Dance Moms - Chlobird

Chapter 16 : Studio 19

Once her students finished tidying up the classroom, Chloe dismissed them. It always warms her heart when they wave goodbye to her, happily greet their mothers with hugs and kisses, exciting to show what they just learned.

Her classes take place in the afternoon, to fit the few hours of free time between school and dinner. This felt very different for Chloe, who was homeschooled so she could devote all her time to dancing.

Most students in her class came to learn dancing for fun, very few were interested in competing, or doing it for a career. It made Chloe sad but please, dancing took her childhood away, and she doesn't recommend it to kids who weren't ready to take a leap to the professional level.

Getting dressed in the changing room, she overheard staffs talking about Brooke, chit-chatting about how she got fired was a good thing. Chloe only wishes they knew what the girl went through.

She checked her phone, there was no message from Brooke. She hoped she didn't waste a day not looking for a job. Looking at the time, Red Rocket was about to open, she wondered if she could help get her things.

Don't get involved!

* * *

Chloe parked her Ford in a dark alley, didn't want anyone to spot her car in the wrong neighborhood. She wondered if the club was back in business after last night's shootout. It did.

She entered through the front door, the guard in windbreaker recognized her this time, and didn't give any trouble.

There were a few customers, probably weren't aware of the shooting last night. She headed straight for the changing room, planning how she could pass the bouncer this time, but two men in black T-shirts stopped her half way.

"Our boss wants to speak with you." one said.

They were towering over her, their faces hard and threatening, their tight clothes bulging from their mass underneath. Most people would feel intimated at this point, but Chloe only sighed.

If I don't cooperate, they may fire Brooke too.

The poor girl already lost her apartment and day job in the last forty-eight hours, Chloe didn't have the heart to make this the worst week of Brooke's life.

She was taken around the floor, the bullet holes could still be seen, but the shattered windows were hung by sheer curtains, deep red with mandala patterns, like they were part of the decoration.

They entered one of the private rooms, the format was the same as others, with a one-way mirror looking out the floor, except it was in an office setting, with a work desk, filing cabinets and security monitors.

Sitting behind the desk was Harish, the well-dressed man from last night, one who was begging for his life, not the one holding the gun.

"As-Salaam-Alaikum." the man greeted, his eyes more a test than formality.

"Wa-Alaikum-Salaam." Chloe responded back with the formal gesture.

"Not often do we see a white girl who knows our custom, let alone speaks our language." the short man spoke in Arabic. "Tea?"

"No, but thank you." Chloe answered in English, refused to amuse the man.

"My man told me you came from Mosul."

"Are you from there?" Chloe asked.

Her eyes studied the desk in front of her. There was an incent holder at the corner, burning next to a little bronze statue. The statue has the head of an elephant, and four arms carrying various items. She recognized it as Lord Ganesha.

"My family moved out during the war, to Iran, then to India." the man poured two cups and began. "I am Mohammed Harish, I run this place. How may I call you?"

"I will not be here long enough for that need." Chloe said firmly.

"You were here last night. And you showed some skills."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Chloe denied.

Harish chuckled and tapped the keyboard on his desk, the security monitor displayed a scene at the table where Chloe sat last night. He then

scrolled the bottom bar, the scene skipped to the fight, showing a masked figure kick down two gunmen on the stage.

"Same outfit, same scarf. It doesn't take a genius to figure out it's the same person." Harish smiled cunningly. "You attacked Aldama's men. You're in so much trouble."

Chloe studied the video, then the look in Harish's eyes. She met people like this before - people who use extortion to bend others to their wills, and she has been with Kalani long enough to deal with scum like these.

"As much trouble as you stealing his money?" Chloe cocked her head. "Laundromats, laser tag, beauty salons... all popular fronts for money laundering. Doesn't take a genius to figure that out."

She watched Harish's face, that micro-expression of alarm and fear, which quickly hidden by his smirk, was enough to give her satisfaction.

"Be careful, little girl. Words like that may get you hurt, and your beautiful friend too!" Harish looked out the tinted window.

"Had she been here?"

Chloe turned to the window, and caught the reflection of the bouncer behind her, taking a quiet step forward. Bouncers don't carry guns for safety reasons, but his hand alone could crush a bone, and he was ready to use them.

"What are you? Her girlfriend?" the bouncer chuckled.

"No."

"Like all girls working here, she's someone who desperately needs money, and I have every way to take it from them." Harish grinned at his power.

"Then you'll have me to deal with." Chloe kept her eyes on the bouncer, who was reaching for her in the reflection. "And I'll keep those hands where they are if I were you. You've seen what I can do."

The hand paused for a moment, but decided to set down on Chloe's right shoulder. Chloe reached it with her left hand, caught the little finger and bent it over her head. She stood up, threw her arm in a counter-clockwise direction, bringing the hand all the way to her left hip.

No matter if it is a finger or the entire hand, the infliction of pain is the same. The bouncer had to drop to his knees to save his pinky from breaking.

With her other free hand, Chloe picked up the cup and drank, placing it back on the dish with precision.

"We're done here. And thank you for the tea."

She released the bouncer's hand, leaving him rolling on the floor in agony, and walked out the office without looking back. Checking the floor one more time, Brooke was nowhere to be seen, but she spotted Rahul chewing his toothpick.

"Did Blaze come in tonight?" she went up and asked.

"Haven't seen her." Rahul shook his head.

"She said she left her things here."

"Lots of girls left their things here. We clear out lockers every week."

She wanted to take a look inside the changing room. She knew Brooke's clothes, always the same black sweater and jeans, probably in a garbage bag. She could pick them up for her, before they got thrown away like garbage.

But what if she comes back and finds her things taken? She'll have to come to my house again, or worse, stay for another night!

After weighing a list of pros and cons, Chloe finally decided to leave. It was not her life, she shouldn't be in here in the first place.