Free Gin and Toxic (Swan Song) by Audrey Cole Page A

I?”
    “Hal!”
    “Do whatever she says, Clara!” he shouts back, then disappears through the doorway.
    I grin at Clara. “Get in line, Angel.” I tell her, my voice saccharine sweet.
    She continues to scowl at me but she goes without protest. As I thought.
    I get this a lot. More than you’d think with the way Tommy is about me. Most of the girls working in the club are attached to a gangster in some way, shape or form. It affords them certain rights. Certain status. As the main attraction of the Cotton Club here in Cicero, I have a certain status all my own. One I earned by myself that doesn’t depend on anyone else. Really what these girls are doing is riding the coattails of power trailing from these men. Not me. I own my own status. I’m afforded my own set of rights. I’m a rare female power and sometimes people forget that. Sometimes they have to be reminded, like Clara just was. I can’t say I mind watching it happen.
    “Adrian!” Tommy shouts, bursting into the room through the door Hal just exited.
    I groan inside. This rehearsal will never be allowed to start meaning it will never end and I’ll eventually die on this stage of either agony or old age.
    “Yeah, Tommy, what?”
    “I got a new girl for ya.”
    He holds open the door for a young woman trailing behind him. She’s looking around nervously like a small bird that accidentally flew indoors and can’t find a way out. Her eyes are wide with shock and curiosity, her hands fluttering over the ends of her sleeves as she worries the fabric incessantly. She’s young, probably fifteen or so, and absolutely gorgeous. Her skin is ebony in color and pure perfection, smooth as silk. Her hair is pinned expertly on top of her head, not a strand out of place and her dress, though nothing but a cheap, thin cotton, is well maintained and perfectly pressed. I glance at Clara and a couple of the other girls where they st and slouching, snapping gum in their mouths like cows in the fields in Nebraska slathering over a chunk of cud. Maybe a new girl isn’t the worst thing in the world.
    “What’s your name?” I call to her, coming down off the stage.
    She meets my eyes without an ounce of fear or hesitation. It startles me. When I get down to floor level with her and in better light I’m struck by how familiar she looks. Maybe she’s a regular performer somewhere else that Tommy has sweet talked away.
    “ Elishia.” she answers quietly.
    “Can you dance?”
    “Would I give you a chorus girl who couldn’t dance?” Tommy asks, sounding annoyed.
    “Yes.”
    “Well this one can.” he says sharply, turning to leave. “Train her up, get her in the show.”
    “As what and when?”
    He turns to look at me, his annoyance clear in his face now. “I told you, as a chorus girl and immediately.”
    “The chorus line is full. You want me to use her as an understudy?”
    “Only if you don’t want her to get paid and then I’d wonder why we’re doin’ any of this.”
    I frown. “What are you talking about?”
    He stalks back to me, stepping into my space to whisper in my ear.
    “This is Eddie’s daughter.”
    “She’s what?!” I cry, shoving him in the chest hard.
    “Easy.” he warns, his eyes igniting.
    “Easy? You want me to take it easy?” I hiss. “You can’t put Eddie’s daughter in one of these outfits to dance in front of this crowd. Are you crazy?”
    “You asked me to take care of that family. That’s what I’m doin’.”
    “I thought you’d give them some money.” I whisper, exasperated. “Help them get by until Eddie is better and able to work again.”
    Tommy shakes his head , lighting a cigarette he pulls from behind his ear. “This ain’t a charity, Adrian. I’m not givin’ away anything for free, you got that? This is the solution. Take it or leave it.”
    I hate it, but I have to take it. Eddie can’t work right now, his wife has to take care of their kids and really being in the chorus isn’t that bad.