Changes, time lead to retirement and closure of Shady Lady

Bobbi Davis was the founder and owner of the Shady Lady brothel, located about 20 miles north of Beatty on U.S. Highway 95, until it closed in December. This is the continuation of her story from last Friday’s article.

The Internet changes the industry

Davis was finally able to connect with the Internet in 2000. At that time, she had a dial-up connection. Eventually, she hooked to a satellite service. Davis said that the Internet is both “helpful and harmful.”

It’s helpful in that everybody knows the brothel is there and potential clients are able to see who is working and get some idea of what the operation looks like. It’s wonderful for the dissemination of information, she says helping to alleviate problems caused by not being able to advertise in Las Vegas. Now potential clients go online and find information on the brothel.

But Davis believes what is not helpful is that misinformation is also passed back and forth on the Internet. Exchange of information about the brothel on the Internet can be a good thing; when it’s wrong or misleading, it can be hurtful.

Living Quarters

Living arrangements at the Shady Lady brothel are somewhat different than at most brothels in Nevada. One exception was the Bikinis, now closed, located just south of Beatty. Davis got the idea for the Shady Lady’s living arrangement from the woman who used to own Janie’s Ranch at the summit of Montgomery Pass on Highway 6 near the California-Nevada border.

Living quarters at Davis’ brothel are more accommodating than most red light houses. Girls at Shady Lady occupy one room, where they sleep, and entertain their clients in another room. The rooms the women live in are on one side of a lovely patio and the rooms they work in are located on the other side.

When a girl is picked from the lineup, her client does not see the room she lives in, as is the case with most Nevada brothels. Instead, she takes him to the room where she entertains. There is another housing alternative rarely seen in rural Nevada, where a woman entertains in the brothel but resides at another location in town. That’s not practical in most brothels in rural Nevada because the towns are small. Moreover, many of the girls don’t “live” in the state of Nevada but call another state home, even as far away as New York or the southeast coast.

They commute to their homes on their time off from the brothel.

Falling in Love

I asked Davis’ if there is a tendency for male clients to fall in love with girls they have met at the brothel. Her emphatic reply:

“That’s the curse; I call it the curse,” Davis said. “The guys fall in love with the girls and the girls have no intention. It causes problems because the girl has to at some point break it off. And of course, when she breaks it off, in a brothel or an escort service, you lose that client. You want the girls to do their job well, but sometimes it goes too far.”

On occasion, guys will fall in love and will try and hang in there, staying after he has been told he isn’t getting anywhere with the girl. Do such men cause trouble?

“I have never had that happen,” she said. “I’ve known girls in the business that have had that problem where the guys become stalkers but I’m very fortunate, knock on wood, that I’ve never had that. My guys just go away … find someone else to fall in love with.”

Davis has found herself on occasion explaining to the rejected one that her establishment is “not the place to fall in love.”

I asked Davis if the opposite were true. Do girls have any tendency to fall in love with their clients?

“It doesn’t seem to happen as much,” she said.

“Every girl knows that the client is here for a reason. No matter how nice and how sweet he is here, there’s a reason he’s here. Sometimes she asks herself, ‘Why are the clients there? Why don’t they have a wife?’ Then she remembers, ‘Some guys don’t want a wife.’ They want sex but they don’t want a commitment. If they go to a bar, they could have sex with a woman, but they’re going to probably wind up with, ‘Why don’t you call me?’ the next morning or ‘Am I ever going to see you again?’”

At the brothel or escort service Davis says, it’s, ‘I’ll see you next time,’ and that’s it. Rarely does anybody expect him to come back.

Retirement

In November, a month before the Shady Lady closed, Davis said she is turning 61 and wants to move back to her native Texas to care for her ailing parents. On Tuesday, the Nye County Licensing and Liquor Board approved the surrendering of the property’s brothel license from Davis.

County Commissioner Lorinda Wichman read a letter during the hearing citing appreciation for the brothel owner’s years of service and contribution to Nye County.

“On this day, the Nye County Board of County Commissioners accepted the relinquishment of your privileged license for the Shady Lady. It was with sadness that I voted in favor of the relinquishment, as I’ve enjoyed working with you on the challenges that face you and your industry. In the seven years of working together I’ve found you to be a most reasonable and accommodating partner in the Nye County business community.”