Back to the Trees

Chapter 7 - After All This Time?

Mitchell's POV

I'd probably walked down this street a thousand time in the last eighteen months but never before had I noticed the poster On the door of the strip club. Alannah would kill me if she caught me in here but my sisters face, along with the other body parts, were plastered all over the poster on the door.

'Lillian Frank, Star Girl.' It was Lily. Sure, her hair was longer, her face was heavily made up and she was skantily dressed, but it was Lily. I thought for a moment about how Alannah was going to respond when I got home. She'd be expecting me back at any moment and if I turned up smelling of this place, she'd probably have me castrated, but this was my little sister.

I was greeted with the stale smell of smoke and perfume as I walked through the door. The noise of jeering men was loud but the music was louder. Skantily dressed women were serving alcoholic beverages left, right and centre. One seemed to be in a hurry to get her tray of empty glasses back to the bar. A slag tag tattoo decorated her skin, just above the grey, pleated, mini skirt that rested on her hips and didn't even cover her butt cheeks. The white shirt she wore only just covered the back of her very black bra. The white stockings she wore reached mid thigh and the stiletto heels she wore were higher than anything I'd ever seen. Her hair had been curled and pulled into pigtails.

"Lillian. You're up next."

"Got ya Terry!" She turned away from the at a pretty much looked me in the eye. Lily. The smile soon disappeared from her face when she recognised me. She strutted towards me, probably showing her ass off to everyone behind her.

"What are you doing here? Alannah kick you outta the house?" Her voice was filled with venom. "Do'y know what, I don't care. Just leave." She turned to leave but I grabbed her arm and turned to face me again.

"I looked everywhere for you. You can't be here." She yanked her arm out of my grasp.

"You left me in a hospital bed, bruised and broken, in more ways than one. Terry looked after me. Gave me a job and roof over my head, now if you don't mind I have work to do." She stormed off, only to reemerge on the stage twenty minutes later.

I refused to watch as she removed item after item of clothing and danced around a metal pole. It was sickening but it was worse knowing I'd driven her to this. I'd made her feel unwelcome and unwanted. I had abandoned her when she needed me most. As the song changed, she swapped places with another girl, before coming back to lecture me further in nothing but her skirt and bra. She straddled herself across my lap.

"Lily don't." I responded awkwardly. This was not my idea of fun. In fact this entire situation made me sick to my stomach. "Lily this is wrong, I'm you're brother, and these are strange men."

"Actually, Mitchell," she spat my name like it left a nasty taste in her mouth, "over there is an old friend from school, George. He's here most nights. Oh and the man in the corner, drinking away his mistakes, recognise him?"

"Dad?" I practically whispered the word.

"He's always here too. Ever since that red headed tart left him he drinks himself blind and enjoy a lap dance from a girl he can't even remember. He doesn't complain that it's his own daughter." Abruptly she stood up and stepped back. "You should leave. Your wife and twins will be expecting you."

"I'm not leaving without you Lily."

"Sorry. I don't do private parties." She walked away, hips swaying, head held high.

"He came looking for you. He'll be disappointed to find how low you fell."

Lily's POV