"This really isn't what I expected for Valentines Day," Chrissy sighed to herself as Nzinga pulled into the parking lot at the Meat Market.
The outside of the building wasn't bad, but it still wasn't something that Chrissy saw as something for her. A strip club, and one that had long marketed itself as a strip club. It was the polar opposite of what Chrissy had wanted for herself. She wanted to get into medicine and find a career outside Desert Flats, and now, because Marcella being jealous of various things, she was an Elephant Animalian and owed a fair amount of money to the owner and manager of the club that she and Marcella had trashed in Desert Flats when both of them transformed. She had tried to talk with Nzinga and her husband, Dean, about doing her community service to cover the damage at some place other than a strip club but had been told that not much would work in that regard.
The Claw Coliseum had a full staff and was largely busy with the related events for the Year of the Snake tournament and were expecting to have the race up Zodiac Mountain on Monday, along with the winning prizes awarded. They didn't have time to train anyone new. There was Kat's Klub, which was fairly similar to the club that Chrissy and Marcella had wrecked, but while they were willing to forgive both Chrissy and Marcella, provided they go through with the law's punishments, they didn't want to draw attention that would bring in increased scrutiny. The Meat Market was ultimately the only place willing to take the risk, and Chrissy got the sense that, for her, it was about controlling her temper. That didn't change the feelings of embarrassment, though.
The fact that it was Valentines Day when she was starting with this made it worse. It was a day where every fiber of her soul wanted to be with Steve, but she couldn't. Dean and Nzinga had been more than helpful in driving her from her home in Desert Flats to her high school, which had managed to do the bare minimum to see that she could sit and function, though some things like the restrooms and other spaces were still cramped, but the help did leave her grateful. But she'd hoped that her community service could be started and thus finished sooner, but it appeared that some of the political nonsense that some of the lawyers had pulled with Marcella had gotten in the way of scheduling Chrissy's community service, a service that Nzinga told her that Marcella would also have to serve in addition to Animalia's four punishments.
"I'm sure, and idiot politicians didn't help with the scheduling," Nzinga grunted, "but it is where we are. Just report to Ms. Fabina and she'll handle your assignment and will keep you on shift till about ten PM."
"Thank goodness it's a Friday," Chrissy grumbled.
"And you won't have to do this on Saturdays or Sundays, and on Monday through Thursday, it should only be from six to eight," Nzinga spoke, "so... as with many things, while this isn't perfect. It is better than nothing."
"And Marcella?" Chrissy asked.
"From what I've been told... her parents massively overreacted to the stunt those lawyers from outside Lyre/Animalia pulled," Nzinga commented, "so... in some ways, however bad you may think you have it, Ms. Walker has had it worse. Much of it she's earned, but from the way even you've described the incident... I doubt she was doing it for the purpose of terrorism, and that seems to be what the Walkers have most responded to. So... for the moment she is on bail, and is being looked after by Manfred Tuscan and his wife..."
"Another African Elephant?" Chrissy asked.
"Wolly Mammoth," Nzinga corrected, "and that system will remain complicated. When they get to the trial... things will then follow, either the political lawyers somehow win their way... and Ms. Walker is imprisoned, or she would be placed in the custody of the Tuscans until her four punishments and her community service are handled. In that case... she likely will also be enrolled in WSA to finish out the school year, given a lot of the nonsense that then got pulled with her by these lawyers."
Chrissy nodded and carefully got out of the car. The cold air was chilling, and she only barely heard Nzinga's instruction on when she would return to pick her up after her shift. She made a dash for the door and mostly thought over some of those other issues that were coming as a consequence of the fight that had come out of her unplanned and unwanted transformation. The reports that Marcella had some accusing her of terrorism and were wanting to throw the proverbial book at her for it was overly harsh, and while Chrissy wanted Marcella to pay for what she'd done, she was also glad that the lawyers that had tried to exaggerate the charges had been legally rebuked. A part of her also felt strangely sorry for Marcella and that her own parents had seemed to toss her out as well. It struck her as a bit of an unfair punishment for the crime committed, but there wasn't much that Chrissy could do, and she had her own community service to handle in order to pay off Rocky for her share of the damage at his club in Desert Flats.
There was some relief as she made her way into the club, as it did feel warmer on her ears. From what she could see, things were also surprisingly clean from what she expected from a strip club. There wasn't any sign of garbage, and from what Chrissy could smell, the interior didn't reek of sex or anything like that, so that was a good thing, in a way. Her entrance brought her into an area that had a fairly restricted view and wouldn't let her see the main stage, which was something Chrissy was grateful for. She could see some of the pink, red, and white streamers that were also hung up for Valentines Day. The thing that had her the most worried were two bouncers, both Animalians, but not of a species that would physically be able to move an Elephant Animalian, and particularly one based on the African Elephant.
"ID, ma'am," the first instructed.
"Uh... I'm Christina Moore, I was told to do my community service here... to... make up for damage done at a fight on New Years," Chrissy spoke as she wrestled with her purse and eventually found the set of artificial digits that had been made for Animalians with thicker fingers to retain some measure of dexterity that their new fingers wouldn't allow for, "and to see a Ms. Fabina..."
She eventually did retrieve her ID and presented it to the bouncer. Part of Chrissy wondered why that was going to work, as her ID was her driver's license, but it had been issued when she was still Human and her Elephantine face didn't resemble the Human one on the card. The bouncer looked it over and then looked Chrissy over again.
"Your date of birth has you at eighteen years, so you would have legal access... though, you may want to update your card to fit your status as an Animalian," the bouncer told her.
"I didn't ask to be an Animalian..." Chrissy half whined, "and I was told there wouldn't be any requirement until the card's expiration date.
"Yes... but it also stands to note that given many other factors, unless you look like the picture on the card... there will be some that will reject the card based on your status as an Animalian," the bouncer commented, "and they don't have to be "right" to make the case. They just have to have the legal excuse to do so."
Chrissy found herself giving an irritated snort as the bouncer returned her card. Though he did say one more thing, "I'll take you in to see Ms. Fabina. She'll give you the instructions on what you'll be doing and where you'll be helping while here."
There was some music playing in the background, and it wasn't truly "romantic" music, but then, Chrissy also figured that would be something that would relate to the Meat Market being a strip club. The dancing that went on there was not something that would be done on a date or would be "family friendly." She got a further eyeful of that, as she noted that one of the dancers up on the main stage swaying and twerking in some costume that looked like it was loosely held together with pink string and not much else. She tried to look away, and found that a couple of the serving staff were also moving around in speedos and small nipple coverings for those that were female. Not all were, but some were and that unnerved her. Part of it was that this was the sort of thing she had not been raised for in Desert Flats, and while she had found herself having some rather erotic dreams on Steve becoming an Elephant Animalian to be with her, or to please her, those sorts of desires were private. She didn't want to share them with the world. Thankfully most of the guests that were present were more eying the stage than anything else.
She was eventually led to an office where she found Ms. Fabina seated and looking over some other notes. From some of the muffled whispers on numbers, Chrissy figured this was something related to the club's books. She knew that the Meat Market was a fairly popular place and often had issues with more dancers than time for them, but because of the business the business pulled in, it wasn't as though the Meat Market looked to go out of business.
"You must be Ms. Moore," Ms. Fabina spoke as she turned and looked up, and then said to the bouncer, "thank you." The bouncer nodded and departed. "I'm sure you understand WHY you're here?"
"Community service for doing damage at Rocky's Dance Hall in Desert Flats," Chrissy answered, "and he doesn't want me there... and no one else was going to take the risk on me... or Marcella."
Ms. Fabina nodded, "Yes... And while your rival's issues are a bit different, and on hold, pending her trial and all that... there will still be the possibility that you and her may be working these shifts together and dealing with some of the various issues that come with the club."
"Issues?" Chrissy asked, "I can hold my temper around Marcella... so long as she doesn't start anything. And... well... a part of me is saddened that some of the legal responses on Marcella have gone to the extremes they have. I want justice... but I don't want her sent away to some place like Gitmo."
The canine Animalian again nodded, "and that's good. We do have the Animalia PD on call if need be, and they're making sure that Sherry is on duty with the Rhino Guard at the times that you and Marcella would be here."
"Sherry..." Chrissy said slowly.
"Triceratops Dinotopian, and can be comparable in size to an Elephant Animalian," Ms. Fabina answered, "thus negating any weight advantage you or Marcella might have over the other Rhino Guard members... Should things get out of hand."
"I promise they wont!" Chrissy said quickly and raising her hands defensively.
Ms. Fabina only nodded, but said nothing for a moment. As Chrissy relaxed again, Ms. Fabina picked up her explanation, "most of the rest of what you may run into will be the occasional drunk. And that can include Animalians. Many can digest alcohol and there is the potential of having too much. Most are often Humans... and we have a fairly good number of "regulars" that show up fairly frequently and it isn't uncommon for them to get plastered. Sometimes, they have a designated driver who helps them home, sometimes they're alone and our bouncers make sure they get a ride home or that the Animalia and Lyre PD are alerted and can take them to the "drunk tank." You shouldn't have too much of a physical problem but given that we do have some drunk customers from time to time, you may find that their inebriation does not give them great body control."
"I'm not letting some drunk feel me up," Chrissy huffed, "I have a boyfriend who loves me..."
"Good for you," Ms. Fabina answered, "and I'm not saying to consent to such things. Meat Market customers know that they are not to touch the dangers or those serving food and drinks. It is part of our rules. And over the years, some out of towners have been bad enough in their behavior that they've been banned from the club, because I cannot trust them to have some respect for the rules, and our bouncers know their names and faces. And if someone were to try that with you... I normally wouldn't look down on a small slap or the like... but..."
"My fight with Marcella would change things," Chrissy realized.
"Yes," Ms. Fabina nodded, "I can't expect you not to react... but I will need to you to do your best not to draw physical contact. Your arms would be more than strong enough to break bones, and your trunk, even with no bones in it, would be more than enough to knock a Human over. So... if someone does try to grab you, be vocal in saying "no" and draw attention to others working the bar or serving food with you. They will see to dealing with the customer, and that could include calling in our bouncers. It will save you taking any more scrutiny and help me avoid looking like a fool."
"Of course," Chrissy said with a sigh.
"Good, now, I'll show you on where you'll be starting," Ms. Fabina spoke as she stood up.
And from there, Chrissy went through her first night. She wasn't made to wear anything revealing, which she was grateful for. Ms. Fabina showed her the layout of the club in which tables were which. Many of them had their own "number" that Chrissy had to memorize but given the modest size of the club and the fact that the main orders were made at the bar, it wouldn't be too hard to at least see who had made a specific order and go from there. She had to listen to the various cheers for each no act that went on stage over the course of the night, and she remained embarrassed at the seeing of women and men strip through the course of the shift. The colors for Valentines Day didn't help.
Though, the worst that Chrissy ran into was what Ms. Fabina had mentioned at issues toward the end... people getting handsy. Early one, one had seemed like a prank. She was carrying a tray of pretzels and jerky to a table. She'd just delivered it and had turned back to head to the bar when she felt a hand grab her butt and squeeze it through her jeans. It would be unnerving, but what made it worse was that it was soon followed by laughter from that table. It wasn't the one that had ordered the pretzels and jerky, but the group had seen fit to take advantage of her presence there, and in surprise and embarrassment, Chrissy jumped and trumpeted with her trunk flying out in front of her. The tray also flew through the air, slid over the bar and turned on one of the taps causing the staff to hurry to prevent losing their supply of beer from that tap. The only physical contact was the back of Chrissy's ears hitting something as she flapped them in surprise too. The trumpet had stopped the dancer on stage and drew all attention onto Chrissy, who only wanted to hide. But the laughter from those that had grabbed her butt and the people from the table she'd just served glaring at that table and not at her drew attention, and the perpetrators had to pay an estimate the bartender made for the cost of the spilled beer.
The other incident came later, and this one was with someone that had gotten totally hammered. Chrissy was handing drinks to a table when a guy stumbled on his way out before falling unto her butt. She gave a startled "hey" and turned around to see the guy then fall face first onto the floor. A fried who was following, and didn't look anywhere near as drunk, picked up the drunk and apologized to Chrissy. She was still embarrassed, and it wasn't her idea for Valentines Day, but by rule, she had to go with it.