CHAPTER 23
She
arrived just as the firemen were rolling up their hoses, and surveyed the
damage. Several cops were gathered around the scorched and mangled wreckage of
Sandi’s car, and both Bubbles and Rocky were there, talking with a fire
marshal.
“…I
know there were questions about the last time we had a fire, dammit, but this
time I swear there was no…Daria! Come here!” he said, seeing her pull up.
“Bubbles? You and her start going through what they hauled out, and see if we
still have insurance papers,” he said, in a vexed tone, before turning back to
the stern-faced man.
“I’m
sorry for hauling you away from home, honey, but you’re the only one who really
knows where everything is anymore,” the blonde said, apologetically, as they
went over to a section of the lot stacked with scorched and blistered filing
cabinets.
“Not
a problem, I have to get used to not sleeping, if I expect to be a real college
student. Okay, let’s see what survived,” Daria replied, in defeat, as she
tugged on the drawer of a cabinet she recognized despite being burnt badly.
It
was nightfall when they finally had the last of the surviving files loaded
precariously into the back of her little truck. “Alright, now were the hell are
we gonna put these? Obviously, the building’s a write-off, and I doubt my folks
would appreciate me sticking these in the garage,” she sighed, closing the
gate.
Bubbles
laid a hand on her shoulder, smudged from soot. “Don’t worry. We’re taking them
all to my place until he gets a new office. Let’s go, I’ll make Tony unload all
this crap when we get there,” she said. It was well after dark when the three
had all the files stashed in the massive garage and Daria got in her truck for
the ride home. Turning the key, she was rewarded with a horrible screeching
sound, followed by a puff of white smoke curling from beneath the hood.
“Now
what!” she almost screamed, getting out and throwing the hood up. As soon as
she did, the oxygen fed the little fire, and it burst into a bright flame as
tall as she was. Bubbles’ husband, looking out the window, came charging out
and pushed her away.
“Stand
back, dammit! She could blow at any time!” he bellowed, and she didn’t protest
as he slammed the hood down, to little effect. “Dammit! This better not be
screwing up my driveway!” he bellowed, turning on the hose and dousing the
vehicle with water. To make a long story short, a half hour later, she watched
as the scorched hulk of her truck was hauled onto the back of a wrecker.
“Perfect.
Just freakin’ perfect…” she muttered under her breath, as she signed a form
handed her by a police officer.
“We’ve
been havin’ a rough day with cars and fires, aren’t we?” he said, amusedly, but
the look she gave him made him step away. “Sorry, miss…” he said, fleeing to
the safety of his car. Bubbles patted her on the shoulder.
“It’ll
be okay, really it will. I’m sure Rocky will understand about this, too. And
I’ll make sure you can get to the gigs you have to work, never fear!” she said,
reassuringly, making Daria groan.
“I
was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this, seeing as the business is gone, and I
was already planning to get all the junk ready to take back, Bubbles!” she
almost whined. The blonde raised an eyebrow, as she shook her head.
“Close
the business? Oh my, no! Did you think just because the place burned down he’s
just going to fold up? This happens every once in a while, and thankfully, it’s
obviously not Rock’s fault this time,” she laughed. “And besides, returning
that stuff isn’t really possible, hon. Our guy doesn’t take returns on
underwear, I’m afraid, and he considers pretty much everything he sells as
underwear, so I hate to say it, but you’re kinda stuck with ‘em,” she grinned
awkwardly. “Besides, you don’t look half bad as a dancer, you know, you have
the pissed-off, ‘I hate you all’ look happening when you dance, so you could
make it up in a week or two if you really tried.”
“WHAT???
But you said…” she exclaimed, near-speechless from the sudden bombshell that
had been dropped. “You said before I could take them back, dammit! I’ve just
been going through the motions to pay off the truck, but now, with all this
stupid crap going on, I was hoping…” she said, flabbergasted from the sudden
turn of events.
Bubbles
rolled her eyes as she replied, “Dammit, girl, don’t tell me you thought you
could just up and quit after all that money and time we invested in you, did
you? Ask Jane about how Rocky feels about that! Look, if it makes it any
better, what you owe for that crap you can pay off in a week, if you work it a
little. That’s all you have to do, and I’ll bet he’ll forget about the truck if
you do, but he’s gonna need as many sources of income to get the office up and
going again, and unfortunately, that means both you AND Jane are gonna have to
step up to the plate for the time being!”
Daria
glowered sullenly, but could tell from her tone that she wasn’t kidding. The
bleached-blonde wasn’t as stupid as she sounded, that she’d found out before,
and it seemed as if there was a crushing weight laying on her shoulders now.
“You’re gonna have to grow up a little, sweetheart. No one’s gonna just let you
walk away after a nearly thousand dollar shopping spree without something in return, right? It’s either the stage or the photo
studio, and I know you ain’t ready for
that! Come on, I’ll take you home, and help explain this to your folks…” she
said, in a gentler tone, as she steered her to her sports car.
A
few miles away, Linda Griffin was escorting her daughter from the police
station, still muttering vaguely worded threats over her shoulder. “Who do they think they are? I swear, I’m going to get the station to run an expose on
those brain-dead yahoos!” she snarled, leading her disheveled daughter by the
hand.
“Mother,
please! I just want to go home!” she bawled, insistently, as they headed to
Linda’s car. Her hair was mussed, and her makeup was streaked with tearstains,
and she still wore the plastic wrist tag they’d put on when they were booking
her. “Puh-lease?” she repeated.
“As
soon as I talk to someone, dammit! It’s about time that Morgendorffer woman did
something for us, I think. Now get in, and for God’s sake, fix your face. DO
you want everyone to see you looking like that?” she sneered. Sandi sniffed and
complied, silently getting in a buckling her belt as her mother screeched out
of the parking lot. Linda Griffin ignored the sobs of her daughter as she
headed towards the building Helen worked at, parked, and dragged her inside
with her. “Helen Morgendorffer, now, or I swear, my station will expose
something on you!” she snarled to the receptionist.
“Excuse
me?” Helen snapped, hearing the commotion. “Linda, if there’s one thing I will
not abide is, someone bossing around the office help! Marianne! Get me those
files now!” she snapped over her shoulder. “Now, before I have you two ejected,
what is so blasted important you’d come crashing into my office?” she asked,
heatedly.
“Helen,”
Linda cooed, “I apologize for being so… rude, but there’s been a tragic
miscarriage of justice, and we need help!” she replied. Rolling her eyes, she
ushered them into her office.
“All
right, Linda. Five minutes, because I have a conference call I have to take.
Why is Sandi crying?” she asked, just noticing the condition of Quinn’s friend,
and then saw the jail wristband. “Oh my…Sit down, sit down…” she said, her tone
changing. Linda explained what had happened, from Sandi being stopped, to the
car’s theft, and eventual destruction in the ruins of a commercial building.
“Now let me see if I have this correct: You had already been arrested, and then
your car was stolen, and destroyed? Oh yes, yes indeed, we have a case all
right!” she said, suppressing her excitement as she thought, This could
pay for both the girl’s college if I play it right! as she supplied more tissues to the pitifully sobbing teen before her.
Linda
even dropped a genuine tear or two at what her daughter recounted, but had
steel in her voice as she asked, “So, do we have a case or what? I still can’t believe they want to charge her for that building that got burnt down after
the crash! It’s ridiculous!” she snarled, and Helen replied easily,
“Linda,
I already agreed to take the case, all I have to do is let Eric know I need
some time,” she said. “Now, get her home and let her calm down some and I will
speak with both of you later, okay? Now if you’ll excuse me…” she said, calling
for Marianne to escort the Griffins out of the office. Eric peeked inside the
door nervously.
“Is
that woman gone?” he asked, and Helen
nodded, before informing him of their newest case. “Outstanding! This is just
what we need to make the quarterly earnings! And I’m sure a hefty payout will
be a sure thing for you to become a partner,” he winked.
“Well,
it’s just a start, but I’m sure something will come out of this, once I get the
facts in order,” Helen replied, calmly. He’d dangled the ‘partnership’ carrot
once too often, and she wasn’t in the mood to play the game today. “I’ll know
more by tomorrow, since the girl is one of Quinn’s friends, and we’ll be
speaking about this later tonight, okay? Sorry about missing that conference
call earlier, but this sounds like a better payoff than malfunctioning adult
diapers, doesn’t it?”
Eric
was busy counting the money he felt sure to be rolling in, and left her to tell
the senior partners of the new case. “You’re very welcome too, Eric…” she
growled, as her long-suffering assistant came up behind her. “I swear, that man
is worse than…Marianne! Did you get those documents I asked for? Good! Now give
them to that new guy, he’s going to have to pick up on the Appends diaper case,
I have a juicy one in the works!” she exclaimed happily.
“Is
this going to require me to work late again this week, Helen?” she asked,
sourly. When she nodded, Marianne sighed, and handed Helen a piece of paper.
“What’s
this?” she asked, opening it up and reading it. “What? You can’t quit on me
now! This is the big time for us and I need
you, Marianne!” she protested.
“Helen,
I can’t take it anymore. I’ve missed all
of my kid’s plays, parent-teacher meetings, my husband, all because you ‘need
me’. I’m sorry, but other people in my life need me too, and I can’t go on like
this. You’ve been working me to death to get your damned partnership, and
before I go, I want to tell you something you might not want to hear,” the
blonde said, her resolve growing. “Eric and the others have no intention of ever making you a partner here. Read this, they can’t do
anything to me anymore, now that I’ve quit. Good-bye, Helen, and good luck.
You’ll need it…” she said, turning and grabbing her coat and purse and hurrying
out.
“But…Damn!
Where am I going to find another assistant…Never mind! Now what the devil did
she mean…” she muttered angrily, as she watched the woman flee from the office
for the last time. As she read the report, her eyebrows arched, and her face
reddened, until she crumbled the paper up and shoved it into her pocket.
Of all the brass…Okay, boys, you want to play it that way, fine. Maybe the firm
DOESN’T need a case like this after all, she
thought angrily. And once I’m done with this, we’ll see about your
little problem with glass ceilings, gentlemen…
Chapter 24
Jake
wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the three surly faces at the kitchen
table, and for once wisely elected to keep out of whatever was the issue. Oh
Lord, please don’t tell me all of them are having that time of the month thing
again! he prayed silently, dishing out their de
rigeur frozen lasagna dinner. Maybe if I
don’t say a thing, they’ll forget I’m here!
Quinn was oddly silent, Daria looked annoyed, and Helen was out and out furious
at something. “So, how was everyone’s day?” he ventured weakly, his masochism
gene taking over from his common sense. To his surprise, no one attacked him.
“Nothing,
Jake! Just pass the peas!” Helen snapped. He was upset now, as even Daria
hadn’t come up with one decent crack about something, and he desperately wanted
a martini. She mumbled to herself, before taking another phone call with an
acid, “Hello?” Dinner passed silently, and he felt a wave of relief as his
children fled to their rooms, and his wife sat down in the living room alone, a
stiff drink in her hand and a dark look on her face. Well, here goes
nothing, Jakey-boy…he steeled himself before
asking,
“Honey?
What’s wrong? You and the girls seem so…different today…It isn’t…” he
stammered. She glared at him, and then softened a little before replying,
“Oh
Jake, it’s not ‘that time of the month’, so you can relax. I don’t know about
the girls, but today I had an epiphany handed to me about the firm, along with
losing the only competent assistant I had. I’m taking a case on myself, outside
of the firm, and Quinn, you may want to hear this,” she said, calmly.
“Huh?
Sorry, Mom, I wasn’t really listening…” Quinn replied, vacantly picking at her
dinner. Daria made a vague grunt, and Helen rolled her eyes.
“It’s
about your friend, Sandi. I’m sure you’ve heard about what happened downtown
today, right?” Quinn gasped and dropped her fork. Ignoring this, Helen
continued, “Apparently, she was arrested for speeding or some silly thing, and
some hood took advantage of the incompetent boobs this town has for a police
force and stole her car right from under their noses. That big fire today was
caused when he crashed into a building, and now the Griffins are planning on
suing the city, and I’m taking the case.”
“That’s
great, Mom,” Quinn managed to get out. “You, uh, wouldn’t know exactly what happened, would you?” she asked, eyes wide with
fear. Daria shot her a cautionary look as Helen continued,
“No,
not yet, but I just so happen to have a very competent investigator who doesn’t
just work for the firm. If anyone can get to the bottom of this mess, he can,”
she smirked. Jake frowned as he asked,
“But,
aren’t you doing something with diapers, or am I thinking about something
else?” Helen looked at him, surprised he
knew that much about her current caseload.
“I
was, until today. That’s the other thing I want to talk with you all about. I
mentioned earlier about Marianne leaving today, right? Well, she dumped a ton
of bricks on me as she was walking out the door. Read this, Daria…” she said,
handing her a smoothed out paper.
“Okay,
I’m curious now,” she said, taking it and peering at it for a few moments.
“Wow. I’ve never read the word ‘harridan’ used in that way before, but it’s
pretty obvious they don’t plan on making you a partner any time soon, Mom. What
are you going to do?” she said, handing it to Jake.
“I’m
not sure yet, sweetie. One the one hand, it would be foolish to quit just as
you’re heading off to school, but on the other hand, they’ve been working me
like a coolie using the carrot and stick of partnership for far too long. The
next thing is, I would like to ask you if you’d help me out with my paperwork
for the rest of the summer, Daria. With Marianne gone, I simply don’t have time
to find another skilled assistant, especially when I steal Sandi’s case from
the firm. That’s the first order of business, and damn Eric and the others if
they don’t like it!” she relied easily. It was Daria’s turn to look nervous as
she responded,
“Uhhh,
Mom? I sort of promised Jane’s cousin I’d stay on with him until September, and
you always say to stick with you commitments, right?” Dammit, this would
be the perfect out from having to do that stupid dancing crap and here I am
trying to keep on with it? Have I lost my mind?
she added silently. Helen frowned again.
“Unfortunately,
I have, but in this instance I’d say it would be all right if you fudged on
this one. If you like, you can keep that job, just as long as I can count on
you to help me out after you come home, honey.”
Once
again, Daria found herself at a total loss for words. “Can I think about it,
Mom? I have a lot of stuff to do there…” she mumbled, as Helen fixed her with a
questioning gaze.
“I
suppose so, but I hope this doesn’t have anything to do with the hours you’ve
keeping, young lady,” she replied. “I was sure you’d jump at the chance to do
something that didn’t require you to leave the house at night, but I’ll respect
your wishes,” she added suspiciously.
“Thanks,
Mom. Just give me a little time to square some things away,” Daria said,
exchanging looks with Quinn.
“You
know, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear you two are up to something…” Helen
sighed, as she watched her daughters simultaneously rise and empty their plates
and flee upstairs.
“I
guess that leaves just us, hon,” Jake said, in a careful tone. “Is there
anything I could do? I mean, it’s not like my clients are beating down my door
right now,” he offered. Helen gave him a surprised look.
“Really?
Jake, I could hardly…Well, I suppose you could do something, if you really want
to,” she said, in a strange tone. Jake
honey, I love you to death, and am surprised as hell you’d offer, but frankly… she thought, not sure how to rebuff his offer. The
thought of him trying to figure out the intricacies of the law, especially now
she was planning on staging a coup of sorts against her employers, was too
much. She pinched the bridge of her nose as a headache crept on. He looked
uncomfortable when she did that, but bravely added,
“Helen,
I know you think I’m an idiot. Everybody does, and yeah, I’ll even admit I may,
er, be a little too…I dunno, excitable would be the word, one more thing I can
thank my dad for…and that too, but I really do want to help you out. I mean,
come on, I’m not a total idiot, if I made it this far, right? Whenever I start
thinking I’m a dope, I always remember who I married, you know?” Helen didn’t
know whether to hit him or start crying. “I’ll think about it, Jake. Maybe
there is something you can do…” she said, fleeing the room. Jake looked
pensive, until he realized he was alone again, and returned to his paper,
feeling oddly content for the first time in a long time.
“Jane, you gotta help me get out of this thing with
Rocky for real now, dammit! I’ll admit, this has been fun, but I have a chance
to do something that probably won’t come back to haunt me later,” Daria
exclaimed into the phone. On the other end, her friend replied, equally terse,
“Dammit yourself, Daria! Unless I miss my guess,
you had enough chances to back out of this, and forget about the money you owe
my cousin, chances are he won’t even remember it. It’s the fact you made him a
promise, and yeah, he’s a bum and a sleaze too, but he’s a good guy deep down
and one of the few relatives me and trent have that doesn’t have a grudge
against us. Please don’t mess that up for me.” There was an uncomfortable
silence until Daria said quietly,
“I didn’t know that. But I can’t be working with my
mom and doing this all night long, either. And if she finds out, which she
will, since Quinn already knows, God knows what she’ll do. You got to remember,
she’s the one signing the checks for my tuition, and mother or not, she’ll hold
that against me. I can’t possibly manage to get a loan to cover Raft, not right
now.” It was Jane’s turn to pause,
before finally replying,
“And you have to think about how much I’m going to
be relying on my folks, amiga. Since neither seems to have any steady income, I
qualified for some loans, but I’m gonna need more, and there’s no way I’m going
to be able to turn out the work I need to when I get to BFAC if I’m waiting
tables all night or telemarketing. I had this one dialed in a long time ago,
that’s why I tried to start back when I was 16, do you know that? I went so far
as to buy fake ID from Upchuck and Bubbles covered for me when I tolkd her why.
Rocky went through the roof when he found out, and it’s a freakin’ miracle he
allowed me to this time. But it’s a package deal, Daria. He wants you, not as a
plaything, but because whether you believe it or not, you are a damn sexy
chick. He told me not to say anything, but that’s why he’s been putting up with
all this nonsense with you. Do you seriously think someone like him would do
all those things for just a temporary clerk?” Jane blurted out, angrily. “Your
sister’s been spinning in circles trying to get what you have and don’t even
know. Your attitude sells in his business, believe it or not. Girls like
“Dammit, Jane. Dammit. Okay, okay, I’ll still do
it, but there’s no damn way I can do anything like we did the other night, got
it? Not only do I have to maintain with my mom, but all the other lawyers in
that office too. Add to that the fact that most, if not all of them go the
strip clubs, it’ll be a miracle none of them notices their new intern up on
stage, and I don’t need that. You work it out, I have too many other things to
take care of right now, Jane,” Daria replied wearily, seeing the lesson plan
she’d made for Quinn and forgotten to deliver.
“Consider it done, amiga. And sorry about what I
said before, but this is really my best chance of paying my way through
college. I figure when I become an alcoholic has-been later on, it’ll help pay
the bills, you know?” Jane said sarcastically, before they hung up. Hmmm,
so I’m a ‘sexy chick’ in his eyes. Brrrrrrr, I don’t need that thought right
now, Daria thought,
steeling herself for the next task. Knocking on Quinn’s door and opening it,
she was comforted a little by her sister’s return to normalcy after the events
of the day. She was in her usual pose, on the bed prone, her phone welded to
her ear as she impatiently waved her inside. “Look, Stacy, just go put a cold
cloth on you forehead and try to calm down. I have everything under control,
trust me. No, it won’t be bad for you skin….Yes, it’ll make your pores tiny
like….NO! You do not have big pores! Aggh! Stacy, I gotta go, just do what I
said!” Quinn said, exasperated.
“I see things are down to a dull roar again. Here,
the plan is done, and I tried to make it as simple for both of you as possible.
Now, remember our deal about my little… ‘ sideline’, got it? Now that I’m
working for mom, it’s doubly important she doesn’t find out, okay?” Daria
sighed, handing her the papers. Quinn rolled her eyes.
“Puh-leaze! Like anyone would believe me if I told
them? And I’m way beyond blackmailing you, dear sister. Not when I have all
this dirt on Sandi now,” she said, with a little gleam in her eyes. “And thanks
to you, I think I know just how to make Kevin actually want to learn…” she
added, impishly.
“I don’t want to know. You’re still, uhh, going to
help me with, uh ‘certain’ things, right? “ Daria ventured carefully. Smiling,
her little sister nodded.
“Oh yeah…And don’t get that look, I won’t embarrass
you, as long as I get a cut for being your ‘creative manager’ or something?
Knowing what those girls make, along with working for Mom, you should be able
to help your poor little sister out…” she purred.
“You win, mainly because I don’t have the time to
argue. Ten percent is the most you get, so don’t try to haggle, Miss
Roadwarrior. You never know when someone’s playing a tape recorder,” she
sighed, pulling hers out and clicking it off. Quinn’s eyes narrowed as she
looked over the papers and nodded.
“No fair, but you got a deal. When I get back from
Kevin’s, I’ll work up something for you that I think you can handle, but you
had better be ready for some pain, sis,” she said, dialing her phone again.
Taking her leave, Daria wandered out to her little
truck. “You have cause me more problems than anything or anyone has ever done
before. What’s I ever do to you?” she asked it, wondering if she’d made the
right decisions this day.
CHAPTER 25
Kevin had a surly look on his face as he rang the doorbell. Instead of his beloved football uniform, his badge of manhood, his persona, he was dressed in blue jeans and a plain shirt, and not even his favorite cartoon t-shirt either. “Man, girls are messed up about things! First I gotta pretend I like doing school stuff in the summer, and now I can’t even wear my uniform? How’s anyone gonna know I’m the QB?” he moaned aloud. The door swung open, revealing Quinn standing with a stern look on her face.
“You’re ten minutes late, Kevin. Better than yesterday, but not good enough,” she said, motioning him inside. His eyes widened at her outfit, a tight business-like suit-dress, cut very short and matching her pink suede boots. Perched on her nose were her rarely-worn glasses, and his face crinkled into a sultry smile.
“Hey babe, I knew you were planning this all along. No one can resist the QB, can they,” he purred. She slapped his hand in mid-grope, stepping back and crossing her arms.
“It’s not that easy, Mr. Thompson. May I remind you, unless you pass this course, you not only won’t be the QB, you won’t even be allowed to play on the team, no matter what your idiot father says. Shush, now get upstairs and we’ll begin with your History homework…” she replied coldly.
“Awwwww, no fair! Why’d you have to bring that up again, Quinn? Now I can’t remember what I was supposed to study,” he pouted, hoping to con her. Giving him a look that would chill a penguin, she pointed at her room.
“Get in, shut up, sit down, and I’ll explain to you what’s going to happen from now on,” she hissed, and he nervously obeyed. Inside, she had placed one the old kitchen chairs in the middle, with a folding table in front of it. On it was a stack of papers and a freshly sharpened pencil. “It’s test time, mister, and no more stupid excuses from you, do you hear me? Here’s the deal, sparky: for each correct answer, you get to see something come off. For each wrong one, something goes back on. Your name doesn’t count, and saying you’re a cross-dresser won’t help, either. Daria was joking with you when she said that, and DeMartino seemed to enjoy telling me you seem to use that whenever you get stuck. Since you don’t know what it means, let me tell you,” she said, leaning forward and whispering into his ear.
“Ewwww! Gross! That’s totally bogus!” he exclaimed, aghast. “I thought, you know, a brain wouldn’t burn me like that…” he whined, before Quinn cut him off, producing a stopwatch.
“Let it go, Kevin, let it go. You have twenty minutes to finish, now get started. And don’t bother asking me for help, because all that means is I get to put something on, and believe me, I have lots of stuff to add to this outfit,” she replied, gesturing grandly to her open closet door. He gulped and picked up the pencil. An hour later, Quinn was starting to sweat as she put on her overcoat.
“Soo-rrry, babe, errr Quinn!” he grinned sheepishly. “I’ll do better next time, I swear!” Quinn glowered at him, as she looked down at the three skirts, tops and the coat she was now wearing, making a note not to have so many questions next time.
“Damn
skippy you will, buster. Time’s up for today, so here’s what I want you to
study tonight. Same deal tomorrow, and every day until it’s time for you to
take that damn test, got it? And if you breathe a word of this to anyone,
everything’s over, understand? No tutor, no football. No football, no
scholarship. No scholarship means you end up hammering nails with your father
for eternity, listening to him bitch about how you blew your shot. Play the
game my way, and you get to see what every guy in
He nodded, as her words reached the tiny part of his brain that actually seemed to work. “Uh-huh. And what if I get all of them right? What do I get then?” he asked, trying to sound sly. Quinn rewarded him with a smirk.
“What, and spoil the surprise? You’ll find out when and if you pass my tests, now get out of here and freakin’ read the books they gave you, Kevin. No pizza, no TV, and no hanging out with your idiot buddies.” she concluded. Disappointment was evident on his face as he got up and shuffled to the door. Jake was sitting in the living room, watching TV, and he called out,
“Hey dude! How’s it going? Quinn? What in God’s name are you wearing?” he asked, seeing his daughter. She rolled her eyes as she pushed him out the door before he could reply.
“Nothing, Daddy! I’m just practicing my look for when I become a bag lady! Kevin, remember what I said!” she warned a final time as she shoved him out and slammed the door. She hurried back upstairs before her father could speak any further. “Okay, stage one has been accomplished. Now, on to stage two…” she muttered aloud, quickly removing the extra layers of clothing she’d had to put on when Kevin missed every question. Note to self, evaluate subject’s ability before putting on six layers of clothes beforehand, she thought, as the pink suit-dress came off to reveal more layers beneath, until finally, she was wearing only her dance leotard. Next, she looked over his answers to see where he was close and where he wasn’t, and looked over the suggestions Daria had given her. She allowed herself a little smile, knowing she had finally overcome her greatest stumbling block in teaching Kevin. “How could I have been so dumb as to think I could do this like she would?” she asked herself aloud. Maybe it was seeing Sandi’s car get wrecked that did it, I suppose…” she added mentally, closing the notebook and picking up her phone.
This situation have tried her patience, especially when it didn’t work out like everything else she had done before, but now she knew just what buttons to push to get him to perform for her. Like every other guy, the big dummy, she sighed, waiting for Sandi to pick up the phone. Next step, make this situation go away as well, as her erstwhile friend answered, in a low, defeated tone. “Hello, Quinn. You’re calling, no doubt, to rub it in some more? Go ahead, the rest of the world has it in for me, you might as well finish me off,” she said, drama oozing with every syllable.
“Oh please, Sandi, I am not! We need to get this nonsense out of the way and right now!” Quinn snapped back, sounding very much like her mother. Taking the stunned silence on the other end for what it was worth, she continued. “First of all, I know you were the one that’s been causing me all this grief with Kevin and this damn tutoring job, and I want you to knock it off right now. Not just because my mom is going to be fixing your little problem, but because we’re supposed to be friends, got it? I’m having a hard enough time getting that blockhead to even show up, much less bother to study, as it is without you making sure he has a standing invitation to every friggin’ party in the county, capisce? You do what you have to do, but Kevin is now officially unpopular, since he is not the damn QB anymore, and you can repeat that. The coach and DeMartino both told me he won’t even be allowed on the team if he doesn’t pass this summer course, and if it fails, I’ll let everyone know you were the one who helped screw that up. I wonder just how popular you’ll be, especially if Oakwood takes State again this year. They’re counting on that idiot to win the trophy this year, and even Li will back me up if I tell her you were the one peeing in her cereal,” she added sternly. Sandi gulped and made a few strangled sounds before replying.
“That shouldn’t be too hard to do. My mother’s grounded me for the rest of the month, and I think she really means it this time. She took away my license AND my credit card, and I can’t leave the house unless I’m with her or my dad,” she said, deep angst in every word. To Quinn, she almost sounded near tears, but sympathy had to wait, and in the past, Sandi had played the emotion card once too often.
“That’s really too bad, Sandi, but maybe this will all work out in the end. In a way, we’re both trapped in an unpopular world now, you being grounded and me being stuck figuring out how to teach that dummy stuff we’ve both forgotten in junior high! Would you believe he still thinks everything major in history somehow relates to football?” Quinn giggled, and they began to chatter like the teen girls they were, their rivalry forgotten for the moment as they gossiped into the evening.
Pulling up
at Jane’s house, Daria regretted for the thousandth time making the incredibly
out of character decision to agree to become a stripper. Lugging the duffel out
of the back of her truck, she didn’t bother to knock as she strode in, seeing
“Hey, heard you pull up. I see you’ve dispensed with the usual pleasantries of civilized behavior already, such as knocking. This should serve well as we descend into the first levels of Hell. Come on in, I wanna show you something!” Daria grimaced as she caught a glimpse of her friend, already half-attired for their first evening on the “job”, or more precisely, hardly attired at all.
“Oh Jeez, Jane! I’m not ready for that yet!” she gasped, seeing her friend’s nipples peering out behind the gauzy film of a harem top. The rest of her outfit was just panties and garters supporting bright red hose, which matched her sparkly red platform shoes. Jane smirked and did a little bump and grind for her benefit before putting on a short bathrobe over it. “I hope you don’t plan on going out there dressed like that! We’ll have every trucker in the state following us!”
“Please. I plan on wearing my running suit over this. I don’t wanna have to spend any more time in the dressing room than absolutely necessary, amiga. I’d suggest you do the same, or else find yourself fighting for space in a packed closet with a time limit. Bubbles was kind enough to send me a copy of the general rules of the club, and one of the big ones are if you’re not ready to perform when scheduled. They have us slotted for a certain time period, and if we’re late, they dock us ten bucks a minute. Here, read it,” she replied, handing Daria a printed sheet.
On the top was a trite greeting and wish for luck, followed by the address and who to report to, and then a fairly long list of do’s and don’ts when actually on the job. “Well, she was nice enough to say we don’t have to work til closing time, it says here. But still, it’s six friggin’ hours I gotta be wearing this garbage. I don’t know if I can hack it, Jane!” she protested.
Taking her friend by both arms, Jane fixed her with a steely gaze. “Look, Daria. We’ve been over this a million times already. There won’t be a single person out there who knows you, and even if they do, chances are they’ll never guess in a million years it’s you. If anyone touches you, they’ll get their clocks cleaned, and at the end of the night, they’re gonna hand you five hundred bucks for essentially walking around in time to the music, not to mention the freakin’ tips you’re gonna get. Even if you stood there and just breathed, they’ll toss money at you just to see if you’re alive or not, so what’s the big deal? You like money as much as or more than anyone else I know, and short of hopping into the sack, this is the easiest way to get it!”
Daria glowered and shot back, “Yeah, but I imagined I’d be making money using my freakishly large brain, not my…my…other assets,” she blurted out. “Yeah, I know underneath all the crap I wear I’m not that hideous, but I just don’t know if I can keep it together wearing this trash! Oh crap, your cousin is gonna kill me. Maybe that’s be better, a nice shallow grave or something…” she moaned. Jane rolled her eyes as she took the bag away from her friend.
“Rocky’s not gonna kill ya over a couple of damn outfits. He spends more on phone calls that you have here, despite what Bubbles said. Here, we’ll make it easy and just take a couple with us. Lemme see here,” she grunted, pulling out several of the outfits before settling on a couple. “Here. These are pretty tame, considering, and she showed you how to take ‘em off the other day. They also fit your personality, so don’t bother faking a smile. Don’t forget the toy whip, either,” she said, handing her a couple of latex “bondage” type outfits, which covered more skin that what she was wearing.
“Thanks loads. You don’t suppose it’d be all right if I wore my regular boots with these? My feet still haven’t totally recovered from the last time, Jane.” Daria grumbled, as her friend picked through the pile on the floor before coming up with the same short boots and a pair of black platforms similar to her own.
“Pshaw, nothing a little practice won’t fix. Take your regular ones anyway, and your skirt, but put on one of these things underneath it. You remember what Bubbles said about low profile going in, right? I’ll loan you a jacket so you don’t have to wear your normal one, and as long as you remembered your contact lenses, no one will know you were there, right?”
Taking off her backpack, Daria produced her lens case and went into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she came back, blinking her eyes and with a cross look on her face. “I hate these damn things, even if they are better than the first ones. Makes my eyes feel like they’re made of leather or something. I suppose now its time to spackle my face like yours, huh?” she sighed, referring to the heavy make-up Jane had already applied.
“That and adding about ten pounds of hair goo. Relax, I’ve already forgiven you for the last little faux pas with my hair, and the last thing I wanna do is sabotage the evening before it starts. Sit down, Daria, and prepare to be amazed. Quinn ain’t the only one you know who can trowel the beauty spooge,” Jane chuckled, directing her friend to the room’s only chair. True to her word, she rather expertly painted Daria’s face. To her own disbelief, she found herself nodding in approval.
“No doubt. Not a bad job, if I do say so myself. Nothing like the freak-show clown job Quinn and her friends pulled on my mom that time. If that picture ever got out…You don’t have a camera handy, do you? For some strange reason, I want to record this for posterity,” she said, turning to face Jane, who already had one in her hand.
“You read my mind, amiga. After we’re done, I’ll show you how to repeat that look, so you won’t be struggling next time,” she said, snapping a few shots at different angles. “Now, go get dressed, or however close to “dressed” this crap counts for, and let’s get out of here. We’re on early, and I don’t want to start my first day late!”
It didn’t
take long to put on the outfit she’d worn before and toss the other and the
shoes into a beach bag Jane also provided. Covered up by an oversized T-shirt
she’d brought and a long grey shirt-jacket from the closet, both girls
descended the stairs and out to the truck, never stirring
“Why? Afraid he wouldn’t like it if he knew you were going out to take you clothes off in front of strange men? I thought you were over the crush on my brother, Daria, or are you keeping him as a go-to in case this thing with Mike pans out, or Jeffy decides to become one of Quinn’s minions again?” Jane teased softly.
Blushing
furiously, she replied, “Dammit, Jane, there is nothing with this ‘Mike’, okay?
He was an okay guy to give us a ride home after Bubbles bailed out on us. Yeah,
I talked to him later, but that’s all! As for Jeffy, well, he’s a nice kid, but
there’s that whole thing with my sister I have to get over first, plus the fact
he’s still in
Her answer was heated and Jane wisely decided to back off as they headed to the club outside of town. It was early, with only a few cars in the gravel lot. One was familiar as Bubbles’ little blue sportscar, and she drove around back, where the woman had told them to park for safety and privacy. She noted the little road that led down and away to a connecting lane off the main road, and saw why. If there were any issues, the dancers and staff could flee down that way and be onto the main drag before any of the paying customers. Already, a bouncer was stationed outside the employees entrance, with Bubbles chatting and smoking with him.
“Girls! Glad you decided to come early! There’s a few people I want you to meet and then you can get ready for the evening. Jane? I want to speak to you alone for sec, okay? Daria, the dressing room’s that way, you can get ready and watch the first couple girls up, get an idea of what you want to do. Playlist is open, so if you want anything in particular, let the DJ know now, he’s in back with the first two up now. Talk to you in a bit!” the blonde said cheerfully, already a little tipsy despite the early hour. Daria’s thoughts were neutral as she found the dressing room door and went in.