The Skin Show (17 page)

“Well…anxious? 
Maybe that’s a better word for it.  I’m wondering what we’re going to see
here.”

“A
lot of naked women so far.”

“Yeah…but
what if people do get on stage.”

“I
thought you said these places aren’t legit.”

Andy
saw a flash of movement, an empty tray slapping the table. The naked waitress
appeared, threw her leg over him, and straddled his lap. Her groin dug into
his. She hung her arms on his shoulders, embracing his neck. “Hi there.”

Andy’s
heart pounded. He was certain she could feel it.

“Excuse
you?” said Karen, just over her shoulder.

“I’m
sorry.” The waitress flung her auburn hair in Andy’s face when she turned. “Is
this yours?” Grinding her hips, her crotch rubbed across Andy’s penis.

“As
a matter of fact…”

“Maybe
you can get behind him and join in? I don’t mind.”

“Hey,”
said Karen, her voice growing strict.

“I’m
just teasing,” the waitress sulked as she climbed off Andy.

Quickly,
Andy pulled at his pants to hide his hard on. Karen was too busy focusing on
the waitress to notice.

“Hope
I didn’t piss you off too much,” the waitress said. “Your date here looked a
little uptight, so I thought I’d soften him up some. Or make him harder?” She
looked at Andy, and winked.

Great…she
noticed.

How
could she have missed it? Jabbing up into her like that.

Andy
felt like an ass.

“I’m
Alexia, your servant. Will you be drinking tonight?”

Servant.
Wow.

Sounded
like a slave. Andy supposed it was meant to in a place like this.

“Heavily,”
answered Karen.

“That’s
my kind of girl.”

“Whiskey
Sour, please.”

Alexia
turned to Andy, arching an eyebrow. “And you, lover?”

And
here it was, the moment Andy had known would come sooner or later: his fall off
the wagon. Not that he’d battled alcoholism, or bilious mornings of waking up covered
in his piss and shit. Still, he’d had moments where he wondered if one day he
would. It had been almost as hard to stop drinking as it had been to quit
smoking…

Well,
I already screwed that to hell. Why not go two for two?

“Bud
Light.”

Smiling,
Alexia said, “Bottle or draft?”

“How
much for draft?”

Alexia
looked at him as if he’d just farted. “There’s no charge here.”

“There’s…not?”

She
shook her head, breasts jiggling slightly. “Hell no. No cover, no charge. It’s
free, baby. All you can want, all you
neeeed
.” Smirking, she added,
“We’re here to serve you in any way.”

Andy
gulped. “Draft then…”

“I’ll
be back with your drinks.” She placed a pointy fingernail under Andy’s chin,
gently raising his head. “Lover.” Then she was gone, meandering through the
crowd like a ghost. She had the tray tucked under her arm, though Andy hadn’t
noticed her grabbing it.

“Wow,”
said Karen. “They
really
put on a show, don’t they?”

“Uh…if
that’s what you call it.”

“She
was all over you. Guess since they don’t make any money off the booze, they go
overboard for the tips.”

“Does
seem like a game, doesn’t it?”

Karen
nodded. “Maybe it’s like one of those things where you spend a shitload of
money to eat while being treated like shit.”

Andy
had actually taken Nicole to a seafood place where the staff went out of their
way to be rude, and the customers just smiled and enjoyed it. “I can see that.”

“Yeah?
Instead of talking to you like you’re garbage, they act as if they want to…rip
your clothes off.”

If
Alexia
had
torn his clothes open, his erection would have been exposed.
How would he have reacted to that? Angry? Embarrassed?

Proud?

It’s
been awhile since
anyone’s
seen it…other than my hand.

What
would have happened if she’d sat down on him, and slipped him in?

Andy
didn’t want to think about it.

“Maybe
I
should work here,” said Karen, smiling.

“I’d
be here every night.”

“Maybe
I’ll be
your
servant?”

Andy
opened his mouth to respond with something less than witty, but the squeal of
feedback resonating from the speakers interrupted. The audience cheered.
Tapping echoed through the club.

“Can
everyone hear me?” The voice came over the P.A. system, slightly distorted and
loud. Andy recognized it right away.

Sugar.

She
was standing on the stage behind a chrome microphone stand that had been sculpted
into a woman’s naked body. Its back was arched to make the head gaze at Sugar
upside down. “Sorry to keep you fiends waiting.” She spoke into the silvery
mouth.

Sugar
saw Andy and winked, licking her upper lip. The gesture caused heat to flow
through him, and he had to admit he was kind of glad to see her again. A
familiar face amongst all this craziness was like a blessing.

Even
if it was Sugar’s.

Laughter,
more whistles.

“My
name’s Sugar, your host for the evening, and we’re about to get started,
although looking at you all tonight, I can tell some of you already started
without me!”

Whistles
and cheers.

Sugar
held up her hand. The ovations calmed down. “Well, let’s hold out a little
longer. The show’s about to begin momentarily, so that means the music will be
off, and all you’ll have for entertainment is each other.” She winked at Andy.
“I’m sure that won’t be a problem for some of you.”

Karen
leaned over to him. “What did that mean?”

Andy
just shook his head. He had no clue.

“But,
for now, I need a volunteer for our warm up show. Which man out there wants to
come on stage and participate?”

Many
men volunteered, jumping up and down, waving their arms. Andy heard a tumult of
pleas as nearly every man in the club professed their willingness.

“You,”
said Sugar, pointing into the herd. “My bald hero right there.” She smiled,
nodded. “Yep. You honey-baby, get up here.”

Andy
and Karen turned to see a robust biker heading up to the stage as groans and
moans of disappointment from the rest followed. Shirtless, he wore a leather
vest and pants with matching leather chaps. He mounted the stage, holding his
arms out to embrace Sugar.

She
put her hand flat on his chest. “Not so fast, lover. People have to earn a show
with me.” The crowd booed. “Come with me for a minute so we can get you ready.”

“Sounds
good to me,” the man said.

Laughter
came from the crowd, followed by applause.

Sugar
spoke into the microphone’s chrome mouth again. “So, drink ‘em if you got 'em,
and no matter what:
Don’t
keep your hands to yourself!”

Wild
ovations filled the room. Sharp whistles pierced Andy’s ears, causing him to
wince. Sugar waved, then exited to the right. She vanished behind a black
curtain, her arm curled around the big guy.

Alexia
brought them their drinks. She placed a large mug of bubbly yellow fluid capped
in foam in front of Andy. He felt his tongue go dry. It had been such a long
time since beer had flowed through his mouth. Hands twitching, he had to
restrain from snatching the mug off the table and hugging it to his chest. He
might have licked the frosty glass had he been alone.

He
raised the beer to his mouth, blew some foam away, and drank. The beer filled
his mouth, quenching the dehydrated thirst of his tongue. He gulped fervently.
It tasted cold and wonderful.

Karen
raised her small plastic cup, swigged two deep gulps, and grimaced. It wasn’t
an expression of disgust. She looked as if the drink might have hurt a tad
going down.

Andy
noticed Alexia hadn’t left, and still stood on the other side of the table,
watching Karen. “You’ve got some nice legs,” she told Karen.

Karen
was about to take another drink, but accidentally spilled some on her thumb
when Alexia spoke. She smiled shyly. “Thank you.” Putting her thumb in her
mouth, she sucked the spilled whiskey off. Andy liked how her lips formed
around her thumb, pinching tightly together, yet puckering fully as if kissing.

“Can
I rub your thigh a little?” asked Alexia.

Andy
nearly choked on his beer. He managed to swallow the foamy beverage before his
throat closed up. The frankness of the question had surprised him, and he could
only imagine how it had come across to Karen. 

 “My…thigh?
Why?”

“It
looks so soft. I bet it feels really smooth.”

Andy
studied the arc where her thigh met her knee, agreeing.

Karen
glanced at Andy, shook her head, then said, “I suppose it’s all right.”

Andy
couldn’t hide his disbelief.  His mouth dropped open.  Karen made a face that
read of good humor. This was all a game to her. 

 “Yay!”
Alexia set the tray back on their table. A corner hung off the lip of the
table. She hurried around Andy’s backside and squatted down in the tight space
between their chairs. “You know, I had my doubts about you.”

“Doubts?”

“Yeah.
I thought you might be a little close-minded. Maybe I was wrong?” 

Karen’s
eyes narrowed.

“You’re
sure you don’t mind?” asked Alexia.

“No,
I don’t mind. I’m flattered. Just…you know…don’t get weird.”

“Weird?
Whatever.” She looked back at Andy over her shoulder. Her hair swathed all of
her face except a portion of her eye. “Gonna watch?”

“Probably.”

Alexia
smiled.  “Good.” She placed her hand on top of Karen’s leg just above the knee.
She flexed her fingers, then began lightly brushing the skin with their tips.
She moaned. 

Andy
looked at Karen whose eyes were focused on him. She raised her eyebrows,
forming a gasping O with her mouth as if he’d caught her doing something
naughty. He smiled at her playfulness. This really was a
game
to her. He
liked how lighthearted she was handling the situation. 

“I
was right,” said Alexia.  “Smooooth. Probably some of the smoothest skin I’ve
ever felt.”

“I
bet you say that to all the girls you grope.”

Alexia
laughed. “Hardly.” Her hand snuck higher. It vanished over the side of Karen’s
thigh, then reappeared at the top as she softly rubbed it. “Damn…so soft. I’m
in love with your skin.”

Karen
gulped. Frowning marginally, her bottom lip hid under the top.

Andy
wondered if he should intervene.   

Alexia’s
hand started to travel upward, making its way under her skirt. Karen jerked
back, yanking her leg away. Gasping, Alexia tumbled backward, flinging her arms
high. She fell against Andy’s legs. Sprawled out, she turned so that she was
facing Andy, her left leg extended, the right bent at the knee and draping the
left thigh.

“Too
far!” shouted Karen. “You said my thigh. That was
not
my thigh!”

Alexia
held the back of her head, rubbing. Her hair shook around her shoulders. “Ow…”

“Shit!”
Karen added.

“Sorry…”
Alexia sat up, groaning. Her skin looked pale and smooth down in the shadowy
lake of the floor. “Force of habit…” She scurried to her feet, using Andy’s
legs for leverage. Her breasts brushed his cheek. Her skin smelled like a
combination of vanilla and sweat. “I hope you enjoy your stay here.” Reaching
over the table, she snatched her drink tray. She hurried to the bar without
looking back.

Karen
slapped at her leg, as if the harder she struck herself the less it would feel
like a stranger’s hand had been there. Andy wondered why she’d let Alexia do as
much as rub her leg, knowing the risk involved.

Well…she’d
told her no weird stuff.

Maybe
Alexia didn’t think what she was doing was weird.

Karen
sure did.

“Can
you believe that?” said Karen. “She actually
touched
me.”

“I
saw that one coming.”

“Well…I
guess I should have, too, but I’d hoped she would have known...” She sounded a
tad winded.

Andy
frowned, sipped his beer.

“You’re
probably wondering why I reacted like that, huh?”

He
was curious, but hadn’t planned on asking. “It’s none of my business.”

“It
is if I tell you about it.”

“Look,”
he said, waving a hand. “Really…you don’t need to explain yourself. I thought
your reaction was justified, you know. I mean, she took it too far. How else
would you have reacted?”

“Like
these people,” Karen said, leaning her head back to imply the other patrons.

Andy
looked at them, seeing litters of man hands rubbing and caressing naked
servants and female customers. “Well…that might have been what she wanted, but
you warned her.”

“Still,
I shouldn’t have acted like that. I knocked her on her ass for christsake!”

Andy
shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah, but…” He didn’t know what to say from there.

“I
was molested by a babysitter when I was younger.”

Andy’s
beer didn’t taste as good as it had moments ago. He sat the mug down, and
watched Karen. Her watery eyes were aimed at Andy, but she wasn’t looking at
him. All she could see was the memory replaying in front of her.

Damn
Alexia’s roaming hand.

“I’m
sorry,” he said.

She
didn’t react to his poor attempt at consoling. “And, the thing is, I didn’t
tell my parents because I was afraid
I
would get in trouble.”

“A
lot of kids think that.”

“Every
two weeks, my parents made sure they had a date night. I was ten then, and Teresa,
my babysitter, would come over to watch me. She’d promise my mom we’d clean up
the popcorn—that never got popped, by the way—and she wouldn’t let me watch any
movies I shouldn’t. She kept that promise, because we never watched movies. I
was
her
movie. She would make me strip for her, do things to myself while
she watched…and then I had to do things to…her, and she would do them…to me.”

Karen’s
voice was becoming thicker the more she spoke, like she’d swallowed a swelling
bubble. “It went on like that for a few months.”

“And
you
never
told?”

She
shook her head. “Not on my own.”

“So,
she got away with it?”

“I
didn’t say that, did I?” Karen gave him a strange smirk. “My Dad could tell
something was wrong from how I was acting. I’m a very good artist. And, he
loved watching me draw, paint, doodle, whatever. Every day when he came home
from work, I tried to have a new piece of art for him—a present from me to him.
After Teresa started her bullshit, it became harder for me to draw these
pictures for him. I tried to fake it, you know, just…to…keep up appearances?”

Andy
nodded.

“But,
he could tell a difference in the quality, I guess. Then I stopped drawing
altogether. He sat me down and asked me what had happened that was causing me
to bottle myself up. He told me that no matter what, I could tell him and I
wouldn’t be in trouble.”

“You
told him?”

“Not
all of it, not at first. I told him enough for him to take the next step.”

“Which
was?”

“Calling
his friends on the force. They paid her a visit. She confessed to everything
rather quickly.” Karen took a small sip of her drink, swished it around her
mouth, then took another heavier swallow. “Since she was still a minor as well,
she was locked up in a juvenile facility until she turned eighteen. Then she
was transferred to the women’s prison. She only served a year and a half there
and was released on good behavior.”

“Did
she behave afterward?”

“Of
course not. She married a guy and abused his daughter for a year before the
girl tried to kill herself. She left everything in the suicide note, and this
time Teresa was locked up for a long time. She died of breast cancer a couple
years ago. I still have the clipping of her obituary pinned on the wall in my
office.”

To
some, the idea of holding onto such a souvenir probably seemed morbid. And,
maybe it was, to a degree. But, Andy understood why she had. Being on her wall,
the clipping was proof, a constant reminder that her personal demon was dead.

“So,
is that what made you become a probation officer? Because of what Teresa did when
she was let out?”

Rucking
out her lips, she glanced away from him as she leaned back. He couldn’t tell if
she was disappointed by his question or insulted. “So, it’s that one, huh?”

“Should
I not have asked that?”

“No,
no,” her voice rose in pitch. “It’s fine.”

“Doesn’t
sound like it’s fine.”

 “I
promise it is. Why do you want to know?”

“I’m
just—”

“—curious.
Right.”

“If
you don’t feel comfortable telling me…”

“It’s
fine.” Karen heaved a sigh. “Whenever someone asks about my
career
choice,
the answer I give them is usually a lie.”

“Will
it be this time?”   

“No.
I’ll tell you.” She absently stroked the rim of her cup. “Some of it has to do
with Teresa, I’m sure. But, mostly the reason is my dad.”

“He
wanted you to be one?”

“No—I
mean, he never said he didn’t, but never said he did, either. Does that make
sense?”

 “And
he was a probation officer, I take it.”

“You
are correct.”

“And,
what did your mom think of you wanting to follow his footsteps?”

“After
the Teresa ordeal, Mom was never the same. I hate to say that she was
embarrassed over the amount of publicity the case received, but she was. I
think the way she looked at it was this: Had she been paying attention to her
daughter, she might have figured out it was happening a long time before the
truth finally came out. She felt guilty, and I think she also…well…felt like an
idiot in her own eyes and the eyes of her friends and coworkers.
I
don’t
think of her like that, because I know how good of a job I did hiding it.”

“You’re
dad noticed, though.”

“He
did. But, I think he was looking for it, you know. It was the artwork that led
him to think something was wrong. My mom…there was no bond between the two of
us before it happened, and after that there was no point in trying anymore. We
butted heads all the time.”

“Why
do you think that was?”

“Some
of it was her self-pity for letting me down, but mostly I hated how she treated
my dad. Not just
after
everything, but before it, too.”

“Bad?”

“Not
really. She didn’t really treat him any way at all. He was there and so was
she, but she never acted as if it mattered, until he was killed.”

“Killed?”
The hollow feeling inside turned into a sinkhole. “I’m so sorry.”

She
poked out her bottom lip. “An offender, scared shitless Dad was going to send
him back to the pen, stabbed him to death.”

“Shit…I’m
sorry I even asked you…”

“Then,
if you can believe it, the offender freaked out because of what he’d done, sped
away, and crashed his car. The bastard wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, so naturally
he sailed through the windshield. Still didn’t kill him, though. He lived for
another five months while machines pumped his heart and did his breathing for
him. Tax dollars paid his hospital bill and we had to pinch pennies just to put
my dad in the ground.”

Andy
saw his hand reach across the table, saw his fingers curl around Karen’s. The
contact caused her to flinch. Looking at him, shocked at first, a small smile
curled her lips.

“Sorry,”
she said. “I just started to vent off there, didn’t I?”

“It’s
understandable.”

“Maybe.
But, I’m sure it’s not something you’re comfortable hearing.”

He
wasn’t, but didn’t tell her so.

“Want
me to refill that for you?”

Alexia’s
voice surprised them both. Neither had noticed her arrival.

Karen
glanced at her, nodded, then handed her the cup.

Taking
it, Alexia said, “I promise not to touch anything except for the cup.”

“Thanks,”
said Karen.

“What
about you, Lover? Want a fresh beer? That one looks a little flat.”

“Yeah,
thanks.”

“Be
right back,” she said, leaving the mug behind.

Karen,
still holding Andy’s hand, looked at him. She had a thin streak glistening down
her cheek from the corner of her eye. “How are
you
feeling…with Nicole?
I haven’t asked, but not because I don’t care. I just didn’t want to bring it
up.”

But
you did.

He
sighed. “I don’t know how I feel, but I know I don’t really want to talk about
it. Not right now, not here.”

“Wow,
what’s
wrong
with me? I demand you tell me personal things about Danny
earlier today, now I’m jabbing at you to talk about Nicole, when all you really
want is just to be left alone about it.”