Chapter 15

Loyalty. It had to be earned, it came at a price. But the Stillman family had been paying and taking care of working girls for years. When Covid hit, Claire had to close Pink Pussy and Chez Claire. The circuit girls drifted away — the clubs had closed in all the cities they worked.

Claire still paid her local girls a stipend, enough to live on. The amount varied — single girls got less than mothers. Those with three children, received more than the girls with just one.

Even though the truck stop and Mel’s Diner stayed open, business was way down. Claire made personal loans, and the Four Corners Savings & Loan deferred payments and canceled interest and penalties.

Four Corners got by. And, people remembered, especially the local girls. These days, an aura of excitement permeated Pink Pussy. A lot of new girls were getting paid for sex for the first time in their lives. The little butt-boys added some luster. And, Carefree Village would be opening not only a new revenue stream, but a new lifestyle.

The girls appreciated the present setup. The clientele were, mostly, good enough guys. Security was tight — someone would ring the panic button in the trailers maybe only once or twice a month.

The double-wides had been remodeled to include six private bedrooms, each with its own bath. A maid came by to change the sheets and lay out fresh towels after every encounter. The maids were now available pussy as well.

But Carefree would be an entirely new world to the local whores. Sex in the lavish apartments. Sex out in the public areas. Sex with women. Word was, these people were rich, so the tips might be something special.

Claire had yet to determine what she would charge them for her whores, but it would certainly be more than at the club.

Even though the Teeny Delgado specter was hanging over her head, Claire had to keep moving, keep pushing, keep growing Four Corners.

To start the marketing campaign for Carefree Villages, she had interviewed four different advertising agencies in Des Moines. There was considerable interest even though the budget wouldn’t be that significant.

For one thing, just the idea of a ‘clothing-forbidden’ resort had caused a lot of early buzz in the creative community. Plus, Claire held out the carrot that Chez Claire and Pink Pussy might start promotions as well.

She ended up selecting the smallest, and youngest, agency she met with. Robinson & Robinson. Its only full time employees were a brother and sister in their mid-20s — Danny and Donna Robinson. They contracted with freelancers, like so many little companies these days in the gig economy.

Also, they were willing to take on the project for a flat fee — $10,000, plus expenses. With Claire’s promise, “If Carefree takes off, if we’re able to sell memberships and condos and expand, so will my marketing budget.”

The medium would be social media. A website for 15-second videos. A blog, a podcast. All relatively low-budget. Tamer video clips would be woven into Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and the like. Cable television, maybe radio, perhaps even print, could kick off sometime down the road.