Chapter 3

KELVIN

“Come, my friend," Afro guy said. He was shouting. There was an accent in his voice I couldn’t place. It sounded Arabic but I couldn't be sure.

My friend? I just shook hands with this guy less than a minute ago and he’s already calling me “My friend."

“Sit, sit,” he said. “Have fun, enjoy the party."

I nodded and took a seat. “Thank you.”

“I see that you’re alone," he said. I nodded. “Do you come here often?” He said at the top of his voice.

“No," I answered. “I club outside the state and only come here when I'm invited but I made an exception tonight.” I was also talking at the top of my voice. The music seemed the loudest where they sat.

“I see my friend," he said. “Do you love strippers?” he spread out his arms and said, “I love strippers.”

“I’m not a fan but I do enjoy the show," I answered.

He smiled, leaned over and patted my left knee.

“This club has the best strippers”, he said. “To be honest, it really isn’t hype. I have been to other strip clubs but I have never had as much satisfaction as I get from here. There’s something about the strippers here you can’t fathom.”

I nodded. I had no idea what he was talking about. Like I told him, I am not a fan of strippers, I enjoy the show but I can’t tell what it is people benefit from one that they don't get from any other. They all look the same to me.

“Forgive my manners," he said. “You don’t know my name, and I don’t know yours. I am Mule. Mule Que. I’m from Bony Island.”

I had heard something about that island and it wasn't exactly a good story.

“I am Kelvin. Kelvin Goodrich.”

“Nice to meet you, Kelvin.” He patted my knee again. “Have fun, my friend. There are drinks for everyone. Isn't that right, Shola?” she nodded and smiled shortly. I smiled.

She had slim, glossy, small lips that were radiant in the dim lights of the club.

Asides Shola and Mule, there were several other people at the table: a man and four other girls dressed in similar attires as Shola. Their skins were glossy and almost pale.

“Lest I forget, Kelvin,” Mule said, “Over there is...” He pointed at a hard faced, dark skinned, handsome man sporting the darkest pair of shades I'd ever seen. Who wears shades in a dark place? “…Tesoju.”

I extended my hand for a handshake but he didn’t take it. He just smiled, nodded, raised his hands up and put them around the two girls sitting at his sides - Shola was one of the girls - and pulled them into himself. Shola looked at me and rolled her eyes. She buried her head in his chest and shut her eyes.

Mule laughed. “Do not pay heed to his manners,” he said. “He’s always like that.”

I nodded and took my hand back.

“I don’t have to introduce you to the girls,” Mule said. “That’s not my cross to bear.” He lifted his arms up in surrender and grinned. He had a fine set of pure white teeth. He leaned into the sofa and said, “Enjoy the show, my friend.” Two other girls crawled to his side and he embraced them.

I smiled.

A girl in a white shirt and a pair of red trousers walked to the table with a rack of drinks and a bucket of ice.

I turned my attention to the stripper whose shape was like an hour glass, though slender like a domestic cat, and her skin was glossy like polished glass. She had bouncy, apple shaped breasts with a tattoo in the space between them. There was fluidity in her movement as she swirled around the pole mounted inside the cage. She put her head down and raised her legs up. She slowly parted her legs. With one hand, she balanced herself at a spot and the other hand somehow found its way to her groin area. The index finger of her free hand got lost inside her panties and when it came out, it was coated with a sheen which was glossy under the dim lights, "what a baddie," I thought. She pointed at me and moved her finger back and forth. I can’t exactly describe what I felt, but in that moment, I felt like a piece of iron being drawn to a magnet, I couldn't help it.

I was briefly interrupted by a tap over my shoulder. I turned to see the chubby waitress by my side with a piece of me she said was for me. I took it, shoved it into my pocket without minding what was in the paper and turned my attention back to the burlesque queen.

My consciousness was drowning in her exotic dance moves. She closed her legs, slid down the pole and brought her them down. She left the pole, walked towards the edge of the cage and turned around. She raised her hands up and held them together over her head. Her fingers were sporting shiny objects around them. She had a fish bone tattoo on her back. She stood on her toes and bent down till her buttocks touched her heels. She rolled her waist in sync with the beat of the music. I felt this strong urge to move closer to her.

A strong hand rested on my shoulder and pulled me back.

“Get a grip of yourself, my friend,” the slightly accented voice of Mule rang in my head. It sounded like a tuning fork to my ears at that moment.

I found myself standing right in front of the cage with my lips apart, the hands of the stripper were on my cheeks and Mule was standing next to me. I closed my lips and hissed. I ran the back of my hand across my mouth because my lips felt wet. I felt dazed. The stripper went on with her show like I wasn’t there.

“What’s up, man?” Tesoju said. “You good?”

I nodded. “I think I have to go now.”

He laughed. “But the party just started,” Tesoju said. “Stay a little longer.”

I shook my head. I was already feeling uneasy.

I shook hands with Mule, waved at the rest of his colleagues and took my leave. I had the feeling eyes were on me. I looked around from left to right. My eyes met those of the stripper as she danced. She grinned, winked at me and blew me a kiss. There was a glow in her eyes. The glow was alluring. She whipped her rainbowed braids around and bent over while I hurriedly walked away.

I forced my way through the crowd without caring who I stepped on, pushed away or ruined their dance. Most people I offended on my way out screamed curses at me, the others just hissed. I didn’t care, I wasn't in the mood to apologize to anyone. My thoughts whirled around in my head and it felt like I was about to go insane.

I hurried past the bar, my eyes met those of the Bartender and there was a glow in his eyes I hadn’t noticed before.

“Are you okay?” he said.

I shook my head. I felt my temperature rise and a slight ache was creeping up my joints. My muscles started to feel tense. My hair pores started to look like big rashes and they itched as the hairs on my body began to grow longer. My palms began to expand as my nails extended further. My ears felt like they were drawn out. I could hear the slightest sound of a foot leaving the ground, a house fly buzzing, frantic heartbeats and drinks getting poured into cups. The music became almost a hundred times louder. I could nearly hear people’s thoughts and feel their pain.

The smell of alcohol, cigarette, blood thirst and lust clung to my nostrils like dust. My eye sight became enhanced and it felt like I could nearly see past the present.

I forced my way out of the club and was intercepted by the rock-like man at the entrance. I knocked him away and ran out from the hall. If the glass doors hadn’t been open, I would have broken through them. I ran to my car, fumbled for the remote in my pocket and unlocked the door. I jumped into the car and slammed the door. My arms shook tremendously and became sweaty.

I pushed the ignition. The engine revved once, I switched gears to Drive and floored the accelerator. The tires of my car scraped against the tarred road and screeched when I turned the wheels left and bolted into the highway. I ruined the romantic walk of a couple as they jumped out of the road just in time to avoid getting knocked over by the lunatic behind the wheels of a black BMW SUV.

“You will die in an accident!” one of them yelled out.

I still drove on. I would rather die in an accident than let this monster out.

I swerved left and right dodging slower vehicles whose drivers also spat curses at me. I ran through red lights and nearly ran over a traffic officer. He screamed curses at me as he replied the words of a voice carrying static signals.

I was almost at the point where I would get off the highway into the diversion leading to my residence when I saw the red and blue lights flashing from the distance and coming quickly towards me. The wails of the siren sounded like it came from the audio speakers of my car.

I still drove on. If I couldn’t reach my residence, at least I needed to get away from civilization.

The bumper of my car was welcomed by another car trying to cut across the highway. My car tumbled over and slid along the tarred road on its roof. I still had my hands on the steering wheel while my head lied on the roof.

“Quietly step out of the vehicle and put your hands where I can see them,” a voice barked through a megaphone. Whoever it was didn’t need to use that device because I could easily have heard him from one kilometer away without the megaphone. “You have the right to remain silent or -”

Everywhere suddenly became silent when I forced the door open and stepped out. The next command from the megaphone gave me chills. This time I thought it was in my head. “Take Cover! Open Fire!”