All Stairways Don’t Lead To Heaven

As I lay here alone after a long night’s work I find myself thinking about how all of this madness I call my life began. I suppose I have to start from the beginning, as I do each time, not to re-live everything, but to remind myself that the choices I have made may not have been the choices others might make and in the end they have become not what defines me, rather than the scars that let me remember that this shit has all been for real. I was born on Valentine’s day 1993 in a no name mid-western town in the middle of nowhere. It was said my mother was very sick and she was actually lucky to have delivered a child at all, her pregnancy a mistake, her choice not to abort a bigger mistake, but she defied them all, she was able to do it, I was born, she gave me the name Chance. A few weeks after I was born she returned to the hospital for her health issues, where she remained four days until she passed at the age of nineteen. I was raised by my mother’s sister and her husband, I knew them only as my parents until I was in grade school, where when asked, they could not prove they were my parents. Why? When my mother died they just took me in, I was family, and that’s the way it was, nothing legal, just being good family. I was my aunt and uncle’s only child and I thought we lived just as every other family lived, but I was wrong, there were many things that weren’t right about how I was raised, but these things would not come to light until I was in high school.

After I turned around 11 and began resembling a girl, my uncle paid close attention to everything I did. Even before that he was always the one to give me my bath every night. He always claimed it was his duty to make sure I was very clean. I was only allowed to take bathes, even into high school, and he was always present scrubbing me from head to toe. When it became time to begin shaving he was the one that I always shaved me, claiming that hair anywhere but on a person’s head is dirty so it must be removed daily. As time progressed I began to notice the meticulous care he would take with my bath grooming but I always just kept my mouth shut because we both knew this was something he was good at and I was to accept things for what they were. I wasn’t allowed to have a boyfriend, or any friends really, most of them were run off by my uncle, who claimed they only wanted one thing from me, to be in my pants and inside of me. When he would talk to me the things he would tell me made me fear boys in general, I didn’t trust any males, just my uncle.

One day, however, I lost that trust for him, and our relationship has never and will never be the same. When I was fourteen, my aunt got sick, real sick, and within a few months passed away. Within a few days of her funeral my uncle informed me that I was to be the woman of the house now, fulfilling the duties of his dearly departed wife. I didn’t understand at first, since I had been the one who cooked, did the laundry, and cleaned already after my aunt became to ill to do it. But there was more duties, the duties I never saw, duties in the bedroom to fulfill his needs. I did everything he asked, full body massages to begin with, that evolved into hand jobs, which turned into blow jobs, which led to him taking my virginity. A task, he explained, that is done by all fathers with their daughters. Eventually, because he says he didn’t want me to become pregnant, we would only have anal sex. This arrangement went on for three long years until one day he didn’t return home work, instead I was visited by CPS, who removed me from the home I grew up in, because my uncle had been arrested for the rape of a local 15 year old girl at a nearby part. It was at this time that I realized how wrong things have been for as long as I can remember.

I was immediately placed in foster care where I was babied and treated like a mental patient. The doctors wanted me to take antidepressants and other behavior altering drugs to help with my day to day struggles. But I wasn’t struggling, I wasn’t unhappy, nor was I depressed about anything. Quite the opposite, things were looking up for me to be quite honest. Shortly after my uncle’s trial, while awaiting sentencing in his cell, he took his own life. I would suppose it was because he couldn’t face imprisonment or the stigma of being labeled a child predator, I will never actually know why. At his funeral I kept thinking of the stairway that went upstairs to his bedroom and what used to happen there. I’ve decided I won’t spend my life hating him for being the beast he was, I’ve decided to put that in the past, each day it gets easier and easier.

Living on my own now, I live in a moderate house in the south Houston area. Its a house with a staircase, not unlike the house I grew up in, the realator tells me its nice on the second floor, I wouldn’t know because I’ve never been. One day I will go, but I don’t see it happening today. I imagine myself, in my dreams, walking up the stairs, I see it as a sexy assent, one to fulfill my own dreams, I want it to be real, and I want to find happiness at the top. For now, it is just a dream because I know all stairways do not lead to heaven.

The above story was provided to me by Chance when I was an active bartender at the strip club we both worked at. She had contacted me recently and after we spoke I was reminded of the story she told me one summer night not too far in the past. She agreed to me posting it and she told me she was looking forward to reading it when I was done. To be honest, I never wanted to put her story out, it was on my do not use list in my notebook, but as a request of a friend, here we have it today.

The Night The Lights Went Out

Just so happens that the night the lights went out was last night. Before I begin, I want you to notice the picture, it is the view from my bar, minutes after the power went out for good. The lights had been flickering all evening but never went completely off. After the power outage, the only lights on in the whole place were the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and walls. Strange how, even in complete darkness, the foggy remains from the show that was happening still linger. About 20 minutes later I get the weather alert below, the fifth one for the night but not the last. Being stuck behind a bar in a very loud strip club with no windows almost made me oblivious to the weather conditions outside. I knew it was pretty rough at home since my wife had text me already to inform me of our power outage and the successful immediate transition of the generator coming online moments later. When I asked her if I needed to come home she told me no because she didn’t want me driving in Houston in the crazy rain. Which translates into, “no dear, we have power, we don’t need you”.

Throughout the night one really couldn’t tell there was severe weather going on outside because there was a very steady flow of people in and out of the club, it was just like any other night at the strip club. And, of course, when the lights flicker at the club it looks like it is just part of the show. Nobody cared until they all went out, I think when people enter our world they forget the real world outside the doors. Now, when the power goes out at the strip club a protocol goes into place. One may not see them but there are, on average, 50 private security inside the club at any given moment, they blend in like at large casinos for immediate response needs. Although the commodity is different here, the employee’s safety is top priority. Which makes sense, at any given time there are 100+ strippers visible in the club, 40+ waitresses visible in the club, and 50+ club staff you may or may not see, floating around the club, and then there is an assload of ” unsecured” cash moving around. All it takes is one brave soul to make the worst decision of his life for all hell to break loose.

Luckily there are generators at the club as well, they are older but do come on after about 10 minutes or so. However, these generators only provide minimal lighting since most of the power is directed towards refrigeration, security, and the air handlers. Needless to say, no neon, no spot lights, no strobe lights, no music, so nothing in regards to entertaining. Almost immediately the place is put on lock down, everyone stops exactly where they are while order is regained. One would be surprised how compliant close to 1000 people can be. I’m lucky to report that there were no incidents that occurred due to the temporary black out. I did, however, get to go home early because after 40 minutes with the power going out the club was shut down for the night. All employees were escorted out because it was jet black outside except for the flashes of lightning. It was creepy, to say the least, no lights anywhere for miles around. Good thing for me that there were almost no other cars on the road either.

So, it was a bizarre and very stormy night here in the Houston area, which anyone who lives here would tell you. It was definitely a wicked band of storms that moved through last night. When I get home power had been restored already and from my quick property survey this morning we didn’t take any physical damages. However, looks like pond is up about 8″, still about a foot below where it is normally. I’m sure the creek is swollen, I will have to check that out later, once I find my rubber boots. I hope that everyone who had storms last night is doing fine because they really did come out of nowhere. Btw, both pictures belong to me, I took the top one and the bottom is a screenshot from my phone, just in case anyone was wondering.

Have You Checked Out These Stories?

Did y’all know that Scorpion Sting is a bartender in a full nude strip club right here in Houston Texas? There is a considerable amount of posts used for these stories that can only be found exclusively here in The Sting Of The Scorpion. How do you find them? Multiple ways, in fact it is super simple. First, y’all can click the category listing on the right hand side of this blog that reads “Scorpion Sting’s Bartender Stories“, or second, y’all can use the search feature located at the top right of this blog. Every single story is a real life reflection of a real person or real life facts about this really interesting industry. If you are interested then you should check it all out. Plus, there is an informational page, found at the top of this blog, which gives even more details.

These Creatures Stalk The Nights

Just when I thought I had been away long enough that it wouldn’t make a difference any longer I was quickly proven dead wrong. I went ahead and accepted a temporary bartending position at Club X while the management attempts to fill the vacancy. As much as I didn’t want to I bit the bullet and went in last night. This time I had terms because I had no intention of making this permanent again. As my 10-99 was already on file with Club X all I really needed to do early yesterday afternoon was go in and sign some paperwork and give them a current copy of my contractors liability insurance policy. The contract is for 60 days and states I will only be required to work 10 hours a night for two nights a week, Wednesdays and Thursdays, beginning on 11 June 2014. Employee will be paid at the end of his shift each Thursday at the agreed rate of $900.00 per day equalling, but not limited to $1800.00 per pay period. Employee will not tip out 35% of tip proceeds to the bar or the house, employee will keep all tip proceeds, paid out in cash, each night. In the event employee exceeds the agreed 20 hours weekly the employee will be compensated at the rate of $135.00 per additional hour. Employee is required to provide his own transportation and will be compensated at the rate of $1.61 per mile to include the distance traveled in each direction to fulfill the terms of this contract. After reviewing the contract I signed and dated it, made me copy, and headed home for a nap because it was going to be a long fucking night.

All of this was discussed with my wife over the weekend and we agreed that I could do it for the next 8 weeks but “prefers” I do not accept anything permanent afterwards. The money will be nice and it will help but I wondered if it was all worth doing over again. I remember clearly why I chose to stop being a bartender at a full nude strip club and as I rode into “work” I almost talked myself out of even going. Plus, it was a nice evening to ride and I was enjoying my tour through Houston. I did go, I followed through with the obligation I agreed to, what the hell, just roll the dice. After parking my Goldwing in the back of the club I smoked a quick cigarette while I stripped off my leathers in preparations to go inside. Ready. Set. Go. I had a part of a song stuck in my head that was so fitting to me walking through the doors of Club X, “you’re a crazy bitch but I like the way you fuck me so I’m on top of it”. Exactly. This was like I imagine it would feel if I were ever to have taken my psycho cunt ex-wife back when we were just separated. She tried hard, in the end, to fuck me ways I never dreamt she was capable of. Because for 12 years I always got the impression it was a ” obligatory chore” she performed. In the end it was actually like she wanted to be there and actually liked me a little. But, it was a game I was not going to play, the end. Similar to my leaving the club, I was tired of the lies, the drama, and the bullshit that came with being a bartender there.

I quickly was reminded that the “scenery” inside the club was always fantastic and generally could make a man forget his problems outside the walls of the club. But I don’t have problems outside I am trying to forget or drown, all if mine, all of my fears, were inside the club, and as I walked to the bar I tried not to focus in the past. Instead, I was greeted by Grace, a friend I had here who remembered me quite well. Nothing beats being greeted but a completely nude 5’11” stunning brunette with sweat dripping off her glistening body. All I am saying is it was a very pleasant surprise which actually was a great distraction. She was assigned to be my assistant at the bar, meaning she was assigned to the stage that also is my bartop and will entire customers to not only try new drinks but to enjoy them served in a different way, something that disappeared when I did. If you are new, curious, or can’t remember, you can search this blog’s bartender stories which some explain in graphic detail the way shots/drinks get served some times. But, because it plays into this night I will explain it some. Imagine Grace on her back, laid across the bar, legs spread while her ass is propped up with her hands, providing me with the perfect “cavity” to pour the ingredients of a Texas Tea, topped off with a orange slice, drink umbrella, a a straw for sipping. That is a $75.00 drink ensemble (interactive drink with personal show) and it began an onslaught of repeats. We did 73 of these drinks with a variety of drinks. Which means money for me and Grace, $13.00 goes to the bar, $50.00 goes to Grace, and the remaining $12.00 goes to me. Which means I picked up an additional $876.00 in tips I wasn’t expecting and she got over $3600.00 for letting drinks be sipped out of her tiny little vagina.

Eventhough these ensemble drinks keep me busy I also had to do my actual job. It was a fast paced night, I hope the rest of the nights I will be working fly by so fast. Plus, the extra money in tips will work out nicely as well. Maybe my fears are because I left on a bad note before, being burnt out has a negative effect on my attitude, but I think I might be able to tolerate this all the way through. We’ll see, since only time can really tell. Anyway, I’m going to be fishing for a while longer. After 2 hours of sitting here I have had two bites, maybe they are playing hide and seek today.

Next Generation Of Story Telling

Another Life, Another Time

I generally get a handful of texts and e-mails every week from people I worked with at Club X. Usually just to let me known whats been happening and what will be happening. I suppose it is done to “keep me in the loop” even though I have been out of that loop for quite some time now. I generally do not reply to 99% because there usually isn’t anything for me to say. Now, I have two people, one stripper and one waitress, that I do keep up with and talk to regularly because we all became decent friends over the years I worked there. What makes them special you might ask? I will make a long story short, because it actually took me a few months to figure out what was going on. In the beginning I thought there was just the waitress who also was a stripper on her off nights. She would talk to me like normal regardless of what shoes she was wearing that night. Then, out of the blue, after a couple of months, she was on the dance floor stripping and at the same exact time she was waitressing. I thought I had lost my damn mind at first and then they both came over to the bar I was working and sat down, the both smiled while they just sat there looking at me. Yes, now I know, they are twin sisters. There had always been the two of them and few, if anybody, knew about it. Most people in the club thought the same thing I did. Anyway, a friendship grew and developed and now they keep in contact with me quite a bit.

This morning I get an e-mail from them asking me if I miss being a bartender there. They also known I was laid off and wanted to known why I just don’t come back. Do I miss being a bartender there? Not really. I do miss the money but I have said this all before now. I’m sure I could go back to bartending and it would be a decent paycheck, but I walked away when I did for some very specific reasons, first and foremost it was because I was done working nights and second is the hours I worked. It was a freaking part time job yet I worked 50-60 hours a week while having a day job doing 40 hours a week. You do the math, I was tired, more like exhausted, no walked around like a freaking zombie most days. So, I gave up bartending at the strip club, with that I have up about $100k a year, so yes, it has been missed. However, after doing that for 5 years, I socked away a nice start to a retirement, which, so far, we haven’t had to dip into, as of yet. I think it would take something very drastic to get me to go back permanently. Not that time is not now. I liked it after I quite, I see my family now and we have relationships now, something we could not have when I was working nights. I won’t bore y’all with the issues that job caused with my wife. I will say that it wasn’t for the reasons y’all might be thinking, it was simpler, it was because I was never home to spend time with her, ever, and it had a tremendous impact on our marriage. I will leave it there.

I do miss the people, I do miss bartending, and yes, I even miss being surrounded by hundreds of totally nude woman every day. The scenery was always nice. But, back in the real world is where I belong. Perhaps if I was single it would be different. One never knows. As always, the sisters like to include pictures of themselves at work, and to date the one shown here today has been the only one I have been able to share. I wonder, daily, where my life is going, and with often reminders of the past I see that wherever it is that I am supposed to be going is probably I’m the direction I am already headed. I am happier now that I have been in so many years. That’s what we should be, right, happy in our life? Personally, I think that is the answer.

I Bet That Was Awkward!

What Are Bartender: Untold Stories?

Welcome to the section where I get to share stories about the great club I worked at in the not so distant past, the interesting industry that I worked in, the array of people I had the pleasure to  meet everyday, and of course being a bartender in a full nude strip bar. Just take a stool and enjoy the beverage of your choice while I share stories and tantalizing tales that have been shared with me and/or observed by me. Now y’all are ready to be “exposed” to the things I’ve heard and the things I’ve seen thru the eyes and ears of a real Texas Bartender while working in a real Texas strip club. One can search around The Sting Of The Scorpion and find a variety of stories directly or indirectly related to Bartender Stories, I encourage y’all to look to the links on the right and click “Scorpion Sting’s Bartender Stories” as this will help to narrow your search.

As a bartender in a full nude strip bar I was witness to many amazing sites, I got to meet many amazing people, and best of all I got to listen to the stories of many people. The incredible challenge I always had was knowing what to do with all of the information that had been offered to me. What do I do? Write a book? Write a movie? Neither, but I did write it all down. I took notes and wrote down triggers so that the stories would come back to me easy. Why do all that? Why bother? Good question, which the stories I will tell will hopefully relay and answer some of those, if not all, questions. In time gone by I had a separate blog dedicated solely to telling stories from my perspective from behind the bar based on my conversations and observations. And, unfortunately I fell victim to some culling of blogs and it became a deleted statistic I chalked up as a great loss. However, as y’all can see here, I have been trying to maintain the tradition of telling my stories. from this point forward I will warn you that the content will become adult oriented and the language as well as the descriptive picture will become a bit more colorful. I’m not the best story-teller, but I try to be a fair story re-teller.

The views and opinions expressed within the walls of this blog section are mine. However, the purpose of this blog section is to re-tell stories I have heard and to tell stories based on what I have seen, so some things will be borrowed to a point. All names have been changed or omitted. Quite possibly y’all might read things here written in a coarse or blunt manner. This will not be done to offend you, however it might be needed at times to relay the true and accurate message. Some of the images you will find in this blog section belong to ME because I took them. Others are assumed royalty free and found publically on the internet. When needed, or asked for, I will include where or who I got the photo from. Please contact me if you have any questions at all about anything you may find here. Please enjoy your stay, return soon and often. Don’t be surprised if the story I tell one day is about you or somebody you know.

Sometimes…….

Girls, Girls, Girls, And More Girls!

In a few ways I really miss being a bartender. In a few ways I even miss being a bartender in a full nude strip bar. The environment in a strip bar is very different than working in a regular bar or even in a restaurant. Y’all might be thinking that the only real difference would be the scenery. In many ways y’all would be right assuming that. However, as a person that has worked at a multitude of bars in a variety of settings, I can personally say that the strip bar is totally a different world. Most things can be considered a bit upside down, a bit strange, and definitely very loud. I enjoy going out places that provide bar services because I enjoy watching people. There is no better place to watch people than in a bar. Well, unless you consider a busy mall, say a few days before Christmas, which is just plain insanity if you want to know what I actually think. I think the best thing about the strip bar is that every night of the week is a party from open until close and then the party generally doesn’t end. Can y’all tell I have spent way too much time behind the bar at strip clubs? This weekend was no different. Against my will I was asked to arrange a bachelor party since it was known I had some kind of connections on the inside at a very large, very prominent full nude strip bar. When I asked what the budget was, I was told that money was not an option. I believe it, I know the people involved. My friend, Mike, who I have known for about fifteen years, has a great job. The young man that is getting married soon is 25 and works with Mike. So, this falls into it’s a party for a friend of a friend. I don’t know him or his future wife so I don’t know what he likes. I was told that whatever I could pull off that the friend, Daniel, would like, enjoy, and he would be totally surprised. I made a few phone calls. Then, I made a few more phone calls. I made some special arrangements. Then the deal was set, the party was a go. The guest list had 56 people on it. From my understanding, some of Daniel’s family was a part of it all.

This past Saturday was the big day for Daniel and all of his friends and family. Little did I know in the beginning that this entire operation was going to cost me personally. In order to pull this off I am required to be the bartender for the open-bar (pre-paid at $6,000.00) being provided for the bachelor party. All the dancers who are to provide personal entertainment to the party were also pre-paid $7,500.00 which will be split between 10 of them who will be 100% dedicated to the party only for 4 hours. I knew in advance that other dancers will be available as part of their rounds who will be dancing solely for tips. Which is the boat I am in, I am doing it for tips alone as well. The last deposit made was to the club to cover whatever at $1,500.00 which is non-refundable. If you have been following, they dropped $15,000.00 to make this party happen. And, that is only the beginning of the money to be spent. Mike provided limo service for the bachelor and a select number of other people who were at the pre-party party. I arrived around 3 hours early to get set up. I was provided one barkeep to help me out so it wasn’t too bad. Daniel did not know the destination of the limo and nobody was allowed to say anything. So when the limo arrived Daniel was a little surprised. Now, I know why he is surprised because I was already told, Daniel is a virgin. Daniel was greeted at the limo by two angels dressed in very sheer white lingerie. He was then paraded throughout the entire club in a procession of dancers. Meanwhile, the rest of the party was seated and orientated to the club, it’s features, and the staff that would be in charge of their every desire. I have seen more than a few of these parties but this one would definitely be one of the top two. Close to the end of the parade Daniel is led up to the main stage and introduced to the entire club. Every dancer in the club introduced herself to Daniel on stage in one way or another. I think he was actually enjoying himself and the party hasn’t even begun to get going yet. Finally he is walked over to a giant red and black velvet covered throne which sits around two feet higher than the rest of the chairs. He was assigned his personal assistant by the applause of the crowd. This dancer is to help Daniel have a good time and assure that whatever he needs is delivered promptly. Now he has the look of disbelief on his face, you know the one, where someone was caught off guard and presented the winning lottery check for 10 million dollars and the keys to his new mansion, yea, that look.

The evening progressed nicely and everything was going pretty smooth. I was up to my old tricks at the bar doing drinking dares with dancers, serving shots on and in the strippers, and of course made some of the best flaming drinks I think I have ever done. How could I have ever grown tired of all this? The party exceeded their pre-paid open bar by right at $4,000.00 and that didn’t stop them from any drinking once so ever. Scuttle butt has it that the 10 assigned dancers made well over $5,000.00 in tips and the roaming dancers made between $500.00 and $1,500.00 a piece, it just depended on how much time they spent dancing for the party. How much did I make in tips? Well, I worked for 5 hours for the party and made just shy of $4,200.00 while doing it. So, it was well worth my time I think. I am sore tho, my shoulder is killing me, and I have an hour drive to get home. I watched as the party broke up, many of them stayed, moving out into the general population of the club and continuing to keep the party going. However, when it was over, I did notice that Daniel and a few family members did leave the club. I only hung out long enough to get things cleaned up and talk to a few friends I haven’t seen in some time now. I was actually surprised at how many strippers I actually recognized since this isn’t usually a profession where longevity is something seen to often. I have mentioned that before I think, how the doors to a strip club are revolving, people in and people out on a very regular basis. Of course, the owner, my old boss, asked if I wanted my job back for the 100th time since I quit in just over 8 months. I declined. It’s fun for the money on occasion, but I like only doing it on occasion. Funny thing was that I was home by midnight, my wife was up still because she was reading a really good book. We talked for a bit, she asked how much I made, so I told her. She said she will enjoy her half, I laughed, she just held her hand open. She told me to use the money I have left and get a head start on my new truck. She said she knew that was the only reason I went to do this gig was to get some started cash to begin work on the new truck project. Actually, I never thought of that, I was thinking this would pay for my surgery on my shoulder nicely and make it were I could be off work for a few weeks unpaid. Well, it was my intention.

So, I got the call this morning from Mike. He said that this was the best bachelor party he has ever been to and he knows who to call the next time. Thanks, Mike. Maybe this would be a good time to change my number! I also was called by Daniel who invited me and my wife out to dinner with him and his future wife when they get back from their honeymoon. I can’t figure out why, but what the hell, right. I have had goofier things happen to me in my life. I called my wife and she said that the party had to have been pretty damn good if both of those called. What can I say, my friends know how to throw a party.