Dad's The Man Ch. 04

Jan. 13/09

I am now an attendant, in fact the only student, of 'The Gina Green Academy of Exotic Dancers'. It was a little weird, seeing her perform in her living room, mostly because I'd often asked her to dance for me, but she never would, always smiling uncomfortably, looking down at her lap and promising another time. Let me just say that my friend is like, WOW!

First, she did a standard stage dance and that was pretty good on its own, but nowhere near as intense as her lap dance. I grabbed her crotch halfway through as she was air humping my chest and, as serious as my instructor is, she couldn't help responding.

After we both orgasmed, we were able to keep our minds on business and she showed me the general idea of what kind of dancing went with what kind of song and so on.

Then it got more labour intensive. Apparently, the Army fitness training routine that Daddy swears by (even though he's never been in the Army and he never works out) wasn't good enough. According to Gina, what I need is light weight training and heavy aerobic training. To her, this means stretching, some jumping jacks, then running up the stairs of her apartment building, all the way from ground level to the top, twelfth floor. If this doesn't sound like much, just try it sometime.

My upper body training is a bit more complicated, involving a twenty minute aerobics routine with a two pound dumbbell in each hand. Again, if that doesn't sound like much, just try it sometime, especially with a slave driving bitch like smutty.

The thing is, I get off on her driving me like that. I think she does, too.

She also taught me poise, expression and all the rest of what's needed to 'sell myself', as Gina put it. Finally, she taught me how to deal with clients, as in sitting and communicating with them. She says that she who knows how to be what the wife can never be earns her husband's paycheck. I have to say, I don't like the spirit of that, given how Daddy raised me and what the woman who gave birth to me was all about, but I guess a real man would know better anyway.

She's taking me to meet her boss, Barry, tomorrow.

Jan. 14/09

Okay, Barry Thorpe is a grease ball. He's the first man (and I use that term lightly) I've ever come across that looked at my body with dollar signs in his eyes rather than lust. I'd much sooner lust.

Regardless of this, Gina had me well coached and I got the deal she wanted for me, probably mostly due to the fact that he knew I was friends with her and that I'd have been told beforehand what was what.

He had me take my clothes off in front of him, which I did with the thought in my mind that I was undressing for the doctor. I have to say, it was barely manageable and my entire body must have been bright red at the time. But, he was more than satisfied, another possible reason for the quick agreement on his part to what Gina told me were fair terms, and hired me on the spot.

In case you're wondering, it did nothing for me. I would have preferred a room full of drunk, horny men just in from cutting hardwood all day. Now I think I know what Gina meant about men who wear suits.

The point is, I got the job. I'm having a hard time being happy about it, knowing that I'll get a call from Gina someday soon. I mean, now it's real, isn't it? I'm just concentrating on my new workout for now and practicing the dance routines she put together for me.

We were sitting in Gulliver's after my appointment with Barry, me having downed a micky that Gina gave me in the washroom, and mostly recovered from my exposure event with my new employer.

"Smutty, how did you get into dancing?"

She turned her head a bit quick at this, her eyes searching my face for an instant before smiling without much humour.

"I had to. I mean, I'm sure there were other ways, but I wasn't in any position to screw around. I had nothing and nobody and pinning my well being on a job at a fast food joint just wasn't a viable option for me."

"Oh,... Um, I wanna ask because it's about you and I wanna know, but I don't want to pry."

" ... It's actually kind of dramatic. A secret, even. Well, not really. I only ever told one person, but my parents and younger brother and sister know. I'll tell you because of that shit you went through in school and,... because I like you. A lot." I smiled and said, "Same here. You're like a big sister, I don't know what I ever did without you."

She took my hand across the top of the table and smiled more confidently, although with the shadow of recollection before she began to speak.

"Remember I told you, when we first met, that my parents are Pentecostal?"

"Yes."

"Well, there were other kids from the church who went to my school and we all associated and moved together because it was expected by our parents, rather than mix with the other kids and stuff. Now, we all dressed somewhat alike, long heavy skirts, sweaters, long straight hair, that Pentecostal 'wall' hairdo with the hair band. The guys always wear dress pants, shirts and ties, neat haircuts and all that. They used to call us 'The God Squad', actually. You might have had a similar group in your school."

"Yes, I remember them, they always looked decent."

"I'm sure some of them were. Well, there was this guy from outside the squad, one of the regular students. A tall, thin guy named Aaron, who was kind of a badass, if you know what I mean."

"Yup."

"He had a punk haircut, he smoked and played the guitar, would often get into trouble for playing it at noon in the auditorium. I had this crush on him and I used to look at his skanky girlfriends and wonder what he saw in them.

"Well, one day at noon, me and Nicole, my best friend from church, were in the auditorium with a few people from our drama class, working on a project. He wasn't supposed to be, but he was there and the girls wanted to go running for a teacher to put him out, and I guess that's when things went amuck.

"What I was seeing was Aaron standing around in the dark without his girlfriend around and,... well, I'll admit that he wasn't every girl's type, so there I was with no competition. I told Nicole that I'd 'reason' with him.

"Once I got him aside and alone, it didn't take him long to figure out what I was after and, the next thing I knew, Nicole comes around the corner, stops and stands there with her hand over her mouth, totally and personally mortified because Aaron's hand was somewhere it really shouldn't have been,... and I had a smile on my face. I guess I just wanted to show him that I could be fun, too and things got way out of hand. ... I didn't plan it, it just,... happened."

She paused, sipping at her coffee while the waitress who suddenly appeared cleared our dishes, asking us if everything was satisfactory and getting a positive answer from both of us.

"So," Gina continued after the waitress was gone, "Nicole swore she'd never tell anyone, but by noon the next day, it was all over school, thanks to her and Aaron himself bragging about it. Her parents and mine knew each other well and that night, when I got home from school, I knew there was something wrong right away. I was worried, because my parents were very sensitive to,... Well, there's this part in the Bible about avoiding the appearance of evil and, let's just say, my parents took that pretty seriously, especially my father. They weren't the only ones, there were more than a few families from church that were like these little contrived showcases for one another and what I did was,... not good."

"Were you scared?" I asked.

"Yes, and it turned out that I had good reason to be. ... They seemed to think I was possessed. Long story short, they tied me to a chair and, uh, shaved all my hair off so boys wouldn't be attracted and performed an exorcism on me."

"An exorcism!?" I hissed, almost in shock at the idea of this happening. "Like in the movie?"

"Yeah, they uhh,... they kind of ran me through their spiritual mill for quite a while. When it was finally over, I was so,... Heh,... I thought my biggest problem at that point was how I'd look without my hair at school, especially in light of the fact that everybody knew about what happened in the auditorium. So, I skipped school the next day, and the day after that. I couldn't handle it at that point, anyway. Even if my father hadn't shaved my head, I couldn't have handled school and I had no idea what I was going to do.

"Of course, I couldn't skip church, or wear a hat. That first service we attended, Saturday night,... I guess he never thought of church when he was shaving me. Everybody stared and my parents came to realize that as poor, spiritually damaged Nicole had helped to uncover my possession, also uncovering it for the rest of the school, she and her parents also blabbed it around the church. I could tell by the way everyone,... looked. At us, I mean, but particularly me.

"Umm,... We lived a little ways out of town, just over a half hour down a rural highway. My father stopped the car about five or ten minutes from town,... (ahem) He, uh,... he reached back and opened the back door beside me and,... he told me to get out."

"Wh,...?" I tried, not quite getting it.

"Yeah, that's how I took it, too. At first. He repeated himself, saying it louder and slower, clearer. I didn't move because I was afraid and I didn't know what was going on. He got out of the car and came around to the other side, to my open door and grabbed me, started trying to drag me out, but I panicked, started to cry, you know, hanging on and,... crying for my mother. She just sat there, I remember. Her head looked straight forward and never moved, she just prayed under her breath as if it weren't happening. I'll never forget that memory of the back of her head. Even stranger, my little brother and sister, Holly and Patrick were right beside me in the back seat at the time, but I have absolutely no memory of how they reacted, or anything about them at all from the moment the car stopped. Always found that odd.

"Well," Gina sighed, moving on from that horribly depressing little footnote, "he got me out. He finally just ripped me out of the car with all his strength and sent me flying. We'd stopped beside a field with a deep ditch between it and the road and I remember spinning around in the dark as I flew through the air, seeing the car, the field, the car,... the ditch."

"Oh, my,... god!" I exclaimed, tears running from my eyes as I imagined this.

"I was shocked,... It took me a few seconds to get to my hands and knees and start crawling up out of the ditch, crying and begging. I heard the doors close, the car take off, but strangely, I just didn't believe it. Not even when I first stood up, back on the side of the road and they were gone. I actually believed they'd come back, because,... I just did. I finally got smart after a while, read the writing on the roadside, you might say. I crossed the tarmac and started hitchhiking back into town, ended up at a women's shelter and that's where I met Dottie."

"Dottie?"

"She worked there. She was about your Aunt Peggy's age, actually older, I'd say. She's the only other person I've told this to. My circumstances really didn't allow for me being there, but she was able to fix a few things with Social Assistance and somehow get me in. In time, I managed to accept my new reality, once it really sunk in. I mean, I never went back to school, no way, so I didn't get to graduate. It wasn't long before I decided to dance. I had to do something before the clerical wrench that Dottie made of me with Social Assistance could get removed from where she had it jammed in the works."

"Oh, Gina,... that's awful!" I said, wiping my eyes and cheeks with my sleeve. "It's a good thing you ended up at the shelter and that woman was nice enough to help you like that."

"Dottie,... Yeah, Dottie liked me the minute she saw me."

" ... You mean,...?"

"Uh huh. She worked the night shift and she'd always come right in my room on her rounds to check on me. Special attention, you know?"

"She,... molested you?"

"It's a strong word, 'molested'. Let's just say that it was very much a necessary, mutual arrangement for me and I was damned lucky to be there."

"Holy shit, Gina,... Ho-ly shit. I- I don't know what to say."

"Like I said, it's all pretty dramatic. So, that's how I started dancing and, consequently, how I came to prefer women."

"I,... but, do you ever,... I mean did you and Dottie,...?"

"I got out of the shelter as soon as I was dancing and I never went back, or saw her again. Never wanted to. In fact, I left town soon after and never went back there, either."

" ... Geez,... I guess you probably don't believe in God anymore, huh?"

"I do believe. I always did and it had nothing to do with my parents, their doctrine, or their church. Besides, it's not God's fault that some of his followers are idiots, and you'll find a lot of nice people in Pentecostal churches, too."

I hugged and kissed her for a half hour once we got back to her car, just out of commiseration. Wow, and I thought I had it bad in high school.

Jan. 23/09

I've realized that, in a strange way, I've come to see Gina somewhat like I do my father. It's not just because of how they feel about the stripping thing, it's in the way that they both make me feel protected and looked after. Do I need that? I just turned nineteen and I'm trying to be independent, like Daddy always taught me to be, but I'm so reliant on Gina these days that I have to wonder.

With that said, it doesn't bother me to see her in that way. She herself seems to have no problem with it and it's what I'm used to, it's just that it seems to stand in contradiction of the way I think I ought to be.

In addition, there's this new protectiveness that I feel for her, given her history. Whenever I think of it, I get all angry and sad at the same time, wanting to hold her in my arms so nobody can ever hurt her again. If anybody ever does, they'll have me to deal with, this time.

She and Daddy get along very well, in fact, they've gotten to know each other better. As I've written, she and I have spent two Friday nights here at home, her and him conversing easily. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Gina's quite a gal.

As for Daddy, he puts up with us forcing him to the center of the couch so we can curl up and lean against him while we watch documentaries with Gina's inevitable white wine. The thing is, he sits there with no misconceptions toward her whatsoever, as if he innately knows she's a lesbian, or something.

Gina was here tonight, actually, hanging out with us while we did an emergency, lower radiator hose job on Daddy's truck and helping me clean up when it was done.

"You know," she said later on in my room, "I see what it is with you now."

"How do you mean?" I asked, bare chested with my dirty work jeans on while, on my knees, I routed through the mess at the floor of my closet for some casuals that were clean enough.

"You and your Daddy."

I stopped my routing and twisted around on my hips, looking at her beautiful and agile form lounging on my bed with Lulu, an inquiring expression on my face.

"Why you don't like boys, or any men you come across," she explained. "You compare them all to your father."

I blinked at her, trying to process this completely unexpected observation in my mind, but could only come to, "What?"

"It's called 'the daddy thing'. Some girls get it, then they get over it and find someone. Usually someone who doesn't measure up, unfortunately. Knowing your father like I'm getting to, that'll be some pretty stiff competition, he's quite a guy." she complimented with a smile.

" ... You're saying I'm in love with my father?"

"Lighten up, slutty, it's not that big a deal. It's common with girls who've been spoiled by their dad. Since he was your only parent and you were his only child, it's not surprising."

"I'm not spoiled."

She laughed out loud.

"Well, I'm not."

"Look around yourself, look at this room, your two computers, a stereo, a TV, DVD player, a leather coat with real fur, a full closet of clothes, a brand new, top of the line Singer,... That way you have of looking at him when you really want something."

"A-!" I tried, alarmed that she knew about that, eliciting even more laughter from her as I sat with my mouth wide open in shock.

"Not to mention the way he dotes on you."

"Gina!"

"The daddy thing."

"I don't believe that for a second!"

"It's no big deal, Kat. It's just one of those things. Besides, the way we're going, no man will ever be good enough to have the chance at being made miserable by you."

"Gina!"

She only laughed again, harder this time, petting Lulu and saying when she was done, "It's alright, it's cute and harmless. If anything, it's a compliment to your dad."

"How do you know all this stuff, anyway!?"

"Well,... exotic dancing is part of the porn industry. Certain knowledge deemed unfit for public consumption does float around and it's not like I haven't met a lot of dancers and heard a lot of talk in the dressing room."

"I don't have a 'daddy thing'."

"Oh, yes you do."

"And I'm not spoiled."

"Oh, you most certainly are."

"All this stuff you see is stuff I got for Christmas gifts and for birthdays, you make it sound like he's out spending every pay on me. These clothes are my old school clothes."

"Everything he buys you is top quality."

"So, what?"

"And if you wanted something, you'd do your little pouty routine for him, wouldn't you?"

"What!? No!"

"And you'd have every right to expect it to work, 'cause you know just when and how to use it and it's never failed you before."

"Gina!"

"Has it?"

"I-! ... No."

She began laughing again, but got off my bed and down on the floor beside me, putting her arms around my bare shoulders and kissing me.

"It's alright, it's sweet. ... It's why you're going to be making a lot of tips."

"Hm,... I'm getting pretty nervous about that. On the one hand, I dread the call, but on the other, I wish it would hurry up and come so I could get it over with. If I wasn't so horny, I wouldn't be able to hack it."

"That'll be okay, too. Remember, you'll be with me and Hugh. He's an ex linebacker for the C.F.L.."

"Meaning?"

"Somebody who can crush most men by accident, if they're not careful. Everything will be fine. ... I love you, Kat."

Her happy smile in no way diminished the sincerity of her statement.

I slowly smiled and replied, "I love you, too. I have for quite a while. I'm so glad I met you for so many reasons."

"I feel the same way."

We ended up in the pile of clothes at the bottom of my closet, making out. I pulled her skirt up, she my jeans down and we had a very quiet, good time with each other for a little while.

I really don't think I have this 'daddy thing', but I might be willing to entertain the idea that he spoils me. Just a little. I gotta admit, though, I thought my little girl routine was a lot more subtle. Daddy's not stupid, how does it work on him if it's that obvious?

Jan. 28/09

I got the call from Gina yesterday. I was almost starting to believe I wouldn't, but I knew that it would come. We have a gig tonight.

I didn't tell Daddy right away, didn't have the heart, I guess. That's the problem with having just dropped the subject from between us as though it doesn't exist. That and those worried glances that we sometimes catch in the others face when we turn around unexpectedly, or something.

I was so nervous, I couldn't even masturbate. All I could do was divert my attention with the TV, sitting beside him all night until he went to bed. It's why I didn't write last night, too. My nerves just couldn't focus on anything else, but here's what happened.