filling out a 1500 question psychological test.”
“Wow! 1500 questions? Why do they make us do that right away?”
“To see if you’re devoted enough to applying that you’ll stay for the whole thing. You wouldn’t believe how many people walk out once they mention how many questions are on the test. Then they also need to make sure that there aren't any psychological or emotional reasons that you can’t be a cop.”
“What kind of questions do they ask?”
“I can’t tell you that,” he said. “But what I can tell you is that you just need to keep your spirits high, and realize that these are police officers that you are dealing with. They’re going to mess with you, make you feel like you aren't worthy of being there. Ignore them! They’re just trying to weed out the weak ones.”
“Well I am not weak, I can assure you.”
“I know Shimmer, I saw you climb that pole,” he laughed. “Where did you learn that stuff anyway?”
“I was in gymnastics my whole life. My mom put me in all kinds of pageants too, which is where I learned to dance. Not strip dance, but…country western dance.”
“You? Dance country western? Get out of here.”
“It’s true. I can watermelon crawl with the best of them.”
“Well,” he scooted toward the end of the booth bench, “I took a dance class in high school and they taught us all of that Texas Two Step and Cha Cha stuff, and I think I remember the line dancing part. Want to get out there and give it a try to see if we can still do it?”
Her eyes widened. “Yes! I would love to, oh but…” she went to grab a napkin from the napkin holder at the table and it was empty. Karma. “My hands are all greasy from the chicken.”
Almost on cue, Graham held out his leg. “Here, wipe them on my pants.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Oh yeah, place like this? A few chicken grease stains wont matter.” She laughed as she rubbed her hands on the fibers of his pant leg. He took her by the hand and pulled her out to the dance floor where the line dance had already started. They both fumbled around a bit trying to remember the moves, but they laughed the whole time. After the song was finished, they walked back to the table hand in hand.
They sat at the table and finished their chicken fingers as she told him the sort of funny story about the napkin holder incident, since her memory was jogged when she found that theirs was empty.
“So you hit him in the head with it?” he laughed. “I'm sorry, I shouldn’t laugh at that. You could really get yourself into trouble, Marina.” His words reminded her of Matt’s.
“You don’t understand though Graham. How many times have you been licked at your job?”
“Licked?”
“People lick me. To be perfectly honest, it’s always the Mexicans who do it, and I know that sounds bad, but it’s true.”
“It doesn’t sound bad, it just sounds like you’re racial profiling, that’s a big part of my job too. Except that I don’t get licked, I get shot at.”
“Yeah, well…” she trailed off and thought about what to say next, if it would be appropriate to tell the rest of the story. “Anyway, I'm so glad that you asked me to see you. I could use the company right now. I feel sort of guilty about what happened to Armando.”
“Why would you feel guilty?” he asked. She wasn’t sure if she should say any more.
“Well, the guy who died with him, that was the guy who I hit’s brother, and I guess he came back to hash it out with the owner or something, so in a way, it’s my fault that Armando was killed.”
“What? No, it’s not your fault. The guy who he was fighting with was someone who that crooked club owner Smash had sent to strong arm Armando into giving up the club. The death was completely accidental and unplanned, and I don’t know if what you’re saying about it being that guy’s brother is accurate, but it had nothing to do with you.”
“Are you serious? How do you know all of this? It just happened yesterday!”
“Smash came forward and identified him.”
“But how do you know that Smash didn’t really send him to kill Armando?”
“Because the guy had over $1 million in a suitcase in the trunk of his vehicle. He was there to give him the money and Armando wouldn’t take it.”
“How do you know that Smash didn’t give him that money to knock him off though?”
“Well, we don’t. We can only go by the fact that this wasn’t a murder, it was an accident. Because, why would Smash pay a guy all that money just to go kill himself?”
“I don’t know, I guess,” she sighed. “I’ll tell you something though, I don’t like that Smash guy. He’s ruining all of the clubs out here! Why don’t you guys do something about him?”
“Marina, we have a pretty big work load as it is. San Bernardino has a murder every night, and there is a lot of crime happening in the city. You have to realize that we can’t go in and bust up clubs for alleged prostitution.”
“Alleged? But I've seen it! With my own eyes! Can’t you do something?”
“Not unless I see it, Marina, I'm sorry. And your club is on my beat now, so I promise to keep an eye on it.”
“Please don’t tell me that Smash is taking over Whispers…”
“I wouldn’t know, but I also wouldn’t doubt it,” he said lowly.
She sat back heavily and sighed.
“Hey, hey, look…let’s not talk about this tonight, let’s not talk about our jobs anymore. Let’s just…talk. Is that okay?”
She looked at him, his eyes seemed to glow green in the dim lights.
“That’s okay.”
They went on and talked about their families, their high schools. They both graduated in ’02. Graham had a brother once but he was killed in a boating accident, and Marina was an only child. As it turned out, they had a lot to talk about, and the words flowed very easily between them until it was getting too late to stay.
Walking together into the parking lot, she thought she saw Matt’s Jeep, and she pulled Graham by the hand to hide behind the side of the building with her.
“Are you sure that’s him?” he whispered.
“I don’t know. It looks like his.”
They peered at it through the darkness, until they saw a couple walk to it and get in.
“Oh, what a relief,” she breathed.
“Is this guy going to hurt you Marina?”
“I don’t think so. He never laid a hand on me when we were together. I think I'm just on edge.”
“Well…maybe I can get you to relax a bit,” he said as he cupped her beautiful face in his hands. She looked up into his eyes, and he bent down and closed his mouth on hers. They breathed together. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he picked her up off the ground and pushed her against the wall gently. Naturally she wrapped her legs around his waist as they shared their passionate kiss. Her world spun as his slowed down, and neither of the two wanted to ever leave each other’s embrace, but they heard rustling in the bushes beside them. They were startled as they looked, and in the dim glow of the lights from the sign above, they saw that it was just a homeless person turning in his sleeping bag to get a better view of the lovers.
“Um, we should probably go,” he said as he let her go back onto the ground. They walked in silence back to their cars.
“I want you to know that I am not the kind of girl who makes out with men she barely knows behind cowboy bars.”
“And I want you to know that I am not the kind of cop who normally seduces small strippers into making out with him behind cowboy bars.”
“And I don’t kiss on the first date.”
“I don’t kiss people I don’t know.”
They turned to each other.
“So what the hell just happened then?” she asked him.
“I don’t know Marina, but I would like for it to happen again.”
“Me too,” she said as she gave him a little hug before getting into her car.

Ten
Her favorite navel charm was the one with the little silver diamond studded pistol on it. It was her good luck charm, and a reminder of what she would one day become. She slid it in and looked at herself in the mirror. It was a few minutes before the club officially opened, so she took the time to give herself a good once over. She turned to her side, examining her flat tummy and little mounded breasts. She seemed to have gained more muscle in the back of her thighs, something that she figured she picked up from Aquarobics.
Next she turned to look at her back, or what wasn’t covered up of it by her flaxen waves. Her figure curved inward only slightly above her hips, and she was most proud of the fact that she didn’t have any bones showing. It almost made her sick to see the points of hip bones and clavicles jutting out of some of the thinner girls. She was lucky that hers were hidden behind muscles, and even luckier that her muscles weren’t bulging like some strung out bodybuilder on steroids. Marina was natural, with the exception of her stage makeup and the fact that she wore the tallest heels of anyone else at the club in order to somewhat seem to be a normal height. But everything that she was, every one of her features, was carved by her alone, and without the help of a doctor’s scalpel or drugs of any kid. Just fresh air and exercise…and years upon years of gymnastic training put into one little ten minute stage show that she performed seven or eight times a night.
Silver came around the corner from the bathroom and lit up when she saw Shimmer.
“Hey!” Silver bounced.
“Oh hi Silver. How was your vacation?” she asked.
“Nothing special. How was yours?”
“Well, I went to school like normal, broke up with Matt, kissed a cop…”
“Kissed a cop! Broke up with Matt?” Silver pulled up a chair. “Okay, you’re not leaving this dressing room until you tell me what the hell is going on, girl.”
“I don’t know, Silver. I just got so sick of Matt’s controlling disposition. He got so mad about me hitting that guy, and not just because I hit the guy. It’s because I defended myself, and he’s really big into the church so he thinks that I should just forgive people when they wrong me. I can’t do that Silver, that’s not me. I have the right to feel upset about something, and nobody, especially not him, will take that away from me. And it’s the way that he talked to me, like I was a child who needed to be scolded. My mom always said that he was too old for me, and I think I agree with that now.”
“What about this cop?”
Asia was a few feet away at her vanity applying blush, and she looked over at Shimmer, almost as if to say yes Shimmer, what about this cop?
“It’s the cop from the other night who was talking to you while we were waiting to go home, wasn’t it?” Silver asked excitedly, and Shimmer pressed her lips together to hide her smile. “Oh I knew it! He was dreamy, and I love the way that he looked at you.”
Shimmer looked at Silver, who was absolutely beaming with her joy for her. She had never had a friend who cared so much about her happiness before.
“Well,” Silver concluded, “I don’t think that you deserve to be treated like shit, so if this cop seems like he’s the real deal, I say go for it. You need someone to treat you right.”
Shimmer was touched. “Thank you, Silver. Really.”
Just then a line of three girls who they had never seen before walked over and crowded around Asia, who stood up and smiled as she greeted the three of them with cheek kisses.
“Who are they?” Silver whispered.
“I don’t know. And since when does Asia kiss people when she greets them?”
The four girls walked out of the dressing room together toward the stage exit, the little brown and dark haired one glaring at Shimmer as she passed.
“Whoa!” Silver exclaimed. “That one just gave you the stink eye if I ever saw it.”
“Come on!” Shimmer shouted, dashing up from her chair, “Let’s go see what’s going on!”
The girls ran out through the hall and stood in the shadows of the door way as they watched the girls stand side by side on the stage, Asia with a microphone off to the side of them. The crowd was bigger tonight, possibly because of all of the press that the club got, or maybe something special was going on to commemorate the re opening of the club, or the new owner, or some kind of final tribute to Armando. Shimmer and Silver asked each other if they had heard of anything like this being planned, and neither of them had.
“Welcome to The Golden Heel, how is everybody doing tonight?” Asia said into the microphone.
“The Golden Heel?” Shimmer and Silver whispered to each other.
“Did everyone come here to have fun tonight?” Asia asked the crowd, some of whom were still filing in the door. “Yeooooow! Wooooooh!” the crowd went, sprinkled with a few high pitched whistles and random voices yelling things like “I love you baby!”
“Is she like working the crowd?” Shimmer asked in disgust. “What the hell is going on?”
“Now how many of you used to come here when this place was called Whispers?”
A few hands shot up, more rowdy crowd noises.
“Well Whispers is no more. Things are going to change around here quite a bit. First let me introduce to you our new girls tonight. I’d like you to meet Alsar,” she said as she put her hand on the tall African Goddess’s arm, the yellow python hung around her neck flicked its tongue. She moved over to the sandy brown haired freckly one. “This,” she said as she ran her hand daintily over the girl’s curvy hip and waist line, “is Blue.”
“Blue!” Silver hastily whispered in frustration. “She stole my shtick! She can’t be a color! That’s my thing!”
“And this,” Asia said as she walked over to the small dark one who gave Shimmer the dirty look in the dressing room, “is Hollywood.” The crowd whistled and cheered, and Hollywood did four back flips in place, and then landed with her hands in the air on the last one, almost high school cheerleader like. The audience went wild as some random techno beat went on the speaker system and Asia stood to the side of the stage as Hollywood continued to perform her jumping splits and handsprings all over the stage. Blue and Alsar walked slowly together to the middle of the stage and slid their tongues out of their mouths, which glistened with wetness in the dim lights as they touched the tips together and swirled them around. Their lips finally touched, Blue sucking on Alsar’s plump bottom lip. The snake curled around the girls as they made out, much to the audience’s delight.
“No WAY!” Shimmer yelled. “They can’t do that! Armando banned kissing, they can’t do that!”
“Armando’s dead,” Asia said as she scooted over toward the girls. They were ashamed that they had been spotted. “This isn't his club anymore, and therefore his rules don’t stand.”
“Asia, what’s going on?” Shimmer pressed.
Asia smiled as she walked back to the front of the stage next to the girls, and Hollywood skipped up behind them and stood on the other side.
“At Whispers, lap dances were $20,” Asia started. “But at The Golden Heel, we feel that you should get more for your buck. From now on, a lap dance will cost you $10 instead of $20,” the crowd roared with excitement, “And if you want anything more, it will cost ya.”
Ooooh hooo hoooo, the crowd went.
Shimmer and Silver looked at each other. They knew that they were in trouble.
The two girls marched back into the dressing room.
“$10! To get felt up and licked by completely disgusting pigs?” Silver raved.
“This just fucking tears it!” Shimmer yelled in frustration. “If they cut the lap dance fees in half, we won’t make it here. This is exactly what happened at La Infidel when Smash came in. I bet he’s the guy who bought the club!”
“I know he is! He has to be the one, because that’s what happened at Incense and Peppermints. And you know why he does it, it’s because he wants to entice the ‘good girls’ into doing more for the money.”
“I won’t do it. I have standards.”
“What standards?” Asia said as she walked into the room and stood in front of Shimmer. “I saw what you were doing here yesterday with that cop. Don’t play innocent, Shimmer. You turn tricks on the side, I’ve always had that suspicion, and now it is confirmed.”
Silver looked at Shimmer, absolutely in shock.
“Asia, you don’t know what happened,” Shimmer tried to calm her.
“I know what I saw,” she pressed. “You were in here giving him a private show while he was in uniform, and then I saw you all over him like white on rice.”
Shimmer stayed silent.
“Gee Shimmer, I didn’t realize that you needed money that bad. Wasn’t he paying you enough to at least get a room though? Most girls don’t use the club for that sort of thing, they go get a room at the Sunset Motel.”
“I am not a prostitute!”
“Oh? Well then you might want to start looking for another job sweetie, because if you’re going to play the innocent card, you ain't going to be making any money here.”
A man walked in from the entrance coming from the direction of Armando’s old office. The brown haired and red bearded short man with horse teeth: Atom Smash.
Atom made his way through the room and Asia smiled as he approached her. He touched her succulent thighs as he kissed her neck, and flicked his tongue on her ear lobe. Asia turned her head and kissed him on the lips.
“Hi baby doll,” he whispered excitedly to Asia, and then turned to the girls.
“I’ve seen you in my clubs before, haven't I, girls?”
Shimmer and Silver stared without saying a word.
“Oh don’t be frightened or angry. Asia here is just a little commandeering and intimidating, it’s not her fault. I can assure you both that you won’t have to do anything here that you aren't comfortable with, it will never be asked of you. But I do want you to know that I run a tight ship around here, and that if you are nice to me, I’ll be nice to you.”
He looked at Shimmer, who looked at the ground.
“Cheer up, blossom. You’re a lovely girl, you know that? And I hear that you can do quite a show on the pole. Well listen,” his voice got softer and more intimidating. “Hollywood’s got all of the tricks that you’ve got, plus some, so I would consider maybe upping the ante if you plan to continue working at my club.”
“What you’re doing is illegal!” Silver shouted.
“Illegal?” Asia stepped up in front of Atom and slowly walked closer to the girls as she spoke. “Illegal like when a cop hires a pretty little whore to suck his dick?”
“I didn’t do that Asia! We just kissed!” Shimmer yelled, but Asia put her finger to her lips.
“It doesn’t matter, Shimmer. The point should be well taken that at this club, cops are not customers, they are cops. They are not your friends, they are cops. They are not your fuck buddies, they are cops. Don’t you understand that we don’t need that kind of company around here?”
“And we can make sure that he never comes back in here with a badge again, if you understand what I mean,” said Atom.
“No! I don’t understand what you mean. Just what are you implying, Mr. Smash?”
He smiled. “Hey now, no reason to get hostile. All we are saying is that if you care about that cop man, then you’ll just do what you’re asked of here at the club. I don’t want to lose you Shimmer, I know that Armando considered you as one of his best girls. But then if that cop is just some John you were trying to make a quick buck off of, it won’t matter what we tell the press about him, now will it?”
Shimmer’s jaw dropped to the floor. “Are you blackmailing me?”
“No no, it’s not like that. Just do what you’re told and everybody’s job is safe.”
Her face was on fire, she could feel it. They had her trapped.
“And what if I leave?” she asked, a little less confident than before.
“Leave? Oh sure, you can do that too, leaving is always an option. We got that Hollywood out there who can work it better and harder than you, and she’s got a nicer peach too I bet. No clit, they cut it off when she was little back in her country, so she’s just a nice little cum dumpster. Girls like Hollywood get taught to work their peach in just a way that it literally sucks the juices right out of a fellow, oh god,” he moaned and smiled at Asia. “But Shimmer my dear, we know that you need us more than we need you. So if you want the money, you’ll work for it. You don’t have to offer it up or nothing, but if someone asks, you'll find it wise to go along with it. That isn't to say that you’ll be out of here if you don’t do it, we can’t make you do something like that. But, little miss cop lover, if you leave, and you breathe a word to anyone about this little conversation that we had here today, Graham Green can go back to waiting tables at Denny’s, understand?”
He looked at Silver. “And I know you’ll do the right thing, wont you, honey?”
Atom and Asia turned and walked out the back entrance, leaving the horrified girls standing in complete disbelief. The DJ announced for Silver to stand by out in the bar.