From the Pole To So Much More...

Mercy: I know, D, you give me this run a round every time I try and see the boys....It's getting old fast.

Desmond: If it's gettin' old Mercedes, do something about it...Do better for yourself than this....

..... D makes a grand gesture around the dilapitated garage I run with Will, another useless male inmy life....

Mercy: It may not be much, but I am trying to make ends meet and I have a place big enough so the boys can stay over on weekends and stuff. Just because you have a college degree and a good job, that was handed to you by daddy I might add, doesn't mean that I am any les of a damn good parent to those kids.

Desmond: Mercy, we have been through this, you barely make any money at this car repair thing you stumbled into and don't even get me started on your "other" job....

....He thinks he can get me pissed by bringing up the fact that I am a dancer at one of the upscale Gentleman's Clubs here in Seattle. It does bother me that he uses it against me because just because I dance at night doesn't mean the kids will be in any kind of bad situation. He is a lawyer for his Dad's firm Raines and Compton and he thinks just because he has money and influence I will never get my babies back.

Desmond and I had a thing in high school which resulted in two of the most loving and beautiful boys I have ever laid eyes one, but as their mom I may be biased. Desmond and I never got married, I am not the marrying kind evidently, and being from a well to do family he immdiately sued and got custody of the boys and we have been fighting like this for the past six years or so....

Mercy: Speaking of that "other" job I have to head there in a few so if you would see yourself out we can talk about this later....

.... D growled under his breath and made his way out of my office as I pulled my purse out of the safe and locked up. He jumped into a brand new Jag and peeled out in his usual pissy exit, while I climbed into an ancient but reliable Civic that felt the need to not turn over tonight....

Mercy: Damn!!! Looks like another bus trip for me tonight....FUCK!!

[i].... I slammed the car door hard venting some anger on my POS, and stalked toward the bus stop. The bus was my least favorite form of transportation but was a blast when it came to people watching. Just on my twenty minute trip to the club I saw two crack whores and three undercover cops trying too hard to be undercover....The bus came to a stop near the Katch As Katch Can, the club were I danced, thankfully ending my latest experience on Seattle's finest public transportation...I waved cheerfully at Anton the big Russian bouncer who watched the door like a hawk and made my way to the dressing room....

Ellie: Hey girl, you are late again....Petrov is gonna have your ass....

Mercy: He can kiss my well formed ass Ellie...D has been holding the boys from me again and the Civic won't fucking start, so I had to rise the bus. Hence my lovely disposition....

Ellie: Well, you better get out there and shake it good, cuz he is fuckin' raging tonight. We have a full house and less than a full roster on shift....

[i].... I had just slipped on my heels when I heard the lame ass DJ giving my intro as my song started....

Lame DJ: Here she is gents, the pride of Walla Walla and the most beautifully dangerous girl we got, Mercedes!!!

.....I started my best number, really working the pole and the front row of usually old and skeevy pervs for all I was worth...Out of the corner of my eye I saw a huge guy in a cowboy hat and jean jacket sitting with a sitting with a shifty lawywr type, I can spot those anywhere. They looked a lil better off than the other guys staring up at my latest work of art, so I focused my attentions on them, much to the diappointment of the skeevy pervs that surrounded them....The big guy took my hand as I made my way off the stage at the end of the number his beautiful eyes and smile practically smacking me across the face....

Mercy: Thanks pal, I got this though....

Vincent Van Rose: Well, ma'am I am a Southern Gentleman, in town for the big IWF show, and it looked like you might need a hand....Name's Vincent Van Rose, but you can call me Vinnie sweetheart and this here sack of uselessness is Sly, IWF's resident legal eagle....

Mercy: Nice to meet ya Vinnie, but I have to work the room or my boss over there is gonna get pissed....

[i].... I started to walk away from him and he grabbed me lightly on the arm and handed me a couple grand in a fat roll. Intrigued I looked up at him and smiled....

Mercy: Well, well, big guy you just earned a stretch Mercy's Hideaway, otherwise known as the VIP Lounge....

[i].... I took him by the hand and for the next few hours I focused only on the big southerner....His friend had left by the time we exited the Lounge a lil more disheveled than we hen we came in....He kissed my hand and made his way out the door as the guys up front began to close up. Petrov grabbed me roughly jerking me hard by the arm....

Petrov: Mercy, you have fucked with me and this place for the last time. Not only do you show up late but you spend your entire shift in the VIP with some big ugly Southerner...

....This stopped Vinnie in his tracks he turned around listening intently....

Mercy: That guy showed me more respect in the past few hours than any of your pervy regulars do in a whole night....If you don't like that well maybe you can just go fuck yourself....

....Petrov slapped me so hard, I fell to my knees, before I could shake out the cobwebs and give it back to the dumb fuckin' Russian, Vinnie took matters into his own hands slamming my now former boss through a table!!!

Mercy: We better get going big guy, The Russian is gonna be plenty pissed when he comes to....

Vinnie: Whatever you say beautiful....

....Vinnie slid into his classic Camaro and I whistled approval more at the car than the man , but he tipped his hat any way....

Vinnie: Thanks a million sweetheart, hey where ya headed??

... I told him my sob story about the car breaking down and then it all came out in tears and rage....He took hold of me and let it all come out and we ended back at my place tangled in the sheets....

The next morning I looked over and saw a note from the burly wrestler....

Dear Mercy,

If you want out of the life you told me about I may have a way....I talked to Sly after you went to sleep last night and he is willing to offer you a Rookie Comtract in the IWF...It may be the first step to gettin' those boys of yours back....Call this number at 10 AM....

Yours,

Vinnie

....I sniffed back tears as I glanced at the clock....It was five til 10.....

Mercy: What the hell do you have to lose girl.....

....I picked up my cell and dialed the number Vinnie left for me....A cheery voice on the other end greeted me....

Voice: Chuck Matthews, how can I help ya this fine morning.....

.....Well here goes nuthin girl.....