Heroin(e)

Chapter Seventeen

My heroin was gone. I used the last of it to tie me over while I grieved my losses. Withdrawal symptoms came and went just like they always did. Bon called the other day saying he and the band had to drop by the London studio to record the next album and they'd be busy for a few weeks. 

I'd miss them but it was fine by me. I had to go to work myself.

The girls at the club couldn't believe I knew Bon Scott from AC/DC. Jeanie would make a speedy exit whenever she saw me coming, probably remembering her collapse while trying to meet the band. I felt kind of bad in a way. Imagine you're about to meet your idol and you drop dead at their feet. 

"Can you get free tickets to their concerts?"

"Fuck the concerts, we want backstage passes!"

"You've slept with one of them, tell me you've slept with one of them!"

I assured the group there was no way in hell I slept with any of them. They were my friends, and that was it. "I'd feel silly if I asked for free tickets," I admitted. "For myself and for all of you."

"Don't those men want all of us dancers at their shows?" Betty said. "To think we could be rubbing elbows with high society."

"I'd hardly call some sleazy rock and roll band 'high society'," Celine said, amused at our longing. "You want high society you should summon Joan of Arc."

"But they're not sleazy, Celine," Betty said. "They're only the most talented group of men we've ever heard." 

"And Esther here knows them," Henriette said. She still wasn't into the band like the rest of us but she supported our fantasies all the same. 

"Those talented men sure have a way of causing trouble in my club," Celine said, eyeing me with a playful smile. I looked sheepishly at my heels. "But I'm glad Loulou has such good friends."

"Lucky bitch," Betty mumbled.

"Jealous fiend," I retorted. Betty flipped me off and I laughed. The band were certainly my friends but these girls at the club were pretty good too. Despite all the friends I made in my years at school, I never felt as close to them as I did to my colleagues. We could joke around and make each other laugh. I never laughed with my old friends. We robbed people blind and sat around high. I didn't mind being high but it didn't compare to being with loved ones. 

It sure dulled the pain, though. 

And Bon was a great man. He always knew what to say to make me smile, even on my bad days. He respected my wish to stay friends and he didn't threaten to leave or even hit me. Of course that should be the bare minimum but it meant a lot to me, given my history. For the first time in ages...I had a real friend...

Many of them.

**********

I stared at myself in the mirror in the locker room as I applied a coat of makeup. For a second I thought I imagined it but it was still there when I looked again. Under my eyes were the nastiest looking circles I'd ever seen on a human being. I knew my sleep schedule was out of wack at times but it couldn't have gotten this bad. I delicately applied some extra makeup under my eyes to cover them up. It wouldn't do to have the clients see me like that. 

Let alone Jeanie.

Speaking of the devil Jeanie came marching in after her dance onstage. She was sweaty and holding a decent lump of cash. Hurrying by me she grabbed a chair, scraping it against the floor, and plopped down, her hair bouncing behind her. "Oh, you're here," she muttered, finally noticing me. I watched as she grabbed her palette, the newest one available in stores right now of course, and started bushing up. "Don't think I sat here to enjoy the pleasure of your company," she spat, literally spat. I closed my eyes so she wouldn't melt them with her projectile venom. "I'm just here to touch up some things and get right back out there."