Ennis strained to see the half naked dancer through the fog of cigarette smoke. Jack sat at Ennis’ side, patting his thigh in time to the raunchy, suggestive music. Jack nursed a shot glass of whiskey, but Ennis chose to forego drink. He wanted to be fully aware of everything. Other men were sitting around in a circle, staring up at a young man of perhaps 25, dressed as Aladdin, and performing a sort of slow, grinding dance to a smouldering jazz trac.
Ennis couldn’t fathom what he was seeing, couldn’t even remember walking into the “club.” But Jack felt right at home and watched the young beauty with great interest as he danced. The stripper had a full view of his audience, and when his eyes met Ennis’ he seemed to pause a bit. Jack noticed the attraction at once, and looked over at Ennis and grinned. His smile broadened as the young man walked, cat-like, from the stage and stood right in front of Ennis Del Mar. The stripper held out a hand for Ennis, but Ennis didn’t understand. “Dance with me,” the young man whispered. The other men looked at Ennis, fascinated. They were all a bit jealous, but were interested to see what the fair haired cowboy would do. Ennis looked at Jack, who smiled and nodded. He pushed Ennis up, and Ennis took the dancer’s hand. The beautiful dancer pulled Ennis to the edge of the stage, and pushed his buttocks into Ennis’ groin. Shouts of, “whoop! Hey hey, go on, go on,” filled the smoky club. Ennis placed a tentative hand on the dancer’s buttocks. The crowd was in an uproar! “He likes that,” Jack laughed, a bit uneasy. Ennis was patting the young man’s bum when he turned abruptly and planted a sloppy kiss on Ennis’ open mouth.
“What the hell....??” Ennis stammered as he shot upright on his little bed. He looked at the clock on his table and saw that it was only 2a.m. The dream was unsettling to say the least. He couldn’t imagine where it came from. He wasn’t queer! “I have to stop eating sardine sandwiches so late at night,” Ennis muttered. He mopped at the sweat that had accumulated on his brow. He tried to ignore his early morning wood, but knew he would never get back to sleep if he didn’t take care of it, and soon.