Chapter 4

It had been a month since I had left those two monsters crying, drowning in humiliation. I promised myself to never enter that world again, period. I wasn’t a prostitute. I had acted as one a few times now, but really, it wasn’t who I was. I was deeply ashamed of what I did, and I wanted to cut it out of my life.

I didn’t leave the house for three days when I got back from that embarrassing Uber ride. I felt goose bumps when I first reached into my wallet and found 700 dollars there. Jesus. Should I even spend that money? Was I seriously going to spend money that I made ... selling my body? But after insisting on paying with cards instead of using that money, I got over it, and just used it as pocket money, taking small amounts with me every time I went out. I had earned it the hard way, after all.

I didn’t really think about the whole thing after that month. I blocked the adventure from my mind, and if anyone would come up to me and ask me for something like that again, I’d simply ignore them. I’d deny I ever did such a thing. I’d make them believe they were mistaking me for someone else.

Sure, there was the paranoia at first. With any woman remotely looking like someone at the party where I had “performed”. And whenever an older woman looked me straight in the eyes, I trembled and looked away. But eventually, I got over that too. I was a student, and I was going to concentrate on studying. Which I did. I felt happy doing it, and I made sure I never visited the areas of the city again where I’d be reminded of my slight mistake. I blocked it all.

Until one unfortunate day. A phone call from “club”, as I had put The Stiletto in my phone months ago. No. I wasn’t picking this up. Why were they calling me? But no. I wasn’t that person anymore. That life did not exist for me anymore.

Minutes later, another attempt. Nope. Not doing it. That world is poison. About twenty seconds after the second attempt, a message. “Pls call back, something with the paperwork. - Jen”

I felt very conflicted while I was staring at the display of my phone. Paperwork. Sure, it seemed harmless enough. But I had promised myself I would disconnect from any of these things. I was going to be the student that I was, and that was that.

But what if there was actually something wrong with the paperwork? What if something came from it? If that was the case, then all of this would stick with me even longer.

After an hour, and a deep sigh, I then finally pressed the button to call back. Getting a connection after the dial tone seemed to last forever, even though it was a matter of seconds.

“This is Jen,” a familiar voice then answered.

I had to try to keep calm when I heard her voice. But it wasn’t like she mistreated me or anything. She let me work at her club for a night, that was it. What I did after that had been my own responsibility.

“Hi, this is Samantha. I got your message about some paperwork?”

“Oh hey, yeah, glad you called back. Crystal, right?”

I got a slight, sour smile on my face as I heard my stripper name, but I really didn’t want to get into that character again.

“Mhm, yeah.”

“Yeah it turns out there are one, no two, missing forms that I need filled out and signed before the end of the year, or else the IRS will be on our ass. Oh, and there’s one other form you filled out but forgot to sign. If you could drop by maybe today or tomorrow, it would be appreciated.”

I hesitated. She wanted me to drop by? But I didn’t want to be a nuisance to Jen.

“Eh, yeah, I can drop by tonight if that suits you,” I finally answered.

“Great, see you then,” she answered quickly, as if she was in a hurry, and ended the phone call immediately.

Alright, fine. I was going there to get this over with. In and out. It was very much against my rule of never, ever wanting to have anything to do with that world again, but this seemed to be the last hurdle to take before I was really done with all this.

That night, I took the subway to the area where it all started. I was wearing regular, boring clothes. I would just go in, sign whatever needed to be signed, and go home.

Once I arrived and I saw the small neon sign saying “The Stiletto”, it gave me a strange feeling. Yes, this had been a bad idea. Yes, I should have never gotten into it. Yes, I did end up in a bad situation because of it. Because of my own stupidity. But I couldn’t deny that even now, it gave me a bit of a thrill. No. Don’t be ridiculous. In and out, and that was going to be it.

I pressed the buzzer next to the door, and a bouncer opened. I couldn’t look into the club just yet. I probably should have taken the backdoor. He looked at me, and seemed as if he saw me as a regular customer. Only then I realized it must be ladies night tonight again. Was it the first Tuesday of the month? This was a strange coincidence.

“Oh, no, I’m actually here to see Jen,” I answered just as he mentioned the entrance fee was 15 dollars.

“Oh ok, I’ll call her,” he said, just when I saw Jen walking into the entrance area.

“Rob? Rob? Have you seen -” She looked at me. “Oh, hey, you’re here. Come on in.”

“Hi,” I smiled slightly at her, in a polite way.

“Glad you’re here, let’s go to my office,” she said, seemingly in a hurry.

Even seeing her face brought back memories. She was the boss here. She made sure all the girls were doing their thing. Including me at one point.

I followed her, while we started walking through the club to get to the back, where her office was, upstairs.

It all came back to me. The small round tables, the stripper poles, the loud music, the groups of people, girls in their overly skimpy outfits and super high heels parading around and trying to convince the women sitting down to “buy them something from the menu”. I swear I even saw the woman I had my first encounter with. God, I had been so green when I did this. I had no idea what I had gotten into.

I even saw the light on in the VIP area, behind the beaded curtain, where I had spent some time with those ... gang people. I wondered if they were up there tonight. Missy, and what was the name of the younger, very gangster looking girl? Gab, that was it.

“Oh, I got a favor to ask you actually,” Jen said as we walked to the back, gently grabbing my upper arm, leading me along.

“There’s a bachelorette party in the back, and they called upfront asking for a blonde girl because the bachelorette has a thing for blonde, but Ariana just called in sick. I don’t have any other blonde girls, so what do you say. To return the favor, so to speak,” she continued.

Her request took me by surprise, to say the least.

“Well, I eh...”

“Some regulars were asking about you by the way, told me you did some by the hour gigs on the side for them,” she continued.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Of course that’s against the rules, but hey, I know how it goes. But the owners don’t appreciate it, just so you know, they want to keep those activities inside the club.”

She talked at a fast pace. I felt goose bumps on my shoulders, on my neck. She actually knew...? Who could have told her? Debra, or Kath? Or that birthday woman...?

“I mean, it was just a...”

Again she interrupted me.

“So how about it, a little striptease and a lapdance for the bachelorette group, to return the favor, and we’ll call it even?”

I really wished I was more assertive, as moments later, while the apparent paperwork was still waiting in Jen’s office, I came out of the dressing room wearing a very small, red thong with small silver studs running over two thin straps over my hips, and a cleavage showing bra matching the exact same style. And the kind of shoes I promised myself to never wear again. How, even.

Skimpy clothes, high heels, heavy makeup, I was transformed in no time. I looked like one of the hostess again. One of the strippers. One of the prostitutes. Because by then it was pretty clear to me what the girls working here really were.

Why? Why was I in this situation again? Why didn’t it stop right there?

But walking into the club with Jen leading me to the corner where the bachelorette party was, I felt eyes on me from all sides, just like the first time I was here. Again, it felt as if I was wearing the skimpiest outfit in the club. I’m not even sure why Jen picked this outfit, and not something that looked at least like I was wearing a dress. I just assumed it was because of my specific assignment. Or just because she didn’t care and just picked whatever she thought would look good on me.

A woman tugged at Jen’s arm. “Is she free later?”

The woman was obviously glancing at me, at my body. I couldn’t believe I was in this position again. Giving everyone the impression that I was for hire. My body for teasing and playing with, for a few bucks.

“Who knows, check back later,” Jen answered, implicitly suggesting that I might even work off a few more clients.

I was very convinced that I wouldn’t, and I just smiled politely at her.

“Hi honey,” she then spoke directly at me.

It gave me goose bumps. Yes, it should have felt degrading, being looked at like that, and talked about as if I couldn’t do the talking or handling of business myself. But again, it gave me that feeling of intense arousal. My huge guilty pleasure. But no, I shouldn’t.

I just managed to respond with a quick “hi” before Jen and I continued to stroll towards the corner, while I saw heads turn to check out “the new girl” yet again: me, since it was only my second time here, after all.

A group of four women eyed me curiously when Jen and I were finally standing in front of them, in a far corner of the club. The spot seemed to give us some level of privacy at least, which felt like a bit of a relief. Sure, there was another booth right next to it, but it seemed much quieter than the middle of the club, where I had to ‘perform’ last time I was here.

The women weren’t that much older than me, probably in their late twenties, early thirties. Still, I was the young one, and obviously the pretty looking entertainer girl, if only for the outfit I was wearing.

“Hi ladies, this here is Crystal, she’s here for the lapdance for the lucky girl, which was who again?”

I just stood there next to Jen, smiling at them. It was the first time being at the club that I didn’t really feel that nervous. As if I was in control. As if I was the tough one, the hero.

“Me.”

“Me.”

A few of them responded, jokingly, laughing. It actually made me laugh. They seemed like a fun group even.

“Ok, it’s her.” One of them finally pointed to the girl in the middle, a slightly chubby, blonde girl with a cute, blushing face.

“Alright ladies, you can touch her tits and her ass, but her pussy is off limits unless you negotiate with her. Have fun.”

It made me blush slightly, as suddenly my body was being objectified by talking about my private parts like that. Once again.

Jen then turned to me quickly, leaning towards me, talking quietly, while still holding my upper arm.

“So you do a little striptease, they paid for fully nude, and when they want extras, you can take them, and when you don’t feel like it, just tell them that for more you can take them upstairs, they don’t have that kind of money anyway. Alright?”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“Alright, let’s get to work.”

Her grip around my upper arm tightened, as she half turned me to the group, before she let go of my arm, and left to tend to other things in the club.

I had to get to work. While the group of girls, all sitting in a row next to each other, watched me in anticipation, I walked up to the girl who was apparently going to get married, and started dancing for her. Sensually swaying my hips, teasingly running my hands over my body. This was actually more like what I had imagined this experience to being the first time. This was exciting.

“Does she look a little bit like that Corey girl you made out with?” One of them asked the bachelorette. “We asked for a blonde girl because you mentioned she was blonde.”

The girl laughed, somewhat nervously, surprised.

“You seriously asked for that?”

Her eyes wandered over my body once more, even though I could tell she was slightly embarrassed about this whole thing, even though there was a curious smile on her face. I came closer to her; I even surprised myself finding myself to enjoy teasing her a bit.

“No this one is eh ... younger, and prettier,” she then admitted. “God I can’t believe you guys!” she then added, accompanied by an embarrassed giggle.

I just smiled down at her, trying to make her feel comfortable. As if there was nothing strange about this.

I leaned towards her slightly, and put my knee in the small space between her and the next girl, gently reached for her hand, and placed it on my hip. With a deep blush on her face, she started to caress my hip. It actually felt exciting for me.

Her hand wandered back over my butt, carefully, as I looked down on her, my cleavage right in front of her eyes, and I could tell she was very nervous. Her hand even felt slightly cold, sweaty.

The other girls just watched how I entertained their friend, almost politely. Eventually I stood up straight again, and turned around, while I kept swaying my hips.

“Okay I gotta tell you, if I had an ass like that, I’d probably want to make money with it too,” one of them said.

A few of the others giggled.

“Emma, Jesus. No more wine for you. You’re going to get us kicked out.”

“Oh come on, I’m sure she’s used to worse.”

I just grinned over my shoulder at them, while at the same time I reached back and started to tug at the bra I was wearing, slowly unclasping it.

“See? She’s fine with it.”

I was fine with it. I had to admit that I didn’t mind this at all. This was what I might have been after in the first place. Teasing, stripping, being admired. Sure, there would be an edge, but that’s what made this exciting.

I finally let the bra slide off my shoulders, and while topless, I let it fall to the floor, and turned around to face them again, showing off my perky bare breasts. Everything I had promised myself not to do anymore, and there I was. But it wasn’t half as bad this time, which justified doing it. Even though I was in the exact same place where things had started to go way too far.

I saw them stare at my breasts, quietly.

“Can we touch them as well, or is it just her?” It was the girl next to the bachelorette who asked me the question.

“A little bit is fine,” I even managed to smile. They were nice, at least.

“Would you like it?” She continued.

“Emma seriously, cut it out. She’s going to get us kicked out.” the worried girl responded again.

But I responded the opposite way, wanting to experience the full thing now.

“Of course I would,” I answered even somewhat daringly, with a slight smile, as I then put my knee right on the red leather couch again, my bare breasts right in front of the bachelorette’s eyes.

Again I gently reached for her hand, but this time I led it upwards, right onto my bare breast. For a second she looked into my eyes, blushing deeply, but with a curious smile on her face. A second later, her hand was just gently massaging my soft, bare breast.

“Whooo Mia!” shouted another one.

“Shut up,” she answered with a grin, as she finally started to feel a bit more courageous, while touching my breast, knowing she had my consent.

“Jen told us that if Mia wants to have sex with you, she can ask you to go upstairs with her,” the girl next to her then continued.

“Mhm,” I answered, remembering what Jen told me, and while not at all sure I agreed with that promise, I reasoned that it didn’t seem likely at all that she’d even want to.

“So upstairs you can have sex with any of the girls here?” she continued, just genuinely curious.

“I guess about all of them,” I answered, somehow wanting to sound kind of tough towards them.

“And if Mia wants to, like, finger bang you?”

“Emma! Jesus stop talking like that,” the other one hissed.

“Well, then Mia and I would go upstairs,” I laughed, in another playful attempt to come off as the experienced one.

The girl kept quiet for a bit, while Mia seemed to enjoy massaging both of my bare breasts though, and I just let her. It seemed harmless, and somewhat exciting.

“Is it expensive?” the girl, continued. “You know, like upstairs stuff?”

“It’s 200 per hour,” I made up on the spot, somewhere in my mind remembering that number from an unfortunate memory.

“Oh.”

“Come on, how cheap did you think prostitutes were?” another one playfully scolded her.

“Well excuse me, as it just so happens, I don’t visit prostitutes that often,” the other one bit back.

Again, silence. I could feel the group getting a bit tense because of the discussion, while I was now consequently thought of as an actual prostitute, apparently.

“But she can see it, right?”

“See what...?” I answered while I was still half straddling Mia’s lap.

“Your pussy?”

“Yes ... she can,” I grinned slightly, remembering Jen’s instructions.

I waited a few more seconds to let Mia massage my breasts, which she obviously enjoyed, before I stood up straight again.

I turned my back to the group once again, and this time I reached for my thong. With my legs straight, right next to each other, I hooked my thumbs under the straps on my hips. It was something I’d never get used to, exposing myself in front of others like that, while they were just watching. But I guess this was part of the actual thrill. Doing daring things.

I slowly peeled down the small red thong from my hips, all the way down, and carefully got out of it by pulling it over my shoes, bending my knees slightly as I did, and leaving the thong on the floor.

I stood back up, and teased them some more by swaying my hips, running my hands through my hair, giving them a good view of my entire naked back. It felt at least safe enough, being here in this corner without the whole club watching me fully nude like this. And these girls were nice enough, which made me feel brave even. For the first time, I was actually somewhat comfortable doing this, and I even found it exciting.

I then finally turned.

“Beautiful,” someone remarked as my blonde landing strip was now clearly visible, my entire nude body on display, accentuated by the high shoes.

“Very pretty,” another added.

“Thank you...” I said with a slight, thankful smile, before I took a few steps towards the bachelorette girl again.

I turned, and lowered myself onto her lap, my naked back towards her, resting against her shirt, and my naked butt touching her jeans, letting my butt sink down onto her lap. I even had the courage to spread my legs entirely. It wasn’t like they could see it very clearly as they sat to the side of Mia, but Mia would be able to see in between my spread legs over my shoulder.

This time, I didn’t have to encourage her; she gently reached around me and massaged my breasts again. I slowly started to move my hips, pushing my butt into her crotch, slightly rubbing against her, actually giving her a lapdance. This was probably at least as exciting for me as it was for her. Sure, it felt kind of slutty, but in an actually exciting way this time. I wasn’t too embarrassed. This didn’t feel humiliating, this was sexy.

“How does it feel?” someone asked curiously.

“Well, I wouldn’t mind if she did this for another hour,” Mia grinned, and the whole group laughed.

“We’d have to apply for a loan,” someone joked, and more laughter followed.

I eventually got up from her lap and stood straight again, before I then turned, straddling her while facing her this time. I took up both of her hands, and guided them to my butt, while I started to slowly ride her lap, giving her a teasing smile.

“I think uh ... can I?” The girl next to us reached out her hand to my breast.

“Mhm...” I answered.

I felt the other girl’s hand on my bare breast, softly massaging it like Mia had.

Apparently The girl on the other side felt as if this was the green light, and reached out to me as well, where she did the same with my other breast, just lightly fondling it. The first even teasingly rubbed my nipple between her thumb and index finger, and I was slightly embarrassed by how quickly it made my nipple stand erect, and I couldn’t deny this was actually exciting me, despite everything else that had happened.

“Mmm I think she likes it,” the girl commented.

I just smiled at her. Her hand then ran down, over my flat, bare stomach. But what I didn’t anticipate, was her hand moving even lower, towards my pussy.

“Let me check how much she -” but I interrupted her, pushing away her hand, friendly but with enough strength to make it clear this was not allowed.

“No, no, not there, that’s not allowed, only in the private rooms,” I commented.

“Emma, what the fuck!”

“Oh come on, I just figured she was getting turned on and -”

“So what! She told you! That lady told you! Have you even seen the bouncer in this place?? Do you want to get us arrested or something? Mark doesn’t even know we’re in a place like this!”

“Sorry...” she finally said, looking at me, apparently realizing they might actually get in trouble for this.

“Don’t worry, just play by the rules,” I gave her a friendly smile.

After her meek smile back at me, I continued to entertain Mia. Her hands ran freely over my body, until I finally decided it was time to end this unexpected adventure. I even saw some hint of disappointment in Mia’s eyes as I slid off her lap, and picked up the red skimpy thong and bra from the floor, carefully putting it on right in front of them.

“Hope you enjoyed ... have fun,” I smiled at them, ready to leave their booth.

“Thanks for the dance,” one of them responded. “Thank you,” I heard from a few others.

They were a polite group. So it was possible after all. This wasn’t so bad. But I was determined to really make this my last adventure here, as I didn’t even intend for this to happen. I was here to sign papers.

Just as I left the booth, a Spanish looking woman with a serious expression on her face came up to me. She was probably in her forties, and not nearly as tall as me, especially while I was wearing those high platform stripper shoes.

“I’m Maria Elena Ramirez, Illinois State Police,” she said, pulling an identification badge from her inside pocket.

“Can we have a word please,” she continued in that flat, serious tone.

I had no idea what was happening. Police...? Was something wrong? Did something happen to someone I knew? But how would she even know who I was?

“Uh, yeah...?” I responded.

“Your ID please,” she said.

I thought she was joking. There I was, standing in that extremely skimpy outfit, and she assumed I was carrying my ID somehow? Where exactly? But I was not planning on making a smartass comment.

“Well it’s, uh, in the dressing room,” I answered, not too sure about this.

“Well, why don’t you show me the way,” she simply responded.

Seconds later, I was walking through the club, with apparently a police officer escorting me all the way to the back, to the dressing room. I didn’t look around me, I didn’t want to draw the attention of anyone in the club.

Awkwardly, I walked into the dressing room, towards the locker I had put my things in, with her closely following me, and keeping her eyes on me like a hawk whenever I looked at her.

I got my ID out of my purse, and handed it to her.

“Mhm...” she mumbled as if she had discovered something, although I had no idea what that would be.

“Let’s go to the bar to discuss a few things, I need a drink,” she then said.

I didn’t really know what to do with the situation. She needed a drink? And what about me? I wanted to sign off on the paperwork, and go home. But somehow, I felt as if protesting might not be the smartest thing to do with a police officer around.

She still had my ID in her hand, while we left the dressing room. I followed her, still wearing that very skimpy outfit.

She walked towards the bar in the front of the club, and I couldn’t do much but follow her. She ordered herself a rum.

“Something light for the lady please, she probably has to stay sober,” she said to the girl tending the bar.

Without even asking, she poured me a glass of bubbling water.

“So, Samantha,” she made sure to emphasize my real name. “I think we have a bit of a problem.”

I stared at her, not having a clue what she was talking about.

“I was in the booth right next where you were performing your little act in just now. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I heard you clearly soliciting for prostitution.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. What? What was she saying? All the girls here did that as far as I knew! And it wasn’t even serious! I didn’t have any intention to actually do such a thing!

“Oh, no no no,” I waved my hands as if I could wave this whole thing away with them, “it wasn’t like that at all.”

She barely let me finish my sentence.

“I think you even clearly said that if someone wanted to fingerbang you, that would be possible upstairs.” She kept quiet for a few seconds. “For 200 bucks per hour.” It sounded as if she wanted to rub it in my face.

“Well, I, that wasn’t at all serious, that was just to -”

“How about you shut the fuck up. I know your type, and I hear lame ass excuses every day. So, let’s try this again: Were you, or were you not soliciting? And if you don’t want to get into more trouble than you already seem to be, the correct answer would be ‘yes ma’am, I was soliciting for prostitution’”.

I kept quiet, staring at my glass, unable to believe what was happening. Somewhere in my mind, I had hopes of getting away with it if I admitted it now. At least the outcome would probably be better than if I kept arguing with this lady.

“Ok, yes,” I answered quietly.

“Girl, do you have some kind of personal problem with authorities? Because if I were you, I’d be fucking kissing my feet right now.”

I looked away while I felt my heart sink, and a strange feeling crawled up my skin.

“I’m afraid that wasn’t all though. I know your name. And I have further evidence on you,” she said coldly.

“I want you to remember a particular day. It was the 21st of last October,” she said, emphasizing the date.

What she did next made me feel like I was about to black out. She held her phone right in front of my nose, and showed a clear picture of my own bare body, taken from above me, a black dildo in my ass. My head appeared to be held up by an extended arm, and I remembered very well how a finger was hooking inside my mouth at that moment. Sure, my face wasn’t recognizable, but her pulling up this picture was not something you could call a coincidence. What. The fuck. I sat there, frozen to the stool I was sitting on.

“Now, I got witnesses willing to testify, in court, if I let them off the hook for multiple counts of engaging in acts of prostitution.”

I just stared at my glass. I felt a cold shiver run through my body, over my exposed skin.

“According to State of Illinois law, prostitution is punishable by one year of jail time. And if you go against this, I’ll make sure that’s going to be more like two years. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

The phrase was like a question, but the tone wasn’t at all. I said nothing, while my thoughts were running wild. This felt surreal.

“Good, you are hereby under -”

“Officer Ramirez! How are you this fine evening.”

The voice from behind me sounded somewhat familiar. While still in shock by what I was just confronted with, I looked over my shoulder. It was Gab. The black gang member who guided me to perform for Missy and a few others back when I was here for the first time, in the VIP room. The braided black hair, the army pants, the black tank top, the tattoos in her neck, it all came back to me immediately.

“‘Sup Gabs, I’m a bit busy with this young woman at the moment.”

“Who, Crystal right here?”

Gab took a few steps towards me, reached out, and I could feel her hand on my naked lower back, slowly caressing.

“That’s right. She was engaging in illegal activities, in and outside the club.”

“In AND outside the club?” Gab responded to her, while still calmly caressing my back, and I could somehow hear the sarcasm drip from her voice.

The police officer kept quiet for a few seconds, staring at us.

“You better be kidding me, is she one of yours too?” she then finally asked Gab.

“Officer,” Gab paused. “You should know us better by now. You think we’d let a pretty little thing like Crystal walk around in this predatory world alone?” She grinned widely at Officer Ramirez, her white teeth contrasting with her dark skin.

Officer Ramirez looked at the two of us, while picking up her drink, and taking a few sips. Finally she threw all the rum down her throat.