In that upside-down state she noticed Harry and gave him an almost genuine smile before returning to her auto-dance. As she untied the knot at the front of her white Oxford shirt, Harry found himself wishing something he had never wished before while watching a stripper. He wished she would leave her clothes on. The more naked Harmony got the less erotic the dance became. She danced close to each customer at the bar who, in turn, slipped tips into a red garter on her thigh. She moved the right moves and said the right things but behind the blue eyes was a vacancy and not just the vacancy of a bored stripper but the look of someone who had lost the will to be. In some respects Harry thought it was the most honest dance he had ever seen.
Her turn ended and over the amplified whoops made by the DJ in a futile attempt to whip up enthusiasm for Harmony’s performance, Harry called her name and held up a ten dollar bill. She returned and crouched at the edge of the stage, once again offering Harry her money garter.
“Do you do private dances?”
“Sure,” she said with an automatic smile. “Have a seat in one of the chairs against the wall and I’ll be out when I freshen up.”
The rule in the club was that girls couldn’t solicit dances from customers that were sitting along the catwalk but as soon as Harry moved to a chair against the wall the spiders were drawn to the fly.
A long-haired brunette wearing a full-length sheer orange chiffon robe over a G-string walked towards Harry. Even in this era of anorexic supermodels she was painfully skinny. Harry instantly spotted the redness around her nostrils and the closed lipped smile that hid her teeth. All of it added up to substance abuse. She pointed at Harry’s crotch.
“Hi, I’m Cynthia,” she said emphasising the “sin”. “Is this lap taken?” Before Harry could answer she sat in it. “Hiya, you got a name?”
“Hamlet,” Harry said.
“Ooh, I never heard that name before.”
“You never heard of Hamlet?”
“No, funny name.”
“If you think that’s funny you should meet my sister Iago.”
“Like the bird in Aladdin?”
“There is a bird in Aladdin named Iago?”
“Yeah, in the Disney cartoon. Where have you been?”
“Obviously, watching too much Hamlet.”
“You’re funny. How ’bout a private dance?”
“Tempting, but I have an appointment with Harmony.”
The big brunette leaned in close to Harry’s ear. “You don’t want a dance with her.”
“Why not?”
“She’s all mopey. I’ll do stuff back there that you’ll remember.”
“Why’s she all mopey?”
Cynthia sat up. “Why do you care?”
Harry, with difficulty, reached into his pocket and produced a ten dollar bill while the girl giggled. He looked around her body for a place to put it. When she offered her cleavage, he slipped the money there. “’Cause I do.”
Cynthia leaned in again. “She just lost her boob ticket.”
“Her boob ticket?”
“She had a guy who was gonna buy her new boobs.”
“Lost him how?”
“That’s a weird question. What are you, like, a stalker?”
The sound of a sarcastic throat clearing behind Cynthia stopped him from answering. Harmony had changed out of her school uniform and was now wearing a low-cut white lab coat. “I’m assuming you no longer want that dance.”
“No,” Harry said attempting to stand, “Cynthia and I were just chatting.” He carefully helped Cynthia off his lap.
“I’d keep an eye out for Hammy here,” the skinny girl huffed. “He’s a strange one.”
Harmony ignored her colleague’s advice and took Harry by the hand and led him into the dark back of the establishment.
“Is that your name, Hammy?”
“No, it’s Harry,” he said, finding it difficult to lie to the girl.
She led him to a counter with a middle-aged woman behind it.
“Dances are twenty bucks.”
Harry gave the lady a twenty, and she gave Harmony a little ticket that she stuffed into the pocket of her lab coat.
“Aren’t you going to tip Denise?”
“You want me to tip her?” Harry said, pointing to the lady behind the counter who had just lit a cigarette.
“She works hard,” Harmony said.
Harry gave the woman a couple of bucks that she took without thanks, then Harmony led him to a small alcove with an armless leather chair and a tiny jukebox. She closed the curtain behind her.
“You got a fiver for the box?”
“Huh?”
“The jukebox.”
“Oh yeah,” Harry said, handing over a fiver. “What happened to quarter jukeboxes?”
If she heard the question she didn’t acknowledge it. She punched the buttons that allowed some sort of trance music to escape. “How good your dance is depends on your tip. A twentydollar tip is customary – up front.”
“A one hundred per cent tip?”
She placed her hands on her hips. “Quality costs.”
“Yes, of course,” Harry said, handing her a twenty. “I’m just getting used to this new Pocono economy.”
There was no “stripping” involved. Harmony undid the two buttons on her lab coat and dropped it to the floor. From then on Harry’s imagination went on holiday because there was nothing left for it to do. Harmony turned and touched her toes and then sat on Harry’s lap and grinded in a clockwise motion. Harry put his hands at her sides in an attempt to lift her off his lap, but she grabbed the back of his hands and pulled them up to her breasts while leaning in and blowing into his ear.
He was momentarily distracted but finally said: “Ah, Harmony, could we talk?”
She arched her back and grinded harder into Harry’s, not unresponsive, lap. “I’m a dancer.” She again fell back against Harry’s chest and got so close he could feel her wet lips against his ear, “I don’t talk.”
“Not even about Big Bill?”
The gyration stopped. Harmony reached down, picked up her lab coat and then stood holding it in front of her like it was a towel and she had just stepped from a shower. “What about Bill?”
“I’d like to ask you a few questions about him, if I may?”
“You a cop?”
“No, but I’m working with them.”
“Do you have any ID?”
“Not really, I have a driver’s license.”
“Why are you talking to me here?”
“I thought it would be easier, more relaxed.” Harry looked around the tiny cubicle and shrugged. “I think I was wrong.”
A voice came from the other side of the curtain. “You OK in there, Sara?”
Harmony stared at Harry, trying to make up her mind about him. When the guy on the other side of the curtain didn’t hear anything he pushed it open. Harry was expecting one of the neckless bouncers, but instead,