𝐁𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐄

2

I wake up in one of the suites for strippers who stay at the club all night and day. I lift my head up from the mattress, the sheets soaked in sweat and my clothes a second skin to me, although they were before anyways. My panties are off around my ankles and my cheeks feel unusually cool, like a towel had just been pressed there around the perimeters of my mask.

Babe comes out of the bathroom in a black cotton robe that ends mid-thigh, the belt accentuating her already slender waist. The suite rooms are set up like hotel rooms in a way, one bathroom to the room, a single bed, no window of course, but a small nightstand and a television.

And yet even in our privacy, we still wear our masks as club rules so strictly dictate.

"I passed out?" I ask, groggy and allowing my best friend to place the wet towel back on my head. I lay back, curling up under the cold sheets and letting out a slow sigh.

"Thankfully not on stage, but shortly right after. You had a good performance...as always," she assured me.

"My debt's almost paid. I only have $80,000 left," I gave her a weak smile. Even coming off a high I could remember how much was owed. Babe's debt was a bit worse than mine, with her balance owed to the club at around $120,000 or so. It still beats what we started off with. That number had made fear trickle down my spine like a cold chill, especially when the consequence for not working the debt off was put out into the air.

"Get better. It's one a.m.," she checked her Apple Watch.

"Damn. I got classes at nine," I groaned. "Tell me it's not almost two," I add, slowly sitting back up. My vision is blurry, but I move through it with familiarity. I pull my panties all the way off, holding them in a fist as I stumble to the bathroom, not waiting around for Babe's answer.

"One thirty," she calls out.

Great.

"I took your crusty ass panties off so you wouldn't get a yeast infection," she adds, her tone joking.

"Thanks, Babe. I can always count on you," I say sarcastically.

Babe brings me my duffle bag, day clothes in it and some toletries. I'd kill for a shower and a nice movie at my own place right now, but this was the life I have to live.

I thank her again, this time genuinely, then I pull the door closed and freshen myself up to leave.

I exit the bathroom, my mask back on, red sweatpants and an oversized Hot Topic tee. I had wrapped my hair back around my head, hiding it under a bonnet, and pressed my feet into some Champion slides.

"Headin' home?" Babe asks, although she already knows the answer. She lays across the bed, holding a tiny white pill between her fingers and studying it.

"Yeah. Catch some sleep before my classes hopefully," I awkwardly stand there.

The club is all she has, she never leaves here.

Slowly, she sits up, holding the pill in her palm. Warm brown eyes stare up at me, her long, straight extensions tied lazily at the back of her head and her face bare except for her eyelash extensions. "Make sure you do your best in class...today. Or tomorrow. Whatever you wanna call it," she gives me a soft smile.

"You finna walk me out?"

"No, hoe. I'm tired. You took up all the bed," she laughs, burying her face into the pillow. The pill is still clutched in her grasp, probably heated by her body or crushed, at this point.

"Babe...don't take that," I say hollowly, not able to laugh along with her.

"I need it for in here," she points at her chest, her eyes seeming to drain of its life, "I can't get up and keep doing this if I don't."