Feather Maid
"You wanna lap-dance?" she asked.
I looked in her eyes, then turned away so I didn't exhale my smoke in her face. She was a white girl, about 5'9" and in her late twenties.
"How much?" I asked.
"Twenty."
I looked her body over. She was an hour past voluptuous on her way to cellulite city. I love women and all their imperfections, but if you are not perfect on the outside and you got a nasty attitude, don't come up to me like you are God's gift to men. I figured her for a lesbian. Most of these strippers were. I couldn't blame them. What horrors must they go through to get past the tender ages? Horrors at the hands of dirty men with one-track minds. Who else can they turn to for tenderness, compassion and a break from the violence that is all-too-often testosterone-fueled? Being a stripper only educates them more on the true, dark nature of Mr. Dick-for-brains.
I sipped from my third beer.
"What do I get for all that money? " I asked, as if it was my first time in here.
"One song. "
"What are the rules?"
"Can't touch my breasts or my pussy," she said, lacking any emotion.
"Can I pull my pants down?"
"No," she said, disgusted at the thought.
"I'll think about it, " I said, slapping her ass lightly.
She walked away, not saying another word.
You wanna lap-dance. Women swear men have the worst pick-up lines, but at least they vary somewhat. I sweat my ass off and risk my life pumping concrete for my money. You walk up and ask for it and it's supposed to be yours like that? No "Hi, my name is ..." not even pretending to be interested in my name or anything about me. I've heard the same line a million times. It's the first and only sentence to come out of these dime-a-dozen stripper robots' mouths. I'd rather hear "what's your sign" or any of the cheesy pick-up lines that men use on women. I guess I'm too much of a romantic to fall for it, too much of a pervert to stop going to strip-clubs. Where's the seduction? Where's the effort? Or are you too doped up to be good at your job? They're not all like that, but most of 'em.
I ask Pam, the bartender, for change for the pool table and hand her three bills. She walks towards the register and I look at her body. Now that's voluptuous. The rump roast hanging out of her hot pants looks like a meal fit for a king. I think to tell her what's on my mind, and then decide against it. If these girls actually learned how to seduce me I'd probably end up blowing my rent money here every week.
She hands me my change and gives me a free beer. I'm a good tipper, so the bartenders treat me well here.
As I head for the pool table, the DJ announces Mystic on the main stage. I look up and see a tiny but plump ass peeking out under a maid's outfit. A "scrub the ground" – type southern rap song blasts over the speakers.
Standing up all of a sudden made the beer kick in. The small blonde on stage in black stockings, sanitizing the pole with a towel and alcohol, brought other feelings to me. She swiveled on the pole and I finally saw her face. Heather.
She was my neighbor a couple years back. Her older sister, Amy, used to baby-sit my daughter. The little depressed girl I knew and admired from afar was now an exotic dancer. Compared to the average dancer in here, she really WAS exotic. Her moves versus these other girls' moves were like a snake's versus a worm's.
She slithered to the floor on her stomach. Her ass rose up to the sky and her feet pointed straight at me. I walked over for a closer look. Her hose-covered toes wiggled inside her open-toed see-through heels.
I looked for singles, but I was out. Pam was too busy for me to bother her for change now. I pulled out a $5 and stood behind her, watching her butt cheeks move to the music. When she arched her back and turned her head, she noticed me watching her. She smiled, kicked her legs up and down, and then slumped on the floor as if she lost control of all her muscles suddenly.
She got up and walked to me slowly. Her eyes were powder blue. Her make-up was minimal. Her glossy, bubble-gum lips puckered as she looked me up and down. She stopped in front of me, my eyes level with her crotch, and she lifted her leg up over my shoulder. I took the hand with the five in it and caressed her ankle, tracing her leg up to the thigh where I put the five in her stocking. Her crotch was in my face, but I never took my eyes away from her eyes. I blew some air into her crotch as I was known to do under such circumstances and she licked her lips for me. She rotated her pelvis in time with the music before dismounting and going back to her dance.
I racked up the balls on the pool table and played by myself. Until she got off the stage, I was distracted enough to miss most of my shots. When she was done she went straight for the bathroom. The next dancer was a much older woman with too much plastic surgery.
I was aiming to put the 8-ball in the corner pocket when there was a light kiss on my cheek.
"Thank you," Mystic/Heather said, genuinely.
"Any time, baby girl." I said. "Can I get you a drink?"
"Sure," she said, trying to hide her shy smile from me.
We sat at the bar. I got a beer and she got an Alabama slammer.
"You look familiar," she said, sipping through a straw.
"Is your real name Heather?" I asked.
"Yeah." She looked down, her secret identity having been revealed.
"Didn't you used to be my neighbor?" I asked, lighting two cigarettes.
She looked into my face for answers. "Ed?"
I smiled. "That's me." I handed her a cigarette and downed half my beer, washing it down with menthol.
She was relieved, her curiosity having been satisfied. "How's Brandy?"