by Jeri Estes
That did it. I was on a mission. My sole aim was to get Bunny to rescind the request for the sisters’ show date. I hurried out of the club. Mortified by my own behavior, I ran down Sixth Street, made my way to Mission and flagged a cab.
As sanity slowly returned, I realized that my rage had been born from my fear of loss. I couldn’t let Carmen walk all over me because I couldn’t bear her inevitable rejection. My life and my lover would not tolerate weakness. I understood the trap we were both in. Power trumped love in this underbelly.
The downside of prostitution had reared its ugly head with Chang’s perverted request. Bunny was in an awkward position too. Chang wasn’t your everyday john. Saying no to him and risking his disapproval might have been the last mistake Carmen and I ever made. Beneath Bunny’s cool demeanor was a genuine fear of the mob boss. I imagined it must have been difficult for her to ask me to inform Carmen of the booking. Bunny must have been aware that it would drive a wedge between Carmen and me.
The cab pulled up to Bunny’s hilltop Victorian. The majestic view spanned the Golden Gate Bridge to the Coit Tower. Like a lawyer fighting the case of the century, I would ask Bunny to release Carmen and Phyllis from their obligation. Now was the opportune time to plead my case.
Chapter 21
FROM HERE TO NEXT SUNDAY
Lace from Bunny’s black negligee trailed over my face as my tongue played with her nipple. Bunny’s milky soft breast filled my hand as my cock filled her pussy. The scent of Jungle Gardenia perfume lingered on her warm body as she whispered, “Don’t stop, Jesse.”
Bunny’s breath matched the rhythm of her body as she rode me with passion. My nude body lay back on satin pillowcases in a womb of luxury. The evening sea breeze drifted through the open bay window.
In between Bunny’s breathless soft moans, I said, “I’m a little concerned that Carmen and Phyllis might blow their show date. Those two are always arguing,” I pointed out. “How can they convince those johns that they’re enjoying hot sex with each other when they can’t stop fighting for five minutes?”
“Jesse, Jesse, harder, harder,” Bunny breathlessly begged. Rhythmically, she pushed into me, closing her eyes as I kissed her flushed face. Slight beads of perspiration dampened her forehead under her loose strands of platinum hair. Her flat stomach, under voluptuous firm breasts, made my attempt at persuasion a pleasurable task.
I started up again. I’d been working Bunny all weekend to set up this pitch. “Bunny, we can easily switch Phyllis with Linda from Missouri. They’re both brunettes and the Chinese can’t tell us apart anyhow.”
Bunny’s wet pink lips parted as she kissed my face and stretched up with me still inside her. She looked down with baby blues filled with rapture. “Did you say something, Jesse?”
Unsure of how to proceed, I tried a different approach. Remembering one of my mother’s Ophelia’s little life lessons—Flattery will get you everywhere—I said, “God, you have great tits.”
She smiled down at me.
“Girl, you sure have that mob boss whipped. You could talk him into anything.”
Holding her waist, I steadied her as she rose and fell, lost in lust. Her hands tightly grasped mine as she moved her body up and down on my dildo’s shaft.
“I’m surprised that Chang came up with an incest act. That’s so passé,” I said casually.
“What?” she moaned as she pushed deeply into me. Her small hands grasped mine like rails.
With a whimper, as Bunny was reaching the height of her passion, she said between gasping breaths, “It’s not passé.” She leaned over me whispering, “You can still get top dollar for it.”
I whispered sweet words of business into her ear, “Really? I didn’t know there was still a strong market for it.”
“Yes… yes…Jesse…fuck me, fuck me.”
Bunny frantically rode me. Lost in ecstasy as she neared her finale, the truth slipped out, “I thought it was one of my better ideas.”
“What did you say, Bunny?” I asked in disbelief.
Bunny’s body ignored me as she fought to finish.
“Did you say it was your idea?” I demanded.
“Yes.” She was bucking like a bronco. “Don’t stop, don’t stop,” she moaned.
“Fuck you!” I said as I pushed her off, seconds before she came. I bounced her on her back and rudely pulled out. “You bitch! You played me!”
“Jesse, don’t be upset with me,” Bunny pleaded, desperately needing to get back on.
“I was a fucking chump! And to think, I was worried about your game-playin’ ass!” I said in disgust. “I’m not a trick, bitch!”
I got dressed quickly, picked up my Zippo and snugged it in its pocket. Snatching my .38 off the nightstand, I rammed it in my holster.
Realizing I really was walking out, Bunny jumped up and grasped my shoulder. “Come back to bed. We can work this out.”
I coolly put on my Stetson and said, “Don’t play me ever again.”
She sat silent and stunned on the side of the bed with blue balls.
I walked out and slammed the door. I left Bunny’s pricey pad and headed back to the TL. I needed to make up with Carmen. I knew Bunny’s possessiveness had gotten the better of her. I wasn’t going to let her insecurities destroy my relationship with Carmen. Fury fueled my steps as I thought, “What a waste of good sex.”
I caught a cab on Van Ness and in a few minutes I was walking into the Grapevine. Tuttle looked up from wiping the mahogany counter and grinned. Having recovered by this time, I gave a friendly nod to a couple of old guys sitting at the end of the bar. The two half-tanked neighborhood regulars were real diehard guzzlers. They were the only life in the joint at this late Sunday night hour. I asked old man Tuttle as I got up on my favorite stool, “Hey Tuttle, where’s Rosie? I thought she’d be dancing.”
Tuttle proceeded to set up my shooters with a water back. “Rosie has her panties all up in a wad about something. She told me she was too nervous to dance. Said she was lookin’ for you.”
I imagined Rosie was a little freaked out about my bizarre behavior the other evening with Carmen. Quickly downing a shooter, I hoped the whiskey would ease my aching head.
“She might as well be upset,” I said. “The rest of my girls aren’t that thrilled with me either. It’s not easy having more than one woman to make happy.”
Tuttle’s eyes shined with childlike delight as he quipped, “Could be worse. At least your headaches come with matchbooks of cash.”
Chuckling, I picked up my second shooter. “Bunny’s a full-time job all by herself. I spent the weekend with her playing nice…had to get my balls out of a vice.” I heard myself rhyming like Lovey Lupree as I downed another shot.
Tuttle didn’t laugh with me this time. Instead, he turned serious. “I hate to bring this up, Jesse, but Carmen was in here last night smooching with the D.A.”
“What! Oh, my God! All I wanna do is be able to work! These women are driving me crazy!”
“Yep, and Rosie said she really needs to talk with you. She was cussing in Spanish faster than Ricky Ricardo. That girl’s acting like the Grim Reaper is after her. Rosie told me to tell you that if you show up while she’s gone, to wait. She’ll be coming right back.”
“I don’t think so, Tuttle. I’m not up for one more temperamental femme right now. I’m on my way to Chuckkers to meet Carmen. Tell Rosie I’ll stop by before closing.”
As I got up to leave, Tuttle went back to wiping the counter and gave me an encouraging word. “Carmen likes you in the doghouse. That way she knows where to find you. Have fun, Jesse.” He gave me a broad smile goodbye. I dropped a bill on the bar and headed for the door.
Chapter 22
SWEET TALKIN’ MAC DADDY
After a brisk, uneventful walk, I hit Club Chuckkers. Above the doorway loomed a large, new bright yellow sign:
“Enter at your own risk, subject to frequent police raids.”
“This is my kind of club,”
I thought. “I love this place; it’s a real armpit.” Sitting in front of me was Red the Biker, Chuckkers’ doorman and part-time bouncer. Red sat at his post, enforcing the club’s protocol of searching its patrons for weapons before they entered. I tripped on his ugly, pockmarked face, whose centerpiece was a purple-veined bulbous nose. Red asked me to raise my arms so he could search me.
“Sorry, Jesse, I mean no disrespect, but I’m going to have to search you.”
“Hey Red, don’t worry about it, I know the drill.”
His frisking didn’t bother me. It felt good not to be completely trusted. The person searching you was letting you know they were afraid of you.
Miss Carla, a drag queen and the gay club’s owner, was not about to trust a bad actor like me in this unpredictable world of the Tenderloin. The last thing Carla needed was a shooting in her joint. Since Red was secretly on my payroll, he went through the motions simply for appearances. Red proceeded with his bogus pat-down, ignoring my gun.
“Hey, Jesse, watch your back. The pigs are having a field day busting you dykes. If you don’t believe me, go ask Two Bits how she liked touring the alley on her face last night. The cops raided us and snatched Two Bits. They took her in the back and handcuffed her to their bumper. Then they went for a joy ride, dragging her down the alley. When they cut her loose, I hardly recognized that kid. Her face looked like a used dartboard!”
When he said that, even though I felt for Two Bits, I couldn’t help but laugh. She was a pissed-off cop’s dream; a hippie and a dyke.
“You better get your ass moving. Your old lady is in the back waiting for you and she doesn’t look too happy.”
“Thanks, Red.” Appreciating the warning, I slipped him a twenty-dollar bonus. As he grabbed the money, I saw his dirty fingernails and just shook my head, thinking, “Poor Red, what’s up with bikers? Are they allergic to soap and water?”
Aloud, I said, “Thanks for the heads-up about Carmen. Look Red, Little Rosie might show up tonight. If she does, don’t let her in. Whatever you do, don’t let her get her little sassy ass past you.”
Red answered with an intense, “Righteous, righteous, right on, you got it man, no problem!”
I pulled out the Saint Christopher medal from around my neck and said a silent prayer for courage. Sitting directly beneath the glistening hooves of the powerful black bull on the wall was my favorite little Taurus. Carmen was nursing a drink and by the expression on her face, keen resentment as well.
Keeping my eyes focused on the last booth in the back, I crossed the dance floor. I felt a twinge of guilt for my Marquis de Sade behavior toward Carmen but was careful not to let my face show my feelings. I knew all too well that in this neighborhood, looking soft would be the equivalent of signing my own death warrant.
I looked right into her eyes and said in the sweetest, softest voice, “You sure look beautiful tonight. I have a little something for you.” I fumbled like a blind man searching his pockets, looking for the gift.
With a desperate attempt to charm her I said, “My mind isn’t functioning very well right now. I can’t think, I can’t even see! I am blinded by your beauty, young lady…hold on a minute, I think found it, honey…” And with that, I pulled out a small golden box.
Carmen didn’t even look at it. I could see she was still furious with me. So quickly, I put the box back in my pocket.
“Jesse, you think your little song and dance is going to wash away the self-righteous looks on those dumb whores’ faces?” Carmen asked sullenly. “I can still see those gawking cunts.” In a mock Puerto Rican accent, she imitated Little Rosie, “I’d never say no to a show date for thousands of dollars, that’s for sure! Uh-huh, baby!” Carmen snapped her fingers.
Nervously, I laughed at Carmen’s dead-on imitation.
“Jesse, how the hell could you expect me to fuck my own sister?” Carmen asked with hurt in her voice.
I tried to explain. “At first I didn’t know how I’d say no to Chang.”
“You mean say no to your mommy, don’t you Jesse?” Carmen sniped back.
Her dig about Bunny was right-on, and I came clean. “I am sorry. I really am. I wasn’t thinking clearly. What I asked of you was wrong.”
Carmen betrayed a small smile as she slowly turned her eyes toward me.
Encouraged by her response, I continued. “Believe me; I won’t let it happen again. The bottom line is…you don’t have to turn the date. I took care of it.”
Carmen didn’t reply but at least now she was looking at me. I took the opportunity to say something that I knew would shock her. “Carmen, please forgive me. I’ll buy you a house in the suburbs and get you out of the TL.”
Carmen started to choke on her drink. Putting her glass down, she wheezed and shook her head. “I can’t believe it,” she laughed as she moved over toward me and put her hand right between my legs. She squeezed the top of my inner thigh as she rested her face on my shoulder and innocently said, “Okay honey, let me see what you‘re hiding in your pocket.”
Smiling at Carmen’s sexual suggestion, I put my arm around her and felt the closeness of her body. I let out a small sigh of relief as I kissed the side of her neck and breathed in her intoxicating scent.
I gently set the small golden box on the table. She didn’t move. She just said, “You open it for me, honey.”
I held her hand and slowly opened the box, exposing two exquisite emerald earrings. Each earring was a full four carats of dazzling dark green radiance encased in a stunning gold setting. They sparkled brilliantly, seducing Carmen to pick them up and put them on. The stones looked like perfect companions for Carmen’s petite, beautiful ears.
Instead of taking them, Carmen shot me a skeptical look. “Jesse, where in the hell did you get these earrings from? I know you didn’t take them from your shop. You’d never take jewels from your own inventory. They’re beautiful all right, but what? Did some straight bitch you fucked give them to you?”
“I didn’t fuck any straight bitch for these! Carmen, you wound me deeply. Of course no other girl ever wore these earrings. I went to my man, John Chow. I told that dude, ‘Give me the best stones we got. Bury my ass. Here’s a shovel. I’ll pay any price.’” I threw my hands up in the air to impress Carmen. “I told him, ‘Rob me, man! Treat me like a trick. These are for my girl.’”
Carmen started laughing as she took the earrings out of the box, tilted her head and put one on. She pulled her hair behind her ear so I could get a good look at the sparkling peace offering. Giggling, she asked, “Does it look good on me?”
“Wait a minute, let me get a really good look,” I replied. Leaning over, I began to softly kiss her beautifully adorned ear.
At that moment Kitty, the barmaid, came up to us, carrying a tray of drinks and appearing flustered.
“Jesse, sorry I was late getting to your table. I got tied up outside in front of the club helping Red deal with Little Rosie. She’s been raising hell out there. She says that she needs to talk to you and won’t take no for an answer. Red is having one hell of a time. Here’s your drinks, baby, two shots of Jack Daniel’s with a water back, just as you like it. And Carmen, honey, here’s another Tom Collins for you.”
“That Rosie can sure be a handful,” I told Kitty. “Thanks for letting me know.”
I knew Kitty loved serving me because she loved my big tips. I figured she earned them, due to the fact that she was able to keep her balance, carrying a tray of drinks on those come-fuck-me high heels she wore.
I downed a shooter and asked Kitty, “Baby, how do you keep those lovelocks of yours piled up on that pretty head? I think you’re in the wrong occupation. You should be teaching those queens how to do their hair.”
Kitty lit up like a sparkler on the fourth of July. “Jesse, you’re so bad. If Carmen wasn’t sitting next to you, this old bitch might be throwing you her panties.”
Carmen smiled. “What do you think of Jesse’s little something for me?” She pulled back her hai
r and touched her ear to show off the emerald earrings.
When Kitty saw them, her mouth fell open. I thought she was going to drop her tray. She nearly lost her balance as she leaned forward with those big tits of hers.
“Girl, let me see them. Oh my God, they’re absolutely beautiful! If Rosie hears about them, we’re going to have to get more bouncers.”
I was enjoying their bantering back and forth, but I was concerned about Little Rosie outside. I took out my money clip, handed Kitty a twenty and said to her, “Would you do me a favor and go call Junior at Compton’s? Tell her to come over here and escort Rosie back to the Grapevine.” Irritated, I added, “Tell Rosie I’ll talk with her later tonight if she gets her ass back to work. You got that, Kitty?”
Kitty chuckled as she took the twenty and stuffed it between her breasts. “I’ll take care of it right away, Jesse.”
As Kitty started to walk away, she turned and said to Carmen, “By the way girl, those earrings are drop-dead gorgeous. Jesse must really love you.”
Carmen looked happy and relaxed as she took another sip of her drink. The rhythm of the music pulsed through my body, and the Jack Daniel’s found its way to my head. I was happy to have won my lover’s heart once again. Bathed in Carmen’s femininity, I rested my hand on my girl’s thigh as I slowly leaned over toward her. Our soft lips met. We had survived another test.
Chapter 23
MISSING IN ACTION
Musty tobacco haze filled the cave-like lounge of the Grapevine. Red flickering candles on the tables looked like landing strip lights leading to the stage. A small group of men at a center table sang along in off-key voices to Tom Jones’ “What’s New Pussycat?”
Like a cheap production of a Puccini opera, Little Rosie dramatically acted out each lyric as she danced. The dangling black pasties which covered her nipples swayed with passion as she sang back to the men. “You’re so thrilling and I’m so willing to care for you…” Every time Little Rosie wailed, “Whoa, whoa,” with a swish of her hips, she got a tip.