Stripped In Pornland: Three’s A Crowd

Tara leads Teddy to the corner of the tiny strip club. She pulls back the translucent curtain and pushes him down onto the wooden chair.

"I so wanted to be your baby momma in high school."

"Good thing you weren’t, or I’d be paying child support, instead of buying dances from your fine ass."

He hands her a $100 bill before the song starts. She stuffs it in her thigh-high stocking.

"Pretend we’re still in high school," he says. "Show me what you would’ve done back then."

"Without that Lynn bitch hogging you."

He pulls her close. Whispers, "Exactly," in her ear.

She mounts him and sits until the next song starts. It’s "Erotic City" by Prince.

Lynn shows her I.D. to the bouncer at the door. She recognizes the dancer on the raised stage to the right of the entrance. The dancer stands at the rack, where a dude sits with three one-dollar bills in front of him— his eyes at about the level of her pussy. Lynn waves and gallops to the bar. She orders a Mai Tai.

Lynn turns around and, to her displeasure, sees Tara giving a table dance to Teddy—the love of Lynn’s life from high school.

Tara grinds on Teddy’s lap, slowly at first and more aggressively as he grabs her hips and pulls her into him.

"Is that that tramp Tara over there?" Lynn asks the bartender. "Yeah, that’s Tara. Don’t start anything or else I’ll 86 you." Lynn ignores him and looks for a table. The bar can hardly seat 40 people and it’s packed for a Wednesday night in the summer. Lynn gives the table dance area the stink eye while she searches for a table, but Tara and Teddy are too busy to notice.

They almost kiss, but Tara dismounts Teddy and turns around instead. Lynn fumes alone at the table, gulping her Mai Tai, now half gone, in a matter of moments. Tara dryhumps Teddy in reverse cowgirl until the song ends. Tara turns back around and sits in his lap. They embrace. It’s more than just a stripper/client moment and Lynn knows it.

Tara spots Lynn drinking alone and drags Teddy to the table.

"I haven’t seen your crazy ass since last year," Tara says. "How you doing?"

Her and Teddy sit with Lynn.

"You remember Teddy, your ex-boyfriend from tenth grade?"

"Are you sure this is cool? We can go to another table," Teddy says to Lynn, as he stands up.

"Water under the bridge," Lynn says. "We’re all grown here." She downs the rest of her drink. Tara grabs Teddy’s hand, until he sits.

"How about you go order us a round of Mai Tais?" Tara asks Teddy. He leaves the two rivals at the table.

"How is he buying dances and drinks? He never had money back in the day," Lynn says.

"Girl, he got a job. He’s not a bad guy, just kinda nerdy. I don’t care what he does, as long as he comes back here for me. Don’t try to steal him or I swear to God. You had your turn already."

Lynn glares at Tara. The unwavering stare slices through her spirit. Tara fidgets with her stocking.

"This fool paid a Franklin for one song," Tara says, as she pulls out a hundred-dollar bill.

Lynn snatches it out of her hand.

"Gimme back my money, ho," Tara shouts and yanks Lynn’s hair, until her head thumps against the table. Tara lets go.

"Gimme back my man, bitch," Lynn screams and punches Tara in the lip. Blood spurts.

Tara presses her hand on her busted lip, to stop the bleeding. "You dumped his ass years ago. I don’t want your sloppy seconds, you crazy bitch. I’m not trying to catch a souvenir from your stank ass."

Lynn pulls out a Smith & Wesson Bullseye Little Pal pocket knife. Its purple finish matches Tara’s iridescent purple body wrap.

Lynn stabs Tara in the neck. "Go on and run your mouth again."

She stabs a second time. "Let me see you try." Tara chokes on blood.

Teddy, the bouncer and the bartender run over. Everyone screams variations of "Get the fuck off of her!" and "Call the police!" But Lynn doesn’t notice. She doesn’t flinch.

Lynn stabs a third time. "What was that?" Tara convulses in the chair.

The bouncer grabs Lynn and zip ties her hands.

Teddy, in tears, applies pressure to the knife wound.

"He’s all yours now, bitch," Lynn says, before she’s dragged out of the club by the bouncer.