matter to me whether she knew or not.
As I watched her a suspicion began
growing inside me. A suspicion that she wasn't a barmaid, but was
something much worse. She didn't wear the same outfit, didn't set
foot behind the bar. She simply went around talking to people,
offering them drugs, walking off with them into the back. They'd come
out rubbing their noses, their eyes bright, big smiles on their
faces. She was a fucking pimp. It sickened me.
She caught my eye as I stood there
staring at her, a sheepish look on her face, like she'd been caught
red handed. I glared at her for a while before turning away. She
approached behind, shouting above the music.
“ Hey,
I had no idea you'd be here tonight.”
I just nodded, saying nothing.
“ Am
I coming round to yours later?”
I continued to look disinterested,
angry even. “I thought you were a barmaid here?” I asked.
“ Erm,
yeah I am. Not tonight though, it's my night off...”
“ Sure,”
I cut her off. “You know what, I think we'll call this quits now,”
I gestured with my hand, shaking my finger between the two of us.
She looked up at me. “Why, what's
wrong?”
“ Nothing's
wrong. We're just done.”
I walked away, leaving her behind me,
and found Brad chatting up a couple of girls. I handed him his beer.
“ Hey
bro, what took you so long? Ah, doesn't matter. Meet Flo and
Shannon.”
“ Nice
to meet you,” I said, my mind still burning. I
bet that bitch has been pitching to Grace. This place sickens me.
Grace
I opened the doors to the toilets
downstairs and walked in. There was no one in there, nothing but the
thud of the base above and the stale smell of vomit drifting out from
a cubicle. I'd got used to that smell since I'd worked here, it
didn't bother me anymore.
I walked up to the mirror and splashed
water on my face. I looked rotten, my eyes all sunken and lifeless,
and felt just the same. I heard the door open behind me and saw
Krista walk in. She had a girl with her, someone I hadn't seen
before. Another victim.
She asked me if I wanted a line. I knew
what she was doing, she did it to all the girls. She'd left me alone
recently though, had been focusing her attention on other girls. Not
tonight though, tonight she was ultra friendly, ultra nice, all in
her own fake way.
I snorted the line and felt nothing. I
never did anymore. She asked me a question she hadn't asked in a
while. “You looking for a party,” she said. I'd said no before,
several times. But not tonight. Tonight I wasn't thinking.
I
said yes and she started leading me through the club, through the
back into the VIP area, the room we all knew as Room
Z .
I'd seen so many girls go in there, but felt no nerves as I
approached. I just walked after Krista, following her in without
thinking, without caring. She opened the heavy red door and in we
went, the thuds of the club down the long hallway now tremors in the
distance.
Cain
I
stood with Brad and the two girls, my mind still fuming over Krista.
I didn't care about her, I was just sickened by what she was, what
she did. I saw her approach a nice looking girl and sweet talk her,
leading her down some stairs towards the toilets. She threw me a
scathing look as she walked by. Fucking
bitch.
I kept one eye over on the toilets as I
stood there. Brad was using his usual lines on the girls, both of
them falling for his charms. They were asking me questions though,
trying to get me involved, but my mind was elsewhere.
A few minutes later I saw Krista come
back up the stairs, shooting a snide smile at me as she went. This
time she had a different girl with her, trailing in behind her. I
looked closely to see that it was Grace, her face expressionless as
she followed Krista like a shadow through the crowd. I immediately
followed, pushing through the heavy crowd as the lights flashed above
and the bass shook the floor.
I caught glimpses of them as I battled
with the throng, seeing them head towards the VIP room at the back
Hector C. Bywater
Robert Young Pelton
Brian Freemantle
Jiffy Kate
Benjamin Lorr
Erin Cawood
Phyllis Bentley
Randall Lane
Ruth Wind
Jules Michelet