Friends?

TBP

---

---

Jim Tingle, DDS was reaching up from the side of the stage to tuck the five dollar bill under the strap of Miss Candy Delight’s G-string when someone reached up next to him to do the same thing. Dr. Jim backed off, he did not want to share Miss Delight’s panties with anyone else. He had driven almost 75 miles to come to this club, to see this dancer. He glanced over at the intruder.

An obviously intoxicated, slightly overweight, balding man with thick glasses, and a big nose was smiling and struggling to place his bills under the strap. Jim recognized him right away.

“Rick?” he asked incredulously.

The man turned, “Jim,” he replied after a taking a moment to focus, “What are you doing here?”

“I was driving past and saw this place. I, uhm, I just stopped in to see if I could get a sandwich or a salad,” Dr. Tingle replied. “They don’t have a kitchen here though, and I didn’t realize this was a strip club. How about you? What brings you here?”

“Well, I was getting gas at the station next door and their bathroom is being repaired. They suggested I should come over here to use the bathroom.”

“Uh huh,” said the dentist as he looked at the bill in his friend’s hand and the half full glass of beer on the edge of the stage in front of him. He could tell that Rick was lying but thought he better leave anyway. It probably wasn’t real good for his reputation, as a respected dentist, to be hanging out in strip clubs; probably even worse for Rick. He looked longingly at Miss Delight and shrugged his shoulders. She had really nice teeth. “Well, I gotta go Reverend. I’ll see you this weekend.”

“I hope so, Jim,” Rick said. He swayed slightly and struggled to focus. “I’ve got a good sermon worked up on ‘The Wages of Sin’. I think you’ll like it.”

The dentist nodded and turned. He felt a heavy hand grab his arm and turned back. His Pastor was looking at him with worried eyes.

“Jim, it might be best if we didn’t mention to anyone that we ran into each other here,” he said. “Word might get back to Elsie or Diane.” He paused. “You know how rumors and gossip can spread through the congregation.”

“I won’t say anything if you don’t.”

When Jim Tingle, DDS stepped out of the club and into the lot, a light rain had begun to fall. The road was going to be slippery on his drive home. He turned up his collar against the mist and thought about Elsie as he walked to his car. He began to think that maybe counseling might be a good idea.

---