3

Big Mama stared at Serenity with dull, narrow eyes. Serenity looked blankly at each of the four walls in Big Mama’s office. She bit her lip and chewed on the chapped skin. She crossed her legs and sat back in her seat. She squirmed in her small wooden chair that didn’t quite fit her rounded hips. Big Mama had called her in fallowing one of her shows so she was in her green lace lingerie.  She squirmed and tried to cover as much of her torso with her arms as she could. She wouldn’t look meet Big Mama’s eyes line.

            “Can I have a robe?” She mumbled under breath.

            “You could…” Big Mama said blankly.

            Serenity huffed, “May I have a robe, please?”

            “You most certainly may.” Big Mama reached in her top draw and pulled out a dusty silk robe and held it in front of her for Serenity. Serenity eyed the robe and got up quickly and snatched the robe out of her hands. She turned away as she slipped it on. Her hopes that it would comfort her were shot down purely because it didn’t.

            She took her seat back and sat upright facing Big Mama keeping her legs crossed. She still wouldn’t look at her in the eyes. Big Mama’s room was poorly lit and had a red glow to it. Her office was on the other side of the hotel but the walls were so worn and thin that the music and the smoke from the club filled the room with no windows for it to escape. The lamp was behind Big Mama so it made looking at her difficult but you got the outline of her large intimidating hair. Her desk was cluttered and Serenity never could figure out how someone so messy could be so organized.

            She lifted her head up to the ceiling and puffed out air, “What do you want, Mama?

            Big Mama blinked away and started scrolling on her computer, “How have things been?”

            “Peaches and rainbows.”

            “How have your clients been treating you?”

            “Like a w***e.”

            “Any issues?”

            “Not one.”

            Big Mama glanced at her, “Water?” Serenity looked at the bottle of water in her outstretched hand. She rolled her eyes and grabbed it and began to chug the water, “Dirty Martini came in last night. Have any thoughts on the matter?”

            “What matter?” Serenity met her eyes, narrowed her lips, and cocked her eyebrow.

            “She came in here asking if she could start whoring.” Serenity squirmed at the word whoring, “Thoughts?”

            “That’s none of my business.”

            “Isn’t it?” Big Mama said looking at her from the corner of her eyes.

            Serenity sat forward in her chair and rested her arms on the desk, “I am sure I don’t know what you mean.”

            Big Mama’s lip curled on one side and she went back to her at her screen, “You will be taking Dirty Martini under your wing if you feel she is ready. For this I will cut your dues down to twenty percent.”

            “Deal,” Serenity grunted.

            “It wasn’t a negotiation.” Big Mama wrote something on a notepad. She glanced up at her briefly, “You may go.”

            Serenity got up pushing her chair far behind her and took heavy steps to the door. She slammed it shut leaving Big Mama in the room with the bass shaking the photos on the wall. Big Mama reclined in her chair and rested her head back. She let out a hug puff of air before shutting off her computer monitor. She locked the door and reclaimed her seat. She pulled the nine millimeter P99 out of her top drawer and loaded it.