followed his directions, and Jeff began taking shots, slowly walking around her. “Hold that pose, Keisha,” he said. “You’re doing great.”
Keisha took directions well, and faster than she’d expected, it was all over.
“That was absolutely wonderful,” Steven said. “Absolutely wonderful.”
“I told you she was great,” Ray said, bringing Keisha a white robe. “When I saw her at the Chi Chi Room, I just knew she’d be great.”
“Did you have a good time?” Steven asked. “I mean, it’s really important that you had a great time with us.”
“Yeah, I did,” she said. And she really meant it. It was much easier to pose than to shake her ass all night, and she made guaranteed money. “So when do I get to see the pictures?”
“We’ll send them to you in about a week or so. I think you’ll love them. So go get dressed and we’ll get you your money.”
Kevin joined Keisha back in the dressing room as she started wiping off the oil.
“So how do you think I did?” Keisha asked, putting her clothes back on.
“They are ecstatic,” Kevin said. “But I want to caution you to keep your head up, even with them.”
Keisha started putting on her clothes. “No need to tell me that, Kevin. I knew that when I decided to get into this game.”
“And that’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. Why did you get in the skin game? It’s obvious that you’re smart—smarter than most of the girls who come through here. So why this? Why dancing at the Chi Chi Room?”
“It’s quite simple,” she responded. “I like it because I’m very sexual. I like the attention, even from the leering men in the pervert pit. And if I can make some money at the same time, then that’s a whole lot better than working at the Crenshaw Baldwin Hills mall for six dollars an hour, don’t you think?”
She put on her shoes and was ready to go.
“Plus, it’s just my body, nothing more or less.”
Kevin opened the door for her to leave. “Just remember that it is always your body and not anyone else’s,” he whispered. “If you do that, you’ll be fine. But if you ever feel uncomfortable, get out.”
The crew had pretty much broken down everything, and Steven was talking to Ray and Jeff onstage when Keisha approached them.
“Keisha, I just want to say that I’m very excited about your work for Pimp magazine. You were a true professional, and I think the photos will come out great. I’d like to keep in touch with you”—he pulled out a business card—“so that we can use you for future projects. I have a new venture I’m working on, and I think you’d be perfect.”
“Thank you,” Keisha said, as she took the card. “I had fun. Let me know if you need me again.”
“Will do. So I expect you would like to get paid that five hundred dollars you’re owed,” Steven said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a roll of bills and began pulling off notes. “One, two, three, four, five hundred dollars. Enjoy yourself.”
Keisha took the money, and Kevin handed her the duffle bag. “What about Sean?” she asked.
Steven looked at Ray and smiled. “Don’t worry about Sean. I’ll talk to him. I don’t like people cheating other people, so he’ll get a good talking-to from me.”
“Yeah, but then he’ll fuck with me at the club.”
“Don’t worry about that. You’ll be fine. I promise, he said, smiling. “Hey, I’m about to get out of here. Can I offer you a ride home?”
“Sure,” Keisha replied. She was beginning to like Steven, and although she didn’t know him well, she felt she could somehow trust him.
“Ray, make sure everything gets broken down, and then meet me back at the office. I’ll drop Keisha off and then meet you there.”
“It was cool seeing you again, Keisha,” Ray said.
“Back at ya. See ya, Kevin, and thanks for your help.”
“No problem.”
“Let’s go, Keisha,” Steven said. “I think you’ll enjoy the ride home.”
Chapter 7
We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
As Steven and Keisha walked out of the shoot, Keisha was ecstatic that she had five hundred dollars in her pocket and another couple hundred dollars sitting at home from Chi Chi Room dances. Things were starting to look up.
They left the theater and were out in the parking lot when Keisha saw Steven’s ride.
“You expect me to get on the back of that?” Keisha asked incredulously.
“Sure,” he said. Steven didn’t have a car, he had a motorcycle. “This is a Suzuki Hayabusa, the fastest motorcycle on the planet. Did you see the Biker Boyz?”
“Yeah,” she replied nervously.
“This is what Laurence Fishburne rode in the movie.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to ride it in my lifetime,” she said. “Plus, I have a duffle bag.”
“No problem,” he said, handing her a helmet. “Just give me the bag and you put on the helmet.”
Keisha had never ridden on the back of a bike, so she was nervous. But it was better than taking the bus.
Steven snapped the bag to the side of his bike and then climbed on. “Come on. Just hop on, and hold on.”
“Yeah, that’s what my first boyfriend told me,” she smiled. She climbed onto the back of the bike and Steven started it up. The sound was deafening.
“So where are we going?” he asked over the exhaust noise.
“My apartment is on Centinela, in Inglewood,” she yelled.
“Okay, hold on!”
Steven rolled forward quicker than Keisha had expected, and she found herself clinging to Steven with all her might. As he flew down Crenshaw Boulevard, the speed and excitement of being on the bike gave her a rush. Steven expertly flicked the bike in and out of traffic, and other bikers came up on the side of them from time to time. Steven would give them a wave or two, and then they’d fly off into the distance.
“Better than riding on the bus, eh?” Steven shouted back to Keisha at a stoplight.
“I’m loving it,” she said. “As long as I don’t fall off.”
“You won’t fall off.” Steven laughed. “I won’t let you.”
Steven kept going and in less than five minutes, Keisha was at her door. Steven turned off the Hayabusa, and Keisha got off. She took off her helmet and handed it to him. Steven flipped the visor on his and took it.
“You’re a very beautiful girl, Keisha, and I hope that we can work together again,” he said.
“I’d like that,” she said, and meant it. This had been a profitable and pleasurable afternoon.
“Take care.”
And with that, Steven turned the bike back on and was off. Keisha stood on the sidewalk, watching him disappear.
Keisha walked into Patra’s apartment building and took the elevator to the second floor. When she got off, she saw an older white man walking out of Patra’s apartment, with Patra in a white silk robe. The white man walked past Keisha quickly, not looking up as he walked. Patra slipped something into her robe that Keisha couldn’t see.