“No fucking way! That bastard ripped us off! Not just the five grand, but every nickel we made at the club tonight. Not to mention the blow.”
“He’s got a gun, Willow.”
“He’s also got a wife.”
“So?”
“He’ll pay us to keep quiet if he knows we’re serious.”
Cameron bites her lip. “I don’t know. The whole thing could explode in our faces.”
Willow says, “We’ll drive away, come back first thing in the morning, follow him to work. Then we’ll march in his office and tell him to fork over ten grand.”
“Ten?”
“He stole twenty-six hundred in cash, two hundred in coke, and cheated us out of fifty-five hundred.”
“That comes to eighty-three hundred.”
“Eighty-three?”
“Uh huh.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’ve always been good at math.”
“Well, the extra’s for our time and trouble.”
She sees fear in Cameron’s face.
“What’s wrong?”
“He’s staring at us from the window.”
“So?”
“He’s holding a phone. I think he’s calling the cops.”
“ Shit!”
Willow throws the car in gear and backs out of the driveway so fast her tires squeal.
6
Bobby and Willow
“You’re late.”
“Tell me about it!” Willow says.
“No, you tell me!” Bobby says. “Where the fuck’ve you been?”
“I had to cover for China.”
“The country?”
“The dancer.”
“Which one’s that?”
“The red head.”
“With the eyeball tattoo, or the pretty one?”
“The skinny one,” Willow says, then frowns. “You think she’s pretty?”
“I’d fuck her.”
“That’s nice to hear.”
“I’m just kidding.”
“Bastard.”
“I’m kidding, Willow.”
“I’m going to bed.” She turns to leave.
“Whoa.”
She stops.
“Why didn’t you call?” He says.
“You took my cell phone. You wanted to play Angry Birds.”
“I like Angry Birds.”
“The truth is you don’t trust me to have a cell phone.”
“I trust you, I just don’t trust men.”
“Not much point in paying for a cell phone I can’t use.”
“I use it all the time.”
“Right. I’m going to bed now, okay?”
He sniffs the air. Something’s different.
“You don’t smell like strip club,” he says.
“I took a shower.”
“You what?”
“Took a shower.”
Bobby gets up from his beer chair and positions himself between her and the bedroom door. “Did I tell you never to shower there?”
“You did.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because you think the owner spies on the girls.”
“I know he does.”
“Fine. Whatever. But Marvin left after the first shift.”
“So?”
“Ten minutes to closing time, some guy vomited three feet from me, and I couldn’t get the smell out of my hair. I stood guard while Cameron showered, then she stood guard for me.”
He thinks about that, then lifts her chin up to put more light on her face.
“What happened here?”
He touches her cheek where Chris Fowler slapped her an hour ago.
“Is it still swollen?” she says.
He starts to puff up like when he’s about to punch out some poor schlub at Shady’s. “Who hit you?” he says.
“Cameron.”
“ What?”
“When the drunk puked, I jumped and turned away and Cameron smacked me by mistake.”
He frowns.
“Tell me the truth. Did someone hit you?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I already told you.”
“Cameron.”
“That’s right. You’ve seen her dance. She throws her arms all over the place. I ran into one of them.”
Bobby laughs.
Willow says, “Glad you think it’s funny.”
“You hit her back?”
“Of course not.”
“Why?”
“It was an accident.”
“I’d have smacked her anyway.”
“Of course you would. Can I go to bed now?”
He stares at her cheek a while longer, then says, “How much did you make?”
“Nine-sixty.”
“No shit? That’s a world record!”
“Trust me, I earned every cent.”
