The last melodies of her song fizzled out, allowing her to end in her final position. To the crowd, she knew she looked like a sexy silhouette bent with her juicy ass in the air. She knew the lights bounced off the sexy panther tattoo she had on the back of her shoulder, which only drove niggas even more wild.
She grinned as more money rained down on the stage. The stage manager, Kelly, hurried onto the platform and helped Sweetie down as she bossed the guards around to pick up her money and get it to the owner.
The Honey Pot had been her place of work for the past year. Because of her father, she couldn’t land a job at a more popular or higher end strip club. This one was super low-key and didn’t have many ballers passing through. There were plenty of bachelor and bachelorette parties that came through, and old men who only had a few dollars to spare, but no real big spenders.
“Good set, Sweetie,” one guard said as she expertly stepped off the stage in her six-inch heels.
She adjusted her dark purple bra so her breasts were back in place and smiled at him with a quick nod. “Thanks.”
She rushed toward the back so she could change and then work the room for the rest of the night. She bypassed everyone who worked there, not uttering a word. It wasn’t that she was rude. She just wasn’t super friendly because women never liked her, and niggas never lasted. Nothing had changed since childhood. She still didn’t have any friends.
Her mind wandered to junior high as she opened her locker and pulled out her second outfit for the night. Junior high changed everything for her.Everything. Her father had pulled her out of that school so quickly, and she never had a normal schooling experience since. Her mom homeschooled both her and Audra. That caused a huge rift between her and her sister. Audra was a social butterfly, and she hated being homeschooled. She blamed Sweetie for messing it up for them.
Sweetie blamed herself too.
With a sigh, she closed the locker and quickly got changed before stepping back out into the main room. It was dark, and smoke filled the space. She strutted in her orange two piece set that showed off her toned body and soft curves.
“Damn, baby girl. You finer than a two-dollar bill,” an older gentleman said as he gently grabbed her hand.
Sweetie tried not to giggle. She didn’t even know what the hell that was supposed to mean. Older men and their pickup lines rarely made sense to her and always made her laugh. They were mostly harmless. She would much rather dance for an older man than one of these broke ass YNs who thought the world owed them.
“You want a dance, daddy?” She purred as she leaned down to talk in his ear. She had long ago mastered the art of seduction.
Before the man could open his mouth full of dentures to speak, Sherry, one of the bottle girls, shouted Sweetie’s name. “There’s a table requesting you for the night!”
Sweetie grinned. She knew that meant money, and she was thankful. The motel she lived in needed to be paid up another week, and her own table for the night would secure that.
“Sorry, baby. Another time,” she whispered to the man.
He frowned but nodded in understanding before she turned to leave. Her vicious walk carried her over to Sherry, who was at the bar waiting on drinks.
“Just give me a second, and you can follow me over to the table. You got lucky, girl. It’s a big party, and they only requested three girls. You were the only one they wanted by name.”
Her curiosity piqued. Sweetie waited patiently for Sherry’s drink tray to be filled before she followed her through the crowd of smoke and people. When her eyes landed on Chloe, Sweetie beamed.
“There’s my girl!” Chloe hopped up and wrapped her arms around Sweetie’s neck.
Sweetie reciprocated. She never got along with other girls, but Chloe seemed to be the exception. They weren’t friends, but any time Chloe came to The Honey Pot, they were definitely friendly. Not only that, but Chloe always cashed out on Sweetie.
“Chlo-money. It’s good to see you,” Sweetie said in a syrupy tone.
“And it’s always better to see you,” Chloe said as she pulled away.
“What’s the occasion?” Sweetie asked as she glanced briefly behind Chloe to see a ton of people, mainly niggas, in her section. Chloe normally only ever came with a friend, maybe two, so the gang of people with her was out of the norm.
“It’s my birthday!” She clapped and squealed, and Sweetie grinned. She could tell the woman had a few drinks already.
“Aw, and you came here to spend it with me,” Sweetie gushed playfully.
“Damn right I did! This place may not be all that, but you are. I still don’t understand why you work here.” Chloe frowned, and she seemed to finally take in her surroundings.
She wasn’t lying. The place really wasn’t all that, and Sweetie did deserve a better workplace, but shit had been hard for her over the past year. She didn’t expect a better job to fall into her lap no time soon.
A year ago, she had finally had enough of her father’s controlling ways. She packed up a few of her things and left. Her father cut her off financially, which Sweetie expected, and she’d been on her own since. She hopped from motel to motel, never able to make enough to get into her own apartment. The high-end strip clubs kept turning down her job applications, and Sweetie knew that was because of her father. He’d found out she was stripping two months after she left his home, and he was enraged.
Instead of responding to Chloe about her working conditions, she said, “Happy birthday, girl. How about a lap dance?”
Chloe clapped. “Yes! But first, let me introduce you to my husband.”
