I. Pimp Out

Ivory noted there were strippers everywhere dancing on top of men or other females, laughing, and drinking. Swindle H and Birdie wished Ivory a 'good luck' and went their separate ways. The tables were filled with mainly young and middle-aged men, some men were older, but looked suspicious. Ivory felt a lump in her throat; the images of the tortured man replayed in her head. Fearing that Blue would torture her, Ivory decided to do what Roxie said.

Roxie turned to Ivory and could see her discomfort, "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Blue and Red own this club, so if anyone hurts you, they'll be in trouble."

The statement didn't make Ivory feel better, it made her feel worse; Blue and Red owned a strip club. The red and blue lights flashed everywhere, and the club sported black furniture. Ivory noticed that the strip poles were the color of Harley's hair.

Roxie's eyes roamed the room. She grinned and pointed, "That man looks young, and he is looking right at you!"

Ivory slowly looked at Roxie's finger's direction to see a young man that looked a couple of years older, wearing a tuxedo and dark hair gelled back. The young, handsome man gave a charming smile, but Ivory felt that the man wasn't as lovely as he appeared.

"Ivory, I know you don't want to do this, but you have no choice."

Ivory walked toward the charming man, whose grin widened.

"We'll only be here for a couple of hours!" Roxie shouted back but sighed as the young girl ignored her.

Ivory stood near the man as he extended his arm and took her hand, "Hello, who are you?" his grin reached his ears.

She looked around the room, seeing that everyone was occupied. "Ivory," she said awkwardly.

"Ah, a shy one, I see," his grin got wider, liking her timid nature.

She looked to see his table occupied with two other men dressed up, staring at her warningly, and she knew that she would have to do whatever this man wanted. He turned to the men behind him and motioned for them to go away.

"Go have some fun. I'm busy at the moment."

The two men nodded and walked off, but one turned to send her a 'be careful' look, and she felt more awkward but relieved that they warned her about this man.

The young man turned to her again, her hand in his larger one. "Come, sit on my lap," It wasn't a suggestion, it was an order. She slowly sat at the edge of his lap. The man adjusted her in his lap. "You're so cute," he laughed as his arms wrapped around her.

Ivory could have sworn that she saw purple hair in her peripheral vision, and she quickly turned to see nothing. She felt weird but shrugged it off.

"How old are you? You look a little young to be here."

"Eighteen," she kept it short and sweet.

Roxie went up to a waitress and pointed to the table where Ivory sat, and the unnamed waitress made her way over.

"Really, for how long?"

"Today."

He smirked, "Really? Today is your birthday?" she nodded. "Just of age and working here? How cute. I think we should celebrate."

The waitress came over to take their orders, and the man told her to bring chocolate cake and white wine. The waitress nodded and walked off, and Ivory felt extremely uncomfortable.

The man noticed her discomfort. "What's wrong? You seem distraught."

"I've never done anything like this before."

"There's a first for everything," he looked at her curiously. "So, where are you from?"

"Queens."

"I mean—where do you come from? Who brought you here?"

"Oh, Roxie did."

The man's eyes widened. "You know the Blue Dragons?"

She nodded. "Blue told me I have to try prostitution because all of the other girls have either tried it or still are prostitutes, so here I am."

He smirked. "You don't look like the type he would keep around."

"What do you mean?"

"You must have something that he wants or know someone important to him. He would never keep quiet girls like you around," The man was silent momentarily and then narrowed his eyes. "You must mean something to him."

"My friend is there also, but he doesn't seem to like her that much."

"He probably has her around because he needs you."

Ivory thought about what was said, realizing that this man was onto something. Ivory wondered why Blue would need her and what she meant to him.

Ivory needed to know more; she decided to play along. "You're right."

"Yes, dear, I know."

She refrained an eye roll. The mysterious but charming man brought her closer, one of his hands touching her hip.

"I wonder when the food will be here," Ivory said awkwardly.

The man chuckled. "A lady with an appetite, I like that."

Ivory ignored his comment as the waitress came with the best chocolate cake she had ever seen and sparkling white wine. Before she knew it, she was eating a rich chocolate cake and drinking white wine.

"How do you know the Blue Dragons?" she asked.

"I've worked with Blue before."

"What was it like?"

"Blue is filled with secrets, that's for sure. He's very calm but violent. He has the worst temper."

Ivory nodded and ate some more, wondering what type of work he and Blue worked on together. She could tell asking wasn't an option. The loud music, chatter, and bright lights came back to her, and she looked around, seeing Fox enter, and she gulped. Fox walked over to Roxie and said something to her, and the two disappeared down a hallway.

Ivory saw the purple hair again, and looked, but saw nothing.

"Are you all right?"

"Oh, yes, I just saw Roxie leave."

"Don't worry, you're fine," the man's hand gently grabbed her knee. "What about you? How do you know Blue?"

"My friend and I were in the city and saw two of his workers steal a man's wallet. They saw us watching them and chased us through the city."

"And what do your parents have to say about a girl like you running around with criminals?"

"I don't have parents. I'm an orphan."

The man seemed shocked. "That's terrible."

"I guess."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It isn't your fault."

The man chuckled and picked up his glass and held it up. She took hers, gave a toast, and they drank. Ivory immediately took a dislike toward the wine.

The man finished his wine and pulled her closer to him. The strong arms wrapped tightly around her, and his face was against her own. She felt like running but knew she could never free herself from his superior strength. She felt his lips gently touch her cheek, and she began to squirm. The man's grip tightened as his lips met hers and crashed. About five seconds later, he shoved his tongue in her mouth.

Ivory moved away and stood. "Thanks for the wine and cake." She said immediately and ran off before he could do anything.

Ivory wandered around couples that were making out and drinking as she bumped into Roxie.

"Ivory, how is everything?"

"That man kissed me."

"Oh, your first kiss, I assume? It's all right,"

"No, I didn't like it. That man shoved his tongue down my throat."

"French kissing on the first kiss — that's a clear indication that he —"

"— May we go back to base? I don't want to be here."

Roxie sighed in disappointment, but nodded and drove her back to base.

***

The next day, Blue wasn't happy when he heard what happened and called Ivory into his office. Ivory left her bedroom and entered Blue's office, but felt nervous about what he would say. Flashbacks of the man he tortured flooded her mind and her heart tightened, wanting to make itself stop beating. She opened the door to Blue's room after contemplating whether she wanted to go in.

Blue glanced at Ivory from the computer.

"Ivory, sit down," he said calmly, but she knew deep down that it was a trick. He was angry, she knew that. She closed the door and sat at the opposite end. He turned away from the computer and stared at her.

"What happened last night?"

"Well, there was this man who took an interest in me. He asked me a lot of personal questions —"

"— What type of personal questions?"

"How old I am, where I live; those types of questions," she answered. Blue quietly stared as she continued speaking, "He bought me a cake and wine for my birthday, touched my leg, and shoved his tongue down my throat."

He laughed. "On the first night?"

Ivory nodded, not sure how she should react.

Blue sneered, "Ivory, you screwed this up. It doesn't matter if you didn't want to do it, you needed to try it out," He stood up as his shadow hit the floor, blocking her from leaving.

Ivory sat quietly as he slowly walked up to her, her eyes staring into his. He silently stared as she thought about him torturing her. She was scared. The mere thought of him having her strapped to the metal table in room thirteen as the huge torturer removed her own limbs, and an eyeball made her tense.

Ivory now wished that she had done what he wanted, but she was uncomfortable. Ivory didn't ask to be in the gang—especially not for her eighteenth birthday. She was supposed to spend her birthday with Viper only.

His eyes hardened. "I won't punish you."

"Huh?"

"I said, 'I won't punish you.' You already have a job anyway. Don't pull this bullshit again."

She nodded as he smirked and motioned for her to leave. She left the room as the scary leader stared back at her, thinking quietly. He scoffed and exited out of a file and logged out of the computer.

"Well, I guess she'll have to wait a little longer," Blue said, and then left his office.