Mercedes Fierro“
Now, this establishment isn’t like that trashy place on East Mendel. We take pride in our customers, so as one of our performers I expect you to live up to our expectations. Understand?” Man, this guy really liked to hear his own voice, “Yes, Mr. Monroe.” Sitting in her new bosses office, Mercedes kept her hands folded neatly along her lap as she watched him stack crisp twenty dollar bills along his desk. ‘
340… 360... 380...400 .’ Oh, that fat stack of cash was going to look
good in her wallet. Biting her lip eagerly as she counted the dollars in her head, Mercedes finally turned her eyes back up to her boss. He had a cross look on his face, probably due to the way she addressed him, but Mercedes didn’t really care. She had heard the other girls call him ‘sir’, but she had done her hours and was off the clock, so she wasn’t ready to feed his ego—he wasn’t a customer, after all.
Richard Monroe was the owner of Cupids Corner, in fact. A tall, handsome older man that had a mouth full of charm, and a head full of silver hair. He was probably the beefiest middle-aged man she had ever seen, but from first impressions, he seemed like the kind of guy that was all talk and no action. However, none of this seemed to hide the weird, and creepy aura resonating off of him. She brushed this aside as her own nervousness, but she could still tell something wasn’t right with the guy.
“So, when will I be able to host my own show?”
“
Eager, huh? I like that in my girls.” God, she wanted to vomit. It took everything in Mercedes power not to leave the room. This guy was pure slime, and she was really beginning to question if she needed this money or not. But as she stared at the stack of money before her, she bit her bottom lip nervously once again. ’
No,’ She immediately reminded herself, she
did need this money. ‘
Do it for Tony, and Nana.’ She wasn’t making enough at the India Club, and her part time job at the Jolly Roger weren’t making ends meet, so she really had no choice. She
needed this job.
Rather then feeding him a reaction, Mercedes didn’t even flinch. She stared hard back at the man disinterested, and expressionless. The uncomfortable silence that followed her intense stare was enough to make him uneasy, and she could tell this by the way he shifted in his chair before her. ‘
That’s right, back up.’ Unlike these other girls, she wasn’t about to bow so easily. At all, for that matter.
Finally, attempting to break the silence, the older man cleared his throat and tied the healthy pile of bills with a rubber band. “
Your, uh, first show will be next week. Until then you’ll keep working private rooms, and the bar.” Fighting back an eye roll, she gave a stiff nod and agreed to the terms. She couldn’t really argue after all, she had made good money on her first night alone, and she still had yet to put on her own show. That was where she would really shine, but until then she would just bite her tongue and bare with it. The coy smirk had returned to her bosses face as he held out the money for her to take. The gesture was odd, it almost felt like a trap, but Mercedes hesitantly raised her hand and grabbed the wad of cash, “Thank you, Mr. Mon—“ Before she could pull away, a strong hand grabbed her wrist and clenched tightly, holding her firmly in place and forcing her to freeze in her spot.
The look in his eyes made her blood run cold, and the sudden grin on his lips would forever sit in her mind, “
You did good tonight, Mercedes. So I know you won’t make me regret hiring you.” His words were cold, and dangerous, as was the look in his eyes. Was this the same man she had just spoken to? “Yes.. yes, sir.” She said, almost obediently. With a sharp tug, she pulled her wrist out of his grip and quickly stood from her chair. Tucking the cash into her purse and pulling on her thin coat, she avoided eye contact with her boss by staring at the ground as she spoke in a quiet, stuttering tone, “I-I need to go.”
Mr. Monroe simply leaned back and gave her a lax nod, the strange, menacing grin still on his face, “
Of course.~ You may leave. I’ll see you tomorrow night, Mercedes.”
With those words, she was quick to hurry out to door and into the main lobby of the club, his words trailing behind her and sitting her mind. Half-naked dancers worked the stage of the main room. Their bodies twirling, and grinding against and along poles as they presented themselves to the many customers in the large club. Eyes down, and head low, she hurried past the crowd and ignored any calls to her. Feeling like the walls were closing in on her, her chest tightened, and her breathing hitched in her throat as she suddenly became incredibly nauseous. Bursting out the doors of club, the cold air knocked her back to reality and left her shivering in fear. Heaving in her breaths she turned back to the heavy double doors with wide eyes. ‘
What the hell was that?’
It wasn’t like her to get so worked up over something like that. With her fair share of encounters with grabby, and aggressive men, this was the first time she had ever felt so.. small. Something wasn’t right with that man, or this this place, but until she found another job that paid her just as much, Mercedes had no choice but to suck it up. Rubbing her arm uncomfortably, she decided not to stay any longer. So with one last glance at the front entrance she hurried to her car, struggling to run in heels through the rain.
Once in the comfort of her little yellow bug, she pulled out her phone and wallet before sorting through her inbox. Looking over each message, her eyes stopped along a single message from her little brother.
[“Are you off work yet?”
] The message had been sent a little less then fifteen minutes ago, and Mercedes was surprised her brother hadn’t blown up her inbox like he usually did. With little thought, her nails tapped gently along the screen of her cell phone as she replied,
[“On my way.”
] She wanted to be home just as much as he did, so rather then wasting anymore time, she threw her phone onto the passenger seat and started her car.
Mercedes & Tony FierroAfter the long drive from West Mendel, and having to go through some trouble with a road block of police only a few streets away from her house, Mercedes finally made it home in one piece. Parallel parking her car next to the sidewalk with a heavy sigh, she shut off the engine and slumped in her chair. As much as she loved making money, working all the time was really starting to wear her thin. “I need a damn vacation.” She said to herself. Unfortunately with this new job it didn't look like she was going to get much time off, but one could dream, right?
Cold, and tired, she grabbed all her things and heaved herself out of the car. She wasn't a fan of this cold weather so as the rain continued, she covered her head with her purse and cursed heavily in spanish as she ran down the walkway and up the stairs of the porch. Opening the door with little trouble, a sigh of relief escaped her lips as warm air swept past her skin and carried away her stress, "I'm home." She called out, heels clicking along the wooden floor as she walked down the short hallway. With little struggle she found her brother melted into their grandmothers cushioned chair, a bored, and tired look in his eyes as he stared at the television. "You forgot to lock the door again, Tony."
"You forgot to put some clothes on, Mercy." He retorted lazily, not even sparing her a glance as he continued to flip through channels. "Cállate!" Annoyed by his words she rolled her eyes at her brothers sass before heading up the stairs to her room to change. Closing the door behind her and kicking off her shoes, she flexed her toes through the fuzzy rug on the floor, and stretched her ankles. She had been on her feet the entire day, and wearing six-inch heels wasn't helping at all. Digging through her clothes and pulling out a comfortable pair of black leggings, an old band shirt, and a bright blue hoodie she threw the clothes along the bed and shifted around the room. Standing before her mirror just as she was going to change, Mercedes looked over her soaked uniform. Shimmering gold booty-shorts, and a cropped, white and gold vest that acted more like a bra. The tiny bit of clothes did little to cover her up, but she had to admit it did look good on her. Shivering lightly and being pulled from her thoughts, she turned her attention away from the mirror and dressed into something more comfortable.
After some time to herself, Mercedes finally returned downstairs. Tony, who was still slouched in the chair, was tapping his foot impatiently along the wood floor. He had waited all day for his sister to come home, and now that she was here he was beginning to grow antsy. Now warm, and out of her wet clothes, dark, thick curls of hair pooled over her shoulders as she chewed on a piece of gum and pulled out her phone. “You want a ride to the bar? I'm probably going to get some food, and since I'm heading that way and its been raining, I’d rather you not drive that death machine of yours.” Tony rolled his eyes and bit his tongue. There was no need to argue with her seeing as she was about to save him a whole lot of gas and trouble. “Yeah, are you ready to go now?” Not earning a reply from her, he sat up along the chair and caught his sister standing at the doorway of the kitchen. Keys in hand and looking through her text messages again she started slowly to the door before finally answering him, “Mhm, lets get going. I don’t want to leave Nana by herself for too long.” Pushing himself up from the chair he hurried to the hallway and slid past his sister so he could leave out the door first. “Rude.” Earning a shove from behind, Tony gave a small snort as he pushed open the door and made his way down the stairs.
Her yellow Volkswagen beeped to life as the doors unlocked, and once the two were in the car they were quick to head off. The rain fell steadily along the glass, but the light drizzle was hardly enough to make driving difficult. Rap played softly from the speakers, and as Mercy enjoyed the silence her brother was quick to interrupt just like always, “So, how’d the new job go?”
Man, she really didn’t want to talk about that right now. “S’fine.” She said with a shrug.
“Just, fine? Did something happen?” At her silence Tony’s eyes narrowed and he tensed up in the passenger seat, “Did some motherfucker touch you?”
“No, no, no,” Well, technically that did happen, but he didn’t need to know about that, “It was just.. First day on the job is always weird. It’s just gonna take me a while to get used to this one.” A heavy frown sat along Tony’s face as he watched his sister. He didn’t trust the tone of her voice, but it was clear this whole conversation was stressing her out. “You got a light?” She asked just as she pulled out a cigarette. With a sigh he took out his own pack, and with a flick of his lighter, lit both cigarettes and cracked open the window. The rest of the car ride was followed with silence, much to her pleasure, but as they drew closer to their destination both siblings soon found their pleasant drive quickly coming to an end.
Pulling up to the Jolly Roger, Mercy and Tony squinted suspiciously at the large crowd in front of the bar. “Oooh~ You guys having a party or somethin'?”
Tony slowly threw a glare at his sister, “Yeah, something like that.” Looking back to the crowd, he gave a heavy sigh as he caught sight of the Big Four—or rather the Big Five, now—standing amongst the circled group. What was even going on? Not wanting to be left out more then he already was, Tony rushed out the door before Mercedes could even park. "Hey! At least wait till' I stop moving!"
Ignoring his sister, Tony drew near the group slowly. Peeking around the other Skulls, he tried to get a good look at what was going on, but before he got any answers a deep cry filled the air, and his name was suddenly called out by an all too familiar voice “
Antonio!” Shoving past the crowd without a second though, he hurried to Skeletons side, eyes widening in shock as he caught sight of Reiko laying on the floor, surrounded by the rest of the Big Five. What the hell was going on!? Swallowing hard he eyed the unfamiliar girl standing before Reiko before returning his attention to their masked leader, "S-sir?"