Chapter 3 LEAVING

After getting dressed and gathering my things, I let Tina steer me through the club towards the exit. Eric popped up in my line of vision.

"You're leaving?" he asked.

"Yes, Eric. I can't even stand straight.What do you expect? Am I restricted from leaving the club, too?"

"No, you're not," he replied with a roll of his eyes. "It's just that, you-know-who is demanding a dance with you again."

"Eric, the guy...makes me wary. I'm not going within an inch of him. The fact he's been so insistant on getting a dance with me all week is creepy. Açre you sure he's not some Lifetime movie predator type? He's always dressed in black. What if he's one of those cult people who likes to slaughter for the rush of it?"

Eric flung his head back and laughed out. "No, Amelia. I know him very well and he's nothing like that. He's not a member of the club either. He just started showing since you began working here a few days ago. Clubs are not his sort of...thing. His presence here is because of you."

"But, why? How does he even know me?"

Eric shrugged, but the expression he wore told me he knew much more than he was letting on, and I was too lethargic to even think about deciphering anything at the moment.

"Tell him I said no, and he should leave me the hell alone. He's creeping me out." I tugged on Tina's arm prompting her to move with me.

Eric gave a reluctant nod and gave us way. I was rocked awake from my short-lived sleep when Tina pulled up outside my apartment.

"What time is it?"

"Just a little after midnight."

Shifting in her seat, she turned to face me. "You're gonna stop, aren't you?"

"You know me too well," I mumbled. "There's no point if Eric keeps acting like this."

"Yeah, Eric's behavior is a bit out of character when it comes to you. I'm thinking he wants you to quit and get with that scary dude in black who watches you like a damn hawk."

"Nope. Not gonna happen. The guy's a weird one. I mean, he stares at me all night, but if I smile at him, his face gets all serious and disapproving. And then he sends Eric to ask me for a dance? He's just...ugh, whatever."

Tina laughed. But I didn't, because the joke was lost on me.

"I'm not sure what the hell I'm gonna do now. Dancing onstage had looked so easy." I managed a short laugh.

"Yet I couldn't even last more than four nights."

Tina reached over squeezed my arm. "You are strong, smart and fearless, Amelia. You'll figure it out. You always do."

Opening the car door, I clambered out, swaying. The alcohol still had me off-balanced. Tina rounded the car and came to my rescue, propping my arm over her shoulder.

"I got you."

Tina didn't want me to quit working at the club, but that hustling was just not for me. At some point in my life, I knew I would look back and ask myself, "What the hell was I thinking?"

Tucked away on the thirtieth floor of a skyscraper, Secret X was a private and exclusive members-only gentlemen's club, where only elite businessmen-mostly married and bored-were admitted.

It had no more than about thirty members and each member rented their own booth.Eric made loads from those guys.Making use of an inherited and honed talent, I sometimes designed and sold costumes to dancers.

Tina was one of my regular customers, so I'd stopped by Secret X one night last week with a few pieces she'd ordered. She'd been onstage when I arrived so I took a seat by the bar and watched her performance while I waited.

It was at that moment I became like Eve who'd bitten into that deceivingly promising apple; the vast amount of money Tina made onstage had been a deadly temptation for a broke ass like me.

Easily, I'd convinced myself with a list of more pros than cons, that it was the easiest and quickest way to pay off my debts. Those thoughts were propelled by Tina's encouragement.

However, it didn't take long for me to realize one needed a carefree psyche or a completely inebriated mind to get through a few hours in that kind of gig.

Tina halted with me on my doorstep. "The owner of Narcofax, Amelia. He's coming to see you tomorrow night, remember? That's at least a thousand bucks guaranteed. Show up at work tomorrow, if only just to see him."

True, that gray-headed man did give big tips. "Maybe."

Taking my bag, she searched around for my keys, retrieved them and opened the door.

"And remember if you want anything at all, don't hesitate to ask me, okay?"

With a nod of acknowledgement, I stumbled across the threshold, closing the door behind me.

"Looks like someone's had a busy night. You're shit-faced."

I glanced up to see Jane and Troy cuddled up on the big black couch in my living room, watching me in amusement.

"You two shitheads still here? Don't you have a home?" I grumbled as I walked rather clumsily over to the leather recliner in the corner and plopped down in it.

"You left us watching Gone with the Wind, girl.You know that movie lasts, like, twenty hours and day. We were just about to leave anyways," Jane said, popping her gum.

"You're back early, though. How was your night?"

"Shitty."

Jane Moore watched me through big, green eyes, her long, dark hair stylishly pigtailed with red hair ties, her bodacious figure swallowed up in one of Troy's oversized sweaters.

She'd been my best friend, confidante and everything in between for five years. Polar opposites, though. She was from an affluent upbringing and I was from an impoverished, dysfunctional, screwed-up family.

But Jane loved me for me; shared in my tears and laughs-though laughs, for me, were a luxury. That, along with the fact I could be used as an excuse to her parents so she could date my ride or die thug of a friend, Troy.

Troy was unacceptable, ineligible, absolutely not the son-in-law Mr. and Mrs. Moore would approve of. He was quintessentially the kind of man all women should steer clear of.

Troy Trouble was what I called him. Trouble with a capital T. But I couldn't lie though, I adored the curly-haired, Hispanic hombre like a brother.And the respects were reciprocated.

At just over six feet he was athletically built with a unique Spanish swagger to him. He had a large heart-shaped tattoo with massive wings on his arm, and all three of our names were etched in it.

"Just imagine, you own a house with five bathrooms," I slurred, wagging a lazy finger at Troy.

"And you," I slurred to Jane, "have enough money to buy one with twice as many bathrooms. So, tell me again why you guys spend more time here where I actually share a bathroom?"

On their own, my eyes closed down, my limbs feeling heavier by the second.

"Should just let y'all pay the damn rent when Carmela gets back from New York. Lizards."

"We wish you'd actually let us pay the rent," Troy snapped, his words all curled up with that Hispanic accent. I ignored him.

"Come on, Daniella. You've stressing yourself out over things we can help you with easily. Nothing's wrong with accepting help sometimes," Jane joined in, her voice a warm, fuzzy blanket of compassion.

"I don't want your money. Neither do I want your pity. Didn't you guys say you were leaving?" "Stubborn as always," Troy said, shaking his head.

"C'mon, babe. Let's go."

Their steps neared me, and then I felt their kisses on my cheeks.

"Good night, pony. See you in the morning," Jane whispered.

The soft click of the door seconds later confirmed their leave. Unsteadily, I got up and headed to my room, launching myself onto the bed without undressing.

Oh shoot...It didn't matter how stoned I was, there was one thing I had to do before I met up with sleep. Reaching over to the nightstand, I retrieved my old, tattered bible and opened to where it was bookmarked.

With the weight of sleep anchoring down my lids, the words on the page blurred, but I strained nonetheless and repeated the highlighted words of Proverbs; words I'd been reading every night for the past six years:

'Oh God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches. Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.'

As the last of the words slurred from my lips, my eyes instantly grew heavier and sleep rolled in.