"yes mom..yes i've been taking my vitamins. maybe tomorrow.. okay. i will call you back i'm walking to class. love you always"
i then tap the end call button to disconnect the phone call as i rush to my statistic class.
the wind smacking my petite body by the second i try my best to keep warm with a peacoat and a scarf around my neck but somehow the cold always wins against me.
i burst into the math hall's entrance immediately feeling the warm air comforting me. i then walk towards the elevator to press the up button signaling that i'm going up. the elevator door glides open for me to step onto. i press the 5th floor button and await for it to close with me being the only one on the elevator.
as the door glides back close, a hand suddenly stops that movement. a older man with a dark skin tone and a low-cut, i hint to myself that he's a professor of some sort due to his nice fitted suit and university badge.
he reaches in front of me after excusing himself to press the 9th floor button. the elevator finally gets a chance to do it's job without interruptions by moving, but somehow it's going a bit slow.
"how are you doing this evening?" he asks me, disrupting the silence that was in the elevator. should i be pissed? i am. sometimes i don't want to talk but i guess it won't hurt.
"i'm fine. what about yourself, professor..." i lean over to glance at his badge trying to find his name. "dr. franklin."
he smiles showing off his white dental. "i'm wonderful, ms.." he tries to eye my coat in a joking way as if i have a badge to show him my name. "aspen." i speak out.
once i announce my name the elevator dings then notifies that i'm at my destination. i step off and wave to dr. franklin and he nods and wishes me a great day. i proceed to my class to find a nice seat in front of the professor since it's hard to understand him.
"ES-PEN WUUDZ!"
my professor shouts as he calls role. "present!" i answer in a soft tone while i scroll down my instagram feed awaiting for instruction.
DING!
my phone notified me as i received a text message from my bestfriend, omari. i smile seeing her name pop up as i slide off the notification sound.
mari🌻✨:
can you please clock in tonight
i don't wanna dance by myself 🥺
soon as i read it i immediately sighed. i haven't been to DLC since before winter break. i took a break from the environment since it was becoming stressful; a constant cycle of the next girl hating on the next girl.
but shit.. it's friday. the money will be out since it's a boxing match tonight. the ballers, tricks, and broke babydaddy's using they baby mama money will be out tonight, and i want all parts.
myself:
Of course, come to my house
around 7pm and we can leave at 9pm.
🥳
"OKAE SOW TUHDAY WE WHALE BE LEANIN' ABOUT LINYEAR TRANSFORMASHUNS!" the professor shouts out as he ends role. one thing about him you may not understand what he's saying but you can definitely hear it.
i lock my phone after making sure it's silent and pull my large binder from my shoulder bag along with a couple pencils. i place my undivided attention on the professor and the board copying every note and problem he writes.
"you honestly get this?" a male classmate beside me questions me. i immediately chuckle and respond "not at all, i just play it off well." honestly, who really understands math? yeah remembering formulas may help but it's always a problem on-top of a problem that has to be solved. money is easy math, simple numbers. 1s, 5s, 10s, 20s, 50s, 100s.
i like 50's because my favorite color is pink but i settle for green bills when i'm working on the floor. my customers know personally i like 50's so when they're having a private dance they slip me 50's instead of anything else. that's why you'll rather catch me in a private room than being on the floor.
privacy and more $$$
the new girls and old girls worked the floor. they either just beginning or can't get the clientele for private dances. i'm not gonna' hold you, that floor money is good money also. that's where everyone starts here. you can either bring in $100 a night or 10k, it's up to you. why?
because sex appeal is everything.
...
as class comes to an end 50 minutes later, i grab all my belongings and walk out the room to proceed back onto the elevator. scrolling down my contact list to find my boss's name to have a conversation about coming back.
Ali David
my boss isn't your regular person. he's psycho. literally crazy as fuck. i've seen him choke a customer out just because he was staring at a dancer wrong. he's protective over us but not in a bad way. he knows if he wants solid money coming in, the dancers have to be taken care of.
but if a dancer disobeys his trust his tides are cut with you and your chances of dancing in this city could be slim.
Ali is behind many of the strip club scenes in this city. it's to the point where the nigga think he owns the city, he comes in contact with many lawmakers, politicians, police officers. setting them up with dancers and sexual activities, he has alot of power and many girls are scared of him but me? shit.. i aint scared of that nigga, i tell him what i feel when i feel it and he loves it.
once the elevator doors slide open i proceed to walk to my parking spot where my car is parked. soon as i walk outside i press the call button.
with the phone on the side of my ear as i multitask to unlock and open the car. i sit down then close the door and soon the ringing ends.
"Aspen! how ya' doing mami?" Ali answers speaking in his charming deep voice. "I'm fine.. and yourself?" i respond as i glance at my fingernails eyeing them in disgust. "I'm doing fine now that we're talking.." this nigga is so corny.. "I'm sitting at the beach enjoying the view on my yacht.. about to get ready for tonight." nodding as he speak but once he brings up tonight i become interested. "Speaking about tonight.. I need a room tonight."
i could see him smiling once i said that. he knows i bring the crowd, not no regular crowd. niggas with money type crowd. "10% cut and it's yours." i smiled soon as he said that. 10% is nothing compared to what the girls have to pay on the floor. they pay a cut and share the money amongst the other girls.
couldn't be me, sis.
"Me and Omari will be there around 9pm, thank you Ali." i speak in a charismatic tone, i then end the call before Ali is able to say anything else. i keep it short and cute with Ali because business is business, even though he wishes for more and he has the pockets and looks to make me entertain him, i just can't.
i take a look at myself in the mirror of my car. eyeing blackheads and my messy hair. yea.. it's time to get myself together. i didn't even realize i was walking around like this but then again nobody pays attention to me here so oh well, less attention less nosey people.
i didn't want nobody to know what i do for money, i mean i'm not selling my vagina but shit even if i was people will talk and you're not suppose to care but i have a future ahead of myself. ain't no way i'ma be dancing forever.. it's never been my dream just an opportunity.
