Free Swan Song by Tracey Ward

peach.”
    He grins at my sarcasm, scans the girls in the chorus line like a housewife shopping meat at the butcher’s, then heads toward the back. The women watch him leave with a mixture of lust, longing, and fear.
    I motion for Elisha to follow me toward the stage. “You’ll watch this rehearsal and get a feel for how things work, get a chance to see the routine, then we’ll try and work you into it. You’ll be in the back or on the far side in the beginning since you won’t be very good, but maybe we’ll work you in farther later.”
    “Yes, Miss Marcone,” she agrees hastily as she falls in step behind me.
    “Call me Adrian.”
    “Alright, Miss Adrian.”
    “No,” I tell her with a smile. “Just Adrian.”
    She looks up at me in surprise and shakes her head. “I coul—“
    “Yes you can. I’ve been trying to get your dad to do it for years but he’s a stubborn one.” I stop to look at her appraisingly – taking in her curvaceous figure and fresh, young face – and my anxiety spikes again. “Are you stubborn, Elisha?”
    She grins. “Wouldn’t be my daddy’s daughter otherwise.”
    “Good,” I tell her, gesturing for her to sit as I turn back toward the stage. “Stubborn will keep you alive.”
     
***
     
    “You can’t do this, Tommy,” Hal protests.
    Tommy shoots him a hard look. “I what?”
    Hal pauses, rethinking his phrasing. “Look, it’s not right. It’s not fair to Clara. She earned her spot on that stage. You can’t just take it from her and replace her with some charity case.”
    “She only got a shot at that spot because you wanted to fuck her,” Tommy reminds him.
    “Doesn’t change the fact that she’s got talent.” Hal turns to me, his eyes pleading for me to see his side. “She’s a good dancer, ain’t she, Aid?”
    “Yeah,” I agree heartily. “She’s a great dancer.”
    Hal turns to Tommy. “You see?”
    “But she’s a shit person,” I add.
    Tommy chuckles.
    “That’s my girl you’re talkin’ about,” Hal warns me sharply.
    “Yeah, and she’s my chorus girl, one I put up with out of necessity. She’s got a bad attitude. The last three days without her have been a dream.”
    “But she can dance, that’s what matters,” Hal insists.
    “It is, you’re right. And Elisha can dance too. And she does it without being a pain in my side, so I’m keeping her and that’s that.”
    Hal turns to Tommy, changing his tactic. “What is she supposed to do for money, huh? Go get a job someplace else for a month? That’s crazy.”
    “You mean to tell me you can’t afford your girl’s expenses for one measly month?” Tommy asks quietly. “That’s pathetic. If you can’t float her for that long, you shouldn’t have her. Let someone who can take care of her have a go at her.”
    “I can take care of her,” Hal says angrily.
    “Well then get out of my office and go do it. I don’t wanna hear any more about it, you read me?”
    “Yeah,” Hal replies morosely. “I read ya. You’ll save a spot for her, right, Adrian? She can come back in a month?”
    “Don’t hassle her with this,” Tommy warns him angrily. “Who knows what will happen in a month? Maybe we’ll all be dead.”
    “That’s chipper,” I mutter.
    “What I’m sayin’ is don’t worry about it right now.” He turns to Hal, looking at him seriously. “But speakin’ of worries, what’s the story with the Tremblays? What was our discount on the late shipment?”
    Hal shifts in his seat. “We didn’t get one.”
    Tommy sits back hard in his chair, leveling his gaze on Hal calmly. It’s the calm you have to be careful of with Tommy. Even my hair stands on end when it comes around. “Why not?” he asks darkly.
    “They gave us a few free cases of gin instead.” Hal shrugs. “I took it. I figured we can make more money off selling free gin than they ever would have given us in discount for the late bourbon shipment.”
    “How much? How many cases?”
    “Six with twelve