The last one was seen
Smoking near the sign
That tells customers
To go around back
She’d worked a double
And she was tired
Tony offered to give her
A ride
And she told him ‘No’
Because her brother
Was coming to pick her up
And the girls think
Tony is creepy
And they’re not wrong
When her brother showed up
She was nowhere to be found
And by the time he came inside
He was already screaming
Because he knew
That was it
You’re supposed to wait inside
For your ride
But she wanted to light up
And you’re not allowed to do that
If you’re staff
She was the twelfth girl
In six months
And the police still come by
With a little notepad
And ask less than ten questions
No detectives
Just the officers
Who write traffic tickets
And we can’t get
Anybody at the paper
To write about it
Because the whole town
Wants to pretend
The Rosado Lounge
Isn’t even here
The first girl was only
Planning on being here
For the fall and winter
And then she was going
To take the money she made
And move somewhere
A lot nicer
Where she said
She was going to be
A substitute teacher
We knew at least one guy
Who used to try grabbing at her
And we gave the police
That guy’s name
But even though he stopped coming in
We knew he hadn’t been arrested
Because he lives near the bouncer
And he says he still sees him
Driving around that neighborhood
And he gives out dirty looks
Like he’s daring you
To accuse him of something
One of the girls had a cat
And we knew
She’d want somebody
To take care of the cat
So we went to her apartment
After she went missing
Because one of the other girls
Said she would take the cat
But when we got there
The door was wide open
And the cat was gone
These girls come here
And they get hired
And we don’t even make it a secret
That just by being here
They could put be putting
A target on their back
It doesn’t matter
They need the money
Or they’re not scared
Or they think smart
Has something to do with it
That the self-defense class
They took in high school
And the mace they keep
In their pocketbook
Will be the difference
Between what happens to them
And what happened
To the girl who looked just like them
And had a fuckin’ black belt
On a Sunday night at the lounge
There’s never much of a crowd
And no matter how much we discount the drinks
We can’t beat off that draggy feeling
That comes around
When it’s the end of the week
And you know somebody’s
Not going to be there
Tomorrow morning
Either because they took off
Or somebody took them
We’re even spouting
The company line
These days
Maybe she just bolted
Maybe she had enough
Maybe she forgot to call us
Maybe she’s fine
Then we turn the music up
And the girls dance
But they look like
They’re dancing slower
These days
Sometimes it looks like
Their bodies
Aren’t even moving
Not
One
Bit
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