The Girls Can Get a Little Dark at Times

“Are you ready for a little hunt?” Alexis asked as she sauntered into the bedroom. She was dressed to kill in her shortest leather skirt, a revealing top that made her chest look stand out more than usual, and four inch stilettos that made her even taller than her friend. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a wavy ponytail, the way she liked it whenever they went out clubbing, and her face was free of her usual hooker makeup except for her lips which were bright red.

“You know I am,” Tess replied with a smirk. She finished brushing out her dark brown hair then pulled it into two pig tails.

“Don’t you look tasty.” Alexis scanned Tess’ body and smiled at the outfit choice. Tess had decided on tight jeans that were low on her hips and clung in all the right places, the red corset top she had chosen helped make her waist smaller and showed off her newest tattoo, a dragon that went across her shoulders and down her left arm. “Who’d you get to look after Lauren?”

“My sister. She said she’d watch Lauren for the night since I have such a big project to do for work.”

“You’re such a bad liar, I don’t know how you get people to believe you so easily,” Alexis laughed.

“Let’s just go.”

“Lead the way.” Alexis stepped away from the door, allowing Tess through. “Where are we going anyway?”

“Whore bar, you’ll fit right in,” Tess shot her a smile and barely missed a smack to the back of the head.

The taxi ride to the bar took a half hour. During the ride Alexis was fidgeting with her purse, constantly flipping it around and playing with the zipper. More than once Tess placed her hand over Alexis’ and shot her a look.

“Sorry, I’m just…nervous,” she whispered in Tess’ ear, glancing at the taxi driver.
“Don’t be, everything will go perfectly,” Tess’ lips curved upward at the word. Everything would be perfect after this night.

“Here we are,” the driver said in a thick New York accent. He had stopped in front of the bar’s doors where a bouncer was standing. “You know, if you two ladies get bored here I finish working in an hour.”

He turned back to smile in what he must of thought was a suggestive way. Tess shook her head disgustedly at the man. Just because they were dressed like they worked at the bar didn’t mean they had to be treated that way.

“How much for the ride?” Alexis asked.

“Twenty-four,” he replied gruffly, frowning at the girls.

Alexis handed him the money and the girls were out of the car quickly. The driver sped off, much to their relief. Tess stared at the bar. It was in the dodgy part of town, the kind of place where drug dealers and prostitutes were often seen. The brick building looked like a normal bar but Tess knew that inside girls were being used for sex, sometimes being watched by more than one man. This was the kind of place [i[he loved to be at.

Everything that was happening now was a result of one stupid mistake two years ago. A mistake that she was about to set right.

“Hello, ladies.” The bouncer nodded his head at Alexis and Tess as they walked up to the wooden door. “Have a nice evening,” he opened the door and the girls walked into the dimly lit bar.

The first things they saw were the men. There were so many of them there that Alexis thought it was pointless to continue with their plan but Tess wouldn’t be stopped. They needed to finish it tonight.

The second thing they noticed were the girls that stood against the walls. Most of them stood with their backs to the wall, one leg bent up with their foot touching the wall to hold them up, their backs curved so that their chests were more noticeable, and their necks arched. Most of them wore skimpy lingerie, if it could even be called that. Their outfits were more like tiny scraps of fabric sewn together.

“Where should we look for him?” Alexis asked, scanning the room.

“The bar, of course,” Tess said bitterly and began walking to the other end of the room. Her posture, her head held high and her shoulders squared, showed that she was a woman with a purpose and nothing was going to get in her way.

The bar was filled with men ordering their drink of choice; the bartender was hurrying back and forth, trying to answer as many customers as possible.

“Hey! I need another Bud over here!” An obnoxious voice came from the end of the counter. That voice was so familiar even after hearing it only once before, two years ago. Tess stopped where she stood and turned her head towards the voice. There were too many people in the way for her to see the man who was still calling for his bear.

“I hear ya!” The bartender shouted at him.

“Tess, what is it?” Alexis asked, looking down at her friend. “Do you see him?”

“No, I heard him,” Tess answered faintly. Now she knew that this was really happening, she would finally get her revenge.

“Well where is he?”

“Down-down there.”

“Are you all right?”

Tess had turned pale and she looked like she was about to be sick. She nodded her head slowly, “Stay here,” she ordered and started walking towards where she had heard the voice as though in a trance. She was beginning to read the end of the counter when a man turned on his stool to speak with the bartender. Tess stopped in her tracks and stared at the man whose face had haunted her nightmares for two years. His wavy brown hair had been cut and he had added on a few pounds, besides that he looked the same. She could remember that night vaguely even though by the time they had started talking she was already drunk.

It had been two months after her twenty-first birthday. Tess had gone out drinking by herself after finals had finished. She needed some time to unwind before beach parties started. The bar was a few blocks from the college campus and she’d been there once before with a few friends. That night business was slow and she sat at the counter, speaking with the bartender. An hour and a few tequila shots later a man sat at the bar next to her and ordered a Budwiser for himself and, to her surprise, a margarita for Tess. She was so excited, her first drink bought by a stranger! If only she had known what that one drink would turn into.

The man introduced himself as Charles and admitted to have been watching Tess since she came into the bar. While he spoke Tess blushed and stammered out a few sentences. He told her that he went to the same college as Tess and that they should celebrate the end of finals with another round of drinks, which turned into another round, which ended up as two more drinks. By the time they had finished Tess could barely form a coherent sentence.

The last thing Tess could remember was Charles driving her to his apartment, shutting the door, and removing her clothes. When she woke up the next morning she was lying outside her dorm room, her clothes hastily put on and her body aching.

Two months later she found out that she was pregnant and that was the breaking point for Tess. After her daughter was born she vowed to find Charles and make him pay for what he did to her. For the past few months she’s been looking for him and found out from a friend who worked at the bar that Charles was a frequent visitor to the bar.

Charles turned his head and caught sight of Tess. He smiled at the young woman who was staring at him. He didn’t recognize Tess, it had been two years and she had only been a one night stand to him. Charles raised his hand and beckoned Tess over. It took her a moment before she was able to force her legs forward.

“Hello, Miss,” his speech was slightly slurred. He looked Tess up and down, pausing at her chest and tattoo.

“Hi,” Tess said, silently thanking herself for how innocent her southern drawl sounded. “I was here with my friend but she found someone she was interested in and left me all alone. I saw you sitting here and wondered if I might be able to join you?”

“Well I don’t think that’d be a problem except that there’re no chairs. You’d have to sit on my lap; you wouldn’t mind that would you?”

“Not at all,” she shot him a sweet smile and climbed onto his lap. She hated being this close to him and she hated it even more when Charles wrapped his arm around her waist.

“That’s an interesting tattoo you got there. Any particular reason for it?”

“It’s for strength,” Tess said, fingering the dragon’s head which was on the inside of her wrist.

“Strength for what?”

“For whenever I might need it.”

“Where are my manners? I never got you a drink. Hey, Michael! I’ll have another Bud and get this pretty lady a margarita!” Charles shouted to the bartender.

Tess stiffened at the word, ever since that night she’s never had a margarita.

“Is there something wrong?” Charles asked when he noticed Tess’ change in attitude.

“Margaritas aren’t really my thing, they don’t make me loose enough,” she smiled at Charles, “I’m more of a tequila girl.”

“I like a wild girl. Michael, make that margarita a tequila.”

“Whatever,” Michael muttered as he walked past.

Their drinks were soon in front of them and Tess was having an easy time distracting Charles and getting him to drink more and more beers. It really wasn’t that hard, Charles loved to drink.

“You-you know they have these rooms in the back,” he said eventually after a few beers. “We could go back into one.”

“That sounds great. Why don’t you head on back and I’ll be right behind you.”

“All right.”

Tess got off of Charles lap and he stood up, stumbled a bit, and then shakily walked off to the back of the bar where a door stood open. Alexis appeared next to Tess, her hands clasped tightly around her purse.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Alexis asked, her lips were white as she stared at the doorway.

“Yes,” Tess said in a steely voice. Her eyes held no emotion and her jaw was clenched. “I have to do this. Are you going with me or do you want to leave?”

“I can’t let you do this alone.”

Tess nodded and grabbed Alexis’ hand. Together they walked to the doorway and down the hall. Most of the doors were shut but finally they found the room where the door was ajar. Tess pushed it open and found Charles, sitting on the bare mattress that sat on the floor, with his back to them. He was removing his shoes and didn’t notice the door opening a bit wider to let Tess and Alexis inside. Tess put her hand on the zipper of Alexis’ purse. Alexis nodded and opened the purse, put her hand inside, and pulled out the rope like belt she had bought a few months earlier. She handed it over to Tess who smoothed it out.

“Charles?” she called in a sweet voice.

“Yeah?” he asked, not turning around, he was still working on his shoelace.

“I was thinking, maybe I could give you a backrub? You know, to make you more comfortable?” Tess was already slinking towards the mattress when he answered.

“Tha-that sounds good.”

“You just close your eyes and relax.”

Tess knelt down behind Charles on the mattress. She set the belt down next to her and began to rub Charles’ back. He made disgusting noises which made Tess frown and wish she could just hurry up with everything but every time she sent Alexis a questioning glance her friend flicked her hand, their signal to continue. Finally after about fifteen minutes of the backrub Tess looked back at Alexis and got a thumbs up. It was finally time.

“I’m going to take my shoes off, it’ll take just a second,” Tess said to Charles. He grunted as Tess took her hands off his back and lifted up the belt. She smiled at the sight of the rope like belt, how the three rows of rope would soon leave this man breathless.

Tess got a good hold on one end and then pressed her chest against Charles’ back. She began to rub against him, making sure to rub along his neck as well as his chest with her free hand. He moaned as she grinded against him harder. Then she lifted her hand with the rope up and got both ends in her hands. She pulled the belt back until Charles’ neck prevented it from going farther. He choked and sputtered. When he began to make noises that resembled screams Tess put the belt in one hand and covered this mouth with the small pillow that was at the head of the bed.

Charles tried to throw her off but Tess held tight and pulled the belt tighter. It seemed like an eternity before Charles’ movements became feebler and then there was nothing. The man’s body became slack and fell over, back into Tess. She let go of him and pulled the belt away from his neck.

“Alexis,” she whispered, holding out the belt. Alexis held open her purse and the belt was dropped into it, both would be burned. “Let’s go, our work here is done.”

The girls left the room, closing the door behind them. They walked out of the hallway and into the bar. No one gave them a second glance; they were just whores who had done their job.

They left the bar and went out into the warm night air. A different bouncer was at the door. He was too busy flirting with two other girls to notice them. They walked down the street and three blocks away from the bar they flagged down a cab.

The next afternoon all evidence was disposed while Tess barbequed. Two days after the killing Tess opened the newspaper and smiled at the front page.

Man, Twenty-six, Found Murdered In Bar

Saturday night, Charles Hander was found murdered in a back room of the South Street Bar. Hander was found dead at closing time by bouncer, Mark Lanler. Wounds to the neck and autopsy reports say that Hander was strangled, though the tool used hasn’t been discovered yet. No suspects have been apprehended yet.

The bar owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, has told reporters that Hander was most likely in the back with a prostitute and was probably harassing the woman or threatening her which led to his death. All of the women who work at South Street Bar are having their outfits checked for anything that could have been used as the weapon. South Street Bar is being closed permanently due to the death.

“Alexis, check this out,” Tess ordered gleefully, handing her friend the
newspaper when she came over later that morning.

She read through the article, mouthing some of the words. When she finished she looked up at Tess with wide eyes. “We actually got away with it?”

“Got away with what?” Tess asked with a laugh. She went into Lauren’s bedroom and picked up her daughter who had just woken up. Tess danced around the room with her baby, humming aimlessly.

Yes, everything was perfect now.