Ava Adore

Portrait: Holly: The Benefactor.

Part of breaking down stereotypes, throughout the years, is to humanize. In my “Portrait of a Girl” series, I’ll share with you some of my coworkers’ stories. Next is ‘Holly,’ a girl I’ve worked with as long as I’ve been at the House.

Holly is a really, really chatty girl, so much so that she’ll tell you things five or six times. Slender, boobs done up, dark tightly curly hair, small light eyes that tend to wander, and a severe love of the Yankees.

She reminds me a little of a girl I used to work with in Florida; those vibrant, bubbly types that, even when frustrated, sound excited about it. Which is curious, really, considering all she’s been through.

Holly works to, among other personal reasons, support her family—specifically her terminally ill grandmother. If her father still exists in her life, she rarely if at all mentions him. Her mother is tied up in family feuds and a low-end job.

No one seems to care about her grandmother’s deteriorating health.

In the locker room one night, Holly explained that most of her family was more interested in the will than in trying to seek the right care for her grandmother. Because of the fighting, very few things could be agreed on for her health.

So Holly works two jobs, as a stripper and a waitress, to contribute as much money as she can to ensure her grandmother’s well-being while she still lives. It’s a hard burden for her to carry but also one in which the pressure forges its own reward.