Pink Butterfly (20 page)

“Yes.”

“Weird.”

“Not as weird as trying to walk in those shoes.”

Alicia continued to rub her ankle and feel the pounding pain in her head. “I can’t afford an ER visit. They don’t have insurance here.”

“Let me look at your eyes,” Tim said prompting Alicia to look into the light from the dressing table. “You’re pupils are still equal, and neither are dilated so that’s a good sign.”

Just then Jeff walked into the dressing room and approached Alicia. The two men who were assisting her backed away for a moment as Jeff wailed back and slapped her across the face with enough power her nose ring flew off and hit the dressing table mirror with a clink.

Tim stood up, grabbed Jeff’s hand and shoved him backwards. “What the fuck are you doing!” he shouted.

“Stupid bitch embarrassed me and my club!”

“If you don’t back off, I’ll embarrass you!”

“Try it,” Jeff said and raised his hands offensively to strike.

Tim pulled off his shirt, exposing his massive muscular chest and ripped arms and tossed the shirt on the floor.

Jeff looked at Tim with envy and disgust. “Do you shave your chest?” Jeff asked.

“Yes, why do you ask?” Tim replied.

“Isn’t that a bit gay?”

“No, most body builders shave.”

“Why?”

“So you can see the individual muscles. Why lift if you’re going to hide your work behind a thick matt of hair? Plus, why would a gay guy come to a female nude bar?”

“This place is packed with horny men who aren’t getting any action, it’s the best place for a gay guy to be.”

“Touché’” Tim replied flexing his pecks. “How did we get from you slapping this girl to us talking about picking up men at a nude juice bar?”

“I have a tough time focusing some times,” Jeff replied. “I think I have ADHD.”

“What’s that?”

“Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, makes it hard for me to pay attention to any one thing for long. I think I also may have some schizophrenic tendencies.”

“Have you seen a psychologist or psychiatrist about this?”

“No, I’ve been reading a lot about it online.”

“You really should see a professional.”

“We don’t have insurance, can’t afford to see a real doctor.”

“With all the money this place drags in, you can’t pay for insurance?”

“I just work here, I don’t make the rules.”

“Who makes, the rules?”

“I’ll have to ask Vera. But anyway, I came to tell this little girl that if she doesn’t get back on the stage before eleven, she’s done here.”

“There’s no way she’s getting on that stage by eleven or by the rest of the night. She needs to go to the hospital.” Tim snapped back.

“I have a better idea, take her out the back door and toss her by the dumpster.”

“What?” Tim barked.

“The dumpster, it’s the big brown thing with all the garbage in it.”

“I know what a dumpster is. I don’t dump people by them.”

“Then take her home, she isn’t any good to me like this.”

“You are one fucking asshole,” Tim said holding back ready to punch Jeff in the face.

“Look, I run a business here, I can’t afford for the talent to fall on her face and ruin the fun for my customers. If she can’t spread the lips, then she might as well be mopping floors for someone else.”

“You cold hearted bastard! She’s a young woman, not a disposable handy wipe.”

“I’ve got to get back to the DJ booth, you get her out or I’ll find someone who will.”

With that said, Jeff stormed back out of the dressing room and came face to face with Father O’Shea, otherwise known as the ghost of Laurie Delgado. “What do you want?” Jeff shouted over the loud music.

“We need to talk,” Laurie stated through the priest.

“Now?” I’m sort of busy.”

The priest grabbed Jeff by the collar of his t-shirt and attempted to pick him off the ground. To Laurie’s dismay, the priest wasn’t that strong and the intimidation didn’t really work that well.

“I’m not some ten year old boy you can strong arm into an ass fucking,” Jeff said with a smirk. Waiting for a smart ass remark, and getting nothing, Jeff shoved the priest back onto the floor next to a table full of horny male customers. Laurie looked at the men at the table and pretended to be hurt. “Are you going to let him do that to a priest?” she asked.

The men at the table, thinking it was a joke laughed at Father O’ Shea and continued to watch the girl swinging naked from the pole. Laurie hobbled up and regained her balance using one of the men’s chairs to keep her steady. Humbled and defeated, Laurie hung her head in shame and walked over to the wall and stood silent almost crying. In the body of Father O’ Shea, the scene looked pretty pathetic.

Jeff took his place at the DJ booth and introduced the next dancer. He poked at his laptop, picked out some music and started to shake his booty enjoying his time like he was on stage. He looked around and saw the men watching him and quit dancing.

The next dancer was a local hired from town using the stage name of Poonytang. She was short, chubby and danced like a fat girl at an all you can eat buffet. Finding new dancers was slim pickings and Jeff had to make do with what he had. Jeff watched the chubby girl try to climb the pole only to slide back down every time bumping her ass on the floor. Her huge tits bounced like basketballs and laid upon her belly like the head on a snowman. The men didn’t seem to mind though, it was as if they were tired of all the skinny girls with the fake tits and it was nice to see some real meat for once.

Outside, Tim the paramedic set Alicia down next to the dumpster and made sure she was ok. “Are you alright?” he asked squatting down next to her.

“Are you going to leave me here?” she asked, sporting a huge bump on her forehead.

“Yeah, I think so, I don’t think my wife would like me dragging you home.”

“Then why didn’t you just leave me inside the dressing room?”

“I don’t know, I usually do what people tell me to do like a retarded sheep. He seemed like he knew what he was talking about.”

“Take me back inside!” Alicia yelled losing consciousness.

“Nah, you’ll be fine out here, it’s warm and the sun will be up in seven hours.”

“What if I go into a coma?” Alicia asked.

Tim thought hard for a moment and stood back up. He rummaged through the trash in the dumpster looking for anything he could keep. Finding nothing he ignored Alicia and walked back to the exit door and found it locked. “Fuck!” he said. “I forgot to get a hand stamp!”

“Hand stamp?” Alicia asked in a slurred dizzy tone.

“Without a hand stamp, it’s twelve bucks to get back in.”

Alicia slumped over onto the concrete next to the dumpster and fell asleep. She began to snore and twitch a little in the light cast from the parking lot lights. Frustrated and enraged, Tim walked over to Alicia, picked her up and tossed her into the open dumpster with a crash of cardboard and assorted garbage from the club. “You cost me twelve bucks bitch!” Tim yelled and stormed back to the entrance of the club digging through his wallet looking for cash.

Alicia woke up the next morning lying on the ground at the city landfill. She was covered in wet slimy crap and paper. The sun was just over the horizon so she knew it was still early in the morning, especially since she was cold. Peeling off the paper, she noticed she was still dressed in her stripper outfit sans the heels and had no idea how she ended up here. In the distance she could see bulldozers pushing piles of garbage and men walking around with orange safety vests.

“What are you doing here?” said a voice from out of nowhere.

Alicia turned in the direction of the sound but saw no one.

“You ought to put on some clothes, you’ll freeze to death.”

“Who is talking to me?” she asked looking around. “The voice sounded female, but not exactly.”

“Down here,” the voice said.

Alicia looked down to find a rat sitting back on its haunches chewing on some garbage. Strangely she wasn’t scared. “Are you talking to me?” she asked.

“Yep, I’m talking to you,” the rat replied. “I think you may have a hematoma on your forehead.”

“Are you a paramedic?” Alicia asked.

“No, I’ve never gone past my EMT certificate. Maybe someday though.”

“Huh, ok,” Alicia said in a confused way. “Where am I?”

“You are at the city landfill honey, can’t you tell by all the birds?”

“How can you talk?”

“How can you be dressed like that?”

“You’re a rat.”

“You’re some sort of hooker.”

“Don’t judge me.”

“Ditto,” the rat replied.

“I don’t think I like where this is going,” Alicia said rubbing her hematoma. “How do I get out of here?”

“See those buildings over there?” the rat asked pointing to her right. “That’s the way out.”

Alicia pushed herself up with her hands and instantly her left ankle reminded her how much it was twisted. “Holy fuck that hurts!” she said.

“Looks like you ain’t going anywhere missy,” the rat said. “I was thinking about eating you, but now it looks like the choice has been made for me.”

“You eat me?”

“Me and my family, I got two hundred more at home.”

“I don’t want to be eaten.”

“I don’t want to be a rat.”

“I’m sorry about you being a rat, is there any way you can help me get out of here?”

“You’re sorry? You’re a funny lady you know that? Tell you what, you crawl over to that pile of illegal medical waste, and I might help you the rest of the way.”

“Like syringes and stuff?”

“And bits of guts from surgeries too, I bet you never knew they ended up here. I found a whole leg once.”

“That’s bullshit, they don’t throw legs in the trash. They send them to the funeral home or something.”

“Have you ever been to a funeral for a leg?”

“No.”

“See, don’t sass me back girl. I know my shit.”

Alicia tried to slide across the ground backwards on her ass dragging her injured ankle behind her. She was surprised at how far she could go in a short time. “Look, I don’t need your help, I’ll be to the road in an hour.”

“That gives me an hour to get my family here and make a lunch out of you.”

“Come here a second,” Alicia said.

“Oh no, you’re not going to get a hold of me that easy.”

“If you help me get out, I’ll come back and give you anything you want.”

“I live in a landfill, I have everything I want. I’m in rat heaven. You my dear, are the hot fudge Sunday to my breakfast buffet.”

Just then Alicia noticed a grey pipe lying next to her and used it to whack the rat in the head. A few more whacks and it didn’t move. The silence now seemed odd and for a moment she felt lonely, then she scooted onward towards the road.

An hour later, Alicia was limping along the shoulder of the road when a sheriff’s car did a U turn and pulled onto the shoulder in front of her. A little beep of the siren let Alicia know she was in trouble.

From the car, a thin deputy with a crew cut and sunglasses approached Alicia with a hand hovering over a pistol still in the holster.

“What are you doing out here ma’am?” the deputy asked in a high pitched female voice.

Surprised by the sound of the deputy’s voice, Alicia did a quick scan and noticed that the officer did have wider hips then most men but otherwise looked male. “I’m trying to get home,” Alicia replied.

“We don’t allow indecent exposure here in our county,” the deputy stated.

“You think I’m here on purpose?”

“For all I know, you were giving blow jobs to truckers and got you ass kicked out. I see you’re wearing your underclothes and around here that is considered indecent.”

“This is my costume!” Alicia snapped back.

“Costume? This isn’t Halloween. What kind of sick fuck are you?”

“I work at the Pink Butterfly, or at least I use to.”

“I’m gonna have to take you in ma’am, please turn around and put your hands behind your back.”

“You’re shitting me,” Alicia said disheartened.

The deputy approached Alicia and gestured for her to spin around. Alicia turned and felt the cold handcuffs clasp into place over her wrists and knew she was more fucked than ever. “Over to the car,” the deputy commanded and Alicia did as she was told.

“Call the Pink Butterfly, they’ll tell you,” Alicia begged.

“We can do all that when we get back to the law enforcement center. For now, you’re under arrest for indecent exposure.”

“Did you ever consider that I may have been raped? I’m dressed in my underwear as you put it and I am injured.”

“The thought never crossed my mind,” the deputy replied in a condescending tone.

“Maybe you should be calling an ambulance instead of arresting me!”

“Ok, were you raped?” the officer asked pissed.

Alicia stalled for a second and didn’t answer. Then she replied, “No.”

“Get in the car ma’am,” the deputy stated and proceeded to shut the door behind her after she was in the back.

At the station, the deputy took fingerprints, a couple photos and a brief statement from Alicia. She then took her over to the shower room and handed her a towel. “Get in there and wash up, you smell like a landfill.” the deputy commanded. “I’ll give you some jailhouse orange to wear when you’re done.”

Alicia stepped into the cold poorly lit shower room and took notice of the echoes her feet made against the walls when she stepped. The room was like a high school gym shower room with multiple shower heads for three or four people to use at a time. It seemed dank and utilitarian in nature with no decorations, just green colored brick and tile.

Alicia slipped off her panty and bra and turned on the water making a quick adjustment to the right temperature. She stepped under the water stream and let the hot water spray over her smooth naked skin and wash the stink out of her hair. Then she realized there was no shampoo or soap and turned to look for some when she noticed the deputy standing behind her now naked holding a bottle of body wash. “What the hell are you doing?” Alicia barked at the deputy. She now realized for sure that the officer was a woman.