new persona to do just that: Black Torpedo Ray,
after an aquatic creature he saw in one of his father's books. Junius
had a serious, very forbidden crush on the club's main dancer and
arguably greatest attraction: Erszebet Singer (born 1930). She was
gorgeous and seemingly unattainable. She was quiet, but when she did
speak, she lit up with a thick South Carolina accent that made her
hard to follow in conversation. She was a burlesque star of some
acclaim, and Javier had cultivated her to the delight of the club's
investors, who he easily paid off within a year of opening. Then only
Urias had any stake in the club besides Javier.

Erszebet was not the only
popular dancer that plied her trade there. Felicia McGee, formerly
the mystery woman known as Crimson Velvet, made many a guest
appearance; herlifestyle, however, was ruining her good looks.
Arronaxe LaRue was a popular performer. “Her claim to fame was her
frame”, the saying went. She was not lithe and athletic like
Erszebet; she had enormous breasts and extremely wide hips, and
tantalized the crowd with both. Geneva was also a shapely and popular
dancer but she was black and was forbidden from performing regularly.
She was also Ulysses' sister and Ondine's wife.

Erszebet was a quarter
Jewish and was quite devoted to her Bible readings. She found no
shame in her work, however, but her brother, Eli, certainly did. Eli
Singer was a bit of a proselytizer, which made him rather unwelcome
at a place like the Lucifer Club (though the archways of the club's
front door portrays a falling angel bearing the epithet: “All are
welcome. Harm none”). Erszebet and Henry