**A continuation of the Miami Whore series**
The voice boomed again, this time from a source noticeably closer.
"HEY! YOU!"
My foot jerked forward. And then the other, and I began stumbling in the opposite direction.
"Don't move, street shit. Don't fucking move!"
By now, my pace had quickened into the beginning of a jog. I recognized that bellowing voice, those padding footsteps. Fear seeped into my veins. The force that drove me was not thought. Not normal consideration. It was a deep, throbbing instinct, like when a gazelle hears a lion's roar. It was a natural and irresistible force that kept me on my feet.
I quickened to a sprint, my sandals scraping against the alley pavement. My lungs heaved, my feet pushing into the ground.
I heard a thwap. And with that, I slammed into the asphalt. My sandal had caught a crack, and my chest was now laying against grimy rock. I pushed myself up again, desperately, abandoning my sandal in hopes of pressing on. But then, I felt a momentous tug. I crashed to the floor again, this time rolling around on my back. I looked up, my eyes squinting from the glaring sun. And finally, I faced my assailant.
Staring down at my cowering form was a tall, thin woman with black heeled boots. Her slender legs, clad in tight denim, hugged her waist with a brown belt and red flannel. Her thick, black hair was tied into dutch braids that framed her round face- a face of a woman about 30 years of age. She looked like an out-of-place cowboy, but I wasn't laughing. I tried to shuffle away, still on my back. But my head clanged against the metal wall of a rusty dumpster. The woman didn't even move. She just snorted and kept glaring.
I curled my body up defensively, with my legs tucked in front of my chest. I knew what was coming.
I clenched my teeth and tensed my shoulders, staring down into my lap.
But the blow never came. Cautiously, I looked up at her. She had moved closer.
"What the fuck were you thinking?!" She bellowed. Here it comes, I thought.
"You come into my bar- my establishment- with your stupid little act. You harass my customers, steal my drinks, and then you think you can just fall asleep on the same block? I'm tired of this shit. My business is not for whores like you. You know your place is out on the streets- not under my fucking roof. The women at my bar don't want to see some college kid's hairy ass. They're here to have a good time, not pay for your panhandling."
The woman towering above me was none other than Madelyn, the owner of the seventh street's dive bar that bore her name. The same bar I had made a visit to last night. Well, I didn't visit so much as I was forced in. Some mid-30s brunette wanted to show me to her friend, to prove that Miami whoreboys are real. Probably some idiot tourist, from a boring city like Cleveland where the whores stayed underground. Regardless, I wasn't the one who had tried to get in. I knew I wasn't welcome at Madelyn's, but seventh street was unusually busy that night, and I was frustrated from what was starting out as a slow night.
I had been kicked out of Madelyn's before, which was how he knew me. The first time, she thought I was just drunk. After that, she realized I was running a gig of my own. The last time she kicked me to the curb, she yelled that she'd "pound my twink ass if I showed up again". So the situation was not looking good for me. It's difficult to whore yourself out when you've got a black eye, let alone a sore ass. Again, I tensed up.
"Look up here, twink. Look me in the eyes."
I stared at my feet.
"Look at me when I'm fucking talking, bitch!"
A leather boot thrust into my side, and I crumpled to the ground with a yelp. There it was.
I opened my eyes, meeting her beady irises with a defiant, but shaking gaze.
"Stay out of my bar. Stay out of this fucking neighborhood."
I swallowed my pride, mumbling a quick "yes..."
"What do you mean yes?! Knock off with that smug tone. You drank seven drinks last night. Seven bourbon whiskeys, so you have a tab. And I know if you don't pay for it now, you never will. Fucking whore."
"I don't... I don't have any money."
"Bullshit."