“Great, I’m ready to learn,” I responded like a dweeb.
“I’m Tootse,” the shortest of the blondes said as she shook my hand. She was by no means as short as me, but the other girls had an inch on her. “I love making our costumes and helping design them with Jett. He’s been giving me more free range lately, since I’m earning my degree in fashion.”
“Did you design what you’re wearing right now?” I asked in awe, as I took in the costumes from a closer perspective. They were delicate, but racy at the same time.
“I did. Do you like?”
“Uh yeah, if I was a man, I would have creamed my pants when you girls walked out.”
They all laughed and then looked over at Kace. “Did you get wood?” He nodded and the girls clapped together. What a strange fucking thing, I thought, as I took in the scene. Would I be clapping with them one day for giving Kace wood? Did I want to? As I took in the brooding man I thought, yeah, I probably would.
The last blonde stepped forward and held out her hand, “I’m Pepper. It’s nice to meet you, Lo.” Her sweet voice did not match the bitch face she had going on. That face was screaming, ‘don’t fucking mess with me.’
“Nice to meet you too.”
“I’m the head choreographer and work closely with Kace on all the presentations. What you saw today was an authentic presentation, where we just dance for the men and leave. Usually after such a presentation, we are asked to give lap dances. Other times, we will be standing art or we’ll do acrobatics on rings or the poles, just all depends what the clientele is looking for that night.”
“What is your favorite sort of presentation to do?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“Personally, I love the authentic presentation because I enjoy having the freedom of giving a lap dance after and then being done for the night. Sometimes still art or rings can be very straining and the next morning your muscles will be crying.”
“But we have personal masseuses for all the girls,” Kace chimed in. “Jett always wants to make sure you girls are taken care of.”
“My masseuse has a tight ass too,” Babs said as she smiled at Kace.
“Yes, the masseuses are the only men that are allowed to touch the Jett Girls.”
“I’m surprised Jett allows men masseuses. I would have assumed he would only want girls.”
“We went on a strike,” Babs giggled. “We said no more presentations until we got some man hands rubbing out our sore muscles. We said it was because they were rougher, but we just wanted a little more eye candy.”
“I like the way you girls think.”
“Alright ladies, please show Lo the ropes. Francy, she needs to learn drinks ASAP. We don’t have a presentation tonight, so I expect her to learn and know everything by tomorrow.”
Francy was about to answer Kace when there was a big slam that came from the top of the house followed by the bling of Kace’s phone going off.
He pulled out his phone and then looked up at Pepper.
“Bourbon Room. He’s in a mood. Don’t forget to change and put your mask on before you walk up there.”
Pepper nodded her head and went to the back of the stage.
“Alright, get to work.”
The girls nodded as Kace walked out of the room. The mood in the room changed dramatically after the text message. Kace said there was no drama or jealousies between the girls, but the minute Jett called on someone, the mood changed.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, Jett is having a bad day; whenever that happens, he always calls on Pepper,” Francy answered.
“Oh, I know we’re not supposed to talk about it, but I’m just curious, how often do you girls go up there?”
“Francy and I never do really,” Tootse answered as she wrapped her arm around Francy’s waist.
“Oh, I’m sorry I asked.”
The girls looked at each other and then laughed. “Kace didn’t tell you?” Tootse asked.
“Tell me what?”
“That’s Kace, never into details.” Tootse looked up at Francy and said, “Francy and I have been together for five years. We don’t go up to the Bourbon Room unless Jett just wants to watch us. He respects the fact that we are together.”
“As in you’re lesbians?”
They laughed and nodded their heads.
“Shit, that’s hot.” They continued to laugh and I realized I just said that out loud.
“It’s mainly Pepper and me who switch off,” Babs added. “But I’ll be leaving soon, so it will mainly just be you and Pepper. Jett and I are more friends these days than anything else.”
The thought that Jett only had two to three girls was a lot easier to swallow than five. I could handle having sex with a guy who was only banging two or three girls; that didn’t bother me as much, even though in the back of my head I thought it should, but I pushed that thought back where it came from.
“Alright, now that all that is cleared up, let’s get to teaching you some drink orders, shall we girls?”
“Let’s get started!” Tootse said, while clapping her hands.
“God, you’re adorable,” Francy said while grabbing her ass and walking her to the bar.
I was glad that girls were very welcoming, compared to what I had to deal with before. If I was working this club with any of the girls from Kitten’s Castle, we would probably be at each other’s throats by now. As far as I could tell, there was no cattiness, no back stabbing and no jealousies between any of the girls.
I followed the girls to the bar and paid close attention to everything Francy was saying. I wanted to make sure I didn’t give Jett or Kace a reason to kick me out of the Lafayette Club. I was going to do everything in my power to make sure I became a Jett Girl because, after what I saw today, I was meant to be up on that stage. I was made for this.
Chapter Thirteen
“Black Dog”
Jett
Files crashed to the floor as I threw them off my desk and then grabbed for my bottle of bourbon. Forgetting every ounce of class that was instilled in me, I drank from the bottle, without even considering pouring the amber liquid in a glass.
My dad was a sorry-ass motherfucker who would rather destroy his own family than spend one waking moment caring for them.
I just returned from a meeting with my lawyer and, not only was my father trying to steal a property out from under me, but he was doing it illegally by bribing the city officials who were selling it. Even though what he was doing was wrong on so many levels, as a father and businessman, what really was chapping my ass and sending me into a drunk oblivion was the fact that he was going to use the property to build a sky rise when the property clearly should be used as a park for the kids who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. I had been working with the Boys and Girls Clubs of New Orleans, planning out the space at Lot 17 and figuring out what the kids wanted. The park would cost the city and the Boys and Girls Clubs absolutely nothing; it was just something I wanted to do for my community, but it was being ripped from my grasp by my devil of a father.
My family was never the happy go lucky kind of family you see on TV. It was a fucked up web full of lies and deceit. My father used my mom to have his own kin and the minute she gave birth to me, he divorced her and left her on the streets to fend for herself, claiming she was a drug addict and he wanted her nowhere near his son.
I grew up with the bastard, learning all his business skills and dealings, while my mom spent her days just like Goldie, serving up horny men while trying to make it day by day with no end in sight. I found out about her from my nanny, who was good friends with my mom. She would help me sneak out and see my mom when my dad was gone on business trips. My mom was so kind and caring, the exact opposite of my cold-hearted father; I decided that I would take after her, but use the skills my dad gave me for good. Which I have.