Reno Runaway

by Kelli Callahan

  “Is Melinda working tonight?” I leaned against the bar and took the beer that the bartender brought over.

  “Yeah, but she’s with someone right now.” He nodded and pointed at the stage. “We’ve got a new girl coming up next, though. She’s hot as fuck.”

  “A new girl, huh?” I sipped my beer and turned towards the stage.

  “Yeah, she’s not very good at riding the pole, but she makes up for it in other ways.” He winked at me and walked over to load some drinks on a tray for one of the waitresses.

  The music started and I walked up to the stage. Carson’s wasn’t usually busy because customers didn’t have to stay long to get what they wanted. A few regulars just liked to watch, but most people were there for the services the girls offered when they weren’t on the stage. Melinda was my favorite because I knew what I was getting when I went to the back room with her. The others were a bit of a gamble. I’d cum regardless, but Melinda had no problem with me taking my dick out. She’d even suck it for a little extra money on the side.

  “Is this new girl any good?” I sat down next to a rough looking older man that I knew was a regular.

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged and reached for his drink. “She just started last night. Mr. Carson is charging double to take her behind the curtains, so she’s out of my price range.”

  “Aren’t they all?” I chuckled and removed a cigarette from my pack. “I’ve never seen you leave this spot.”

  “I’ll probably die in this spot.” He laughed and sipped his drink. “But I’ll die a happy man.”

  I turned my attention to the stage when the lights went down even more than they usually were. The club’s atmosphere was naturally hazy from cigarette smoke and I added to the fog as I lit one of my own. A dim blue light started to shine on the curtain behind the stage and strobe lights went off. It parted slightly and I saw the curvy outline of a woman appear. She swung her hips as she walked, but I couldn’t see her fully in the illuminated haze. The man next to me leaned forward and licked his lips as the DJ announced her.

  “From deep in the heart of Georgia, where daddies still spank their daughters, I give you the peach that fell far from the tree—the beautiful, Scarlett!” The DJ’s voice boomed out into the club.

  Yeah, I wonder what her real name is.

  There were only about five or six names that the strippers at Carson’s used. She wasn’t the first Scarlett to walk across the stage, so I doubted it was the name on her birth certificate. The lights slowly lifted until I could see her face and my jaw dropped slightly. She was absolutely stunning with gorgeous light auburn colored hair and emerald green eyes. She had a thin shawl covering her breasts, but I could tell from the outline that they were delicious. There was a timidness to her step and an uncertainty in her movements, even if they were very fluid. Her body moved to the music and when she got to the pole, she pulled off the shawl. She spun in a circle and let it wrap around her body before pulling it off a second time and tossing it out into the crowd.

  “She clearly didn’t get spanked enough to avoid the pole.” I chuckled and took a drag off my cigarette.

  “I’d spank her.” The old man next to me chuckled.

  “I’d do a lot more than that.” I pulled some money out of my pocket and held up a dollar bill.

  I wasn’t used to seeing someone as beautiful as her on the stage at Carson’s. She belonged somewhere with a lot more class—somewhere I would never even consider going because the only thing they offered was a tease. She was definitely young and I understood why Mr. Carson was charging double to take her behind the curtains. Her breasts were firm and perfect. Her ass was a perfect heart, pushing against her panties as she moved. I waved the dollar until she got close and made eye contact as I handed it to her. She gave me a slight smile as she took it and immediately retreated back to the pole.

  “This girl isn’t a stripper.” I shook my head and took another drag off my cigarette. “She has no idea what she’s doing.”

  “She’s new. Everybody has to start somewhere.” The old man finished his drink and immediately asked for another one.

  Carson’s is where strippers go to die, not to get their start.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off the girl in front of me. She removed her bra and her breasts were every bit of perfection that I imagined. She twirled around the pole. Even if her moves weren’t the best I had ever seen, nobody seemed to mind, and that included me. She was so hot that she could have just stood still in the middle of the stage and had money thrown at her. She collected what was offered and then started sliding her panties down. Her hips swayed and she teased the audience for a few seconds before finally letting them fall. I wanted her. I didn’t care how much Mr. Carson was charging.

  “This is going to be a very expensive night for me.” I finished my beer and stood up.

  “Have fun.” The old man kept his eyes on the stage and sipped his drink.

  I watched as a few people walked up to the lap dance booth. They all wanted what I wanted, but as soon as they heard the price, they returned to the stage. Unfortunately, the man in front of me didn’t seem to mind. He immediately handed over the money and walked behind one of the curtains. I wasn’t going to be first, but that didn’t deter me. I could get another drink and wait until she was finished with her first customer. I walked past her curtain and paused when I heard her voice.

  “No, I’m not doing that!” She had a southern accent that was smooth, but noticeable.

  “Bitch, I paid double for this. You’re going to at least lick it.” The man’s voice sounded agitated.

  “You paid for a lap dance. That’s all you’re getting, so put—” I heard a thud and it sounded like her words had been stopped mid-sentence.

  “Hey!” I jerked the curtain open and saw her down on her knees, with his hand around the back of her head, trying to force her mouth towards his cock.

  “Get the fuck out of here!” He jerked the curtain closed, but the temporary distraction allowed her to break free from his grasp.

  All hell broke loose after that. One of the bouncers rushed over and pulled him out of the booth. Scarlett, or whatever her name was, disappeared through the other side of the curtain. The man was dragged through the club with his dick still hanging out of his pants. The last image I saw of him was being thrown out into the parking lot, but when the bouncer didn’t immediately return, I assumed he was getting his ass kicked. Mr. Carson was sleazy, but he didn’t like people touching his girls unless they wanted it.

  “Thank you.” I heard a voice behind me and turned to see Mr. Carson. “She’s new and didn’t wait on her escort.”

  “Yeah, you might want to give her a few more nights on the stage before you let her go behind the curtain with people.” I sighed and shook my head.

  “She’ll learn. They all do.” He put his on my shoulder. “Your drinks, and anything else you want tonight, is on the house.”

  Chapter 3: Johanna

  As soon as I was out of the booth, I ran to the dressing room and closed the door. The reality of my job and what could have happened ran through my head. I broke down in tears and started sobbing as I removed the makeup from my face. The other girls that were in the dressing room quickly left once they saw me crying. Several minutes went by before someone else came. It was the girl that Mr. Carson had let me observe for a couple of days before he sent me out on the stage on my own. Her stripper name was Vixen, but her real name was Melinda.

  “I heard what happened.” She sat down on the chair beside me and put her arm around my shoulder. “We talked about this. You don’t go to the booth without Roger.”

  “I didn’t see him and someone was already in the booth. I didn’t want to keep them waiting.” I picked up a napkin and wiped away some of my tears.

  “They’ll wait. You don’t go anywhere without Roger. You stick to him like glue, you hear me?” She sighed and shook her head.

  “Is Mr. Carson mad?” I looked at her via th
e reflection in the mirror.

  “Well...” She winced and bit down on her lip. “He isn’t happy. Luckily, Cody was there.”

  “Cody? Is that the guy that pulled the curtain open?” I turned my head towards her.

  “Yeah.” She nodded and smiled. “He comes around here from time to time. I don’t know why. Most of the girls would pay him to go behind the curtain with them.”

  “I should probably thank him.” I sighed and looked at the mess I had made trying to remove my makeup.

  “Maybe, yeah. But first you’re going to go see Mr. Carson. He’s going to yell at you a lot. Just take it and say you’re sorry. Say it a lot.” She leaned in and hugged me. “Don’t worry, he won’t fire you for your first fuck up.”

  It took a while to get my face cleaned up and apply regular makeup. After I was done with that, I took my verbal beating from Mr. Carson with as much sorrow as I could muster. I was still terrified about what happened, but I understood why he had safety precautions in place for such a volatile business. The experience had soured me on stripping and I wasn’t sure I would even come back the next day. The idea of going into a booth with a guy again for a lap dance scared me. Once Mr. Carson was done with me, I walked out into the main part of the bar and saw the guy that intervened sitting at the bar with a beer.

  “I owe you a debt of gratitude.” I took a seat next to him.

  “You do?” He turned with a blank look on his face, tilted his head, and then he recognized me. “Oh, hey. You look different without the eighties hair and whore attire.”

  “Yes, my real name is Johanna, not Scarlett. I just want to blend into the crowd right now and not be part of the show.” I shook my head back and forth. “Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you.”

  “You don’t have to thank me. That guy was a prick. That kind of shit doesn’t happen around here normally.” He finished his beer and motioned to the bartender. “Want a beer?”

  “Sure.” I nodded and shrugged.

  Melinda was definitely right about Cody. He was unbelievably attractive. He looked like someone carved him from stone with enormous muscles that his shirt could barely contain. His beard was a bit longer than I would have liked, but it was well groomed. I had to force myself to look away from him when the bartender came back over. I had never tasted beer before. I wasn’t even old enough to drink. The bartender probably knew that, but he didn’t bat an eyelash when Cody ordered me one. I took the first taste and was immediately overcome with bitterness, which caused my face to wrinkle with disgust.

  “I’m guessing that is your first beer?” He chuckled and sipped his.

  “Yeah, I’m not a fan.” I rubbed my tongue against the roof of my mouth and across my lips to try and get rid of the taste.

  “I’ll order you something fruity.” He waved the bartender back over for a replacement drink.

  I pushed the beer over to Cody and he put it next to his. I was pretty sure I would never touch beer again. The next drink that the bartender brought over tasted much better. It had a hint of melon and was extremely sweet. I knew there was alcohol in it, which I assumed was responsible for the strong aftertaste, but it wasn’t noticeable. I took several sips through a small straw before putting it down on the counter and turning my attention back to Cody.

  “Is that one better?” Cody smiled and sipped his beer again.

  “Yes, much better.” I nodded enthusiastically. “So what do you do when you’re not saving damsels in distress?”

  “I fuck strippers.” His tone was steady and I tried to read his face to determine if he was kidding or not. “Well, they’re not all strippers, I guess.”

  “I mean, outside of this place.” I moved my hand in a circle, motioning to the club.

  “I usually fuck them at my apartment.” His face was as emotionless as a statue and I got the feeling he was actually being serious.

  “So, you don’t have a job? You just screw strippers and not-strippers all day?” I raised my eyebrows and tilted my head.

  “I’m a mechanic. I work at my father’s shop.” His face finally showed semblance of emotion again. “What about you? Who do you fuck?”

  “Me? Nobody!” I shook my head back and forth.

  “So, you’re single.” He turned towards me and moved closer. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.”

  “It’s temporary.” I slid back on my stool so that he wasn’t practically touching me. “I almost got married last week.”

  “Married?” His eyebrows raised in surprise. “But now you’re single? That sounds like a good story.”

  “I’ll tell you all about it if you get me another one of these.” I drained the last drop from my drink and clinked the ice in the glass.

  “Coming right up.” He turned towards the bartender and waved.

  I was aware that I had a buzz, but after what I had experienced earlier in the evening, it felt simply amazing. I finally understood why people liked alcohol so much. It made me quite chatty, and before I knew it, I was spilling the entire saga of my life to someone I had just met. He listened intently, sipping his beer throughout my entire spiel. When I got to the part about running away on my wedding day, his mouth fell open in shock. I was amazed by his attentiveness. I was so used to Scott barely looking at me when we had a conversation. Cody reacted like I was telling the most interesting story he had ever heard.

  “You literally ran away and became a stripper.” He started laughing and his eyes lit up. “My god, that is fucking incredible.”

  “I needed money and I want to go to college. I can’t do that if I’m holding down four jobs.” I shrugged and sipped my drink.

  “How did you end up here? This is like the worst place in Reno to start stripping at.” His eyebrows came together in a concerned expression. “Like, it is literally the absolute worst place. If you ranked them, this place would be dead last.”

  “I just looked in the phone book. This was the closest one to my apartment.” I leaned back on my stool and took another sip. “What’s so bad about it? Aren’t all strip clubs terrible?”

  “Maybe in redneck Georgia where you are from, but this is Reno. There are some very classy clubs in the area. They may not hire anyone that walks in the door, but you should definitely look at some other options.” He leaned closer and I got the feeling that he didn’t want anyone to hear what he was about to say. “You are aware that most lap dances don’t end with people cumming on you, right?”

  “Mr. Carson said that was part of it...” I looked up at the stage as Melinda started her routine. “All of the girls here act like it is perfectly normal.”

  “Because they’re not good enough to get hired anywhere else. Look, I love taking that girl behind the curtain.” He motioned to Melinda. “This place is barely a step over actual prostitution. Sometimes it is actual prostitution.”

  I looked down at my drink and didn’t respond to what he said. I started feeling rather foolish. It figured that I would be the one person to get stripping wrong. I came in with my naiveté on display and it seemed that I had been taken advantage of. I couldn’t fault Mr. Carson for my mistake, but it definitely wasn’t one I was proud to make. I felt the alcohol really starting to kick in once I finished my second drink. The first one had been so good that I thought a second one was a great idea, but I was realizing that it was another mistake. The happy feeling wore off and I started to feel my eyes getting heavier, although it didn’t feel like I could actually sleep. They were just heavy in the sockets.

  “Are you okay?” He tilted the beer I had abandoned up and drained it.

  “No, I don’t think so.” I shook my head back and forth. “I probably should have stopped after the first drink.”

  “When was the last time you ate?” He put his empty beer bottle on the counter.

  “Breakfast?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise when I realized I had went the entire day without food because I was so nervous about doing my routine on the stage.

  “There’s
a diner across the street. They have the best greasy food in Reno. Let’s go.” It was more of a command than a request, and I started questioning if it was a good idea to leave with him, but he was halfway to the door before I could react.

  “Wait.” My feet felt heavier as well when I started walking.

  I had to either follow him out of the club or go back to the dressing room and wait for it to wear off. Cody seemed like a nice enough guy, but I didn’t really know him. I was definitely hungry though, and his mention of food had started making my stomach turn flips. I decided that I was going to have to take a chance, because I didn’t really want to go back to the dressing room after hearing what he said about the club. Everyone had treated me well except the guy I went into the booth with, but after what Cody told me, I was starting to get very angry about the audition I had to do for Mr. Carson.

  Chapter 4: Cody

  Johanna was an interesting girl. I wanted her in my bed before the end of the night, but I wasn’t sure I could get her there. Based on what she said about the guy she almost married and the small town she grew up in, I was fairly certain she was a virgin. I laughed mentally at the thought of a virgin stripper and then paused when I was outside the club to light a cigarette. It didn’t appear that she had followed me, so I peered back through the door and saw her trying to catch up. She finally made it outside and stumbled slightly when her heel hit an uneven part of the pavement.

  “Careful.” I grabbed her by the hips and held her until she got her footing again.