Part 1 - Chapter Eight
Maria: New Recruits
Maria said a silent prayer of thanks and smiled. Everything seemed to be working
out. Yes, life was good. The slightly chubby girl she found in the church was
'Charli', short for Charlotte. Rather then walk in the biting wind, Maria hailed
a cab for the trip back to the club. Besides, she wanted to be there early. They
arrived just after four.
"It's C.O.D.," a deliveryman snapped at Rocky as the young women came in the
door.
"I know," Rocky smiled. Because of some lateness in paying for earlier
deliveries, most of his suppliers now demanded cash on delivery. "What's it take
to get on your good side again?"
"You're gettin' there," the man answered. He counted the bills, issued a
receipt, and slid eight cases of bottled beer off his dolly. Then he turned to
go back to his truck for another load.
"And this young lady is the reason," Rocky smiled at Maria. "She's a marketing
genius. Pretty good looking, too, don't you think?"
"Come by after work and I'll do a special dance for you," Maria cooed at the man
as he appraised her legs.
"No, thanks. I have a wife and kids to go back to."
"Good for you," Maria chirped. "I'll save that special dance for later. Rocky,
this is Charli. She needs a job."
"You have to be over eighteen. Do you have ID?"
The girl sat down and removed her shoes. Under an insole, she pulled out her
learner's permit from Ohio and handed it to him. "I'll need proof of citizenship
within a month, a birth certificate, original social security card, or..."
Before he could finish, Charli produced her original social security card from
under the insole of her other shoe. "You're hired, then."
Maria saw movement at the front door. Two faces peeked through the heavy drapes.
"Come on in," Maria called, waving to them.
It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the relative darkness before they
moved toward the bar. "We's lookin' for jobs," one said. Maria and Rocky looked
them over, glanced at each other, then back at the newcomers.
"We are looking for dancers," Maria said carefully. "But you have to get off the
smack first."
"I don't do drugs," one snapped.
"Your eyes say you do," Rocky said. "Let's see your arms."
"Why the fuck you care? Shit, I can dance neked. I ..."
"Come back after you've been clean for a while. Then we'll talk," Rocky growled.
"But not before. Maybe I should call the cops. Are you carrying now?" Mumbling
curses and profanity, the pair quickly left.
"We still _do_ need more dancers," Maria sighed aloud.
"How about me?" a squeaky, accented voice asked softly from the shadows by the
doorway. "And me? Us?" a second voice asked.
Rocky saw movement in the dark area beside the curtains. The glare when the
first pair left temporarily blinded him. "Are you straight?"
"What do you mean by that?" a third voice demanded.
"Do you do drugs?"
"No way."
"Come on over here," Maria suggested. The new trio came forward, obviously
nervous. "You're all over eighteen?"
"Yes," each answered.
"Got ID?" Each produced a driver's license. "You're an answer to my prayers,"
Maria smiled, returning the identification cards. "Have you danced before?"
"Not in a joint like this."
"Need money, huh?" Maria said.
"Doesn't everybody?" came the snappy retort.
"Don't be so defensive," Maria told the big mulatto woman. "Gay gals turn guys
on like crazy. They're perfect. If he gets you, he brags about being so good he
turned a gay woman straight. If you shoot him down, he just says, 'Ah, she's
queer anyway.' It's a perfect setup for a fragile male ego."
"What makes you think I'm gay?" the mulatto asked.
"Because you look like a dyke." Maria saw no reason to lie.
"OK, so what if I _AM_ gay?"
"You won't mind being naked in front of a crowd of horny men?"
Her embarrassment was obvious. "No."
"Did you bring something to dance in? Good. Come on upstairs. Say, how'd you
find us?" Maria asked.
"Old Tom told me about your place," the smallest woman with the accent replied.
"Rocky, right at five, put on something with lots of rhythm and we'll all make a
grand entrance," Maria said as she left. He acknowledged his instructions with a
smile and a salute. He trusted Maria's instincts.
They were all upstairs before Maria got a good look at the new trio. Each was
unique. Melissa was a petite, very dark- complected, Afro-Asian with long black
wavy hair that extended past her butt. Her small breasts looked large on her
tiny frame.
Denise was very light-complected, obviously mulatto, and looked like the
stereotypical bull dyke with large, well-defined muscles, small breasts,
masculine attire, and dark brown, curly hair with a reddish tint styled in a
masculine flat-top. The sprinkle of freckles around her nose gave her a youthful
look.
Jane, short for Janice, was average height, curvy, black, and ultra feminine
looking. Charli stood nervously in the corner of the dressing room, just
observing the strange goings on. Maria seemed to have no inhibitions at all.
"Are you horny all the time?" Maria asked Denise. "You look kind of mannish and
full of testosterone. Is your clit' big?"
The mulatto's blush was obvious. "All of the above," Jane answered for her. "I'm
trying to tame her."
"So you're gay and kinky, too," Maria observed of Jane.
"For now," Jane shrugged. "None of us hates guys."
"Wear white if you have it," Maria advised as the women began to undress. "The
black lights make white stuff glow and it gets attention. Kat's the boss. She'll
explain everything." Maria ran down the hallway and knocked on Kat's apartment
door. On the way back to the dressing room, they found Gutter Rat in the hall.
"Didn't think I'd come, did you?" the girl challenged loudly.
"I'm glad you did," Maria grinned, motioning the youngster into the dressing
room.
"I'll start with the law," Kat addressed the group. "You can't touch the guys.
Dancing nude at tables is illegal. You can only be naked on stage. We bend that
rule sometimes but let's keep to it for now. You can't touch yourself sexually,
which includes your butt, nipples, and pussy. We bend that rule, too. You can be
arrested, and we can be shut down, if the cops see it and have a hard-on for us.
A set is three songs of about three minutes each. Everybody..."
Charli barely heard Kat's explanation. She feared that she couldn't dance nude.
Revealing her body to her boyfriend had been hard for her. Even hooking for a
pimp in New York, guys just wanted to get off. She got them off as quickly as
possible. That seldom required that she let the john see her nude. She could
usually just pull the crotch of her panties to the side for a fuck. Blow jobs
didn't require nudity, although a lot of guys wanted to see her tits.
"Let's see what we can find for you to wear," Maria said to her. "Get your
clothes off. Want me to help? Or me and Jane, maybe?" the Latina teased Charli.
"I... I don't think I can do this." Charli had always been ashamed of her body.
Some people described her as voluptuous or Rubenesque. Most said she was chubby.
Those who were less kind called her fat.
"Why?" Maria asked with genuine concern.
"I just can't."
"Can't? Or won't. Charli, this is legal and it pays good."
"I'll... Nobody'll pay to see my body."
"Bull," Maria snapped. "First, you're cute and so is your baby fat. Maybe you
won't make as much as some of these guys. Hell, I won't either, but it's a job.
You need a job, right?" When Charli nodded affirmatively, Maria teased, "If you
have any fantasies, try them out here. How about if us lesbian and bi- sexuals
gang up on you, huh? Would you like that? Or maybe you'd rather do it yourself?
Oh, well. Hey, try this." Maria produced the stretchy white lingerie she wore
the night before. "It's small to show off your bod'," Maria giggled.
Feeling like an ox among Thoroughbred racehorses, Charli shyly removed her coat
to reveal a short, white plastic miniskirt and loose tank top. She had no bra.
Maria told her that there was liquid soap in the shower stall and suggested she
use it. "You're a little funky."
A nice way of saying she stank. Charli knew it was true. She hadn't bathed in
several days and, until she met Maria, she had no prospects for a place to stay.
She slept on a bench in the bus station last night. She was about ready to try
to find a trick when Maria found her.
The shower felt heavenly. When she turned off the water and pulled the shower
curtain back, she was startled by a towel sailing at her. Maria was naked.
Charli bashfully looked away.
The atmosphere in the apartment that served as their dressing room was one of
intimacy, of female bonding, of mild kinkiness. Charli patted herself dry and
wished the towel was larger, that it would hide more as she held it in front of
her body. Back in the main dressing room, she heard Rat saying, "...through my
clit', just through the hood. It rubs on my love button, though. I can get off
just by pulling on it." Charli saw the skinny girl with her legs splayed out
wide, pulling on a gold ring between her legs.
"I can't do this," Denise whimpered, clamping her legs together tightly with
toes pointed in. She looked like a frightened little girl.
"Why not?" Melissa asked and Jane demanded simultaneously.
"I'm a freak," she sobbed. "I... Shit."
"We're all embarrassed," Maria said softly. Although nude, Maria walked
barefooted to the big mulatto woman and hugged her. "I still get embarrassed in
spite of how it seems."
"But you're not a freak."
Melissa giggled. "Come on, Denni. You promised. Guys'll love it."
"No, they won't. They'll make fun of me."
"Which'll make you extra money," Maria pointed out. "My friend Katy -- they call
her Kitten or Vanilla -- she blushes when she has to do a table dance. Guys pay
her to table dance just to see her blush."
"And they'll pay to see your little pecker," Jane snapped.
"Pecker?" Maria asked. "Are you transsexual or a hermaphrodite or something?"
"I'm just a freak," she snapped, tears still pouring out.
"Her clit's like a little pecker," Melissa told everyone. "It's like two or
three inches long, big enough to give a blow job."
"Like you'd know," Jane snapped.
"She told me you gave her one," Melissa giggled. "Didn't you?"
"So?" Jane growled.
"Exactly," Maria said firmly. "So what? My friend who'll be here later is the
same way. She's horny all the time and has a big clit'. So what? She gets
embarrassed because once she gets turned on, her panties rub her and keep her
turned on. Her clit's as big as the end of your thumb."
"We're all freaks," Rat said. "I have to work at it. You come by it natural.
Like they say, so what?"
"Can I see?" Maria asked shyly.
"Do you have any inhibitions at all?" Charli asked. She laughed, feeling more
comfortable now that she saw that everyone was ignoring her fat.
"I'm actually terribly inhibited. You wouldn't believe," Maria laughed. "I have
a voice inside my head that makes me be completely honest even when it
embarrasses me. I call it my Mental Mistress or MM, for short. I learned to be
assertive and open last summer. Now MM makes me keep it up but I'm basically
really shy."
"Couldn't tell it by me," Jane snapped.
"You guys are all together, aren't you?" It was a statement, not really a
question.
"Yeah, Maria," Melissa said. "We're all freaks. We met in high school. We were
the school outcasts. Janice is gay and black, Denni has mixed parents and a big
clit that she's always afraid someone will see, and I'm another mongrel, adopted
orphan. We're not at all [Image] alike but we get along great. Usually."
"How'd you decide to give nude dancing a try?" Maria asked.
"Old Tom. When we graduated high school last spring, we got an apartment in his
building. We talk to him pretty often and were griping about our jobs and never
having any money."
"It's a three bedroom apartment," Denni pointed out. "I'm not really gay."
Maria broke in. "Personally, I'm multi-sexual. As long as I'm forced to get off,
I can get off on men, women, vibrators, cucumbers, and dildos but I usually
settle for my fingers. I'm technically a virgin because I won't let a penis into
my honey pot until after I'm married, but I've taken a cock in my butt, sucked a
couple, and I gave some guys outstanding tittie fucks. I got off on that. Oops.
There's the music. No chickening out, now. Want me to be first?"
"If you don't mind," Jane answered.
"No, me," Charlie said, jumping up. "If I don't go now, I won't be able to go at
all."
"Shoes," Maria nodded. Charli quickly slipped on her cheap, white plastic pumps
and ran out the door and down to the mezzanine. The song Rocky put on was just
drums beating out a slow rock'n'roll march rhythm like the introduction to
Rose's 'Stripper'. "Put your hands behind your head," Maria whispered to Charli
as they walked across the mezzanine toward the main stairs down to the ground
level. "It'll lift your boobs and make 'em look bigger. And smile."
As soon as the line of women appeared, all the men in the place started
applauding. There were only twenty or so customers, but they made up for small
numbers with enthusiasm.
Charli sucked in her belly and turned to descend the stairs. It amazed her that
men were actually clapping and whistling... at her. Charli knew she was going to
die of embarrassment before she got down the stairs. "Smile," Maria yelled after
her. She couldn't help but smile back at all the faces smiling up at her as she
took one step every four beats, rocking her hips in time with the other three
beats.
For the sake of the dancers (and to lower fuel bills), Kat kept the club cool.
For Charli, the result was hard nipples poking against the tight, flimsy top.
She prayed that no one would notice.
Everyone noticed.
At home, forever ago, Charli loved dancing. Never having a male partner didn't
change her love of rhythmic body movement. In high school, fat girls didn't get
asked out to dances. That didn't stop Charli from dancing in front of her mirror
at home. Now she looked over the heads of the men and pretended there was
nothing out there but the mirror over the dresser in her bedroom. With arms held
high over her head, she kept moving when she got to the main floor. Only the far
side of the stage had steps. She had to dance all the way around the stage with
Rocky spotlighting her every move.
Maria held the rest of the women behind the rail that circled the upper level.
"I can't," Denise whispered to Maria as they watched Charli.
"Take a deep breath and hold it," Maria ordered. "Otherwise you're going to
hyperventilate and fall out."
"I can't even move," Denise groaned. "I'm turned on like crazy. My little
pecker's rubbing against my panties."
"Take 'em off," Maria said. "I've got it." She ran back to the dressing room and
came back with the wrap-around skirt and top she wore the night she found Kit
Kat's. "Take off your panties and just wear this."
Denise put on the skirt first, afraid someone would see her naked bottom. Maria
laughed to herself. Logically, she was going to be dancing naked in a few
minutes, so what was the big deal? But Maria had just gone through the same
ordeal. She understood Denni's need to preserve some modesty for just a little
longer.
The first song ended when Kat was half way down the stairs and another drum
piece with a Conga beat began. Kat picked up on it immediately, two steps
forward, one back, hip thrust right, two steps forward, one back, hip thrust
left, two steps... The younger women all prayed silently that they would look as
good at thirty.
Maria directed traffic. She sent Rat next. Alternating dark and light skin
suited Maria's aesthetic sense. She saw through Rat's bravado. The girl with the
colored hair and piercings was just as frightened as the rest but hid her fear
behind a broad smile and exaggerated locomotion.
"You're next," Maria told Melissa with a tap on her shoulder. At only 4'11", the
little Afro-Asian with long ebony hair was a contrast to the pale, lanky girl
with spiked purple/red hair. Mel, who chose the pseudonym 'China Doll', moved
sensuously and gracefully in comparison with the thrusting and bumping movements
of the women who preceded her. The swishing of her long hair added to the beauty
of her movements as she descended.
"Your turn," Maria told Denni. "Smile and go for it. Just keep moving to the
music. Give 'em a show they won't forget."
"I can't," she whined, even as she allowed Maria to push her to the first step.
"You can, too," Maria scolded. "Your butt hasn't stopped rocking since..."
"I'm about to pop," Denise said through gritted teeth, her eyes scrunched
tightly closed. "I'm ...Oh, fuck. I can't help it. Shit, I'm going to cum."
"Go," Maria ordered Kit, giving her a shove. "Go." Kit danced down the stairs,
hamming it up by turning her back and bending over, twirling so she almost
tripped, and generally having a good time. Her ulterior motive was to watch
Denni have an orgasm from dancing alone.
"You all right now?" Maria asked.
"No," Denni panted. "I can't. I can't go out there and... and..."
"Every guy here will think it's because of him that you're getting off," Maria
told her. "You are going to be a hit. You're sexy and beautiful and wild and
crazy and brave and get your brown ass in gear and get down there."
"I can't."
"Can," Maria said, wrapping her arms around the much bigger woman who looked so
mannish but was acting like such a prissy little girl. "Give me a hand, Jane.
Now let's go." Maria kept alternating orders with encouragement, bumps and
grinds with firm shoves. The feminine Jane worked on the other side. At times,
one pushed and the other pulled the reluctant young woman along until they were
all on stage.
--==*==--
Kit saw that some of the club's patrons were getting impatient, so she took
charge of the stage, taking off her top and teasing with her bottom. Rat
followed along, exposing her pierced nipples to win surprised gasps and then
applause from the men. Everyone was surprised that Melissa was next to shed her
top and then was first to go completely bare. She and Rat began a competition to
see who could be the most daring.
Rat won in the daring department but Melissa's beauty and sensuousness had every
man in the club drooling.
"I'm a freak," Denni whined as Maria and Jane pushed her onto the stage.
"The star of your very own freak show," Maria laughed. "Or will Rat be the star
with her piercings, huh? Melissa's doing all right, too. Now I feel like a cow."
"Me too," Denni whimpered as Jane pulled the string on the skirt and ran to the
back of the stage. "I can't do this."
"You're already doing it," Maria laughed.
"I... I can't... I can't... fuckin'... cum... in front... of... Oh, oh, fuck,
shit, damn, ahhhhhhh." Another orgasm, just from moving, from dancing, from her
pussy lips rubbing her big clit.
"All right now?" Maria asked the youngster who was panting hard.
"For a little while," she replied. "I still don't think I can do this."
"You can't keep cumming all night," Maria laughed. "Want to serve beers or stay
up here?"
"I'll dance now before I get turned on again."
It only took a few minutes for Maria and Kat to serve the guys their first round
of drinks. Maria asked Old Tom if he was ready to help out. "Sure." With his
cane in one hand and a bar stool in the other, he made his way to the back of
the bar at the beer spigots and planted himself on the stool. Since no drafts
needed to be drawn just then, he picked up the masking tape and marker and made
a rotation for the dancers that he posted on the mirror behind his perch. He
even made tapes for Betty Boobs and Sex Kitten with 'Vanilla' in parenthesis. He
set their tapes aside until they arrived.
Now that there were seven dancers, each woman only did a set on stage once an
hour. That gave them more time to wait on customers and table dance. They needed
the help. Word-of-mouth spread the news that Kit Kat's was the place for a good
time for working stiffs. Rocky's price list designated 5 to 7 p.m. as 'Happy
Hour' with special prices. Guys in work clothes and suits came in to hold tables
for their co-workers and ordered a dozen draft beers at a time. By seven, Maria
and Kat had to start seating customers on the mezzanine.
"You didn't tell us about 'break dancing'," Melissa complained to Maria. "I
thought they wanted me to spin around on my head."
"Sorry about that," Maria told her. "Did you figure it out?"
"Yeah. It's nice to have a break once in a while."
"It definitely will be before tonight's over," Maria said, grunting as she
lifted the tray with nine mugs of draft beer and started toward the mezzanine
stairs. Denni followed with a case of candles that Rocky bought that afternoon.
She quickly discovered that it was nearly impossible to get a match to the wick
deep in the glass holders. One of the men offered his help. He used his
pocketknife to split a swizzle stick and used that to hold the match. It worked
perfectly.
The candles Rocky bought from his supplier were on half-price special. That was
the only reason he bought them but his choice was serendipitous. The squarish
shape of the glass focused the light from the flames into four soft beams that
the customers used to illuminate table dancers. Although carrying drinks to the
mezzanine was extra work, the women were rewarded with extra tips and table
dances on the upper level so far from the main stage.
--==*==--
Darlene and Katy were delighted to see the extra help when they arrived at
eight. Old Tom added a short break, quick shower, and costume change to his
rotation schedule. Maria insisted that she and Kit take their break together and
shared the shower. There was no time to play around. After drying off, they
covered each other with bath powder and ended up looking like ghosts under the
black lights.
The radical differences in the women turned out to be a huge draw. Some men
loved Rat's kinky piercings. Others preferred the sensuous grace of Melissa or
Jane. Kit and Maria were popular for their energy while Katy and Denni were in
demand because of their obvious shyness. Darlene's boobs made her popular. And
Kat and Charli took up the slack when everybody else was busy, which was often
enough that they made good money without some special attraction.
At eleven, Darlene and Katy did their special 'Time of My Life' dance. It was
the only real feature of the night and quite a few customers had asked when they
were going to perform. Then Darlene did her 'Popcorn' number, dancing her boobs
as if they were independent of the rest of her body. She was in demand for table
dances for quite a while after that.
One a.m. and 'last call' finally arrived, ending the stage show. Like the
previous evening, table dancing continued until just before the government
mandated closing time at two. When the doors closed behind their last customer,
the women plopped into chairs near the bar. Rocky took time from washing mugs to
fill tall glasses with ice and Sprite. Maria served each of the women before she
sat down across from Denni to count her take.
"Was it as bad as you thought?" Maria asked the mulatto girl.
"No," Denni answered. "But it was more work then I expected."
"Was it worth it?" Maria asked as Denni's count topped two hundred dollars.
"Yeah. Here's my share of the rent," she grinned, reaching back to hand Jane a
stack of bills.
"It _does_ get easier," Kat told them. "And we're not this busy on weeknights.
Hey, Boobs and Vanilla. Go home."
"Yes mazza maam, missus boss-maam maam," Katy panned in a bad imitation of a
nineteenth century Negro slave. Kat made a face. Katy stuck out her tongue and
grinned. Kat smiled back. Even though Kat felt offended by Katy's manner, she
wasn't going to do anything about it just then. She was the boss, after all. She
needed good workers and Katy did her share.
"Uh, Kat," Darlene said seriously. "I can't be here tomorrow night. I need to
spend Saturday night with my family. If I did come, it'd be like ten-thirty or
later and wouldn't really be worth the trip. I... I'm doing this for them. I
want to make things better at home, not worse."
"Hubby problems?"
"Yeah. Making more money then he does, not being there for him, all that."
"We'll manage somehow," Kat told her. "Take care of yourself."
"I'll be back Monday," Darlene promised. "Ah, will you be all right?" she asked
Maria.
"I'm fine. Go on."
