Heroin(e)

Chapter Twenty Five

"You look nice today, Esther."

"Thanks, Henriette."

The girls at the club all stared at me. Amid the short, sparkly dresses I looked so out of place in my jeans and t shirt hidden underneath my wool coat. Scout looked even more out of place. He sniffed everything he could find, occasionally one of the girls offering him a hand to sniff or a scratch behind the ears. I gently tugged on his leash and he followed me.

I pushed open the locker room door and peered inside. Min was the only one there, sitting by the mirrors and delicately placing a red and gold comb in her fine, black hair. She saw my reflection behind her and spun around. "Oh! Esther, right?" she asked.

"That's me," I said while Scout sniffed the floor. Min's eyes lit up.

"Cute dog!" she said and Scout immediately bounded to her for pets, tugging on his leash. I stumbled forward and Min reached down to pet him. "What's going on?" she asked. I'm sure me paying a visit to the club with my dog looked suspicious. "Celine is out on the floor if you want to talk to her."

"That's okay," I said. "I'm not looking for Celine." Min narrowed her eyes at me.

"So....you're just here on a visit?" she asked.

"Yeah, I....I'm taking the night off. I've got somewhere to be later." Min nodded in understanding.

"I won't take your time," she said. "I've got to be onstage in a few minutes anyway." She turned back around to adjust her comb before I spoke again.

"Have you seen Jeanie anywhere?" I asked. "Red hair? Wicked smile?" It hurt to describe Jeanie that way after what happened the other day in this very locker room. But that seemed to be the impression she left on all the girls here and Min, not having been here very long, would know exactly who I was talking about. "I can go look around some more if you haven't seen her."

"Didn't you hear?" Min asked, catching my attention. "She quit the other day."

"Jeanie quit?" I asked. I hadn't heard anything about that and couldn't believe it. It shouldn't have surprised me the way it did. Jeanie wasn't as enthusiastic about this job as we all thought. "When?"

"Couple days ago, when you weren't here," Min said, primping her bob. "Shocked everyone but mostly Celine. No one saw this coming."

"I'll bet," I said.

"She's going to Italy for a while," she went on. "I didn't know her very well...." Min turned to look at me and Scout who had found a pair of high heels to sniff. "Was she really as bad as everyone says she was?"

I froze. Considering all that she had said and done to me ever since I started work here, I'd say no, she was even worse. But that night...when Jeanie looked so scared and vulnerable....I saw a side of her she never let anyone in on. There was much more to her that none of us knew about. With her running away to Italy we may never see any more than what she left behind. But I'll never forget that night.

"I think she was...." I paused, searching for the right word. "misunderstood." Scout shed some fur as he agreed with me.

"If you say so," Min said, standing from the chair and heading for the door. Scout got up to follow her, his leash pulling. Min stopped with the door open a crack. "You look good today, Esther."

"Thank you."

**********

Betty and Margot caught me before I could leave the club. They treated me to a drink from the bar and a few tummy rubs for Scout. "When does he leave?" Margot asked.