by London Casey
5.
(Ashlynn)
I never took my top off. I never got naked. I never went home with anyone who came in, no matter how good the offer seemed to be. There were girls hired to dance on the tables and take their tops off. That wasn’t me. My boss Ricky had offered me a lot of money to do just that when he hired me, but I refused. He offered more than the top earning girl because he claimed there was a heavy-tit-milk fetish that guys liked.
I still declined.
Bad enough I had to wear a bikini to do my job, I wasn’t going to let it go anywhere else.
I had plenty of tables and that meant plenty of money. It really wasn’t all that bad of a job. Just a mix between a restaurant and a strip club. But much more low key. No hard thumping music or a stage and a runway. It was more upscale, almost elegant, if you were able to look at it that way.
Whatever though, it paid all my bills, left me able to take care of Jude, and I had a little here and there leftover for myself. That was all I could ask for right then. It wasn’t a forever kind of thing. I was still trying to grasp all that had changed in my life. Pregnant by a stranger who had all but disappeared. Big shock. My mother getting diagnosed with cancer after she thought she had nothing but a stubborn case of heartburn.
It was a barrage of bullshit and I simply stood in the hurricane and waited it all out.
At least that’s what I told myself at night so I could sleep easier.
I served another round of drinks to a table of four businessmen. As I turned, I felt a hand touch my lower back. Next thing I knew, my bottoms were being ripped open. I spun, swinging my hand. The guy ducked and let out a cackling laugh. I fell into him, of course my chest inches from his dumb face.
“Now that’s something I’ll take,” he said. “I was just giving you a tip, sweetie. I guess I’m getting mine.”
“You’re a pig,” I said and got away from him. I grabbed the bill from my waist and saw it was a fifty. As much as I wanted to give it back… I needed it.
“Come on,” he said. “I’ve got plenty more where that came from. I heard a rumor that you recently had a baby. And that… everything still works.”
I looked around the table. These guys were staring right at my chest. I wasn’t some kind of fucking play toy. This wasn’t some kind of fantasy either.
“I’ll have someone else finish up here,” I said.
“Wait,” the guy said and grabbed for my wrist. “Don’t be a bitch about it. Come on. You’re fucking beautiful. All the right curves. A little extra skin jumping around. Those tits…”
I swung my hand again and connected with the guy’s face.
The slap hurt me worse than him. He jumped back in his chair and grabbed his face.
“Fucking whore,” he growled.
Next thing I knew he grabbed a drink and threw it at me. He jumped up and lunged forward, right at me. I felt his hands grab my top and pull.
“Show me!” he said. “Right now!”
I tried to wiggle away but the guy was bigger than I was.
I tried to scream but was in complete shock.
Two bouncers were there, thankfully, and grabbed the guy. He turned and threw a punch, hitting one of the bouncer’s in the mouth. Blood sprayed from the bouncer’s mouth.
I gasped and covered my mouth.
The other bouncer hit the guy in the side of the head, dropping him, knocking him out cold.
Ricky came out of nowhere and got in the mix of things. He was short, heavy, a neck full of gold chains, fingers to match. He took out a gun and pointed it at the bouncer.
“You two, out of here,” he said.
“Hey, this asshole hit first.”
“I don’t give a shit,” Ricky said. “Get the fuck out of here.”
The two bouncers walked away.
The guy on the floor started to move.
One of the other guys stood up and reached into the breast pocket of his jacket. He took out a business card and gave it to Ricky.
“You’ll be hearing from me,” he said. “I’m an attorney. We all are.” The guy then turned to me and grabbed the fifty dollar bill out of my hand. “You definitely didn’t earn this.”
The guys picked up their wounded friend and walked out of the restaurant.
Ricky looked around, surveying the rest of the paying customers. Everyone was calm, collected, and Ricky reassured everyone things were just fine. It wasn’t the first time someone grabbed at me or did something ignorant. It wouldn’t be the last. My job was to get away from the table peacefully and ask for help. I shouldn’t have hit the guy. Even if he did deserve it.
Once Ricky seemed satisfied, he looked at me. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I…”
“Get a towel and wipe yourself off,” he said. “Then I want to see you in my office. Now.”
Just what I needed to top of another perfect day in my life.
I was about get fired.
6.
(Noah)
His name was Hank. He had a sculpted figure, tattoos everywhere except his actual face, and he had no problem coming after me to kick off the fight.
We were in a small room with three concrete walls and one wall made of glass. On the other side of the glass were three guards. There was no sound in the room except me and Hank breathing.
I had circled him a few times, trying to grasp at what was happening here. There was no way in fucking hell Benito sanctioned this kind of shit. He was supposed to keep me protected. Which meant… what? Had Benito given up on me? Was I on my own now? Christ, if that was true, that meant he’d have Bo transferred from me - or just killed.
I thought about Bo’s family when Hank threw the first punch.
My head bounced back and I felt my nose start to swell almost instantly. I blinked fast and stepped back.
“You ready for this?” I asked.
“Fuck you,” Hank said.
“I know what you did. They told me.”
“It was a misunderstanding,” Hank said.
“Just once?”
“A few times.”
I felt the rage build up. They definitely gave me someone to go after. I shifted forward and threw a punch. I barely connected, but my second punch did. Hank moved to the left, covering his face. I hit him again with the same hand to the ribs. His head fell back as he screamed. So I punched him at the side of the face again.
That’s when he dropped to one knee.
I rushed up behind him and grabbed his head. I pulled it back to my knee, getting him good.
Hank fell forward on his hands and knees.
The fire rushed through my body.
It had been a long time since I had a fight like this. With an audience. With money backing it. Yeah, I was in the basement of a fucking jail, but it was still something. It meant something. I felt alive, like I had purpose again.
I kicked at Hank’s ribs and flipped him to his back. I dropped down on him, pinning his shoulders down with my knees. I looked him in the eyes and spit on his face.
“Scum,” I said.
“Please…”
“Beg me,” I said. “You’re my bitch, Hank. Now take it like a fucking man.”
I had no clue what had really gotten into me. It was like a killer had been hiding in me for a long time and was finally getting attention.
Punch after punch, I hit Hank harder. He tried to talk and I hit him harder. I felt his teeth cut my knuckles. He coughed on his own blood, turning his head, spitting it out. Each time he lifted his head, I’d hit him and his head would smack the ground. When I stopped, it was blood with the whites of his eyes.
I climbed off and backed away. My hands were sore. My heart raced faster than I could remember in a long time. Each time I took a breath, my mind shifted gears. One second I could hear the sound of the cops raiding the fight. The next second I could hear the moans of her as I fucked her in the bathroom. Her hands at the back of my neck. Her lips touching my skin. That desperate sense to hol
d on tight, her body confessing to me that she’d never been fucked the right way before.
None of that shit mattered though. I was in jail and she was somewhere else. Probably living a normal life. Knowing in the back of her mind she had a wild story about a wild night with a wild fighter. A memory and nothing more.
Hank groaned and rolled to his side. He started to push himself up.
There was a knocking sound behind me.
I turned and Jack waved his hands.
“He’s done,” I said.
No, Jack mouthed. He then put his thumb to his throat and ran it across.
Anger hit me again and I walked forward. I had no reason or business killing Hank. It was a bad idea.
When I got close enough, Hank jumped to his feet and drove his head into my gut. The fucking guy had played me. I stumbled back and tripped, crashing to the ground. We hit and I lifted my knees, sending Hank over me. I turned and got to my feet a second before he did. He was a dripping, bloody mess as he tried to attack again.
The fighter in me took control, mapping out all my punches. I took Hank right to the glass and pounded at him until he lowered his hands. I grabbed him and turned him, showing his face to Jack. Then I slammed his face over and over on the glass, watching the guards as their faces all turned white.
I finally let Hank go and he dropped.
Maybe he was dead, maybe he wasn’t.
I didn’t care.
The fight was over and I had won.
Jack came around and opened the door.
“Now what’s my prize?” I asked.
“Take a shower,” Jack said. “Benito said you could have either a steak or a blowjob.”
“Benito?”
“My wife is a cousin-in-law.”
“Christ,” I whispered.
“So what do you want?”
“Where’s the steak from?” I asked.
“Benito’s restaurant.”
“Damn. That’s good. What about the blowjob?”
“He sent someone to visit. I can arrange a private visit and turn the cameras off.”
I thought about. I looked back at Hank. He still hadn’t moved.
I checked my knuckles and plucked a piece of tooth from one of them.
“Tell you what,” I said with a grin, “Benito knows how I do things. I don’t make choices.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Jack asked.
I kept the grin. “I’ll have both… food and pussy…”
~
The steak was better. Maybe it was because I had been eating shit food for so long, but I still had my hand to take care of other business.
When I return to my cell, Bo was there.
“Oh, man, bro,” Bo said with his arms open. “I thought you were dead.”
“Not yet,” I said.
Bo looked at my face. “What the fuck…”
“Business,” I said. “Don’t ask. I brought you something.”
“What?”
I had cut a decent chunk of the massive steak and saved it for Bo. The son of a bitch started to tear up when I gave it to him. I never met a man so thankful for nothing when everything had been stolen from him. Talk about a lesson in humility.
While Bo devoured the meat, I stood at the front of the cell, gripping the bars tight. My knuckles were still bleeding. They were swollen and painful.
At least Benito hadn’t forgotten about me.
I stood for what felt like hours, replaying everything in my head. The right, the wrong, the good, the bad. I demanded myself to come up with a plan for when I got out. To keep my head straight while I was inside.
Truthfully, I had nothing to offer. I’d just go after Benito and see where I could help out. It’s all I knew. To fight, earn, track, and keep everyone happy.
Jack wandered down the hall, whistling. He walked right to my cell and stopped.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“How’d it all go?” Jack asked.
“I’m back here, so it doesn’t fucking matter.”
“Let’s do something about that.”
Jack then opened the cell. I offered him my hands, not wanting someone else to show up and shoot Bo again.
Jack shook his head. “No, Noah. You don’t need to do that.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re free to go.”
7.
(Ashlynn)
I was let go… for the night. Ricky chalked it up to wicked stress at home. Which was true. My life outside the restaurant was nothing but a chaotic mess that I couldn’t figure out. I got to keep my earnings for the night and I was told to come back in a few days. Ricky begged me to clear my head and try to relax a little.
Easy to do when you’re a single mother to a newborn…
When I got home, Leah was on the couch with an unlit cigarette hanging from her lips. I ran after her and tore it from her mouth.
“In the apartment? With the baby?”
“I open the window,” she said in a shaky voice.
“You’ve done this before?”
Leah nodded.
I felt my hands curl up. If Leah wasn’t sixteen I would have slapped her across the face. I pointed down the hallway, knowing there was a very slim chance any cigarette smoke could possibly get to Jude’s room. Or my mother’s.
“I have a three month old son in there,” I said. “And my mother is dying of cancer. And you want to smoke?”
“You’re not my mother,” Leah said.
“Go home, Leah. Right now. Just get out of here.”
Leah slowly stood, grabbing her phone and her purse. She looked at me and her face dropped.
“What?” I asked.
“I don’t want to go home tonight, Ashlynn.”
“Why?”
“My mother has a date with that guy again. The one who looks at me funny.”
“Looks at you funny how?”
“He looks at me… like my boyfriend does,” Leah said. “Except this guy is older and it’s scary. Last time he passed me in the hallway and he…”
I sighed. “Shit. Sit down, Leah. Give me the cigarettes. They’re going in the trash.”
“Can I at least charge my cell phone?”
“Yeah. Sure. You can stay the night if you want. Pillows and blankets are in the linen closet. If you stay please make sure someone knows. I don’t need the police coming after me.”
Leah nodded. “Thank you, Ashlynn. Hey, why are you home so early?”
I swallowed hard. “Someone touched me. I hit him.”
“Whoa. You really hit a guy?”
“Listen to me,” I said, all of a sudden feeling the protective motherly instinct flow through me. “Never let someone push you around, Leah. Never let someone touch you. And if your mother doesn’t listen to you, I will. I can help you.”
I saw the tears fill up Leah’s eyes. I stepped toward the couch and she put her hand out. “It’s okay. I’m just going to relax.”
I let Leah be, feeling sorry for her. It wasn’t easy to grow up in a dysfunctional family. I knew what it was like. The sad part was that the dysfunctional family followed me into adulthood. I worked hard for everything in life and I was in a crappy apartment with a sick mother and a baby.
I went into the bathroom first and washed my hands and face. I still smelled of whatever fruity drink that asshole had been drinking. I needed a damn shower. Really bad. So I left the bathroom and opened Jude’s room to check on him. Stars and spaceships reflected on the wall from the nightlight next to his crib. The room smelled of diapers and powder, a soft, soothing scent, nothing but pure innocence. I looked to the crib and saw the small mound that was my son resting.
As I backed up, I shut the door slowly, making sure not to make a sound.
I grabbed a change of clothes and went back to the bathroom.
I stripped down and tossed the bikini bottom and top with the hoodie and pants. I let the water run and warm up and I stood in front of the mirror and stared at my own
body. My breasts were full and very tender. Yeah, maybe some guys thought it was sexy or something, but to me it was far from it. I cupped my breasts and lifted, sighing with a small sense of relief. My right hand closed around my breast and squeezed. I shut my eyes for a second, trying to think about the last time someone touched me. Truthfully… the last person to touch my breast was a nurse in the hospital, teaching me how to get Jude to latch on. Before that?
The night of the fight. That night in the bathroom. The night I got pregnant.
The way he held me, tossed me up on the sink. The way he attacked me with a visceral lust and yet he didn’t hurt me at all. He took complete control.
My fingers grazed across my nipple and I shuddered. I grabbed the edge of the sink and thought about doing something to myself. Taking a few minutes for me. Nothing wrong with that, right? I was already naked. The steam filled up the bathroom. All I could picture though was his body. Muscles on top of muscles, built from use, not from being a gym rat. A man who fought for everything, literally.
I groaned and then felt something on my hand. I opened my eyes and looked down. My hand was still touching my breast. But I had leaked a little. The liquid on my fingers made me sigh, reminding me that my body was still in total mother mode. The most important thing I could do was be a mother to Jude. My needs came second or even lower when I looked at the rest of my life.
That was okay. I loved Jude with all my heart.
The mirror had fogged up, which was good. I didn’t need to see my reflection anymore.
I showered, dressed, and walked into Jude’s room to find Leah standing in the middle of the room, holding my son.
She looked at me and smiled. “He started whining right after you got in the shower. I think he knows you’re home.”
I took the baby and Leah thanked me again for letting her stay.
Sure, what was one more person to take care of?
I rocked Jude for a minute and then sat down. He was nestled against me so perfectly. His eyes fluttered and opened. When he saw me, he gave a half smile. It was the damn cutest thing I’d ever seen. I wasn’t sure if he meant to do it or it was just his body doing it. He only did it when he saw me.
I’d seen that same smile before though.
