Rock Chick 03 Redemption (36 page)

“You gonna make sure we al don’t get caught in the crossfire?” Bear asked Luke, butting into the conversation.

“My only focus is Roxie,” Luke answered with brutal honesty.

Bear grunted and rol ed his eyes.

“That’s plain enough to see,” Lavonne said, her lips curling up in a grimacing smile, the cigarette stil dangling precariously there.

Before I could say anything, Luke’s fingers bit into my hip and he pul ed me back and stepped in front of me. Around Luke’s body, I could see a big, black guy jogging up to us, his eyes on Jet.

“Your sister’s gettin’ cold fuckin’ feet. You gotta go back there and talk to her. I got fuckin’ important people here. I got a fuckin’
senator
here. She can’t back out. She can’t…” he trailed off when he caught sight of Luke in his peripheral vision and he turned, ful body, to face Luke. “Who the fuck are you?”

“This is Luke. He’s –” Jet started.

“I know who he fuckin’ is. He’s fuckin’ trouble,” the black guy said, not taking his eyes off Luke. “Get
the fuck
outta here.”

I could swear I saw the air around Luke start shimmering.

Oh shit.

I stepped around Luke and (do not ask me why) said in a girlie, airhead voice (in other words, using lingo punctuated by exclamation and question marks where they did not need to be). “Hi! I’m Roxie! Jet’s friend?” I put my arm through Luke’s and leaned into him, resting my head briefly on his shoulder. “This is my fiancé, Luke? He’s not here to watch the dancers! Real y!” I smiled up at Luke. “Are you, pookie?”

Luke looked down at me and gave one of his half-grins and shifted his body, so instead of my side leaning into him, half of my chest was pressed against him.

I pursed my lips, gave him a quick scowl, then rearranged my face and looked back at the black guy with a smile.

“We’re just here to watch Lottie’s fantabulous debut!” I announced.

The black guy stared at me.

“I know who you fuckin’ are too. Lottie’s been talkin’.

Shit, everyone in Denver knows who you are. This ain’t your fuckin’ fiancé. You’re sleepin’ with Nightingale. Fuck!” he shouted. Then he turned to Jet and pointed a finger in her face. “Somethin’ happens, I blame you.”

Then he stalked off.

Jet looked at me. “That’s Smithie. He’s real y a big softie.”

Maybe Uncle Tex was right; maybe Jet
was
a bit loopy.

Then Smithie came jogging back with his finger pointed at me.

“You dance?” he asked.

I stared at him. “Dance?”

He jerked a thumb to the stage.

“Holy cow,” I breathed.

“She doesn’t fuckin’ dance,” Luke answered for me.

Smithie threw up his hands and looked at Jet again.

“Another fuckin’ one of these guys. What’s wrong with strippin’? Fuck!”

Annette cal ed from the table. “I dance! Do you have amateur night or something?”

Smithie turned to her. “You don’t need fuckin’ amateur night, woman, you need to know how to fuckin’ move. You know how to move?”

Jason was looking pale.

“I know how to move,” Annette answered.

“You’l be drivin’ a Porsche in a month.”

“I don’t want a Porsche. I want a condo in Breckenridge.”

“For that you gotta do lap dances,” Smithie said.

Jason started to look sick.

“I’m not sure I want to do lap dances,” Annette said.

“Suit your-fuckin’-self. You wanna just dance, fuckin’

come in tomorrow. We’l get you set
the fuck
up!” I didn’t know Smithie, like at al , but even I could tel he was excited.

I tugged on Luke’s arm and he looked down at me.

“Do something,” I hissed.

“What?”

“I don’t know.
Something.
Jason looks like he’s going to be sick.”

“Not my problem.”

“This is cool!” Annette yel ed.

“Good God,” I muttered, momentarily forgetting myself and resting my forehead on Luke’s shoulder.

“Babe,” Luke said low.

My head jerked up.

Shit.

I stepped away from him.

“Good idea,” he mumbled.

I turned to the table and announced, “I need a drink.”

“Get over here and sit next to Shirleen, girl,” the black woman said to me and I walked over and sat down, throwing my wrap on the back of the chair and my purse on the table.

Luke fol owed and stood behind me.

“Someone get this girl a drink. What you drinkin’? I got me an appletini. You ever have an appletini? So smooth, get you fucked up before you can blink.”

“An appletini sounds good,” I agreed. Fucked up sounded even better.

She started snapping her fingers and, as if by magic, a waitress arrived. The waitress was wearing a cute, black camisole with “Smithie’s” written across the front in fancy, red script, a tiny red mini skirt and a pair of kickass black strappy sandals. The outfit was the shit.

“Get my girl an appletini, me too.” Shirleen ordered then swung her big ‘fro back to me. Then she said, total y nosy but somehow getting away with it. “Jet’s been tel in’ me you got man trouble.”

“You could say that.”

“Tel Shirleen
all
about it.”

“Which man are we talking about? The scary ex-boyfriend who won’t let me go? The bad guys I don’t know who might accidental y shoot me? Or the good man I have that I’m afraid to lose?”

Shirleen stared at me. “How many men you got, girl?”

“Just those,” I said. I looked up at Luke then back to Shirleen. “So far.”

“Wel , then, we got al night, unless you’re real y here for the show.”

I shook my head. “I’m just here for Jet.”

“Start talkin’,” Shirleen demanded.

So, I did.

* * * * *

Jet had talked Lottie out of her nerves. Tod had talked me into letting him try on my shoes (they fit). We al spent a lot of time talking about which song he should sing in his drag show while wearing my shoes. No one was able to talk Annette out of dancing. Uncle Tex decided he was talking to me again (but just barely). And Shirleen had sorted out al my problems by tel ing me she’d known Hank since he was a little boy (what? were there only, like, two dozen people who lived in Denver?) and if I let him go I needed to have my head examined (whatever).

The place was wired. Brody would have been beside himself. The longer we waited for Lottie to dance, the more the anticipatory vibe grew until the air was electric.

Then the lights went low.

Smithie took the stage.

“Gentlemen… fuck…” he looked at us. “And ladies. I give you
Lottie Mac!
”

A roar tore through the massive crowd.

Holy cow. If I was Lottie, I’d have had cold feet too.

The lights went out, I heard Smithie mutter another “fuck” while he tried to get off the stage in the dark. Then the lights went on and Jet’s sister was there.

She was as pretty as Jet, bigger boobs, more makeup and a body to-die-for. She wore a kil er gold bikini, heavily embel ished with beading and sequins that I’d sel my firstborn child just to touch and a pair of strappy, gold sandals that she danced in like she was in bare feet.

And she could
dance
.

To say the girl could move was an understatement of tremendous proportions. She worked her body, she worked the stage, she worked the poles and she worked the crowd.

Not like this was her first night on the stage dancing, but like she’d
invented
it.

A hush came over the crowd, total, reverent silence throughout the first song.

When the first song segued into the second, the crowd came out of its stupor. They al started to cheer, to chant, to undulate.

Everyone at our tables was right along with them. My hands were over my head, I was shouting, “Woo hoo!” and

“You
go
girl!” After Lottie executed an upside-down pole slide with one leg up in the air and one leg wrapped around the pole, Shirleen and I turned to each other and did a high five, such was our excitement for the beauty of the overal sisterhood.

Lottie was the master; she worked it until the final notes of the song. Then, she stood stock-stil , reached behind her back and tore off her bra. You got a nanosecond of a glimpse of her magnificent breasts then the lights went out.

When they came back on, the regular girls were there and Lottie was gone.

The crowd went wild. Everyone sitting surged to their feet and screamed, including me.

I barely got my ass back on the chair when I felt something at my ear and I heard Luke say, “Let’s go.” I turned to him and he was right in my face.

“Did you see that? That was great!” I yel ed. “I want to dance. I want a bikini like that. She’s my hero!” The crowd was stil roaring, chanting, clapping, begging for Lottie to come back. I could barely hear, they were so loud.

Luke’s fingers curled around my arm. “Let’s go,” he repeated.

“But… I’m having a good time,” I said.

He pul ed me out of the chair. “This place isn’t safe.

We’re going.”

“Luke.”

He pul ed me close, probably so I could hear, the roar was stil deafening. They were chanting Lottie’s name and had begun stomping their feet.

I looked at Luke and there was no sexy half-grin or flirty look in his eyes. His face was serious. “You want to answer to me, you keep this shit up. Now, we’re going.” I gulped, nodded, grabbed my bag and wrap and moved to walk away.

That’s when I felt it. The crowd wasn’t only wild, they were
wild
. Lottie had whipped them into a frenzy. Two songs weren’t enough. She could dance until her feet were bloody and it wouldn’t be enough.

I noticed that the others had realized it too. Tex was already moving Nancy out. He glanced back at me and boomed, “Go!” Trixie and Jason were helping Ada with Tod and Stevie leading the way. Indy, Jet, Al y and Annette were sliding around the stage and heading toward a side door.

Shirleen, Lavonne and Bear were settled in with drinks like they were sitting in their living room. I thought they were completely oblivious to the possible danger except Shirleen yel ed to me, “Go with your bodyguard, girl, Shirleen wil be okay. This ain’t no place for a pretty child like you. They get one look at you, they’l tear you to shreds.” I nodded, real y not feeling in the mood to be torn to shreds.

While Luke pul ed me with him, I heard Shirleen shout,

“Come see Shirleen! Jet’l bring you. You’re welcome any time!”

I noticed the crowd was pressing in. The bouncers pushed through and started lining the stage.

Luke stopped and he bent to my ear. “Get close to my back, hold onto my belt, keep your head down and move with me.” I nodded. “Let’s go,” he finished.

My fingers curled into his belt, I fitted my body to his back and he pushed through the men pressing towards the stage. We got halfway to the door when Luke stopped.

“Where you takin’ this sweet thing?” someone I couldn’t see asked.

“Step aside,” Luke said in a voice ful of warning. I figured the man would just step aside. At Luke’s tone, anyone in their right mind would step aside.

“Don’t feel like –” the guy, voice now bel igerent (and to my thinking, pretty fucking stupid), started to say, then I felt Luke move swiftly and economical y.

Then he started forward again.

“Watch your feet,” Luke said to me.

I looked down and we stepped over the man who was now unconscious on the floor.

Holy cow.

We didn’t have any trouble going forward then. We were given a wide berth.

Luke put me in the Explorer, rounded the hood and got in beside me.

While he was starting the car I said, “I’m worried about my friends. And Lottie. That didn’t feel good.”

“That wasn’t good,” Luke said, hitting a button on the on-dash phone.

It rang in the cab once and Luke was reversing out of the spot when we heard, “Yeah?”

“Tel Lee his woman is in another situation. Smithie’s.”

“Got it,” the voice said.

“Eddie’s woman too,” Luke said.

“Got it.”

“The sister as wel .”

“Check.”

“Out,” Luke said.

I heard the disconnect.

I stared at the phone.

“That’s it?” I asked.

“My assignment is you, not them,” Luke explained.

“But –”

“Lee’l take care of it.”

“But –”

He switched gears and put the Explorer on the road.

“Quiet.”

“But, my friend Annette is in there.”

“I thought her man was with her.”

“Yes, but Jason can’t lay out a guy like you!” I yel ed, getting panicked. “We have to go back.”

“We’re not going back.”

“We have to go back.”

No answer.

“Jason’s a pacifist. He’s a liberal. He’s a
vegetarian
. In a normal situation, Jason could handle himself but that wasn’t a normal situation. You’re, like, Superman. You have great facial hair. No one’l mess with you. We have to go back!”

“Babe?”

“What?”

“Shut up.”

We stopped at a light and I pul ed my phone out of my purse and cal ed Annette.

“Yo Bitch!” she answered.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah! Chaos! It’s fuckin’ cool. They like,
love
Lottie.

She’s doin’ an early encore. I can’t wait. Wasn’t it
the shit?

Lottie told me Daisy showed her al of her moves. They’re gonna teach me.”

“Are Indy, Jet and Al y okay?”

“Wel … yeah. We’re al drinking champagne in the dressing room. Tod and Stevie left, not real y their gig.

Jason just got in. He got Jet’s mom and the old lady to the car. We’re groovin’.”