to avoid making eye contact with anyone, but my tail makes a scene.
“We don’t have to put up with her shit, Cara. Inez is nothing without us. She doesn’t have a business if she doesn’t have girls.”
This captures suspicious looks from a few passersby, whose curious gazes follow us. Where I look like a college student in my hoodie and jeans, Naomi looks exactly like what she is. Her gawky heels tap on the concrete walkway, and her navel shows. She’s wearing too much makeup for the afternoon, and she smells like a damn lollipop. She might not stand out in any other part of town, but this is the Grand Haven shopping ward where the rich spend thousands of dollars on luxury labels and other shit they don’t need.
“Cara, stop.” Naomi grabs my elbow and stops me in my tracks.
No one touches me without consent. I’m not brushed against, hugged, kissed, or grabbed by anyone unless they’re putting money into my account. Naomi’s hand on my arm is so suddenly jarring, all I can do is stop and stare at the foreign contact while my brain catches up.
When was the last time another person touched me in any other way than lust? Not since my mom died, and before that, her touch was repulsive thanks to her addictions. It was mostly carrying her to bed and tolerating her drunken confessions of affection.
I pry Naomi’s fingers from my arm and bend them back, bending harder once she cries out in pain. Her shrieks of protest don’t discourage me from making my point, and I shove her against the building so that she has nowhere to run. I point my free finger in her face but ultimately grab her by the chin to make sure she doesn’t miss a word I have to say.
“I’m only going to say this once.” She tries to free her face from my trap, but my anger flows freely, and I won’t be beat. “Who you work with, sleep with, or manipulate is none of my concern. But the next time you think about including me in your bullshit, think twice. Don’t fuck with me, Naomi. You won’t win.”
Squeezing until tears well in her eyes, I let go and stand strong, giving her the opportunity to put up a fight. Naomi might not be a quick learner, but she finally catches on and keeps her mouth shut. She massages her jaw, diverting her eyes away from mine.
“I don’t want to see you again, and if I do, remember this moment. I’m not your equal or your friend. Next time I’ll break your fingers.”
The audience gathered to watch the altercation makes a wide path as I stroll past them, unconcerned with their looks of shock and disbelief. Moms cover their children’s eyes, like those little brats don’t see worse staring at their phones all day. And dads shove their hands into their pockets, adjusting their cocks because this is the most excitement they’ve seen in a while.
“That bitch slept with my husband,” I say, lying to redirect the attention away from me.
Adrenaline runs through my veins, amplifying sight and sound, and my heartbeat only calms when I arrive at my complex. Fresh air lessens my headache, but my mind whirls with memories I wish would stay in the past.
I was twelve or thirteen years old, sitting in the locker room doing homework while my mom performed her set. There were other women dressing up and dressing down, but they kept their distance from me, the lonely girl in the corner. It stopped being cute that my mom brought me to the club with her when I hit ten years old. At that point, even the other strippers judged us. What kind of person raises her daughter in a place like that?
When the emcee announced the next dancer, ending Mom’s set, I closed my schoolbooks and packed my things up. I didn’t attend school every day like the other students, but my teacher made it a point to give me a weeks’ worth of assignments at once. And when I was at school, she’d take a few stolen minutes for private lessons. I was behind, there was no way around that, but it could have been worse. I did my best.
“Where is she?” Cricket rushed into the locker room, wild-eyed and frantic. “Where the fuck is Nicola?”
Mom was topless, in a red thong with a matching choker. Even at this point, she wasn’t the goddess I used to