3

Kadie

The girls were already all dressed by the time I had entered the changing room. We exchanged pleasantries then I walked over to my corner of the dressing room, dropped the bag I carried over my shoulder the entire time and went ahead to change into my gear for the evening.

The moment I was done and about to head out, Sanda walked in. All the girls including me shifted our attention to him. He always came to the dressing room whenever we had the big guns coming to the club and seeing him there at that time meant he came in to give us the gist for the evening.

“Listen up ladies!” He clapped his hands briefly thereby drawing more attention to him.

“This is a rather impromptu arrangement but we will be having the one percent of the one percent, the men and women who run the city and the world at large in our home tonight.” Sanda always referred to the club as our home, that’s how much he loved the club, he had built it from the scratch with his sweat and blood.

The girls’ enthusiasm spiked and they were already activating that part of them that was willing to do anything for the money. Most of us were not just dancers, we had more off our sleeves. Having them over at the bar meant plenty of money for the night. I smiled and looked away to the mirror to see if I looked good enough to steal the show as always.

“And because of that, we have to look our best, they would want us to appear in only black and red so take that thing off Lori! I hate that color.” He pointed to one of the girls. Lori got up immediately and went to her bag to change her outfit.

“Paige, I can’t see your beauty in that color, put this on and add some more gloss on em’ lips!” He said and threw a black small clothing at her.

“Lenny, add more body glitters and oil on that ass.” He said to the other one. He turned to me after scanning the entire room.

“I love that dress, Kadie!” He said and winked at me in approval. I smiled and returned the wink. His compliment earned me an envious glare from the girls especially Paige. We had never been the best of friends anyway.

“Kadie, Tess, Paige and Blue are gonna run the VIP, the rest of you will stay with the Amateurs and hold down the main hall. Clap those asses well and you will find yourself in the VIP.” Sanda announced. Paige looked at me and smirked,

“Crap! I don’t even give a fuck about you.” I said inaudibly.

“Well, you ladies know how we do it. You go out there, clap those asses well, feed their hungry eyes and dicks if you want to but make sure you take it outside my club, make the cash rain and because Sanda is in a good mood tonight, you get to take home 50% of whatever you make.” Sanda announced cheerfully.

We were happy at the announcement he had just made. Taking home 50% of whatever we made was a huge win. Sanda left and everybody returned to dusting their faces and adjusting their outfits while I just simply walked out to look for Tess.

Tess didn’t join in the meeting because she was already on stage doing a bit of a warm up.

“You look like a snack! I bet those men will be well fed tonight.” She complimented even without looking at me because the whole time, her attention was focused on mastering this certain routine she had been working on the entire week.

“You didn’t even look at me.” I said.

“I didn’t have to, you always look good in whatever you wear.” Very typical of Tess.

“How did it go with that motherfucker?” She paused her routine and looked at me.

“You already know.” I sighed.

“Kadie! How long does this have to go on for?” She left the pole and walked over to me.

“Tess, you know I am working on something and soon enough, it will mature and then I will be free from him once and for all.”

“But Kay…” I knew she was going to nag about the idea of coming to live with her so I cut her short.

“I know what you are going to say but trust me Tess, everything will be fine. We should get set for the evening, we are taking home half of what we’ll make tonight and I plan on making a lot.” That was me changing the topic, talking about Dez was depressing and morale decreasing and I didn’t need any of that tonight.

“Fine… so what song will you be using tonight?”

“That depends on Sanda, you know how he is on nights like this, and I wouldn’t want the stage to go mute on me while on it.” Sanda would always change your choice of song to another on nights when we have the big guns at home, in his words and defense, “the track you picked was boring.”

“You are right.” Tess replied with a laugh as she began to recount a scene of that sort that happened to her one night. At that time, she was really angry and embarrassed but it had become something to look back on and laugh about.

“I remember you told Sanda you were quitting.”

“That would’ve been such a stupid choice.” She said and we began laughing again.

The cheering soon began, signaling us that the club had officially opened for the night. The VIPs will go first and give the guests a show before leaving the floor to the amateurs.

Sanda picked the mic and welcomed everybody to the club, thereafter, she began to usher in the dancers’ one after the other by their stage names.

Tess went first and then Paige, Blue and then me. Sanda always called me last, well, I had the best body and my dance came naturally, so why not? Not my words, those were Sanda’s and his opinion always mattered because I had been working with and for him for a long time and he was the boss.

The whole idea of allowing the VIPs to dance with the Amateurs in the main hall was to allow the Big Guns to settle into the VIPs lounges and also get themselves ready for the night.

Sanda had signaled us to leave the stage for the amateurs because the VIPs had settled in and their lounge was officially open. The loud cheering of happy men and women slowly became faint as we stepped further away from the main hall to the VIP lounge.

I was a bit nervous because the guests we had over tonight were new and most of them had never been to our club before.

“Sanda mentioned that they are Italians.” Tess giggled and bounced her well-oiled ass happily.

Blue and Tess went in first while Paige and I waited outside. The VIPs were usually calm and quiet, there were cheers but not as loud as that of the men and women in the main hall. Tess and Sanda would always say that rich men don’t make any noises and they were right. They never made noises.

“I really hope these Italian big guns are generous ones with large pockets.”  Paige said to me while looking away. I was taken aback a bit because she rarely said any words to me.

“I hope so too. It’s taking too long in there, I know Tess, she would’ve been long out if she didn’t see a lot.” I answered her.

“I hope so.”

Just then, the ladies stepped out looking all cheerful, I breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Paige with a smile. She looked back at me too but without a smile. Whatever made me think we became friends?

“Ain’t you guys gonna spill? We don’t have to ask before you tell us.” Paige spoke out impatiently. I was anxious to hear it too.

“They are loaded.” Blue answered her while Tess shot her a glare. My anxious self relaxed the moment Blue’s answer came out. Blue walked away leaving Paige, Tess and I. Tess pulled me to the side and began speaking in whispers.

“Those Italians are loaded. I am sure I have made more than all the Amateurs put together will make tonight.” I could tell from her tone and expression that the night would be a good one. “Kay, you can make enough tonight and add up to the amount you’ve already saved, it will go a long way for your escape plan.” She held my hands and shook them lightly, thus reminding me that the light at the end of the tunnel was finally shining.

A tear escaped my eye but Tess immediately wiped it away.

“Don’t ruin your makeup, c’mon, you have a long night waiting for you already.” She pulled me in for a warm hug.

“Are you coming?” Paige’s voice broke our little warm moment. I pulled away and mouthed ‘thank you’ as I walked away from her to join Paige.