For The Dollars Or The Love

Savior Pt. II

Chris P.O.V.

I just finished getting a small dance from some chick after Ryder well Masked Ryder left me. She wasn't as good as Ryder, but it was alright. Headed to the front of the strip club where my car was parked I heard a scream. I dashed around to the back to see one of the bouncers on one of the strippers. She's struggling to get out of his hold, and he's reaching up her trench coat, and parting her thighs with his knee. Nope I can't let this happen, stripper or not no woman deserves that. I rush over yanking the bouncer off her, and knocking him out cold.

"You alright?" I ask standing over her.

"Yeah, I'm fine than....Chris?" She ask sitting up, wait how does she know my name. I look at her face studying the features.

"Caramia?" She stood up. "What are you doing here?" She pulled her coat around herself trying to hide her highly familiar outfit. I'd already noticed that a part of her boob was out, only enough to see the too of it though. I studied the outfit once again to realize where I saw it.

"You work here don't you?" She nodded. "You're Masked Ryder too right?" Again she nodded.

"Yeah, I do, and I am."

"You need a ride or something?"

"No, I'll take the bus. Thanks."

"Girl, you can't take no bus in that. They see a pretty lil thing like you in that, and it ain't gone end nice. Look I don't live too far from here, you trust me enough to go to my place?" She shrugged.

"I don't have much of a choice anyway." She followed me to my car, and got in the passenger seat. I really wanna ask about her working here, but it's not the right time to. I pull up to my condo ten minutes later.

"Bathroom's that way, you can take a shower and I'll leave some clothes on the sink for you." I told her going to my room to grab my sweatpants, and an old t-shirt for her. Setting them in the bathroom I told her she could go shower while I waited in my living room watching TV. A couple minutes later she came down with her hair in a bun, and sat about two inches from me.

"You used my Axe body wash didn't you?" I asked sniffing the air.

"Yeah, I didn't see anything else to use. Sorry." She said looking truly apologetic.

"It's cool, smells kinda good on you." I said truthfully.

"Thank you again, for back at the club?" I waved her off.

"Don't worry bout it, but you mind if I ask something?" She gestured for me to go ahead, and ask.

"Do my aunt, and uncle know about this?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Jamal knows too I told them the day I started working there."

"I assume you work there for Little Bit, but why not get a normal job?"

"You tell me a normal job that would have hired a thirteen year old. Don't worry I'll wait." Damn, aunt Viv was right, it's definitely a story to her that I gotta find out myself.

"If you're willing to tell me the whole story, I'm willing to listen." I watched her turn her whole body on the couch so she was facing me, and I did the same.

"I don't know why, but I trust myself telling you almost everything." She took a breath, and started to speak.

"Ok, first off no I'm not an orphan with no parents. I have parents I just don't associate with them. See my dad died when I was about six, two years later my mom remarried again. It wasn't that I had a bad home life, I just had a loveless one. My mom was so invested in her husband that she didn't see me, then they had my brother when I was nine, he became the top priority, the golden child. I got tired of being in a place I wasn't wanted so I asked to be emancipated at thirteen. My mom waisted no time saying yes." Damn, that's cold to have your mom just up, and give you away like that. Shit ain't cool at all.

"Where does Little Bit come in the story at?" I asked honestly wanting to know.

"I'm getting to it, but as for me working at the club, I didn't want the state taking care of me until I turned sixteen, so I went to the club one night. My boss, Sylvester, or Sly as all the girls call him asked why I wanted to work there at such  young age. When I told him my story, he got a soft spot for me and hired me."

"So he let a thirteen year old work the pole? That's some pedophile shit, man ya boss is sick." She gave me a death glare that only a mother could give. You know the ones that make you wish you could shove all the words back in your mouth like you never said them.

"No he's a good guy, that took a chance on a damn low kid on her own!" She growled out making me shriek back. "Anyway, I never got on the pole until I was fifteen, he kept me working behind the bar when I was thirteen, and fourteen so no one would touch me inappropriately." She's sixteen now, so she only been stripping for a year, and she's that good at it? Damn!!

"But what about Symphony?"

"I was thirteen when she came into my life too. When I got off my second bus home I was a block maybe two away from my house. But I heard a baby crying loud as day, she was bundled up behind a bunch of tin trashcans. I fell in love with her the minute I saw her, I asked the courts if I could adopt her. They said I could, only if the birth mother gave up her rights. When we found her she did to her what my mother did to me, just gave her away like she was nothing. Oh man, I thought Mama Viv and Papa Craig were mad about me working at a strip club, shit they gave me the lecture of a lifetime when they found out I adopted her. They thought I couldn't work, go to school, and take care of Symphy, but I promised them I would prove them wrong, and I did. They offered to help with her, but I wouldn't let them she was my responsibility." She took on a lot at that age, I mean really what thirteen year old actually wants to be a young mother? For her to have been so young, she made a lot of adult decisions at such a young age. Wait trashcans?

"So you found Little Bit?" She nodded. "You didn't actually have her, but found her behind trashcans wrapped up?" Again she nodded, I sat quiet trying to digest everything I found out today.

"Lot to take in huh?"

"Yeah, I can't believe you went through all that alone. I mean you had my family, but when you went home you were alone." I watched her shoulders go up, and down as she shrugged.

"It didn't bother me, having Symphy made it better, at least I saved her from being lost in the system, or going to a foster home where God knows what would have happened to her." That's why the two of them are so close to each other. In a way they saved each other. We talked more that night, I found out that she'd told ole boy she was dating about her being a stripper, but that was it. I mean we'd gotten kinda cool that night at my aunts house, even started texting, but I think we've gotten a little closer now. I don't know how to feel knowing other than my aunt, uncle, and Jamal who are like family to her, that I'm the only outsider to know her whole story. But I'm just glad I was there tonight to stop what was about to happen to her, no woman deserves anything forced on her.