Lucy

 

I had finally convinced Blade to let me take the stage at The Bounce House. After initially bringing it up that first night at his house, he’d agreed to let me do it, but it took a few days to make it actually happen.

 

“You’re not my old lady,” he’d warned me after finally agreeing to let me do it. “You’re not going to get any special treatment, no matter what the other girls think. You’re going to get treated just like anyone else. That means you’ve got to follow the same rules everyone else follows.”

 

We’d had the talk in his office before anyone else showed up. My stomach was full of anxious, excited butterflies. We stood in front of the desk. He’d already helped me pick out an outfit and everything. It was like a bikini but it was more sparkly, like it had been designed specifically to be worn onstage. I didn’t know much about this sort of thing.

 

I did know that more of my body was bare than usual already. I couldn’t believe I was about to take the stage and tear off what few clothes I was already wearing.

 

“First, you have to bare all if you want to go back out,” he told me.

 

I nodded. I understood, but that didn’t keep me from being nervous.

 

“Next, I’m going to tell you the same thing I tell all the girls when they go on the stage for the first time. No drugs. No sex with patrons. No prostitution. So, you can’t sleep with patrons for money or for free. And no touching beyond normal, incidental stuff. There are some touches that are just going to happen, but nothing intentional and sexual. Got it?” He was suddenly very serious. He was being careful with his words, I could tell, but his tone told me he wasn’t playing around.

 

“I need a name,” I told him.

 

He smirked. “Let’s call you Miss Ginger.”

 

“Miss Ginger,” I repeated, shrugging. “Sounds as good as anything else.”

 

We shook hands and I thanked him again before going into the dressing room behind the stage.

 

I stood backstage with the other girls, getting ready, and I saw what Blade had warned me about. They were shooting me dirty looks and talking under their breath to each other. I knew they were talking about me from the way they kept cutting their eyes at me.

 

I stood in there waiting on the girl on stage to come off while the others kept on talking about me. I fidgeted with my hands in front of me and stared at the floor, trying to keep calm and get up my nerve.

 

One of the girls who had been talking walked up finally and put a hand on my shoulder.

 

“Listen,” she said softly, “you’re not you when you’re out there. Don’t ever be you out there. What’s your name?”

 

“Lucy,” I said looking into the deep, seductive shade of green in her eyes.

 

“Lucy, what’s your stage name?” she asked patiently.

 

“Miss Ginger.”

 

“Miss Ginger.” She nodded. “I like it. Figure out who she is. I know you only have a minute, but figure out who Miss Ginger is and become her before you go out there. Leave Lucy back here.”

 

I was impressed that she’d stepped up to help me out. She patted me on the shoulder and walked away, back over to where the other girl was standing.

 

“Thank you,” I said, looking back.

 

I had to decide who Miss Ginger was. I wasn’t sure yet, but I did know that she wasn’t afraid like I was. Miss Ginger was comfortable with her body. Hell, she downright loved it. And she couldn’t wait to show it off and show her appreciation for herself. I just had to push myself, Lucy, out of the way.

 

The music stopped, and I heard the voice come over the PA system as the girl on stage came back through the curtain. She had her skimpy little outfit in her hand with money clenched against her body. She was completely nude and didn’t make any effort to hide her body from anyone. I watched as she ran into the dressing room and put her things down at her station.

 

“It’s pretty full out there tonight, girl. Knock ‘em out,” she said to me.

 

I was introduced, and the music started. Miss Ginger apparently liked pop music with a driving dance beat. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves. I was going to leave Lucy behind and take Miss Ginger on stage to let her finally show herself off.

 

I hit the stage. I walked out underneath the lights. There was my color, and it kept changing with the music. I felt the bass pulsing through my body. I gave in to it. I started moving with it, and I could feel the energy coming at me. It wasn’t coming from the music or the lights.

 

The energy I felt on stage came from the shadowy figures sitting just beyond the lights. They were waiting for me to get closer. They were staring at me, and their eyes were pressuring me to take my clothes off while I danced. I tried to move seductively, just as I had in the office with Blade. I imagined his eyes on me, his hunger for me. I watched the eyes, working to see that same hunger in them.

 

It was a blast. I reached back and opened my top, letting it slide down from my shoulders to slowly reveal my breasts. I kept them cupped in my hands as I danced and teased my audience. Money appeared on the stage, and I danced for the hands that dropped it.

 

I turned away from the audience and slid my bottoms down off my ass in front of them. As anxious as I had been before going on stage, taking off my clothes felt liberating. It was my body, and I had nothing to be ashamed of.

 

Before walking on stage, I had only been comfortable enough with one person to show them my body. That had been Dylan. Dylan was an asshole, and he didn’t deserve the privilege of being the only person who had seen me naked.

 

I was about to show a room full of strangers my excellent body. I felt ownership over my body and my nudity for the first time in my life. The eyes watching me appreciated what they saw. I could feel the appreciation flowing past the lights.

 

I had to remind myself to keep dancing while I stripped. It wasn’t just taking off my clothes. I was taking my clothes off and working to mesmerize the men watching. I wasn’t even listening to the music anymore. I didn’t hear it; I felt it. I heard the men whistling and cheering as the new girl showed off her body for the first time.

 

I bent over just enough to tease them with the prize between my legs as I slipped off my bottoms, but I stood and turned around as they hit the floor. My breasts were no longer covered. My pale skin and pink nipples stood out in the lights.

 

I ran my hands over my breasts and squeezed them, pulling them up and letting them bounce back into place. More money, more cheers, more love and appreciation. I realized I was baring it all, and I gave myself completely to the movement of the lights and the music.

 

Before I knew it, the music stopped, and the announcer was coming through the system again. I couldn’t understand exactly what he was saying, but it sounded like he was commending me for a job well done. I grabbed my money and my clothes and swayed my hips as I walked off the stage, back into the dressing room.

 

“Good job out there tonight,” green eyes said when she saw me.

 

“Thanks.” I didn’t have a hand to shake or hug with.

 

“I’m Ariel,” she said, rubbing my arm to let me know she was accepting me.

 

“It’s good to meet you, Ariel,” I told her. I figured I’d get her real name eventually. Ariel was her stage name. She was up next, and the music started as she stepped through the curtain without any hesitation.

 

I went back to my chair in the dressing room and changed back into my regular clothes, pocketing my money. One of the things we had discussed that really did feel like special treatment was that Blade was not going to take any cut from my money like he did from the other girls.

 

My nerves hit me all of a sudden as I finished getting dressed. Suddenly, all the adrenaline of what I had just done hit me. I was in shock. I actually did it! And from what I could tell, I did all right.

 

I left the dressing room to look for Blade. He wasn’t in his office. I left the back and walked into the main room. The men in the audience were watching Ariel. They didn’t even notice me, fully clothed, as I walked through to the bar.

 

The bartender came over. “Good job tonight, doll,” she said.

 

“Thanks.” I reached across and shook her hand.

 

“Molly.”

 

“Miss Ginger,” I said, introducing myself the same way Ariel had introduced herself to me, using my stage name. Apparently, that was what people did around here.

 

She winked. “It’s okay, Lucy. I know your real name already. Looking for Blade?”

 

“Yeah. Is he around?” I asked, still looking around to see if I could spot him.

 

“He stepped outside. He’ll be back in any minute. Want a drink?” She picked up a shot glass. “It’s on the house for a job well done.”

 

“No thanks,” I said, laughing. I didn’t want to do anything else until I had a chance to talk to Blade about my performance.

 

“If you change your mind, come see me,” she said.

 

“Thanks.” I started to sit down, but the side door opened. I felt the warm air rush inside immediately.

 

Blade came in a moment later, emerging from the darkness back into the dim light of the club. He did not look happy, not at all. My stomach sank. I knew my performance sucked and he wasn’t happy with me about it.

 

“Let’s go to the office,” he said gruffly as he walked past me. I could smell whiskey and cigarette smoke on him.

 

I looked at Molly to see if she could give me any indication of what might have been wrong, but she shook her head and shrugged. I moved back from the seat and walked behind him. The dread in my stomach grew as we approached the back of the club and the office door.

 

I went over my performance in my head. I knew it had been my first time, but I didn’t think I could have been that bad. I tried to think about what I could have done wrong or what the other girls could have said to him about my performance.

 

I couldn’t think of anything.

 

He threw the door open to his office. It hit the wall with a thud. He walked past his desk but didn’t walk around it. He stood on the other side of it, facing away from me as I walked in. I was in some serious trouble. That much I knew for certain. That was the only thing I knew for sure.

 

I closed the door carefully behind me as I walked into the room. I was afraid to be in the room alone with him when he was angry. I had no idea what to expect from him, but I was a little scared I was about to see him live up to the stereotypes I believed about guys like him. I stood by the door so it would be easy to get out if I needed to.

 

“What did I do wrong?” I asked quietly.

 

Without turning around, he said in a hard, solid voice, “You are not going onstage again.”