Mr. Reed's
By: KK
Copyright @2001

Mr. Reed's was a topless bar that my sister and I spent a lot of our younger years in. My mother worked there. First as a dancer and then managing the bar. Mr. Reed soon became our step-father and we moved in with him. We called him Pop and we adored him.

The club was small and dimly lit. To enter from the street, we had to walk down a long dark corridor and Pop would usually be sitting on a bar stool collecting the money. Inside was a simple stage with curtains to the side, single tables and chairs, a bar and high backed, red vinyl booths. The jukebox was our personal favorite. The place always reeked of liquor and smoke. But it was not something we were not used to. In the back was a closet sized dressing room for the girls and Pop's office.

I was around nine and my sister was five. Spending several years of our young lives in a strip club was not as traumatic as some people would think. In fact we really got a kick out of it. We did not spend every night there. She only took us if she did not have a baby sitter. The only downside was sitting in the back office for hours on end, waiting for my mother to get off of work. There was many a time that she found two sleeping kids at the end of her shift. It was hard for a nine year old and a five year old to occupy so much time by themselves, in such a confined place. To this day I am surprised that my sister and I did not kill each other.

The fun part was getting to the club before it opened. While my mother would set up the bar and register, my sister and I would play the jukebox and get on stage and dance. We were not dreaming of being strippers, but as kids we loved being on stage and dancing to "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown". We did not dance seductively or even pretend that we were taking our clothes off. Customers did not see us. In our minds it was all very innocent.

We would mingle with the dancers and even knew some of the regular customers. Food would be delivered to us, we drank Shirley Temples, friends of Pop would bring us gifts and we pretended to be adults. If the place wasn't busy we were allowed to sit in a corner booth and actually watch the girls work. My sister and I had incredible imaginations and I found it fascinating to watch the girls dance. Nudity did not bother us. My mother was never the "cover up" type. We were not raised to be ashamed of our bodies. At the time I was naive enough to not realize the alcohol and drugs that were around us. My mother protected us from that particular issue and we never witnessed or were a part of either thing.

My mother was beautiful and attracted many men. She had a sense of humor and a magnetic, sarcastic way of handling them. At the time I did not appreciate her beauty. I was embarrassed to have my mother dressed in short shorts, halter tops, heels and caked on make-up. As a child, I would have probably been just as embarrassed to have her dressed in a knee length dress buttoned up to her neck, hair in a bun and no make-up. Surprisingly, I was not embarrassed by her job. It was part of our life and we did not know anything else. It did not occur to me that other kids parents were doctor's, secretary's or worked at the local grocery store. We knew only the bar and casino life.

I miss Pop and Mr. Reed's Topless Bar. Both will always have special memories for me. Of course it's not the normal memories that most children should have. But to me it was a party and the kids were invited. Nothing bad ever happened at Mr. Reed's. Pop took care of everyone and everyone took care of him and his "girls".

Years later the club was turned into another topless club and I would end up being a dancer in that same club.