Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Chapter Twenty-Seven
NIKI
The next day, before we get our assignments, I ask Bam if he can handle the jobs alone. “Take a recruit with you,” I suggest.
He arches his brow. “You got family stuff I should know about?”
When you have a partner you work with every day, there’s no hiding from them. They know your schedule, your obligations almost better than you.
“Personal business.”
Bam hoots. “Is that what you call it?” He wipes his eyes. “Whew. Don’t know why that’s so funny. You need me to read tonight? Is this some special date? Like a four week anniversary or some shit?” He tilts his head back and forth, checking for a sign of something like flowers or chocolate.
“Nah, I’ll be home in time for Julie.” Collecting a paycheck isn’t going to take me long.
There’s another donut on my desk when we arrive to the classroom. I split it with Bam.
“How come you get donuts but I don’t?”
“I’ve always been the better looking of the two of us.” I swallow down my half in one bite. “That’s why I have Andy and you’re alone.”
“I could have a dozen chicks if I wanted, but I choose not to. They’re expensive and time-consuming. Look at you not making any money today all because of some girl.”
“What’s the point of making all this money if you’re not gonna spend it?” I dig around in my pack for a bottle of water. Bam gestures for me to share after I pour half of it down my throat.
“Your choice, I guess, but if you see that kid, tell him that he’s not getting anywhere without giving me a donut, too.”
“I’ll be sure to tell him that you’re whining for attention.”
Bam throws a notebook at my head. Sadly, the teacher comes in before I can retaliate. Bam takes off after lunch, and I stick around, sleeping through my last three classes, since the strip club doesn’t open until four.
When I arrive at the club, I’m surprised at the number of cars in the lot. Don’t people have jobs or families? Shouldn’t they be getting off work and driving home to the kiddos instead of stuffing dollar bills down a woman’s G-string? A bored-looking bouncer asks to see my ID. He frowns when his eyes hit my age.
“Problem?” I ask. I’m old enough to be here. This place serves food, making it technically a restaurant with live entertainment, so you only need to be eighteen.
“You’re eighteen. You should be hooking up with hot girls in high school.”
I do hook up with a hot girl from high school, but that’s none of his business. He hands me back my ID with a faint look of disappointment on his face and kicks the door open with the back of his boot. The place is dark and not as big as I thought it would be. There’s a couple of stages each with three poles. Only one of them is occupied, and the woman using it looks stoned. Her eyes are vacant, and her moves look like she’s on autopilot. The bouncer’s expression makes a lot of sense. Anyone with a pulse would not be in here. There’s a bar at the back and a small buffet set up full of what looks like overcooked steak and chicken. A sign next to it says $20 all you can eat steak buffet.
Unsurprisingly, there are not a lot of people eating. The tables surrounding the stage are full of middle-aged men, leaning forward in their chairs with small denomination bills clutched in their sweaty hands. No one here is under the age of forty.
A waitress stops beside me. “Can I get you something, sugar?”
“Office?” I ask.
She clucks her tongue. “We’re not that kind of strip club, honey. This is a woman’s only stage.”
I give her a faint smile. “I just need to speak to Rico.”
The intel I got was that Rico is always here for the opening of the club and then leaves around ten or so with a girl. I figured coming early, before it got busy, was the best time to collect the money. After I really thought over how Andy was acting and needing to collect money, I knew it was Rico that she hit.
“Your funeral.” She nods her head down the hallway that runs perpendicular to the bar.
Besides the bouncer at the door, there are about four security people stationed around the stage. Another one stops me at the start of the hallway. I tell him the same thing I told the waitress. “I’ve got business with Rico.”
He’s stiffer than the waitress and hesitates a little longer but in the end waves me by. The last door in the hallway has a little metal sign that says Office. I give a knock.
“Come in,” grunts a man.
I open the door and walk in. The room is dimly lit, but I can make out a man behind a crappy wooden desk and a burly guy standing off to the side. I sigh internally because this probably means I’m going to have to fight. Maybe I should have been the one to bring a recruit. Rico, whom I presume is the guy behind the desk, has short black hair, slicked back against his skull. His face is lined and hard, and he wears a shirt unbuttoned enough that I can make out a necklace and chest hair. He’s old but has an illusion he’s still sexy. What a nightmare for Andy to deal with.