Joke smiled as he picked up the cuddly devil in a shop not far from the train station, it was perfect for Tiff and her birthday that was tomorrow. She liked cuddly toys, which was not something he found funny; he found it cute. In fact her whole bedroom in the apartment she rented from her boss at work was covered in toys; not all of them cuddly. Her boss was a fantastic person, very open minded about her girls and their safety at work. The female form is one to be admired, not objectified and made cheap. One reason they wore the uniforms they did, if something is on show it’s not taboo; much like how men have been able to wander around half naked for generations without receiving a second glance. This is what Gabriella wanted for her club; somewhere where the female body can be accepted in all its grace and not be seen as a meat market. Sure the girls danced around on stage, the holsters they wore came off and lap-dances were given; but it was not a seedy place at all. One reason Joke liked that Tiff worked there, there were much seedier clubs in the Sex District, this one was classy. You could go there and drink and not have to pay through the nose for a glass of wine. You could go there and talk to the girls like human beings and not think it was the right behaviour to leer and thrust money at them. Gabriella was onto something here and had had offers from other cities to open similar clubs around the country. If this happened, maybe Tiff could get a job in another town and they could move in together in a better city. They’d been together for a while now, surely moving in or away together could be on the cards? Joke grinned at the toy as he paid for it with the last of his money from the last job and tucked it under his arm as he made his way to the club to pick her up from work.
“Tiff, one more. I know it’s late and Gabby said we could lock up but c’mon, one more drink.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”
The blonde leant on the bar and watched her friend pour more straight vodka into two glasses, as they celebrated another night-shift finished. They hadn’t had a good drinking session together for months since Tiff was aware that her fellow dancer wasn’t as fond of her boyfriend’s friends as she was. She’d noted the little jabs at their personalities and questions surrounding their quirks. Joke told her it didn’t bother him, Jazz was an acquired taste it seemed; much like the music genre. Taking a long sip from her drink, Tiff swayed on the spot to the music as it played from the stage. Jazz watched her and drank deeply from her own glass.
“Dance for me Tiff. You did a move earlier that I really wanna learn.”
Tiff asked her which move she meant before drinking more of the straight vodka. Jazz tried to explain it but ended up in giggles as she failed to find the right words. Making for the stage and the dancers pole in the middle of it, the big and leggy brunette told Tiff that she was going to show her what she meant. The other girl rested her elbows on the bar behind her and watched the other as she started to move around the pole with perhaps too much ease. Looking back from the stage, Jazz caught the other girl’s eyes in her own and started to move suggestively. Using the pole as leverage, Jazz held on firmly with her hands over her head and leant back into an almost crab position just as the music got faster and a booming kick drum entered the club. Following the momentum of the music, the tanned dancer got to her feet and started to dance around the pole so she could maintain eye contact with the other person in the room. From the bar, Tiff enjoyed the last of her drink and found herself getting distracted from the show and wondered what time it was so Joke could walk her home. It was always an enjoyable journey, usually one of his friends would be there too which she didn’t mind because she got on with all of them. They liked her because of how happy she made Joke and how open-minded she was about life in general. Tiff tried to work out what time it was by the evening sky outside the tinted windows of the club. Her fried rejoined her at the bar and sat on one of the stools next to her.
“You’ve got some moves Jazz.”
“Thanks, you didn’t see all of them because you turned away...”
Her voice sounded disappointed and slightly sarcastic. Tiff looked at her friend and hiccupped a little as the alcohol made its way to her stomach and liver. She wondered why Jazz was in a mood.
“What’s up Jazz?”
“You, I wanted to show you something and you didn’t even watch!”
Tiff giggled and covered her mouth as another hiccup came out of her larynx. She tried to tell her friend that she’d seen it all before because they work together but it didn’t seem to be working.
“There’s something I wanted to show you, something I haven’t shown in my dances before and you missed it!”
“Sorry, show me now?”
Jazz shook her head and drank some more vodka, straight from the bottle this time.
“Too late. I’m too tired from that last dance,” Jazz looked at Tiff and noticed her worried expression so she shrugged and smiled, “I could show you something else instead.”
Tiff agreed and waited for Jazz to return to the stage to show her whatever it was that was on her mind. Jazz stood up next to her and reached over slowly with her hands, cradling Tiff’s face and kissed her on the mouth. It didn’t last long as Tiff stepped back and showed Jazz she didn’t appreciate that by her eyes and their stern stare. Jazz smiled at her regardless and went in to continue the kiss that had been far too short for her tastes.
When Ska met up with Joke for the daily escort for Tiff, he could see the beaming grin before the entire face of his friend. He wondered what had made his comrade so happy and asked him when the grinning fool joined him at the corner of the Sex District. It was night time so the place was heaving with drunken businessmen and prostitutes, male and female. Usually in the day time there was not much difference except for the hookers, they made night their business hours. Ska noted a lack of thugs this evening and was relieved because he really didn’t want to get into a fight without Vagrant around. Joke was not bad at fighting but not great either. He proclaimed himself as a lover not a fighter, which was definitely true.
“How can you tell if a blonde has a vibrator?” Joke clicked his fingers and grinned. “She’ll have a chipped tooth.”
Ska shook his head at the awful joke and smirked through his nose.
“I’m sure Tiff loves that one.”
Joke chuckled and admitted to not telling it around her although he doubted she’d mind considering some of the jokes she told herself. Ska asked him why he was so jolly or at least slightly more ecstatic than usual and found out that Joke had bought Tiff a present for her birthday with the last of his savings. Something Joke always did, spend his money on things for his girlfriend or friends, never for himself and that envied Ska as he had a box full of cash saved for his grand move one day. They started to walk towards ‘Excite’ with Joke making Ska promise to keep his mouth shut about what he knew. As they approached the club, they bumped into Spider who was coming out of a bar across the street. Not usually one for the area, Joke had to find out what he was doing there and asked Ska to go and tell Tiff that he was here to walk her home. Spider nodded to his friends and sauntered over to answer his older friend’s queries while Ska slipped through the door and into the club. The lights were mostly off but he could just about see where he was going as he walked through the entrance hall towards the main dancing area. The music was still blaring into the place so he guessed there were still some punters in, getting their eyeful before going home. Ska wondered if Jazz was still here or if she had finished. There was something about her that he liked, he couldn’t put his finger on it but she had always gotten his attention. She was gorgeous and Ska found that he liked her a lot. He often found himself wondering if she felt the same about him but never had the courage to ask her. Jazz was a strong willed woman and one that you don’t want to mess around, or at least that was the vibe he got from her. As he approached the double doors leading to the main room, he could see the small window in one of the doors and caught a glimpse of the two dancers beside the bar. Stopping short and standing at the glass, Ska watched as he saw something that didn’t make him happy at all.
“So you were having a last chat with Theo, eh?”
“Yes, I wanted to double-check the storage areas” Spider looked around to his left as a drunk tripped over a rubbish bin and into a pile of bags, “you know, just in case we make a wrong turn and end up as Cleaner dinner.”
Joke nodded and covered the flame to his lighter as he lit a cigarette. Good for you Spider, either you’re an excellent liar or you really are making sure the boys will be safe as houses. As he inhaled the cigarette, Joke watched Spider’s eyes as they scanned the area that was getting busier and busier. The panic of being in crowds seemed to be kicking in for his friend but Joke knew how to deal with it.
“C’mon mate, let’s stand over there where it’s sheltered.”
Spider followed him over to the door of ‘Excite’, still nervous around crowds after that time when he was little and got lost in a large shopping mall. His mother had nearly screamed the whole building down when she couldn’t find her son but all was well as he was returned to her safe and nearly sound within an hour. Crowds to Spider were like slow moving, stampeding cattle with iron hooves and they never gave an inch for anyone. He hated crowds and rude, inconsiderate people.
“You came here by yourself? No Vagrant tonight?”
“Nah, he’s spending time with Carla.” They both nodded and smiled at the happy marriage, wondering if that would ever fall upon their lives at some point. “Ska’s inside fetching Tiff.”
Spider chuckled at the word use and stated that she was not a dog, to which Joke looked slyly at him and made a dirty reference to their bedroom antics.
“Far too much information!”
They both laughed a little and waited for their friends to come out of the club.
As Ska watched, he saw the woman he fancied kissing Joke’s girlfriend at the bar. Anger was about to take hold of him, like it had done in the past when his father had been abusive towards himself and his mother but as his eyes took in the scene he watched Jazz being rejected and glowered at. He couldn’t hear anything that was said because of the loud music in the club but could guess. Tiff had the vocabulary to use as a weapon if she saw fit and this instance seemed to be one of them. Just then the music stopped and anybody inside the club would have heard what came from Tiff.
“Fuck’s sake Jazz, no means no! I don’t like you in that way, I love Joke!”
Ska nodded at the glass and smiled to himself at her response to the questionable advances.
“You think I care about that? Let’s just have some fun and don’t tell him...”
Tiff stopped in her tracks on talking to this person and just stared at them.
“I thought you were interested in Bracky?”
Jazz couldn’t help herself but laugh, except it came out in a wicked sounding cackle instead.
“Oh Tiff, he’s just something to play with. You know how frigid he is, it’s fun to make him so nervous he starts those hilarious stutters.”
The blonde continued to scowl at the other dancer as she was cruel in her words about her boyfriend’s friend. Sure he got nervous but wouldn’t anyone around a viper like Jazz? If she’d been this adventurous in her advances tonight how would she be towards Bracky?
“He’s a plaything, a toy. I’ll play with him for a little while but it’s you I really want.”
“Tough shit, I told you I’m not interested.”
Tiff looked away as Jazz continued to stare in a flirtatious manner at her and felt relieved when Ska wandered in through the doors and nodded at her. Reaching past the snake in front of her, Tiff picked up the jacket she’d borrowed from Joke and put it on. Not even looking at Jazz again, she walked over to Ska and shook her head.
“Let’s go. It’s been a long night and I want to go home.”
Ska nodded and put a hand on her shoulder as if to reassure her that everything was going to be alright now. Tiff acknowledged the friendly gesture with a smile at him and left the club, all the while Jazz watched her relentlessly from the bar.
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