This is actually the first chapter or the prologue chapter from my third book in the "Faith Saves All" Series. I hope you all enjoy it. This is still very rough so please excuse all of the mispellings and grammatical errors within it.

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“Last call!”

The echoing scream of the bartender complimented the thirty minute mark till closing time. It was just two hours after Midnight on the hump of the week. Most people would be lost within their nine hours of needed rest before they started their trivial and mundane repeating event known as work. To some, it was known as school. To those nearing the end, it was known as retirement. However for the veteran club, Bare Essentials, this was the coming of another closing workday. Many of the clients already have gone home well spent wasting away their hard-earned weekly paychecks on a groping of ass and a close-up scene of ample bosoms right in their face. As for many of the strippers, it was the hump of the week therefore many of them only covered house fee. At this ungodly hour, only a few strippers would be left to entertain the rest of the nosebleed crowd who remained.

“Hey buddy, you want another beer before we close up the bar?” the bartender asked the only client in the room.

The young boy who had the appearance of failing every sobriety test on purpose looked up from his drunken stupor as he was halfway to the destination of wasted but way passed tipsy. The bartender looked very deeply onto the exterior appearance of the final client within the club for he had the raggedy look of a homeless denizen but the bartender knew this kid was of illegal age and out past city curfew on a school night. His sunken face showed he had suffered an event that was life changing so far in his life and that this was his escape for the time being. After much recollection of thoughts, the boy finally swallowed an invisible lump in his throat and cleared his head.

“No man. I’m just going to finish this beer.”

The bartender looked at the boy with a half-cocked look that showed implications of indifference for the five empty bottles next to the boy were purified water bottles. This was the first beer the boy had and he was already halfway down the stairway to wasted Hell. This boy could not hold his liquor at all, or he was showing a great deal of dramatization acting the part of a foolish drunkard at a liquor bar.

“Okay then. Just to let you know, you have to be out of here within thirty minutes. We close up soon.”

“No problem. Just let me finish my beer.”

The bartender smiled for he was given the a-okay from the club owner to let the boy finish his beer. They even allowed him to have one even though they knew that the identification card that was given to them was falsified from the inability to scan for information to the absence of holograms on the identification card. Pretty much, the fake driver’s license was half-assed when the boy paid half of his lunch money saved along with his mediocre paycheck working at one of the many franchises of an international fast food and obesity-sizing corporation of Fat America. The boy however got his worth for he was able to buy at least one beer from the traditional strip club.

As he looked around, he saw all the aspects of a strip club with history would have within hanging on its walls. From the multiple signed pictures of premier girls who showed up for a weekend to flash their tits and grind their asses imitating sex in the private room to the many cabinets filled to the brim with clipboards of strippers who attended this club, some who are still associated to that day, the boy knew he was in a different world. He then remembered that this world was only an escape from his current state of reality which was pretty much one of the most pathetic realities of the time being. Nothing seemed to make any sense from what just went down and he just wanted to get away from society. What better way to do that than to go alone at a strip club right? If that was not enough, why not get a lapdance or two on the side. Unfortunately for the boy, he only had enough money for beer. His insecure attitude towards alcohol however made it that he spent over twenty-five dollars on bottled water before he had the gall within his stomach to purchase a beer and when he did, he couldn’t even finish it.

The boy then slid the beer to the side and turned around to get another full but attention-filled eyeful of the strip club. The bouncer, a big bull of a fat man, was putting chairs on the tables ignoring the presence of anyone. The DJ was half-asleep as he had his turntables off and instead, had five songs in a playlist hooked up to the speaker system on repeat so the girls had to strip and lapdance to the same five songs over and over again for the past two hours. The lights were starting to flare on but the blacklights still stayed intact while another barmaid used a non-electric floor vacuum to clean all the spilled popcorn, cigarette butts, and loose Vicodin, Oxycotin, and Viagra pills off of the floor. There was only one lone stripper doing her repetitive dance on the stage not even bothering leaning over the tip rail for there was nobody but him and all the employees of the strip club there. The boy then leaned a bit closer to stare at the woman stripper and noticed her cesarean scar and the bags under the eyes now that the lights have brimmed to full life. How a difference in beauty shows from dark to light!

“Excuse me?” the boy asked the bartender.

The bartender came up thinking the boy wanted another bottled water and offered but realized that his customer wanted something else when he refused.

“What is it?”

“Where are all the girls? I only see one on stage.”

The bartender smiled and brought out another bottled water for the boy.

“This one is on me.”

“Um…thank you?”

“You’re welcome. Anyways, there are usually two girls who close a strip club on a weekday. If you came on a weekend, then there would be at least twenty girls here right now. Why did you come here on a weekday and so late anyways?”

The boy just thought a bit and showed a blank stare that emphasized no true intention except that he wanted to escape whatever it was he ran away from.

“I just needed to get away you know.”

“Well next time come on a weekend. You won’t be disappointed at the selection we usually have.”

The boy just smiled as he finally chugged the final bitter stale gulps of his beer that was rotting away in the bottle. He had a personal feeling of accomplishment that he finished his first beer on his own without any facial disgust or upsetting of his stomach. The bartender also knew that this was the boy’s first beer just by how he drank it and said nothing for it seemed that this boy before him went through something quite monumental in his life today.

“That’s good sir! Let me throw these bottles away for you.”

“Thank you.”

The bartender picked up all the bottles and received the payout with a generous tip in the process. As he went to place the bottles all in the specified bin for recyclables, he was once again interrupted by the boy.

“You said there are two girls that close on weekdays is that right? Well where is the other girl?”

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The girl was sitting in the lit locker room where all the strippers placed all of their items. From thongs to high-cut boy shorts to pasties, they were all held here for their very need. All the girls had a locker assigned to them and this whole view was very high school on physicality for it was a bunch of beautiful girls bearing skin and showing the areolas to the cold air of the strip club for the enticement of the horny men around them and usually the men with the highest pay and massive checking accounts got the hottest girls for themselves, even if it was just for a mere moment of time. In that mere moment, they owned the girls they bought. They owned their very bodies for enticement and if the price is right, they even got a taste of their beautiful flora that only a woman can hold within the tight folding of their clothes.

This girl however was disgusted with this line of work and like any other stripper who needs to be, this was just a mere job to pay bills, to make money, to make a mediocrity of a paycheck for she learned that the average pay of a stripper is about seven hundred a week, mostly banking on weekends. There are those who make more money working forty hours a week and they get a lot more than what these girls would be doing six to seven days a week with who knows how much they had to go through.

After some time, one of the bouncers came in after formally knocking upon the lintel of the door to the stripper’s locker room.

“Hey! There is still one client outside and he looks lonely. Get your ass out there and entertain him before we close up!”

The girl looked up at the bouncer with sad eyes but she understood her place working in a strip club. She was flesh to the wolves and a taste of carnal desire.

“I’ll be out in a moment,” she answered with a mundane expression on her beautifully toned face.

“Good.”

With that, the bouncer closed the black curtain and left the girl in the loneliest state of denial as she looked around the emptiness of the locker room. All the lockers have been emptied out for none of the other girls would keep anything of theirs behind with anyone else here. Not even a pair of panties would be spared for the disgusting ones wouldn’t bother borrowing a pair of used panties if they could score an extra hundred or so. In the process, they probably would be spreading venereal disease or SARS among everyone else. The girl then went to her assigned locker and packed up everything in her carry-all suitcase and closed the locker. It was the only locker closed and locked. Every other girl took their locks with them for some strange reason. However, she was only there for about a month and a half so she didn’t know everything just as of yet. She then made one final look around until she decided it was time to entertain this new client that was here so late.

As she made the peek past the black curtain which leads to the stage, she noticed that the boy sitting at the bar was just kind of sulking. She didn’t put much stock on what she saw for the place was still dark but she saw enough to know that this guy before her was a softie of some kind and probably here to be hard for the first time in a long time. She then breathed very softly, in and out, and placed a very drug-inducing smile that would send endorphins into the client’s necessary addictions and make him release pheromones which indicated signs of scoring some extra cash, probably gas money home if she was lucky enough.

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The boy sat at the bar and continued to sulk and knew that the strip club was about to close. It wouldn’t be long till his ass was bounced out of the door or he was escorted to leave. Nevertheless, he didn’t care at all for he didn’t want to bother with the outside world as of now. Everything he wanted was right here. He wanted to be alone. He wanted a beer. He wanted a distraction. In some ways however, the boy only got two-thirds of his ideal state. He got his alone time which was achieved entering a strip club on his own. He got his beer all in gratitude to the greatest detailing and intricacy of fake identification production. However, his distraction was nowhere to be found. Of course there was a girl doing floor work and pole tricks topless but she wasn’t even trying to impress him. Pretty much, she was angry that she had to close tonight. No stripper wants to close on a weeknight, especially since they also had to stick around fifteen minutes for the pep talk of their lives which was pretty much one of the worst pep talks around. Pretty much a degrading of their very stance and role in society and that they wouldn’t account to anything out in the real world.

As the boy got up to head out the door for there was nothing to behold, his sense of smell was suddenly caressed with the sweet scent of flowers despite the mixing of hard grinding and lust within the air. It was both hypnotically wonderful and lustfully desirable at the same time. Then his sense of sight was astounded with the presence of the girl before her. She was copper toned evenly for she had a beautiful natural tanning of her skin which was more a shade of “dulce de leche” than amarillo or brown beach sand. She wore a two-piece bathing suit that glowed fuchsia underneath the caress of the blacklights. Her hair was black as the darkest raven and her eyes were seducing his very soul along with that beautiful half-smile of hers which echoed devious natures through her exterior. His sense of touch was caressed when she held her hand out and touched his. It was softer than pomegranates’ skin and smoother than vanilla silk. His sense of hearing was then caressed.

“How are you doing? My name is Caramel.”

The boy didn’t know what to do for this was his first time in a strip club and this first time was more than enough for his senses. Four of five of them have already been caressed.

“Nice…to meet…you and my name…is Bradley.”

Caramel then eloquently broke another half-smile and she leaned in close to give Bradley a quick kiss upon his lips. All five senses have been caressed as he tasted the sweet milk of her life upon the plump redness of her lips.

“What a strong name you have Bradley.”

Bradley just smiled as he blushed a bit. Caramel didn’t bother with the blushing for this guy before her was a nice guy and she really wanted to be nice to at least one client and she didn’t force a dance out of him or anything else for that matter.

“So tell me about yourself Bradley.”

Bradley quickly shot down his happiness at the question. Questions can really shoot down a deal when it comes with strippers and their hustle for money. Sometimes, they just love the company of certain clients because they were nice, a rarity among them all.

“I’m sorry,” Caramel said trying to save the conversation.

“It’s okay. How about you tell me about yourself?”

“Um…okay. What do you want to know?”

The bartender gave a quick eye but Caramel quickly eyed him a glance that said she would only give information that would play the part of a stripper. He then grinned and walked away to clean mirrors on the stage while the other stripper dancing stopped halfway through the song and went to the back for it was eminent that she was done for the night. After the bartender went up to the mirrors, Carmella brought back her honesty for this guy she felt was an honest guy and despite her immaturity within the strip club business, this risk was probably worth it when it came to a good client, especially a first-time client such as Bradley here. She however did not know that.

“Is your name really Caramel? That is kind of cool.”

Caramel then knew right then and there that this was the boy’s first time here at a strip club. If he didn’t know that strippers had stage names, then this was a chance to be honest with him and teach him a bit of modern history when it came to strip clubs and its life that comes with it as well.

“Strippers use stage names.”

“Why?”

“We need to protect our identities.”

“Why?”

“Well there are those who want to stalk us.”

“How about those who want to get to know you even more outside of the strip club?”

“Not many of them want to.”

“Because?”

“Because most of the guys here just want to see my exquisite boobies!”

Bradley just laughed but now understood a bit more the seriousness of this job. He was new to this environment and he didn’t want to further agitate anything else that could stir up any trouble. He thought bouncers were hired to keep peace among quarreling men over one girl but it was also for the girl’s protection. He was so lost and so virgin to the knowledge of strip club life.

“Well this is my first time here so I don’t know anything about strip clubs.” Bradley finally confessed to Caramel.

“Really? Well congratulations and I am glad to be your first stripper.”

“I am glad too. You seem very nice and that kind of shocks me.”

Caramel then leaned back in confusion on what Bradley could be talking about.

“What do you mean?” Caramel asked.

“Well, why are you so nice? I mean I think there is a reason you are being nice right?”

“Well yeah there is. We have to be nice because an angry client is bad news.”

“How about if the client is nice to you too? Do you show some more honesty?”

“Um…yes we do.”

“How do you prove that?”

Caramel was at a loss here and she didn’t know how to answer such a question. This was a different approach to her. Most of the guys that she ended up sitting with always wanted to know her measurements, if she liked being tied up, if she liked doggie-style, or if they paid hundreds, if they could fuck her and this was totally different from all of that. How could she answer such a question? Then her dawning of the mind showed the solution.

“Carmella.”

“Excuse me?” Bradley asked in confusion.

“My real name is Carmella.”

Bradley smiled as he held her shoulder. Carmella knew that this bit of honesty was actually more respected than a taking of advantage with this boy before her. She was glad to give out her name for once and she was happy about it as well. This boy before her was quite special and she wanted to know him a bit more even though it was just for the night. Kind of like a mini-boyfriend shrink-wrapped and ready to serve. All you needed to pay was not a quarter but a bit of your time and a showing of your best features.

“Well Carmella,” Bradley interrupted the moment. “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Stripping. Why are you a stripper?”

Another question that was out of the basic questioning line for her as she sought an answer and in the finale of it all, Carmella thought it best to remain with her original plan before: honesty is a virtue.

“Well I am doing this because of the pay and the reason behind it.”

“What reason?”

Carmella tried to hide away the reason for she did not want Bradley to know why she stripped. Once again she thought it best to remain with her original plan before: honesty is a virtue.

“If you please, I don’t want to give that away.” Carmella said.

“I understand.”

Carmella smiled for this was the first time a boy, or any man for that matter actually respected her right to not answer a question asked towards her.

“And how about you Bradley? Why are you here for the first time?”

“Well I needed to get away from something.”

“Get away from what?”

“Like you if you please, I don’t want to give that away too if you don’t mind.”

Carmella smiled for she respected this line for she just used it an infinite micro amount of time ago but it was used to its full affect and thus the favor is returned.

“I understand too.” Carmella said.

Bradley smiled for the conversation was quite well. He wanted to continue it on but he didn’t know what to do or what to say. He was about to say something till the interruption saved him from possibly saying something he did not want to say.

“How about if I give you a lapdance?” Carmella asked.

“A lapdance?”

“Yeah, a lapdance.”

Bradley didn’t know what to do or what to say. He thought many things and deep within the recess of his mind, he thought that the honesty angle was used just to get a lapdance out of him. In other view, he thought that if he did not except, Carmella would just walk away knowing she couldn’t get anything out of it. He could only be honest at this point.

“Well how much does it cost?” he asked cautiously.

“Free.”

“Free?”

“Yes free.”

“What do you mean?”

Carmella then leaned a bit closer till she was just inches from Bradley’s face.

“This is your first time right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well this one is on me. Also, I kind of like you as a client and I think this would be the best way to celebrate your first time in a strip club.”

Bradley was in utter shock of the honesty and so was Carmella. She was shocked that she even wanted to do a lapdance with anyone. Usually, the clients who wanted a lapdance out of her were disgusting and tried to take more than a full advantage for what it was. Bradley wasn’t even that hot of a man but he was cute. Why did she want to give him a lapdance? Why did she want to give anyone a lapdance in general? Nevertheless, she was offering it up and Bradley was showing some caution as well. Honesty is a virtue.

“Listen,” Carmella said, “this is the first time I ever wanted to give anyone a lapdance. Please accept it for I feel that this will be the first and only time I will ever want to give anyone a lapdance on my behalf.”

Bradley then smiled for he didn’t want to break face and he thought of all of what was going on. This girl wanted to give him a free lapdance? What was going on? Nevertheless, in doubt, you might as well trust what you feel is right and what you need to have done. Bradley then sat straight up and recycled the air within his chest with brand new oxygen pumped through the vents along with everything that caressed his five senses. Honesty is a virtue.

“I’d love you to give me a lapdance.”

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