The Preacher's Daughter (13 page)

"Did he now?" It was all Naomi could do not to tell Candy what a snake they both worked for, but she knew any criticism of Randy or Jasper would be lost on Candy who was the least attractive of all the dancers. She was, however, the most limber. That kept her employed, that and her reluctance to make waves.

Jasper had dropped Naomi off at the club before running out to get more cigarettes to sell from behind the bar. She was supposed to be changing while he was gone, but now she'd decided not to. She was too angry. If he thought she was going to work in this environment he had another think coming.

She heard him come back in before she saw him, heard him say, "Hey, darlin," to the barkeep as he tossed her the cigarettes before barging into the dressing room. She remembered how she'd gotten angry with him the first time he's walked in on her as she was changing for her shift.

"Why are you so upset?" he'd asked. "You're about to pull everything off for a roomful of strangers anyway."

It had hit her then that her body was community property in Jasper's eyes. It was one of many steps he'd taken to dehumanize her, to get her to dehumanize herself. Was it calculated on his part? She'd not given Jasper that much credit at first. Now she realized that Jasper was far more calculated than she'd first realized.

"Hey, hot stuff," he said to the girl at the table. "You ready to knock 'em dead tonight, baby?

Claire gave a frightened smile and nodded.

He looked at Naomi then. "Why aren't you dressed."

"We need to talk."

"Later," he said. "You go on in ten minutes."

"Not unless we talk first."

"You aren't calling the shots here, Angel." His voice was harder, meaner now that he'd gotten her back. Big surprise.

Claire was watching from her table, her eyes wide with anxiety. Naomi didn't know why, but she felt very protective of the girl.

"Please," she forced herself to say.

Jasper said nothing as he made an apparent show of considering her request.

"Hey sweetheart," he finally said to Claire. "Why don't you go out and out to the dance pole and limber up a bit before the guests arrive. If you feel tense just drink some of this."

Jasper reached into his jacket and pulled a flask. He handed it to Claire who took it with a quiet "thank you." Her voice was like her, tiny and immature.

Naomi watched her go.

"Good god, Jasper. Is she even old enough to drink?"

"She's old enough."

"I don't believe it."

"It's none of your fucking business."

"It is my business," she said angrily. "If I'm going to dance I'm going to dance in a legal club. Legal clubs don't hire little girls."

"She's not a little girl."

"I want to see her I.D."

"Do you?"

He turned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. It was apparent he was lying and attempting to find a way out of it. She'd caught him, and now he was on the defensive. Good.

So it came as a complete surprise when he rounded on her without warning. The back of his hand smashed across her cheekbone, snapping her head to the side and sending her crashing into the dressing table Claire had only just vacated.

Naomi lay there a moment, stunned. Jasper walked over to her and knelt, taking her bruised face in his hand.

"Now you listen to me, Angel," he said, his voice dangerously low. "A few things have changed since you left us in a lurch a few weeks back. "As you may or may not know we have a little competition down the street and that's not sitting well with Randy. Desperate times call for desperate measures, Angel. And if that means hiring a fresh face here and there or working extra hard to keep our girls....shall we say, motivated to perform then we're going to do what we have to do."

"Fuck you, Jasper," Angel managed to say. Her head felt like it was splitting and she could taste blood in her mouth. "I didn't come back here for this."

He grabbed her hair then, hard, and pulled her face to within just inches of his.

"I don't care why you came back, Angel. My job was to get you back and to keep you here. And that's what I mean to do. No more Mr. Nice Guy, baby. There's a new system in place. Get out of line and get punished. Understand? Oh, and if you even think of filling Claire's head with any of your rebel ideas then you're going to be responsible for the ass-whuppin' she takes for listening to you. Understand?"

He let go of her, flinging her away.

"Now get up and get ready. I'm sure Claire won't mind if you use some of her makeup to cover your bruise. More and more girls are investing in make-up, at least until they learn to keep their mouths shut like they're supposed to."

He turned, looking back at her before walking out.

"You'd better be out on that stage when you're supposed to be," he said. "You don't want to piss me off, Angel."

Naomi made sure he was gone before she shakily got to his feet. So this was how it was going to be. This had been why Jasper had been so sure she was back to stay. The new strategy was to rule the girls at Pinnacle with an iron fist - literally.

She touched her face. Her cheekbone was swelling and it hurt to touch it. The inside of her cheek was bleeding were the impact of the blow had forced her teeth against the skin.

"Welcome home," she told her battered reflection. "Aren't you just brilliant?"

Naomi wiped a tear away from her face and picked up some makeup. She winced as she dabbed it over the emerging bruise. No need for the customers to see her like this, and she knew she had no choice but to go on. She also knew that she'd go on now even if she had one. Eventually she would leave, but not until she could take Claire with her.

Naomi didn't know what the girl's story was but could tell from her demeanor that she'd either been abused before she came to Pinnacle or was being abused now. Perhaps it was both. She also knew the girl was most certainly underage. Jasper in his arrogance and cruelty, had all but admitted it.

She thought of the kids she'd accompanied on the church outings. They were likely around the same age as Claire. How could Claire have gone so astray? The question seemed ironic. How could she have gone so astray?

The music was starting. Naomi could hear the base thumping against the thin walls, hear the whoops and catcalls of the men as Claire as announced. Tears pricked against the back of her eyelids as she stood and slipped out of her clothes and into the skimpy outfit she'd wear on stage. It was a little tighter now thanks to her mother's good home cooking.

The men outside were cheering as the beat grew louder. Naomi opened the door of the dressing room and walked down the narrow hallway. The stage was surrounded by mirrors, one of which was the door that Naomi now cracked a bit to look out of.

Claire was on the stage, gyrating around as men cheered and watched. Her eyes looked glazed, drunken as she moved to the pole and straddled it. She stood for a moment, then her eyes fixed on someone in the audience. Jasper.

Naomi watched as he nodded, a wordless order to the girl to keep going. Claire's hips swayed as she pressed up against the pole, seductively moving up and down it in time to the music. There was fear in her eyes.

The men were clapping now and the girl stood, her hands moving to the waistband of the plaid skirt she wore. She undid the button and removed the skirt, leaving her only in her white, low cut shirt, tie and a pair of very skimpy panties.

Jasper nodded again and Claire continued to disrobe until she was standing only in her tie and panties. Her breasts were bare - nothing, not even pasties, covered her nipples.

Naomi had to hold on to the doorframe to keep from running out and covering the girl. Tears were apparent in Claire's eyes now and as she moved Naomi could clearly see bruises on the girl's upper thighs. Had Jasper beaten her? The idea made her want to run and scratch his eyes out. But she was afraid to let Jasper know how protective she felt over the girl. If he did, he'd only use it against her.

Claire was dancing at the edge of the stage now, lowering herself to the floor again so men could tuck money into the waistband of her skimpy panties. She stood, her eyes imploringly turned to Jasper, who nodded yet again.

Taking the bills one at a time, she laid them in a stack, bending at the waist as she did. Then she stood and worked the panties down and off, ending her routine in a split on the cold stage floor. The men went wild.

Claire stood hurriedly and picked up her money. Naomi moved aside as she came through the mirrored door. A sob burst from the girls' throat as she entered the hallway. She was shaken. And shaking.

"Claire...."

"No, it's OK. I just need to go sit down..."

"Claire," Naomi said. The girl looked at her. Her eyes were dilated.

"Fuck...What did he give you?"

"I don't know. Some kind of pill. I feel sick."

"A pill? On top of the liquor?" Naomi felt fury rise like a living thing in her chest.

Candy came down the hall.

"What's wrong?"

"Claire's sick. Get her something cold to drink and put her feet up in the dressing room, OK?"

"Sure."

Naomi watched as Candy walked the girl down the hall.

"Your turn, sunshine."

Jasper was coming for her.

"What did you give Claire?" Her voice was accusing. She knew it would piss him off. She didn't care.

"Just something to calm her nerves. Not that it's your business."

"She's sick."

"I'm sure she is. She didn't eat lunch and then she had liquor and a pill. Stupid kid."

Naomi shook her head. "You fucking bastard. You don't even care, do you?"

"Do I look like I care?" he asked. "It's not my job to care, sweet cheeks. It's my job to get you girls to dance, so if you think I'm going to argue with you then you're mistaken. Unless of course you'd like to go talk privately."

He touched her swollen cheek. "Again." Then he turned his eyes down the hallway. "Or I could go talk to Claire about the dangers of making people feel sorry for her."

"Claire hasn't even spoken to me."

"Yeah right."

He didn't believe her.

"Jasper, leave her alone."

"I might. I might not. It depends on how well you do out there, Angel." He looked her up and down. "You've filled out some while you were away. Tits are bigger. Rounder. I bet the guys would love to see them after staring at Claire's tiny rack."

He reached down and grabbed her bottom. "I bet they'd like to see that ass, too."

Naomi went to pull away but Jasper's grip was tight.

"Don't fuck with me, Angel. Tonight when you dance, everything comes off."

"I'm not stripping completely, Jasper."

"Yeah you will. If you don't we'll have disappointed customers and the only way to make it up to them will be to treat them to a private lap dance with one of the other girls. I bet you a hundred bucks it'd be Claire they'd want. You know how guys love schoolgirls."

He raised his eyebrows as at her. "Got it?"

"Yeah." Naomi looked at the floor. "I got it."

"Good. Then out you go."

Jasper slapped her on the ass, opening the door as he did.

In the booth the DJ announced her.

"And now, back from vacation please give a warm Pinnacle welcome to everyone's favorite angel, Naaaaaaaaomi!"

The crowd erupted into wild applause. Naomi looked down, took three deep breaths and forced herself to walk through the door onto the stage.

"And tonight is a very special homecoming," the DJ continued. "Because we get to see all her heavenly charms, right Angel?"

Naomi looked towards the DJ's booth. Lights blinded her. She could not see him but winked in his direction. She wished she had taken a drink or a pill, something to take her away from herself. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to be on this stage in front of these men.

But she had to. She had to if she was going to stand a ghost of a chance of helping Claire.

She began to dance, swaying her hips in time to the music. She was wearing a sequined, clingy dress with spaghetti straps and nothing else save for a pair of thong panties. She hooked her fingers in the straps of the dress and danced towards the edge of the stage, pulling them down and bending over towards the men.

Her breasts threatened to spill from the dress, but it was just a teaser move. She stood back up and pulled the straps back up over her shoulders. The men groaned. She went to the pole, grabbed it and leapt several feet off the floor, wrapping her left leg around the pole at her knee. She slid down, arching her back as she hit the floor. She turned on her side, grabbed her ankle and pulled her leg to the side until her calf was inches above her ear. She got back up and began to move, swaying in time to the music.

Jasper was at the edge of the stage. She entertained a mental image of herself moving to him and planting the stiletto heel of her shoe in his eye. The image was graphic and horrible but in that moment she felt fully capable of doing something just that graphic and horrible. But she couldn't, so she took the hate and rage she felt and channeled it into dance.

Her hips moved in seductive circles. The men watched, slack-jawed. Some reached into their pockets. A few pulled out money; the others kept their hands where they were and Naomi knew they were attempting to discreetly pleasure themselves as they stared at her.

* * *

She parted her legs, and gyrated down, down, down until her bottom was inches from the floor. It was not easy to do in heels. Her thigh muscles screamed.

"Come on, Angel! Take it off!" One of the regulars was getting impatient. From the side Jasper nodded at her, his eyes hard, his expression daring her not to disappoint the men.

She rose back up, lowered the straps, let her breasts fall out. This time she caught them, keeping her hands over the dusky rose nipples. The men protested loudly.

"Come on!"

She flipped her hair over her face so they wouldn't see the tears that were coming to her eyes as she moved her hands. She shimmied, shaking her generous chest. The men roared.

Naomi hooked her fingers in the top of the dress, sliding the stretchy material down and off. She stepped out of the garment, leaving herself in just high heels and a thong.