Lookin' For Luv (28 page)
Authors: Carl Weber
“Damn, Antoine, don’t stare so hard. They’re not going to fall off,” Tyrone teased.
They seated themselves at a table in front of the main stage.
“Now, this is beautiful, isn’t it?” Billy exclaimed, grabbing a young Latina girl by her buttocks and slipping a dollar into her garter. “Four black men with the opportunity to look and touch over a hundred naked women. Heaven, wouldn’t you say?”
“You can touch them?” Antoine asked, upset.
“You’ve been going to those white strip clubs too much, son.” Billy laughed as he gently stroked a woman walking past. “This is a black club. You can touch anything you want if you’re willing to pay for it.”
“Tell him about the table and lap dances, Uncle Billy,” Tyrone said excitedly. Billy pointed to another table for the men to see.
“Now, you see that sister dancing in front of that brother over there? See the way she’s dancing in front of him, rubbing her stuff up against his leg? Well, that’s a table dance. Not bad for five bucks, huh?”
Kevin felt sorry for Antoine. He had never seen his friend so upset. Maybe coming to the club was a bad idea. There was no way Shawna could win in a situation like this. Antoine was already angry because she worked in the dump. But if she really turned out to be a stripper, he’d probably break off the engagement in a second.
“Now, look over there.” Billy pointed across the room to about twenty-five women sitting on men’s laps, grinding their bare crotches into them as if they were having sex. “That’s a lap dance. You don’t see those in too many clubs anymore, because brothers would offer the girls a little more than the ten dollars to slide up in there and the club wouldn’t get a cut.”
“Now I understand why so many women don’t want their men going to strip clubs,” Kevin said seriously.
“They really have sex with these guys?” Antoine asked in disbelief.
“What planet did you get this guy from?” Billy nudged Tyrone.
“Antoine’s just upset, Uncle Billy. That’s why we wanted to meet you here.” Tyrone explained everything about Shawna to his uncle.
“Aw’ight, now I understand.” Billy looked at Antoine sympathetically.
“Big Daddy Bill-Bill,” a tall, half-Asian sister purred, wrapping her arm around his neck. “How you doing, Big Daddy? You haven’t had a VIP with anyone yet, have you?”
“No, baby, I was waiting for you.” He playfully grabbed the girl’s buttocks with both hands for the other men to see. “Fellas, this here is China Doll. She’s gonna take me upstairs and give me the VIP treatment. But when I come back, I’m going to get to the bottom of that problem for you, Antoine.”
The three men watched Billy follow China Doll up the spiral staircase.
“What’s the VIP treatment?” Kevin asked Tyrone.
“Oh, that’s when you give the woman of your choice a hundred bucks and she takes you upstairs to knock the boots.”
“No way! That’s prostitution, isn’t it?” Kevin replied.
“Yep.”
The three friends watched the show for about fifteen minutes until Billy and China Doll walked back over to the table and sat down.
“Do me a favor,” Billy said, patting China Doll on the rear. “Go find Amed and tell him to come here.” The men watched as China Doll walked away.
“That girl’s got some good pussy,” Billy remarked. “And, Kevin, she told me she’d like to see you outside the club.”
“Damn, Kev, that means you can get that stuff for free anytime you want,” Tyrone said excitedly.
“Thanks, Billy, but I’m not into sloppy seconds.”
“Or thirds, fourths, fifths ...” Antoine mumbled.
“You got a lot of nerve for a guy that needs my help,” Billy chastised Antoine. “Do you realize there’s almost a hundred girls working the floor and another thirty or forty in the locker room? You might not ever find out if your lady dances here.”
“I’m sorry.” Antoine realized that he could use Billy’s help.
“Now, listen, here comes Amed. Don’t nobody say a word except me. I spend a lot of money in this place, and they usually give me what I want,” Billy commanded, smiling as Amed approached the table and shook his hand.
“Good to see you, Mr. Big Daddy. However can I help you?” Amed asked graciously in an Indian accent.
“I’m doing fine, Amed.” Billy slipped the man a twenty. “A friend of mine told me about a real beauty you have working here. I was hoping maybe I could get a VIP with her.”
“Sure, Big Daddy. What is her name?”
“I don’t know her stage name, but her real name is Shawna. Shawna... ?”
“Dean,” Antoine interjected.
Amed looked surprised by the request. “Ah, yes, Shawna. I did not know you were into her type, Big Daddy?”
“You’re right, I usually go for the light-skinned ones.” Billy recalled that Tyrone had described Shawna as tall and dark-skinned. “But I think it’s time for a change. What do you think?”
“It is entirely up to you. With me, the customer is always right. However, Shawna is already booked up with VIPs tonight. But I have a beautiful girl named Roberta who is along the same lines as Shawna. Would you like me to—”
“Booked up with who?” Antoine shouted before Kevin could cover his mouth.
“You have to excuse my friend. He was looking forward to meeting Shawna,” Billy said smoothly, cutting his eyes at Antoine. “Listen, why don’t you let me buy all her VIPs for the next two nights? The truth is, I just want one good round and then she can go back to work.”
Amed quickly ran the figures through his head and smiled greedily.
“But, Big Daddy, that’s over a thousand dollars.”
“You take Visa, don’t you?” Billy smiled back.
“We certainly do. Let me go see what I can arrange for you, Big Daddy.” Amed walked away, counting the profits in his head. Billy sat at the table, certain he would never have to spend that money. He knew that if Shawna ever came out to the table, there’d be a scene, and no money would ever end up changing hands.
“What the hell is wrong with you? That man’s job is to protect his girls from husbands and boyfriends!” Billy yelled at Antoine. “I’m trying to help you out. Don’t fuck up my thing here!”
“Look. I’m out of here. There is no way I’m going to watch my girlfriend walk out here naked in front of you guys,” Antoine shouted angrily. As he stood, he knocked all their glasses to the floor.
“Come on, Antoine, sit down. We’re gonna leave in a little bit.” Kevin put a hand on his friend’s shoulder, trying to calm him. “I just don’t want you to make the same mistake I did.”
“Yeah, Antoine, you need to talk to her, man, before you do anything rash,” Tyrone added.
“I’m telling you, if she walks out here nude, I’m going to lose it!” He was in a jealous rage, and Kevin could barely hold him down.
“Look, you guys are going to have to calm down, or I’m going to have to ask you to leave the club,” a beefy bouncer demanded, flexing his huge biceps.
“Fuck you! And fuck this whorehouse of a club!” Antoine put his finger in the bouncer’s chest. Billy stood up between the two before the bouncer could react.
“Listen, Jake, my friend over here’s a little drunk. He didn’t mean no disrespect.”
Billy motioned for Kevin and Tyrone to escort Antoine out as he handed Jake twenty dollars. The two friends grabbed Antoine’s upper arms tightly and rushed him toward the door. With each step Antoine struggled more and his cursing became louder. He had never felt the desire to hurt someone the way he did at that moment, and if his friends had not been there to escort him out, he knew he would have ended up in jail.
Shawna had four girls waiting in line as she transformed an average-looking brown-skinned woman into a raging beauty.
“Hold still, Nutmeg. If you want to make some money tonight, you’re gonna have to look extra good. Amed hired about fifteen white girls this week, and you know some o’ these no-good sellout brothers are gonna give them all their money.”
“That’s right, girl. I saw one of them bitch’s take two of my regulars upstairs to the VIP room. That bitch might as well have went to my house and took my baby’s Pampers and milk, ’cause that’s two hundred dollars I’ll never see.”
“Why would Amed do that shit anyway?” another woman asked. “When I first started working here, you could make some good money. Now there’s so many girls, you got to haggle with the price to go home with anything after that Indian motherfucker gets his cut”
“Well, girls, you better get used to it. Mayor Giuliani is closing down all the clubs in Manhattan, and those girls are gonna make their way here in order to feed their families. The word on the street is that he’s gonna shut us down too.”
“I hope not, Shawna.” Nutmeg admired herself in the mirror. “I just started to pay off my bills.”
“I know, girl. Not only do I have to pay off my operation, but my wedding also.”
“You’re getting married?” Nutmeg squealed, giving her a hug.
“Yes, a couple a months after my operation.” Shawna displayed her engagement ring.
“Congratulations!” Amed said, startling the women. “Shawna, may I speak to you in private, please?”
“Sure. I’ll be right back, girls.”
She followed him to his office. Inside Amed’s cluttered office Shawna sat down. Amed got straight to business.
“Shawna, outside I have Big Daddy Bill-Bill and he is very interested in a woman of your, how do you say it, qualities. He’s willing to pay handsomely for a VIP, I might add. Six hundred big ones, minus my cut, of course. What do you think? You think you might do me this one favor?”
She looked at him in amazement. Even if she was interested, she knew he was lying about the price, as he did with all of the girls.
“Hell no! My boyfriend would kill me. He’s having a hard enough time with me being a makeup girl. If I was a stripper and a prostitute, he’d kill both of us. I suggest you go talk to Roberta.” She stormed out of the office.
While Antoine fumed outside in Kevin’s car, the other men sat and waited for Amed to return with Shawna.
“Excuse me, Mr. Big Daddy,” Amed said, smiling sheepishly. “I am sorry, but I am unable to get Shawna to do a VIP with you.”
“Why is that? My money no longer good here?”
“She is just very backed up with her regular clients.” Amed handed him four tickets. “These are four Men’s Club VIP passes. Give them to any girl, and you and your friends will get free VIPs. That includes the room fee and condom.”
“Well, that’s mighty nice of you, Amed.”
Billy loved to watch Amed squirm. He shook the Indian man’s hand and dismissed him with a wave of his hand. He handed Tyrone and Kevin each a pass.
“You boys take your time and pick the right girl, you hear?”
Kevin handed the ticket back to him. “Look, guys. I’m going to drive Antoine home. I’m pretty sure he’s gonna want to talk to someone. You mind calling a cab?”
“Suit yourself,” Billy said, shaking his hand. “It was nice to meet you, son.” He stuffed the extra ticket in his pocket to use later.
For about ten more minutes Tyrone laughed and joked with his uncle and two women they had called to the table. Surprisingly he found himself bored with the women.
“Uncle Billy, I’m gonna call it a night. I’ll give you a call in a couple of days, okay?”
“All right, boy, but you don’t know what you’re missing. Does he, girls?” He squeezed them both.
Tyrone looked down at the women and thought about Sylvia. He placed his VIP ticket on the table and told his uncle, “Yes, I do.”
24
TYRONE AND ALICIA
Tyrone and Sylvia left the Schomburg Library after spending the afternoon admiring an exhibit of Gordon Parks’s photography. Tyrone had always wanted to go to the library because of its historical significance as a center for culture and education in Harlem. Since the consummation of their relationship, they had managed to spend some time together every day, and their day at the library’s African American museum was just as enjoyable as every other they had spent together. After spending years with a husband who admired only himself and their money, Sylvia was thrilled to be with a man who shared her admiration for black artists.
And Tyrone was happy to be with a woman who shared his love of art. He had known women before who pretended to be interested just to attract his attention, but he learned quickly that there was no depth to their knowledge. With Sylvia he had someone who understood his passion and shared it.
With Maurice away on another overnight trip, the couple had planned to take advantage of his absence. They had been frustrated that so many of their meetings were cut short, so they planned to turn their afternoon at the museum into an evening of dinner at the world-famous Sylvia’s soul food restaurant and whatever else developed.
Once they were inside the restaurant, they were seated at a cozy table. Sylvia looked around and reminisced. “I haven’t been here in years. This used to be my favorite restaurant just because of the name. It didn’t matter what was on the menu. I would eat it just because it came from Sylvia’s. My dad would bring me here whenever I got a good report card.”
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