Treasure

by Rebekah Weatherspoon

  “I thought you guys had plans tonight?” she asked Kami and Alexis. “What happened?”

  Alexis nodded to Kami. She could explain.

  Kami shrugged, looking rightfully embarrassed. “We thought we could get into this party, but we got kicked out.”

  Just then Angel came back balancing five sodas and handed them around the table. She winked at Pauline, who blushed like crazy and tried to hide her face. Alexis had to laugh a little. Alexis sat back as Trisha charmed Kami and her friends. She wasn’t “on.” This wasn’t Treasure talking. It was Trisha, sweet, warm Trisha, talking just as if they were in the common cafeteria on campus between classes. The way she laughed, the way she encouraged Pauline to talk more about herself, that was all Trisha. Alexis thought maybe Treasure was a figment of her imagination, a gateway persona that had made it possible for them to meet. This was Trisha. This was the girl she was falling for.

  After a while, though, she had to excuse herself and get back to work. They were paying for their drinks, but Trisha wasn’t going to cover a night’s paycheck sitting with them talking.

  She kissed Alexis on her cheek. “Stay.”

  Alexis pulled back, biting her lip as she nodded, as if that would stop the tingling between her legs. Trisha was so hot.

  “It doesn’t bother you?” Christine or Terry asked. Alexis didn’t care. She wasn’t really paying attention. She answered anyway.

  “Nope.”

  “I think it’s cool,” Pauline said. “I wish I could move like that.”

  Alexis peeled her eyes off Trisha’s butt and looked at the girl who was on the center stage. She was good.

  They hung in the booth for a while. Periodically, one or two of them would peel off and toss a couple dollars on the stage. They might have been thrown by the fact that Trisha and Alexis were together, but it was obvious they were having a good time. Especially when Kami disappeared to the ATM by the door for the second time. Alexis kept their seats safe. A few of the girls approached her to offer her drinks and private dances, but she was too focused on watching Trisha pull in some cash. She’d thought she would be jealous now that things were different between them, but she wasn’t. It didn’t bother her seeing Trisha work the floor, flirting with various guys and sitting on their laps. It didn’t bother her to see her flirting with the other girls who swarmed the room with her. She knew it was all part of the job.

  It didn’t even bother her when she joined Mystic and another girl who called herself Sparkle back on the stage. The three of them put on a serious show, grinding on each other, climbing the pole and writhing on the floor together. Their performance got the crowd really riled up.

  Just as they finished, Alexis went over to the ATM, praying the withdrawal showed up as something generic on her account statement and hoping to God her mom wouldn’t check. After a show like that, she knew there would be a line to get a lap dance or some time in the VIP room with Trisha as soon as she hit the floor again. She palmed the cash and made her way back past the DJ booth close to the dressing rooms.

  Trisha came out a few minutes later and almost walked right into her.

  “Oh, hey. What’s up?”

  “Can I get a private dance?”

  “What?” Trish looked down at the twenties in Alexis’s hand. Then she made face. “No. Here.” Trisha turned them around and steered her back toward the booth. “Wait here a sec, and then meet me in the ladies’ room in two minutes.”

  Before Alexis could argue or ask why, Trisha took off for the other side of the club. Trisha talked to a few people as she made her way through the room. Alexis stopped watching her and went to the bathroom. One of the strippers was at the sink checking her makeup. She smiled at Alexis, sizing her up as a candidate for a lap dance just as the door swung open. It was Trisha. She shared a look with the girl at the sink. The other girl glanced at Alexis, then back at Trisha.

  “You want me to watch the door?” she offered with a bit of a smile.

  “Roxie’s got it,” Trisha replied.

  “’Kay.” The other girl shrugged, then made a show of brushing by Alexis as she swept out the door. Alexis almost expected Trisha to say something about it, but instead Trisha flipped the lock on the door. And then she backed Alexis against the sink.

  “It’s frowned upon, but there are ways around the rules.” Trisha went right for her belt and undid the buckle. Then she unzipped Alexis’s jeans.

  “Why didn’t we just go into the back room?”

  “Because I am not charging you eighty bucks to make out with your own girlfriend. You like the sound of that don’t you?” Trisha added when Alexis smiled.

  “Yeah. I missed you today. I told my sister about you.”

  Trisha stopped just as she slid her hands down the front of Alexis’s briefs. Alexis stopped breathing. “What did she say?”

  “She wants to meet you.”

  “My mom looked you up on Facebook, but can we talk about this later?”

  “Yeah.”

  “We have like five, ten minutes max before someone comes looking for me or tries to use the bathroom.”

  Alexis groaned as Trisha’s fingers found her clit. “Yeah. Oh, my God, yeah.”

  “Just relax.”

  Alexis swallowed and blinked. Trisha slid down into a squatting position, taking Alexis’s jeans and her underwear with her. Alexis almost told her to stop. She didn’t think this would happen like this, and she didn’t want Trisha to think she had to go down on her for any reason. She reached down and rubbed the side of Trisha’s head.

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  “You think I don’t want to? This is all I’ve wanted to do since you showed up.”

  “No. I—I just…” Alexis didn’t know what she thought. Trisha’s mouth was between her legs. Alexis’s knees buckled, but she grabbed the edge of the counter. She looked down and couldn’t believe what she was seeing, she couldn’t believe what she was feeling. Trisha’s tongue was going right for it, digging between her lips, searching out her clit. She didn’t want to mess up Trisha’s hair, so she gripped the countertop harder, thinking she was going to break a nail on the rough plaster underneath.

  It felt so good, amazing, but Alexis felt like something was missing. They didn’t have much time, and she didn’t want to spend the few moments they could steal together with Trisha down on her knees. She reached down and pulled Trisha up. Trisha was panting, short of breath from the effort she was putting into getting Alexis off.

  Trish licked her lips and wiped the side of her mouth as she looked up at Alexis with her big eyes. It was the sexiest thing ever. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I just want to kiss you.”

  “Then kiss me.”

  So they kissed and kissed and while they were kissing, Trisha slid her hand back between Alexis’s legs. Alexis didn’t stop her. Her fingers felt too good. Alexis let her own hands explore the soft skin of Trisha’s sides, her back, her chest. She pulled the top of her silver and black stringy thing to the side and gently teased Trisha’s nipple, sighing herself when Trisha moaned.

  Alexis came in no time, hugging Trisha to her as she shivered against her fingers. She stood there awkwardly for a moment, trying to remember where she was before she pulled her pants back up. Trisha fixed her top and fluffed out her hair.

  “This was a bad idea,” Alexis said.

  “Why?”

  “Because I want to spend the rest of the night with you, but you’re not done working, and I have to drive Kami and them back to campus.”

  “How about tomorrow? You want to come babysit with me at my mom’s house? We can study and things.” The smile on Trisha’s face gave promise to the “things.”

  “Yeah. I’m supposed to have brunch with my parents. But I’ll skip that.” Someone tried the bathroom door, gave it a good shake. Their time was up. Trisha kissed her again before she flipped the switch, then casually strolled back onto the strip club floor.

  Alexis join
ed Kami and Pauline back in the booth. Terry was in front of the stage on the lap of some skinny, light-skinned guy, who was throwing his dollars at the girl working the pole. Christina was nowhere in sight. She reappeared a few minutes later, holding hands with Mystic as they walked out of the VIP room. Kami looked a little annoyed when Mystic dropped Christina back at the booth with a kiss on the cheek, but Alexis knew to stay out of it.

  They stayed until the club closed. Trisha was stuck trying to peel away from her last customer, but Alexis caught her attention and made a texting motioning with her thumbs. Trisha nodded and gave her a little smile and a wave behind the guy’s back.

  Christina, Terry, and Pauline wouldn’t stop talking, first about the girls, then about how cool Alexis was for taking them there. They loved Trisha, too, and maybe Christina had developed a little crush on Mystic. She denied it, but it was obvious. Kami didn’t say a word. Even when she dropped them off in front of the dorm, Kami grumbled her good-bye and power walked ahead of Pauline and swiped her card in the door.

  It was just before two when Alexis left campus. She thought about calling her mom and telling her she’d be home in a little while, but there was no point in waking her parents up when she knew she’d be walking through the door in twenty minutes.

  The house was quiet when she got home, but the kitchen light was on. So was the light in the upstairs hallway. Alexis washed up quickly in her bathroom then settled into bed, determined to hear from Trisha at least once before she fell asleep.

  The text came just as her mom knocked on and simultaneously opened her door. Alexis hid her phone under her covers then froze, staring at the sliver of light that hit her desk.

  “Honey?”

  “Yeah, Mom.”

  “Did you have fun?”

  “Yeah. I think I’m going to campus to study with the girls tomorrow.”

  “Okay.” Mom sounded too relieved, but Alexis tried not to let it bother her. Her phone buzzed in her hand again. Her mom said good night and finally left Alexis alone with her texts.

  Just getting home now. I want to stay up all night talking to you, but I’m wrecked.

  Just the mention of being exhausted made Alexis yawn. It was way past her bedtime.

  Tomorrow? she texted back.

  Tomorrow. Thanks for coming to see me, followed by a bunch of emoticons, three hearts, three kissing lips, and a smiley face blowing a heart from its mouth. Alexis sent back a few hearts of her own with her good night. She fell asleep thinking of what it felt like to have Trisha’s hand between her legs.

  Chapter Seven

  Trisha knew why she was nervous, but she couldn’t help it. She loved hanging out with Alexis, and after last night, she couldn’t wait to see her again. Really, though, it was more than that. She’d spent a lot of time with a lot of girls, but never anyone like Alexis. It was her shyness that Trisha liked. It was the way that she seemed to be thinking all the time, considering everything. So many of Trisha’s friends were so off the cuff, so impulsive. They had some good times, that was definitely true, but between the chaos of the club and the chaos of running around with the kids, spending time with Alexis was like finding this calming, quiet space where Trisha could power down and just be.

  It was addictive, this peace she’d found with her new girlfriend. Still, while she waited for Alexis to show up, all that ran through her mind was the possible way Alexis would react to the less glamorous parts of her life. Trisha knew the club had a certain allure. It was a walking fantasy come to life for a lot of people—maybe even for Alexis—but watching five loud, hyper kids was something else.

  She did her best to clean the place up, but it still looked like a war zone. There were dishes in the sink and toys and shoes everywhere. Not to mention the whole place really needed a scrub up. Maybe that would be her Christmas present to her mom, a professional cleaning crew to make the grout shine again. She wondered how often the Chambers family had someone come through their place. No way Mrs. Chambers scrubbed that palace all by herself.

  “What are you doing?” Kara asked. She was busy bouncing on the couch even though Trisha had told her six times to sit down. Daryl and Dina were ignoring her, too focused on their cartoons. Kit was hiding in her room, doing some thirteen-year-old brooding. Kelsey had decided on a mid morning nap in Sophie’s bed.

  “I’m waiting for my friend. I already told you, she’s coming over today. Sit down.”

  Kara jumped off the couch and started running laps around the couch and through the kitchen. With each pass, she slapped Trisha on the butt and yelped “BOING!”. Trisha knew it was wrong to trip an eight-year-old, but she was seriously considering it.

  Finally, Alexis’s car pulled up. Kara stopped by the window when she heard the door slam and Alexis’s alarm beep. Alexis climbed out of the car, looking sexy as usual. She was back in femme mode wearing a tight, light blue, crew-neck shirt, print crop pants, and silver strappy sandals. The braids she’d worn to the club were gone, and a messy high bun was in its place. Like always, she wore some adornment on her left wrist. This time it was a stack of silver bangles that matched her shoes. Trisha suspected the extremes had to do with Alexis’s parents and what they were most comfortable with, but part of her wanted to ask. She wanted to know more about Alexis.

  “Is that your friend?” Kara asked.

  “Yes.” Trisha quickly turned and got Kara in a playful stronghold with her arms behind her back. Kara instantly started giggling.

  “Let me go!”

  “No. You have to answer the door. It’s the polite thing to do.” Trisha carefully walked to the front door, nudging a giggling Kara forward with each step. The doorbell rang. “’Kay, open the door, K.”

  “I can’t!”

  “Sure you can. Just use your hands.”

  “I can’t! You have my hands!”

  “Oh, right. Well, get out of the way so I can answer the door.” She stepped in front of Kara and used the force of her butt to nudge her out of the way. She opened the door for Alexis.

  “You look nice.”

  “Thanks. I came straight from brunch. I, ah… I brought these for the kids.” She held out a plastic bag from CVS. Trisha looked inside and smiled. It was filled with coloring books and crayons and candy. Perfect for this unruly bunch. “I didn’t know what they’d like, so I took a guess.”

  “Can I see? Can I see?” Kara asked, shoving her head under Trisha’s arm.

  “You want to color?” Trisha asked, making it sound like a bit of a threat.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, go sit down.” Kara took off for the TV room.

  “Hey.” Trisha perched up on her tiptoes, bracing herself with her hands on Alexis’s hips, and kissed her on the lips. Alexis kissed her back, but her whole body was tense.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” Alexis looked down between them like she was getting ready to share some real bad news, but instead she pulled Trisha closer. “I have—I have some anxiety issues. Just a little nervous about meeting the kids. And your mom.”

  “Oh. We can do this another time.” Trisha didn’t want her to leave, but she wanted Alexis to be comfortable.

  “No. Sorry. Just ignore me.”

  “As much as I’d love to ignore you, I don’t think I can.” Trisha kissed her again, and Alexis seemed to relax a little. She kissed her back with a little extra feeling, sliding an arm around her waist and dipping her tongue into Trisha’s mouth. When they finally took a moment to breathe, Trisha could feel herself floating three feet off the floor. She opened her eyes, and Alexis was looking at her, like really looking at her, taking in her whole face, her eyes, her lips. Trisha didn’t know when, but she knew one day she could love Alexis just from that look. She knew she could love Alexis easily.

  “Is it okay if we do this in front of the kids?” Alexis asked.

  “Oh, yeah. Their other sitter is so gay. They hang with her and her partner all the time. They know all about lady love. Well the G
-rated version of lady love.”

  “’Kay, good.”

  “I’m sitting down!” Kara yelled from the other room.

  Yeah, she couldn’t maul Alexis right that second. Trisha glanced at the clock. It was almost noon. “Do you need to hit the books now, or do you just want to hang out for a little while?”

  “We can hang out.”

  Trisha grabbed her hand and led her toward the TV room. “I hope you like Teen Titans Go ’cause that’s what we’re watching.” She introduced Alexis to Daryl and Dina who were nice enough to glance away from the TV to say hello.

  Kara had cleaned off the coffee table and was kneeling on the floor in front of the couch like she was waiting to be served a lavish meal. “I’m K. Can I have the bag?”

  “Ah, sure.” Alexis almost handed it over before Trisha intercepted it and took out the coloring books and the crayons, then she handed them to Kara. No way she was giving that child candy right now. Alexis looked between them for a second, but she got the message. No sugar for the already-hyper kid.

  Trisha flopped down on the worn couch and patted the seat beside her. Alexis hesitated a moment, looking around the room, then at the couch, then she finally sat down. Trisha chalked it up to her nerves and tried not to read into it.

  They settled next to each other, and Trisha slid her arm under Alexis’s. “So, last night, in the bathroom?” She almost died from the look Alexis shot her. “I’m kidding.”

  “I was going to say, you want to talk about that now?”

  “I do want to, but—how about this?” Trisha reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone.

  I wanted more time with you last night, she typed and then she hit send.

  Alexis caught on and reached into her bag for her phone. Trisha peeked over as she read her screen but looked back at the TV until her phone beeped in her hand. She put it on low vibrate then read the text.