“Oh, hell yeah. You don't evenknow. I still can't believe it's been five damn years. Five years plus hard work equals me with my freedom from Elgin and his money problems.”
Laughing, Elleane said, “I still remember your first night at the club. You came in, super modest, and filled to the brim with attitude and ass.” They all giggled, Haven a little less sincerely than the others.
“Well, we’d just emptied the last of the money from my savings account, and I was desperate.” For the second time that day, five-year-old memories swamped her.
She’d met Elgin at UPenn in Philly where she’d begun her nursing studies. He was the hottest guy she’d ever seen, and he made every naive bone in her body melt under his gaze. She fell fast and hard, and they got married three months later. Soon after her courthouse wedding, she discovered his ugly little secret. He had a gambling addiction, and he owed $125,000 to loan sharks. The money she’d saved through high school didn’t last long, and within eight months of marriage, she was heartbroken, drowning in debt, and in desperate need of a job. She had no idea where to get one that paid enough to keep Elgin’s bookies from breaking her legsandkeep a roof over her head.
Craigslist had been the answer to her prayers.
DELICIOUS.
NOW HIRING WAITRESSES & DANCERS.
APPLY IN PERSON.
GREAT PAY.
She couldn’t afford to finish out the school year anyway, and waitressing wouldn’t be so hard.
She applied for a waitressing position, but her new boss had other ideas.
Honestly, she didn’t care what she did as long as she didn’t have to ask her parents for money. Not that they had any. Going home wasnotan option. Her stepfather was reason enough to never step foot in town again. He’d gloat over her failure like the Devil did over gullible sinners.
She’d changed a lot in the five years since she left. The naïve nineteen-year-old girl who’d lived life under the ridiculing eye of self-righteous town folk and their mean daughters didn’t exist. A smart-mouthed, no-nonsense woman took her place.
She pushed the memories aside and tried to live in the moment, turning to look at her friends.
Elleane gulped almost half of her beer, and burped. “After this we should head to the games. I want to win a blow-up doll.”
Haven and Rhiannon joined her in the merriment, creating a chorus of ribald laughter. A passing balloon vendor interrupted their revelry by shouting for customers at the top of his lungs.
Glancing at his balloons, they got an eyeful of multi-colored phalluses.
Carnal-Val indeed.
They looked at each other and broke into gales of laughter.
“Too bad those aren't life-sized. I wouldn't mind climbing on top of one if it were attached to that guy.” Elleane finished by pointing to a tall blond deftly handling a giant hammer, smashing it into a flashing platform.
Haven smiled as Elleane fixated on his back and the muscles flexing beneath his black t-shirt.
Carlenna'sCarnal-Val boasted sword-swallowers, jugglers with chainsaws and meat cleavers, half-naked acrobats, a burlesque show, body painting booths, tents filled with pillows and large hookahs, and—Elleane's favorite attraction—the Strongman. His muscles glistened and bulged beneath the weight of three bikini-clad women straddling an enormous plastic penis about the length of a park bench.
Talk about overcompensation.
As daylight dwindled, twilight embraced them.
In the distant reaches of the carnival, music played, but not cheesy carnival music,herkind of music. The kind that called to her on a primal level.
Her skin itched with the need to move, and she wanted to scratch it.
She couldn’t ignore it.
“You guys hear that?” Her voice raised an octave in excitement. Rhiannon and Elleane turned to her with smiles. They knew exactly what she was thinking.
As one, they wound their way to the large white tent cleverly outfitted as an outdoor nightclub.
Bright red and green lights flashed above from the tent’s support poles, and a DJ spun tracks from his perch at the front of the dance floor. Dozens of men and women converged on the tent, hoping to get in on the action.
