Dance, Lust And Them

 “Lying? Why do you bring that point up?”

 “I was merely making a passing judgment. Don’t pay my words too much mind, otherwise you might get confused,” she said.

 He chuckled. “Oh I’ll be getting confused? Don’t be ridiculous, sweetheart.”

 At that very moment, the waitress brought over two plates heaping with burgers and fries. She also brought over two large vanilla milkshakes.”

 “Oh I didn’t order this,” she said quietly, staring confusedly at the mug.

 The waitress winked at them before saying “It’s on the house.”

 As she waltzed away, Janelle cast a quick glance at her backside. At least we differ in that aspect, she thought to herself. I’m definitely curvier than she is on the backside. But why am I even comparing myself to another girl? A waitress that I don’t even know? It’s Vance. He’s making me nervous. But is it due to the job, or the fact that he won’t stop looking at me?

 “What?” she asked, keeping her expression as passive as possible.

 “Oh nothing,” Vance said, sipping on his milkshake. He leaned back in the booth and eyed her, enjoying every minute of her nervousness. He found it quite adorable, and was happy to see he was making an impact on her.

 What has gotten into me? She thought to herself. I’m feverish and flushed all over. I can’t remember the last time a man made me feel this way, and he hasn’t even touched my body yet. We’re still getting acquainted with each other, but I already feel like I know him better than I know myself.

 “Can I ask you a question?”

 “Anything,” Vance replied.

 “Have you ever been in love before?”

 He smiled shyly at her before bursting into laughter. “You’re a strange bird, you know that, right? Yeah, I’ve been in love before. But it didn’t work out between us.”

 Janelle felt her heart rise and fall. She was both happy and sad that Vance had had such strong feelings for another woman before her. She knew there was only a slim chance they would date, which is exactly why she wanted to learn more about him. If they ended up parting as friends, they could at least be close friends.

 “Tell me what happened?” she asked.

 “You sure are eager. Well alright, if you insist.”

 He went on to explain that he’d fallen in love with a girl from the ghetto. Her name was Monique and she worked full time as a drug mule, delivering cocaine to millionaires all over California. Though she lived in the ghetto, her clients mostly lived in mansions. She brought Vance with her on several occasions, only to make the situation a little less dangerous.

 More often than not, these millionaires had jealous wives and prying children. Monique and Vance would show up in the middle of the night in her sleek, black Ferrari, bags of coke stored deep in her purse. She was never caught, as she dressed in expensive clothing and told all her friends she worked in real estate with Vance. Vance didn’t like to get his hands dirty in these kinds of situations. He thought it best if he stuck to the sidelines, using fake names and explaining that he was Monique’s boss. This way, Monique could flirt her way into the hearts of the rich men, begging them for a little bit more cash so she could pay for her bills. She told them that Vance took a large part of the cut, and if they could just please give her a few extra thousand then she would be all set.

 The men often obliged, telling her they felt sorry for her and giving Vance dirty looks. Most of them had pools in the middle of their houses, as was the style in that neighborhood. The pools were located in the very center, in areas where no roof existed. During the stormy season, they would hire companies to place expensive black tarp over the opening so that the house didn’t flood. On more than one occasion, Vance saw a porcelain cheetah or two guarding the hallways. They always had eyes made of semi-precious stones, like amethysts and sapphires. He wondered if all of these men bought their porcelain from the same dealer, perhaps someone who had stolen them from museums in faraway lands only to give them new homes in the hands of a rich man.

 Only once did Vance meet one of the children, a young boy whose name he never learned. He was waiting in the hallway for Monique to finish getting paid when he felt a presence behind him. Turning around to see if it was an animal or a human, he found a small boy wearing bright blue footie pajamas and carrying a stuffed bear. The boy’s eyes were as dark blue as the pool, and his hair was light brown and ruffled. He was of Mexican descent, and his parents had worked hard to build the life that they had out in Cali.

 “Shhh,” Vance said to the little boy, who continued to stare at him with his wild blue eyes. “Your daddy is conducting a business deal right now.”

 The boy shrugged his shoulders and began to walk in the opposite direction. Concerned that he might not head straight back to his room, Vance had decided to follow him. He knew it was a bad idea, and looking back on it, things might have been different if he’d only stayed put. But he had a natural allure towards curiosity and he followed the boy down the hallway regardless.

 It turned out he wasn’t heading towards his room, but to a large room where a moon and sun were painted on the ceiling. There were small blue orbs covering the room, soft lighting that made it easier to see at night. The room itself was covered in toys that his parents had no doubt purchased to keep him quiet. Vance wondered what specifically it was that they did for a living. They had to have done something right, as both the husband and wife were multi-millionaires.

 Vance continued to think about this as he followed the boy towards a pile of pillows that appeared to be moving. He heard small moaning and sucking noises. Thinking at first that it was the family pet, Vance reached down only to touch bare skin. The person that he touched shrieked out in fear. It was a woman, half-naked and hiding under an enormous stuffed animal whale. There was a man at her knees, wiping his mouth off and cursing at Vance. Down the hall, the woman’s scream had alerted Monique’s client about what happened.

 “What’s going on?” Vance heard the husband shouting.

 “Sh*t,” the woman on the floor was saying.

 “I thought he wasn’t home?” her lover asked.