The Struggle Of Our Lives

Chapter 23, continued.

Things are gonna work out, I just know it.

--

It had been several weeks since Lotte was discharged from the hospital, and along with Teddy, she had recently gone back to school since it was now the second week of September. I had been taking care of my baby when Lotte wasn't around, and I had begun taking her to work with me in the baby sling Miranda had given me. She'd be strapped to my chest as I ran around the bar serving drinks to customers. My favorite regular customer, Andrea, had noticed the baby and asked about her extensively, as she had known that I hadn't been pregnant the last few months. Therefore, I delicately explained that she was my sister's child and I was babysitting.

That answer seemed to satisfy her curiosity, and she stopped asking. I'd serve tables when the bar was closed or slow, and when the bill came in from the hospital, it became abundantly clear I would need another job or at least some passive income on the side. I soon resorted to asking friends for odd jobs, like moving furniture, mowing lawns, cleaning houses, doing chores, and driving people around as soon as I got my permit. I knew I needed more money even with Miranda's and my side gigs. I consulted my friend Leife over the phone, who helped me get my fake ID and working papers, and she suggested I try applying to a gentlemen's club. I agreed but mentioned my lack of pole-dancing skills.

We laughed about it for a while, before mentioning doing "favors" for money. I thought about it for a bit before ending the call. After, I kept thinking about the different possibilities and opportunities I had with my fake ID.

Soon it hit me:

I could work as a bartender at a strip club and do favors on the side. I looked it up and learned a nightclub 6 miles from Miranda's paid their bartenders $24.50 an hour. I quickly did the math and realized that if I worked on Fridays for about a year and a half, I'd have more than enough money to pay off the debt. Not counting the money I got from working at Miranda's, I'd have about 20 thousand dollars, which would leave me with 2k for myself and the kids. I immediately applied to the nightclub online, named Sensualitease. Not long after, I got a response from the club, mostly with questions:

"Do you know how to dance? Are you willing to be near or completely topless? When are you available again? Can you cover shifts on other weekdays? How do you feel about working weekends? Do you have children? Will you be doing "extracurricular activities"? If so, just don't do them during work hours. If you'll be doing those activities, will you need compensation or funding for hotel rooms?"

I answered all their questions and they let me know they'd get back to me. It sounded very hopeful, and so that day when I got to work, I told Miranda about the situation and mentioned me taking Fridays off so I could work a second job.

"Why don't you just quit here and work full-time at Sensualitease?" she asked, and so I replied, "Two reasons: One, is that you guys have done so much for me, and have supported me and the kids through thick and thin. I couldn't just leave y'all like that. And two, I would rather not work in a nightclub at all. I'm just doing this for the kids." She agreed and nodded along thoughtfully, taking puffs of her cigarette.

"Just be safe, ok? I'd rather you not work in a club either. You're only 16, what if something happens? What will you do then?" I knew she was upset, but I kept on, mentioning the benefits of this. I knew the club would teach me how to make stronger and better drinks, which would seriously benefit my performance at Miranda's. Besides, everyone knows how expensive club drinks are.

We talked about it some more, passed around her cigarette, and discussed how the bar was doing before I got a text. It was from Yasmin. She had changed her username from Yasmin_MN to Yasmin_ASM recently, and I hadn't gotten around to asking her about it.

Yasmin_ASM: " Hey! We still gonna hang out this Sunday?💜"

Of course, I replied, "Ofc! Same place?"

We had planned on meeting at a local library near the school. We agreed that I'd bring the twins and the baby to hang out with us as long as she could bring her little brother Daniel. When I brought up the idea of us all hanging out at the library, Theo was quick to tell me that was the name of the boy he had a crush on. Surprised, I asked if his last name was Selina-Martin, to which he nodded his head furiously. "Why didn't you tell me we'd be out with Daniel? What do I say?" he said, pacing around the garage, with Lotte and I cackling at his anxiety.

Yasmin replied yes to my text, and followed up with a "can't wait!"

I smiled and put my phone away back in my pocket. Amy had come into the backroom we had been chatting in with September on her hip. I had told her about everything that happened with Charlotte, so she knew the truth about who her mother was. She had seen her when I came into work and demanded that Tember would spend some quality time with her "Auntie Amy."

"Here's the baby." She said, handing her back to me, while Miranda helped me stick her in the sling around my chest. "Where did you even take her?" I questioned. "Meh, just around the bar, showing her all those new tables we bought a few weeks ago." September babbled while looking around the small room. She had recently started looking at her surroundings and begun to notice people. She seemed to really like playing peek-a-boo.

Her eyes weren't the deep chocolate that Char's were, but more of a fern green with flecks of gold and brown, not unlike my own, which were more of a chartreuse with large spots of gold.

Every time I was taken aback by her chubby little face.