Landing on the Right Key Ch. 03

You definitely should read the prior chapter before this one. Otherwise it won't make sense.

*

The tension was so thick in the air, that Esmeralda would have preferred that the steam was thicker so that she would not have such a clear look at Gwen's face. It was an unprecedented situation for both; Gwen had never had her lovemaking interrupted by an acquaintance, while Esmy had never burst in on two people in the heat of passion.

The other girl spoke up after a moment. "I- I'm Vita," she said lifting her hand to wave and inadvertently giving Esmeralda a nice view of her ripe and tempting bosoms. "So. . . um, you joining?" Gwen reacted by smacking Vita across the face.

"Shut it. I thought you were here for me."

Esmy rolled her eyes at the come on. "Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea. You do what you do, and I don't want to miss a single detail. Pretend I'm not here."

Gwen looked back and forth between them in indignation. "What. . . um. What the fuck? What did I do to get you on my case, Esmeralda?" It was inexplicable that her friend's kid cousin had somehow tracked her down and burst in on her carefully prepared daytime fun.

Esmy sniffed heavily from the humidity of the locker room, and scanned the dank and sleazy surroundings. She kind of wanted to shed her own clothes, because she was still sweaty from the gym, and the images before her weren't hindering the temptation. "Well, Gwwwenn. It's not just you, but all of you thought that you could string me along as the uninitiated innocent kiddie, while holding back what you really are. So my cousin doesn't know that I know the truth. And while she doesn't I'm gonna learn as much as I can. So get to it."

Vita needed no more motivation, and while Gwen was still looking perplexed, she sank to her knees and began moving her face up and down Gwen's bare and flat abdomen, pausing to smell and then lick at her tummy. "Baby, let's just roll with it," she breathed, pulling Gwen down to a shower-side bench and spreading her thighs.

"You really--?" protested Gwen before a single index finger ballasted her lips. Vita's hands were soon caressing the insides of her thighs. It was rare that a girl who worked out so often had such soft hands. Within seconds Vita's luscious mouth was up against Gwen's pink love opening. "MMmmm. Uhhh," moaned Vita, apparently enjoying it more than Gwen. By reputation, Vita was supposed to be so insatiable that she derived more pleasure from giving than receiving.

Vita worked Gwen into a frenzy, and soon the fluid from between her thighs had formed along Gwen's face, the coating displaying a bright sheen.Gwen and Vita then embraced tenderly, and joined their lips, while still meshing their lower bodies and abdomens together.Esmy was truly mesmerized by this sight. It took all of her self control to speak up when the two girls were done.

"Ahem." she interrupted.

Gwen turned once again, annoyance having replaced shock. "Yeah, is there something we can do for you?"

"Now that I know what this is all about, do you mind telling me where the gang disappears to every time."

Gwen looked back at Vita, then clicked her tongue. "Why go through that trouble when you can have what you need right here?"

"I'm not trying to be a third wheel, even though obviously I've done a good job of it."

The dark skinned girl rose from her position and walked with purpose out of the room. "Wait here," she said dismissively over her back. Esmy heard a locker opening and the sounds of hands rummaging through belongings. Gwen then reentered, still stark naked and holding a business card. The title simply said, "Marie Antoinette" in a gold cursive font on black shiny background, and displayed an address in the Aventura area.

"I think that's about as much information as you need," concluded Gwen, still anxious to be out of this situation. "Oh, and remember this too," she flipped the card around, displaying just the handwritten word "jasmine".

"Um, so when is it s'posed to be good there."

Gwen looked at her perplexed, and scanned the air uncertainly. "I dunno. Maybe you come there and it's boring. Maybe you come there and it's more than you can handle. Maybe you go and find nothing," with this she raised her empty hands, still oblivious to her own nudity. She then looked to her right toward Vita, who had been observing in silence until now. "Maybe you go and find everything." She walked over and embraced Vita in another passionate kiss.

"What I do know is that the only way to find out is by going, because until now you've only seen things done, but haven't done a thing yourself."

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Esmy made more trips down to Miami Dade College over the next few days. She had previously gone there for registration, but now was becoming familiar with the scenery. She was noticing how slowly there were more people populating the campus. On the Tuesday following her encounter with Gwen at the gym, she had woken up after a fitful night of slumber and realized she was perfectly energized for the coming day. She had descended the stairs and encountered her cousin Norberto, a scrawny guy with bleary eyes that always seemed irritated. Norberto was watching a replay of the Marlins game at the kitchen table. He gave her a muffled "buenos días" through his breakfast of Wheaties sprinkled with dried fruit.

Norberto didn't seem to be around very much. It seemed to be a constant among men in their family. "Perros y burros", her Tía Roberta had called them. Dogs and mules. She had heard her saying this once when explaining on the phone to a friend that all men she knew were workaholics or skirt chasers. Was it possible that all the women in the Matos family were . . . well that was impossible. They had to procreate after all. Norberto was glued to the screen, and it seemed that every time Esmy saw him he was either watching baseball, had just played baseball, or was doing something related to his plumbing apprenticeship.

In any event, Esmy was ready to go after a serving of toast and OJ. She parked herself at the bus stop and by 8:30 was on her way to MDC for the inaugural class of Introduction to Pharmacology. It was beginning to grow on her that college would be more enjoyable in the sun and breeze of Miami rather than the humdrum winters of Buffalo.

The day at school was anticlimactic. All of the people present seemed to be those who hadn't had anything better to do with their summer, so Esmy was aware that the challenge would be small. Once again she spent the time after her class to wander along the same path downtown as she had on a prior visit.

While snapping some photos of the vintage cars trolling around the boulevards, Esmy heard the sound of skaters tearing up the pavement and approaching. She whipped her head around and saw a group of four weaving their way around obstacles and pulling tricks like ollies and and grinding on railings when they could get a downward slope.

"Hey, stayed away long enough?" called out a familiar voice from among them. Esmy struggled to remember who it was. It was Dustin, the lanky white kid who was in town from Boston. He pulled up and propped his board against his thigh.

"Oh. I've only started class today," replied Esmy.

"Dat's okay, we don't really hang out around here. There's more to do down on the waterfronts. I actually stay a few blocks from here if you wanna come take a look."

It was an obvious come-on, and Esmeralda had pondered when she would encounter this character again. He wasn't that unusual of a person, but the limited social life she had in Miami made him kind of unique. "I would, but I have to be somewhere soon. In fact I'm planning on checking out some place later."

Dustin's ears perked up. "Party?"

"You could say that."

"How you getting there?"

"Oh, I'm taking either the 22 or the 41," she said referring to the bus lines.

"You're taking a bus to a party? Why didn't you just grab a ride?"

"There's really not supposed to be anyone knowing I'm gonna be there."

Dustin's grin expanded like a rubber band. "So it's one those parties, mmm. You should take bus 420."

"I didn't know they added that line," she replied oblivious to the reference.

"Whatever. We can take you," Dustin offered, as his friends were now calling him saying they needed to get to the skate park before it got crowded.

"Tell her she can come over later to get on her knees," shouted one of them.

Dustin looked back at them with the look of a kid who had just had his puzzle broken up. "Sorry, Vaughn is only used to talking to women with a screen name or an inflation valve. But seriously, I have a ride back at my rental. We can all take you."

Esmy opened her mouth, unsure of how to tell Dustin that he wouldn't be welcome at this type of party. Then she had an idea.

"Well," she started huskily, "it's really by invitation only. But," adding suspense to her voice,"maybe I can find a way for you to sneak in and watch. Of course you'd have to say out of sight."

He had a perplexed and dismissive look on his face. "Watch a party? Sounds like a waste of time."

"Well, um," she thought about how to put it. Obviously saying they would be the only men around, and would have to lay low. "Maybe you won't actually DO anything. But you'll SEE some things you've only dreamed of. Maybe bring a six pack or something and find a secluded vantage point. Or try to use some sort of uniform."

Dustin pondered it for a second. Esmy meanwhile hoped that now he would follow through on the offer. "Well now I'm too curious.Gimme your address and number, and tell me when to swing by," he said now, betraying his previously subtle New England accent. "I think I'ma try something I've been wanting to for a while."

Esmy gave Dustin the info and then watched as his thin figure disappeared in the distance to join his crew. She relished the fact that she had gotten a ride to the "Marie Antoinette", whose address seemed to be in a pretty hard to reach part of Aventura, and maybe would be able to cause some mischief.

==================================

So at about 9 PM, Esmy began laying out an outfit she had been saving especially for this occasion. By then she had already told her cousin Veronica she would be staying in for the night writing a paper and maybe stepping out with some school friends later. By that time, Flor had collected Veronica from the house, and Tía Gladís had also left dinner so she could go meet a Cuban book club at someone's house.

The outfit consisted of a backless dark purple dress with a black sash at the waist, matching black ribbon bracelets, a necklace with hanging silver chains along the circumference, and comfortable open soled sandals.

When Dustin's text came through, asking ¨Ready?", Esmy was quick to reply, "R U?¨. Within five minutes she saw a pair of headlights pulling into the driveway. They belonged to an old Dodge Neon. A piece of crap Neon. But still a ride. She noticed that there were two guys in the car beside Dustin, but decided she should take the risk that they wouldn't take advantage of her. She climbed into the back seat next to a short fresh-faced black kid. He had on a plain office casual button down shirt.

"Wow, you look like you're still in middle school. Who're you?"

"Shut up," he said sheepishly. "I'm 19."

"That's Derek, and this," Dustin said, and pointing to the guy riding shotgun, "is Lorenzo." Lorenzo seemed to be Italian, and both he and Dustin must have been Esmy's age. They were also dressed in business casual with black collared jackets. They looked either like prep schoolers or guys on the way to their accounting job.

"Wow, you guys really know how to look like party people," she said sarcastically.

"Once we get in there, we'll make sure there's no party without us," Lorenzo said with a devilish snicker.

After getting the address of the club, Dustin hightailed it to Aventura. The Neon still handled pretty well even though they were speeding. The whole time Derek and Lorenzo were talking about a skating accident Lorenzo had gotten into that morning, and then about how some girl he was trying to hit on had witnessed it.

"Yeah, you might want to make up for that at this club. I don't think she's gonna look your way from now on."

"You might find it hard to get anything here," butted in Esmy.

"Why?" asked Derek. "We still don't know anything about this place, Dustin. Are you wasting my night?"

"It's a surprise," insisted Esmy.

"Oh, we have a surprise, too," countered Lorenzo.

After about 25 minutes the Neon pulled onto the road where the address was located. It was an otherwise ordinary block of storefront that included a travel agency, and ironically a carpet dealership.

"Here it is," exclaimed Esmy excitedly, tapping on Dustin's shoulder. But there was no sign indicating the place the club, only an address number.

"Alright, alright; I think I oughta park around the corner." He looked at his riders for a second. "Remember where we're parked, in case we gotta make a run for it. I hope you didn't bring us to some Santería human sacrifice party," he said to Esmy.She laughed maniacally in response.

After parallel parking up the block and to the left, the four walked briskly toward the address shown. After searching around separately, Derek came up to Dustin and Esmy and motioned toward an alley. All four then went down the alley and were greeted at the other end by a more open space, as well as a large wrought iron door with an intercom buzzer in it and a camera.

"Okay, you key in, we'll try to find another entrance" Dustin told Esmy, as he and the others stayed out of the camera's line of sight. She pressed the button. "Who is your favourite bathing spice?" chimed a smooth light voice from the speaker.

At first Esmy was perplexed. But then she remembered the card. She took it out and read the back out loud. "Jasmine," she said trying to sound confident.

After about five seconds a door opened about twenty feet to the left. A plain woman dressed in a black t-shirt top and cargo pants beckoned to her. Esmy hoped she wasn't wrongly dressed. Also, since reading more on the subject that summer, she hoped there were more women like her who wore make-up and dressed up.

Instantly upon passing through the door she heard ambient music playing at soft volumes, and the gaggle of voices speaking. The security guard led her to a large room fronted by a dance floor and a long bar that was studded with people. All of them were women, and Esmy was delighted to see they mostly seemed to be in formal, beach, or club attire, as in skirts and short shorts. Playing at the moment was some Brian Ferry song, and a lot of the girls were slow dancing together. Esmy took a seat at the bar, and now remembered she hadn't brought a fake ID.

"What'll you have?" shouted the bartender, a slim woman with brown hair and blue eyes in her late thirties dressed in a black vest and shear long black pants.

"Uhmm, Washington apple?" The bartender smiled and hustled off to get the concoction. After about two minutes Esmy noticed a commotion from an entrance different from the one she had come through, but closer to where she was now. It was Dustin, Derek, and Lorenzo. Two of the security guards were motioning for them to leave.

Instead they awkwardly shuffled their way towards the bar. "Look, I don't know what you clowns are planning on doing here,"one of the security said to the men, "but I doubt you'll have any luck."

Dustin smiled expansively. "Oh, well if you're trying to tell me I can't do my job, then I think you'll be out of one come tomorrow." He retrieved a wallet which had a badge. "The Miami Dade Bureau of Liquor has the right to inspect any establishment, and if I'm not mistaken, yours isn't even registered."

The security woman's face dropped. "Three liquor inspectors?" Derek had actually donned a pair of horn rimmed glasses to look older.

"We like to suffer in numbers."

Esmy giggled in amusement, but they had agreed to pretend not to know one another once inside. She switched her attention back to her drink, and the bartender in front of her. She was grinning cheekily. "I don't want to scare off a newbie, but I think you're gathering some attention."

"Um, well I'm flattered, ma'am," she responded to the older woman.

She chuckled. "Oh, I wasn't talking about myself. I'm actually married with two boys. Once in a while I'll bed one of these fine ladies. No, I think, you should check your 7 o'clock."

Esmy tried to digest the comment, which she initially didn't understand at all. Then she remembered it from the movie Top Gun. She spun around to her left, and saw a crowd of dancers. At first nothing popped out, but then she focused on a tall table beyond them where sat a single figure dressed in a sleek one-piece dress and with a butterfly clip in her flowing auburn hair. She had a smattering of freckles.

"So what are you just gonna try to eyeball that dress off of her?" teased the bartender.

At first Esmy thought about making some retort, like that she wasn't here for that at all, and she wasn't desperate for attention. But if she had made this much effort to be here, and was as dressed up as she was, who would she be kidding but herself.

She was still frozen in her tracks, and scanned the room as if to steel her nerves. To her left the three guys were getting the stare down from any woman who came within viewing distance of them. All except for Derek, who was contentedly chatting up two thirtyish women, one of whom was petting his scalp like a toy dog. Lorenzo and Dustin were not letting the hostility get to them, as they had sophomoric leers plastered on their faces while drinking their bourbons and perusing the field of ladies paired up and dancing.

In the center was a small stage where a busty raven haired woman with a masquerade mask sat receiving a lap dance from an even more scantily clad blond girl. Hoots and hollers from the closest observers showered them.

At the other end of the room, Esmy spotted the other group that she had expected to find. She locked eyes with Veronica, who had a quizzical expression at seeing her baby cuz seated at the bar, while Flor was vainly trying to regain her attention.Esmy raised her glass defiantly and downed a large gulp.

She was ready to choke on the drink, but suppressed it. The sight of her cousin had shown her that she had a purpose for being here. Esmy rose to her feet and calmly paced over toward the high table where sat the redhead.

"You look like you've been marooned," commented the girl. "Am I the first to ask if this is your first time?"

Esmy set down her drink. "You'll be the first that I'll answer. How 'bout a name for starters?"

"Aislin," breathed the girl. Up close Esmy could appreciate the shiny blue eyes that were hidden by the darkness across the room. She raised an eyebrow, as if expecting some reply.

"Oh, um, it's Esmeralda. But you can call me Esmy. So um, Ursuline--"

A laugh greeted the mispronunciation. "A-I-S-L-I-N".

"Sorry."

"It's Irish, believe it or not," Aislin quipped through her mane of red locks. "But we moved here when I was nary a babe," she finished with a forced lilt. "They call me Ace here." With this she took another sip of her own drink, which seemed to be a Long Island iced tea. "So Esmy, I don't mean to be brief," she continued harshly, "but are you ready to see what else this club offers behind the curtains?" The last phrase was accompanied by a gaze toward a doorway concealed by some blinds.

It wasn't supposed to be so easy, and Esmy felt that there should be more to it. But after glancing back at her cousin's group, the line was clear, and she knew that there was only one reason she would have called Gwen's bluff at the gym. She offered her hand instead of speaking, and promptly felt the moist pliant grip in response. She trailed the redhead almost without will, their hands linked in an inertial chain.