All Or Nothing (6 page)

Shantell gently placed her daughter on the bed. As soon as she did, the phone rang loudly in her room. She reached for it to keep it from waking her baby.

“Hello?” she whispered.

“You have a collect call from…” an automated voice began.

Shantell didn’t need to hear any more of the recording. She knew who the caller was and where the person was calling from. Angrily, she hung up on the caller.

“Fuck you! Motherfucker!” She cursed. “I hope ya’ dumb ass rots in jail. Die slow, bitch!”

The caller was none other than her brother Reggie, who was currently serving a life sentence in a remote North Carolina prison. Now that Shantell had the upper hand she was doing Reggie dirty, just like he had done her. Every letter that came from the prison to the house, she tore up and threw it away. Every time Reggie called, she hung up on him. Shantell planned on getting a block placed on the phone so Reggie couldn’t call any more. She knew the reason why he was calling: Reggie was in need. If Shantell had her way, then her brother would be doing hard time for the rest of his life. In her mind, he deserved every day he got and more.

Shantell would never forgive her brother for what he had done to her, nor would she forget. What he did was inexcusable, in her mind. She was glad he was in prison. Her mind often drifted to him when she was alone. She often thought about how her life may have been different, had he not have raped her. Had he not stripped her of something she could never get back: her innocence.

Shantell never sat back feeling sorry for herself, though. She rolled with the punches that life had thrown at her. Not once did she complain.

Shantell was disturbed by the call. She went around the house and disconnected every phone line. In her book, Reggie didn’t exist anymore. She still had a lot of hatred and animosity toward her mother and brother.

“Ma?” Shantell called out.

Shantell crept out of her room and down the hall toward her mother’s bedroom. After taking a few steps, she suddenly came to halt.

“Owww!” she screamed. “What the hell is that on the floor?”

Shantell had just stepped on some foreign object. She looked down to see the source of her pain. She turned her foot over and picked an empty vial of crack off the sole of her foot.

“Damn, this bitch is outta control,” she said aloud. “I don’t believe this shit. I gotta get outta here.”

Tossing the drug paraphernalia aside, she went to her mother’s bedroom door. The door was closed but Shantell didn’t bother to knock; she walked right on in.

“Ma?” She announced before stopping in her tracks.

Brenda Bryant was caught red-handed. The crack pipe was at her lips and the ever-present stench of crack smoke was in the air. Shantell couldn’t believe her eyes; there was undeniable evidence everywhere, in plain view. There were empty crack vials on the dresser and burnt matches galore.

Shantell watched her mother free-basing and instantly became sick. To know she was getting high was one thing, but to see it was something else. She was repulsed by the sight.

Brenda merely turned her head towards her daughter, acknowledging her presence. Not once did she stop what she was doing. She saw no reason to. She wasn’t the least bit ashamed.

“What the hell are you doing?” Shantell asked, as if she didn’t know. “Look at you! You high as a kite. I’m not leaving my baby here with you and you all high.”

Brenda would have protested but all the cocaine in her system had rendered her speechless. She just stared wide-eyed at her daughter.

Shantell continued, “You need some fucking help! Bad! Just look at you. You don’t care about nothing or no one!”

Shantell went back to her room and made a series of phone calls. She called all around Piedmont Courts looking for a reliable baby sitter. She was in luck. Shantell found a friend of a friend to keep her baby. Shantell dressed Jordan and carried her just a few doors away. Now that her baby was situated, she could now go about her business of making them some money.

Shantell went back home and gathered up the things she would need for tonight and place them in a small duffle bag. Then she called her ride, Dee-Dee, to come pick her up. For the first time in a long time, Shantell felt good about her future prospects. She felt like she was on the fast track to some real money. It was too bad that the fast track she was on led to nowhere, fast.

The neon lights above the building were ablaze, the sign read Club Champagne. To Shantell, it didn’t look much different than it had in the daytime except now; even a casual observer knew what kind of club this was. This was the kind where memberships weren’t required to gain entrance. The kind where money was all you needed to have a good time.

Shantell and Dee-Dee arrived at the Club Champagne a little after nine ‘o clock. They were so early that there were only a handful of cars in the parking lot. The only signs of life they saw were two stocky security guards, worked diligently at setting up barriers. The club expected a large turnout of male customers tonight.

The girls thought they had made a mistake of arriving at the club too early. They forgot that all the real hustlers and ballers don’t really start to come out until eleven thirty or twelve o’clock. Whether it was a party or a strip club, the same rules applied. They knew niggers always came late. They can’t ever be on time for nothing, not even their own funeral.

The young women stepped out of a late model, gold, four-door Mazda Protégé. Shantell’s duffle bag sat between her legs while Dee-Dee’s sat on the back seat. After Shantell retrieved her bag, they began to walk towards the entrance. They managed to navigate the treacherous parking lot terrain, which consisted of loose gravel and dust, in high-heeled shoes. They thought about falling with every step.

It was safe to say that they wouldn’t ever make the mistake of wearing high heels to the club again. Both Shantell and Dee-Dee didn’t have a clue of just what they were in for tonight. They would have to walk around all night in these same shoes. At some point during the night, they would find that task unbearable.

“Remember, my name is So Sexy,” Shantell reminded Dee-Dee. “And your name is Baby Cakes.”

“Alright, I got it,” Dee-Dee replied. “You don’t gotta tell me twice. I’m real good with names.”

With that said, they entered the club. The place was now very much alive. Loud rap music blared from the club’s sound system. A few scantily clad strippers milled around the bar area, fraternizing with the patrons. After taking a few blind steps deeper into the club, they were suddenly greeted by Tommy.

“Good to see you could join us,” He commented. “Follow me this way, and I’ll show you around.”

Tommy took the girls on a brief tour of the club. He introduced them to everybody they needed to know in the club, from the bartender to the bouncers. After a brief discussion, he led them to the dressing room.

Shantell and Dee-Dee quickly got dressed or undressed, however one wanted to look at it. Either way, they changed into more revealing outfits. Shantell slipped into an ultra tight, two-piece outfit. The halter top with the matching micro miniskirt called attention to her ass cheeks. Since she was short, Shantell wore clear seven–inch, open-toed platform shoes. DeeDee’s outfit consisted of a hot pink bikini with matching booty shorts that looked like a pair of thongs on her, because her ass was so big. She topped that off with sexy five-inch sandals with tie-up strings that wrapped around her legs. They exuded sex appeal in every sense of the word. Once that was done, they secured their belongings in a locker and hit the club.

It was a brave new world inside the Club Champagne once one makes that transition from “regular chick” to “stripper.” Now everyone looked at them differently. In this world, it was high risk and high reward. The more things a stripper was prepared to do, the more money she stood to make. The club may have had strict rules but once the doors of the club closed, it was anything goes.
The girls tried hard to blend into the scenery. The strange stares went unreturned. Shantell had no illusions or reservations about stripping; she was here to do what she had to do to get that money. As soon as she hit the floor, she went to work.

Shantell didn’t know about Dee-Dee, but she had a plan. She wasn’t going to treat the strip club like a real club. She wasn’t her to just socialize. As a matter of fact, she wasn’t socializing with anyone who wasn’t spending money. She had a goal to attain: three lap dances per hour. To make her goal fun, she and Dee-Dee had a personal bet to see who could get the most lap dances by the end of the night.

“I think I got one?” Shantell remarked.

Dee-Dee replied, “Do your thing.”

Shantell had spotted her target from across the room. He was an older black gentleman who sat at the bar, nursing a drink. From behind she approached the man undetected. She wasn’t quite sure of how she was going to break the ice but Shantell knew she would figure that out as she went along.

“You mind if I sit here and rest my feet for a minute?” Shantell whispered. “I’m not used to these heels.”

“No, go right ahead,” the man replied. “What’s yo’ name, sweetheart? I ain’t never seen you before.”

The man recklessly eyeballed Shantell, taking inventory of her body. There was no doubt he liked what he saw.

“My name is So Sexy,” Shantell told him. “What’s yours?”

“My name is Jason,” he said. “You sure got the right name. It fits you to a tee.”

“Thanks!”

“Can I get you something?” Want some Alize or shot of Hennessy?”

“Nah, I don’t drink,” she admitted. “But I do take donations.” The guy laughed at her terminology for a tip. He thought it was cute. Most of all, he thought she was cute. He complied with her request, sliding her a five-dollar bill.

Shantell’s easygoing demeanor and bright smile seemed to invite conversation from the man. He began spilling his guts out. He told her everything from his martial status to his job title. Shantell pretended to be impressed by what he was saying. After all, this was a fantasy world and Shantell was in the business of selling dreams.

It was obvious that he was in the market to buy a dream, from the way he kept showering Shantell with bills and attention. She had a subtle approach that seemed to suggest she was genuinely interested in him. But that couldn’t have been further from the truth. If Shantell saw this guy outside the club, she wouldn’t give him the time of day.

Shantell wound up sitting with the man for damn near an hour. When his money was gone, so was she.

“Well, Jason, it’s been nice talking to you. But now I gotta get back to work.”

Shantell gave the man the impression that sitting with him wasn’t work at all. The guy was flattered that she enjoyed his conversation. She left the man on a good note: as a satisfied customer.

Not to be outdone, Dee-Dee worked the club, getting several lap dances from every man who loved her big ass. For this being their first night, the duo was doing great. They were beautiful with great bodies and extremely friendly. This was a profitable combination.

Shantell had more enthusiasm and energy. She was not only chasing money. Shantell was chasing a dream: to get out of the projects. This led her to embrace her environment and maximize each moment at the club. Every man she laid her eyes on represented a dollar sign.

As the night wore on, the club began to fill up with strippers and customers. There was fierce competition for a dollar. The girls rose to the occasion, becoming more aggressive. They stepped their game up and went after a dollar with a vengeance. Their acts would get them into their first confrontation.

In a dimly lit area of the club, Shantell furiously grinded her hips against a customer’s private parts. She could feel his erection poking through his denim jeans. Shantell knew he was enjoying this lap dance by the way he acted. His hands were everywhere. He gripped her ass from time to time and spoke real dirty to her.

“Damn, Shorty, what you doing tonight?” he whispered. “I wanna fuck da shit outta you, for real. My pipe game is tight.”

Shantell never said a word in response. She merely smiled and kept making eye contact. She busied herself lap dancing, working him into a sexual frenzy.

“You sexy as hell! Shorty, what’s good? Can we make this a private party?”

From out of nowhere, a stripper rapidly approached from Shantell’s blind side. If the mean mug that was plastered on her face was any indication of how she felt, then she wasn’t happy.

“What the fuck you think you doing?” Passion yelled. “Get off of him!”

Grabbing Shantell’s arm, Passion snatched her up off the man. If looks could kill, then Shantell and the man would be dead. What Shantell did not know was that the man she had given the lap dance to was Passion’s baby’s father.

Oh, nigger, you got money for a lap dance but you can’t take care of yo’ daughter.” Passion announced. “You a worthless piece of shit! A deadbeat fucking dad.”

Shantell didn’t have anything to do with this, yet she had everything to do with it. She felt that Passion had violated her by touching her. The thought of it infuriated Shantell. While Passion focused her attention on the man, Shantell shoved the girl with all her might, knocking her to the floor.

By this time the man got up and stood between both combatants. He extended his arms to keep them separate. A shouting match ensued. Passion’s friends came to her aid and Dee-Dee came to Shantell’s side. Together they braced for whatever trouble that might come.

Security guards from all over rushed in to break up the potential melee. All parties involved were separated and the man was removed from the club. After a while, things calmed down and the club returned to normal. Finally Dee-Dee and Shantell were able to talk.

“What happened?” Dee-Dee inquired.

“Nothing really,” Shantell replied. “That bitch got mad ‘cause I was dancing with her baby daddy! She grabbed me, so I pushed her back.”

“Okay. I didn’t know what happened. I saw them roll up on you, so I came over to help,” Dee-Dee stated. “If I’m around, I ain’t gonna let nothing happen to you.”

Shantell was touched by the statement. She was glad that Dee-Dee had held her down like that. After all, she hardly knew Shantell. For that act, Shantell would be forever loyal to her. In a moment of drama Dee-Dee had left a good lasting impression.