Page 9 of Shar: A Woman Alone

Crack unlocks one of the double doors and we walk in. It’sso quiet it feels shocking. In my mind, I’d expected loud music, lots oftalking, and some offensive remarks flying. I didn’t expect silence.

Looking at Crack, I can see him laughing at my reaction, butI shrug my shoulders and scan the room. The first thing I notice is a raisedarea in the center of the room with a dance pole that has seen better days.This area has a walkway from it to what I presume are the changing areas.Pointing, I look at Crack. “Does that lead to the changing areas for thedancers?”

“Sure does. Once they walk past the doorway there is ahallway and the changing rooms. We have a bouncer in that hallway at alltimes.” Crack points to the left side of the room from where we’re standing atthe main doors. “That’s the bar, as you can see. We have three bartendersworking each shift.”

Nodding to Crack, I let my eyes scan the room, and apartfrom the dance area, it's all tables and chairs circling the room. “Is this itfor the business, or is there more hidden away?”

“What do you mean?”

I turn and look up at him. “Well, do you have any illegalgambling, lap dances, or other things going on?”

Crack laughs. “We have no gambling here, and no lap danceseither, but we’ve considered it. Brawl, our Sergeant at Arms, thinks it wouldmake a killing, but we’re not sure how we’d set that up.”

“Okay, that’s worth thinking about. We can check any lawsthat may apply to lap dancing, and I know it’s supposed to be illegal, butthere are so many loopholes it’s not followed through with. Also, afterchecking, I saw that full liquor and nakedness are not supposed to happen inthe same place.” I giggle when I think of how the hell you could have a stripclub without liquor and nudity.

I walk further into the large room, and around some of thesupporting pillars, which have posters advertising upcoming women, cheaperliquor nights, and dance interviews.

“How many dancers do you currently have?” I take out myphone and bring up the notepad app. Tapping out the information I need togather and what I need to remember.

“We have seven at the moment. As soon as one leaves, we dointerviews. We also have a couple of women on standby, so if anyone leaves usin the shit, we can call them up and they’ll cover until we get replacements.”Crack nods for me to follow and we walk behind the bar and through a door thatleads to a hallway.

The hallway has access to a kitchen, an office, a utility,and a storeroom. The storeroom’s lined with boxes of liquor on shelves. Nearlyeverything you can think of is in here. There is another door, and it opens toa set of stairs that lead down to the cellar. “I don’t need to see the cellar,Crack. I think I’ll leave that to the liquor experts.”

“There is an apartment upstairs, but it’s in dire need ofrenovation, so no one has used it. We keep saying we’ll get it done and put itout for a rental, but it’s never happened.” I give Crack a nod, then step outof the storeroom and into the kitchen.

The kitchen is modern and has good counter space, a stove, afridge, cabinets, and an eight-seater table and chairs. Those that work longhours here can at least have something to eat and sit away from the bustle ofthe club itself.

Stepping out of the kitchen, along the hall, we walk into anoffice. Again, this is modern and has a good size desk and chair at the top ofthe room in front of a window with bars across. There are blinds that can beopened and closed also, so that’s good as the heat on your back would behorrendous.

There is a filing cabinet, three easy chairs, and a coffeetable. I spot a printer in the corner and a wall safe, a rather large one.Everything you would need, except one thing, turning to Crack, who is watchingme closely. “Don’t you have a computer system in here? Or am I missingsomething?”

Crack chuckles. “Everything’s linked from the clubhouse to alaptop. That way the information cannot be compromised, as only the person incharge for the day and Zip, our tech man, know the code. The code is changedevery day, and we keep the laptop in the safe.” I grin as I think that’s agreat idea and keeps security tight.

Walking out of the office, we have two doors. The first Iopen and it’s a small utility that has a washer and dryer, shelves above withthe detergents. A mop and bucket are leaning in a corner next to a sink. Last,I notice a box with cleaning materials, so the utility does double duty as acleaning closet.

Closing the utility door, I turn to Crack. “We need to workout something for the utility. It’s messy, cleaning material-wise, so maybe atall cabinet where they could be placed out of sight?” Crack nods, thenresponds, “Yeah, I can look into that.”

The last door is a stairway to the apartment above.

We walk back through the hallway, behind the bar, and intothe back of the club where the walkway for the dancers leads to a hallway withthe dressing rooms. The dressing rooms are in a terrible mess. Clothes, if youwant to call them that, are thrown on the dresser tops and the mirrors aredisgusting. Turning around, I notice overflowing trash cans. Shoes that havebeen kicked off and forgotten and even a couple of thongs hanging on the cornerof mirrors.

The room itself is fine. The dressers are in good conditionand have stools that fit underneath. The mirrors are fastened to the wall andhave lights around aiding the application of makeup. I slowly walk past andpush closed a couple of locker doors after peaking in and seeing the messinside.

Opening the last door, I’m happy to see a row of showers, acouple of toilet stalls, and sinks. But again, the entire area needs cleaning.The sinks are dirty and have not been cleaned in a long time. Opening a toiletstall, I see it needs attention. I’m not even going to bother looking at theshower stalls.

Turning to Crack as I’m tapping information into the noteson my phone, I comment. “Need you to make an appointment for me to speak to thecleaning crew as soon as you can arrange it. I also need all the dancers heretomorrow at 2:00 pm, no messing around, Crack. They need organizing and I’llspeak to Bank after that.

“Okay, that’s not a problem and I’m with you all day againtomorrow, so wherever you go, I’ll be right with you,” Crack chuckles. “I’llget them all here tomorrow and I’ll be happy to see how you deal with them.”

“I’m here to give you advice on how I see things could beimproved. I don’t know if me laying down the law with these women will help ornot, but the mess they are making shows how unprofessional they are.” I turntowards the door. “How come nobody has seen the disgusting mess they have madeof this place and it’s a good place, don’t get me wrong. I think you’ve a goodbusiness here, but everyone has to respect the position they hold for it to betruly successful.”

Crack tips his head to one side and is considering what I’vesaid, and I’m pleased when he answers. “We’ll see tomorrow, but if they getmouthy, I’m happy for you to sort them out, or I’ll jump in and speak. Eitherway is good as far as I see it.”

We wander around the rest of the place and when we standbehind the bar, I can see it needs some care. I point out dirty areas to Crackand show him the wine cooler is dripping water as a small pool is seeping fromunderneath the front. Crack is taking it all in and has taken out his phone andis using a note app to write information to come back to later when we returnto the clubhouse.

Once we’ve seen everything we head back to the clubhouse,and I’m thankful that we’ve gotten that done because it’s a good business. Itjust needs cleaning and keeping it sharp.

“I’m just stopping to top her up. I’ll not be a minute ortwo,” Crack informs me, as he pulls into a gas station that looks like it needsa bit of tender loving care.

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