Chapter 8

“Amazing,” said Lucy. “You’re a natural.”

Pearl harrumphed. “Because her pussy bled? Please, Mary.”

“That’s my name!” I grinned, if only to piss her off. I didn’t know Pearl, but I could already tell I didn’t like her. She gave a bad first impression. I had a feeling her second and third were even worse. There was something hard about her. In fact, there was something hard about all of them, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

In any case, I headed back to the dressing room. I felt lightheaded. I needed to sit down. I needed a drink. I needed a drink while I was sitting down. Lucy followed. We were alone again a moment later.

“Thank you,” I said to her, the exhilaration at last waning, if only by a synthetic hair.

She smiled. The sadness was still there, masked as it was in lord only knew how many pounds of pore-blocking makeup. “Someone helped me once; just paying it forward.”