The Skin Show (16 page)

Sugar
pulled the door, propping it open with her hip. “Don’t worry about it.” 

“Nice
costume, huh?” said Karen, a hundred feet away from him. 

When
Andy turned around he saw she was really only a foot away. A stratum of fog
hovered in his mind. He shook his head to clear it. “Costume?”

“Yeah! 
You’ve got to be talented to walk around on stilts like that.”

Didn’t
look like a costume to Andy.
Then what was it? A monster?
Andy stopped
thinking about it before he generated a response.

On
his way in, he glanced over his shoulder. Though the creature was a long ways
off, he could see its vibrant skin swirling colors in the dark. It was standing
still.

Watching
him.

Andy
might find his way along the poorly lit corridor better with his eyes closed. He
blinked his eyes to make sure he really had them open. The walls pressed in
close, forcing them to walk single file. He put his elbows against the sides to
keep himself stanchioned.

Sugar
led the way. The only proof he had that she was there was the peach scent as he
followed its sweet trail. And, just like in the car, Karen was in the rear,
clutching his hand. He had to move with his arm extended behind him. He wasn’t
sure if it was his hand that was sweaty, hers, or a combination of the two, but
he nearly slipped from her grasp more than once along the way. 

How
long is this damn hallway, anyway?

The
muffled blaring of music came from ahead. Megadeth was ending as Iron Maiden’s
“Run for the Hills” began. They moved along, the song steadily growing louder.

Andy
could vaguely make out the shape of Sugar’s head now. Either his eyes were totally
adjusted to the heavy dark, or they were approaching a light. When the air
began to fill with a pink haze, he realized they were almost there.  

Sugar
turned around. The bright whites of her teeth glowed in the dark.

“Here
we are!”

Karen
said, “I can hardly wait,” without any merriment.

Sugar
reached behind her back, bent her leg to thrust a knee in the air, then
simultaneously pushed and kicked. A pair of doors flew open.

Loud
music and scattered shouts and hollers nearly threw Andy back. His hair ruffled
from the sudden gust. Voices in a variety of tones seemed to be screaming back
and forth. Something shattered. Probably a beer bottle from the deep rattles of
its crash.

Although
the pink light was dim, it still hurt Andy’s eyes as he attempted to gaze into
the room. People seemed to be all over: huddled in corners, filling the main
floor, occupying tables that had been sporadically placed throughout. He saw
leather-clad bikers, men in expensive suits, cowboys, men who looked like
grandpas, men wearing trucker caps and sleeveless flannels, college-aged guys
in polo shirts with the collars flipped up, and characterless people socializing
together, dancing, and having a great time. Andy noted the lack of females, so
few they stood out from the pack like pale scars on tanned skin.

He
spotted naked women, none appearing to be above twenty-five, walking back and
forth, carrying trays. Some had empty glasses on top, others were filled with
liquid.

A
damn night club or something.

He
should’ve figured as much with a name like The Skin Show.

Probably
a fetish club.

No
sign of Danny or Rosco. He knew it wouldn’t have been that easy, but he’d hoped
for a quick find so they could get the hell out of here.

Walking
backwards, Sugar ran her hands through her hair, swerving her hips aggressively
with the song. “Isn’t this the
best
?” She held her arms out, throwing
back her head. “Come in! What’s ours is yours! And that means
everything!
”
She kept swaying in reverse until she was swallowed by the crowd.

Now
it was just Andy and Karen standing at the mouth of The Skin Show. Karen pressed
tightly against him. Even surrounded by so many, Andy felt completely alone.
Sugar was the only person here that they knew, and she’d abandoned them.

Andy
saw Karen’s lips were moving. He couldn’t hear her over the din of the crowd,
the pounding loudness of the music. The bass vibrated so deeply it was hard to
breathe. Leaning down, he put his ear right at her mouth.

Shouting,
Karen said, “What the hell are we supposed to do now?” Then she turned,
offering her ear to him.

“I
guess we find somewhere to go!”

“Home?!”

Andy
thought about it. “If you want to leave, we will!”

Karen
seemed to consider it. Pursing her lips, she rolled her head, then leaned up
for Andy’s ear. “No! Not yet, anyway! We need to look around! See if we can
find Danny or Rosco!”

Andy
put his arm around her shoulders. He was surprised she’d allowed it. Maybe she
wasn’t mad at him, after all. “I was thinking the same thing. Let’s give them
thirty minutes! If we don’t see them by then, we’ll sneak out of here!”

“What
if they don’t show up until later?!”

“Then
I guess we’ll just miss them!”

Nodding,
Karen faced the crowd. She looked like a nervous child about to sit on Santa’s
lap for the first time: eager, yet terrified. Her crystal-bright eyes shone
with fear under the pink hues of the club which brought Andy even more feelings
of guilt. Coming here was a bad idea. Hopefully, he wouldn’t regret it later.

They
made their way through the throng of people. Andy’s shoulder accidentally
banged against someone. A man weighing no less than three hundred pounds of
hardened muscle spun around. It looked as if he’d been dancing with a poster
girl for the archetypal librarian. He glowered at Andy, ready to rip his arms
off, but only for a fleeting moment. A polite smile showed. Then he said,
“Pardon me.”

“Yes,”
was all Andy managed to say.

The
man gave him a single, open-palmed pat on the arm. “Isn’t this place something?”

Andy
nodded.

“I
can finally be myself, you know?”

Andy
had no clue, but nodded anyway.

The
man squeezed Andy’s arm. The strength was impressive and painful. “They have
something for all of us!”

Andy
studied the woman as she hugged the man from behind. The man’s comment replayed
in his head. It looked as if The Skin Show did offer something for everyone,
and it appeared as if this guy had a thing for homely women. Running her tongue
up the side of the man’s neck, her eyes watched Andy, curious and interested.
Then she gnashed her teeth, softly nibbling on his neck. The man’s eyes rolled
back, his head dropping onto her shoulder.

Although
Andy was drenched in sweat, he shivered. He felt his hand being pulled. Karen
was leading him away, so he allowed her to guide him, happy to be away from the
man and his fetish come to life.

Karen
stopped at the first empty table they came to. There were only two chairs, and
they sat in them.

It’s
like they were expecting us.

Another
cloud of ice burst in his stomach. If he started thinking like that, he’d never
stop.

Karen
leaned forward, elbows on the table, forehead pressed into her hands. Her
fingers pushed into her hair, raising it slightly off her shoulders. She took a
deep breath and let it out, puffing her cheeks.    

Andy
hated that their table was up front, hated sitting at the very front of
anything: movie theaters, concerts, restaurants. He couldn’t stand people being
behind him, not knowing what they were doing. He always felt that the people
were staring at
him
and not what they were supposed to be looking at. 

He
scooted his chair to the side. At this viewpoint, he could see Karen and those
behind them. Karen shifted her chair around so it would not only face the
stage, but so it was directly beside him as well. Her leg bumped against his,
she was so close. He glanced down and saw its bronzed smoothness vanishing into
the shadows under the table. He could feel the warmth of her thigh through his
pants.

Andy
quickly averted his eyes and observed the other tables while trying to avoid
eye contact with anyone. He didn’t need to worry since they were either
engrossed with each other, kissing and fondling, or were leaned in close so
they could hear each other while they talked. No one seemed to have even
noticed they’d sat down.

Hopefully
no one’s already claimed this table.

If
so, he’d surely hear about it whenever they came back from the bathroom or
wherever they’d been. And if they were the size of that last guy, Andy would
willingly give him back his seat.

Hopefully
no one tries to mess with us.
  

Andy
spotted a dark block against the wall on the right.
The bar.
A shirtless
barmaid behind the counter strode over to a naked waitress waiting with an
empty tray. Her large breasts bounced as she approached the waitress, the tiny
nipples hard like points.

The
waitress leaned over the bar, one leg bent at the knee, her foot arched and
rocking behind her. The way the waitress was posed, her breasts were scrunched
against her arms. Light gleamed on her sweaty skin. A crowd of men stood around
her, groping and pawing whatever they could reach while waiting for their
drinks. The waitress seemed unbothered by the hands squeezing her buttocks,
squishing the plump mounds. She even shook it when they stopped, instigating
another grab, which quickly came.    

Andy
felt a hint of disgust and a small twinge of envy at the same time. Like he’d
witnessed something he shouldn’t have, but something he could have participated
in, too. Shaking his head, he didn’t want that idea to gain legs and run rampant
in his mind.

The
barmaid set two glasses of some kind of booze on top of the tray, then quickly
moved on to the next person in line. Tray perched on the flat of her hand, the
waitress made her way to a couple that reminded Andy of parents out on a date
night. At the table, she extravagantly leaned over, dramatically emphasizing
her movements for effect. She made sure her plump breasts were shoved right in their
faces as she served their drinks. The man’s hands reached up. At first, Andy
thought he was going to take the drinks, but they each cupped a breast. The
waitress looked up, chin pointing out, her eyes pinched shut and lips puckered
out as if moaning.

The
woman reached around her date, planting her hand between the waitress’s thighs.
Her mouth dropped open as the wife’s hand moved back and forth.

Andy
quickly looked away.

And
found Karen watching him. She arched her eyebrows like someone who’d
accidentally discovered a nudie movie on TV while channel surfing and was
wondering if he minded that they watch. 

Andy
shrugged.

Iron
Maiden faded in the speakers. A new song didn’t start, but the noise of the
patrons was nearly as loud as the music had been. Andy detected a high-pitch
shriek and quickly realized it was his ears. He stuck a finger in his right ear
and jiggled it.

“Damn
that’s loud,” he said. It sounded as if he was talking underwater, muffled and
faint.

“What?”
cried Karen.

He
was about to repeat himself but stopped when he saw Karen smiling. Realizing
she was pretending to be momentarily deaf brought a smile out of him as well.

“Think
they’re done with the music?” she said.

“Maybe
they’re taking a break for requests?”

Andy’s
hand was flat on the table. Karen put hers on top of his, inserting her fingers
in the grooves between his. “What have we gotten ourselves into?”

“It’s
not
we. I
got us into this.”

Shaking
her head, Karen said, “That’s
so
not true.”

“Yes,
it is. All this could have been avoided if I’d given Kaufman the stupid
laptop.”

“Let’s
stop this, okay? We can blame ourselves all night and it won’t change us being
here.”

“I
guess...”

“Now
that that’s settled, what the
hell
do we do now?”

“What
kind of place is this?”

“I
asked
you
that, remember?” She nodded her chin in front of them.
“But…seeing that stage there makes me think it’s a live acts kinda place.”

Frowning,
Andy looked at the stage, not far away. The platform was two steps up to a
higher level. An empty heart-shaped bed was centered on the stage, covered in a
black sheet. A matching, padded footstool was at the tip of the heart.

 “Live
acts? Do you mean…?”

“Uh-huh,”
said Karen, tongue in her cheek. “I’m more than a
little
curious now.
Aren’t you?”

“Well…I
didn’t think places like that really existed.”

“I’m
sure it’s not what you’re thinking it is.”

“What
would it be, then?”

“Probably
simulated
sex on stage, not the real thing. Back in my college days, I
went to New Orleans with some friends. Drunk as hell one night, we wandered
into a club claiming live sex shows.” With disappointment clearly evident in
her voice, she added, “It was staged.”

“So
you think this will be?

Shrugging,
Karen said, “
If
that’s what they do here. I’m pretty positive it’s
illegal in North Carolina, but I can’t remember for sure.”

Andy
felt disappointment, and was embarrassed that he did. “I’ve seen a movie with a
place like that in it. I think it was called
New York Ripper
.”

“Now
you might see the
real
thing, sort of.”

“Can’t
wait…” His head felt like he’d just received dental work: numb and very heavy.

A
few seconds of silence passed between them. 

Karen
leaned closer to him. “I’m kind of excited.”

“Really?”