Winter came and went. The Florida climate was in its most comfortable time of the year. Springtime in the Sunshine State starts with cool mornings that lead into perfect seventy-five-degree afternoons. It was peak season for all things Florida: beaches, water parks, and eighties-themed gentleman’s clubs. Joey D.’s was filled with middle-aged men seeking desperately to relive the greatest times of their lives. The parking lot of the Tampa establishment was filled with minivans, work trucks, and reasonably priced family sedans. None of them matched the strength and elegance of the forest green vintage muscle car parked in the reserved space next to the main entrance. Seven and Tiffany pulled into the lot and searched for an open space. “Not bad for a Saturday afternoon,” Tiffany said.
The two of them walked through the main doors and the sunny, warm environment of Central Florida was quickly transformed into a dimly lit reminder of all things eighties. The walls vibrated with the sounds of Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” while large-busted women danced and flung their bodies around the brass metal poles that stood in the center of each of the three stages. Neon makeup highlighted their most attractive features and their highly teased hairstyles in the darkness of the club. Tiffany was greeted by a host of off-duty dancers when she entered the building, as she was on every visit. They encircled her and a series of giggling embraces began within the group. Of particular interest to the flock was the diamond ring that decorated Tiffany’s left hand. Seven passed his fiancée off to the girls and made his way to the back of the establishment and knocked on the office door.
His old friend leaped from his office chair and the strip club business that he was tending to and jogged over to greet him. Seven was almost knocked to the ground when the bulk of Joey D. collided with his own mass. The large Italian pulled him in for one of his trademark hugs. Seven thought he was prepared for the assault, but he still struggled to breathe while in the grips of his friend.