Chapter 4

The sound of the telephone jerked me awake. Once I realized that I had accidentally fallen asleep, I got quite pissed at myself. Quickly, I jumped up from the couch and answered the phone, looking at the clock on the stove.

Had I missed Julia?

No. The time was 9 p.m., on the dot. Thank God.

I answered the phone to find that it was my Mother. She had decided to call to find out why I hadn't called her in the past two days. The fifteen minute call was riddled with questions and prodding, but such a thing was expected of a Mother who's first-born had moved away from, less than two weeks before.

I couldn't help but grin when she used her most common excuse for making sure I was okay: "As far as I knew, you could be laying on the side of some highway!"

I'd avoided the topic, and eventually succeeded in getting her off of the phone. But not before she made a request that I found humorous.

"Do me a favor and stay inside, tonight. It's Friday, and there's too many college kids out partying. I don't need you in trouble." She'd said, making it very hard for me not to laugh. If she only knew.

Before too long, I'd heard the bass of an approaching vehicle, and peeked out the window to see who it was. The blue camaro was creeping into the parking lot, with it's ground effects on. The radio blared whatever hip-hop pop song was the style of that week. Quickly, I appeased my Mother enough to get off the phone. As the car parked in front of my apartment, and honked, I grabbed my wallet and keys, and left.

We drove for the next two hours, before finally ending up right beside downtown Dallas. The area was packed with people, roaming the sidewalks and standing in lines. As we crept down the street, exotic-looking cars could be seen in front, behind, and beside us, all of which looked like something out of the movies. Neon signs painted every corner of the streets, reflecting from the surfaces of the sports cars, who emitted their own neon glow, from under their chassis.

"Okay, where the hell are we?" I asked, as I looked around in awe. Beautiful women could be seen everywhere, some walking the sidewalk with little or nothing on. Music filled the night air, changing genres as we slowly drove past different nightclubs.

"Deep Ellum." Lisa said, before turning to smile at me. Julia grinned.

"Ever heard of it?" Julia asked, as Stephanie turned to glance at me, from behind the steering wheel.

"Yeah, on the radio. Especially when they're broadcasting on Friday and Saturday nights, and advertising the different clubs. I've never been here, though, just heard of it." I answered, staring at the assortment of freaks, goths, preps, punks and skaters that lined the streets.

It looked more like something you'd see at Mardi Gras.

Men on the sidewalk, using their teeth to pull full shot glasses from between the breasts of beautiful half-dressed women. Street performers were using nothing more than simple cans of spray paint and poster board to create amazing works of art, finishing the process in a matter of seconds.

But what really blew me away was the fact that there wasn't a police car to be seen. It was unbelievable.

"Well, tonight you get to experience it, first-hand." Julia said, grinning at me seductively. All three girls erupted in a marathon of giggling, as we slowly approached our destination.

By the time we'd reached the parking lot, we were deep within the party territory. Slowly, the Camaro pulled in, before shutting off the ground effects and lights, and killing the engine.

As we filed out of the little blue sports car, engines could be heard roaring, and I turned just in time to see two cars fly down the road behind the buildings, flames erupting from the rear of the vehicles.

"Street racing?" I asked, amazed to see it in real life.

"Every Friday and Saturday night. Winner takes home $5, 000." Stephanie answered, as she came from around the car, to join us.

"Come on!" Julia giggled, getting my attention away from the hundreds of distractions that Deep Ellum had to offer me. She grabbed my hand, and pulled me in her direction, as the four of us headed down the sidewalk.

After a few moments, we approached a building that looked to be condemned. There were no signs, no lines, and the windows were boarded. The girls seemed to know where they were going, so I followed, quietly. They led me down an alleyway, where a basement doorway sat.

Stephanie knocked three times, before kneeling and sliding a reflective silver card under the door. A moment passed, and the card was slid back out from under the door, before the sound of heavy locks could be heard, unbolting.

The metal door opened, slowly, and a large black male stepped out, completely bald.

"You know the drill. $200 a piece, and once you enter, stay on your left until you reach the V.I.P. room." He said, in a deep voice. I was shocked at the price, and I didn't even know where we were going.

"Relax, baby. I got you." Julia said, as she handed the man a was of hundred dollar bills, totalling $800. He nodded to us, and we went in.

The hallway was long and dark, making it hard to tell where you were going. Occasionally, you would see an arrow spray-painted on the wall, visible only because of the nearby blacklight. We stayed to the left side of the hallway, and walked on. Before long, music could be heard in the distance, thumping with bass.

The further we walked, the louder the music got, before a dark blue light could be seen. We followed the light, and I was amazed with where it led us.

"This is the V.I.P. room of what's called 'The Ellum Underground'." Stephanie said, as we entered the large room, filled with blue light. Above us, the ceiling hung, made completely of plexi-glass. On top of that, we had a ground-up view of a club dance floor, giving us exclusive visual access to what was under every girl's skirt, while they all danced away, above us.

"Holy shit." I muttered, as the girls took their seats in the room. After a moment, a beautiful woman entered the room, her hair dark brown with purple streaks that stood out in the lighting. She wore a see-through lace dress, which was designed to look like a highly exotic maid outfit. Her breasts, ass, and crotch were clearly visible, as she crossed the room, grinning. In her hands was a huge silver tray, with a lid. She sat it on table, smiled at us, and left. On her way out, she turned to me and winked. This caught me off-guard.