Lily
“Thank you,” I said into the microphone with a slight blush. The crowd clapped and cheered, and I dipped into a curtsey. There were a couple of catcalls as I sank down to my ankles and I blushed harder, looking down at my feet in black high-heeled sandals. The crowd at The Pink Diamond never went exactly what you could call wild, but after performing for only a couple of months, it already felt like home.
“Lily, that was great,” the stage manager whispered to me as I stepped into the wings. “Awesome job!” He clapped me on the back, making me stumble in my precarious shoes.
As much as I loved performing, the costumes that went with it were a little absurd. I looked down and rolled my eyes; if I’d been on the street, I probably could have been arrested for hooking. Between my red sequin slip dress and spike heels, I felt ridiculous.
“Thanks,” I whispered back, but he’d already moved on to the next performer. I watched him slap her ass with a grin as she stalked onto the stage with a ferocity that made the audience go wild. A slight feeling of jealousy shot through me; what did she have that I didn’t?
Frowning, I walked into the dressing room. It wasn’t that I was unattractive, but I never really seemed to catch anyone’s attention for more than a fleeting moment or two. In all honesty, that was fine with me; I felt like between singing, working at the pre-school, and classes, I wouldn’t have time for a boyfriend.
But it would be nice, I thought as I sat down in front of the mirror. The same Lily Sanders stared back at me: upturned button nose, big gray eyes, small, crooked mouth. My mane of dark hair made my pale skin practically glow. With a sigh, I realized I still looked like I was in high school. I was twenty-one, but no guy would ever really want to date me when I looked fifteen.
I tore my gaze away from the mirror and closed my eyes before peeling the sequin dress up and over my body. The Pink Diamond’s dressing room wasn’t private, and I knew I only had a matter of minutes before the other singer came bursting in from her set. A loud crash and commotion in the hallway almost made me shriek, but I clapped a hand over my mouth. This nightclub wasn’t in the best part of town, and I always worried about getting mugged—or worse—on the walk out to my car. But, as usual, the sound of scuffling passed after a few minutes and I took a deep breath of relief.
My naked body was pimpled with the cold by the time I found my sweater and jeans. The material felt cold and rough against my skin, and I shivered as I tugged my pants on. The door to the dressing room burst open just as I was pulling my sweater over my head. The itchy material scratched my skin, but I was glad to be fully dressed in something other than what felt like lingerie.
“Bye, Lily,” Allison called to me as I left. “Are you coming back tomorrow?”
I thought about it. “I think so,” I said finally. “I really could use some cash. The holidays are coming up and all.”
Allison frowned. “No shit. Be safe out there tonight. Stay warm.”
She blew me an air kiss and stripped out of her bodycon dress right as I opened the door. There was a rousing sound of hoots and catcalls, and I quickly slammed the door shut behind me.
“Honey, does she want company?” a man from the bar jeered at me as I walked past, but I ignored him. It was getting easier and easier to ignore these creeps as time went on, but I couldn’t deny that I still felt a shiver of fear whenever one of them came onto me.
There was a big crush of people waiting by the front door, so I ducked through the crowd and went out the side by the alley. My car was parked a couple of blocks away, and I took a deep breath of the freezing nighttime air. I knew that if I didn’t stay alert, I’d look like all the bigger of a target to anyone looking for trouble.
As usual, the alley was deserted. I looked in both directions and scurried forward. When I came to the next street, I heard voices. One of them sounded like the angry voice from before, and I froze in my tracks, not believing what was happening before my eyes.
Two big men were standing close together and growling in masculine tones. I watched with baited breath as one of them—a big, burly guy with dark hair and light skin—reached out and tried to slip something in the other’s jacket. A chill of fear slid down my spine when I realized that I was probably watching a drug deal.
Run, Lily, I thought, but my legs wouldn’t move. It was like they had turned to lead and now, no matter how much I tried, wouldn’t melt. I coughed slightly, and the dark guy whipped his head up at me. Just as he looked away, the other guy threw a hard punch that landed with an audible crack to the dark man’s jaw. He groaned and immediately punched his attacker in the gut, sending him flying to the ground.
The dark guy started punching and kicking the prone body. I winced at every impact; he looked like he wanted to kill whoever had punched him. My chest seized up with panic as I watched the attack, screwing my eyes closed and willing it to be over.
After what felt like an eternity, my legs finally kicked into motion, and I spun before running down the alley, breathing hard. I heard footsteps behind me, but they gradually faded away as I ran back within sight of the club. I slowed to a stop.
“Miss Lily, are you okay?” The doorman, Freddie, spotted me and waved. I was hunched over with my hands on my knees, breathing hard.
“I’m fine,” I replied through ragged breathing. “Sorry.” I flashed him a smile, then straightened up and tried to look normal. It was harder than I thought; every time I closed my eyes, I saw the dark guy attacking that man on the ground.
“It’s a rough city,” Freddie told me with a rueful smile. “You got to be careful, Miss Lily.”
“I know,” I said, smiling as sweetly as I could. “Sorry to worry you, Freddie.”
He gave me a little wave, and I steeled myself before walking down the street, away from the club. It would take me more time to reach my car this way, but there was no way I could risk running back into those guys. The longer I thought about it, the more I realized that I was lucky this hadn’t happened before now. In fact, it was almost a miracle that I’d been working in this part of Detroit for as long as I had without seeing anything worse. My best friend, Jackie, was a stripper and she’d seen people get murdered while she was working.
My car was freezing cold as I slid inside, rubbing my hands together and blowing on them in a feeble attempt to warm up. As I slid the icy-cold key into the ignition, I watched clouds of my breath coat the inside of the windshield in a dense condensation.
The drive home was quiet. I lived in a pretty bad part of town because that was all I could afford, but at least there were some families in my building. Jackie had always offered to let me move in with her, but I had a feeling that she did some sex work on the side, and I didn’t really want to be around for that.
To calm my nerves, I turned the radio onto my favorite 80s station. They were playing “A Flock of Seagulls”, and I sang along and beat my hands on the wheel to the rhythm of the bass. The only good thing about my apartment was that it was a five-minute drive from The Pink Diamond, and I pulled into the parking lot just as the song ended.
As I was getting out of the car, headlights from another vehicle bounced into the parking lot and washed over me. A guy jumped out of the car and ran towards me. I was too stunned to move, but I felt a new chill of fear wash over me as I realized it was the burly guy from outside of the club.
“Come with me.” He growled out the words. “We’re going to have a little talk.”
I shivered. “Here?” I whispered. The man shook his head.
“No. Inside.” He grabbed my elbow and guided me up the steps and down the hallway. “In your apartment,” he said in a gruff voice. “Now!”
With trembling fingers, I pushed the key in the lock and turned the knob. Taking a look outside at the parking lot, I realized it could be the last time I saw the grounds of my apartment complex.
“Come on.” The man grunted under his breath. “I haven’t got all fucking day. Move your skinny ass!”