Cookie headed back toward the locker room to freshen up. She had danced on stage for a half hour straight and VIPed with a customer. Her home girls weren’t around. Some of them were doing a private party and the others were out on dates. The money must have been good because they hadn’t shown up yet, on a Friday night at that.

There would be hell to pay if she didn’t make Jules’s quota for the night. He’d probably beat her ass and then take her downtown to center city to walk the track, if she didn’t come correct. So she had to freshen up and get right back on her paper chase.

Pressed tightly up against the wall, Kat, Goldie and Tender concealed themselves. The locker room appeared empty to Cookie at first. She walked straight into their trap. Kat pounced on her from the blind side, swinging the lock-in-a-sock, striking Cookie on the side of the head. It happened so fast she never saw it coming.

“Aaaaww!” she managed to say, before crumpling to the floor holding her head.

“Bitch, you like stealin’, huh?” Kat asked. As Cookie curled up into a fetal position to protect herself and took the beat down, she had no other choice. The lock-in-a-sock made a sickening thud sound each time it found it’s mark.

“Why are you doin’ this ta me?” she begged.

“Shut up, ho! Take dis ass-whuppin’ like da man you iz … Dis oughta teach ya ass a lesson ’bout takin’ stuff dat don’t belong ta ya,” Kat spat.

Kat continued to swing her weapon but the other girls began to feel sorry for Cookie. Enough was enough. Kat was going overboard. This had the makings of a murder written all over it and Tender and Goldie wanted no part of that.

Tender finally worked up enough nerve to pull Kat off the girl. “Stop it! Dat’s enough!” she insisted. “We gotta get outta here.”

After Tender wrestled Kat away from her, Goldie stood in a daze over Cookie, amazed at all the bodily harm that they had caused. Cookie was bloody and almost motionless. The low sick moans that escaped her body were the only signs of life. She had lumps and bumps all over her body. The knots on her head looked grotesque. The sight of her face sent a chill down Goldie’s spine.

With Kat still fuming and Goldie going into shock, Tender took control of the situation. “C’mon, y’all,” she ordered. “Grab ya shit, we out!”

Quickly, they all tipped out and exited the club. They left Cookie to be discovered by another dancer.

Inside Kat’s truck, they breathed a sigh of relief. They pulled away from the club and headed for home.