The Preacher's Daughter

by Shelly Morgan

  It’s a Friday night, so it’s going to be one of our busiest nights of the week. I’ve been going to the local gym a lot lately. They have this new workout session with pole dancing. I figured it couldn’t hurt with my job and all, but it’s a really good way to build muscle mass as well. I can’t believe the amount of arm muscles it takes for some of those moves, but boy am I glad I started taking the class.

  Anyway, I’ve been working on this new routine that involves mostly pole moves. I really want to do it tonight, but I’m unsure if I should. If I do, I’m going to need a new outfit. The song I’ve been practicing to is fast-paced, and a little more rock. It’s sexy, with a bad girl vibe to it, so I was thinking maybe leather would work for my costume.

  I’m just not good with fashion, or even makeup for that matter. Sure, I’m better than I was a month ago, but I could use all the tips and opinions I can get. The little that I know, I’ve gotten off of trial and error, and watching lots of YouTube videos.

  Grabbing my soda off the end table, I head over to Amy’s. Maybe she’ll be able to shed some light on my situation. I’m hoping she’ll know of a place I can go to find what I’m looking for.

  I also want to ask her what she thinks of me doing a pole routine. Most of the girls at the club use the pole, but it’s only for effect, or a few simple moves, which means I’ll be doing something different than the others. I think it’ll be a great addition to the show. At least, that’s what I’m hoping for.

  We’ve become good friends over the last few weeks, even going as far as talking about getting a bigger apartment, together. I’m looking forward to that day, having more room than what I do now. We want to take our time and find the perfect place that gives us both space and fits our personalities. It would be a plus if we could find one close to the club. Her car took a crap a few days ago, and she doesn’t want to spend the money to fix it. It’s so old, it’s not worth putting money into, since it would probably break down again in a week.

  I’ve looked into buying my own car, but I want to wait. I have some money saved up and could probably find a cheap, decent one, but I’m holding off. I don’t feel the immediate need right now, as everything I need is within walking distance.

  Knocking once, I open the door and walk into Amy’s apartment. I have a key to her place, and vice versa. It makes things easier for the both of us.

  I don’t see her in the living room or the kitchen. Her apartment is a lot like mine—there’s not much to it. Only a wall separates the two rooms, if you could even call it that. Then, down a small hallway, there’s a bathroom and one bedroom.

  Making my way toward the bathroom, figuring that’s where she probably is, I open the door. “Hey, hun. You busy?”

  She jumps about a foot in the air. “Shit!” She drops whatever was in her hand and covers her eye. “Fuck,” she cries before turning around. Removing her hand, I see a long smear line that goes from her eye, all the way up to her hairline. Her eyeball is red and watery, and it’s so funny, I can’t help but bust out laughing.

  “Laugh it up, you little bitch.” She gets on her hands and knees to reach behind the toilet for what I assume is the eyeliner she dropped. But the position she’s in now only makes me laugh harder.

  “It’s not fuckin’ funny! You scared the shit outta me, Angelica. Made me mess my makeup up and drop my shit. Now there’s a mess everywhere!” she says frantically. “I could’ve poked my eye out, you asshole.”

  When I’m able to calm myself, I say, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I did knock, ya know.” I laugh again as she pushes her head back behind the toilet before crawling back out, eyeliner in hand.

  Standing up, she throws it into her makeup bag, then turns around to face me with her hands on her hips. “Yeah, well-intended or not, I’m gonna get you back for that.” And I believe her. But at this moment, I don’t really care. Anything she does to me will be worth the amusement she’s giving me right now. Little does she know, I’m not easy to scare, as very little freaks me out. Well, unless it’s life-threatening, then I’d scream. But anything she could do to me? I doubt I’d lose sleep over it.

  Turning on my heel with a chuckle, I leave her to clean up her face and sit on her couch to wait. The smile on my face won’t go away. That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. I really must get out more if that’s all it takes to amuse me.

  A few minutes later, she comes walking into the living room, her makeup flawless and her face less irritated. You’d never guess she looked like a drag queen gone wrong minutes earlier.

  “So, to what do I owe the not-so-much-pleasure of your visit?” she asks. She can’t fool me. I know she still loves me, even if I did cause chaos in her bathroom.

  “I need your help,” I start, the smile dropping from my face. This is a serious moment. I’m a little nervous about what she’ll say.

  Plopping down beside me, she crosses her arms. “Okay—shoot.”

  I chew on my lip for a few seconds, then decide to get it over with. “Well, you know I’ve been going down the street to that gym, right?” I don’t give her time to answer before continuing. “I’ve been practicing on the pole, and I think I’ve come up with a new routine, and it’s a little different.”

  Amy sits there, staring at me. When I don’t go on, she motions her hand in a circular motion. “And?”

  “And instead of just using the pole for balance or a few small moves, I want to use it for my whole routine. The instructor taught me some pretty complex moves, and I think I found the perfect song to perform them to. What do you think? Should I do it?”

  She’s quiet as she thinks it over. One thing I love about Amy is that she’s able to mess around and be funny, but when someone is in need of advice, she’s the most serious person you will ever meet. She’s always honest, so I know what she tells me will be the right thing to do.

  “I think you should go for it.”

  “Yeah?” I ask, though I don’t know why. Maybe she’s right. It’s a new dance routine, and we work at a strip club for goodness’ sake. Why waste a perfectly good pole when I have a great routine to use it for?

  “Why the hell not? I mean, some of the girls use the pole, but I think they’re more afraid of it. I heard that one of the girls got hurt real bad doing a move a year or so ago. Since then, no one wants to use it. If you’ve been practicing, and are confident you can do the moves and do them safely, then you should go for it. Not to mention, I think you’d make lots of money in tips.” She wiggles her eyebrows, which makes me laugh.

  Now that she thinks I should do it, there’s only one more problem. “I don’t have the right outfit to wear.”

  Amy smiles. It scares me.

  Standing up, she rushes into one of the back rooms and comes back a few seconds later with her phone to her ear.

  “Hey, hun. You remember that little shop you were telling me about the other day?” Amy asks to whoever she’s on the phone with. “Yup, that’s the one. Do you think you could take Angel and I there? We need a few things for tonight.”

  I can’t hear the reply, but by the big smile on Amy’s face, I’m going to say the answer is yes.

  “Great, we’ll be ready.” She hangs up and looks to me. “Kristine told me about a store just outside of town. She said it’s the best place to shop for costumes and props.”

  Props? I doubt I would ever use props for a dance routine, but it couldn’t hurt to look, right?

  “Anyway, she’ll be here in a few minutes. Go grab your purse. We’re goin’ shopping!” She sings the last word and there’s so much enthusiasm in her tone, it brings the smile back to my face.

  I never used to like shopping before, but that was probably because it was for my parents. I could never get anything I wanted, or even things I needed. They did all my shopping for me, even buying my feminine products. But now, I can get anything I want. The prospec
t of that is kind of exciting, so maybe her enthusiasm isn’t misplaced.

  Rushing back to my apartment, I grab my purse and my sweats for tonight. I always bring them with me to change into after work. I doubt we’ll be coming back before heading into work, so I don’t want to forget them.

  As I’m locking my door, Amy comes out of hers and does the same. “She’s downstairs. Let’s go.” She links her arm with mine and leads us away.

  Kristine is parked right in front of our door. Hopping in, she gives us a huge smile. I guess she’s excited to go shopping as well.

  The store isn’t too far away, but still enough of a distance that you wouldn’t want to walk to it. It would also be really expensive to take a cab to, so I’m glad she agreed to take us.

  “You guys are gonna love it here,” Kristine says as she pulls into the parking lot. From the outside, the building seems a little rundown, but I’m sure the inside is fine. I’ve learned to never judge a book by its cover, even though it may be hard sometimes.

  Stepping out of the car, we all link arms—Amy on my left, Kristine on my right.

  “This is where I get all my costumes, and anything else I need for my routines. The place is simply amazing, and so is the owner. You girls are gonna love him just as much as his store.”

  I’m a little shocked that a man owns this place, but only because when I think of costumes and clothes, I think of women. But, if being in Reno has taught me one thing, it’s that sometimes men know more about fashion and accessories than women.

  Opening the door to the store, my mouth literally drops to the floor. This place is huge! And it’s filled wall to wall with everything you could possibly imagine a girl to want. It’s not just a store to buy costumes and props, but an everyday store too, which makes me love it even more.

  “Trust me. After today, you’ll never shop anywhere else,” Kristine says with a smile in her voice. But I couldn’t agree with her more. The place is amazing.

  We shop for a few hours, each of us purchasing enough to fill Kristine’s trunk.

  Kristine bought a few pairs of yoga pants because she swore she needed them. To be honest, I don’t know where she puts all her dang yoga pants, but if that’s what she wants, then who am I to say she can’t have them? She also found a new costume to wear, but she doesn’t have the right routine for it yet. She plans to make one up just for it.

  Amy found some shoes, a few costumes, some nighties, panties, and even a few props that she’s excited to try out. I tried telling her that she may want to practice with them first, but I don’t think she heard me. That, or she just doesn’t care, because I’m pretty sure she’s going to use the handcuffs she bought tonight.

  I bought a few pairs of jeans because they were cute, fit me perfectly, and were on sale. I’m a bargain shopper by nature, I guess. I also got a few pairs of panties. I think they’re more for looks than anything else, but they also look comfortable, so I bought them.

  For my new routine, I found some latex thigh-high boots, underwear that fit like a second skin, and a top that matches. The underwear look like boy shorts, and even have a few chains hanging from them. I’m absolutely in love with the top. There’s very little there, but it still covers everything I want it to. It’s strappy, and molds my chest into a work of art.

  When I tried everything on though, it still seemed like something was missing. That’s when Francine—he’s the owner of the shop, one hundred percent gay, and so freaking awesome—found some fingerless leather gloves. When I put them on and looked in the mirror, I knew my outfit was complete. Everything was perfect. I had the song, the dance routine, and the clothes that tie it all together. Now I just need to make it through the night, and hope that I don’t talk myself out of doing the dang pole dance.

  Chapter Six

  Torq

  Forty-one days. That’s how long I’ve been away, on the road doing club shit. As much as I love to ride, I love it even more as I ride across the Nevada border, inching my way towards home. Especially after the shit I had to deal with over the last few weeks.

  Things went well down in Texas and the outcome turned out better than expected, but it took a lot longer than me or Bear anticipated.

  We knew that Dino would likely have to be eliminated and a new man brought into the fold as president, but it went much further than that. Instead of having to get rid of Dino and a few of his men, I had to practically demolish the whole club and start from scratch.

  When I arrived that first night, Dino understood pretty fucking quick that I wasn’t there just to chat and hash out a new plan. As soon as he saw me, he knew shit was going down, and it wasn’t good for him. Like I said, my reputation is known far and wide. If I’m showing up to have a chat with you, chances are good that you’ve gone too far, or you’re just not cutting it. And when I say chat, I’m using that term very loosely.

  Dino was waiting for me outside the warehouse. At first, I thought he was going to try and talk me out of whatever he thought Bear had sent me to do, or beg for his life. But he surprised me when he pulled a gun on my ass. I hadn’t even made it inside yet, and the fucker thought he could take me out. Good thing I’m always prepared for that kind of shit. I’ve been through the same exact standoff a million times over, so for me, it was like taking candy from a baby, or whatever that stupid ass saying is.

  He barely had time to get me in his sights—even though we were ten feet away from each other—before I was able to maneuver the pistol from his grasp and point his own weapon back at him.

  “This how you wanna play it, Dino?” I asked mockingly.

  Keeping up with his badass persona, he spat on the ground in front of my feet. “You ain’t takin’ me out without a fight, Torq.”

  Being in the mood that I was in, I decided to play with him, see which of his men I’d need to take out—not knowing then that it was pretty much pointless. I should have put them all in one of the warehouses and blew the fucker sky-high with all those sons of a bitches in it.

  Grabbing him by his neck, I hauled his ass inside and saw it packed full with members of his club. It didn’t surprise me to see every member of his club there. I was actually glad for it. That meant I wouldn’t have to send any messages or search for anyone. They made it easy on me. I liked that.

  “Now, now, Dino. Let’s just calm down. We both know you can’t take me, even if all your men grew balls of steel, so let’s relax and have some fun, shall we?” I taunted, but I wasn’t expecting him or anyone else to answer. Most of the men were cowering off in the distance, so I knew they wouldn’t be trouble. Not yet, anyway. At that moment, they all allowed their president to be manhandled.

  “Let’s move on to the reason I’m here.” I pushed him forward and shoved him down into a chair in the center of the room. Grabbing some rope out of my back pocket—I came prepared for anything—I tied his ass down. “Now, we had a deal, Dino. When me and my crew met with you and yours, you all agreed to be our mules. We’d bring down the guns and drugs and you’d carry them over the border and hand them off to our boys with the Cartel. You agreed, did you not?” I questioned.

  “Yeah, we agreed, but we changed our minds!”

  Tsking, I shook my head and turned my back on him to go through my bag of goodies, knowing full well that he wouldn’t try anything. His men sure as hell knew better too.

  “You changed your mind, huh? After you took the payoff for the first order, you’re gonna back out?”

  I watched as the first thread of fear entered his eyes and it gave me a sick thrill to see it there and know that I was the reason for it. The power I feel in those moments is delicious and intoxicating. It’s one of the many reasons I love what I do, those not the most important. Hell, I’d probably still do shit like this even without the feeling I get coursing through my veins when I end a life.

  Turning to face his men, I said, “Your president fucked
up. He stole from my club and the Cartel. He broke his word and in our business, that’s punishable by death. But, since he’s your president, I’m gonna give one of you the opportunity to make this right.” I looked at each of them, wondering which one would cave once I said what was coming next. “Which one of you think you can cut it as president? Which one of you will kill him?” I pointed my gun at Dino. “Who wants to take his place at the top?”

  I’d been doing my job for a long time, so I knew the first person who spoke up would be the first man that would have to go. Sure, it took balls to stand tall and say they’d be the one to kill their president if it meant taking his place, but it also meant they had no loyalty. That wasn’t someone I needed.

  I didn’t have to wait long before someone stepped forward. Actually, two men stepped forward and spoke at once. “I’ll do it!” they said in unison.

  The two men now stood apart from their club. I didn’t know their names, but it didn’t matter. Even if their intentions were good, they both fucked up and signed their own death certificates.

  Without hesitation or second thought, I shot the one on my left, then the one of my right. There were perfect holes in the middle of their foreheads where my bullet passed through before they dropped to the ground, lifeless.

  Not wasting another second looking at my handiwork, I turned and looked at the remaining men. Some looked pissed, while a few others had blank looks on their faces, like what just happened didn’t surprise them. Those few may be the ones I’d keep around. I’d need men like that.

  “Anyone else wanna step up to the plate?” No one moved or said a word.

  I looked over and smiled at Dino. “You’d think you had some big shoes to fill, eh, brother?” The word brother tasted foul in my mouth, even when used mockingly. He wasn’t my brother, but he was someone’s, and for them, I felt pity. To have a brother who would back out on his word, steal, and lead his club in the wrong direction was a horrible brother in my eyes.