Her closet is filled with trends that have gone but her bills won’t fill the spots they hang on. Lucy went dancing in her favorite pink dress, the same one she wore with the last gentlemen. It’s her favorite one because it covers her leg just enough but slides up easily when there’s just the right touch. She colored her cheeks and curled her hair tight and set out down the road alone to the same club she went to every night. The bouncers kissed her hand and let her on in knowing full well she’d be out in an hour with an armful of men. But that would be later after the drinks and hard hits and shots of vodka bought by the man who would be forgotten quickly after; especially when she went dancing with a nose of white and grip held tight on another man who would let her loose only after he felt her hard over the skirt and under. She never really noticed any of them anyway, especially when she was under the lights that came on down and cleaned away the dark that was home to the hands that crawl all over you every which way. So she danced and she laughed and she asked the DJ for more, she knew every step and beat, every bass rhythm and underscore. No one really saw her or paid attention or made a fuss over the beautiful girl who danced alone and never said much. She said “yes” to some blow and “no” to some water, she always invested in what would happen later. She mumbled to herself every now and then but you could never hear her or tell what she said. Then at the break of the night some guy will claim his right and smile at the others who were too slow to juice their bite so she’ll follow him away to the door to the day that’s just starting out and ready to play. He has no time for laughs, no time for talk; he has to lead her down the street before she wakes up and thinks she’s lost. He pulls on her arm and swears to the wind, he looks for a taxi to speed up the end. She sings him a song and tickles his neck; he slaps her away and leaves her like that; she’s not worth the trouble of ten more blocks of torment. She hides in an alley and taps on the brick; she calls out a name that gets lost in the mist. She closes her eyes and waits to wake up but her dreams have been waiting for too long to come.