God Don't Make No Mistakes (23 page)
Read God Don't Make No Mistakes Online
Authors: Mary Monroe
CHAPTER 44
I
DIDN'T LIKE TO THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT CHARLOTTE DISLIKED
Harrietta with such a passion, even after I told her she no longer had to spend time with her. The more I thought about it, the more it baffled me. And Charlotte's ranting and raving was not the only reason why. Recently, when Harrietta and I were together, I did notice something that seemed a little strange, even to me. I had visited her house for coffee a couple of days ago. Afterward, I invited her and her girls to my house to watch a recent showing of
The Wiz
that I had recorded. During our walk back to my house, with the kids running ahead of us, the old Collie tied to a buckeye tree in the yard next to her house started to bark and howl like the world was coming to an end. I had always thought that the poor creature was mute. But now he was also growling and gnashing his teeth too. He seemed so agitated that I thought he was going to break loose and attack Harrietta and me. The odd thing was, I had never heard this dog bark or howl or behave in an aggressive manner before. This dog was very docile and so old that he stumbled when he walked. And he was blind in one eye.
DIDN'T LIKE TO THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT CHARLOTTE DISLIKED
Harrietta with such a passion, even after I told her she no longer had to spend time with her. The more I thought about it, the more it baffled me. And Charlotte's ranting and raving was not the only reason why. Recently, when Harrietta and I were together, I did notice something that seemed a little strange, even to me. I had visited her house for coffee a couple of days ago. Afterward, I invited her and her girls to my house to watch a recent showing of
The Wiz
that I had recorded. During our walk back to my house, with the kids running ahead of us, the old Collie tied to a buckeye tree in the yard next to her house started to bark and howl like the world was coming to an end. I had always thought that the poor creature was mute. But now he was also growling and gnashing his teeth too. He seemed so agitated that I thought he was going to break loose and attack Harrietta and me. The odd thing was, I had never heard this dog bark or howl or behave in an aggressive manner before. This dog was very docile and so old that he stumbled when he walked. And he was blind in one eye.
“I wonder what provoked that old dog? He never barks or gets excited about anything. Not even with all these cats strutting up and down our street,” I remarked to Harrietta.
“Oh, I've heard him bark before. Every time he sees me he goes crazy,” Harrietta replied. “It must be my perfume.”
I gave Harrietta a confused look. “Your perfume? Why would perfume make a dog so angry?”
“It happens. Didn't you read about that case in Vermont with that woman who got attacked by her neighbor's dog because her perfume irritated him?”
“Oh yeah. Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember reading something about that a few weeks ago,” I said. “By the way, your perfume is a fragrance I'm not familiar with. Exactly what is it so I'll know not to ever wear it?” I chuckled, but I was serious. The last thing I needed was to get mauled by a dog because he didn't like my perfume.
“Don't laugh, but it's called Run Devil Run,” Harrietta told me with a proud sniff. “It's supposed to protect me from evil forces.”
I couldn't stop myself from laughing.
“I get it from that candle shop over on Weekes Avenue. See, I used to live in Louisiana when I was a little girl. My family lived in the bayou where a lot of us believed in lotions and potions and a few other good-luck devices. Miss Gertrude, the old woman who runs the shop on Weekes Avenue here in Richland, she's a good friend of mine, so I like to give her a little business from time to time.”
Harrietta had seemed like a conservative, no-nonsense kind of woman to me. I was shocked to hear now that she had ties to a mysterious woman who everybody I knew, even Scary Mary, thought of as a witch doctor.
“Hmmm. Well, if it agitates a normally quiet dog, maybe you should try another fragrance,” I suggested. That was all I could think to say on this subject. I didn't like to discuss certain things with anybody; witchcraft was at the top of my list. But because of my rural southern background, and the fact that Scary Mary dabbled in voodoo from time to time, I knew that a lot of people took things like this very seriously. I couldn't hide the concerned look on my face. Harrietta noticed it right away.
“Annette, I don't light up candles, or go around chanting gibberish and other shit like some of the people I know do. The only thing I buy from Miss Gertrude is my perfume. And I only do it to keep her happy. She's old; she won't be around too much longer. It's the least I could do. I don't really believe in all this hocus-pocus stuff anyway, so I don't want you to think this is a big deal with me. And I sure don't want you to think that I involve any of the kids in this. My girls don't even believe in simple little things like horoscopes or fortune cookies.”
“I'm glad to hear that. My daughter is even afraid of the dark. She's the only kid I know who is afraid to watch movies with vampires, werewolves, or any other thing associated with the occult. I don't want her to be exposed to anything connected to that candle shop,” I said firmly. I didn't feel like laughing now, so I dropped the subject.
A day later, the same thing happened. The same dog went crazy when Harrietta and I walked by. I was glad his owner had him on a leash, because the way he was showing his teeth, with spit dribbling out of both sides of his mouth, I knew that if he got loose, Harrietta and I would be dog meat. A few steps later, when we got in front of the Mortons' house next door to me, their little Chihuahua started barking and jumping up and down like he'd seen the devil. I had never seen this dog act so agitated before either.
“I hate dogs and they hate me,” Harrietta commented. Until she'd made that statement, it had never occurred to me that the two dogs barked only when I was with
her
. Even the times when she didn't have on any of her Run Devil Run fragrance.. . .
her
. Even the times when she didn't have on any of her Run Devil Run fragrance.. . .
I didn't have the time or desire to dwell on this subject anymore tonight. What I needed to focus on at the moment was Rhoda and me going to that strip club.
I had never been to a strip joint before in my life. From what I'd seen on TV and in the movies, I expected to see just about every freaky thing in the world once we got inside. And that was just about what I saw.
As soon as we paid our fee to a cross-eyed midget in a booth by the entrance doorâwe had to pay to get into this damned strip clubâa half-naked woman in her early thirties led us to a table right in front of the round stage with a metal pole in the middle of the floor. From that point on, I was appalled to say the least. I felt sick! I couldn't order a drink fast enough from our waitress, a bored woman who looked more like a man. The next thing that turned my stomach like it was on a rotisserie was the smell of cigars, cigarettes, and sweat. That all slapped me in the face like a mallet. The insides of my nostrils felt like somebody had stuck burning matches up in them. Even my eyes burned.
The men were absolutely out of control. You would have thought that they had never seen a woman before in their lives. Some were whooping, hollering, and waving their arms in the air like they were at a rodeo. One man, in an expensive-looking suit at that, was on his hands and knees on the floor in front of the stage barking like a dog. Some of the “dancers” looked like teenagers, but the majority of the strippers appeared to be between the ages of late twenties and early forties. I almost choked on my wine when a woman with breasts the size of basketballs went up to the man at the table next to ours and grabbed his dick with both of her hands.
“My Lord in heaven!” I said, my eyes almost rolling out of their sockets. “I can't believe that Jade is working in a dump like this!”
Before Rhoda could respond, the DJ introduced the next stripper: Juicy J. The applause from the men was thunderous. You would have thought that the late, world-famous, exotic dancer they called Gypsy Rose Lee had returned from the dead and was about to perform again. It was Jade who pranced out onto the stage and started dancing to “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice. I thought I would faint dead away! From the smirk on Jade's face, you would have thought that she owned the club. She was dressed like a nurse, but within minutes, she had removed everything except her black thong panties and her thigh-high boots. After Jade twirled around upside down on that pole for a few minutes, she crawled like a crab to the front of the stage and stretched out on her back. She spread her legs open, stuck her finger inside her panties, and frantically masturbated, with a spotlight aimed at her crotch. Good God!
CHAPTER 45
I
WAS IN SUCH A STATE OF SHOCK AND DISBELIEF THAT I DIDN'T
even realize Rhoda had leaped out of her seat and run up to that stage. She stood right smack dab in front of it, with one hand on her hip and her other hand in the air, shaking a finger in Jade's direction. The music was so loud I could not hear what Rhoda was trying to say to Jade. But whatever it was, it only made Jade mad because she shook her head and danced toward a trio of young men waving money at her off to the side. I couldn't believe what I saw next. Jade sat on the edge of the stage, with her legs gapped open as far as they could go. Then she slowly pulled her thong panties to the side, exposing her shaved vagina. A drooling man ran up to her and stuffed some bills into the leg of her panties. I don't know how she did it, but Jade leaned forward and plucked the money from her panty leg with her teeth.
WAS IN SUCH A STATE OF SHOCK AND DISBELIEF THAT I DIDN'T
even realize Rhoda had leaped out of her seat and run up to that stage. She stood right smack dab in front of it, with one hand on her hip and her other hand in the air, shaking a finger in Jade's direction. The music was so loud I could not hear what Rhoda was trying to say to Jade. But whatever it was, it only made Jade mad because she shook her head and danced toward a trio of young men waving money at her off to the side. I couldn't believe what I saw next. Jade sat on the edge of the stage, with her legs gapped open as far as they could go. Then she slowly pulled her thong panties to the side, exposing her shaved vagina. A drooling man ran up to her and stuffed some bills into the leg of her panties. I don't know how she did it, but Jade leaned forward and plucked the money from her panty leg with her teeth.
The song ended and I heard Rhoda say loud and clear: “Jade Marie O'Toole! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!” Jade ignored her mother and moved to the other side of the stage, where another man slid another bunch of bills into her other panty leg.
To my amazement, Rhoda placed her hands on the edge of the stage and was about to climb up on it. Within seconds, a huge man wearing a ripped wife beater and black leather pants appeared out of nowhere. There was a menacing scowl on his face. He wrapped his meaty arms around Rhoda's waist and lifted her off the floor as if she weighed nothing. He returned her to her seat with a thud and a warning. “Now, you listen; you dykes can't be comin' up in here actin' a fool, touchin' and grabbin' on these girls! If y'all want some pussy-on-pussy action, you have to go in the Diamond Room.” He paused and nodded his pumpkin-shaped head toward a door off to the side of the stage. His thick rubbery lips remained open, revealing blunt yellow teeth that looked more like corn. He whipped a large white handkerchief out of his pants pocket and honked into it. He cleared his throat and wiped his forehead with the same handkerchief before he spoke again. “And y'all have to pay for a lap dance like everybody else. If y'all want to act like men, you're goin' to behave like men! Shit!”
“That's my daughter up there on that stage makin' a fool of herself,” Rhoda whimpered, giving the bouncer a pleading look.
“I don't care if that's yo' mama. You ain't comin' up in here breakin' the rules. Now, you sit still or I will throw both of y'all dykes out of here!” the scowling bouncer told us. Not only did this creature look like a huge frog, he sounded like one too.
The bouncer left, grumbling cuss words under his breath. People at nearby tables were whispering among themselves and giving Rhoda and me hostile looks.
I felt totally offended by what that bouncer had just said to us. I wasn't upset about him telling us that if we wanted a lap dance we had to pay for it, but I had a problem with him assuming we were lesbians. There were a few other women in this dump who were not with men. I didn't assume they were dykes.
“I don't like this place, Rhoda. I don't see how anybody could stand to be in here for more than a few minutes,” I complained. “It stinks like hell in here!”
“I don't like this
toilet
either. It's much worse than I expected,” Rhoda complained.
toilet
either. It's much worse than I expected,” Rhoda complained.
Jade continued to perform her act, glaring at me and Rhoda.
“Well, now I don't think this was such a good idea. I don't think you are going to be able to talk to your daughter in this place after all,” I said, gently placing my hand over Rhoda's. Her hand was shaking so hard, I had to hold on tight to keep her knuckles from hitting against the top of the metal table. “Let's go,” I begged. “That same mean-looking bouncer keeps giving us dirty looks.”
“I'm not leavin' this place until I talk to my child,” Rhoda insisted. “If you want to leave, I can't stop you. I'll go home in a cab.”
“I am not leaving this place without you. But if you don't want them to make another scene with us, you'd better stay in your seat.”
By now Rhoda was in tears. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose into the napkin that had come with her drink, which had an illustration of a naked woman on it.
“Rhoda, if you do get to talk to Jade, exactly what are you going to say to her? You can't force her to leave this place.”
“I don't know what I'm goin' to say to her. But I can't leave her here like this. She's still my baby and I still love her; so I'm stayin' until I talk to her, no matter how long it takes. There is nothin' else that girl can do that'll hurt me more than what she's doin' now,” Rhoda said, making a sweeping gesture with her hand toward the stage. She looked so sad and helpless, but other than me being with her, I didn't know what else to do to help her.
I knew I couldn't say what I was thinking, but I didn't agree with what Rhoda just said. I had a feeling that Jade was going to do something that would hurt Rhoda even more. My prediction would come true a few minutes later.
“Honey, the way Jade keeps glaring over here at us, I don't think she wants to hear anything you or I have to say.”
Rhoda whirled around to face me. “I want to let her know that she can leave this place tonight with me. I can't rest until I do everything I possibly can to bring her to her senses. I owe that much to her ... and to myself.” Rhoda mopped more tears off of her face; then she rubbed her nose and sneezed. “But this place is so despicable, I'll be glad when we can leave.”
“I'll be right behind you. Just say when,” I said with a sigh of relief as I sneezed into one of those sleazy-looking napkins. Three men had plopped down at the table a few feet behind us. Within seconds they were all smoking cigars, and whooping and hollering as Jade continued to degrade herself up on that stage. Now she was dancing to “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal. Seal was one of my favorite entertainers. He was such a class act that I couldn't imagine how horrified he would be to know that his music was being used in such a degrading way.
I locked eyes with Jade. The smirk on her face had intensified. I was convinced that if it got any worse, it would melt that metal pole. If this kind of “entertainment” was what the people in this place called sexy, I knew that Rhoda didn't have a chance in hell of talking some sense into her daughter's head. And by now the stage floor was almost covered with bills that the men had tossed to Jade. A few moments later, Jade was dancing a jig and giving herself a single slap on the side of her butt every three or four seconds. She was completely naked now; even the boots had been removed.
“Oh, Lord have mercy,” Rhoda moaned, her head in her hands. She looked up, right into Jade's eyes. Jade gave Rhoda a major smirk. When the song ended, she snatched the pieces of her costume and the pile of tips up off the floor, and pranced off the stage like a drag queen. The last thing I saw of her was her naked ass jiggling like brown Jell-O.
A different waitress came to our table and asked if we wanted more drinks. Except for a short heart-shaped apron, a G-string, and red high heels, she was completely naked. I shook my head. Rhoda beckoned for the woman to lean closer to her and Rhoda whispered something in her ear. The woman whispered something back to Rhoda and nodded toward a door on the other side of the room. As soon as the waitress left, Rhoda rose from her seat so fast her chair fell against me.
“Come on. We're goin' to the dressin' room,” Rhoda told me, grabbing me by my arm. She started moving before I could protest. I stumbled along behind her like a lamb until we were off the main floor. We crept down a dimly lit hallway that smelled like urine, marijuana, and stale cigarettes.
Before we could enter what I assumed was the dressing room, the door flew open. A buxom blond woman almost knocked us down trying to get out of the room so fast. “Move, bitches! I need to get my ass out on that stage!” she yelled in a hillbilly accent. Rhoda shook her head and proceeded to enter the room with me still right behind her.
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