Page 69 of Cruel Devotion

Every comment, evidence that in the club, I was nothing more than an object to gawk at.

An ass to grab and smack.

The weight of those stares, those touches, was almost unbearable, but I carried it, like a dancer on a tightrope, never showing the world how close I was to falling.

To say I would be exhausted at the end of that job would be too tame a word. My feet always throbbed with pain due to being imprisoned in six-inch heels that felt more like medieval torture devices than footwear.

I’d often stare at my sore, aching feet at the end of the night, wondering how my life had come to this.

Had it been Mom’s cancer?

Dad’s neglect?

Or did I make too many bad decisions?

Then there was the stank of stale beer and cigarette smoke clinging to my clothes, hair, and skin.

Some nights, I thought the stank would never wash away.

Some nights. . .I knew with all certainty that I was trapped in that life forever.

And now. . .

Four men in matching blue uniforms carried me up the winding mountain path as if I were Cleopatra herself.

ME!

The same girl who just last week was dodging groping hands and jeering comments.

Now, I was perched on a blue cushioned chair attached to gold poles, my weight balanced carefully in these men’s arms. My gown and earrings cost well beyond an average person’s monthly salary.

And if any of those guys from that club was here and made the slightest move to touch me inappropriately, Lei would slice off their hands.

How did I get here?

The weight of my impoverished past felt distant, as if I’d shed a skin that was no longer needed.

Perhaps I had.

Maybe this was my divine metamorphosis.

I gazed up at the sparkling stars twinkling in the sky and yearned for an answer to make sense of this impossibility.

The night air ran fragrant with nature’s perfume, a stark departure from the acrid smells of the strip club.

Instead of neon lights, I was bathed in the soft glow of lanterns. Their golden beams danced on my skin and made it shimmer.

Wow.

The men carrying me moved with a synchronized grace. Their strong hands were steady, their postures respectful.

Duck kept their pace on my left.

Lei’s other man, Hu walked on my right.

The rhythmic shuffle of feet echoed in the stillness of the night, interrupted only by the occasional rustle of leaves as we all moved up the mountain path.

My pulse quickened, not just from the sudden elevation, but from the surreal shift my life had taken.

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