by Adan Ramie
"Why not?" Adonia faced Leah. She tried to give Leah a look to comfort her, to tell her that if she wanted to leave the bar, and leave the crew, she would gladly take her home and let this be something they laughed about in a few years, probably as just friends, but she wouldn't turn down more... "Are you okay?"
Leah looked from Adonia to Betheny then down at the shot. "I don't like tequila," she said, and shrugged one arm.
Betheny turned dead eyes on Leah, and her mouth was twisted in something between a snarl and a pout. "Don't you drink?"
"Not much."
Adonia leaned in close to Leah's ear as Betheny seethed. "Do you need me to call us a ride?" She pulled back as Leah shook her head.
"No." Leah lifted the tequila. "I can do this." She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tossed the liquor down. She grimaced and her eyes immediately watered, proof that she really wasn't a big drinker. Impressed with her dedication, Adonia handed her the beer in her hand. Maybe she really had judged Leah all wrong, and if so, quiet strength was a whole lot more admirable than ingenue was sexy.
"Drink this," she said. Leah tried to protest, but Adonia pushed it into her hand. "I'll get myself another one."
Betheny shot a calculating stare at Adonia, then looked at Leah. "So are we going to party, or not?" she asked, her voice a little too loud, even for the music. Leah chewed the inside of her cheek, but nodded in submission. Betheny smiled and gestured for the gopher boy. "Get us more shots. And more beer," she said, pointing at Adonia. "One for everyone. And three shots deep each."
"I don't really drink this much," Leah said. Betheny tapped the bottom of Leah's bottle up to her lips.
"You do tonight."
Adonia watched Leah's face turn from panic to anger to acceptance in the span of a few seconds. Just as she was about to speak again, the Betheny copy came up, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and pulled her away.
The girl leaned forward, pushing her nearly exposed breasts in Adonia's face. "Do you want to dance?" Adonia glanced at Leah, who was now deep in conversation with Betheny. Adonia nodded, chugged half her beer and put it onto a nearby table, then wrapped an arm around the Betheny copy's waist.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Kayla," the copy said. "Your name is Adonia, right?" Adonia nodded. "That's really beautiful," the girl said, clenching Adonia to her and putting her bare thigh in Adonia's hand. "What is it, Italian?"
"Something like that," Adonia said, her eyes going across the room to Leah. Betheny had leaned in and was whispering something into Leah's ear. She expected Leah to be frozen, a deer in headlights, but her partner was laughing and touching Betheny's shoulder.
"Betheny never loses," Kayla said.
"What?" Adonia asked, and looked into Kayla's face.
The girl had her mouth screwed up in something like a resolute, knowing smirk. "She wants that girl. She always gets what she wants, and she doesn't have a problem hurting people in her way."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Adonia lied.
Kayla rolled her eyes, but ran a hand down from Adonia's shoulder and between her breasts. "I know you like her. You might even love her. Maybe you two were going to get married after all this is over, but that's too bad, because she belongs to Betheny now."
Adonia looked over at the two, their faces just inches apart, and in her mind, could see the two kissing, stripping off each other's clothes, and screwing each other senseless. She turned her attention back to Kayla, who fingered a button on Adonia's shirt, but she couldn't get the thought of Leah and Betheny out of her mind. She felt the old rage she had spent years trying to control boiling under the surface of her skin.
"Let's go grab some more shots," Kayla said as she bounced on her blue platform sneakers. Adonia sent Leah and Betheny one last glance, found them in what looked like an intimate embrace, and then turned her attention to Kayla. Kayla's hand dipped down from the buttons on her shirt to the zipper on her jeans. "I think we could probably have a few minutes alone first, if you want."
Adonia looked back at Leah, but saw only Betheny's back. "I need to go check on her."
"You're only going to make Betheny mad," Kayla warned.
"I promised I would look after her."
Kayla wrapped her arm around Adonia's neck and followed her gaze. After a moment of watching Leah and Betheny clinging closely together, she wrapped her fingers around Adonia's jaw and pulled her face so they were eye-to-eye. "She doesn't want your help. That girl doesn't need you, but I do."
Adonia really looked at the girl in front of her for the first time. She was beautiful in a sweet, boring, Midwestern way, and she didn't look as much like Betheny as Adonia had originally thought. The tongue she ran across her slightly crooked, pearl white teeth was pierced, and her grin was devilish but kind. Adonia grabbed Kayla's hand and let her lead the way upstairs into the dark comfort of an even more private room.
8
Leah looked up from listening to Betheny's story about dyeing her hair to match her guitars, which for some reason involved a lot of touching to tell, to find Adonia nowhere in sight. She could have sworn she had seen her moments before leaned against the side of the bar with her eyes trained in her direction and one of Betheny's clones at her side drooling like a puppy. Betheny followed her gaze, then raised her eyebrows at Leah. "Really, her?"
Leah's eyes snapped back, knowing she wasn't doing very well at playing the part of the interested potential lover. If they were to be kept on the tour, she had to bring up Betheny's spirits, and according to Dame O'Brien, the only way to lift her was through her libido. Leah had accepted it, but she hoped that Adonia would see through her charade. The idea that Adonia might think less of her made her heart heavy.
"Listen, I know you like her, or whatever is going on there," Betheny said. "But you have to know she's going to be just like everyone else. I mean, where is she right now?" she asked, gesturing to a room full of Bethenys, drag queens, and twinks, but no Adonia.
Leah searched the room again, then turned back to Betheny with a frown.
Betheny sighed and turned to face the room, close enough to Leah for their shoulders to rub together. She pointed to her clones one at a time. "There's green, and there's yellow… The only one missing is blue. Her name is Kayla. She's exceedingly good at what she does, and she's had her eye on your friend. I saw Kayla checking her out in the car on the way here."
The thought made Leah's eyes fill. They had only met recently, but Leah had thought something special had started to form between them, and for Adonia to go off and leave her alone when she knew Leah wasn't comfortable with Betheny... Leah's heart thumped in her chest, and she raised the bottle to her lips. She drank the rest, tossed it at a trash can, and turned to Betheny, her eyes full of determined anger. A drop of condensation rolled over her finger, warm like a tear drop, and she lifted it to her mouth to lick it off.
"You're probably right."
"Oh, I know I'm right," Betheny answered. She flagged down the gopher boy and his lackey who were just walking in with drinks. "Let's do this, fags and hags," she called. She lifted two shots from the tray and handed one over to Leah. "Tonight, we're going to get smashed and screw our brains out, just like everyone else."
The last wasn't lost on Leah, who tossed her shot back, then dropped it onto the tray with a clank. She picked up a second before Betheny could finish her first, and drank it, too, following it with a lime that she chewed once and spit onto the tray. Before Betheny's lips could break into a smile, Leah's were on them, her tongue pushing her teeth apart and diving into her mouth.
Betheny put one hand on each of her hips, and in a moment, Leah's legs wrapped around her waist, and Betheny had both hands on the flesh peeking out from her underwear. She walked them to the stairs, up and to the right, to an unoccupied room that overlooked the dance floor and the other darkened VIP lounge.
As the door closed, Leah dropped down and pulled B
etheny by her vinyl jacket to the sofa bed, then pushed her down onto her back. Betheny tried to lean up to kiss Leah, but Leah pushed her back down and out of her jacket, then her shirt, and ripped her bra apart trying to unclasp it. Betheny groaned in pleasure as Leah's lips met her nipple, hard as rock candy, and tried to lean forward, but Leah pushed her back again.
"Can't we kiss?" Betheny asked.
Leah answered by grabbing her shoulder, flipping her over, and running a hand up her thigh. She reached under the gauze skirt, twisted her hand into the fabric, and pulled. Threads broke, fabric ripped, and with her hand came back a pair of now useless panties.
Betheny cried out, a mix of pain and pleasure, and Leah grabbed a handful of her hair. With the other hand, she worked the thin skirt up until she could see the slightly parted lips with a drip of pure ecstasy hovering on the edge. She ran one fingertip over it, skin barely touching skin, and Betheny moaned.
"Do you want me?" Leah asked as the room start to spin. She wondered in the back of her mind how much she had drank. On a full stomach, she was a lightweight, and she had barely eaten out of nervous worry. Once she realized she had been abandoned, she had stopped pacing herself.
"I want you." Betheny pushed against Leah's finger.
Her fingertip broke the surface, and she was inside. Betheny cried out, and something inside Leah cracked and gushed lava through her pelvis. She pushed further, exploring as Betheny rocked her hips, moaned, and snaked one hand down her stomach and between her legs to rub two fingers in slow circles. Leah slid another finger into her, and felt the slight ripple of a shudder squeeze her fingers.
"Wait for me," Leah whispered. Betheny nodded, and Leah reached down between her own legs and slid her damp panties to the side.
She rubbed across the nerve bundle and shivered. She knew it wouldn't take long for her to finish, but she wanted to draw out the sensation. With painful care, she rubbed the other way, and her fingers lit up the circuit board of pleasure in her brain with each stroke.
"Oh, god, Leah…"
"Not yet." Leah pulled her fingers from within Betheny's slick center. Betheny cried out, but her fingers didn't stop, and circles turned into jerky rubs as if she were polishing a stubborn piece of silver.
"Please." Betheny wiggled against Leah's hand. Leah rammed her fingers back inside Betheny, closed her eyes, and as the orgasm overtook them both, only one image broke across the drunken, horny stupor of her mind: Adonia.
9
A room away, Adonia had a beer in one hand, and the other splayed out, holding her up against one of the questionably clean club walls. Kayla shimmied out of her skirt with a playful grin on her painted mouth. She wore only a lace thong and platform shoes, and Adonia had to admit the sight was welcome. How long had it been since she had been with a woman? She couldn't remember.
"What do you think?" Kayla purred as her glittery fingernails danced across the fabric of the translucent thong. It left little to the imagination, and Adonia's mind was made up.
"I think you should come closer," Adonia answered, her voice husky from need. Her head swam, but the driving force of her libido kept her upright.
Kayla grinned, walked toward her, and threw a foot up on the table beside her. Less than a foot away from her, Adonia watched Kayla's shaven lips dampen the sky-colored lace to a darker shade of blue. She took another drink of her beer, plopped it on the table beside her, then put her hands on Kayla's hips.
Kayla slapped her hands away, then put both feet on the ground. "I don't think so." She pushed Adonia down into a metal chair. "I want you to beg."
The chair shifted uneasily beneath her as if her weight might be too much for it to bear. Adonia's head swam as the room started to spin in lazy circles around her. She choked back a warm, sickly sweet rush in the back of her throat and wobbled onto her feet. Kayla's smile dropped off as she leaned forward to inspect her. Adonia's eyes closed, and she felt for the back of the chair, but couldn't find it. Instead, she leaned her body against the table she knew was bolted into the floor and ran her dry tongue across her lips.
"Are you okay?" Kayla asked.
"I think I need to get out of here," Adonia said, peering at Kayla from squinted eyes. "Can I get some water?"
Kayla scooped up her clothes and was back in them in what seemed to Adonia like only seconds. Adonia closed her eyes again and listened as the door opened and the light footsteps moved away. Less than a minute later, footsteps came back in, and Adonia opened her eyes. But it wasn't Kayla, it was Leah standing in front of her with a concerned look on her face. Her hair was mussed, her makeup smudged, and her shirt had been hastily replaced. She bent down and put a hand on Adonia's forehead.
"Are you okay?"
Adonia nodded. That hand felt cool, soothing, like her grandmother's had been years ago when she was a small child. "I need some water, please."
Leah handed her the warm bottle in her hand, and Adonia drank it slowly and gratefully. Leah helped Adonia up, careful not to jostle her. "We need to go."
Adonia grunted out an agreement and unsteadily walked to the door with Leah's help. Just as they stepped out, Adonia felt as if she had stepped into a mirror fun house, and Bethenys were all around them. She fought her stomach's urge to spill out all over their shoes.
"Where are you going?" one of the Bethenys asked.
Leah stopped them, and Adonia squeezed her eyes shut and silently begged the Bethenys to go away. Leah didn't let go of Adonia.
"She's sick," she offered, and moved a few steps to the left. "We need to get her back to the hotel."
"I'll take her," said a voice Adonia thought was Kayla's. She sounded needy and desperate, and Adonia felt a twinge of sympathy in her chest, but it was quickly replaced with more churning as the heat, alcohol, and adrenaline all crashed together in her stomach again.
"I can do it," Leah answered. She took a few more steps. "I need to get back, too. We still have work in the morning."
Several voices spoke at once, a whispered disagreement that lasted a few minutes in which Adonia's world spun out of control around her, but Leah held her up and cooed into her ear that it would be okay.
"Fine, we're all going," a voice said, and Adonia instinctively knew it was the real Betheny, though she couldn't explain how. "Follow me."
The group exited down a set of carpeted stairs onto a concrete landing. Several sets of platform shoes clunked on the stone, and Adonia fought down a new wave of nausea at the rumble that clanged in her head like the percussion section of an orchestra. They walked out the door into the cold night, and both caterers let out a sigh of relief. The limo was only a few feet away, but she was being ushered into it before she knew what was happening.
"How are you feeling?" Kayla asked, sounding genuinely concerned. Adonia nodded and made a mental note to apologize to the girl in the morning.
"I'll get her into bed," Leah said. "A good sleep will help."
"Are you going to let me take you to bed?" Betheny murmured to Leah.
"I need to stay with her and make sure she's okay."
"I'll stay with her," Kayla piped in.
A silence fell across the car for a few tense moments. Adonia wished for something, a reason that Kayla couldn't, a reason that would mean Leah would have to stay with her.
Betheny let out a dejected sigh. "You can't. You know the rules."
Kayla grunted. "We show up together, we leave together," she recited with the other clones.
The limo stopped and the door beside them opened. Adonia cracked her eyes just far enough to see street lights as she was helped out of the car and onto her feet. She tried to smile at Betheny and her crew of clones.
"I guess I didn't eat enough today," she mumbled.
Betheny turned a longing frown on Leah. "Will you call me?"
Leah let out a nervous laugh that Adonia could tell was fake by the sheer tension of it. "I won't need to. We'll be catering the pre-show dinner tom
orrow night, remember?"
"I don't know if I'm going to have a show tomorrow night. I don't really feel like the tour is going that great. Haven't for a few stops now."
Adonia pulled in a breath and tried to stand straighter. She squinted up at Betheny with one eye. "You could hold an event instead. Recharge," she offered in a voice barely above a whisper.
Missing nothing, Betheny turned calculating, but interested eyes on her. "What kind of event?"
Adonia groped in her mind for something, then grinned as it came to her from the lessons her grandmother had drilled into her while they cooked. "Thesmophoria. It's a Greek festival. You should look it up. It might be just what you need to get your mojo back."
Betheny squinted distrustful eyes at Leah, then at Adonia. "Who says I lost my mojo? I haven't lost anything."
Leah jumped in to save her. "I think she means so you can get yourself pumped about the tour again. You're just feeling drained from the length of the tour and all that goes into something so demanding. All performers get that way, I think." She offered a smile.
The door man from the hotel walked up to the gaggle of women and tapped Adonia on the shoulder. "Do you ladies need help inside?"
"No," Leah answered, then turned toward the hotel and slung Adonia's arm back over her shoulders. "Thank you, though." When he had gone back to the door, Leah turned her face back to Betheny. "Thank you for taking us out tonight," she said, then led Adonia into the building.
Cold air blasted Adonia, her insides turned to hot water, and her eyes rolled, but Leah kept them moving. She got them to the elevator, up to their floor, and into their shared room with very little help from Adonia. She laid Adonia down onto the bed with only a slight bump of their heads together, and Adonia went out like a weak flame.
10
The morning brought light and the shrill chirp of twin alarm clocks far too early, and Adonia crawled from the bed feeling like she had slept with her head in a bell tower. She stumbled over to the bathroom and opened her eyes to a gasp. Leah stood in the bathroom they shared with the connecting room, towel on wet hair, naked as the day she was born. Adonia put a hand over her eyes and twirled around, then immediately regretted it as vertigo slammed into her and she fell to the carpeted floor of the bedroom. As she fought the urge to retch, she felt Leah's warm hand rub across her back.