Trailer Park Noir

carpets when you’re in their houses? Huh?”

She stood up straight and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Then she left the studio.

Regent shouted, “You stupid cunt! Get the hell out of here before I make you lick it up!”

She went to the door and opened it, went down the steps.

Regent stood in the doorway and watched her as she got into her car and started the engine. Then he closed the screen door, then the door, locked it.

“Where’d she go?” Garner said as he came up the hall with a towel around his waist. He used another to scrub his hair.

“The stupid bitch vomited on my carpet.”

“Oh, is that what that puddle is back there?”

“Clean it up for me, will ya?” Regent said.

“What? Whoa, that’s not in my job description. I’m strictly a camera man and a spare dick when needed. I’m not cleaning it up.”

Regent sighed. “I’ll have to, then. How disgusting. What a disgusting woman she was.”

“Yeah, but she’s gonna look amazing online,” Garner said.

“I’m gonna clean that shit up in the studio, then let’s go out and grab a beer, huh? We can check out the girls at the Mt. Shasta Gentlemen’s Club, okay? Jeez, how long’s it been since we’ve been out there?”

“A long time. Sounds good to me. Happy vomit-cleaning.”

* * * *

Kendra could not sleep. She lay on Aunt Rose’s couch with the television on, the volume low. She always slept on the couch when Mommy went out to dance. Well, she usually slept. Mommy had a key to Aunt Rose’s front door, and when she got off work, she came to Aunt Rose’s house and unlocked the door, came inside and woke Kendra and took her home, all without waking up anyone else in the house. But tonight, Kendra simply could not sleep.

All she could think about was Mr. Reznick, their new neighbor. Mr. Reznick was the handsomest man Kendra had ever seen. Up close, anyway. There were some movie and TV stars she thought were handsome, but they weren’t… real. Not like Mr. Reznick, who lived right next door.

Lying on the couch with a funny old monster movie playing on TV, Kendra closed her eyes and saw him again. Thick and wavy brown hair, the kind of hair she would love to run her fingers through, and deep brown eyes she could dive into and swim around in like deep pools. Oh, he was like a dream. And his voice – deep and resonant and manly.

Kendra smiled as she lay there in the dark with the grey light of the television flickering over her.

She couldn’t wait to see him again.

* * * *

As the men applauded and whooped and hollered, Anna Dunfy collected the clothes she’d shed over three dance numbers, then picked up all the money left for her by admiring customers, and walked backstage.

Dina Noos was getting ready to go on. There were a few other girls back there, too, either getting ready to dance or to waitress, or to go home.

“What’s it like out there?” Dina said. Her stage name was Desiree.

“Not bad,” Anna said. “I’ve seen better, but I’ve seen worse.” She put the money in her purse, locked her purse in her locker, then began to put her costume back on.

Her stage name was Kitten, and she was very popular at the Mt. Shasta Gentlemen’s Club. She had a lot of regulars who came just to see her. The money was better than any job she could get in town. The job market in Redding was in pretty bad shape – she could get plenty of work if she wanted to flip burgers or wait tables part- time, with no benefits, nothing. The only office work she could get was through the temp agency, which was less than part-time. Stripping barely took care of their needs and left nothing for her to save up for her dream – a down payment on a little house for her and Kendra. She could not see that ever happening.

With her costume on, Anna left the big communal dressing room and went out into the nightclub. Between sets, the girls waited tables. Some chose to wait tables topless while others kept their costumes on. Anna wasn’t comfortable walking around topless. Dancing naked on the stage was one thing, but just walking around from table to table with her tits exposed – she couldn’t do it. She knew it meant less in tips, but she couldn’t help it, it was out of her hands.

The bar was in the front of the club, the stage in the rear, and in between were tables, and against the wall some booths. There was a bar along each edge of the runway, too. The club was spacious, with a high ceiling. From outside, the building looked like a ski lodge, with an A-frame and tall windows. But the blackened windows were dark, and written in purple neon in one of them were the words LIVE NUDE GIRLS. It was located halfway between Redding and Mt. Shasta, out in the woods, of all places. But it did a booming business. It helped that it was the only strip club in the area. The next closest was all the way over in Chico.

Anna went behind the bar and got an order pad and pen. She found the manager in the kitchen behind the bar, where they made all the bar food. Paul Wagner was a little balding man with a belly and jowls who always wore a suit.

“Where do you want me, Paul?” she said.

“Take section four,” he said. “Delilah was supposed to take it, but she went home sick. So I’ve got Candy working two sections, and you can take section four.”

“Will do, boss,” she said, then she turned and left the kitchen, went out from the behind the bar, and headed for section four. That included all the customers seated at bars along the sides of the runway and tables to the left of the runway.

There was just another hour before closing time. Anna sighed and went to a table and took her first order.

Her third order came from a handsome man with dark hair seated at the runway. He ordered a scotch and soda, then said, “Could I have a word with you?”

“About what?” Anna said, smiling.

“What’s your name?”

“Kitten.”

“Well, Kitten, my friend and I, here, are photographers. We have some websites and I was wondering if you’d be willing to pose for some pictures for us.”

“Pictures, huh?”

“We’ll pay, of course. Think about it. Here’s my card.” He took his wallet from his back pocket, opened it, and removed a business card, which he scribbled on with a pen before handing it to her.

It read, BURNING LIZARD AMUSEMENTS, and below that was a phone number and a post office box number in Redding. Written on the back was his name and another phone number.

“My name is Steven Regent,” he said. “You are an exceptionally beautiful woman, Kitten. You stand out here, I’m serious. You’re also the finest dancer in the place.”

“Well, thank you, aren’t you sweet. I’ll get your drink for you.”

“You’ll think about it? I think we could work together very well. We pay well.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said, then she turned and headed for the bar.

Photographers. A website. It sounded dubious to Anna. But he said they would pay. And well. She slipped the card into the top of her right stocking. She’d keep it. Just in case.

Eight

Reznick rose slowly to the surface of his sleep like a bloated corpse bobbing to the surface of a still, deep lake. He opened his sticky eyes and squinted painfully at light, then closed them again. It was morning, he knew that