Backsliding Ch. 05

"Let's get out of here," she said, dragging me back to the table. She had been nursing a rum and Coke most of the night, but when she got to the table, she grabbed it and killed. The other two couples at the table just looked at her in astonishment. Lizzie had just ordered a round of tequila shots and Sarah grabbed two of them and downed them before I could protest.

"Whoa, sister!" Lizzie said grabbing the third shot before Sarah could get it.

"Don't call me that!" hissed Sarah. "I'm nobody's sister anymore. Let's get out of this place, right now!" The others just looked at me in amazement and I shrugged my shoulders. We all got up to leave. I knew what was eating at Sarah, but I'd have to wait to explain it to the rest.

"Where are we going?" asked Tommy

"Let's go to Charades!" chimed Lizzie.

"A strip club?" asked Kelly. "Damn, it's been forever since we went to a strip club with another couple. That sounds like fun. What do you say, Sarah? Do you want to go to Charades?"

"I don't care where we go as long as I can forget this place and get good and drunk!"

Just when I thought I'd get Sarah calmed down as we headed across the parking lot, the unthinkable happened. The night club was so popular that we had been forced to park in the restaurant parking lot across the street. I knew we used to frequent the restaurant after church on Sunday nights, but I never dreamed that any more of our old church mates would be there tonight, on a Saturday. I was wrong. Just as Sarah and Kelly were about to climb into the backseat of my pickup, I heard a voice call out their names. I spun around to see Marilyn Baker and several of her high school age Sunday school students.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen!" said Marilyn, pointing her finger at the three of us and shaking her head. She looked at her students. "Look at these women," she chided. "See what can happen when you let your morals slip? This is what can happen to you when the spirit of Jezebel gets you!"

I was too astonished to say anything. Just then, Jenny Beachum came running out of the club with Heather McAllister in tow. They spotted us and ran up to us, Heather stumbled along, clearly intoxicated. Marilyn Baker saw the two of them at the same time we did. Her jaw fell open, but I doubt she was any more astonished than I was.

"Oh my goodness!" screeched Marilyn. "Look kids, see what happens when you allow one sin to creep into your life? It leads others astray. The devil-"

"Shut the fuck up!" screamed Sarah. "Just shut your fucking mouth, you hypocritical bitch! I've had all of you I'm going to stand. For your information, I didn't corrupt anybody. We're all adults and we all made decisions for ourselves. So fucking what if I'm living in sin? At least I'm happy. Most importantly, my husband is happy. That's more than I can say for you, bitch!"

"What did you say?" Marilyn gasped.

"You heard me. I might be walking out of a bar, half drunk, with short hair and dressed in clothes you don't approve of, but I'm walking out with the man I love. Maybe if you were in that bar right now with your husband, he wouldn't be fucking Stephanie Barnes!"

You could have heard a pin drop as we digested what Sarah had just revealed. Marilyn didn't say another word. She just turned toward her car and got in, her students staring dumbfounded in the parking lot as she backed out and drove away. Sarah watched her speed away, then flipped her the finger. We all laughed out loud. Even the astonished and abandoned church kids roared on that one. Sarah turned to walk away.

"Now, let's go to the titty bar," she said.

As I drove us to Charades, I tried to digest what had just happened. I know that Sarah was upset at having seen her former student in a bar, obviously drunk or high and I know she felt responsible. Jennifer Beachum's revelation about what had happened at church after Sarah left really threw her for a loop. Sarah's biggest fear about leaving had come back to haunt her. As we drove across town, I heard her sniffle once or twice, so I knew she was crying. I whispered in her ear, asking if she wanted me to take her home. She whispered "no" and just sat silently.

Charades was one of those totally nude strip clubs. The city had an ordinance that bars that offered full nudity couldn't sell alcohol, but patrons could bring their own liquor. We pulled up to a liquor store as we neared the club, Lizzie and Tommy rumbled up beside us in Lizzie's convertible. Sarah climbed out of the front seat and went into the store with Lizzie. The three of us just sat in the truck.

"She'll be alright," Kelly said. "I had something similar happen to me one time right after I left and I did the same thing. I know she feels responsible for those other people, but it's not her fault. I felt responsible for Sarah backsliding for the longest until I finally realized it wasn't my fault. Sarah did what she did; we all did, because we wanted to do it."

In a few minutes, Sarah and Lizzie walked out of the store. I noticed Sarah put something in her purse. I assumed it was the receipt. Lizzie walked to the back of my truck and opened the ice chest I kept there. She opened a case of Bud Light and covered it with ice. Sarah held a bottle of Jack Daniels and a cup of iced soda. She pulled the lid off the cup and poured herself a nice shot of Jack. She drank most of the cup before we pulled into the strip club. By the time we walked in, she was feeling no pain.

Our first experience as a couple in a strip club didn't go as I had fantasized. We sat in the back of the club at a table and drank silently. I knew Sarah was still upset and was trying to calm herself down with alcohol. Eventually it seems to have worked, because the evening picked up. Soon we were all laughing and joking again. Several times during the night, Richard and Tommy went up to the stage and sat down to strategically place folded dollar bills with the strippers. I think Sarah may have been shocked to see Lizzie and Kelly actually encourage their husbands to go up and patronize a stripper. As the alcohol continued to flow freely, so did our inhibitions. It wasn't long before I asked Sarah if I could go up front. She looked nervous, but just nodded her head. There was a beautiful African American that had really caught my eye and I wanted to get closer. I sat through a couple of her numbers and dropped several dollars for her. It wasn't long before we started spending generously and the strippers picked up on that. The black chick followed me to our table and sat down.

She sat down beside Sarah, her perfumed body actually touching my wife. Sarah self-consciously inched closer to me, but I could tell she was at least intrigued by being so close to a nude woman. The other two couples just took it all in stride and laughed it off. Stormi, as the girl called herself, sat at our table and shared our drinks for several sets. She offered each of us guys a lap dance in the back room, but we declined. She turned to Lizzie and offered her one finally.

"Maybe later?" was all that Lizzie said. Sarah looked shocked as Stormi stood up and sauntered back to the dressing room.

"Are you serious? You're really considering letting her give you a lap dance?" asked Sarah, in shock.

"Of course, I mean, that is why people come to strip clubs, right? To see naked women and get aroused," she replied. "Are you saying if she offered you a lap dance, you'd turn her down?"

"Damn right I would," said Sarah, opening a beer. I knew she was pretty close to drunk now. She turned and faced her oldest friend, Kelly. "Would you turn it down, Kelly?"

Kelly was feeling no pain by now, either. "Fuck no I wouldn't turn it down. I love a good lap dance and so does Richard. He knows that he can buy me a few beers and a couple of lap dances and I'll go home and give him the fucking of a lifetime. He's not stupid. You should try it. I promise you'll like it."

Sarah just sat there, looking confused, when the DJ announced that the costume set was about to begin. The girls all clapped and stood up, pulling their husbands to their feet. Kelly grabbed Sarah by the hand and said "let's go". They literally pulled her to the bar as the three guys followed behind. Sarah was reluctant, but she went anyway.

The costume set was exactly what it sounded like. The strippers came out in various erotic costumes and danced a number. One was a police woman, one a construction worker, and one a French maid. When one girl came out in a Catholic school girl outfit, complete with six inch stilettos and her hair in pony tails, the crowd went wild. Richard and Tommy reached for their wallets as their wives laughed hysterically. But it was the next set that was life-changing for me.

As the stage went dark, slow, rhythmic music started to thump. It almost sounded like organ music that you'd hear in church, only funkier. The girls started to sway to it. Then a black light came on as Stormi entered the stage. She was obviously wearing black as only a blue-white ring formed around her head. I swear it looked almost like a halo. Then, as she walked up the runway, dry ice started forming smoke, making the scene surreal and eerie. As the lights changed, I noticed that Stormi was wearing a strangely erotic and sacrilegious version of a nun's habit. I instantly got hard and looked at Sarah. She was staring at Stormi, completely transfixed. The music started to pick up tempo and morphed into a version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" as Stormi began to strip. She must have seen the look on Sarah's face as fell on her knees in front of my wife, now completely naked except for the nun's head covering and a huge gold cross hanging between her pierced nipples. Her sex, shaved smooth and perfumed, revealed a pierced clit with a single gold ring. Sarah was absolutely hypnotized by the scene of pure erotica before her. I noticed Kelly laid a stack of one dollar bills in front of her best friend and nudge her. Sarah was too transfixed to notice. Finally, Tommy grabbed one of the dollars, folded it, and placed it upright in Sarah's cleavage. The stripper-nun took the hint and inched forward to my wife. She opened her breasts and laid them on each side of Sarah's face, slowly moving them side to side, brushing against her soft skin. Finally, she slowly slid down Sarah's body, her tongue stud just barely brushing down Sarah's neck as she finally grabbed the bill with her teeth. Sarah shuddered.

Stormi went on around the stage as the song played on, collecting generous tips. She knew she had the hottest act in the club, but she was also smart enough to see that she had touched a button in my wife. Before the set ended, the music switched back to the low techno-church music that it had started with. Stormi, now completely nude minus her platform thigh-high boots and the gold cross, lay on her back in front of my wife. Her legs were bent and open, just a few inches from Sarah's face. She swiped her finger across her pierced pussy lips and brought it to her mouth, licking it. Sarah shuddered again. I noticed Sarah gulp, and then reach for one of the folded dollar bills in front of her. She picked it up and held it out with shaking hands. Stormi inched closer and smiled seductively, then opened up her pussy lips with one hand, indicating for Sarah to put the bill between the folds of her clit. As Sarah reached up to do so, Stormi gently brushed her pussy lips around Sarah's finger, then she slid backwards as the set ended. She stood up, grabbed her habit, and blew my wife a kiss.

Now back at our table, Sarah was sweating. Kelly and Lizzie knew what was going on and just smiled. "Happens to all of us," whispered Lizzie as she looked at her friend, obviously flushed. Sarah picked up the bottle of Jack Daniels and poured a straight shot over the ice left in her cup from earlier.

"I need a fucking cigarette," she muttered. Then she reached down for her purse. I saw her fidgeting inside and brought out a pack of Marlboro Light 100s and a lighter. She saw me looking at her with slight disapproval. She shot me a go-to-hell look as she lit up the cigarette and inhaled deeply.

"Got another one of those?" Sarah looked startled and turned around. It was Stormi, now wearing a sheer white open top and thong. She picked up the pack from the table, lit a cigarette, and sit down. We just stared at her. Sarah fidgeted. "So how'd you like my set?" Stormi was talking only to Sarah as if the other five of us didn't exist.

"It was nice," replied Sarah, softly. Stormi took another inhale of her cigarette, and then crushed it out in the ashtray on the table. Without saying a word, she took Sarah's half-smoked cigarette from her hand and crushed it out as well. She took Sarah by the hand and stood up, pulling her with her. Sarah looked at her, but offered no protest, as Stormi pulled her along to a padded leather seat along the far wall. I looked on in amazement as this beautiful black goddess sat my wife down in the seat. Sarah just sat there with her hands on the seat beside her. As the music started again for another stripper's set, Stormi started gyrating to the music. My wife was getting her first lap dance! I sat transfixed and hypnotized myself as I watched Stormi go down in mock sex on my wife. Sarah didn't attempt to touch Stormi, but I could tell she wanted to. I knew my wife and I knew she was aroused beyond description at that moment, but so was I. I wanted to open my pants and relieve myself right then and there, but I managed to control myself. I couldn't say much for my companions.

I heard Tommy mutter, "Holy fucking mother of god" as he watched my wife get the most amazing lap dance on record. Lizzie and Kelly just looked at each other and grinned. They stood up and started to walk toward two of the other strippers waiting to give private dances. As they were walking away, Lizzie turned back to me.

"When she gets finished, you better get her home quick or she's going to fuck you right here."

I took Lizzie's advice and didn't waste any time getting my wife out of the strip club. She didn't protest, either. Tommy offered to give Richard and Kelly a ride home. I grabbed my ice chest with the beer in it and handed Sarah her purse and headed for the door. I left the bottle of Jack with our friends. As we got in the truck and started home, Sarah opened another beer.

"Damn, what a night. I'm so fucked up," she said as she fidgeted in her purse and pulled out a cigarette and lit up. This time I didn't say anything. I just opened her door glass slightly and kept driving. She sat silently, smoking and drinking as we rolled across the deserted streets toward home. When she finished her cigarette, she flicked it out the window and finished off the beer. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I got up enough courage to squeak out the question that was killing me.

"So, uh, did you like it?" I asked.

She just looked at me. "What do you think?" I didn't answer and she just sat there for a few minutes. Then, out of the blue, she asked, "Is prostitution still legal in Nevada?"

"Huh? I don't know. I think so, why?"

"Oh, I was just curious. Susan offered to send me to a convention in Vegas in a couple of weeks, but it falls on your birthday, so I told her no. I'm thinking I might reconsider. I think I know what I might get you for your birthday. "

"Hmmm," was all I could muster?

She laughed and turned to the cooler in the backseat and opened yet another beer. She had been drinking all night, but she still didn't act overly drunk. She was building a tolerance to alcohol.

"I want another cigarette, but I'm not going to. I don't want to get addicted. Tonight ended pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. I had my doubts after that shit at the dance club."

I glanced over at her, "Well, the night isn't completely over yet." She chuckled and slid over the truck seat and snuggled up close to me. I put my arm around her and ran my hand through the short cropped hair along her upper neck. She purred like a kitten and laid her head on my shoulder.

"I love you," she whispered.

"Love you, too," I replied.

"Did you throw out that bag of weed like I asked you too?"

"No, not yet. I had every intention to, but I just haven't gotten around to it."

"Good. Don't. I think we're going to need it tonight to celebrate."

"Celebrate what?"

"The first night of the rest of our lives."