Troika Read Online Free

That’s how I do it. I shut it down fast, ’cause most of the time you never see the good ones again. The creeps, for some reason they’re regulars. There’s a smelly lawyer who comes around every damn night it seems, stained pants and bad breath with teeth all crooked, but he’s got tons of money, so what can you do. But for a guy like Julian, you know it’s just a little escape for him, gets him fixed up and sets him off on the road all clear and focused. It’s like getting a B-12 shot, but even better.
    Then one night Julian walks in a few minutes before my shift ends, around quarter of nine. I’m on the stage, tired from working all day, barely moving, and everything’s looking foggy around me. I usually wear these grips on the soles of my platforms so I don’t slipon the stage. But both of them fell off—they don’t last too long—and now sure enough I’m sliding around like I’m on an ice rink. I’ll get new grips tomorrow, but the best thing I can do for now is stay close to the pole, keep my balance, and that’s what I do. But when I see Julian come in, it’s like a current runs through me, takes me out of my funk and suddenly I got my bounce back. There’s a big smile on my face and looks like he’s got one too, though it’s hard to tell ’cause of the lights and the smoke and the darkness.
    He walks over to the edge of the stage and I put out my leg. He holds my leg, my lower leg, and he pulls out my garter and wraps a one-dollar bill around it. Now, I know it’s a joke and he knows that I know it’s a joke, which makes it even funnier. He snaps the garter real hard against my thigh, like a rubber band, and ooh, it hurts in a nice way. And that snap on my flesh makes my mind real sharp and alert.
    I finish up on the stage ’cause it’s time for the new girl, Shanna, to come up. Shanna’s the flavor of the month, black girl, little tits, real ditzy like a blonde on a sitcom but she’s not blonde, and I like her. She’s impossible not to like. So I put my clothing back on, though there’s not much of it really so it doesn’t take long, and sit down next to Julian. I give him a playful peck on the cheek, my signature move, and he puts his hand down on my thigh real nice. Then I pick it up, his hand, and hold it to the light to see if he’s got the indentation. All clear, I say, and he smiles ’cause he knows exactly what I’m doing. But part of me doesn’t believe the guy, ’cause he’s so cute and seems like he’s got some money, so what’s he doing without a ring and a wife?
    The clock on the wall—that’s the one they go by for figuring out the shifts—says five minutes before nine. And that means I got to be off the floor real quick or I’m paying for more time. That’s how it works here. The girls pay a house fee to dance, seventy-five bucks ashift, and if you go over, you’re coughing up more dough. Be right back, I say, don’t go anywhere ’cause I’m just getting my stuff. I make a run for the changing room and Julian taps his seat like he’s staying, then I say on second thought meet me in the lot out back, that’s where I park my car.
    Now, there’s some girls who think twenty steps ahead, always playing things out in their mind and preparing for all sorts of different outcomes. But right now, I’m not that girl. And I’m not even thinking
one
step ahead. The only thing I’m thinking is that I’m just real happy to see Julian, I’ve been real lonely lately, and maybe we can go get a bite to eat and talk a bit, something normal. Since I started dancing, there were only a couple of times I met a customer outside the club. Real sweet guys, both of them, and that’s the only reason I did it. Nothing much happened with either of them, just a nice meal and some good conversation—two people making a little connection for a couple of hours then going on with their lives. But you have to be real careful ’cause there’s some serious freaks out there, and