Adult-Only Performance Tent
"And now, prepare yourselves for this next exotic beauty! All the way from the distant lands of the Far East, this Asian snake will charm you with her secret ways! Behold, the mysterious dragon lady!"
That was her cue.
Happy slid out, feeling the hot light from the spotlight on her. There was applause, shaken with hushed whispers. Some cat-calling. Happy had to stop from rolling her eyes behind her shut lids. Not like anyone could see through her blindfold.
The band started playing, some cheesy Oriental music, and Happy danced. She knew after her introductory dance, a prop would come to play. She hoped for the pole. The ropes could get too disorienting, suspended in the middle of the air. Especially on this night, with the snake. She really needed a pole.
Mr. Torture must have been feeling a touch bit merciful, because she saw the cold line that was the pole, dragged in by two hot bodies. Happy allowed herself to smile, and she pulled the veil off her face, still blindfolded, but revealing her face. She heard some gasps as her facial scales and pits were seen, for the first time for many. She saw a few leave, their heat exiting the tent. She could have sworn she heard the words "unnatural" and "damned chink", but maybe she was just imagining things with the music. It wasn't like it mattered. She had heard all the slurs and more.
She wrapped her ankle around the cold metal and gripped the pole with a hand. She pushed off with her other foot, grabbed higher, and was now off the ground. Still, she felt more comfortable this way. With the harsh spotlight on her, she could easily see the pole. The fact that it wasn't trying to bite her helped a lot. She swung around the pole before splaying out sideways, only her legs hugging the metal. She let loose her top, displaying a skimpy negligee underneath. As she turned her back to the audience, she heard some cries and more gasps. No doubt they had caught sight of her spinal scales.
Suddenly, Happy spotted more movement. Her stomach dropped at the recognition, and she slid down the pole a little less gracefully than normal. They were bringing out the ropes? But it was only a prop per night! What was Mr. Torture doing??
The announcer explained: "Many of you might recognize this young dame as the snake charmer from earlier. As apology for the mishap that happened, she has graciously decided to reward all of you to a second display. Watch as she tames these ropes as if they were living snakes themselves!"
For a moment, Happy considered leaving the stage. She had done her bid. She could keep pole dancing all night long. But not this. Not now.
But she knew, reluctantly, as she stepped towards the ropes, that she couldn't do that. Mr. Torture would have her head. She'd be punished, like the others. She couldn't let that happen. She was too proud for punishment. She was too proud for this too, but what could she do? Her hesitance must have been evident, because a shout came from the audience to hurry it up already. Oh, she would have told him off if she could! Bite into his neck. Bite into Mr. Torture's neck. Watch their hot blood escape their body as they turned from bright yellow to blue.
Happy was empty as she performed on the ropes. Empty. The only thoughts she had were those of strangling Mr. Torture, if she didn't end up strangling herself. She continued stripping until she was only in the negligee, and hung upside down, suspended from her ankles, for the finale. As the applause broke through, she righted herself, sitting patiently on the ropes until they lowered. There were some shouts calling for her to take the top off, even with the supposed horror of her scales. One man was standing. Typically, Happy would oblige, but tonight, with the ropes and humiliation, she didn't. This would be her protest. After all, she wasn't required to strip entirely naked. She had walked away in just her negligee before. So she just ignored the shouts, waving and smiling and waiting for the ropes to lower.
But they never did.
This angered her. Did Mr. Torture want her to strip? Was this further punishment for the snake? Did she dare defy? She decided she would. This was the last straw. She continued sitting. She could sit here all day. He knew she could. Eventually the crowd grew unruly. They demanded a full strip. Why was she sitting there anyways? Who did she think she was? This was why the goddamned chinks needed to go back to where they belonged. It wasn't long before the tent was filled with jeers of Chink and Jap. But Happy kept her chin up and ignored it all, like a regal queen.
Finally, the ropes lowered, and Happy stepped off briskly, picked up her clothes, and walked off, the jeers attempting to follow her. As the announcer tried to quiet down the audience and announce the next guest, Happy was met by a large, intimidating blob of white heat.
"What was that?" Mr. Torture hissed.
"My act." Happy replied, not lowering her head, but not raising it upwards towards his face either.
"Your act is to do what the audience wants!"
"My act is to perform my routine, and indulge the audience when I feel necessary."
Suddenly, Happy felt her face being grabbed and pulled up, the harsh fingers squeezing her cheeks. Tears pricked in her eyes immediately from the sudden pain, combined with humiliation. The blindfold was ripped off, but she kept her eyes shut.
"I don't know who you think you are, but you're getting too tall for your britches. I own you, and without me you'd be nothing! Remember that the next time you're dangling ten feet in the air, or I might not be so gentle in lowering the ropes."
There was a pause, and Happy said nothing. But the grip on her face tightened again as her head was shaken. "Look at me!" the man demanded, his disgusting breath rolling around her nose.
Happy snapped her eyes open, as wide as she could, and glared at him. She couldn't see his face, but she knew the effect her eyes had. It wasn't long before her face was released, Mr. Torture spitting on the ground inches away from her. "Get away from me, Freak," he uttered, before stomping away back to the tent.
Happy didn't move for minutes, still caught up in the tension of her previous position. Finally she relaxed, and blinked. She quickly wiped the tears away, clutched her clothes closer to her and mustered as much dignity as she could before walking away from the performance tent. Treacherous thoughts crossed her mind. She couldn't stay here any longer. She had to leave. But how? Should she poison Mr. Torture? Kill him? Bite him? Strangle him? Feed him to the animals? The possibilities were endless and oh so entertaining...
As she neared her tent, though, she was surprised to sense active heat. Most of the others were sleeping, but there were two...no, three...bodies that were awake and moving. As one ran towards another tent, she realized they weren't even caged. Could they be escaped performers? Or perhaps customers sneaking in? As Happy neared, she recognized one of them as the girl who had been called up for Ester's show. She was near Ester's cage as well. What was she doing here? And so close to the mutants as well. A thought popped up in Happy's mind, but she shoved it out of the way. No need to get optimistic. There had been sympathetic customers before, but they rarely did much for them. If anything, they were just trying to get a closer look.
Typically, Happy would shoo them off, but revenge was still brewing in her mind, and she decided to take advantage of the situation. She halted, about yard or so behind the humans, and cleared her throat. "Might I help you with something?" she asked with a smile.