Page 2 of To Hades & Back
Meliseus and I sat at the bar talking about the club and business shit. Since he took over his family’s business a few years ago, his parents couldn’t keep their asses in the same place. He was an only child that was just as close to his parents as I was to mine. Just as I was about to get myself together to leave, my phone rang. It was almost two in the morning. If Princess, the manager of my strip club, called, then that meant there was a problem there that was over her head.
I listened to her attentively before I let out a huff. I told her that I would be there before I disconnected the call. “Man, I got to go to the strip club to handle something. You coming?” I asked my best friend. We laid down money on the bar for a tip and were on our way.
Temptress Lair had beenopen for four years and was known for our top-of-the-line girls. My manager, Princess, used to be one of the most popular strippers in the Carolinas in her early twenties. When she met her husband Arke, he was already a member of our club. Without hesitation, she left the club to be with her man. After I opened my club, I needed a manager that truly understood this industry, and I preferred a woman. Arke suggested Princess because he realized that she, in some ways, missed the lifestyle but would never succumb to it because of her loyalty to him. It was the perfect solution for everyone involved.
The way she took care of the girls was commendable, to say the least. Princess ensured that they were safe, respected, and paid. She didn’t play about her girls or the club. There was a waitlist of women that wanted to work here as strippers, bottle girls, and bartenders.
It took about twenty minutes to get to the club. I wasn’t surprised to see Arke in his designated section. Some nights a week, he sat with his wife at work, in a booth that was only for them. You would think that he watched the girls, but no. He spent his time in the booth with noise cancellation headphones on and either working on things for his branding clients, the club, or reading a book that he and his wife would discuss at a later date. I respected the fuck out of him for how he cut for and loved his wife. He caught hell when they first got together, but he told everyone to kiss his ass.
“Arke, my man. What’s up with you?” I asked after I moved into his line of sight. Arke was not a fan of being touched by anyone other than his wife.
He pulled his headphones down from his ears. “What’s up? Princess is waiting on you in the office. Her ass is mad as hell.” He shook his head.
“Yeah, I’m not dealing with a mad as hell Princess. You can have that,” Meliseus said before he sat down next to Arke.
I understood and wished that I didn’t have to deal with it either. A mad as hell Princess was worse than an irate me. Rumor had it that I had an anger issue at times. After a deep breath, a count to ten, and a small prayer, I headed to her office. I didn’t go into the office until she told me to come in after I knocked. The tension in the room was thick as hell, as it should have been.
Princess sat behind her desk with a scowl on her face. A side-eye was on the girl who sat on the couch against the wall. My eyes closed at the sight of who it was. Princess didn’t tell me who the girl was, on our call.
“Muthafucka! Really, Bedazzle!” This bitch irked my nerves. I told Princess that I didn’t know about her when she hired her ass, but I trusted her decision to hire Sparkly.
She sat on the couch with an attitude, as if she had the right to have one. “My name is Sapphire, not Bedazzle. I don’t see what the fucking problem was. I was bringing more traffic into the place.”
Princess jumped up from her seat. Before my mind caught up with her actions, she had punched Bedazzle in her face. “Bitch, you think he cares about what your name is. Does it look like we need that kind of traffic in this fuckin’ club, ho! This is a strip club, not a brothel.”
When she punched the girl in the face again, I slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand. “Block, bitch, block. She just punched you in the face and didn’t move back after. Deductive reasoning should have told you that she might do it again.” Myeyes tightened. “I bet you be gettin’ all kinds of nut in your eyes. Ole nutty eye bitch.”
When I asked Princess how she found out ole girl was trickin’ in our club, she turned toward her. The girl had the sense to block this time.Good job.“One of my girls came to me and told me that this bitch was trying to recruit girls to sell pussy with her. None of the girls bit because they knew better than to. I had Hypnos come in here to see what this bitch was on. You know he doesn’t come in here, so I knew this ho right here would think that he would be fresh meat.
“Hypnos didn’t even have to ask. The bitch was eager to offer her janky pussy up to him,” Princess said with disdain. Something in my spirit told me that she was about to?—
Kapow!Welp, my thought was right. Princess punched Bedazzle again. This time it was on the side of her head. A black eye and a headache were in her near future.
“Look, Bedazzle, it’s obvious that you’re fired. Princess, tell Jazzy to get the shit out her locker.” Jazzy was the assistant manager.
Princess moved to her phone to tell Jazzy to do as I told her. Bedazzle held her eye and the side of her head. Her ass was whimpering like a hurt dog, or whore in this situation. I was tired and ready to get in my fucking bed. Tomorrow was family dinner, and it was my turn to help my mama cook. Her cooking started at nine in the morning.I might just sleep at her house.
It took Jazzy five minutes to come into the office with the stuff from Bedazzle’s locker. I grabbed the bags out of her hand. When I found what I needed, I threw everything else on the couch next to Bedazzle.
“What are you doing? That belongs to me!” She leaned forward like she wanted to get up from the couch, but Princess stopped that shit with her foot of all things.That woman is violent as hell.
“Nah, this money in this bag belongs to us. Consider it a tariff tax for selling that janky pussy in here when you weren’t supposed to be,” I told her. I paused for a moment to think.I’m not sure if that’s how those taxes work, but oh well.
“I need that money.” Her crying fell on deaf ears.Forgive me, Dindi.None of us wanted to hear shit she had to say.
Princess called security and told them to come get her. “I needed you to not sell pussy in my fucking club. You better tell your fuckin’ clientele to not bring their asses back in here or it’s gonna be some problems for you and them.”
Security wasted no time to come get her. She went without too much of a fight. That made sense because she was already beat the fuck up. No need to get beater up.Wait, that’s not right.She didn’t need to get beat up more.
“Here, put this on our profit line. I told you that I didn’t like that damn girl, Princess. Make sure none of these other bitches are selling their asses in here.” Princess dropped the ball with this bitch, but I wasn’t going to make too much of it. Luckily, the bitch was only here for like two months.
She held her hands up. “I know, I know. I got to get my bleeding heart together. The bitch came in here with a sob story about taking care of her kids. She probably doesn’t even have any.”
Jazzy chuckled. “I told you something was up with her story. Your ass is a mean ass softy.”
She described her perfectly. Princess would shoot your head off, then pray it wasn’t painful. Most of the time, she tried to hide her soft side. Those who truly knew the real her knew that she cared about everyone.
“I’m gone. I got shit to do tomorrow,” I told them. I left them in the office, went out to the front to say goodnight to Arke and Meliseus, then I left. Laverne would not beat my ass for not waking up on time.
