I was driving home from a co-worker's retirement party on a frosty Saturday night in November last year. The party was at his house about twenty miles outside of town. Chuck and his wife Connie had purchased the place ten years before to retire there. They'd been fixing it up and decided when it was perfect, Chuck would retire. They didn't complete the repairs, but Chuck retired anyway when he turned sixty-two.
I was jealous of his acreage, his retirement, and his happiness. Hopefully, I'd get there in another fifteen years or so. It was around midnight, and I was the last to leave the party. I'd been talking with Chuck for about an hour when Connie said to wrap it up. I'd had my last drink at about ten because I knew it was a long drive home. I wished Chuck and Connie well, then drove my old beater Tacoma home.
About eight miles from the city limit, the temp gauge on my truck started climbing. I was in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. I turned the heater on full blast and rolled down the window so I wouldn't bake to help cool down the engine. I'd replaced the radiator the week before, and it had worked fine driving back and forth to work all week. I made it another four miles or so until I decided to pull over before I blew a head gasket or the engine seized up.
I saw a dirt road in my headlights as I slowed down, leading to the South, and pulled down it to get off the highway. I sat for a few minutes, cursing my truck as I tried to figure out what to do. I'd been the only one on the road since I left Chuck's house. It was a cold, starless night with the possibility of snow by morning. So, walking into town would be painful if I made it there at all.
My cell phone was dead, thanks to the USB cord not making complete contact when I plugged it in before leaving for the party. I was screwed.
Luckily, I remembered seeing a strip club just outside the city limits on my way to Chucks. I thought I saw the glow of its neon sign and parking lot lights off in the distance. I had no idea when it closed, but if I could find someone there to call a tow truck for me, I'd buy them a beer.
I locked the truck up, secretly hoping someone would steal it. I then started walking on the shoulder of the road facing traffic. The last thing I needed was some drunk slamming me from behind as I walked, leaving me to die in a ditch. I still had alimony payments to make, and if I weren't dead, my ex-wife would definitely kill me.
It took me longer than I thought, stumbling along the side of the road, unable to see what lay ahead of me. I passed a couple of dead animals and was glad I didn't step on them. There were more bottles than cans, and I nearly twisted my ankle and fell when my foot stepped on a Corona bottleneck.
As the bright purple neon sign got closer, I read the name, The Last Oasis. The strip club's parking lot was pretty empty. I counted six cars spaced far from each other in the parking lot, each parked under a light post.
I guess it would be easy to smack a drunk in the head and rob them way out here, then escape into the night or maybe kidnap one of the girls as they headed out to their cars. I hoped they had security for the girls.
The music made me wince when I opened the heavy door to the club. Not the song itself but the volume of it. I coughed as I breathed cigarette smoke, hoping this wouldn't take long.
The club was dimly lit, and there were two stages with dancers on each one. They were in the midst of disrobing for the gentlemen seated around each stage. The two girls looked at me, smiled, and continued swaying and gyrating for their patrons.
A glance at the bar revealed a professional football-sized gentleman sipping what I assumed was coffee from an old-style porcelain diner cup. He looked at me, deemed I wasn't a threat, and then turned back to the cute goth bartender.
A topless waitress who had seen much better days asked if I wanted a drink. Her face reminded me of Betty White at ninety. Only Betty was much prettier.
I told her, "No, thanks. My truck broke down, and if they had a phone, could I use it?"
She looked at me like I was an idiot, “What's wrong with your cell, sweetie?”
I shrugged and said, “Dead battery.”
As we talked, the song ended, and the two girls collected their money and left the stages. Before I could ask if someone had a cell and might call a tow truck for me. I locked eyes with a gorgeous Asian girl with blondish hair as she took her place on the stage closest to me. A voice announced that 'Jade' was now taking center stage and to please welcome her. I heard sporadic applause as she stepped onto the stage and looked around. Her eyes widened when she looked in my direction, and my brain clicked.
It was Dae, my closest friend's adopted daughter. I'd attended her high school graduation and gave her a hundred dollars as a gift. That was before my ex-wife got addicted to painkillers and ran off with her supplier. They both eventually went to rehab, and now I supported them with alimony because he was and still is a loser, but she loves him.
I thought Jerry mentioned Dae was going to college locally. She'd certainly matured since I saw her at the graduation party.
Dae gave me the evil eye as I left the waitress and walked over to the stage. I sat down and watched Dae swing around a pole in six-inch red heels and white lingerie, complete with white stockings. She didn't need those heels to make her long, toned legs look better. She'd played basketball in high school and was about five feet eight. I'm six foot, and the top of her head was at the bottom of my chin when we'd play 'horse' in their driveway.
As Dae swung around the pole, her straight blonde hair, which had streaks of pink in it, swished around her head like a whip. She wore red and white bunny ears, which matched her red heels. She'd look around at the two guys gawking at her, grinning at them. When she looked at me, I thought I would burst into flames. Her glare was intense. I looked behind me, hoping to see someone standing there she didn't want to see.
Dae continued cavorting and teasing her two admirers, getting ones and fives tossed before her. She'd swoop them up and put them in her panties. Then, continue teasing them. I just sat watching as the waitress returned, asking me if I'd like a drink. I told her yes, a coke. She sighed and said she'd be right back.
Meanwhile, Dae removed her top to reveal the sweetest breasts I'd seen in a long time. I watch a little porn occasionally, but it's been since my wife left that I'd seen any up close and personal.
They looked firm and full as they jiggled. Her tiny areolas were a couple of shades darker than her skin tone, contrasting nicely with the white lingerie she was slowly removing.
When the song ended, she walked to each guy and scooped up the newer tips, said something to each one, and then confronted me.
She knelt before me and asked, "Mister Wagner, what the fuck are you doing here? You better not tell my dad."
I was taken aback by the dirty words coming out of that sweet mouth. It was disgusting and sexy at the same time.
I explained, “My truck broke down, and my cell died. I need to call a tow truck and get it towed. I was hoping someone here would call for me. That is until I saw you, Dae."
Her eyes glared at me as her nostrils flared, "It's Jade here, Mister Wagner. If my dad finds out I'm doing this, he'll kill me and quit paying for college. I have one more dance, and then I'm off. I'll call and give you a ride. You have to swear you won't tell him."
I smiled, "I swear, Jade. I'll be a good boy, and thanks."
Her expression changed to a sly smile when I said, "Good. Now tip me so nobody suspects we know each other."
I grinned, then took a five from my wallet and dropped it in front of her. She cooed and nodded, then got ready for the next song.
The waitress returned and placed my soda in front of me. I plopped down two ones, and she looked at me and chuckled, "It's five bucks, sweetie."
I fished out three more ones and set them on her tray. She shook her head, grunted, then left me. Dae, I mean, Jade's following number had her dressed like those 'sexy school girl' costumes online.
One of the guys gawking got up and left the club. The other guy went to a different stage, where a blonde and a redhead had begun dancing and playing with each other. I might have joined him, but I needed Dae to save me.
She started paying attention to me and reluctantly reaffirmed her agreement to give me a ride back to my truck and call a tow truck. The dancers aren't supposed to converse with customers for very long, so she told me to walk toward town between her revolutions on the pole. She mentioned there was a rise in the highway and a turnout just beyond that. I was to wait there for her.
She couldn't walk out with me because it's not allowed. The bouncer makes sure the girls get in their cars alone and drive off. It's for our safety, she said.
I noticed the bouncer get up and walk towards us. Dae went back to removing her clothes as he stepped up to me.
I felt like a gnat talking to an elephant as he stood there and asked why I wasn't tipping the lady. Dae returned and told him we were negotiating a lap dance. He seemed okay with that and returned to his coffee and the bartender.
Dae said she'd be off in another ten minutes. I placed a five on the stage for her and left. I walked down the road as she instructed and found the turnout. I hoped she wasn't screwing with me as I sat in the dark, freezing my butt off against a barbwire fence post listening to owls hooting in the dark.
I jumped when I heard a coyote howl. It sounded like it was a few yards away, and it freaked me out. It was almost half an hour before I saw headlights coming over the slight rise in the highway. It was a small car, and it pulled into the turnout.
I looked just to be sure, and Dae sat in the driver's seat, waiting for me. It was her Mom's Outback she'd gotten as a hand-me-down. She unlocked the passenger door, and I climbed in.
Dae looked at me, “You better not tell my parents, Mister Wagner.”
I told her I wouldn't as she looked to make sure no cars were coming, then zipped back on the highway, going in the opposite direction. We passed the club, and she asked what happened with my wife. Her dad had mentioned I'd gotten a divorce when she was home one weekend last year.
I told her the story, and she actually felt sorry for me. Dae mentioned that she knew some guys at the club who could make my ex disappear along with her boyfriend. I told her that was okay. I'd suffer and probably couldn't afford them anyway.
She giggled and said how about just threatening them, so there's no more alimony. I laughed and just said, no thanks.
Then she admitted she was joking, but I wasn't so sure that was true.
Dae started acting friendly, asking me how I'd been and what I was doing. I told her, and our conversation was pleasant. Dae slowed as we approached the area I thought my truck was at so we wouldn't pass it.
We found it, and she pulled over and called a tow truck. I talked to the dispatcher and gave her my membership number, along with the closest milepost number, and she said it might be an hour or two. I sighed, thanked her, then hung up and returned the phone to Dae.
Dae put her phone back on the charger. She looked at me and told me she wasn't staying because her roommates would worry. I told her it was fine and thanked her.
We sat momentarily staring into the night, and then she asked, "Mister Wagner, what will it cost me to keep you quiet?"
That surprised me, I thought and said, "How about that lap dance we were negotiating?"
Dae sighed, "Not tonight. Let me think about it, and I'll text you. I do feel sorry for you. I'm not a whore like some of the girls at the club. So, I won't fuck you if I did dance for you. Give me your number."
I didn't expect her to say that, so I told her, "It's fine. I didn't expect anything. This is really nice of you, and I was lucky you were there."
I gave her my number anyway, not expecting a text. I wouldn't have told her father, regardless. I've seen Jerry when he's pissed and wouldn't want that to happen to Dae, she's a sweetheart.
I thanked her again and got out of the car. She rechecked the road before leaving, waved, and took off.
I waited almost three hours for the tow truck to show. I got out and walked around in the dark to ward off the cold. When he arrived, I told him what happened, and we popped the hood to look. He had a flashlight, and when he scanned it over one of the hoses, he wiggled the clamp, which was loose. He tightened it up, got a one-gallon jug from behind his seat, and filled my radiator.
I fired up the engine, and the driver rechecked it and said I was good to go. He'd follow me into town to be sure I made it. I thanked him, and he had me sign that he was there, and off we went.
I made it home just fine and cursed myself the entire way. I recalled getting a text when I was tightening that clamp and must not have checked it, or I didn't tighten it enough.
Two weeks went by, and I'd forgotten about Dae. I'd just come home from a double shift and was tired.