Bloom

03 | lights out

Giselle "G" Rowe
Saturday, September 17 | 9:06 p.m.
Fuego - Strip Club

-

By the time I make it to Fuego, my friends are already inside. I got dressed on time, it was my parents that made me late. Too busy trippin' over where I was going.

The music is loud and the colorful lights are bouncing around erratically. I see topless women serving men chicken wings at tables and dancers making their asses clap on stage. Most of their bodies are surgically enhanced, disproportionate, and stiff. The air smells of cigarettes and weed and I hold my breath as I walk through the sea of men.

"Scuse me, lil' mama." Someone grabs my hips from behind and brushes his front against my ass to get by. I throw his hands off of me and pick up my pace, eager to get away. He protests but thankfully, I can barely hear it over the music.

The walkway clears up a little bit and I finally spot Cree and Lira sitting at the bar. Cree is turned around, her eyebrows knitted together with worry as she scans the vicinity and her phone is pressed to her ear. She exhales when we lock eyes.

"Damn G, you took a minute. I was calling you." She shows me her screen and the silly contact photo she has of me makes me smile. I hop up on the stool next to her and sigh with relief.

"Girl, I was bouta call one of y'all! Hey, Lira."

Lira looks past Cree's head to greet me before turning up her nose at a man who walks past us, coughing. 

"This why I don't come to nasty ass places like this." She rolls her eyes. "He need to cover his mouth."

"Can I get y'all anything?" The bartender asks. Her skin is light brown and both her cheeks are pierced. She's wearing green contact lenses and her shirt is low enough for me to see the two dermals that sit between her breasts.

"Umm, no thank you."

"I'm good."

"Let me get a shot of Hennessy." Cree leans across the bar a little and bites her lip, staring at the woman's name tag. "Lourdes."

"Comin' up..."

"Cree."

"Okay. Comin' up, Cree." Lourdes giggles before turning around and reaching for the Hennessy bottle.

"Girl, you no better than these niggas." I tease, taking a strip of gum out of my purse.

Two songs later and Cree's had another shot just so that she can keep talking to Lourdes, I'm sure. Lira has relaxed a little bit too, all it took was endless compliments from strangers. An easy way to get her attention is to just tell her how pretty she is.

"Damn ma, you look foreign."

"Well, my dad is French and Italian. My family vacations there from time to time." Lira flips her curly hair over her shoulder. It's long and healthy with streaks of honey blonde.

"Fasho, I love mixed women. Can I get yo' number?"

"I'll think about it." Lira looks him up and down.

She doesn't really entertain men who do not have money or who don't at least look the part and judging by her facial expression, this one doesn't make the cut. He seems oblivious to her distaste though, too busy staring at her bare legs.

The spotlight returns to the stage as the next dancer gets ready to make her entrance and another song is rips through the air. Nadirah walks on the stage and I smile to keep my mouth from dropping.