American Entertainment 1982

  Chapter 14 May God bless the poor

  According to Pam's instructions, Tommy walked towards the white security guard at the door, who happened to be looking at him straight, and asked, "Young man, I need to see your ID card to decide whether you can go in."

   "Bruce on Hill Street." Tommy took out his day card and said to him.

  The white security guard glanced at the black card ticket in Tommy's hand: "Boy, no one told you that in addition to the password, you need to pay a toll of two dollars?"

  Tommy Hawk hesitated, took out two one-yuan notes and handed them to the other party. If he had known that he would need to pay extra, he would not have ridden his bicycle for 17 kilometers to patronize.

   Seeing no one around, the white security guard took the money, tilted his head towards the back of the door, and said with a smirk: "Go in and enjoy, boy, remember clearly, don't make trouble, because it will hurt me."

  Paradise Club is no stranger to Tommy Hawke.

  Through the dark and narrow corridor, after the female receptionist at the front desk confirmed the tickets, Tommy Hawke was allowed to enter the hall that sounded loud and flickering, but was actually shabby and deserted.

  That’s right, there will not be an imaginary image of beautiful women dancing and dancing in the lobby.

  Cigarette butts all over the floor, the choking smell of smoke and cheap perfume, a large number of vacant seats, weak body twisting on the dim stage, and dancers who can't see their faces clearly are the real picture of this mass consumption strip club.

   Moreover, although there are indeed dancers dancing on the high stage in the hall inside, and they are constantly reducing their clothes, Tommy can be sure that until the end of the stage, the other party will keep a full set of bikinis on her body, and there will be no scenes of getting naked.

Striptease is a legitimate profession in the United States. Like teachers, drivers, doctors and other industries, the industry is very mature and the rules are also strict. In the United States, this kind of club is divided into levels. Ke imagined that there are clubs full of riches and naked beauties, but that kind only exists in some specific cities, such as Las Vegas, New York, Boston, etc., and generally those are high-end consumption places with membership system.

At the moment, there are only six or seven guests in the club hall, two of them are sitting at the bar drinking beer, not going to the show at all, and the rest of them are just sitting around the seats with arms folded, not facing the dancer at all. The desire to lose change.

  Obviously, the afternoon is the coldest time for the club's business. It will not be until nightfall at the soonest. After a large number of men have finished their work, the business may become a little hotter.

  Tommy Hawk didn't go to the show, so he sat directly at the bar counter, handed over the change and said to the bartender, "Give me a beer, please."

   Then he glanced at the price tag on the bar counter. Compared with the Paradise Club in Boston in 2022, the price charged at the Providence Paradise Club in 1982 is really affordable.

   Unlimited hall day tickets cost fifteen dollars per person.

  A single hall ticket is three dollars per person.

   Each dance in the single curtain room is three dollars.

  The champagne room costs 50 dollars every 15 minutes, and a bottle of champagne is included.

For chain clubs like the Paradise Club, which are aimed at the general public, there will not be too hot scenes in the lobby. If the guests want more exciting things, they need to pay extra, such as sitting in a single curtain room, closing the curtain, and accepting dancers. Although you can't move your hands and feet, the dancer can sit on your lap and show a piece, one song in two minutes, and one song for three dollars.

If you want to get closer, you need to go to the champagne private room with higher consumption. The club will give you a champagne. At that time, it depends on the skill of the dancer. How many fifteen minutes can the guests buy her? Buying an hour of champagne, if the guests are not annoying and interesting, then it is not surprising that there will be a scene of going out for a midnight snack and playing poker together.

"Boy, when I was young and handsome like you, I never needed to come to a place like this to meet women." On the side of the bar, a white man held up a whiskey, looked sideways at Tommy Hawke, and joked: "Don't you think falling in love with a high school girl is more attractive to you than these dancers? Only an old guy like me in his 30s and 40s would consider coming here to have some fun with tips."

   Listening to the accent of the other party, it is obvious that he is not a native of Rhode Island, but more like a visitor from Florida.

   "Sir, I think your mature appearance is also very attractive to women." Tommy Hawke took the beer handed by the bartender, gestured to him and said with a smile.

  The bar is like this, whether you know each other or not, you can chat a few words to pass the time.

  The reason why Tommy Hawk praised the other party was actually thinking that if this middle-aged white man would be approached by a dancer later and he could afford the consumption of the champagne private room, Adelaal might be needed to improve his staying power.

Seeing Tommy responding to him, the man smiled happily: "Boy, you are very good at talking, yes, of course I am very charming. If I were in Miami, I could take away four or five Cuban hot girls at the bar in one night, but Pro Wiedens sucks, the pubs around here are full of drunken Irish drinkers, the girls are old enough to be my grandma, no way, I just come here to drink and pass the time, at least there will be no drunks to make trouble here, at most The dancing girl came to persuade me to open a glass of champagne in the private room."

   "Are you here on a business trip, sir? That's really bad. The city is too small and the entertainment industry is lacking." Tommy Hawke said, taking a sip of beer into his mouth.

  The man laughed: "No, what's worse than a business trip is that I'm here on vacation."

"Vacation? Sorry, I rarely see outsiders who come to Providence for vacation." Tommy glanced at the other party after hearing this. If it wasn't for some serious mental illness, no one would choose to come to such a remote town as Providence. City vacation.

The middle-aged white man nodded in agreement, shrugged with a wry smile: "I understand, but I can't help it. The nature of my work determines where I should go on vacation. Will Hendrick, Philip Morris Tobacco Company Rhode Island Processing Plant maintenance engineer."

   "Carlo...Carlo Leon, a student at the University of Rhode Island." Tommy Hawk was stunned for a moment, and then responded with some surprise: "Sir, I..."

The man interrupted Tommy Hawke with an expression of "I understand": "You can't hide it from me, boy, I was just like you when I was in high school, and I was full of curiosity about this kind of place that only adults can patronize, don't worry , I will not help you reveal the secret."

   "I'm not curious about this, sir, I'm curious about another question, when did Philip Morris Tobacco Company open a tobacco processing plant in Rhode Island?" Tommy asked the white man who called himself Will.

The white man drank the whiskey, made a gesture to the bartender to refill his glass, then let out a sigh of alcohol, and said to Tommy: "It just opened, and it's on the high seas two hundred nautical miles away from Providence, so , That’s why I can only stay here for vacation, because I must guarantee that if there is a problem with the factory machine, I can rush to repair it as soon as possible.”

  When Tommy Hawke heard what the other person said, the nightly news he had seen on TV flashed across his mind instantly. He had a smile on his face, and said to himself in a voice that only he could hear:

   "May God bless me, poor American."

  (end of this chapter)