Happy Pills

Cherry stumbled into the strip club scene. Necessity and a bad relationship brought her to the industry. There was a time when she worked a "regular job" but a very unfortunate occurrence with her ex-boyfriend left Cherry in dire straits. After considering various options, she decided to actualize what was merely a childhood dream.

Cherry started thinking about stripping, or dancing exotically, when she was just 8 years old. At that age, most children are watching cartoons and exhausting themselves outdoors when the weather is tolerable. Cherry, on the other hand, was fantasizing about her stage routine and making out with other girls. I felt like there was a story behind that, but I couldn't bring myself to ask if she had been molested at a young age.

Our conversation seemed to be therapeutic, as are most of the interactions I've had with strippers. Cherry and friends are accustomed to men complaining about being married, or getting charged up about some wild fantasy. They generally don't get guys like me who probe about their background. Just as I was about to pry for daddy issues, Cherry opened those flood gates herself.

Cherry never met her father. She was born in California, and lived there for the first 11 years of her life. That's when her stepdad moved the family to Central Massachusetts for some great, undisclosed job opportunity. A few months after the eastward trek, he bailed on them. This left her unemployed mother in a bind. I didn't get to find out what Cherry's mom did to make ends meet, but from the little bit that she told me, they had (and continue to have) a solid relationship.

Me: Does your mother know that you work here?
Cherry: Yes. She was actually going to do it with me, but the owner wasn't going for the mother/daughter routine.
Me: I'm sure you could've sold a lot of people on that. How old is your mom?
Cherry: She's 51, but doesn't look her age.
Me: Did she know you dreamed about stripping when you were little?
Cherry: No. That was my own little thing.
Me: If you always thought about doing this, why do you wish you had a regular job?
Cherry: I don't know. Something about taking your clothes off for money seems low, you know? I'm not like these other girls on stage or nothin'. I have more class than that. I pick who I give dances to in VIP. On good nights, the money is great. Those nights are what get a girl hooked. I'm really in a tough spot right now, though.
Me: Why?
Cherry: I take a cab to get around everywhere now.
Me: You said now. Did you have a car before?
Cherry: Yup, and my ex sold it for pills. He was a drug addict. This is the quickest way to get some wheels that's legal.