take a seat at the bar, as Harlin went off to find Jay. When he returned with the manager, Harlin motioned for her to follow them down a long hallway to the man’s office.
At the office door, Jay turned to Harlin. “You stay out here. No need for you inside.”
Harlin was visibly annoyed. He stood fuming at Jay’s nerve in taking his property into the office while telling him to stay outside, but he did not argue. When Alessa walked in, she was relieved to see another woman dressed in her kind of costume sitting in front of Jay’s desk.
The manager took his position behind the desk and gestured toward the woman. “This is Shiver. That’s the name we use for her here because the men say when she dances, it makes them shiver from head to toe. Shiver helps me with all the girls here. Keeps things in order and prevents the girls from trying to make money on the side doing the kind of things I don’t allow in my bar.”
Alessa extended her hand, and Shiver stood up and grasped it firmly. Pulling Alessa toward her, she wrapped her in a heartfelt hug. Responding to the warmth and friendliness of the embrace, Alessa felt herself melting into it. Shiver instinctively liked the young girl. She could sense by the response to her hug that Alessa was nervous, and a stab of empathy swirled in her belly.
“Okay,” Jay said briskly, “take off that robe so we can see what you got underneath there.”
Alessa complied. At the sight of her tight, young body, a smile spread across the manager’s face. He instructed her to turn around and was pleased to see she was well-toned. And if she could dance, she would be a great addition to his lineup.
Turning on the music, he told Alessa to relax and dance the way she wanted to. Her gaze flashed to Shiver, who smiled and gave her a quick nod. A minute later, Alessa was moving to the music, caught up in its beat, as if there were no one else in the room. She threw in some moves Harlin had made her practice in his living room. She bent over and touched her toes, swaying her butt high in the air the way Harlin had instructed her.
The manager and Shiver exchanged a look that confirmed the newcomer was a keeper. When the music stopped, Alessa appeared to emerge from a trance.
“Did I do okay?” she asked, as she caught Jay and Shiver smiling at her.
“Yeah, you did better than okay,” the manager assured her. “I want to get you out there tonight. Shiver will teach you some moves that can help make you some more money. She will help you with everything you need. If our customers like you—which I’m pretty certain they will—I’ll need you to work at least five nights a week. You okay with that?”
Feeling quite at ease with the two by now, Alessa readily agreed. She already had a level of comfort with Shiver. Neither she nor Jay had done anything or made Alessa do anything to embarrass her or make her feel cheap. After Jay had left the girls on their own in his office, Shiver turned to Alessa.
“You’re gonna like it here,” she told her. “Jay is a cool guy. He doesn’t pull any crap with his girls. Just so you know, he won’t tolerate you having sex with or giving sex to any of his customers. He will fire you immediately if he finds out that you did. All you need to do here is strip, dance, and socialize. The clientele is pretty decent. Of course, you’ll have some jerks trying to get you to do stuff, but firmly refuse them.”
Alessa was immensely relieved to have Shiver confirm that having sex with the customers was off-limits. Her sense of betrayal from Harlin forcing her to dance for his crew made her question his advice of everything he had told her so far about the profession.
Shiver led Alessa into the dressing room, where four other girls were doing their hair and makeup. They all looked up as the two came in.
“This is Alessa,” Shiver said, introducing her. “She doesn’t have a stage name yet, but I’m taking suggestions, once you see what she’s got. Alessa hasn’t danced in a club before, so we need to watch out for her and make sure things go smoothly.”
The other women were as welcoming as Shiver had been, and Alessa felt things might work out. Shiver was quick to get her out on the stage. She assured her that the men would love her. The two practiced moves on the pole in the dressing room. For the moment, her instructions to Alessa were to dance with the pole as though it were a lover. Most girls could hang on the pole and do other things that required practice.
“Over time, we’ll all teach you new moves and ways to dance. For now, go out and do what you did in Jay’s office. For a while, the men will like that you are new and trying to find your way.” Shiver walked Alessa to the curtain behind the stage. “I picked a good song for you to start with,” she told her. “It has a great beat—not too slow and not too fast. It’s perfect for your debut.”
Shiver smiled warmly at the newcomer. She could see Alessa was becoming nervous again. Remembering how petrified she had been the first time she went out on stage. Shiver added, “Listen, you and I are going out there together. Once you get your rhythm, I’ll go offstage and you can keep going, okay?”
The tension drained from Alessa’s body. She was more relaxed, knowing she wouldn’t be out there alone. She heard the music start and recognized the song—Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me.” She was relieved it was a song she knew. Shiver moved out from behind the curtain, with Alessa following close behind. Shiver danced over to the pole and motioned for her to go to the front of the stage, close to where the men were seated. As Shiver had predicted, the crowd immediately perked up when they noticed the newcomer.
Alessa moved to the music like she normally would without an all-male audience staring at her. Then Shiver was behind her, wrapping an arm around Alessa’s waist.
“Get down on the stage and move around, honey,” Shiver whispered.
The men had been steadily laying money on the stage while Alessa was dancing. When she got down on her hands and knees and swayed to the music, the money flew at her so fast she was shocked. The men went crazy, throwing dollar bills at the stage. When the song stopped, she rose to her feet with as much grace and dignity as she could muster and walked offstage. She was exhilarated by the feeling of having kept a roomful of men captivated while she danced.
As she was talking to Shiver, a tall man who worked at the bar came over. He handed her a stack of dollar bills. “This was for your dance. You left it onstage.”
Shiver laughed at Alessa’s confusion. “That’s the money the men threw onstage,” she explained. “After you finish your act, you need to delicately pick up all the money and take it with you.”
Caught up in the pleasure of her performance, Alessa had forgotten about the money the men had tossed at her. When the two girls got back to the dressing room, she took all the bills and laid them on a table. She and Shiver counted the money. Alessa had made eighty-eight dollars. She was beside herself with delight. She couldn’t believe she made that much money in three minutes. She reached over and hugged Shiver.
“You and I should split this money,” Alessa offered. “You danced with me.”
“No, that’s your money,” Shiver told her. “I left the stage a minute after I led you on. That’s my way of saying, ‘Welcome.’ We’re a family here. We all help each other, and there is plenty of money to go around. We have generous clients.”
Alessa hugged Shiver warmly, thankful she had met her and relieved this place wasn’t as bad as she had believed it to be.
“Okay,” Shiver declared, “well, you’re done for tonight. I’m sure Jay is happy with what he saw out there. The men were impressed. They sure hooted and hollered enough. It means they liked you. You go home and rest. Be back here tomorrow night at seven, okay?”
Alessa nodded, put her robe on, and headed back out to the bar where Harlin was waiting. He smiled when he saw her coming. “How much did you make?”
Alessa told him the amount.
“That’s good for your first dance,” he declared. “You were great. You’ll need some more pointers from me. Over time, I’ll teach you what men are looking for.”
In an instant, Alessa’s mood was ruined. She didn’t want Harlin telling her what to do. She had Shiver and the other girls now. They would help her with that. Pushing back the feeling of despondency that threatened to overtake her, she decided she’d be happy with how the evening had turned out. She couldn’t wait to tell Tasha everything when they got back to North Philly.
On the ride home, Harlin and his crew talked about Alessa and the other girls at the club as she tried to ignore them.
Once she had entered Harlin’s house, he grabbed her by the arm, and she turned to face him. “You need to give me half of your money.”
Alessa took the money from her small purse and handed him forty-four dollars.
“At the end of your first full week,” he added, “you’re gonna need to pay me back the two hundred dollars I spent on your costumes.”
Alessa promised to pay him. Even though she knew by now that it was all about money for Harlin, she had mistakenly believed he might care for her as a person. She realized that the sooner he was paid off, the better off she’d be. Alessa was annoyed at the things he made her do earlier, and she harbored a twinge of bitterness toward him. He had treated her like she was nothing, and she didn’t like it. Not one bit.
