Happy the Stripper

Felicity Mondragon is a grade-ten student in one of the prestigious schools in Cebu. Her dream was to become a famous fashion designer all over the world.  Felicity was famous for being called a ‘perfect daughter’ in their city. Felicity always got the top score and was always on the ace list in their school. She’s also beautiful. She has long black wavy hair, milky white skin, pinkish lips, dolled eyes, and a short pointed nose that made her look like a princess. With her attitude, she’s a simple, but elegant, lady. They trained her to be a proper and etiquette lady. Also, every guy in their city admires her, which made the other girls envy her.

Her mother owned a small restaurant business in the city. And her father was a mayor and was planning to run for a higher position. Being the daughter of one of the well-known citizens in their city, their family was always present at the events.

They filled felicity with expensive things. But that’s not what she wants. Her only want was her parents’ attention, time, and love. But her parents was too busy providing her with material things.

Suddenly, someone showed up and made her feel the love and attention she was looking for, and it filled the emptiness inside her. But that love was just temporary. After her boyfriend, Marco Guerrero, found out about her pregnancy, he suddenly broke up with her and disappeared. She has no choice but to inform her parents alone about her situation.

'SLAP!' She felt numb right on my face after her dad slapped her hard. Felicity suddenly felt her face burn, followed by a tear escape from her eyes. In the seventeen years of her life, her dad didn’t lay a finger on her until now.

She looked at them in the eyes with a question: why did he need to do that? Why did he hit her when she just made a mistake? But all she could see was hatred, anger, and disgust. "You disgraceful, woman!" her dad said, with a disgusted look on his face.

"Get out of my house!" he commanded.

"But dad... I-I don't have nowhere else to go." Felicity looked at her mom. Hoping that she could help her convince her dad that she was wrong. She looked away while her hands were clenching.

"That's not my problem anymore," he stated.

"Dad... please forgive me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Just like that, tears streamed down her face.

"I'm your daughter too... Please, dad. Don't throw me away." Felicity knelt as she begged.

"I don't have a disgraceful daughter," he said sternly and walked away. Her mom followed her dad from behind and asked their servants to pack her things.

‘Is this what I've got after looking for love? I was just fooled and I was wrong for loving the wrong person. But do they really need to do this to me? Throwing me away? Disowned me? What will I do now? Where will I go?’ she thought.

She walked out of their house, carrying her luggage with heavy footsteps. She doesn’t want to get out, as she loves her parents dearly. But what else could she do? Her dad disowned her. Now she doesn’t have anyone but only the baby inside her tummy. ‘I will protect you, my child. It will be just you and me. I hope you will stay with me as well.’ she thought as she held her belly.

Rain began pouring down on the chilly night, which made her look up at the sky. The sky was too dark. No stars, no moon. The only light that could make her see the road was the lights coming from the streetlights. She embraced herself as the chilly wind and raindrops touched her skin. ‘What more bad luck I could get this day?’ She sighed helplessly.

Felicity continued walking until she noticed a shed. She decided to stay and wait for the rain to stop. Felicity immediately curled herself as she hugged her legs, shivering with cold. ‘Maybe I'll sleep here tonight. I just hope I will not encounter a burglar. Tomorrow I will look for a place where I could stay.’

Felicity suddenly woke up when she heard the loud sound of a horn from a bus. Felicity immediately stood up, as she remembered that she was sleeping at a bus stop. Few people saw her, and she immediately covered her face. Afraid that someone will recognize her.

She fished out her phone from her pocket and called her friends, but no one give her a hand. She tried her classmates and luckily, one of them answered and help her. "Mary, thank you for letting me stay here.” Mary smiled at her and fixed her glasses. 

“I’m glad to help. But Felicity, I just want to say that this is just temporary. My parents will come back by the end of this year. I hope you understand. They will get mad at me if they find out that I helped you. Because your father already informed us not to lend you a hand.” Mary apologetically said.

“I understand.” Felicity smiled to assure her that it was alright. “Don’t worry… As soon as I find a place to live, I will leave immediately.”

***

FIVE YEARS LATER

“And tonight’s star of the night is your favorite butterfly… Let’s all give a round of applause to Happy!” The host introduced her, followed by the loud cheers and applause of the guests who were eager to see her.

As soon as she heard the music that sent her the signal to enter the stage, Felicity removed the robe that covered her almost naked body. She fixed the mask that only covers my face to protect her identity from everyone. Wearing heavy makeup and a dark red shade of lipstick, surely no one will recognize her. Because at night, she was not Felicity, instead she was called Happy.

The audience started roaring when they saw her up on the stage, dancing a sexy dance, swinging her body in the rhythm of the music, that any man would go crazy while looking at her. Felicity began tracing her body using the feathers she was holding, from the neck down to her legs, while biting the lower part of her lips seductively.

These men were throwing their money on stage, asking to remove the remaining pieces of her clothes. When she noticed the box of money was getting full, she began removing her brassiere and only her short shorts left. Facing her back at them, and showing them that she unhooked her bra, which made the audience cheer for her. She covered her mounds with her hands across her chest before she turned around to face those lustful eyes that were looking at her.

She continued dancing again. More seductively and lustfully, letting the audience see her perfectly formed bosoms. She got used to this. Letting other guys see her body. And fantasizing about her is not new to her. She's been in this kind of work for three years.

Before, she dreamed of becoming a fashion designer, but it changed after Felicity gave birth to her son. She only wants the best for her son. And she will do everything she can to reach her dream for him… To give him everything he needs. Even if selling her body is the only way, she will eat all the insults and judgments they have on her just to feed her son proper food and give her son a decent place to live.

“I won’t mind if they called me HAPPY THE STRIPPER, as long as my son is alive.”