5: Five

Five

40 Minutes Later - Downtown Richmond

 

“Where is this party again?”

“At The Bamba Club. You ever heard of it?”

“On Cary Street, right?”

“Yeah, next to the mill.”

Three women, including Sophie, walked side by side down a city street.

“They got good drinks?”

“Not sure. But it’s ladies’ night, so they should.”

“Sophie, this place better be good.”

“Jessie, college is about broadening your horizons, you need to be happy that you have the opportunity to do this.”

“Not to sound like a dick,” Jessica started, “but you’ve been really weird since you called me last night. You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sophie replied.

“You didn’t really tell me what was going on. You just rambled on about how some guy was f*****g with you. Are you sure?”

“Jessica, I’m okay. I promise,” Sophie lied with a straight face. “I was just really irritated last night. He was just a creep.”

“So is that why we’re going to a party with all women?” Kathy, the third woman said.

“I could use a night without getting felt up by some guy,” Jessica stated.

“Why do we even deal with that?” Sophie asked, annoyed.

“We shouldn’t. We should be asking why men do that,” Jessica replied.

“Frotteurism and a need to feel dominant in an era of increasing gender equality,” Kathy responded.

“Kathy, what the f**k is frotterism?” Jessica replied.

“It’s a paraphilia where the person experiences sexual pleasure from "“

“Oh look, here it is!” Sophie interrupted, pointing towards a sign for The Bamba Club.

“Oh f**k, I think I went here freshman year,” Jessica said as the three women walked toward the line. “A lot of cute 

Mexican guys go here.”

“Are they Mexican, or Latino?” Kathy said. “There’s a difference.”

“Doesn’t matter tonight,” Sophie said.

“I’ve never been to an all-women party before,” Jessica said.

“Not since my 8^th grade sleepover,” Kathy replied as the three women inched closer to the front of the line. “We ate pizza and listened to ‘Promiscuous Girl’ all night.”

“Oh my god, I love that song,” Jessica said. “Those were good times, before my acne set in.”

“God, I was an ugly middle schooler,” Sophie replied. “I was a nerd.”

“I was a bigger nerd,” Kathy said. “Braces, glasses, band geek, no b***s.”

“We were f*****g thirteen, who needed b***s?” Sophie said.

“You needed them to pass my algebra class,” Jessica said. “Ms. Klewer liked them young.”

“Miss?” Kathy replied.

“Yep: miss. The b***h was nasty. Eyeing me every f*****g class. And I blossomed early, so even though my algebra game sucked, my cleavage game was on point. Never failed a test as long as she ‘tutored’ me during lunch sometimes.”

“Wow, what the hell? Did she ever touch you?” Sophie asked.

“No, not like that,” Jessica replied. “She just looked at my chest whenever I tried to solve a problem. She thought I wouldn’t be able to tell. Once I had my last class, I never spoke to her again. She got arrested a year later trying to seduce another girl with alcohol.”

“How did you feel?” Kathy asked.

“Cheated. I never got free alcohol,” Jessica replied.

“No, I mean--"

“ID’s?” the bouncer interrupted, surprising the girls.

“Oh,” Sophie started. “Here you go.” She handed the bouncer a fake ID, which he quickly accepted. Her friends did the same with no issue. A second bouncer opened the door for the women, and they slowly entered the hallway leading to the bright-pink dance floor crowded with women.

“F**k, it’s a party,” Sophie said in awe.

“I’d be really happy if I were a lesbian,” Jessica said. “Drink first?”

“Drink first,” Sophie replied.

The three girls walked toward the bar, waiting and talking several minutes before ordering their drinks.

“At least they play good music here,” Kathy said.

As the night progressed, the girls broke from their circle, dancing freely with the other women as if they had already known them. Soon, no one in the club was talking, only dancing and singing along to the music. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” 

“Single Ladies,” “Hollaback Girl,” and so on. As the night progressed, the scene was in slight disarray as the liquor had taken over. The lyrics were slurred. The dancing was off. Jessica became one of its victims.

“I just don’t know why he’s like that!” she cried, sitting within a group of four women, all tending to her.

“He’s probably not secure in himself. Sexually confident women intimidate most men,” said a random woman holding Jessica.

“But it makes his job easier! I tell him what to do, he does it, we’re fine!”

“Yeah, but maybe making him wear an Obama mask is too much?” another woman suggested.

“He is a Republican, Jessica,” Kathy added.

“It’s not my fault that I like his body but not his face!”

Another woman joined the group, walking towards Sophie.

“What’s wrong?”

“My friend’s crying the liquor out,” Sophie responded. “She’ll be okay after 10 minutes.”

“It happens to all of us,” the woman said. “Whoa, I like your necklace! Where’d you get it?”

“Thanks! It was a gift. My name’s Sophie, by the way.”

“My name’s Christina.”

The two conversed briefly, at times interrupted by Jessica’s crying, until they moved their conversation elsewhere. When they returned to the table, Jessica had already returned to the dance floor. “Promiscuous” was playing.

“I f*****g love this song!” Jessica yelled in Kathy’s ear on the dance floor. Sophie and Christina joined them.

As the night progressed, the women became more relaxed and liberal. Dancing turned to grinding. Hugging turned to kissing. Jessica and Kathy gave each other a friendly peck, while women nearby appeared to be sucking the air out of each other.

Sophie and Chrisitna playfully grinded on each other, grabbing their partner’s necks as they rhythmically rubbed against each other.

“You ever danced with a girl before?” Christina asked, holding Sophie’s hips in front of her.

“Yeah!” Sophie yelled against the music.

“So you’re comfortable?”

“Yep!”

They danced for a half hour, ignoring everyone in the room. Soon, Jessica and Kathy were nowhere to be found. Sophie observed the line for the bathroom, but couldn’t find them. She waited a few minutes for them to reappear, but they didn’t. She assumed that they went outside and asked Christina to follow her outside. She obliged. But Sophie’s friends could not be found.

“Did those drunks leave me?” Sophie asked herself.

“They’ll be alright,” Christina replied. “Of course they didn’t go home with some weird guy.”

“Well, that’s good,” Sophie replied. “Wanna get pizza?”

“Sure.”

The two women walked down the street holding hands in a friendly manner. They playfully skipped toward a pizza place, grabbed a slice, and continued walking down the street. They noticed a billboard overwritten with graffiti, and talked about art. They passed a man sleeping on the street, gave some change, and talked about ideas to end homelessness. They passed through a park, talking about Christina’s hair, nails, accessories, and how she likes to change her style almost daily.

They ended their trip at a condominium complex where Christina offered Sophie to come inside. She said yes, then followed Christina into a well-decorated condo. Christina led Sophie to the living room couch, grabbed some ice cream, and turned on a romantic comedy. They were sitting underneath a blanket side by side. Halfway through the movie, Christina popped a random question.

“How did you find out about the party?”

“I found a flyer in front of my door this morning. It seemed like fun, and I’m so glad I went. It helped to clear my mind from things.”

“I’m glad you had fun,” Christina replied. “They do it every week or so, but I’ve been out of the area for a while, so tonight was my first time in a long time.”

“What were you doing out of town?” Sophie asked.

“I was getting away from all the violence. The gangs around here have really been ramping up.”

Sophie looked down, thinking about her brothers.

“Can I trust you in telling you this?” Christina asked.

“Telling you what? You can trust me,” Sophie replied. Christina began to look distressed.

“The Frente tried to recruit me recently. They saw me while I was with a friend in Midlothian and tried to make us join.”

“So you said no?” Sophie asked.

“I said no,” Christina began. “My friend told them to their faces that she’d call the police. She’d been drinking and wasn’t thinking straight.”

“They killed her, didn’t they?” a distraught Sophie asked, knowing from experience the consequences of refusing a gang’s orders, implied or direct. When Christina started crying, she knew her intuition was correct.

“I don’t know how they found her,” Christina said. “They started leaving messages on my phone a few months ago, telling me that they haven’t forgotten about me. I went to my uncle’s house in Winchester, and it stopped after a few weeks. I didn’t feel safe enough to come back until now.” She constantly wiped tears from her face between sentences.

“I’m " I’m so sorry, Christina,” Sophie said, holding her new friend.

“I’m sorry for bringing this up, I felt like I needed to tell someone,” Christina said. “She was my girlfriend. We had just started dating.”

“Oh god,” Sophie said.

“Yeah. I was really starting to love her. Then she was taken away from me. She hadn’t even introduced me to her family. He hadn’t come out yet.”

They paused their conversation as Sophie held Christina closer, helping to wipe her tears away with the blanket.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but have you come out yet?” Christina asked.

“Um,” Sophie hesitated.

“You don’t know you’re gay yet, do you?”

“I’m not gay, I like guys.”

“Are you sure you’re not the least bit curious?” Christina asked. “We were pretty close on the dance floor.”

“I must say I am curious,” Sophie responded. “I like you. I think you’re cute. But I don’t know if that’s normal even for straight women.”

“Sexuality is fluid,” Christina responded. “Just do what’s right. You’re young, you have a lot to discover about yourself.”

“My family wouldn’t approve,” Sophie replied. “They’re old school. And they’re about to legalize gay marriage in my parents’ country, my father kept talking about how wickedness and disease will eventually devour the world because of it.”

“Your father’s going to have to grow up.”

“I don’t think I want to be with a guy for a while. I know we just met, but I feel comfortable telling you: I had a guy try to take advantage of me recently,” Sophie said.

“How?”

“I don’t really want to say, but he was this popular rich kid thinking he could just do whatever without my input,” Sophie said with her head down.

“I’m sorry,” Christina replied. She held Sophie’s head onto her chest, stroking her hair. “If it means anything, I think you’re too special to be treated like that. Of course no girl deserves that, but you deserve someone that’s going to treat you like the rarity you are.”

Sophie smiled, sinking her head further into Christina’s chest.

“I’m glad we met,” Sophie said, kissing Christina on the cheek. Christina returned a kiss on the forehead. Another kiss to Christina’s neck. Another kiss to Sophie’s cheek. A nibble on Christina’s ear. They adjusted positions, placing Christina on top of Sophie. Their hands navigated themselves around and underneath each other’s clothes. Biting, moaning, and grabbing ensued. Suddenly, all of their clothes had been removed.

“Follow me,” Christina requested. Sophie held her hand as they moved to the bathroom. They entered the large tub surrounded by candles. Christina lit them as Sophie jokingly suggested that she must have been expecting her to come over. They ran the water, entered the tub, resumed kissing, and played with each other as bubbles began to form around them. Christina was again on top of Sophie as she pleasured her: one hand between Sophie’s legs, one on her left breast.

“Such big b***s for a skinny girl,” Christina joked before lowering her head onto Sophie’s chest, kissing her gently.

Sophie moaned as Christina continued roaming and rubbing onto her body. They made out and moved faster, causing some water to splash onto the bathroom floor. Christina moved her hand onto Sophie’s neck, gently choking her. Sophie continued to moan as Christina fluttered inside her.

Christina gripped harder and smiled. Sophie smiled, closed her eyes, and bit her lip in enjoyment. She thrusted faster, gripping harder. Sophie choked, then caught her breath. Christina gripped harder. Sophie’s smile disappeared. She began to twitch and tap on Christina’s arm. But Christina did not stop.

Harder. Sophie gripped Christina’s arm. Harder. Sophie began to flail. Harder. Sophie begged. Then cried. Then kicked. And begged. And gripped. Until she didn’t struggle anymore. Then Christina let go, not losing her smile throughout the one-sided fight. She rose, looked at Sophie, and drained the tub. She started a shower and washed herself off, exiting as the water rained on top of Sophie’s lifeless body.

Christina left the room, returned fully-clothed with white leather gloves and the blanket she and Sophie shared. She threw the blanket in the tub, then dropped a large, golden, Africa-shaped chain - the Gambas' trademark - onto the floor. She began cleaning the television remote, the bowls of ice cream and spoons, the freezer door handle, each doorknob that she touched, and the condo keys.

She grabbed some car keys, dialed 911 on a nearby phone, left the phone on a kitchen counter, and quietly left the home without waiting for a response.