Did he crave verbal foreplay? Was that how he got his kicks? Making someone angry then sink to his level. Oh she would get him good. "Five hundred dollars."
He flinched and she smiled triumphantly. "That's a lot. What do I get?"
She shrugged, not letting him see she was completely out of her territory. This was Cleo's business. "A lip job," she said borrowing Cleo's terminology.
His eyes widened. "That's it? All I get is a good lip job? Hell for five hundred dollars, I could buy the whole lot of crack whores on the corner and go to town for a day and a half."
"Then go down the street and get them, but here you pay."
"How will I know it's worth it?"
She knew this idiot couldn't have a thousand dollars on him, but she decided to tease him by leaning close to the window. If she dropped her shoulders and pressed her bosom almost against the glass, it gave him a nice view down her shirt. "I'll make you scream for mercy."
"Damn!" He lit another cigarette and puffed even harder as if he were deep in thought. "But five bills is a lot."
She sat back in her seat loving the tease she had suddenly become. "You want a good time with me, that's what you have to pay."
"So you're going to guarantee me a lip job if I set five hundred dollars on this counter."
Knowing fully well he couldn't have money like that walking around in the hood, she said, "Yep."
He started puffing that cigarette like it was his life depending on it. "What about for five hundred dollars, I get two days worth of lip service. That's two-fifty a day payable at the end of the service."
"You're trying to strike a bargain with a whore? Next thing you want is a warranty, huh?"
"It crossed my mind."
She laughed at his silliness then nonchalantly shrugged. "You set a five hundred on the counter right now, and you've got me for two days for lip service."
It was his turn to smile triumphantly as he grounded out that cigarette in the ashtray, and then reached in his back pocket to pull out the thickest wallet she had ever seen. He scooped up the three twenties and watched as her mouth dropped open as he laid five crisp new hundred dollar bills out on the counter then pushed it into the money slot. "Shouldn't you be saving some on that saliva for me?"