LORI AND I HIDING OUR PAY IN OUR SUITCASES

LORI AND I HIDING OUR PAY IN OUR SUITCASES

When my friend, Lori, and I decided to go to Boston, Massachusetts to strip at the Two O'Clock Club, we were broke. I used the payment that I was going to send off to my son John's military school for our plane tickets. We were able to get a draw at the club when we arrived to get us by for the week until we made some money.

The night we got paid we hid our money in our suitcases. The dressing room was upstairs above the club. We got our suitcases and walked down the stairs. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we both looked into our suitcases to see if the money was still in them.

What was so funny about this is we had just put the money in the suitcases right before we walked down the stairs. I do not know where we thought it would go. Also, neither one of us knew the other one was going to look in her suitcase. We laughed about it. Our brains were on the same wave length. I guess it had been so long since we had had any money that we wanted to make sure it did not go anywhere.

Giving My Kids to a 'Regular' Family

THE OLD STRIPPER

GIVING MY KIDS TO A “REGULAR” FAMILY

I have always prided myself with the fact that I raised my two kids on my own with no help from anyone. There were many difficult times due to lack of money. There were many happy times. The happy times far outnumbered the difficult times. The whole time my kids were little and needed me was happy - even though we were not as well-off as most.

I always placed their needs and desires above anything and anybody. I know this made them happy; but it, also, made

me happy.

Sometimes during the period that I was raising my kids, a smart-ass would tell me that I should give my children to a "regular"

family – a “home” - a mom and dad situation - and quit dragging them all over the country. But I loved them and still do more than life itself. I could not bare to think about their being with

someone else.

One person who always aggravated me to give my children away was Frenchie, a regular dancer in Detroit. Her boyfriend or husband, I do not know which, was the manager. She was always telling me I should give up my kids. People like her I

hated immediately.

I am just glad that I never did listen to all the ignorant advice such as this. There was never a doubt in my mind that I was doing the right thing by keeping my kids. I was sure of it then; and I am sure of it now.

I tried to teach my kids that a house did not make a home; and when we were together, we were at home no matter where we were. I, also, tried to teach them that when we were apart – me at work traveling and them in their boarding schools – that we were still at “home” in our hearts and minds.

Many tell me this was selfish and maybe it was. But I am able to look in the mirror today and know that I did the best I knew how

and did not give them up.

If I would have given them up, maybe they would have been happier. But I would not go back and change it. I would keep my kids. Maybe I really am a selfish person drowning my selfishness with love. Maybe I was really placing my great desire before my children which was to have them with me. Maybe all the good things I did for them was really for me.

George Feeding Chico

THE OLD STRIPPER

GEORGE FEEDING CHICO

Lori Lanier and I were stripping in Cleveland, Ohio. We were going to only be gone a few days for the booking; so we kept our motel room rented in Canton, Ohio because that is where we usually stayed when we were not working. My boyfriend,who was one of the projectionists at the State Burlesk Theater, lived in Canton; so I liked to be around him as much as possible.

The manager at the burlesk theater in Cleveland offered to book us for two weeks. We took the offer. There was only one problem – Chico.        

Chico was Lori's spider monkey. She had left him in his cage with

enough food and water for the length of time that we would be

gone. But if we stayed for two more weeks, he did not have enough

food and water.

We were not sure what to do. Then we decided to call my boyfriend.

He agreed to take what Lori told him to take - apples - to the motel

and give them to the monkey.

When we got back to Canton it was really funny. George had just

thrown the apples in the cage. He had not cut them up or anything.

He said that he had gone to the desk clerk and told him that he

needed to give the apples to the monkey. The desk clerk told him

that they could not let him in our room without our permission. He

told them, “I don't want in the damn room! Here's the apples! You

give them to the monkey!” They let him in the room I guess they did

not want to feed the monkey!

Doing My Headstand at the Bar

DOING MY HEADSTAND AT THE BAR

There was a bar right next door to the hotel where I stayed in Syracuse, New York. Some of the girls I was dancing with and I went there occasionally. One night we went there, and I got really crazy.

We were talking about my headstand that I did in my shows. All the guys wanted to see me do it. I told them that I could not do it without a pillow. One guy said, "Here's a pillow!" - as he patted his stomach. I said, "O.K.! I'll try it.”

He laid down on the floor. I used his belly for a pillow and did my headstand. It was really funny!

That night the bar got on fire. The following day I went next door to see the damage. The owner was there. He said, "Well, Wild Star. I guess you just made it too hot over here last night!"

Becoming a Stripper Led Me to Become a Vegetarian



BECOMING A STRIPPER LED ME TO BECOME A VEGETARIAN

I feel that everyone should pay back to the world some way for the privilege of having lived. I feel that my way of doing this will be to fight for animal rights.

I was dragged through Hell to make me realize that it is wrong to kill animals. I feel that it is my "duty" to the world to, at least, let it know that killing animals is wrong. There is not a doubt in my mind about this.

If I had not been left to raise my kids on my own and become a stripper, I really feel that I would not have ever become a vegetarian. I knew I was going to have to raise them on my own with no help from anyone. I wanted to, at least, raise them until they were eighteen. I decided to study health. I figured if I could keep healthy, then I could live until they were both, at least, eighteen and able to take care of themselves.

By studying health, I realized that it was unhealthy to eat animals. Later on, I became radical about feeling sorry for the animals who are victims of slaughter and man's various appetites.

If I can be thankful for anything I have accomplished in this life, it is the fact that I realized that it is wrong to kill animals. All the hard times I had to go through was worth it if it meant I would realize this. If I had my life to live over, and knew all the hard times I would have to endure – but in the long run I would realize the injustice society dishes out to animals – I would say, “I will endure these trials and tribulations and be dragged through the “Pits of Hell” if that is what it would take just to know that it is wrong to kill animals.”

I have enjoyed all the worldly things. I have done everything I want to do as far as the world can offer me. I have all the worldly

"things" I ever want. Now it is my time to give back to the world. I feel that by letting people know it is wrong to kill animals is my way of doing this.

Best Decision I Ever Made to Become a Stripper

Opal Dockery

THE OLD STRIPPER



BEST DECISION I EVER MADE TO BECOME A STRIPPER

It was difficult to be a stripper on the road; but through it all, the good times outweighed the bad. This job enabled my children and myself to travel and see things that would have been impossible if I had worked a regular job. It was like being on a vacation all the time and getting paid for it. Whenever I think back, I know that becoming a stripper was the wisest decision I ever made in my life.

The following best describes my deepest feelings and is from my story in this book,VISION OF BECOMING A STRIPPER: But there was an unsettling deep inside me. The unsettling that has been with me all my life. The unsettling that I have had ever since I have had any sense of consciousness. The unsettling that will not let me stop and be satisfied with a certain situation or certain type of life for any length of time. The unsettling that knaws at my insides to do something else. The unsettling that will not let me settle down - my spirit.

Different Roads to Finding Your Spirit

Opal Dockery

THE OLD STRIPPER

A Dixie Production



I think it is imperative that each of us find our own true self - our own true spirit. All of us do not reach this level on the same road. We all take different roads at times. Who is to say that one road is better or worse than the other? The road that is right for one person may be wrong for another. The end result is what counts. A person might cook rice differently from someone else. As long as it is edible the way he or she likes it; and it serves as a good nutrition value, who cares how it was prepared?

The road I took to find my true spirit and to come face to face with it was quite an unusual road. When I became a stripper, this is the road I traveled that led me to enlightenment. I discovered my spirit. I introduced myself to my spirit. I came face to face with my spirit. I reached a level so high that I would not have been able to cope with the beautiful feeling if it had been any higher.

My spirit has been with me forever. It just took this – what most common ordinary people would call irrational act – to permit me to meet my spirit and to always know that my spirit is continually with me and will always guide me.

My spirit guided me through all the hard times of raising my children. Without the knowledge of my spirit, I do not see how I could have managed this. At that time, I did not know how to take care of myself – let alone two little kids and to raise them to adulthood.

My spirit continually is with me as I make all decisions in my life. I have so much thanks to the road I took as being a stripper and an outcast of society. This decision was the best one I ever made in my life. I truly did find my spirit in them most unconventional way.

Getting In Trouble With a Pimp



GETTING IN TROUBLE WITH A PIMP

To this day, I really do not know why I did this. I could have been killed. I guess it was just out of stupid curiosity. I do not know. At the time, I think I felt that I was trying to educate myself by understanding different people and different personalities - what made them tick. Maybe this was the reason I did what I am about to tell you about. I do not know. I could back-up my stupidity for this particular incident by saying it was for the purpose of understanding personalities based on the fact that I earned my bachelor of science in psychology years later. And I must admit that the first hand experience I received provided more information than anything I could have ever obtained from a textbook.

There was this young, good looking black man that hung around the Two O'Clock Club where I danced as a stripper in Boston, Massachusetts. He never bought any drinks and would say, "No." when hustled to buy some. He seemed to be friends with one of the waitresses. I found out later from other dancers that he was a pimp.

I had never talked to a pimp before as far as I knew. I told myself that I should talk to him and try to understand this type of personality. The approach I decided to use was not too appropriate as far as my personal safety was concerned.

I could not go to him and say, "Heh! I hear you're a pimp. Could I interview you and study your personality?" So I decided on the dangerous approach. I acted like I wanted to work for him.

As far as I can remember, I just went up and told him I wanted to make more money, and I wasn't sure how to do it. I needed someone to show me how. I played the dumb stripper act to the hilt. It worked too good.

Immediately he lit into me. "Listen, Bitch, give me some money. If you haven't got paid, give me what you got on you now. You hear me, Bitch? You pay me to be your man. I know where you work. I know where you live. You have me some money by 2:00 a.m. or leave the state of Massachusetts. You hear me, Bitch? The money at 2:00 a.m. or else!"

Needless to say, I was scared. I went and told my girlfriend and roommate, Lori, about what happened. I told her that she didn't have to walk home with me tonight if she didn't want to because he might be there to hurt me. She said she would never leave me alone to face someone like that.

He never showed up after work. I sure was glad. As a

matter-of-fact, I do not ever remember seeing him around after that.

I think my friend must have said something to him. She had a way of being forceful with words towards these type of men.

I watched my words AND my curiosity very carefully from that moment on.