She led them around the Sidewalk Café on the first floor and showed them the darkened Playboy Club, the Cabaret, and finally the VIP lounge, where the Bunnies wore silver velvet or blue velvet costumes. The air was still heavy with the residue of smoke from the night before. “You have to work your way up to the premier areas. And unless you can speak two languages, you’ll never get to work in here.”

Sherri nudged Ginger. “I eak-spay ig-pay atin-lay.”

Ginger roared. “I’m also fluent in pig latin!”

Val shushed them angrily. “What are you, seven years old?”

They passed posters advertising upcoming events, from a boxing match and ski lessons to performances by comedian George Gobel and jazz musician Joe Williams. Long hallways with hotel rooms shot away from the lobby and seemed to extend into eternity. “If you get caught setting so much as a toe in the hotel part of the resort, you’ll be dismissed immediately. I’ve seen it happen more times than you’d like to know.”

After the tour, they stopped at the basement cafeteria for lunch. There were sandwiches, pasta, and a giant salad bar. “You can eat anything you want. Just show your employee key. It’s free, but it’ll cost you, if you know what I mean.” Bunny Starr tapped her belly.

The girls were making conversation while they ate at one of the long tables when Val shot Sherri a look. “Stop dragging the fork across your teeth, would you?”

Sherri thought she’d left girls like Val behind in high school. She felt that familiar dread at the prospect of having to deal with her. Becoming a Bunny had given Sherri the idea that she had the power to change who she was. She desperately wanted to be different. So when she took her next bite of cottage cheese, she bit her fork and pulled it slowly out of her mouth, her teeth scraping against the tines, looking Val right in the eyes the whole time. She wasn’t used to being defiant, and this gesture ran against her nature, like rubbing fish scales in the wrong direction. She could feel her chest and cheeks becoming red and hot. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

Gwen smiled approvingly and gave Sherri a discreet wink that further emboldened her. Lucy pretended to stare at something of interest off in the distance, while Rhonda’s eyes grew big.

Val popped a cherry tomato into her mouth. “I’m surprised you still have all your teeth coming from East Troy. That’s why you’re showing them off, huh?”

Ginger leaned back in her chair, slapped her thigh, and laughed out loud, a throaty sound that echoed in the cavernous room. “Oh boy, let the games begin.”