I eyeballed the pills. “What are these?” They looked like aspirin.
She waved her hand. “Just a little muscle relaxer I got from the doctor for my lower back pain, no big deal.”
“Really?” I couldn’t help the doubt that showed on my face.
Warning bells were going off in my head. Something down in my very being was telling me that this was not a good idea. I looked up at her.
“Just… muscle relaxer?”
She smacked her lips and rolled her eyes before putting her hand on her hip.
“Do you want to be able to do this or not? Come on Yasmin! I don’t have all day. I’ve got to be dressed in fifteen minutes!”
I nodded.
“Well take the pills! It’s just a muscle relaxer, something like Tylenol. Damn girl, you so uptight!”
Coco laughed at me as she pinned up her wig.
“She that uptight cause she ain’t never had a man pry them legs open.”
Shanice shook her head before sitting back down to put the finishing touches on her makeup.
I looked at Coco. “You don’t know what I had, so just mind yo business!”
She laughed harder. I rolled my eyes at her. I can’t stand none of these girls here but Shanice. The rest of them went out of their way to be mean to me, treating me like I was their slave.
“Yasmin, tape this up!”
“Yasmin, fetch that!”
“Yasmin, pick up that!”
“Faster Yasmin!”
“Yasmin, coffee!”
Technically, this was my first job and I hated it. So many times I wanted to tell them where they could put their coffee. But… I couldn’t, because then I would be fired, and shortly after that, homeless. Shanice who had been letting me sleep on her couch for the last two weeks reminded me at least once a day that it was something she could not do for free.
“Pry them legs open.” Shanice said as she fixed her wig on her head.
“Child, that little country mouse probably ain’t never been kissed.”
Angrily, I put the pills in my mouth. I couldn’t lose this job. It was the only place that would hire me without looking into my background or asking for any ID. Plus, it pays five-hundred dollars cash a week.
I choked as the Tequila burned a path down my throat, gasping for breath.
“It’s straight alcohol!”
Both girls laughed at me shaking their heads. Shanice eyes connected with mine through her mirror. She wore a devilish smile on her face.
“Good girl, in no time you’ll be right as rain.”
* * * * *
Shanice had drugged me!
Whatever she gave me was definitely not a muscle relaxer. I felt it moving through my system, changing me. The bass from the music seemed to penetrate my soul. I closed my eyes and moaned as the vibration moved through my bare feet and up my legs to my core.
Shanice pressed another glass of liquor in my hand.
“Drink it Yas, go ahead, it’s going to help.”
I heard her, but it sounded like she was talking from several places around the room. She guided the glass up to my lips and I drank it all in one swallow. It burned, but not as bad as the first time.
I began to move my body to the bass that had somehow become a part of me. They all stared at me, including Shugga who was queen of this palace. She always dressed in button up shirts with real high collars, but she left the whole top half of the shirt open so that her ample breast always threaten to spill out.
She walked over to me, taking in the outfit Shanice had picked out. The little red shorts were so tight I had to force myself to walk normal. The crop top barely covered my boobs. I wasn’t extremely busty like most of the girls here, who according to Shanice had bought their chest. But I had enough for the whole underside of my breast to peek from underneath the shirt.
Somehow, Shanice had used tape on my breast to keep the suspenders in place. She tried getting me to walk in a pair of matching heels but every step I took threaten to be the one that would send me sprawling to the floor.
“You know what, forget the heels, you look good barefoot.” She’d said.
I don’t know if I did or not, but I sure liked being without shoes—always have. When I was a little girl my pa-pa was always finding my shoes in strange places.
Once I was dressed, she snatched the baseball cap off my head and went to take off my wig. However, I put my hand on hers, stopping her.
“Oh yeah, I forgot, you never take off the wig, right?” I nodded.
Shanice thought I wore wigs all the time because I suffered from a disease that caused me to have bald spots. I didn’t bother correcting her, the less she or anyone knew about me, the better.
“Well, let’s fix it up a bit. If I know Shugga, she’s going to put you in one of them cages. Although you a rookie, you look simply mouthwatering and totally tease worthy. You’re far prettier than most of these heffas here.”
She designed my hair and makeup to give me an exotic bird look. The end result is what Shugga was now standing here nodding her head at with approval.
“This is a very important group coming here tonight.” She spoke to the room.
“I don’t have to tell you that this night has the power to make us or break us. Go out there and be more charming than you’ve ever been in your lives. Make those men desire you. Make them have to have you.”
She grinned. “After tonight, some of your lives will never be the same. It was nights like this that opened doors for many great ladies. Put yourselves on the map. Go out there and show TheBeastof New York what it means to walk into Shugga’s Place!”
All the girls cheered after she spoke. Wow! I felt like I
