My Sister's a Stripper

I met my (now ex) wife five years ago, we were young and impulsive so we rushed into things. We dated for just a year before I proposed, then it was another year before we actually got married. For the first year or so of our marriage, everything seemed great, but somewhere in the second year things started to fall apart. I'm still not sure what went wrong, but it got to the point where we were arguing almost constantly. We would argue over everything no matter how important or insignificant it was. It got to the point where we barely even spoke to each other, and by our third (and final) year we were sleeping in separate rooms. Finally we calmly sat down, and agreed that things weren't working and it was probably best if we went our separate ways. Some people say we should have gone for counseling, but we both felt there was nothing to work out. Instead we filed for divorce. It was the only time since our first year of marriage we could agree on something.

It was made easier by the fact that we didn't have any kids or pets to worry about. I moved out of the house, found a small apartment I could easily afford, and my ex's sister moved in with her. We were surprisingly civil with each other, probably since most of our communication was done through our lawyers, but honestly I didn't feel any ill will towards her. I'd heard horror stories from friends of mine who had gone through some rather ugly divorces, but this was surprisingly smooth. It was kind of funny that we got along better when we were separated than we ever did when we were together. But after two and a half years of marriage I was single again.

By sheer coincidence the divorce was finalized the day before my 30th birthday. I had taken some time off from work to deal with the divorce, so I was wondering what to do with myself now that it was all over and I had the day to myself when my phone rang. It was my sister, Cindy.

She was two years younger than me, and like most brothers and sisters we had our ups and downs, but for the most part my sister and I got along. I was her overprotective big brother who always threatened to beat up anyone who mistreated her, but it never came to that.

"Hey Pip," I said, after accepting the call.

Pip was short for Pipsqueak, a nickname my father had given her when she was little, because she had the cutest squeaky little laugh. The name stuck and I've called her Pip ever since then. She hated it at first, but got used to it over the years, and now she just accepted that I was always going to call her that.

"Hey bro," she said, "Happy birthday."

"Thanks."

"How you doing?" she asked.

"Pretty good, all things considered." I said. "It's weird, I still can't believe it's over, but at the same time I'm relieved."

"Well anytime you need to talk, I'm here for you. After all, you've always been there for me." she said.

"I know sis," I said, "I appreciate it, but I'm okay."

"I gotta head out and run some errands," she said, "But I just wanted to call and wish you a happy birthday. I'll talk to you later. Love you, bro,"

"Love you too, Pip."

We weren't big on celebrations in my family, at least not since my sister and I grew up. We hadn't had birthday parties for either of us since our early teens, so I wasn't expecting anything more than a phone call and maybe a card from my parents. My parents did call me a little later to wish me a happy birthday and ask if I got the card they sent me.

Later that day a couple of my friends, Fred and Phil, stopped by. They wanted to "celebrate" my divorce and my birthday by taking me to a strip club.

"C'mon guys," I said, "A strip club? If I wanna see naked women, I've got the internet."

"True," Fred said, "You could sit at home and jerk off to internet porn, but sometimes you need to see the real thing in the flesh. Look, it'll be on us. We'll pay your cover charge, buy you a couple of drinks and even buy you a lap dance or two."

"Yeah, come on Eddie," Phil said, "You're a free man, it's your birthday, and we insist. In fact we're not leaving until you say yes."

"Okay fine," I said, laughing "I'll go."

They took me to a club called the Joker's Wild. I hope no one who worked for DC comics ever saw this place. Inside the front door behind the counter where you paid the cover fee was a huge mural of the Joker from the Batman comics holding playing cards featuring Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Catwoman, all three of them naked. Inside it was your typical strip club, dark with lots of neon and bass heavy music that made your teeth rattle, seats along the edge of the stage, a few tables and chairs interspersed around the floor, overpriced watered down drinks, VIP rooms off to one side, a DJ introducing the dancers and of course plenty of gorgeous girls strutting their stuff. It wasn't a bad place, none of the other customers were whooping or carrying on or yelling lewd comments towards the girls. True to their words, my friends paid my way in, bought my drinks and a couple of lap dances. Despite my earlier reservations, I ended up having a pretty good time.

A month later I was bored and didn't want to spend another night at home. I wasn't ready to hop back into the dating pool just yet, and I certainly didn't feel like hitting the bars for a casual hook up. On a whim I decided to head back to the strip club. I knew there was zero chance of picking up any of the dancers, and that they were just being nice to the customers in order to empty their wallets, but I didn't care, plus like my friends had said, sometimes it was nice to see the real thing in person instead of on a computer screen.

It was surprisingly not as packed as I figured it might be for a Friday night, but it did fill up a little more as the night went on. I ordered a beer, sat down and enjoyed the sight of the strippers shaking their tits for the entertainment of me and the other guys in the club.

"Alright guys," the DJ said, "Let's hear it for Tanya, now welcome to the stage, she's sweet, she's sexy, she's Candy!"

I was about to take another sip of my beer, and my bottle stopped halfway to my mouth as my sister stepped out onto the stage.

"The fuck...?" I muttered under my breath.

I blinked and rubbed my eyes. Yep, that's my little sister. My sister's a stripper. At the same strip club my friends brought me to on my birthday. I'm surprised I didn't see her then, I guess she wasn't working that night. She gyrated around on the stage like all the other girls had, and then she whipped her head up and looked right at me. Her eyes went as wide as mine did, she quickly regained her composure and kept dancing. She barely glanced back at me as if she was in the same state of disbelief as me.

I always knew my sister was beautiful, but sexy? I never thought of her that way, mainly because she was my sister. Then she took her top off. Holy shit, my sister had some nice tits. She turned her back to me, whipped her head around to look at me (as if she still wasn't sure it was me) and continued her routine. Seeing my sister in nothing but a g-string and a pair of heels, under the neon lights of a strip club my opinion of her was changing. With her back to me I could see my sister also had a nice ass. Hell, her whole body was perfect. Who knew?

She turned and looked at me again, and then ignored me the rest of the time she was on stage. I was more stunned than anything, which is probably why I stayed and watched my sister gyrate around on stage in little more than a piece of dental floss and high heels.

When her set was over, I was preparing to polish off my drink and leave, but she came out from the back room as another dancer took to the stage and came up to me. Even in the dim light of the club, I could see the fire in her eyes.

"You're buying a lap dance." she hissed at me, although she was smiling sweetly.

I let her lead me through the beaded curtain to the VIP rooms, she found an empty room and once we were inside she pushed me onto the couch.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked.

"Me? What the hell are YOU doing here?" I shot back, "You're a fucking stripper? I thought you were a bartender. Jesus, if mom and dad ever found out about this..."

Our dad was pretty open minded, but Cindy was still his little girl, even if she was 28 years old. I doubt he'd be thrilled to know that his little princess was a stripper. Our mother on the other hand was somewhat conservative, and I knew she wouldn't approve of her daughter shaking her tits for money. In fact, if my mother ever found out, she'd probably disown Cindy.

"Oh God, Eddie, please don't tell mom and dad about this. Look, I'm sorry I lied, but... I was a bartender. Look, I'll explain it all later, when I don't have to shout to be heard."

"Don't worry, I won't tell them, but you and I need to talk." I said, calming down.

She nodded and sat down on the edge of the small stage that took up the back wall of the VIP room.

"So Candy, huh?" I asked after a moment.

She offered me a half hearted chuckle, "Yeah, I figure it sounded sexier than Cindy. It was a three way tie between that, Tiffany or Diamond."

"So what do we do now?" I asked, "I mean it'd be weird getting a lap dance from my sister."

"And it's too loud to have a casual conversation." Pip said, "Although I will say it is nice to see you. Despite the circumstances."

I hadn't seen much of my sister the last couple of months while I was dealing with my divorce. We texted each other a few times, but that was all the contact we had while my ex and I were hashing things out.

"Yeah, it is good to see you again, and I'm not just saying that because I've seen you mostly naked." I said.

She laughed a bit and smiled, "Our time is almost up. What time is it anyway?"

I glanced at my watch, "A little after 11."

"Okay, you know that diner a couple blocks over? Meet me there after the club closes and I'll tell you everything." She said.

"Sounds good," I said.

"Would you do me a favor though?" she asked, standing up.

"Sure."

"Would you stay the rest of the night? It'd be nice to see a friendly face while I'm up there. Plus, you've already seen me in all my glory. Can't be any weirder than it already is."

I chuckled, "Sure, I'll stay."

"Thanks big brother." she said, smiling.

She gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "We'd better get going, the next song's already started, and they'll make you pay for another dance if we don't get out of here."

We made our way back to the club proper and she disappeared back into the dressing room. I ordered another beer and settled in at one of the tables to watch my sister and all the other girls go through their rotations on the stage. My sister had three guys buy VIP dances, I bought one from one of the other girls, and switched from beer to soda as the night went on. I noticed Pip was looking at me a lot more when she was on stage, and smiled every time she did. She also seemed to put more energy into her routines than when I first saw her. At one point before she went off stage she blew me a kiss. I had to admit, at least to myself, that I was getting a little turned on every time she came on stage.

Finally closing time came and the DJ gave the corny "You don't have to go home but you can't stay here" line. I left and drove to the diner my sister mentioned, ordered a soda and some mozzarella sticks. I played around on my phone while I waited. About twenty minutes later Pip showed up, now dressed in a plain white t-shirt and jeans, her hair tied back in a neat ponytail.

"So what's the deal?" I asked after the waitress came over and my sister ordered a soda. "You said you were a bartender."

"I was," she said, "But one of the girls thought I was... let me see... how did she put it exactly? Oh yeah, she said I was, and I quote 'Too fucking hot to be stuck behind the bar'. She thought I should be on the stage with her and the other girls. Only I didn't have the moves, so she and a couple of the other girls offered to teach me. Over the next few months, when we had free time, we'd get together and they'd teach me the fine art of taking my clothes off for money. When they felt I was ready, they convinced the owner of the club to give me a try. So he pulled me off the bar and put me on stage. The other girls helped me out with my hair and makeup, lent me outfits, and on my first night, I made just over $500. I was a little nervous at first, but the more I danced the more confident I became, the more confidence I gained the more money I made. That was a little over a year ago."

"So you were a bartender. You just left out the part where you transitioned into a stripper." I said.

"Yeah, that's not something you can drop in casual conversation. Especially not to mom. Plus the money's good. I made a little over $800 tonight."

"Jesus," I muttered, "I make 800 a WEEK."

"And this was a slow night, on a good night I make over a thousand, easy." she said "Speaking of money..."

She pulled out a 20 and slid it across the table.

"What's that for?" I asked.

"Well you never did get your VIP dance, so here's your money back."

I pushed the bill back across the table to her. "No, you keep it, you earned it."

"No, I'm not taking your money, Eddie." She slid the money back towards me.

"Yes you are." I said pushing the 20 back to her.

"How about this?" she said, and put the bill in the middle of the table. "That should pay for two sodas and a half eaten order of mozz sticks, plus a nice tip. Let's get out of here. I really don't feel comfortable talking about this in public like this. Can we go back to your place? I haven't had the chance to see your new place yet."

"Sure", I said, popping one last mozzarella stick into my mouth.

Cindy got in her car and followed me as I drove back to my place. Since it was 2am, there was hardly any traffic on the streets so she was able to stay right behind me the whole way. We reached my apartment building and after finding parking spaces in the lot behind the building we made our way up to my apartment.

"Nice," she said looking around.

"I know it's not much, but it's home." I said, "My swinging bachelor pad, baby!" I said trying to imitate Austin Powers.

"Never do that again," Pip said, laughing and sitting down on my couch.

"Sorry," I said, "You want a beer?"

"Sure."

I grabbed a couple of beers and joined her on the couch.

"So I have to ask," I said, "Aside from the money, do you really like being a stripper?"

"First of all I prefer the term 'exotic dancer', and second of all, yeah, it's kinda fun. I will admit though, most nights I just go through the motions, but every now and then I do get a little excited showing off my body, knowing that guys are willing to pay to see me mostly naked." she said, pausing to take a sip of her beer. "So, to paraphrase Humphrey Bogart, of all the strip joints in all the world, you had to walk into mine."

"Blame my friends," I said, "They decided to take me out to celebrate both my birthday and the finalization of my divorce. They were the ones who suggested the club. I went back tonight because... I don't really know. Just a spur of the moment thing."

"So you were there on your birthday?" She said, "Good thing I wasn't working that night. I can't imagine how that conversation with your friends would have gone."

"It'd be an awkward conversation, that's for sure." I said, "I'm surprised you're still sober after all those drinks I saw those guys buying you."

She laughed, and I could still hear a little bit of the squeak that earned her nickname. "Those drinks are just club soda and fruit juice! But the guys think they're getting us drunk, loosening our inhibitions I guess. Thinking that somehow we'll go home with them or something."

"Or try to get touchy feely in the VIP room." I said.

"Oh no," Pip said, shaking her head, "Did you see the big motherfucker by the door when you came in? That's Clarence. He's an ex pro wrestler, 6 foot 4 and 250 pounds of solid muscle. And the other guy that was sitting near the entrance to the VIP rooms? That's Bubba. When he's not working at the club he's an MMA fighter. I don't know if you noticed, but once every now and then they wander into the VIP section to make sure the guys are keeping their hands to themselves. If not..."

She made a motion like she was throwing someone along with a "swoosh" noise.

"...out they go. Well actually, they get told to leave, they get one warning and if they want to get stupid, well they find out very quickly that's a bad idea. I saw Clarence literally pick a guy up and tuck him under his arm like he was a football before walking to the door and toss him into the parking lot. Then there's another guy, Shane, that works some nights. He's ex-military. He may not be as big as Bubba or Clarence, but he knows sixteen ways to kill you with his bare hands."

"Sounds like you're well protected." I said.

She nodded. "Plus in the VIP room, it's up to us if the guys can touch us. I will admit, I sometimes let them touch me a little, mostly on my legs. But most of the time it's no contact."

"Can I tell you something?" I asked after taking a swig of my beer.

"Of course," she said.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just come out and say it. I never really thought of you as sexy --"

"Gee, thanks," Pip said, rolling her eyes.

"Will you let me finish?" I said, smirking at her. "What I mean is, I never thought of you as sexy because you're my sister. I just never thought of you that way. I always knew you were good looking, trust me, all my friends constantly told me, but sexy? Nah, you were always just my bratty little sister. But tonight, in the club, I saw a different side of you... no pun intended. Watching you up on that stage, dancing and gyrating and writhing around... well, I admit, I got a little turned on."

Cindy looked at me and a small smile crept onto her face. "Well, I have to admit, I kinda got turned on too, knowing you were watching me. Like I said, every now and then I get turned on when I'm on stage. But knowing you were out there, I put a little extra into my performance. Because I was a little excited too."

I arched an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Really." she said. "That's why I kept looking at you when I first saw you. At first I thought it was just someone who looked like you. When I realized it actually was you... well, while you may have never felt that way about me, I've felt that way about you."

My eyes went wide, "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"How long have you felt like that?"

"Years," Cindy said, looking me in the eyes. "Probably since our mid teens. I had this unspoken crush on you. I just never said anything for obvious reasons. There's an old saying that women want a man just like their father, but not me, I wanted a man just like my big brother. In fact, the last couple of guys I dated looked a lot like you. You remember Steven?"

"The musician?" I asked, I could never keep my sister's boyfriends straight.

"No, that was Carl." She said, "Steven was the nightclub promoter. He looked a lot like you, in fact, now that I think about it, all the guys I dated had something that reminded me of you."

I wasn't sure what to say, so I took another pull of my beer. "Is that why you were so energetic?"

"Yeah," Pip said. "In fact, when I started dancing, I always had this fantasy of dancing for you. And you know, I do owe you a VIP dance."

Before I could say anything, she stood up, kicked off her shoes, let down her hair, pulled her phone out of her pocket and a small bluetooth speaker out of her purse and moved the coffee table out of the way. She cued up some music on her phone (she literally had a playlist called "Music to strip by") and started to dance for me.

"Unlike in the club," she said, her voice dropping down to a sexy whisper, "You can touch me as much as you like."