The screaming was already happening when Sashi walked into the backstage dressing rooms at the club. He closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. "Shoulda called in sick today." He shrugged his jacket off and hung it on the coat rack behind the door. Jenny, one of the other girls, stood near the wall, giggling nervously into her hands while Valerie and Abby struggled on the floor, screaming.
"That's mine!" Abby snarled and planted on foot in the middle of Val's thigh, pulling backwards.
"Fuck off, bitch!" Valerie screamed back and took a swing at Abby with her free right fist.
"Girls! What in the buttered fuck is going on in here!?" Sashi finally shouted as he waded into the fray. He snatched Abby by the back of her shirt and shook her sharply to the side and gave Valerie a push, his hand splayed out across her face. "Cut it out!"
"Bitch stole my liner," Abby sniffled, hugging her knees to her chest as she scooted backwards on the floor.
"This is about fucking makeup?" Sashi snapped and the two women glared at each other. "Fucking fine." He snatched his purse from the coat rack, pulled out two tens. "Both of you, back off. I'll buy the damn thing from both of you and settle the issue." Neither looked at the extended bills, both glaring over their shoulders and away from each other. "Okay. Are we going to be calm about this shit?"
"I bought it yesterday," Abby said in a small voice. "Last of my tip money. I loved the color."
"So did I," Valerie shot back. "Which is why I went and bought some after last night's shift. I loved it, too. You've got great taste, Abs. Just chill the fuck out."
Abby sniffled and peeked over her shoulder toward the other dancer, "Really? You liked it that much?"
"Yeah." Val sighed and stood up, then offered Abby her hand to get up from the floor. "I think yours rolled behind the vanity. I'll help you look?"
"Okay." They headed toward the stations together to check underneath while Sashi rubbed his temples and sighed.
"And why weren't you helping," he asked Jenny as he settled himself at his own station and started warming up his lamps and liner sticks.
Jenny made a small, choked sound, "You kidding me, cher? I not getting' near those bitches when they nuts." She turned with a flip of her shaggy red hair and strode off to her own corner of the dressing room.
Sashi shook his head slowly, then addressed himself to the mirror and the familiar reflection. With careful precision, he mixed his foundations, applied the lightest layers to cheekbones and forehead, working his way to the medium tones and the darker tones for contour. He double-checked all angles in the mirror to make sure he hadn't missed anything, then continued down neck and chest, dusting his shoulders with foundation powder and glitter. He paid a little more attention to the surgery scar on his abdomen from when the guy on the train had beaten him and kicked him, and the laceration scar across his hip, using foundation and cover-up base to disguise the discolorations and shape as much as he could. Once his base color was right, he settled back in with lip liner and color, a mauve-rose rouge to highlight his cheeks and accent his eyes. He winged his eyeliner and did the base coat for his mascara, then paused to let everything settle and dry before adding the second coat for the mascara and dusting the glitter across lashes and cheeks. The face looking back at him was beautiful and utterly foreign.
He sighed quietly and said to her, "Well. The show must go on."
"Oh, yeah, this place is all right." Charlie took a long turned around the lobby as he walked into the strip club, unable to keep the smile off his face. The girls moving among the patrons were all very pretty and clad as little as possible. The music pounded at just the right volume without covering the voices of the patrons or the waitresses. The tables and chairs were at comfortable distances from each other and the stage. Everything was clean.
The girl strutting on the stage looked about twenty years old and perfectly shaped, her long legs muscular without being overdone and her balance and poise on the six-inch heels a tribute to her training and timing. She tossed her long shaggy mane of ash blonde hair and smirked at her audience, supremely confident in her turn and pivot.
Charlie could tell the place must have a reputation for excellence: most of the tables were full and the bar right below the dancers' stage was elbow-to-elbow with cheering men. He settled himself at one of the few available tables and kicked his feet up onto an empty chair to enjoy the show. A pretty, petite girl slid up to his elbow with a brilliantly white smile in her dark face. "Can I get you anything?"
"Beer," he smiled back at her, giving her a slow consideration before he added, "and a burger, if you've got 'em."
"Best burgers in the county," she dimpled at him and set a glass of water on his table before heading off to put in his order.
"I'll bet," Charlie muttered to himself. The lights suddenly dimmed and he looked up as the music changed rhythm and tone.
"Gentlemen, Candy thanks you for your attendance tonight." Whooping and cheering followed the announcement as Candy shimmied her way off stage again. "And, as many of you know, it's time now for the Lords and Ladys' Friday night special... Give her a warm welcome, boys, because it's CHINA."
The audience's cheer was deafening and Charlie blinked in surprise. People were on their feet and he suddenly noticed that the audience was not entirely male: there were more than a few women here and some tables looked like they were groups of mixed friends out for a drink, far more casual than the typical strip club scene. Every one of them was focused on the stage, cheering and clapping. Charlie redirected his attention there, far more interested in what could possibly be coming next.
Instead of coming from the wings, China descended from above. First, a long tangle of braided black hair became visible at the upper-most reaches of the pole. Her hair was very long and Charlie raised an eyebrow as more of this dancer became visible. Her skin glistened in shades of gold and russet under the harsh spotlights, but she moved with impossible grace, guiding herself down the pole hand over hand, feet tightly gripping the slick metal. When she reached the center of the pole, her feet let go and she poised herself, legs straight and proud as she walked herself down with just her arms. Finally, she caught the pole with her ankles and wound herself back up, tossing her long braids back to give the wildly cheering audience a smoking glance.
Charlie was riveted. He sat at his table, watching her move. She was spellbinding, flexible and lithe, powerful as a tiger and controlled in each point of her toes, each flick of her wrist. Her skin glowed with sweat and a dusting of cosmetic glitter in a way that make it hard for Charlie to breathe. His jaw hung slack and he barely even noticed when the waitress slid a beer against the back of his hand and the burger basket by his elbow. He did come out of his trance long enough to hear her laughter and glanced up, "What?"
"Your first China show?" The waitress beamed at him.
Charlie shifted in his seat uncomfortably and tried to give her a charming smile. "How could you tell?"
"I don't think you've blinked since she came down." She leaned down over his shoulder and whispered close to his ear, "Don't get your hopes up. She doesn't see anyone after hours, not even the other girls. It's like she only exists here." The waitress patted his arm lightly and pursed her lips, running one fingertip over the muscles of his forearm. "Her loss."
Charlie watched her walk away with a smirk, but felt his eyes drawn back to the stage again as soon as the waitress was out of sight. China really was mesmerizing. She was beautiful in a way he couldn't put a finger on, her eyes dark and wide, the arch of her nose strong without detracting from the balance of her face. Her jaw was strong for a woman, but it suited her and the hair that flowed over her shoulders and back was neatly braided. When she looked over the crowd, her eyes seemed to rivet at least one person in particular, draw them out of themselves and drive them wild.
But when her eyes met his, Charlie saw her flinch. Her hands slipped on the pole and her step stuttered. She recovered with a brilliant smile and drove right back into the routine, but he saw something, a worried line between her eyes whenever she looked in his direction. Almost as if she was afraid of him. But why?
“Let’s give China a big round of applause everyone! Wasn’t she awesome?” Sashi bowed and waved to the crowd, still high on the endorphins of performing and the wild energy coming off the crowd. It was almost a full house tonight and he couldn’t keep his smile toned down. He threw kisses out to the crowd, then gave the man down in the far corner another glance. Sashi didn’t remember ever seeing him in a performance before, probably just a drifter pausing for some titties and a burger. But something about him…
He shook himself quickly and gave the audience one more shining smile, then hopped up onto the pole, flipped himself upside-down again and hand-walked up the pole to thunderous, screaming applause.
Jonathan caught Sashi’s feet as he walked himself up the pole and out of sight of the audience. “Good crowd out there tonight,” he said to the stage hand as they worked together to get him safely to the catwalk.
“Charity is over the moon,” Jonathan agreed with a grin. “You were awesome.”
“Thanks,” Sashi beamed. He gripped the railing of the catwalk for a moment while he removed the strappy stilettos. The last thing he needed was to trip and twist his ankle on the catwalk grating.
“There’s some stuff on your table,” he added as Sashi started across the catwalk toward the dressing rooms. “Flowers, the usual.”
Sashi smiled quietly and nodded, “Thanks, Jonathan.”
“Anytime, beautiful.”
The offhanded compliment plunged ice through Sashi’s heart and he was careful to keep his expression friendly until he was well away from the stage hand. Beautiful. He knew he was, knew that China received the attention she did because people saw him as beautiful, men and women alike, but it still sounded so wrong to him. When he heard the word, he saw his father’s face, smiling and happy, praising his beautiful daughter. He saw his mother sobbing, trying to block the blows from his father’s fists. Felt the kick into his ribs and heard his sisters screaming. Beautiful.
He pushed the thoughts and memories away as he descended the stairs into the dressing rooms. Vivi was sitting at her table, applying a tray of false eyelashes carefully. Veronica was lying on the little lounge in the corner, one arm thrown across her face. Her set had gone fairly well, but she obviously had a headache and Sashi slipped a bottle of water into her free hand. The long-limbed blonde smiled faintly in thanks.
He loved these girls. All of them. For all their bickering, all their issues and drama, all the crying fits and drunken insults, they were good people. They were part of why he loved working here, dancing here. He’d even done duets before with a few of them, especially Vivi, whose Scandinavian pale skin and bottle-blonde hair contrasted so dramatically with his own dark skin and black wigs. He smiled, remembering that one. Fire and Ice, they’d been billed. He’d worked the pole in red and orange and black, while Vivi had shimmied in silver and white and blue.
When he reached his dressing table, Sashi smiled wider at the little boxes all over the surface. Four small packages of chocolates, what looked like a bracelet box, and a red long-stemmed rose in a crystal vase. He picked up the long jewelry box and opened it on a gold tennis bracelet set with topaz stones. It was gorgeous and far more expensive than anything he’d ever received before. It included a note and he picked it free of the lining, his expression darkening as he recognized the handwriting: “Baby Bear is sorry.” Rochelle. He dropped the bracelet unceremoniously into the trash beside his table, then turned back to the mirror to start removing his makeup.
Vivi looked up from her mirror, eyebrows arched. “I take it Mama Bear does not accept the apology?”
“No.” Sashi struggled to keep the sneer off his face as he scrubbed his foundation off with more elbow than necessary. “She does not. Because Baby Bear is a roundly buttered bitch who only wants a place to stay where the police won’t think to look.” He threw down the makeup remover cloth and covered his face in frustration. “Girls suck.”
“Some of them do,” Veronica put in from the couch. She pulled her arm back from her face to grin over at them and flick her studded tongue. “Some of them lick, though.” The dark-eyed dancer gave Sashi a playful waggle of her eyebrows. She stood up and took a sip from her water bottle before coming over and wrapping her arms around Sashi’s shoulders. “Who hurt you, baby? Who we gotta kill?”
“You remember Rochelle?”
Vivi dropped her eyeliner with a hiss of disgust and Veronica’s eyes flashed in rage. “Oh, I remember the bitch. We see her around, we’ll send her out.”
“In a body bag,” Vivi added fiercely.
Sashi smiled and ducked his head. “Thanks, guys.”
Veronica kissed the top of his head, snorted, then began pulling pins out of the braided wig. “You know we’d do anything for you, babe. Killing a girl is nothing.”
“Yeah,” Sashi said. “Sort of. There was a guy in the crowd.”
“I thought you liked pussy?”
“I do. I like dick, too.” He shrugged uncomfortably. “Besides. It wasn’t just that he was good looking, which he was, but he was…” he scrunched his face and shook his head, trying to dispel the electricity in those hazel eyes when they’d met his. “Dangerous.”
“I like him already,” Veronica grinned and kissed Sashi on the cheek.
Charlie ate his burger thoughtfully while watching the next act, a pair of brunettes who had an excellent act between the floor and the pole. The waitress hadn’t been kidding: it was a damn good burger and the beer wasn’t the swill most dance clubs put out to keep costs low. Good food, friendly staff, powerhouse entertainment. I wonder if Jenny will just let me sleep here, Charlie smiled to himself as he tucked more fries into his mouth.
“Don’t you turn your back on me, bitch!” The shrill scream ripped through the music of the club and the girl on the pole lost her grip, falling heavily to the stage while her partner dove to try to catch her. The audience craned their necks and looked around, murmuring nervously.
“I should have turned my back on you ages ago,” someone else snarled and Charlie finally spotted the source of the argument: a stately, silver-haired woman had grabbed China by the arm and the dancer was turning back to her with fire in those gorgeous black eyes. “Let me go, Rochelle.”
“You’re mine,” the other woman hissed, fingers digging into China’s upper arm. Bouncers were moving in from the exits and the crowd was parting, rushing to clear the way.
Charlie found himself standing and moving across the space before he could even consider it. “Hands off, lady.”
Rochelle rounded on Charlie with her eyebrows arched in disbelief, “Huh, who is this chump? Your new butt buddy?”
“Let me GO, Rochelle,” China repeated and shrugged her shoulder sharply.
Charlie held his hands out toward Rochelle, palms up. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to. Leave her alone.”
“Her?” Rochelle laughed and let China go with a little shove. “If you only knew what she’s like away from this place.” She turned toward the audience and crowed, “If ALL of you knew, she’d never dance again!” A bouncer put a heavy hand on Rochelle’s shoulder and the two professionals escorted her out, still shouting angrily.
China stood in the hallway, staring after the woman and breathing hard. Charlie watched her elegant profile for a moment, then cleared his throat, “Are you okay? Did she hurt you?”
The dancer turned back to look at him and Charlie caught his breath. Meeting her eyes, especially this close, was like being hit with electricity from a live wire, like licking a spark plug. She looked at him for a long time, then closed her eyes and turned her head, as if it was hard to look away. “Thank you, I’m fine. You didn’t have to step in. That’s why we have bouncers.”
“Still.” Charlie shrugged and pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, suddenly shy. “She was way out of line. What kind of beef did she have with you anyway?”
China smiled, still without looking at him. “She’s my ex.”
“Oh.” Charlie paused, surprised by the disappointment he felt in the pit of his stomach. “I, uh…”
Finally, she looked back up at him and her gentle smile was warm. “It’s okay. I’m fine. Sorry to interrupt your night.”
“Anytime,” Charlie said and she laughed. “Really, it’s no problem.”
“Well, if it’s so little problem,” China’s smile was like staring at a solar eclipse: it seemed dark, but Charlie had a sneaking suspicion that if he stared at her too long, he would go blind from the heat and beauty, “maybe you could buy a girl a drink?”
“Yeah?” Charlie smiled a little hopefully.
“Yeah,” China’s eyes sparkled, “my girl Jenny’s looking kinda lonely over there.” She lifted her chin elegantly to indicate the ash blonde sitting at the bar with a cigarette smoking in the tray. When Charlie looked away from her toward China, the dark-skinned dancer was gone.
