What's Real
Page 7
We all got on the elevator together. We all introduced ourselves. She said that’s Meka, I’m Tiffany, and that’s Nisha. “Hi, I’m Natalie and this is Tanya,” Natalie said.
“So y’all want to hang out with us?” Natalie asked.
These girls reeked cheap and Natalie going to ask them to go out with us. My heart dropped. No, she didn’t invite these busted chicks with us. I pulled her to the side and asked her why she did that. She said she thought it would be fun, the more the merrier.
“I heard all the ballers with money is going to be at Opium Garden,” the tall one said.
“Really?” I said sarcastically. I was steady, thinking, who would want you? Talking about some baller, please. They was all in my dick telling me how fly my sandals were. I was so embarrassed to be seen with them. We walked down Ocean Drive and no one, not one person, tried to talk to us. We reached Club Opium and stood in line, and when we got to the door, we could not get in.
The bouncer looked over at Boomkisha and friends and said they had reached capacity. “Sorry, we’re not letting anyone else in.”
Me and Natalie walked across the street and the girls followed. We stood across the street and watched as they let these regular chicks in and groups of guys. I pulled Natalie to the side and said, “We got to drop these dirty bitches, they the reason we couldn’t get in.”
“All right, what are we going to tell them?”
“They’re your friends, tell them something,” I said.
“I don’t know what to say,” Natalie said.
“Tell them we about to go back to the room.”
Natalie convincingly said, “Hey, y’all, we’re going back to the room. So we’re going to see y’all later.” They were like, bye. And we walked away.
We went to this other club called Crobar. On the way there, Janelle called.
“How is it?” Natalie asked Janelle. She turned to me and said it was good.
“Here, she want to talk to you,” Natalie said as she passed me the phone.
I grabbed it and said, “What’s up?” Janelle started naming all the people she saw. I said okay and to call us when she hit land.
“All right then, bye,” she said.
“Why is she calling us from the party? I’m not there, so I don’t care. I know she just trying to rub it in our face that she with Mannis,” I said.
“No, if she could have taken us with her, she would have,” Natalie said.
“Natalie, your cousin’s all about herself. She left you. She is not my family, so she didn’t leave me.”
“Janelle is not like that, Tanya.”
I wasn’t going to argue with her. As soon as we went to the bar and started drinking piña coladas, I seen the girls from the hotel. I told Nat and we tried to turn the other way, but they had spotted us. The big girl walked over and said, “See, y’all didn’t decide to go in after all, huh?”
“Naw, we changed our minds,” I said.
We started dancing and I felt a hand rub up against my butt. I turned around, but the dance floor was so crowded I couldn’t tell who it was. I started dancing again. I tapped Natalie and said, “Yo, somebody keep feeling my butt.”
“Some pervert,” she said.
The next time the person grabbed my butt, I was going to grab their arm. So we danced some more and then the hand tried it again. I grabbed the arm and it belonged to this chick dancing beside me. She started smiling. I looked at Natalie, she looked at me, and we couldn’t control our laughter. After she saw I wasn’t flattered, she came over and apologized drunkenly. “Sorry, boo, I thought you was with it.”
I asked Natalie if she was ready to go. She said yeah.
“Come on, girl, let’s go,” Natalie said as we exited the club.
We went back to our room. Janelle wasn’t there. She probably was somewhere giving it up for free.
Chapter Twelve
Janelle
I woke up and saw that Tanya and Nat were gone. I yawned and opened my eyes. I wondered if Damon would call me today like he promised. I wanted to make sure he really played for the Dolphins. Tanya made me think that he could be a fake, so I called my uncle, who is a diehard football fan.
“Uncle Teddy, listen, have you ever heard of a guy named Damon Scott that plays for the Dolphins?”
“No, but I have heard that name before. Why?”
“I met this guy last night and he said he plays for the Miami Dolphins. I just want to see if he is telling the truth.”
“Really? Let me log onto my computer.” I heard him typing away and then he asked, “What is his name? I’m on the team’s Web site.”
“Damon Scott.”
“Okay, what does he look like?”
“About five ten, brown skin.”
“Is he from Orlando, Florida, and went to Syracuse?”
“Yeah, that’s what he said.”
“He’s been with the Dolphins for three years as a second-string cornerback free agent.”
“What does second string mean?”
“That means he is a backup player.”
“So he sits on the bench?”
“Not necessarily, second strings still play. What, you didn’t believe him?”
“No, I just heard about guys posing as athletes trying to get girls, that’s all.”
“Y’all young girls are so rough on these guys. They got to lie about who they are.”
“No, we’re not.”
“Good luck, niecey. Be good and I’ll see you and my money when you get back.”
“I got your money. Bye, Unc,” I said. I got up and attempted to get dressed. I couldn’t make up my mind what I was going to wear. I tried on a few outfits. I laid my clothes across the bed. I decided to put on my white shorts and my white and gold sandals. I had a gold and white shirt. I put on my gold bangle bracelets and gold hoop earrings. I threw my hair up into a ponytail and I took a shower. Tanya and Natalie came in with breakfast when I got out of the shower.
“What’s up for the day? Are we going to the beach?” Natalie asked.
“I’m not messing my hair up at the beach,” I said.
“This is supposed to be my vacation. I got to get some sun and sand,” Natalie said.
“Natalie, you have braids, we don’t. I want to walk the strip and see who we meet. Then we’ll try to set up shit for tonight,” Tanya said.
“I’m with that,” I said as I lotioned my legs down with baby lotion.
We walked down Washington Avenue and did some light shopping. We went into a small boutique. The salesgirl welcomed us into the store and said, “All of our pieces are one of a kind.”
“And so are their prices,” I said as I glanced at a pair of plain black shorts for $110.
Natalie held up a dress and asked the salesgirl what the biggest size was that they carried. The salesgirl giggled a little and said, “The biggest size we have is a ten.” Natalie looked at her like, what?
“Why is that?” she asked.
“We just don’t carry plus sizes. They don’t sell.”
“Let’s get out of here,” I said. I didn’t like the girl’s attitude. I was nudging Natalie toward the door when she said, “Hold up. I like this shirt. Do you like it?”
“It’s okay. What are you going to wear it with?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
I didn’t know how to tell her that her shirt looked like a grandmom’s. I picked up another shirt. “I like this one better,” I said.
“So you don’t like this one? Tell the truth.”
“Not really. It’s okay, but I like this one.” She valued my opinion more than her own. So she bought the shirt I suggested. We walked out of the store and went into a shoe store. There were so many pairs of sandals, boots, and shoes in different colors. Natalie picked up thigh-high, pointy-toe sandal boots and said, “Get these, Janelle.”
“You get them, Natalie, wear them for Anthony,” I said as I joked with her. I wanted these peach-colored sandals that were
$115. If I bought them, I would be practically broke. So I pulled Nat to the side and asked if I could borrow a hundred dollars from her. She said sure, went into her pocket, and gave me the money. Tanya didn’t have any money problems. She bought three pairs of sandals and said she was going to meet us outside. I paid for my sandals and we met up with Tanya outside. She was licking a strawberry ice cream cone walking down the street trying to get attention.
By the time we came back from shopping, we were all hungry. It was just about three o’clock. We ate at a restaurant on Ocean Drive. I had a chicken Caesar salad and Tanya had a turkey club. Natalie ate a big order of buffalo wings as an appetizer, a cheeseburger and fries as her meal, and she slurped down three Pepsis. You would have thought Natalie hadn’t eaten in three years. She probably was trying to eat away her fears. We were sitting outside and just taking in all the people riding past on motorcycles and scooters. It was sunny, breezy, the beach was right across the street and was the backdrop for everything
“We should rent some scooters, it looks like fun,” Natalie said.
“It does look like fun, but we can ride scooters back in Philly. We need to be trying to link up with some niggas so they can tell us what party is going to be doing it,” Tanya responded.
“I’m with Tanya,” I said as I looked over at Natalie. “I really want to have a good party night before we go home. That’s what I came down here to do.” Natalie shrugged her shoulders and said forget about it. We continue to walk down the street. We ran into a Spanish speaking woman selling cigars. Natalie bought one.
“You’re a cigar aficionado now,” I said.
“No, what is that?” she asked.
“It just means you like cigars,” I said as I shook my head.
We debated about what club we wanted to go to. People were giving us free passes and discount admission to various clubs. We weighed the pros and cons of each club we heard about. We all decided that we were going to go to this place called Opium Garden. That was supposed to be the hottest club and really exclusive. Last night all these rappers and athletes were there and Tanya and Natalie couldn’t get in. I mentioned to them that I was going to go out with them, but if Damon called, I was out. I wasn’t passing up an opportunity of being with him. I only met him last night, technically this morning, but I liked him already.
Right after we finalized what we were going to wear, and what time to leave, Damon called. He asked if I could be ready in a half hour. I let him know I’d be ready in an hour. I hung up with Damon and broke the news to Natalie and Tanya.
“Ah, y’all, I’m going to go out with that guy Damon. He called.”
“Damn. What, you trying to be, in love?” Tanya asked.
“No, I’m just enjoying myself.”
“She’s right, Nellie. We are in Miami. You should not be with one guy the whole weekend. You just said earlier you were trying to party and have fun,” Natalie said.
“I know, Ms. Snuck Out of The House ain’t talking.”
“Yes, I am,” Natalie said, like she wanted to get in my face.
“Natalie, if you could go home right now, you would,” I said.
“If I was you, Janelle, I would have got his number and been out. I would have told him holler at me when I get back home. You going to fuck around, and fuck him, and he ain’t going to call you no more.”
“Whatever, y’all can still have fun without me. I don’t make the party,” I said.
“You right you don’t make the party, but you playing yourself, boo, loving that nigga you just met,” Tanya said.
“Nell, you’re right, we can have fun without you, but it just won’t be the same. This is the second night in a row you are dissing us. This was supposed to be our vacation together.”
I was tired of arguing with them. They were just jealous. Natalie was already married and had a husband at home waiting for her. And Tanya doesn’t need any more men. But me, I don’t have nobody waiting for me but Sean, and he doesn’t count. There was no discussion. I am going out and having a good time.
Chapter Thirteen
Tanya
Bitches are acting real foul and shady in Miami. I don’t even fuck with Janelle like that, so I don’t know why I’m mad. Here it is, I thought we were going to have the bomb time and this shit is just okay. So right now I’m not feeling Miami or their niggas. You know what I’m saying? Ain’t nobody got no dough and my pussy ain’t for free. We were all supposed to be going out together, but Janelle left us for the second time. Natalie said she don’t feel like going out. So, I’m going to call the dude from St. Louis, Monte. He is sweet and I know I can get a couple dollars. I can tell because of the way he was throwing money at me.
I called Monte. The phone rang like four times.
“Yo.”
“This is the girl Tanya. You trying to see about something or what?”
“Yeah.”
“How much money you working with?”
“How much you want?”
“It depends on what you want?”
“I want the works.” Yeah, whatever, I thought. I told him I cost three hundred and if he wanted the works, he better get somebody else. I was not licking or sucking him. He was too fat and I don’t like fat guys.
As soon as I entered his hotel room, he immediately pinned me against the door. He said, “You smell good” and began rubbing my breast under my shirt. He then knelt down and opened my legs wide. Then his head went farther down and his beard began tickling my clit. Monte took off his shirt and released his grizzly-bear chest. His body was a little chubby and then he unzipped his pants. As he undressed, I asked him if he had a condom. He said he didn’t have one. I told him to go find one. He was pressed, so he went and got one.
When he went to get a condom I looked around the room. He had bottles of beer under the bed and his wallet on the dresser. I opened his wallet and saw pictures of a fat little girl that looked like him. He had plenty of credit cards and money. I took three hundred and put the rest back. I put the money in my bag and lay back down. He came back into the room and began kissing and licking on me fast. I told him to slow down and that I wasn’t going anywhere. He put his dick into me, and it was smaller than my lipstick. I could barely feel it. He said, “Damn, girl, you got some good shit.” Only about three minutes had passed and he was done. He came too fast. I know he was paying me, but he owed me some more money for putting me through this shit. He wasn’t even a good fuck. I don’t know the last time he had some, but he came entirely too quick. He was breathing hard like he just finished a marathon or something. Please, I thought. I slipped out of the bed and dressed myself. He started snoring and I woke him up and asked for my money.
“Monte, I’m about to leave.”
“Why you leaving already? Stay awhile.”
“No, I got to go,” I said with an attitude.
“I’ll give you your money, but you should think you’re worth more than three hundred. For what you got down there, you could probably get a whatever. If you stayed the night and give me some more you could get a gee,” he said as he pointed to my butt.
I got mine, I thought, as I shrugged off his comment. I couldn’t care less about what he was talking about.
“No, I’m cool,” I said. I couldn’t imagine staying the night with him. He gave me my money and then drove me back to my hotel. So far, I had made only six hundred dollars. That was cool, but I wanted to make more. I soaked in the tub when I got back to the room. I wanted to tighten my pussy just in case I met somebody tonight. Natalie was being the depressed lady over Anthony, and Janelle was still somewhere with that guy Damon. How the fuck that bitch going to come down with us and get lost like she has all fucking weekend? That bitch make me sick. That’s why I don’t really deal with her like that.
I couldn’t look at Natalie, she looked sickening. I didn’t feel like being in the room with her. She is a negative fucking pain in the ass. She is complaining about everything. Giving me a fucking headache saying h
ow Anthony said he going to leave when she gets back and she don’t know what she going to do. I wasn’t going to listen to her sob story.
I changed into a camel-colored tan dress. I didn’t wear any underwear intentionally and went back out. I hated going out by myself. Natalie was a wrap and those smuts down the hall weren’t an option. I had no other choice. I told myself that I was only here one more day and I had to “come up” before I left. I had to meet some type of baller and get paid.
I walked down the street from our hotel to this Sports Bar. There had to be some men in there. I walked in and all heads turned. I tried to act like I didn’t notice all of the attention. I sat at the bar and ordered a gray goose and cranberry juice. Nobody approached me at first. Then this real good-looking tall man came over and sat next to me. I knew exactly who he was. I recognized him from seeing him on BET. His name was Kamani Johnson and he was one of the comedians on Comic View. He had to be getting money. I turned around and uncrossed my legs for him. I wanted him to see I didn’t have any underwear on.
“You have some pretty lips,” he said.
I didn’t bullshit him. I got straight to the point and said, “Thank you, and for a thousand you can taste them.”
“A thousand? Um. That’s not bad,” he said as he rubbed the few hairs on his chin. He smiled and said, “I can handle that.”
He bought me a few more drinks and then we went to his hotel room. It was four times the size of our hotel room. The suite was huge with a bar and a living room. He told me as soon as I walked in to get naked. He went into the bathroom and I went into his pocket. He only had one platinum card. I took that and slipped it in my bag. He then threw me on the bed.