Jaded City

06 | Beginnings

I learned what Fangzi was the next day.

It was a brothel. Owned and operated by the very people who had rescued me from Snake.

"You must think we're horrible people." Lisa said after she had explained everything to me. She had a worried look on her face. We were sitting at the round glass table in the house again. "But we have to make a living just like anybody else out there. And this is how we do it. It's not ideal by any means but sometimes you just don't have a choice."

I was playing with my cup of tea, making little circular ripples appear with my pinky finger.

"And it's not like we treat our girls badly." Lisa continued, in a slightly tense voice. "They come to us. We give them what they need and they give us what we need. It's a mutual agreement, you know?"

I was barely listening to her. I didn't care. I pushed my cup aside. "Do you have a cigarette?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure." Lisa said, pulling a carton out of her purse and handed me one.

"Thanks."

"We'll take care of you, Nettie."

She handed me a lighter.

I wondered if she was lying.

Click.

Puff.

Puff.

---

Fangzi was located inside an innocent looking building, just a few blocks away from Chinatown. This was my new beginning.

On the outside the building had a red neon sign that read "Fangzi." It was always dark inside, with a slight red cast. 

The main source of light came from the performance stage, which was complete with red velvet curtains and a tall, shiny metal pole. 

To the unsuspecting eye Fangzi was just a small, slightly run down burlesque club. There was a bar and some red velvet couches and a stage where the girls would come out to perform. Essentially, it was a burlesque club. The main difference was that at Fangzi, the customers would get a pick of their favorite girl. After a girl was selected, they would both travel up the winding staircase and into one of the rooms upstairs, where as Jung put it- the magic happened.

They gave me a job as a waitress. It was easy enough. All I had to do was serve drinks and smile. My uniform was a short red dress. I liked it. And so did the men who came in.

"This is a haven for men." Lisa told me. "Mostly dirt rich businessmen looking for an escape from stress...and their wives. Let me know if they touch you. They're not paying for you."

There were a lot of lovely girls at Fangzi. I talked to them when work was slow.

"Do you like it here?" I asked a girl named Kelly on my second day. She was rail thin and had long, dark hair that was even longer than mine. She always had dark circles around her eyes. She told me she had dark circles because she always forgot to sleep. She told me her hair was so long because her clients liked to pull it.

Kelly took a drag out of her cigarette. I noticed pin pricks on the inside of her arm. "It's life. It's what I'm used to. I have nowhere else to go and Cam treats me well. Bless his beautiful heart."

"How do you know you have nowhere else to go?" I asked.

Kelly just laughed and took a long swig of sake before speaking. "Life isn't fair, honey. The universe doesn't give a fuck about what happens to you. You'll learn that in time." She adjusted her garters and got up to wrap a skinny arm around one of her clients.

On my breaks I would stand in the back and watch the girls dance. Watched them gyrate on stage. Watched men stare at them as if they were fresh cuts of meat.

I envied the girls. I envied being wanted.

I lived in the house with Cam, Lisa, and Jung. I slept in an extra room. It was the smallest room in the house, a little bit larger than a walk in closet, but I didn't mind. There was only a bed, a small table, and a dresser, but I liked it that way. I liked being in that small space at night. There was a window right by my bed. When I looked out I could see the entire city.

The lights were like a million stars. Vast, beautiful, and unwavering. I stared at the lights a lot.

Sometimes I held my necklace over the moon.

Jade moon.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Why hello, it's been quite a while. School has been super hectic but I'm trying to update more often!