Chapter Twenty-Four
"You have no idea how great it was," Opal said to Judith over the phone. "He's not at all like I thought when I first met him." It had just gotten dark, which meant that the average person had already finished work for the day, and was about to sit down to their dinner, watch some TV or read a book, and relax for the rest of the evening.
Working at a strip club meant doing things ass backward, just like the girls up on stage earned a lot of their money with their asses, back, toward the crowd. Earlier that day, as she thought about the dreaded start of her night shift, Opal thought of that and imagined herself telling the joke to someone. It had seemed funny at first, but only took about five seconds for her to realize it was incredibly lame. On top of that, it didn't really make sense. So, when she'd finally had the chance to talk to someone, she decided to leave the joke alone, forever.
Judith was that person. "I don't know how you keep yourself busy during the day. It must suck having time off when everyone else is at work."
"Luckily I never took the time to make that many friends outside of Dwayne and my circles. They're all taking his side, I guess. Makes sense … I met everyone through him. Even you, technically."
"No, you met Owen through him. I came with the job. No one can ever tear us apart, baby."
"Please, no faux-lesbian crap. I have to watch enough of that shit at work. A stripper puts her heart and soul into perfecting the most seductive, sexy dance routine you'll ever see in your life? Even with a perfect body, completely naked with it all out there for the whole room to see? She'll make some damn good tips, you can bet your ass. But you get a girl with no experience, no talent for the stage, and not even anything particularly special to look at—and get her making out with another girl of equal talents and appeal? Bam, they make a fucking mint in five minutes."
"Wow. You have given this way too much thought," said Judith.
"What can I say? My job doesn't require much of my mental resources. I have time to think about a lot of shit. Like how I've decided, I don't think I care about Owen any more. Yeah, I'd like to clear my name, but it's not about revenge anymore."
"Luckily, clearing your name might tie in with getting revenge, if he did have anything to do with it. Tell me more about your new man though. Just how rich is he? Are all the rumors I've heard true?"
"Hey, no one's got proof about any of those things."
"I also hear that he's got the best lawyer in the state though, one of the best in the whole country. Does that have anything to do with his squeaky clean record?"
"I can tell you that he's the best fuck I've ever had."
"What? Even better than Dwayne?! You don't say!" Judith was particularly amused with herself, and didn't stop with her cute laugh for nearly a minute.
"You're hilarious. Oh, damn, look at the time. I have to get to my shift at the naked lady bar, where I serve overpriced drinks to perverted old men and barely legal virgins. Thank you for the confidence booster though."
"Please, don't act offended with me. At least you've got someone in your life."
"You're just too picky, and busy, and too good for everyone. I don't blame you though, you are pretty great."
"Well, thank you," said Judith earnestly.
"You're welcome. But I really do need to get to work."
That night was pretty uneventful. Opal had slid into the routine, albeit without much grace, and was now just doing things by muscle memory. She had even garnered a collection of witty come backs to the many pickup lines and lame jokes the customers liked to use on the female employees. Rupert was always great to work with, and he was there during most of her shifts. It was cheaper than hiring a bouncer as well as another bartender, since Rupert could fill both roles when he was on duty.
"Do they even pay you extra for playing security while you work the bar?"
"Of course. I get an extra five on my usual salary, so I'm happy with that." Just then, Gus, the owner, came walking through the door. It was odd to see him there at all, especially during the night shift. He was usually out doing who-knew-what with all his greasy money. The guy honestly made Opal sick, along with most of the other female bar staff and the strippers. Still, that didn't stop half of them from guzzling his modestly sized dick so they could get more shifts, or drugs.
"Hey, Opal, how's it goin'? You're looking good. Fittin' in well?" His eyes were all hazy, focused but blurry, if that was possible.
"Hi, Gus … yeah, I'm settling in nicely. Rupert's been a great teacher." Rupert nodded at Gus and then seemed thankful when someone came up to the other end of the bar to order a drink. He went to serve them.
"Yeah, that guy's good value to have around. Don't let that tough guy routine fool you though. I'll bet he could teach most chicks a thing or two about how to take a dick right, you know what I mean?"
"No, I don't think I do. So, what's up? Did you need me to take an extra shift this week, or?"
Gus smiled and leaned up against the bar. His teeth were jittery, just slightly. He smelled like a mixture of industrial alcohol and some kind of organic substance that no one had ever heard of. "You could put it that way I guess. No, actually, you can get extra shifts if that's what you need. I know you need the money. But you could make some extra money too, yeah, sure." He started laughing and then stopped as suddenly as he'd started. "How do you feel about doing some little 'extra duties'? You're smart, you know what I need."
"What? No!"
"Don't worry, I'm not asking for nothin' for free. I pay you, you tickle my goods with that pretty mouth. You take a ride on my stick shift. You get it? Everyone's happy. Don't worry, I got the same deal going on with a lot of the girls here."
"You mean you pay them for sex?"
"What? No, you go it wrong. I just help them out, and they help me out. See?" He grabbed his crotch on the word "me", making Opal cringe. "No one's forcing anyone into this. These girls love sex, right, or why else would they be working here in the first place?"
"Maybe they're just trying to make an honest living. Or maybe they like dancing, even being naked. And so what if some women enjoy sex and don't see anything wrong with doing it for money?"
"Exactly. Great, I'm glad we've settled this then."
"But I know plenty of girls hate doing things like that, especially just to get paid."
Gus spat on the floor and slapped his hand down on the bar in front of Opal. He slowly turned his head back toward her. There was spit still on the outer of his lips. "You're not giving me much choice, y'know? Okay, how about this? You come to the dressing room right now and show me what you're made of. What, you expect me to believe you work here and you're too good to touch me?"
Opal didn't think about what happened next, what she did. Truthfully, her hand just moved on its own and she slapped Gus as hard as possible in the face. Some of the residual saliva from when he'd spat came off on her hand. She wiped it on the bar like she was washing away acid or lava. "You're sick! And you're a fucking loser. I'm not touching your little, wrinkly cock, Gus."
"Get the hell out of here, bitch! No fucking bitch hits me like that! Not you, not your fairy friend over there with his pussy muscles."
"What does that even mean, moron?" she asked as she collected her bag and coat. Rupert had come over the moment he heard that powerful slap.
"What's your problem, Gus? She's not into you, and you can't buy her." He was a hulking figure that would frighten anyone when he turned angry. Gus was lucky he wasn't even mad yet.
"You keep the hell out of this, fruitcake."
"What, are you from the fifties? Who the fuck says 'fruitcake' anymore?" said Opal. "It's okay, Rupert, please don't get yourself in trouble for me. I don't need this job anymore, so this works out great."
"What are you gonna do for money then, huh? You'll end up sucking off worse guys than me, I can tell you that" said Gus. He was smiling now, but that quickly changed when Rupert hopped over the bar like it was nothing. "Wait, wait, let's calm down for a second, okay? I don't want to have to mess you up. Do you know who you're messing with?"
"Fuck off, Gus. You're the fairy. Let's get out of here Opal. I'll drive you home."
Once they were driving through the busy city traffic in Rupert's hatchback, he turned to her slowly. They were stopped at some lights about five minutes from the strip club. "I can't believe you did that. I'll bet you didn't think you had it in you."
Opal coughed out a dry laugh. She hadn't spoken since they'd left Gus standing there at the bar, his jaw slack and a crazy-scared look over his drug addled, stupid face. "Yeah, well … no one's ever said anything like that to me. Even the customers weren't that bad."
"He's not the best of guys. I was getting pretty fed up with his comments anyway. Probably best I move on to an employer who appreciates me."
"Are you going to be able to find another job? I don't want you to end up on the street because of me." She sunk her head down and looked at her knees.
"Oh, don't worry about me; I've got savings. After a few days off, I'll find another job, no problem. I get offers, but I was afraid to leave because I was comfortable I guess."
"Okay, well that's good."
"What about you? Didn't you take this job because you're desperate? Do you need a personal loan or something?" He looked over and the lights had changed. The car started moving forward, traffic ahead and behind making the going slow. He looked back at Opal quickly and said, "Or just a little cash gift for doing what I couldn't do," then looked back at the road. He was smiling.
"That's so nice of you, but I think I'll actually be good for money. I have my own things going on, y'know." She also managed to smile, thinking of all that money Carl would give her, then she remembered the horrible thing she had to do to get it. Despite the fact that she was still planning to ruin his life, Opal was starting to feel close to Boyd.