Roxanne sat in her car and watched as Tony Jr., precariously balanced on top of a bar stool, hung a long blue and white tinsel garland over the front door of the Gold Dollar Lounge.
They look like Hanukkah decorations, she thought.
He finished hanging the garland and leaned back to look at his work, nearly falling over backwards and flapping his arms to regain his balance. When he had safely climbed down from his perch, Roxanne got out of the car and approached him.
He smiled and held up his arms when he saw her. Roxanne stepped forward and he gave her a tight hug.
"Welcome back," he said, "I have missed all you girls."
You don't remember my name, she thought, but she smiled and replied, "I've missed being here."
"Hard to believe it's been so long."
Roxanne nodded. It really was hard to believe that she had last been at the club on a gray and blustery March day and that she was back now on a bright summer afternoon, a year and a half later.
"Well, most of the girls are coming back," Tony said, "I just hope the customers do, too."
"I spoke to Dominique a few weeks ago. She said with what she's making online, she isn't interested in dancing anymore."
"I'm surprised you didn't say the same."
"I'm kind of surprised myself."
She had thought long and hard about returning to the Gold Dollar, and still wasn't sure why she was; she was making pretty good money doing cam shows. But she really did not like doing them. It was too impersonal; masturbating in front of a camera, faking orgasms and feigning enthusiasm for every bizarre kink the customers fantasized about. She fed off the energy of her audience when she danced, that was absent when the only reaction she received was text on a screen. But it was good money, and there was no reason she couldn't cam during the day and dance at night.
Tony held a sign reading "WELCOME BACK" up against the door, and asked Roxanne if it was straight. She stepped back and nodded. As he was taping it to the door, she heard a car pull in and turned around.
Sporty, the club's bouncer, was parking his SUV. He smiled and waved when he saw Roxanne, and she waved back.
She had always liked Sporty, and it was good to see him again. But as he crossed the asphalt toward her, she realized that she had never really given much thought to the fact that he was a very attractive man. He was tall and slender, with mocha skin and neatly cropped hair and beard. As he sauntered toward her, he opened his arms, and she enjoyed his hug much more than she had Tony's. It had been a long, lonely lockdown, and it felt good to have a handsome man's strong arms around her after so long.
"How've you been?" she asked him.
"Gettin' by. Doing some odd jobs. Me and my brother have been scrappin', making a few bucks that way."
"Scrapping?"
"Yeah, he's got a truck with a lift gate, we go around and pick up old dryers and refrigerators, rain gutters, shit people throw out. Take it to the junkyard and sell for scrap metal. Gotta do what you gotta do, right?"
"Everybody healthy?"
"My sister caught the 'rona, but she's okay now. What about your people?"
"Some close calls, but it's all good."
Tony interrupted them. "Hey Erwin," he called, "Can you bring in this stool when you come in?"
"Sure, boss."
Roxanne looked up at him over her glasses. "Erwin?" she asked with a grin.
Sporty shook his head and wagged his finger at her. "You ain't heard that," he said.
"I didn't hear a thing."
She held the door as he carried the stool inside, then, at long last, she stepped back into the Gold Dollar.
As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, her first impression was that it smelled much better than it had before. It smelled clean. The floor wasn't sticky. Maybe they even cleaned the bathrooms, she thought.
Crystal sat at the bar in her street clothes. She was a lithe, freckle faced redhead who drew a lot of attention from the men who liked their dancers to look young. Roxanne did not know her well; she had always worked the early day shifts, while Roxanne had always been on nights.
She looked up and smiled when she saw Roxanne enter.
"Hi, Roxy, I didn't think you were coming back."
"You can't keep a trooper away," the club manager, Sherry, said as she stepped out of the storeroom behind the bar. "How are you doing, kiddo?"
"I'm fine," Roxanne said, "I was sorry to hear about your Mom."
Sherry shrugged. "Thanks. Lots of people lost someone. Hope your folks are all okay."
"My dad and his partner both tested positive, but they didn't get sick. Thanks for asking."
The front door opened with a flash of white light and slammed shut with a loud bang. That's got to be her, Roxanne thought.
"I'm back, bitches," Clover shouted as she strutted in.
"Now it's a party," Sherry muttered.
Clover stood with her fists on her hips and looked around. "Am I in the right place?" she asked.
"They cleaned it," Roxanne said.
"No, I meant, when I saw your narrow ass, I thought it was twink night at the gay bar."
Roxanne gave her the finger. Sherry pulled a bottle of tequila from under the bar.
"Well, ladies, how about a toast? Clover, I seem to remember you liked Cuervo."
"Oh, shit," Roxanne laughed, "Just don't give her a match."
Tony and Sporty came in from the back room.
"Come on and join us, fellas," Sherry called. She poured out six shots as the men approached the bar.
"I'll do the honors," Tony said. He raised his glass and the others joined him. "To the return of the Gold Dollar girls."
They clinked glasses together, and drank.
"Now, let's get ready to dance," Tony said.
"Oh, you takin' a pole tonight?" Clover asked, with a snorting laugh.
"He'd probably make more tips than you will," Roxanne said, heading to the dressing room.
"We'll be lucky if any of us make enough to cover our gas to get here," Crystal muttered.
When they walked into the dressing room, the girls were surprised to see that it had been decorated with a rainbow of streamers and a large WELCOME BACK banner. Four vases of roses had been placed on the long makeup table, each adorned with a bow and a card.
"This wasn't Tony's doing, this had to be Georgie," Roxanne said, leaning down to sniff the flowers. She picked up the card and read it. "Yep," she said, "Georgie. He says he will see us tonight."
"Who is the fourth one for?" Crystal asked.
Clover shrugged. "Must be a new girl starting."
"Well, I got to tell you, I am glad to be back," Crystal said as they changed into their dancing outfits. "I mean, my boyfriend makes pretty good money at the canning factory, but still, we had to borrow from my folks and that was no fucking fun."
Roxanne nodded sympathetically. "I feel kind of guilty, but I made as much doing cam shows as I did dancing, and didn't have to leave the house."
"I've got young kids at home," Crystal sighed.
"I tried that cam show shit," Clover said, "I didn't like it. Some of the guys who come might be big pervs, but a lot of those online dudes are real fucking sickos."
