The Strip - Max

2 / Maxine

I walked into Bunny's beside my aunt and instantly felt out of place. First of all, I was the youngest person in the place. Second, other than my aunt, I was the only girl NOT wearing a bikini. At least, the only one I could see past all the gawking men.

As we found a table, I started to notice quite a few women in the crowd of customers, and realized it was my aunt that everyone was eyeing up. The table wasn't too far into the lounge, but everyone seemed to stop her to say hello, so it took a good five minutes to make our way through. I easily fell back into being the awkward girl that nobody notices as I tagged along.

"Is this your niece? The one you were telling me about," a woman asked before turning her gaze towards me. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss. Such a tragedy."

I nodded and thanked the woman for her condolences as I took the final steps towards our table. I sat my butt in the chair and within seconds I had some bikini clad girl wrapped around me. As soon as she released me, another and another, nearly naked body encircled me. Each girl welcomed me and eventually it was my cousin's turn.

"Hey cous' I'm so sorry about your dad," Natalie said as she dropped into the chair beside me, her hand still holding mine. "I'm just bussing tables, but I asked Danika, your real server, if I could take your order..."

"It's your birthday. How can you be so excited to work on your birthday?" I asked as I inspected her work... uniform.

"Look at me! I've been waiting to work here for years... like, since I was... twelve. Best. Birthday. Ever!"

I was stunned. What twelve-year-old girl would dream of working at a bikini bar? Apparently, my cousin. I gazed at Natalie for a moment then across the table to my aunt.

"It's true... Honey, why don't you show her the contest photos," Megan suggested.

Instantly I was being dragged through the lounge to a hallway leading towards the restrooms in the corner. On the wall were photos of women in bikinis, celebrating and partying in the bar. One section was dedicated to bikini contests that had been held over the years, with the smiling winners accepting their prizes. And there, on the wall, a photograph of my cousin, almost four years earlier, the winner of the first and last junior bikini category of the annual contest. Apparently, the community wasn't impressed with the idea of young girls strutting the stage of a bikini bar for a panel of judges and a room full of gawking patrons. The category was scrapped the next year.

Pikeville didn't allow strip clubs, but a lite version, in the form of a bikini bar seemed like a reasonable compromise. It was a busy place with almost every table occupied that first night I had visited. I would later learn that was actually one of their slowest nights that month, other than Sundays when it was only open for dinner service; no shows on the stage and the bikinis were replaced with tight fitted t-shirts and denim shorts.

The closest strip club was Busters, an hour and a half away in Malbec. As clubs go, it was the better one in the area, according to my aunt. She had worked at a couple different places over her years in the business and found the management and clientele a little more respectful of the working girls. The town was much bigger than Pikeville and I remember my father talking about it with a sort of disdain that some small-town people seem to have for the big city. The funny thing is, Malbec was where he grew up. He had only lived in Pikeville for a couple years but called it home.

"So, the plan is, you will start at school tomorrow. Fridays are only half-day, which is perfect, so you'll go with me to Malbec for the weekend. I stay the two nights in the motel next to the club. So, you can hang out there while I work. Natalie used to go with me but she's working." Megan was interrupted when Natalie pulled out a pad and pen and asked for our food order.