'cause life is hard >> venus&missouri

v e n u s    g a u l t i e r   .

You know, when you start to pay attention to it, District 8 really smells like ass. 

In between puffs I get the sickest whiff of what smells like gutter garbage and burning fish. It makes my nose sour and I almost gag sis, like, it's bad for us. I don't know what I did in a past life to get cursed with being here of all places. My haus mother's the mayor, you'd think she'd get me a damn vacation every now and again! I can't wait for the day I get out of here and go somewhere where the streets are clean and the men are rich. 

Especially the latter. A couple of boys pass us up on their bikes and I'm half distracted looking them up and down when Missouri asks something of me. "You're just in luck, this side of town is my bitch," I say with a wicked grin. Hope she likes bars, clubs and other grimy places, that's about all we have over here. I know I know her, like, I know, but I can't put my finger quite where and it's going to drive me crazy until I figure it out. Maybe we made out drunk once? Ugh, I do that all the time. Ever since I got mono that one time I swore I'd stop, but it's just so fun. 

She takes the blunt and hits it while the sound of my heels echo down the street, and she takes it like a champ. I can tell she knows what she's doing because she smokes like she enjoys it - some of these kids, you pass them a blunt and they suck on it like they're trying to smoke the life out the damn roach. Not her, it takes a solid second and she doesn't cough or choke or nothing, "nice!" I let out, "north end, huh? I believe you, everything's better up there - especially the men," I say with a wiggle of the brows. 

That's where the daddies are. 

Their natural breeding ground, I'm talking golfers and gentlemen club daddies at that. 

Eventually, the brick sidewalk bleeds out into a bridge stretching down to the Bend - "keep heading down here we'll hit the gay clubs, you interested?" Or is she like, interested, y'know? 

v e n u s    g a u l t i e r   .

All things considering, I'm fucking with this girl's vibe hard core! 

She's passing the friendship screening for sure. Not a snitch? Check. Has some banter? Check. Isn't ugly? Big check, I can't be caught dead hanging around a 3. Imagine how I would look, showing up to my home club with a bitch who looks like a badger? No way, I have a reputation to uphold. I think mother would kill me, the Gaultiers don't play that. Plus, it's always good to have connections up north, maybe I can absorb some clout from this chick after all. 

Hold up, "arrested?!" One thing about me is I love a red flag, and besides, those peacekeepers seem to be cracking down on anybody they have an excuse to at this point. I've known a few girls who got sent off to the detention center for shop lifting, and like, that's nonviolent! It's like they get paid by the body everything they send someone to the slammer, I can't judge her too hard. 

It's when she pulls out the literal cocaine that I gasp. Right out of her tits! "Woah, you're hardcore!" I say, stopping in my tracks a few steps past the other side of the bridge. "I love it!" What can I say, I'm an enabler, and I'm never going to say no to free drugs. I ain't no weak bitch, if she can hang then so can I. Truth be told, I've never done coke before and I think it's time to pop that cherry. 

"Right here, like, right now?" I say in a hushed tone, pulling her off to the side behind the Triumph Village sign. Before she can even respond, I'm digging in my bag until I find my credit card and an I Kill Kids make up case to draw lines on. 

I stay ready, bitch. "Snort first, and then I need to hear all about whatever charge you caught."

v e n u s    g a u l t i e r   .

Oh, we're about to have such a good night. While I'm watching Missy draw the lines, I ash out the blunt before stuffing it back where the sun don't shine, not even thinking of how it's about to burn a hole into my bra. It's like being a kid and watching my mom cook the night before the Ratmas feast, y'know, back when she used to do that shit. Ugh, mommy issues, daddy issues, drug issues, financial issues... maybe I just got Issues at this point.

Call it a complex, I don't care, promise I don't. It'll all be better once I get some coke in my system, grinning like an idiot as my partner in crime gets to sniffing. "Go, go, go!" I cheer, hyping her up as she downs the entire road - nice, bitch! She really is no quitter, the girls at Bella Noches are about to love her. I'm smitten myself - what?! I can't resist a bad bitch! Don't worry, I only date for money. 

And who said anything about dating? Wink, wink. 

I'm hungry for it by the time she passes the case, eyeing up my line before I ingest the mfer. Is it just me or this line, like, fat? It's kind of intimidating but what do I look like, a coward? Hell no, I listen to Missy's story as I line up my nostril, mimicking the way she had because I have no idea what I'm doing here. Like I said, first timer over here, I don't really know what to expect. From the drug and from her, apparently, my eyes bugging from both as she reveals herself as an arsonist. 

This bitch is the real deal, oh my god. 

Shit, I get half way down the line and start choking, a wicked cough coming over me as I try to put the case down before I fuck everything up like I always do. "Damn, damn, damn," it feels like it's all going to my massive fucking head! I put my palms to my eyes and try to hold my head still as the world spins, it's like my whole body's speeding up as I stand in one place. It's like a chase, and I'm both hunter and prey ... what the hell am I talking about?! 

"Whew, okay," nailed it, I'm so good at this. I'm going to be as lit as this bitch's criminal record by the end of the night, huh? I go to pick up the case once more when she asks about me, what can I say other than I'm perfect? "Oh, I'm a total queen," I say, "my birth mother thinks I'm a total monster though, kicked me out and that's when the Gaultiers found me." The Gaultiers, a fashionable haus of trans performers, spectacles if you think about it. 

Everyone wants to be one, and hardly anyone can handle it. 

"So did they toss you in the D.C.?" I ask before going back down on my half-finished line, the powder loosely spread out more than before. Sloppy, but I'll get it done. Like I said, I'm no quitter. 

v e n u s    g a u l t i e r   .

Before I'm even through with the second line, I feel the euphoria rising in my cheeks. Oh fuck, oh wow, it's like I can physically feel my eyeballs dilate, it's hard to breathe for a second but Missy is hyping me up so I gotta look good. For a second I just start laughing, nothing's even funny- well, everything's funny, like what the fuck! I'm doing cocaine! This is crazy, is it bad I already want more? It hits way better when I'm not choking on the bitch, but ain't that always the truth? 

Everything's brighter, my head pointed to the sky after I snort and it's like the stars are little hovercrafts blaring down on me. There's a building in my ankles the more and more I feel like taking off in a sprint - let's do something fucking crazy! Like, I dunno, meth! Wait no, definitely not that. "Let’s hit the bars and every time we convince a stranger to buy us a shot, I’ll tell you a little bit more about my misconduct and you tell me something personal about yourself," Venus says, my eyes pouring into her's as she speaks.

"Sound good to you?"

"Oh, you're so on, sis," I bleat out, a giddiness coming out of me. One thing about me is I love a good competition, and I love love love oversharing about myself. I'm like, my own favorite topic, and can you blame me? Well, I guess that was two things, who's counting? "It shouldn't even be too hard, like, look at us," I'm speaking with my hands, acrylic nails waving around between us. I'm pregaming what I'll talk about first as if I'm even going to remember by the time I get my first shot, filing through my rolodex of wild stories as we start walking again.

Walk and talk, baby, "c'mon, we got the night to kill!" I say, dogtrotting in my heels as we hit the sidewalk again, laughing like maniacs as we approach Bella Noches and the bouncer. "What's up, Behroze?" I say from behind him, skipping the line altogether because that's what I do bitch. This is my haus, did you forget? "This is Missouri, she's with me," Behroze not even hesitating to move aside, letting us in to the dismay of the asshole waiting in line. Eat it- I lean into Behroze while I ask about the Balmain Boys, a group of chasers with enough money to buy the building if they wanted to.

Sure enough they're in tonight, "fucking jackpot," I look back to Missouri, taking her hand as we enter the dark of the club. "Keep an eye out for the leather jacket bros, they're easy money," and stupid as all hell, too.

Just how I like them!