I poured everything I had into the class. I even let Stacey persuade me into staying for her dance off between the more advanced dancers and it was like I could just let go of everything that had been wrong about the way this day started—after the mind blowing orgasm with Gavin of course. That had been so beyond amazing.
But then I hated the fact that I wanted more. Not like a relationship, because that would never be in the cards for me. Too much shit has happened to me and things that could never be undone. He deserved to be happy. To find true love with someone who wasn’t fucked up like I really was inside. A nice woman who wanted to be as domesticated and faithful to a man like him. I didn’t believe in love. Maybe when I was a little girl and had stars in my eyes for him as I grew older, but he didn’t have a father and my parents were no loving couple.
Now I was feeling the adrenaline rush from the dance off. I had danced to Beyoncé’s Single Ladies and wearing the sky high heels, butt showing hip shorts and sports bra I had on totally rocked out that song like no bodies business. And sweat. Damn that was heart pumping music.
It was invigorating and I was ready for a night at work. I got home, took another shower and threw on a simple pull over dress shirt. I still had a few hours to kill so I washed and dried the load of laundry I had. That had been one of the first things I had gotten for the apartment when I made the money.
All my life we had always gone to a laundry mat. I hated going. People always looked at me weird when I was younger. It got worse as I grew older. But as soon as I bought the machines, I felt like I was powerful. I had actually jumped for freaking joy. I had to buy it in another town and they had delivered and installed it, so I didn’t have any awkward stripper moments.
My mom had been absent for once. Thank God. The older man fixed it up, let me sign for it and then he left. No lingering or trying to let me know he knew what I was and what I’ve done. To him, I was just a seventeen year old girl. That and I was wearing baggy shorts and t-shirt.
After I folded and put my clothes away, I cleaned the bathroom in my hallway. Not that it was dirty, but I had a thing about cleaning. I hated clutter. I cleaned the kitchen too. We didn’t have roaches. Or cockroaches—those big ass tree roaches couldn’t be helped sometimes. But like I had told Gavin, I took care of a lot of things all on my own. I drove to Baytown for all the errands I had to do. I did most of my shopping there. Sometimes I drove out to Crosby, but Baytown had so much more than the one street goods of Crosby.
I took care of everything around here. I didn’t mind. It was the only thing that helped me relax and take my mind off life for a while. Kept my hands and mind busy.
When it was time to get dressed and ready to go to work, I wondered what Gavin was doing.
I shouldn’t be wondering but my body still felt the lingering remnants of our sexual encounter and I couldn’t help the wetness that saturated my vagina each time I thought about it. Which was often enough I had to change my panties once already.
I shouldn’t want more of it but after that first time, he took me all throughout the night and I was begging for more. Then he went down on me again and it made me wonder if he wanted head in return, but he never said I should get on my knees and taste him. And a part of me really wanted to. Looking at his big, hard cock made me tremble and my mouth water.
Sigh.
I changed, braided my hair and left my mom sitting on the couch. Her usual spot.
“Bye, mother.”
No response. Nice. Gavin must have said something to her because she didn’t bother looking away from the TV. Just folded her arms and kept her eyes straight. Well, I wasn’t going to get into whatever she was probably wanting to argue with me about so I shut the door behind me and left for Gentleman’s Fancy.
Parking next to Pinkie’s Dodge Viper behind the club, I made my way inside the back door. My station was up in the front and as I walked by the other girls, the newer ones looked at me with either one of two looks: envy, disdain and the others with worry.
Us girls were pretty close, the ones that had been there awhile. We shop talked and gossiped. Nothing too personal. A lot of us had our own shit to deal with in the real world. When I got to my area, Bonnie, the girl across from me, shook her head when I laid my bag on the top.
I leaned towards her and whispered, “What’s wrong with everybody?”
“Something big happened. Coach said to tell you to go to his office when you got here. Don’t bother changin’ either. What happed to your jaw?”
“Nothing. Alright, thanks.”
Hell. Whose feathers did I unravel now?
I knocked on his door and he bellowed for me to enter.
“I was told you wanted to see me, Coach.”
“What happened to your face? Never mind, I don’t want to know. You are no longer working here.”
That took me by surprise. “I’m sorry. What?”
“Your ‘commission’ so to speak has been paid and full and you’re not needed here any longer.” He passed me an envelope and I snatched it out of his hands.
“What the fuck you talking about, Hank?”
I slid my nails under the envelope lid and looked inside. What. The. Fuck. I looked back up at Coach and asked, “What is this?”
“It’s thirty grand.”
“Okay. That doesn’t mean shit. I have dances tonight. And not by myself. What the fuck?”
“You’ve been bought out.”
“There’s no way I could have been bought out! How much was the total?”
“I told him a hundred grand.”
Him.
“Him? Him who?” My teeth clenched tight as anger boiled in my blood. No. No. fucking. Way.
“A,” he looked down to his own envelope, “a Mr. Gavin Winters.”
“That son of a bitch. You actually let him bribe you! I thought you were unbribable?”
“A hundred grand is a lot of money! I couldn’t pass that up. So I’m sorry but you can unload your locker and head on out of here.”
“Is he here?”
“Actually yes, he said he’d wait until I gave you this so you can just go with him.”
“That motherfucker has another thing coming.”
“Now, Beauty.”
“NO!”
I walked out to the front where a few girls had begun cleaning and staging the lounge area when I saw Gavin at the front of the stage. Leaning against it with his arms crossed against his chest, feet crossed and this burning stare that sent shivers down my spine. Then smiled. Like he won.
“YOU HAD NO RIGHT!”
The smile was wiped clean off his face when I got to him and slapped his face with my open hand. And I was only marginally sorry that two nails scratched his cheek in the process.
When he turned back to me, fire raged in his eyes and he became all alpha male puffed up cock of the henhouse. Well…fuck that. I was an alpha female and no way was I going to let him dictate my life. No way, no how.
His hand went to his cheek and came away with a little blood. Gavin lifted his brow and shook his head. A smirk lifted on his face before he said, “Now, it’s done. You don’t need to work here. You can come with me. There’s nothing holding you back now.”
“I am not quitting.”
“Actually I believe I fired you.” Gah. I didn’t think he’d follow me out here. Dammit.
I turned my glare at Coach. “This has nothing to do with you, so stay out of it.” I turned back to Gavin. “You think I need this money? And how the fuck did you get a hundred grand on a drop of a hat?” I jutted out my chin and fuck me. He looked down and saw the growing bruise I hadn’t covered up yet.
Shit. Idiot.
“Who fucking touched you? And don’t you?”
“Actually no, I have over this amount in a safe place. Who decided to make you the fucking boss of me? And I don’t have to tell you jack shit. You’re not my father, brother or husband so you get no say whatsoever in my life.”
“You decided that when you let me have that tight little pussy you’ve been keeping hidden away and yes. You do need to tell me jack shit and whatever jill shit.”
“That makes no sense, you idiot. And you don’t have me. We had sex. Great sex it might have been, but I keep telling you, that’s all it’s going to be. I don’t do relationships. I’ll fuck you but that’s as far as it goes. No one is going to tie me down and tell me what I can and cannot do. Least of all you. Who left me here! Broken, alone. I needed you and you left me! You, who were my best friend. You, who had been my entire world! Left. You didn’t even say goodbye. Did I not deserve that? Or was I just too much white trash for you to even leave me like a decent person?”
He came up to me, grabbed my arm and tried to pull me towards the front, but I yanked away and threw a punch towards his face. When it connected, it hurt the shit out of my hand and I wanted to cry from the pain but like any other time, I was able to control my emotions.
“Don’t you fucking touch me.” I took out the money, the huge wad of cash and flung it at him. “I am not your whore. I don’t need your fucking pity money. Take it and shove it up your ass, you son of a bitch.”
I turned, stalked through the back, opened my bag and swiped all my belongings in there in one go.
“It’s been fun, ladies.”
I threw the bag over my shoulder and left. I got in my car and peeled out of that parking lot like the hounds of hell were behind me.
He completely took over. And I couldn’t let that happen! Tears burned in my eyes like never before.
Don’t you cry, Evony. Don’t you dare fucking cry. You’re seriously short on your goal, but right now it was better than nothing and it was high time I just said fuck it all and get out of this town. I could start somewhere else, find a stripping job there. Maybe it would be in a big city so it wouldn’t be such a big deal to the city-folk.
I pulled in to the trailer park and shoved the car into park. I didn’t have time to waste. I just needed to get the hell out of dodge. Go somewhere for the night at least and then head somewhere I didn’t have to even think about this place or the people in it or Gavin for that matter.
I got inside, my mother was finishing taking a drag on her joint when she looked up and saw the hostile look on my face.
“What the hell is your problem?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I walked to my room, took out the two big duffle bags I had and started throwing clothes and some things I wanted to take with me.
I went to my closet, pushed the clothes out of the way where my safe was kept and I punched in the digital code.
It clicked and opened up. I pushed my tax papers aside, and went for the two makeup bags I had my cash in. I threw the new one I had begun storing bills in, and it was light—only about two grand inside. I tossed it on my bag and grabbed the other one. I pulled it out and was ready to toss it when I squeezed the bag.
And it smushed together…as if empty. Wait. What?
I unzipped my bag, and spread it wide. Empty.
No way. Oh, God. I fell back, my breathing erratic and my eyes glazed over with tears. She didn’t. She couldn’t. That fucking bitch. A red hue began clouding my vision.
I got up, slammed my door wide open, letting it bang against the wall. I stormed into the living room where my mother was still sitting, her TV show playing and I stepped right in front of her, blocking her line of sight.
“Tell me you didn’t.”
My heart was pounding crazily in my chest, my hands fisted tight at my sides. Ready to explode.
“Do what?”
“You fucking know, you stupid, lazy, cock-sucking thunder-cunt. My money! I had almost forty grand! What did you do with it?”
Don’t cry. Not in front of her. Never in front of her.
“What are you doing with that kind of cash anyway, Evony?”
“Tell me you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t steal from your own daughter. My God.”
“God left us a long time ago, my child.”
“You stole it. Just like everything else. What did you spend it on?”
“Something I needed.” Then she took a long drag of her joint.
“What, drugs? Don’t you just fuck the guy to get your shit?”
“It wasn’t just for drugs, you stupid worthless girl.”
The names didn’t bother me anymore so I just ignored them. “Then what for?”
“You never go into my room, do you?”
My eyes narrowed and I threw open her door. What the hell? New bed, new huge ass flat screen TV, and other useless shit she really didn’t need. This wasn’t even worth eight grand.
Going back into the living room, I said, “That shit does not equal the amount of money I saved.”
“Do you not see the new car outside?”
“That’s from my money?”
“It’s not like you’ve ever bought me presents. Mother’s day, my birthday, Christmas. It’s like I’m not even your mother. Do you honestly think I was ever going to let you leave? You are just as worthless as I was when I was younger.”
I couldn’t believe this.
“Everything I have worked so hard for. I can’t do this anymore. Aren’t you tired?”
“Tired? Of what?”
There was a loud, hard knock on the door.
“Tired of this life?”
“Oh, honey. Are those tears? Are you finally crying? You never cry.”
My hand flew to my face, fuck. Tears were falling freely from my eyes. And I swear a sob was close to coming from my throat. Everything…everything I have worked so fucking hard for. Gone.
“I hate you.”
A fist pounded on the door this time. Stronger than the last. I turned and ripped the door open.
There he was, big and bright. Gavin. He saw my tears and looked past me to my mother and probably saw the sick smirk on her face before looking back at me.
“Evony?”
I took a deep breath. Closed my eyes tightly for just a moment. Working up the nerve. I had nothing now. And I needed him to rescue me. Just once more.
“Evony? Tell me how to fix this.” His voice full of concern and desperation.
I opened my eyes, looked straight into his chocolate ones and said, “When do we leave?”