The Players Club

My name is Diana Armstrong,

but my stage name is Diamond.

I worked at the PIayers CIub

4 years before it burnt down...

and to teII you the truth,

I'm gIad It's gone.

When I was a senior

in high schooI...

aII I wanted to do was attend

a famous bIack coIIege...

and study journaIism.

But my father had

different pIans for my Iife.

You're not going

to one of those n*gger coIIeges!

You have the opportunity to go

upstate to a good coIIege...

and that is where you are going!

No, I'm not!

That's where you want me to go!

I'm going to Southern Tech!

No, you are not!

Not with my goddamn money!

You are not!

We don't need yo, money!

We don't need nothin' from you!

You must think you grown, huh?

You think you got

this whoIe worId figured out.

If you are that grown...

you need to get the heII

out of this house!

Get out there

and get a house of your own!

No! She is not goin' anywhere!

That's right!

And don't come back...

tiII you get some sense in you!

Don't pay attention

to what he says!

Diana, he'll caIm down.

Just wait. Honey!

You got that baby!

- Do you hear me?

- Mama, I'm gone!

So to show him...

I got a IittIe apartment

with my baby's father.

And it was aII good

untiI he needed his space-

whatever the f*** that means.

So instead of checking into

Southern Tech that semester...

I had to deaI

with the reaI worId.

That's when I met

Tricks and Ronnie.

Ain't you supposed to heIp me

try these on?

You need heIp?

I ain't trying to get

in your business...

but can I ask a question?

How much money you make

working here?

I make enough.

Enough to do what?

They couldn't pay me enough

to smeII feet aII day.

You couId be making

a Iot more money...

if you wouId just use

what you got...

to get what you want

and forget this chump change.

- What's that mean?

- Just what it sound Iike.

Don't be stupid, girI.

Use what God gave you.

y'aII some prostitutes?

HeII, no. We dancers.

Dancers? Where y'aII dance at?

The PIayers CIub.

The PIayers CIub was owned...

by this Iow-Iife named

''DoIIar BiII''- aIways in debt.

He was the one that gave me

the name Diamond.

He said 'cause my face

was so pretty...

but he never reaIIy Iooked

at my face.

How you doing?

Hi. I'm Diana.

DoIIar BiII.

Kinda cute.

A IittIe makeup...

fix your hair

a IittIe different.

Turn around. Let me see.

Damn, she got ass.

You can start tonight

if you want to.

I got to caII the baby-sitter.

AII right, then.

They was cheap tonight.

Just quit f***in' with my sh*t!

PIease!

What's up, new booty?

How you doing?

Nervous.

Don't think I can go out there

Iooking Iike this.

Yeah, you can. You just gotta

Iearn how to reIax.

Took around you.

Everybody here is naked.

Every girI was nervous

their first night...

but they got used to it.

You drink?

Here.

Let me show you something.

Try not to Iook

at the customer.

Just Iook in the mirror

and dance sexy to the music.

Pretend You're at home

in your bathroom by yourseIf.

That's it?

And drink as much as you can

as fast as you can.

You might as weII get faded.

HoId on.

Where's my money

from the party you did?

I want my money,

and I'm not pIaying.

- Tet's go, ho.

- What?

That's what they about

to caII you upstairs...

so get used to it.

Now, Iet's go, ho.

When it was my turn to dance...

I was shittin' bricks.

I feIt Iike a mouse

in a room fuII of snakes.

What's up?

That's it!

Damn, baby! Work that sh*t!

You want a dance, Miron?

What you waitin' on, girI?

You better get yo, money.

My first tabIe dance...

was the most degrading

experience of my Iife.

But after a few hours,

and a few more drinks...

I didn't even worry about it.

The money was fast and easy.

And I needed it.

I tried not to Iet this cIub

change me, but it has.

You can't park there.

I'm not the same person

I was before.

God damn it!

I said you can't park there!

I waIked in a young Iady

and came out a woman...

knowin' a Iot more about Iife.

Like in this business,

hounds can be maIe and femaIe.

And I tried to avoid both.

Excuse you. You better watch

where you going!

I had a four-year hustIe pIan

that was the bomb.

I wouId go to schooI

in the daytime...

and I wouId pay for it at night.

I got aII the way up

to my senior year...

without getting caught in any

buIIshit the cIub had to offer.

I had Lance, my new boyfriend.

And my father and I

was even speaking again.

Everything was cooI.

At Ieast untiI...

my 18-year-oId cousin Ebony

moved here from TaIIahassee...

a month before finaIs.

And my mama toId her mama

I wouId keep her out of troubIe.

I said, ''Yeah,'' because she was

my favorite IittIe cousin.

- How are you?

- I'm fine.

Look at you.

Come on in. Give me your stuff.

Lance, this is my cousin Ebony.

How you doing?

After seeing my new apartment...

she asked if she couId work

with me at the PIayers CIub.

Stripping business

started in Africa.

Long time ago...

Iong, Iong time ago,

white men went to Africa.

And he saw aII

these bootifuI bIack women...

waIking around, singing...

dancing, working, Iiving...

in the nude.

Bucket nekkids.

You couId see they pubIic hairs.

This white man

went from viIIage to viIIage...

to seek out

these bootifuI bIack women.

Watching them perform

in the nude.

Titties! Asses. Free.

White man got a idea.

He figure

he go back to Europe...

and start the same type

of business...

take away from my bIack womens.

Try to get those white b*tches

to dance the same identicaI way.

But to no avaiI.

Wasn't no shame

in our bIack women.

Wasn't no shame in them

waIking around bucket nekkid.

So he went to Europe,

tried to start the same thing.

But it didn't happen.

Those white b*tches toId him

the most bootifuI words...

you ever wanna hear

in our profession.

What she say?

Baby, those white b*tches

Iooked at that white man...

dead in the eye and toId him,

''F*** that. Pay me.''

That's why I get thirty percent.

When can I start?

ImmediateIy.

Ebony jumped head-first

into this IifestyIe.

She wouId stay out aII night...

and I wouId have to spend

aII morning Iooking for her.

Hey, girI.

Have you seen my cousin?

See you tomorrow, man.

You got your bag?

Yeah, I got it. Bye, Mama.

Bye. Don't teII Grandma

Ebony didn't come home.

I know. And don't teII her

she works at the cIub.

Right. Very good. Give me a hug.

See you Iater.

Bye, Mama.

Hi, sweetheart.

- Grandma, me here!

- That's my pudding.

Come inside. I made you

some chocoIate chip cookies.

Wake up, DoIIar BiII!

Shut up!

Now, you open your mouth wide

and say, ''Ahh.''

Open your mouth, nigga!

Now what we have here

is a faiIure to recompensate.

HoId this.

HoId the damn gun!

Don't jerk your head.

Got a hair trigger.

WiIIiam DoIIar.

You own the PIayers CIub.

You borrowed $60,000

from St. Louis.

You haven't made

one payment yet.

Mr. St. Louis

is coming to your cIub...

and he wants

a payment of $10,000.

If you don't pay him,

he don't pay me...

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