Chapter 2

“Everything inside here is still in pretty good shape,” Bob said one Sunday as we inspected the interior at the empty lot behind McCarran’s where we had towed the RV.

It had been no small effort to free it from its prison and get it there, including the stipulation that we repair the black top after removing it.

“The front axle is the worst piece that has to be fixed,” he continued. “Looks like it got beached on a rock or something because the axle casing is completely pinching the shaft inside. We could just pull it off, but there’s no way we’ll be able to sell it with just one axle - it’ll never take the weight.”

“What’s that gonna cost,” I asked?

“That’ll run at least two grand unless we can find a used one in a junk yard,” he replied.

Frank asked, “How far do you think it could travel on the one axle?”

“I don’t know, maybe 10,000 miles, maybe 10. Mostly depends on pavement, load, speed, and such, I guess. No telling. Why? Do you have some idea?” Bob asked curiously.

“Well, it’s just an idea, remember, and you’ll probably think it’s crazy, but hear me out.

“This is Arizona. Prostitution is a legal business here, and we’ve all got business degrees. Why couldn’t we hire some female ‘companions’ and set them up part-time in this RV? We could apply for a mobile entertainment license and take it to the customers instead of making the customers come to the entertainment!”

Eddie’s face lit up. “Frank, I LOVE that idea! It beats the shit out of washing dishes for the fat Otto twins! Randy, you and Frank have the most amount of free time during the week. Why don’t you go around to some of the cat houses and sniff out the financial side? We’d need to know how much to pay employees, how much to charge, how to handle taxes, overhead, licenses, marketing, advertising, and all that stuff!

Bob, let’s you and I keep our ears open at work for anything that could help us pull this off?”

Looking back now, I’m pretty sure we must have been insane. But an idea born begins to grow, and only its DNA will determine how it looks in maturity.

We all kept our day jobs because we realized just how scatter brained the proposal was. But for every obstacle Frank and I encountered, Eddie and Bob came up with a way to advance, and soon enough we had a business plan, a business license, regular locations to conduct our entertainment business, and an old but serviceable mobile facility - minus one axle.

Over one tense, worrisome weekend we had the trailer towed up Rt 395 to an area northeast of Reno, where we settled it among a stand of pines that mostly blocked it from casual view. Although it was a good way off the paved road, the axle held up, and our new ‘business office’ was ready to furnish.

I contacted NV Energy to get a power hook up and then set up a monthly contract for water and waste removal. I figured we would rely on mobile communications because our budget couldn’t support running wired internet to the site. After all, we expected to begin moving the trailer to different spots throughout the year to support our customer base - under the presumption that the business just might actually develop a customer base.

I had a few thousand business cards printed up, and each of us began to leave them around, hand them out to prospective clients and ‘entertainers,’ and we started interviewing entertainers for work starting the following month.

We had all the usual applicants show up. There was a Bambi, a Coco, a Busty Breeze, and various other show names. We could only accept three to start because the RV just wasn’t laid out with the kind of privacy needed to support the business. Still, there was interest in the community. We represented something novel. We weren’t into drugs, gambling, racketeering, or other ventures commonly found associated with the business.

We were just four young guys hustling a buck, and apparently, it was a refreshing change of scenery to the ‘entertainment’ industry!

I had just said goodbye to Dusty, our third hire, who was everything BUT dusty, when a young woman approached the RV wearing sensible clothes. She was good looking, and wore the kind of outfit I would expect to see on a secretary or admin assistant.

“Hi, can I help you,” I asked?

She looked a little shy and embarrassed, but then raised her head to look at me squarely in the eye, drew a firm breath, and said, “Yes, please, I hope so. I need a job!” She handed me one of our business cards and went on.

“I’m Jill Reston. Today’s my birthday, and I just got fired! I was at the Sparks Diner trying to decide what to do when I noticed this card sticking out from under the napkin holder. On the back, someone wrote,’Now Hiring, bring your resume!’ and sketched a map to this location. I have only one job experience, the one that just fired me, so I don’t actually have a resume yet. But, for personal reasons, I can’t go home tonight and say I’ve been fired, I just CAN’T.”

With that, I saw liquid begin to swim in her eyes, so I decided to be as businesslike as possible and try to calm her down before she lost her self-control.

“Well, it just so happens that you’re in luck, Miss Reston! I’m Randy, and I just hired our third worker. So we still have one more opening, and I have another hour free before my next appointment (next appointment?? Hah! Who was I kidding?).

“If you have some time, why don’t you come on in and tell me more about yourself and what you want and need, and then we can see if there’s a place for you here in our business?

Remembering Tom Hanks in ‘A League Of Their Own,’ I added lightly,

“Of course, this business is entertainment, and ‘There’s No Crying In Entertainment!!!’ Right???”

Jill was a strong woman and sharp, too. She instantly got my message through my reference to one of the most famous quotes in 20th century cinema. She blinked hard, took another firm breath, and stood up straight.

“I have the time, and I really appreciate your willingness to give me yours! Thank you so much.”

Inside the RV, she looked around curiously.

“Is this the office? What kind of entertainment does the company provide,” she asked?

“So, first things first. As I said earlier, I’m Randy, and one of four equal partners who started the business. That means that I can’t guarantee you a job until the four of us all agree on your suitability for it.

“Second is our organization. Again, as I said earlier, we are in the business of entertainment. We have a multi-tiered structure, where the partners generally work remotely, often from their cars or other businesses in which they’re engaged, and the staff employees work here. This RV is not only their office but also the site where the entertainment takes place. So, there is no buffer between the staff and its clients. All the partners are available by phone at any given time and can be here in minutes, if need be. I expect this will change as the business grows, but right now, our model is to have staff personnel and clientele together whenever we’re open.” (I mentally congratulated myself on this line of BS!)

“Third, our business. There are many venues covered by the umbrella of ‘entertainment,’ so which venue is this one? Our business is adult entertainment, and it encompasses aspects of counseling and sex therapy. Many will call it prostitution and call this RV a cat house. It’s a free country, and they may call it what they will. But we intend to run this as a legitimate business, legally licensed by the State of Nevada, to provide a service to people who are just like you and me, that need or want our services for whatever reasons they have.

“Fourth, since this is a highly personal business in which we are engaged, we (I, in particular) insist on having only employees who are empathetic and sympathetic to our clients’ needs and wants. We will hire no one who thinks it is an immoral or amoral business activity. As such, once hired, our employees are expected to behave respectfully, both on the job and in their private lives. This is because our clients reveal deeply personal and private aspects of their lives to us, and they must be able to trust us implicitly 24/7/365.

“So, that’s the business we’re in, and the four of us understand that it’s not an attractive business for everyone. If you aren’t absolutely dead-set against it, we can continue our talk with you telling me some more about yourself. And if you’re not sure just now how you feel about it, you’re welcome to take some time to think it over. I’ve still got three quarters of an hour today, and you can also come back another day to continue the discussion.

“Here,” I went over to the refrigerator and handed her a bottle of water, “have something to drink while you think it over, either here or outside, and then let me know what you’d like to do. I’ll be in the back room when you’re ready,” and I went into the rear bedroom and closed the door behind me.

Jill stared at the water bottle in her hand for a good long minute, then opened it and drank some. Then she stood and walked around the inside of the RV, inspecting it. I knew this because I watched her from our CCTV, monitored by my cell phone. She realized she was probably being watched when she saw the camera in plain sight attached to the ceiling.

It wasn’t hidden. We had agreed to make it obvious from the start. There were cameras evident in every room except the toilet. We wanted our clients to know we were serious about safety and security and were willing to show and provide video clips of their time with us if requested.

When she saw it, Jill gave a small smile and seemed to come to a decision. She turned, walked directly to the back room, and knocked on the door.

“Randy? Mr. Grange, sir? I’ve decided. I’d like to continue.”

Opening the door, I smiled at her and said, “It’s just Randy when we’re not in public, Mr. Grange when we are in a public or business activity, and NEVER ‘sir.’

We resumed our seats and she asked “What do you want me to tell you?”

“I want you to tell me about yourself, nothing sensitive or personal that you are reluctant to share. But let’s start with your age, the level and direction of your education, the work you were hired to do and the work you were asked to do, if they were different, and the reason you were let go. Then we’ll go on from there if there is nothing that kills your suitability by then.” I got out a ledger and wrote her name and the date on a fresh sheet.