“Iron Maidens is doing great. Been working there more than the clubhouse recently. You should stop by. Drinks on me,” Roxie said, and I was pleasantly surprised at her invitation.
“That sounds like fun. I haven’t been there before, so I’m excited to check it out. Star, will you come with me?” I asked, turning to the friendly blonde.
“Oh, sure! Just tell me when so I can make sure I’m not scheduled that night at Honeys.”
“Honeys?” I asked around a mouthful of pizza.
“Yeah. Hellbound Honeys. It’s one of the strip clubs the MC owns.” Nodding, I suddenly recognized the name. The ledgers were sitting in my apartment, waiting for my attention. I had made my way through most of the other books first, and it was easy to see that there weren’t any discrepancies with those businesses.
“Do you like it there?” I asked, and Star seemed surprised by my interest.
“Oh, well, they’re really nice over at Honeys. That’s how I wound up here, ya know, as a club girl,” she said, and I nodded, trying to keep my face neutral to encourage her to share more if she wanted to. Star glanced at Roxie before turning back to me.
“I grew up a few towns over. Never knew my dad. Mom... Well, she wasn’t exactly winning any parent of the year awards. Dropped out of school right before graduation once I found a job willing to pay me under the table. My mom was real sick. She wasn’t much of a mom, but I still wanted to help. Anyways, I was a cheerleader and on the dance team in school up until then. Stripping, well, it felt so easy. I just zoned out for a bit, danced to a few songs, and made more cash than I’d ever seen in my life.
“As soon as I turned eighteen, though, the boss—this old creepy dude, Stan—said I was ready to work the back rooms. I thought it was just lap dances, but it was...” she trailed off, incredibly hesitant before shaking herself off.
“I didn’t want to do it, and one of the Reaper’s Guards told me about Honeys, and I auditioned right away. They treated me so good, paid me more than I ever had before. Was able to get my mom through hospice and eventually pay for her funeral bills,” she said before pasting a tight-looking smile on her face.
“Anyway, they’re nice there. Well, everyone other than Crow. Usually, they’re pretty flexible with the schedule, so let me knowwhat night you want to go out!” I coughed at that, and had to gulp down some soda before I could reply.
“Crow runs the strip clubs?” I was surprised, yet not at all. Of course that would be the one area of business he was interested in.
“I think so? He’s the one Brother who is there most often, and he has an office. I’m not really sure what his title is. He sort of comes and goes as he pleases. Ginger—she’s the bar manager—is really the one who does all the work. Our schedules and paychecks, inventory. All that sort of thing.”
“Ugh. I’m sorry. I can’t imagine having to work with Crow. I don’t know how you guys can stand being around him. He just gives me the heebie-jeebies,” I said with a shudder. Roxie barked out a laugh.
“Heebie-jeebies? What are you, nine?”
I rolled my eyes at her before replying, “You know what I mean. He just has that major ick factor about him. It makes no sense to me, since Reaper and Seph are so cool. Sorry. Maybe I’m being too harsh on him.”
“Oh, you’re not. He’s a creep. There’s not supposed to be any fraternization between the employees and dancers, but he’s always hitting on the new girls. At least, on the days he shows up,” Star replied.
“Ew. Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t be able to focus on work with someone like him lurking about,” I said.
“I don’t love it. Actually, I’m not sure I want to keep stripping, honestly, but I don’t know what else I would do,” Star said, looking shy.
“Since when? You’ve never said anything to me,” Roxie said, frowning at her friend.
Star sighed, picking at her pizza before speaking.
“It’s not like I have a specific dream or job that I’ve always wanted to do, but I never thought I would still be stripping. Idon’t mind the MC life, it’s just, with how things turned out, I never really got a chance to try anything else. I never graduated from high school, and now, my only job experience is dancing. I don’t really know what I would do next. Roxie helped me sign up to take my GED, though, so I’ve been studying for that.”
“That’s great!” I replied, happy she had already taken steps to get to where she wanted.
“Thanks. It’s a bit scary. I’m really comfortable here, but I don’t want to let that hold me back. I want to try different things, find out what I like, what I want to be, not what I have to be. You know what I mean?” Star asked. I nodded, far too familiar with that feeling.
“Sometimes, scary is good. Sometimes, it’s the motivation you need to change,” I said in a soft whisper, recognizing I was speaking it to myself as much as I was to Star.
“Okay, now you guys are getting emo. Star, you’re gonna kick the GED exam’s ass, and whatever you decide to do after that, we’ll both be here to help,” Roxie interjected, and I laughed at her rude yet kind remark.
“Fine, fine. Let’s talk about our night out then. Can I invite Charlie?” I asked, hoping to take some pressure off Star.
“As long as she’s cool with it. You know, being out with club girls.”
I sighed, getting a little annoyed at the separation.
“Either of you ever fuck Bash?” I asked, and they both looked like I had slapped them.
