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Saturday night I rode with Alec at his request for a night out. He had avoided talking to me all week about his "assignment" for me, or anything regarding work and the Dragons.
I thought we were going to a spot to talk, but as he pulled up to a local strip club, one we may have owned, I became disheartened. Everyone was involved, Steven, Jin, Tito, Bridger, Jax and the other guys. I had to hand it to the dancers; the place was full of angry looking Dragons with shaved heads and tons of muscle, and yet not a single girl was afraid to provide service to any guy waving money.
Alec wasn't a club guy, he kept it low-key in his down time, but he said this was for everyone. He'd given Jade some money to get pampered after she'd given him the okay to head out with the guys.
We sat side by side by the main stage. Alec's discomfort was almost comical. We all could've gone to a bar or the warehouse to "hangout" and discuss business, but he let the guys choose a titty joint.
In a corner booth Tito and Jax, his ace and closest friend in our set, were throwing bills as they both received their share of lap dances.
I shook my head and sank down in my seat. This wasn't the place for me either.
"This is the shit you listen to?" Alec said as he slapped my arm for attention.
The latest Tyga record was playing throughout the establishment. I wasn't his biggest fan, but the beat was smooth. Besides, sometimes you needed a rap record about nothing to unwind to. It couldn't all be about deep and thoughtful messages.
Of course, Alec preferred Korean music altogether.
"Says the one who listens to K-Pop," I quipped.
"Fuck you." Alec laughed as he shoved me. "Korean hip-hop is better, little brother. You need to tune that ear of yours to the good shit from back home."
To that I couldn't disagree, with Soh, I was learning more and more about my heritage. The more we talked and worked on my Korean, the more a part of me was sure I'd someday go to Korea, and perhaps meet up with my mother and reconnect.
Sometimes I would sit back and wonder how life would be if my father hadn't gotten pinched. If our mother had stayed and if that would've influenced me more. I was more than positive our father wouldn't let me go so long without being fluent in Korean like Alec, or even Soh. Sometimes when Alec and I'd visit him upstate they'd slip into talking in full Korean and I'd sit there like an idiot and be able to pick out only half of what they were saying. Someday I'd grow and know more. I was sure of it.
On stage some curvy dancer was wrapping her body around the pole gracefully and sliding down as if it were easy. Most of the girls in the club were Korean, but there were a few Latinas up and dancing as well. The girl on stage specifically.
