Free Objectify Me: A Fireworks Novella (The Fireworks Novellas) by Bibi Rizer Page A

inside?” I ask.
    The warehouse is dark, but as we walk through the packed parking lot, I start to feel the telltale, low vibration of a killer sound system.
    “Look for Omar and Buck, I guess,” he says. “Don’t really know what to do about the girl. I mean I suppose we could call the police.”
    “But get your friends out first.”
    “Fuck, yes. If the police bust it up, they’re likely to get arrested. Omar especially.” He goes quiet for a few seconds. “I mean, you know how the police are with black guys.”
    “I’ve heard, yes. So, fine. We find your friends. Drag them out. Call the police. Good plan.” I don’t want to break it to him that the police probably know all about this little soiree. The chief of police is probably in there right now, balls deep in some teenager. I keep that to myself. “Let’s be discreet about it, though. Will your friends make a scene?”
    “I doubt it. They talk a big game, but Buck mostly just wants to get wasted, and Omar is kind of a pussycat to be honest.”
    The door to the warehouse is closed. No sign, nobody there. The only indication of anything going on is the faint sound of thumping dance music, made tinny through the thick steel. Levi shrugs at me and knocks lightly on the door. A few seconds later, the door cracks open to a familiar face. One of Objections’ bouncers, Thaddeus Hunter.
    “Thaddeus!” Levi and I say at the same time.
    “Well, look at this,” Thaddeus says. “I’m some kind of magician. Charlotte, don’t tell me you let this nice young man buy you for the evening.”
    “Whoa,” Levi says. “It’s not like that at all. I ran into Charlotte after her shift and…uh…took her to the Ivy Grill for a late meal.”
    Well, he left out some incriminating details, but I’m okay with that. “Levi’s friends are here and he’s worried about them.” I say. “Let us go look for them.”
    “I’m not supposed to let anyone in without a password.”
    “I’ll tell Jack you’re moonlighting at a dirty old pop-up brothel, Thad. How’s that for a password?” I glare at him. “I’ll tell your mama too.”
    He pulls the door completely open. “All right. All right. No need to launch WMDs. Come in. Come in.”
    I take Levi’s hand and push past Thaddeus and through the door. “Thanks for thinking the worst of me. You owe me an apology.”
    Thaddeus hangs his head. “Sorry, Charlotte. Please don’t tell Mama or Jack. I’m just trying to put together some money for my sister’s wedding.” He closes the door and follows us in.
    We’re in a completely empty and rather dark room. The floor is littered with old machinery parts. There’s a faint smell of motor oil. The dance music is a fraction louder but still sounds pretty far away. Where is this party?
    Thaddeus points to a grimy and unremarkable door. “Go through there. Up two flights of stairs. Password at the top is “Delacour”. When you’re ready to leave, come back down the same stairs. Don’t use the back stairs. Just trust me on that. The back stairs are not for decent people.”
    I wonder what he means by that. But before I can clarify, Levi puts his arm around me and leads me across the room to the door.
    “Hey, Levi,” Thaddeus says, as Levi pulls the door open. “Keep an eye on her. Most of the women here are, you know, working girls. Don’t let anyone get the wrong idea.”
    Levi gives my shoulder a squeeze. “I won’t let go of her,” he says. “Count on it.”
    Damn it. Why can’t he just be a jerk? It would make my life so much easier.
    We slip through the door to a dim stairway beyond. The door swings shut behind us.
    “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Levi says.
    “Star Wars,” I say. “I got that reference.”
    “Captain America. I got that one.”
    Fully geeked out on fandom, I head up the stairs in a much happier mood.
    On the first landing, the door is boarded shut, which seems a little inauspicious. Levi stops and puts his ear against