“Stop playin’ stupid,” Kat replied. “C’mon, you know what it’s about? A VIP. You know where da ‘real’ dough at … Don’t front, we already talked about dis. If you wanna make major paper in here, dis is what you gotta do. Da shit iz easy money ….”

Kat had been trying to get her to do VIPs for a while. Certain men came to the club thinking—Why pay for just a dance when you can have sex? For a little more money, they could get the whole thing—total sex.

She had had enough of that when she lived in the street. She wasn’t trying to go back to doing just anything. But she did want the big money, so she could get out of the game sooner than later.

Before they could get another word out their mouths, Goldie walked in.

“What’s goin’ on here? My clique havin’ a meetin’ witout me?” she said.

“Nah, I’m jus’ tryin’ ta get Ms. Goody Two Shoes here ta VIP … Would you tell her that’s what’s up,” Kat stated.

Oblivious to Tender, who was busy cleaning herself up, Kat shot Goldie “the eye.” Along with a few facial expressions that said, “You better help me talk her into this.”

“Yo, Tender,” Goldie spoke up reluctantly, with faked enthusiasm, “get dat dough Ma … It’ll be over before you know it. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am. These niggas iz minute men. They ain’t tryin’ ta make love, they tryin’ ta bust a nut … Tender, you gotta step up ya game! Da money’s out there, waitin’.” She pulled Tender’s coat to the prices for various sex acts. “Go get it!”

Goldie gave Tender the confidence she needed. There was something reassuring in her voice that just made Tender want to believe every word she said.

“Okay,” Tender finally agreed, as she stepped into a thong, “let’s do dis. Where he at?”

“That’s what’s up!” Kat exclaimed happily. “You ’bout it, ’bout it! … C’mon, now let me show you dis nigga.”

Tender followed Kat out the dressing room and back into the club. As she did she turned around and gave Goldie a look that said “Here goes nothin’. I’m goin’ all out.”

Goldie gave Tender a hollow smile, and she felt terrible that she had allowed herself to be used by Kat to suck someone in again. She genuinely liked Tender. And she didn’t want to see her turned out or burned out like so many other girls in the club—on cocaine, heroin and Ecstasy—being pimped hard. She didn’t want to see Tender get in the game deeper and make a bad situation worse, just like she had.

As soon as they left, Goldie got up and walked out behind them. She needed some liquor in her system. To ease her guilty conscience.