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Tin pulled up to the parking lot of a large building with a dark glass exterior. He looked at his boyfriend to make sure they were at the right place, but Can was already unbuckling his seat belt. Mama Gogo was written in bright lights. Tin wondered how Can knew of a place like this and why would he bring him here. After some time dating Can, he had learned to just accept certain things, but his boyfriend always managed to surprise him.
They went inside and it was everything Tin expected: red lights, velvet and sparkles. The entrance had a sort of reception room with a black sparkly wall in the back, but no one to host. As they walked in further, the room was lit by ambiance lights, the sitting was varied. The bar on the left side had some stools, in the middle some high chairs and tables. And on the right it had some booths with purple velvet. The stage was pretty big, it had a DJ area. But at least they managed to make it somewhat tasteful.
“Aunt Annie!” Can went straight to the woman standing in the middle of the place. She was dressed up in a party way, but it was still clear she wasn’t a performer.
“Ow, Can. What are you doing here?”
“I brought my boyfriend here.”
Annie finally looked at the man behind Can. He looked put together, his clothes were casual, but definitely expensive. The woman had a good eye for this. Like he was the son of a politician or a diplomat, and as far as she knew, he probably was. Can’s mom clearly wasn’t exaggerating. Annie wondered if he would have a preference for Moodang like the politician wives. If he was dating Can for his lively innocence, he probably would.
“So you must be the famous Tin Medtthanan! Can’s mom told me a lot about you. You can call me Auntie Annie too. Let me get you the V.I.P. seats.”
They were set up in one of the booths. The sitting was as comfortable as it looked. Can still exchanged some words with this Auntie Annie, before she left. She seemed fond of Can, as most people that knew the boy. Tin was thankful that she didn’t push to have any of her “mamaboys” come to the table. He knew Can would just have some innocent conversations with them, but his boyfriend was too gullible, he was afraid they would encourage Can to drink too much. Tin stared at his boyfriend for a while.
“I’m not gonna ask how you know this place or that woman, but what are we doing here?”
“What do you mean? Wasn’t Ae telling you he wanted to do something different for Pete’s birthday. I’m helping!” Can said that last sentence with a smile that showed he was proud of himself.
He couldn’t say much more. The VJ came to the stage and started announcing the schedule for the evening, before calling the mamaboys. A group of six boys walked onto the stage. The music was some generic upbeat electronic song, their choreo wasn’t anything new and, quite honestly, they were off-beat. But Tin had to admit they were conventionally hot, that’s probably why the club was pulling it off. He looked at Can. The boy was paying attention to the stage, but wasn’t completely focused.
“So you think Ae, of all people, will be ok with bringing his boyfriend to a place with a bunch of naked men?”
“I’ve seen Pete convince him to do worse things.”
Tin couldn’t argue with that.
Once the group performance was over, there was still some time before the first solo, so the mamaboys went to the tables to host their customers. Tin hoped they were better hosts than they were dancers. One of them waved at Can, because of course Can knew him.
“To be honest, Auntie Annie isn’t doing all that well with the club. I was hoping Pete would help her.”
“Hm… So your birthday gift for Pete is more work?”
“No! Is just I’m afraid Pete won’t accept it because it’s this kind of place. So I thought if he got to know Auntie Annie and the boys, he would see how nice everyone is and would want to help.”
“You know Pete would help just because you asked him and you are one of his friends.”
“That’s true…”
“Let’s go talk to the owner.”
Can nods with a smile on his face. They walk up to the woman who greeted them earlier. She was talking to the man that was on stage making the announcements. He seemed to be about her age, and he looked good and fit, like he could be dancing with the mamaboys. They stopped at a high table and waited there.
They saw as she turned around to grab a microphone and started a farewell speech for the man with her. Somehow it turned into her getting everyone to ask him to dance one last time. He tried to play it off but ended up complying. He seemed to be better than all of the boys Tin and Can had seen before.
Once this impromptu show was over, Can went to the man, almost running with a sad face.
“Uncle Ball, you’re really going away?”
“Can, I told you to stop calling me uncle!” Ball messed with the boy’s hair. “But, yeah, I got offered a better job in Singapore.”
“Ai’Tin, give him some money!”
“Why?”
“He just danced for us.”
Tin could argue it wasn’t for them, but he knew it was no use arguing with his boyfriend. So, he grabbed his wallet.
“You really don’t have to.” Ball said.
Tin handed him a hefty amount of cash. “Just take it. He won’t leave me alone otherwise.”
The man looked at Can, who nodded encouragingly. So he took it, not feeling like he had much of a choice. Can, then hugged him and wished him well in the new life he was about to start. Ball hugged him back. He was gonna miss his kids here.
He let go before he got too emotional. “Ok, ok. I gotta go say goodbye to the others and pack up.”
They said their goodbyes and the man left. They went after Annie.
“How are you two liking the place? Are you sure you don’t want private time with one of the boys?”
“Tin has something to ask you.” Can went straight to the point. So Tin figured he would too
“We’re thinking of doing a friend’s birthday here. So, how much to close this place for one night for our friend’s birthday?” With the look Tin had, Annie thought he might be ready to sign a check right then and there. If he wanted more light to be able to see it better, she would take him where she did the bookkeeping.
“Oh, You’d have to cover what I make in a night. So about $75,000 baht.”
Tin was shocked. He tried to not let it show, as to not offend anyone, but some must have shown in his face. Annie thought it was weird, he looked like he could afford something like that. Maybe he wasn’t as well of as he appeared.
“Nevermind. I don’t like Pete that much.” Or maybe he thought the person wasn’t worth the money. That makes sense too.
“You two have a son together!” Can was wide-eyed at Tin’s response.
“So?”
“Ai’Tin! Don’t talk about Pete like that!”
Tin narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend, who stood his ground. Annie wondered if she should leave and let the two figure it out on their own. But then Tin turned to her with pursed lips.
“Let’s do this: I'll pay you half of that amount. You don’t have to close, just make sure you have all your boys host us throughout the night.”
“Ok! I’ll put you in one of the private rooms. I’ll even get you a cake! Didn’t you say it was your friend’s birthday?” Annie said excitedly and shook hands with him.
They went into a corner of the bar to finish up the details of the reservation deal. Doing this kinds of birthday arrangement wasn’t something she had considered, but maybe should. Especially if it came with that kind of money. Tin thanked her and left with his boyfriend.
“Ai’Tin! We haven’t seen the solos!” Can protested as he was dragged out of the place. But was ignored. “Why did you say you don’t like Pete? He would be hurt if he heard you.”
“So Auntie Annie wouldn’t think I was pitying her with my offer.”
“What?” Can looked confused.
“What she said is her revenue is too low. Like you said, she isn’t doing well. This way, she’ll make what she usually makes plus the money I’m giving her. And you said you wanted Pete to know everyone, so I asked her to make sure of that.”
“Oh…” Can looked down and Tin gazed at him with a smile on his face.
“Let’s go home” Tin started the car’s engine. “Oh, and you’ll be the one telling Ae we’re bringing his boyfriend to a stripclub.”