Pay and Pay

Chapter 5

He took a last drag on his cigarette and flipped it into the gutter behind him. He looked down and brushed some ash from his undershirt. Even the undershirt was damp and clung to his skin. He tried an experiment and flexed his abs. Nothing. He ran his hand over his stomach to smooth the material against his skin and tried again. He smiled when he saw the hint of muscle through the fabric.

A heavy-set middle aged man stepped out of the strip club and stopped to light a cigarette. He looked around like he was trying to figure out what to do next. He'd probably just had a lap dance but that didn't mean he was ready to go home and do his weekly duty with his wife yet. The man turned down the street toward Mike. Mike pulled out another cigarette in preparation. He only had two more. He needed to turn a trick fast.

"'Scuse me. Got a light?" The man didn't say anything, but he stopped in front of Mike.

Mike got to his feet and felt the undershirt tug against his skin as he straightened up. The man pulled out a lighter. It was a real one, the kind you had to fill with lighter fluid.

"Hot tonight, eh?" Mike tried, but the man dropped the lighter back into his pocket and walked on.

A half-dozen teenagers walked by, laughing and talking loudly. He looked at the girls chattering back and forth and smiling at each other and the boys with them. Some of them were carrying bags from the record place a few blocks down the street. He stared at one of the girls. She noticed him but looked away after an instant. He kept staring at her with a hard smile on his face, daring the boy whose arm she took to do something about it. The group passed him by and took no further notice of him. Mike looked back toward the bar.

The door to the bar opened three times in five minutes. The first time, a man and a woman came out. The next two times, it was groups of three or four young women. They were all happy and a little drunk, and probably heading off to a club. It was so dead. Mike stood up and walked along to the corner. He waited through a couple of green lights before he crossed. He didn't have to hurry. While he was standing there he reached for a cigarette, but pulled his hand back from his pocket when he remembered he only had two left. On the third green he crossed the street and turned back south.

He walked slowly down the street a couple of blocks. He crossed at the next lights and kept walking. When he came to a small side street, he turned into the relative darkness after the neon glare of Yonge Street. There were a lot of boys there already, all in waiting on the track. He didn't care though. He'd get his turn. He walked along the wall of the building to his right until he found some space. He leaned up against the bricks. They were warm, almost hot, on his bare shoulders. There was a guy ten feet to either side of him. They were waiting too. Mike reached down and unzipped his jeans about an inch and pulled a bit of his undershirt out through his fly.

He wanted a cigarette. After about five cars and no luck, he finally lit one. There was only one more left. It was still hot even though the sun had been down for a while. Every time he moved his arms he could feel the sweat run down his sides. Even his sweat was hot.

He had to be patient, but it was a different kind of patient when you were on the track. There, you just stood and waited. When you were working the street, you had to wait for the next customer, sure, but you were always looking. On the track, at least, they came looking for you. All you had to do was wait.

There wasn't a lot of walk-in business on the street; in fact, there was barely any. There you waited for the cars to cruise by nice and slow with their windows down. As they inched by, you bent down to try and make eye contact. If they stopped, you went over and got in. Every time a car turned onto the narrow street, Mike waited his turn to bend down and peer into the car window, wondering if it would stop for him. As other boys drove off or drifted away to look for something better and new ones showed up, he gradually moved further down the street.