"Let's take the cookies and things into the other mom," Mrs. Nerdak said. "Who wants to dance?"

The guys followed her into the living room

where the music was blaring. From behind, they could see her ass swinging and they thought that in the right clothes she might not look too bad. The bag-like housedress made her look like a wrestling match inside a sack, but the boys used their imaginations and pictured a body like the ones they'd seen in their skin magazines.

"I love parties," Mrs. Nerdak said as she grabbed Jim and dragged him to the middle of the room and made him dance with her.

At first he felt foolish dancing with that old lady there in her living room with his buddies watching, but she was having so much fun he couldn't help catching her cheery mood. He began to swing his ass to the music and couldn't take the grin off his face.

Mrs. Nerdak proved to be an indefatigable dancer as she danced with every one of them. The record ended and the guys were all hot and sweating and only wanted to drink some Coke and rest, but the old girl just seemed to be warming up.

"Let me do my act for you boys," she said with surprising enthusiasm. "I used to be on the stage, you know."

When she pulled an old seventy-eight record from a shelf and put it on, it became clear what stage she'd been on. A raucous version of St. Louis Blues beat through the room, and Mr. Nerdak

began moving expertly to the heavy drumming.

The guys had never seen a real burlesque show, but they'd all seen them imitated on TV and knew immediately that she was an old stripper. Their eyes widened as they watched with renewed interest.

"Sadie Snapper was my stage name. You've probably heard of me," she said.

They hadn't, but they didn't say so. They just watched silently and hoped she would give them the real show. She was moving to the sensual beat, looking like a clumsy old stripper, but there was something about her that was obviously genuine.