Lucy had fallen asleep, Alessa left the hostel and headed to the Pink Pussycat, a go-go club in the city. She had talked to their roommates at the hostel, who were eager to help her by minding Lucy.
When she reached the club and asked for the manager, the bartender eyed her guardedly. “Wait here,” he directed. “I’ll go get him.”
As Alessa waited, she took in the sights of the club. It was a much larger place than Doubles, but that was not the only difference. The girls who worked there were different, too, but in a way that made her heart sink. They were downright sleazy, and the customers—men of all ages, most of them piss-drunk. As the girls danced on stage, their clients kept touching them. Most dancers were topless, and a few weren’t wearing bottoms either. Not surprisingly, there wasn’t a vacant seat offering a ringside view. As at Doubles, the girls who weren’t dancing were busy mingling with the customers. Alessa noticed some leading customers through a door next to the stage and guessed the lap dance rooms lay beyond.
The bartender eventually returned and asked Alessa to have a seat at the bar. Ten minutes later, a short man with blond hair emerged through a door behind the bar. He was nicely tanned with ocean-blue eyes. Alessa thought he was built well, and his clothes looked expensive. He was very good-looking. Had he been taller, he would have been perfect, she decided.
The man approached her and held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Parker,” he said. “What can I do for you?”
Alessa didn’t feel nervous. She had watched the girls dancing and knew she was way better at it than any of them. “I’m Alessa,” she told him. “My stage name is Rana. I’m looking for a dancing job. I have experience. Do you need anyone?”
Parker studied her from head to toe. She’s decent looking enough, he thought. She needs makeup and would have to do something with that rat nest of hair on her head.
Interested in her, he leaned closer. “Yeah,” he said. “Why don’t you change into your costume and I’ll take a look at what you got to offer?”
Alessa had forgotten all about a costume. She had no money to buy one anyway. “Well, I sort of left all of my costumes behind from my last gig. I don’t have the money to buy any yet. Sooooo, what do you wanna do?”
Parker placed his hand on his chin. “Okay, I see. This is a tough business. Here’s what we can do. You’re wearing underwear, right?”
Alessa nodded.
“Let’s go in the back and I’ll take a look at what you can do.”
Alessa followed Parker into his office. When he closed the door, she realized it would be only the two of them. He sat on a loveseat and turned on the music. “Okay, let’s see it.”
Alessa danced and was instantly swept away by the music. It came as naturally to her as riding a bike did to others. She kicked off her shoes and slowly removed her shirt. Next, she slowly slid her jeans off. She turned around and continued to dance for him. She was moving flawlessly to the rhythm of the music.
When the song finished, she opened her eyes and stared at Parker.
“Yeah, baby, that was good,” he said with approval.
Alessa quickly put her clothes back on. She looked him in the eyes. “Well?”
“Yeah. Tomorrow night, be here at seven thirty.”
“I need a hundred dollars to buy a couple of costumes,” Alessa demanded.
Parker pulled the money from his pocket and handed it to her. As she turned to leave, he grunted. “Girl, you’re going to make a lot of money here.”
Alessa put her hand on her hip and looked at him with disgust. “I’m counting on it. If I don’t make enough money here, then I’ll go to one of the other clubs in the city. I need nights, can’t work day shift at all, and want Friday and Saturday nights.”
Alessa knew how to play the game. She didn’t like it, but she did it well. She was grateful to have a job, but in her new maturity, she would not let Parker think he would dictate the terms of her employment. She had Lucy to worry about, and nights were all she would work.
The next few days fell into place as Alessa had hoped. Ebby had gotten Lucy into the Penn Alexander School without too much trouble. The little girl was now nine years old and should have been in fourth grade, but she had been out of school for the past year. So Ebby put her into third grade to start. Lucy knew no better and was thrilled to be going back to school again.
