Karangahape Road
We Do What We Do To Get By
A girl sat against the shop at the corner; compact in one hand, lipstick in the other, touching up her already plastered face. Resting it down on her leg, she admired her reflection in the tiny box. She noted that she hadn't drawn her left eyebrow long enough, that her mascara wasn't up to the standard of other nights and that her colour choices in the eyeshadow made her whole face look fat.
In her own mind, these were the only flaws holding her back from perfection – the façade of seduction, shallowness and raw sex that she painted on every day.
In reality, passersby and potential clients already saw her as that, right from the face of plastic to the high heeled boots and fishnet covered thighs. A common prostitute, hooker, lady of the night.
Another girl walked past, almost identical to the first, except for her short purple hair which swished in her eyes, giving of an almost mysterious vibe.
***
"Hey sexy. Where've yah been?" she asked the girl.
"Just down the other end, hun. Logan still ain't got the 300 bucks I lent him," she said, swiftly pecking the other girl's cheeks as she staggered to her feet.
"Whata fucker," the first girl said.
"I know ae, shoulda known he'd be like this," she said, as the pair walked down the street. In other parts of town they'd get looks, but here they were normal. Accepted, one could almost say.
"So yah blown all yah cash yet?"
"Nah, a fair bit, mind," she muttered, offering a cigarette to the other.
"Seriously, I woulda killed for that gig. Light?" taking the smoke and placing it between her thin lips as the other girl pulled out the lighter, sucking in as the end sparked to life.
"Yeah. It makes me wonder what I'm still doing this for,"
"Job satisfaction?"
Both girls laughed, sitting down on the bench.
***
"She's such a slut," one said, rolling her eyes while exhaling the smoky air.
"Talk about it. At least we're hot,"
They were talking about a girl, just shy of becoming a teenager strutting down the other side of the street, wearing a top that might had been less revealing if she had something to fill it with and a pink mini skirt and flip-flops.
"What a try-hard,"
"Yeah, I suppose. Mind you, 15 wasn't much older to start,"
They laughed again as she threw the butt away.
***
He walked past them once, trying to hide the fact he was sizing up girls a quarter of his age.
"How much for the night?" he asked her.
She batted her mascara-laden eyelashes seductively. "How much do you think I'm worth?"
"Nothing's too much to ask for some time with a fine lady like you."
"Heard that before" a voice in her head said. But at least he wasn't one of the cheap, STD carrying sleazes she normally had to satisfy.
"You got a hotel?"
"Yeah babe. And a bottle of champagne with your name on it. Come on!"
"Sweet. Let the good times roll!" She exclaimed seductively as he smacked her ass before the pair walked away.
**
The remaining girl sighed as she removed the needle from her bag. She preferred not to look at her arms, in the hope others wouldn't either. When people outside the business saw the track marks, she knew what they thought. She also knew what they didn't know.
She didn't join the business for the fame, glamour, the money... She joined when she knew nothing better, and now she knew nothing more. Probably helped by the drugs, which was why she needed to pick up at least 2 clients a day, and that was for drug money alone, let alone clothes, makeup, underwear, alcohol, condoms, and the small apartment she shared with a couple of the showgirls.
Kinda depressing, she thought, but once the drug started acting, nothing else mattered...
***
"5 to suck me?" It was a question, not a statement.
"Fuck off," she spat.
"Come on," he pleaded.
She flipped him off and he walked away, off to join the rest of his gang waiting outside the strip club. Swiftly, she extracted the half a bottle of Jack Daniels from her bag and tipped the remaining down her throat.
"You want something better to suck on?" a guy asked, sitting down next to her.
"What's a gentleman like you doing without company?" she slurred.
"Indulging in the presence of a sexy goddess." Judging from the smell on his breath, he was maybe more out of it than she was.
Without a word she undid his belt and slipped down to the ground in front of the bench, taking his pants down with her.
***
"You gonna get in?" he asked, rolling down the window.
At one stage she would have had too much pride to fuck a man who couldn't even be bothered to get out of his car. But now she had none.
Grabbing her bag off the bench, she climbed into the passenger seat.
"How does $600 sound for the night?"
"Fine by me..."
In her own mind, these were the only flaws holding her back from perfection – the façade of seduction, shallowness and raw sex that she painted on every day.
In reality, passersby and potential clients already saw her as that, right from the face of plastic to the high heeled boots and fishnet covered thighs. A common prostitute, hooker, lady of the night.
Another girl walked past, almost identical to the first, except for her short purple hair which swished in her eyes, giving of an almost mysterious vibe.
***
"Hey sexy. Where've yah been?" she asked the girl.
"Just down the other end, hun. Logan still ain't got the 300 bucks I lent him," she said, swiftly pecking the other girl's cheeks as she staggered to her feet.
"Whata fucker," the first girl said.
"I know ae, shoulda known he'd be like this," she said, as the pair walked down the street. In other parts of town they'd get looks, but here they were normal. Accepted, one could almost say.
"So yah blown all yah cash yet?"
"Nah, a fair bit, mind," she muttered, offering a cigarette to the other.
"Seriously, I woulda killed for that gig. Light?" taking the smoke and placing it between her thin lips as the other girl pulled out the lighter, sucking in as the end sparked to life.
"Yeah. It makes me wonder what I'm still doing this for,"
"Job satisfaction?"
Both girls laughed, sitting down on the bench.
***
"She's such a slut," one said, rolling her eyes while exhaling the smoky air.
"Talk about it. At least we're hot,"
They were talking about a girl, just shy of becoming a teenager strutting down the other side of the street, wearing a top that might had been less revealing if she had something to fill it with and a pink mini skirt and flip-flops.
"What a try-hard,"
"Yeah, I suppose. Mind you, 15 wasn't much older to start,"
They laughed again as she threw the butt away.
***
He walked past them once, trying to hide the fact he was sizing up girls a quarter of his age.
"How much for the night?" he asked her.
She batted her mascara-laden eyelashes seductively. "How much do you think I'm worth?"
"Nothing's too much to ask for some time with a fine lady like you."
"Heard that before" a voice in her head said. But at least he wasn't one of the cheap, STD carrying sleazes she normally had to satisfy.
"You got a hotel?"
"Yeah babe. And a bottle of champagne with your name on it. Come on!"
"Sweet. Let the good times roll!" She exclaimed seductively as he smacked her ass before the pair walked away.
**
The remaining girl sighed as she removed the needle from her bag. She preferred not to look at her arms, in the hope others wouldn't either. When people outside the business saw the track marks, she knew what they thought. She also knew what they didn't know.
She didn't join the business for the fame, glamour, the money... She joined when she knew nothing better, and now she knew nothing more. Probably helped by the drugs, which was why she needed to pick up at least 2 clients a day, and that was for drug money alone, let alone clothes, makeup, underwear, alcohol, condoms, and the small apartment she shared with a couple of the showgirls.
Kinda depressing, she thought, but once the drug started acting, nothing else mattered...
***
"5 to suck me?" It was a question, not a statement.
"Fuck off," she spat.
"Come on," he pleaded.
She flipped him off and he walked away, off to join the rest of his gang waiting outside the strip club. Swiftly, she extracted the half a bottle of Jack Daniels from her bag and tipped the remaining down her throat.
"You want something better to suck on?" a guy asked, sitting down next to her.
"What's a gentleman like you doing without company?" she slurred.
"Indulging in the presence of a sexy goddess." Judging from the smell on his breath, he was maybe more out of it than she was.
Without a word she undid his belt and slipped down to the ground in front of the bench, taking his pants down with her.
***
"You gonna get in?" he asked, rolling down the window.
At one stage she would have had too much pride to fuck a man who couldn't even be bothered to get out of his car. But now she had none.
Grabbing her bag off the bench, she climbed into the passenger seat.
"How does $600 sound for the night?"
"Fine by me..."
♠ ♠ ♠
Oneshot. I wrote it with the fragments to show the way everything in that night was disconnected in her head, but these were just the parts she remembered, due to the substances she was on.