Satin Nights

by Karen E. Quinones Miller

  “Get the fuck off her.” Regina wrapped her hand around Brenda’s long hair and yanked her off Renee.

  “You get the fuck off of me!” Brenda yelled as she swung at Regina but missed. “This shit is all your fault. If you hadn’t been screwing around with—”

  “Renee,” Regina called out, tossing her niece a set of keys, “you and Camille get in the car. I’ll bring your stuff out with me.”

  “Don’t you dare walk out of this house!” Brenda stomped toward them, but Regina blocked her path, pushing her back.

  “Go ahead and get outta here now!” Regina told them.

  “Have you lost your mind?” Regina demanded after they left.

  “I’m serious. I don’t want my daughter around you anymore. You’re a bad influence on her. It’s probably because of all the men she saw you running in and out of the house with when she was a kid that made her hate men and think she wants to be with women. Selling your body to men for money like a whore.” Brenda turned and spat on her own floor, then turned back to glare at her sister.

  “Oh really? Is that a fact? Well, first of all”—Regina put up one finger—“I never brought any man to our house. Second”—Regina added another finger—“I may have been selling my booty for money, but it was to support the daughter you abandoned. You were out there selling pussy for crack. And for all the shit I’ve done, I never sunk as low as you. Or do I have to remind you about the time you put on a show with a German shepherd for three bags of crack?”

  “That’s a lie!” Brenda said, advancing toward her.

  “No, it’s not, and you know it. Puddin’ used to mess around with the guy who paid you for the night’s entertainment.” Regina snickered. “Now, I didn’t wanna go there, but don’t you ever—you hear me, ever—put on a holier-than-thou act with me. You may have pulled your act together now, but I know the real deal. Okay?

  “And third,” Regina continued, “you need to get over your resentment of the fact that I raised Ray-Ray instead of you. It’s not my fault you chose a crack pipe over your own child.”

  Brenda stood in the middle of the room, facing her sister, her eyes brimming with tears as she bit her lips. “Well, to hell with you, Regina. You accuse me of resenting you, but why don’t you admit that you resent me because I am her mother and you want her to think you are? You resent me fulfilling my God-given role, and you’ve done nothing but try to undermine me all these years.”

  Regina sneered. “You know what? You need to get a fucking grip. Now, I’m taking the kids home, and I’ll call you tomorrow to see if you’ve regained your senses.” Regina took another long look at her sister, then turned and walked out the door.

  She took a deep breath to collect herself before getting in her car. Renee was sitting in the passenger seat with Camille in her lap. The two were crying and holding each other as they rocked back and forth.

  Regina reached over and pulled Renee into her arms.

  “Don’t worry, sweetie, everything’s going to be okay,” Regina said soothingly. “Your mother’s just upset now, but you know her. She’ll calm down in a couple of days and then she’ll be calling my house begging you to come home. You just watch.”

  Renee shook her head. “Aunt Gina, I’m so sorry. But I swear Camille wasn’t in my room when I was talking to Liz. She was downstairs with my mom. And I didn’t know Mom was gonna pick up the phone and listen in on the extension.”

  “She did, Mommy,” Camille said through her tears. “I saw her.”

  “I believe you, honey.” Regina kissed Camille on the cheek and then Renee on the forehead. “And I believe you, too, Ray-Ray. And even if Camille was in the room, I wouldn’ta been mad, baby. But we don’t need to talk about this right now. I want you both to calm down, okay? Everything’s going to be all right, I promise. Now, did you guys eat? You wanna stop and get some pizza on the way home?”

  “Oh, Mommy, no.” Camille started crying louder, then buried her head in her mother’s lap. “No, no, no.”

  Regina tried to lift her daughter up into her arms, but the little girl resisted and continued sobbing.

  “Camille, what’s wrong?” Regina said frantically. “No what?”

  “Mommy, please, I don’t want pizza,” Camille said in near hysteria. “You said when you picked me up from Aunt Brenda’s you was taking me to McDonald’s.”

  Regina and Renee looked at each other for a moment, then exploded in laughter.

  “Okay, Camille. You’re right—I promised,” Regina said, rubbing Camille’s back. “So stop crying and we’ll go get you a Happy Meal, and Ray-Ray and I are going to split a large pizza, and then we’re all going to stay up all night and watch old movies on TV.”

  Camille looked up and wiped her eyes. “Or maybe we can watch The Little Mermaid on the VCR?” she asked in a tiny voice. “That’s me and Ray-Ray’s favorite movie. Right, Ray-Ray?”

  Renee smiled and nodded. “It sure is.”

  Regina started the car. “Okay, McDonald’s, pizza, and The Little Mermaid it is, then. Anything to make my little girls happy. So, Camille, get in your car seat and let Renee buckle you up, and let’s get the hell outta here.”

  “I love you, Mommy,” Camille said with a yawn after she was settled in the car seat.

  “Me, too,” Renee added as they pulled off.

  “And I love you both,” Regina said. “And always will.”

  chapter nine

  Shit, here I am trying to tell you the shit that went down between Brenda and Ray-Ray last week, and you’re in there trying to sniff a snowstorm up your nostrils,” Regina said when Puddin’ emerged from the bathroom stall. “I’m surprised you don’t have a nosebleed.”

  “Gina, when the fuck you ever seen me get a nosebleed from a little coke?” Puddin’ dipped the miniature straw into a compact filled with snowy powder and brought it up to her nostril for another sniff, as if to prove her point. “And I was listening. Yeah, that was fucked-up what Brenda did. I mean, hell, I’m surprised as shit that Ray-Ray’s a butch, but Brenda didn’t have to beat the fucking kid and throw her out.” Puddin’ licked her lips, then took another hit of coke. “Damn, this is some good blow. Rob-Cee always gets the good shit.”

  Regina knew when she agreed to meet Puddin’ at the club for Rob-Cee’s listening party for his latest CD that Puddin’ was gonna have some coke with her. She always had blow on her when she went out, to make sure she had a “good time,” but Puddin’ had been holed up in the bathroom for at least twenty minutes before Regina came looking for her.

  “Yeah, well, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you do this much,” Regina said as she leaned forward into the mirror to check her lipstick.

  “Yeah, well, it’s been a long time since I could get my hands on this much on a regular basis.” Puddin’ snapped the compact shut and dropped it in her pocketbook, then leaned against the dirty bathroom door, sniffing a few more times as if to make sure all the granules went straight to her brain. She opened her eyes wide and shut them quickly a few times, then fished out the compact again.

  “Girl, would you put that away, and come on, let’s get outta here. You don’t think your boy Rob-Cee ain’t wondering where your ass is?” Regina gave her hair a quick pat in the mirror.

  “He should know,” Puddin’ said. “He’s the one that gave me the shit. Probably wanted me out the way so he could get his rap onto one of them groupies that be pulling on him all the time.” She opened the compact, but before she could dip her straw in again, the door opened, bumping her and sending the compact flying to the floor.

  “My shit,” Puddin’ cried, getting down on all fours and trying to scoop the powder back into the compact.

  “Sorry,” a young woman with a short-cropped platinum-blond Afro said as she stepped over Puddin’ and hurried into one of the stalls.

  “Yeah, right, sorry,” Puddin’ muttered.

  “Puddin’,” Regina said in a warning voice, touching her friend’s elbow. Puddin’ was skied up
from the coke; add that to her tendency toward violence, and Regina knew anything could happen. “Remember what Yvonne and I were telling you about your temper. Just let it go, okay?”

  “I ain’t say I was going to do anything.” Puddin’ shot a dirty look at the stall the woman had disappeared into. “Bitch coulda at least said sorry like she really meant it, though.”

  “Well, it is a public bathroom, you know,” the woman called out above the sound of her tinkling urine. “You should have expected someone would come in.”

  “Was I talking to her?” Puddin’ grumbled to Regina. She looked at the clumps of damp and dirtied cocaine she had scooped back into the compact. “Look at this shit.” She shot another dirty look at the stall, then threw the compact into the trash can.

  “That had to be a good three hundred dollars’ worth of blow in there,” Regina said, following Puddin’ out the bathroom. As soon as she said it, she wished she could force the words back into her mouth. In her cocaine-agitated state it was a wonder that Puddin’ hadn’t already gone off the girl. She didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.

  “Yeah, well, there’s plenty more where that came from,” Puddin’ said simply, and made her way back to a booth in a corner of the noisy club. A tall, thin, dark-skinned man wearing dark glasses and a white derby sat there, his neck laden with heavy diamond-encrusted gold chains; but not heavy enough to stop him from bopping his head to the music.

  “It’s about time you brought your skinny ass back here,” he said, reaching out and grabbing Puddin’ by the hips and drawing her to him.

  “You miss me, baby?” Puddin’ patted his hand as she winked at Regina, who had slipped into the other side of the booth. Puddin’ grabbed the glass in front of the man and drained its contents in one gulp before sitting down next to him.

  “You missed my standing ovation,” Rob-Cee gushed. “I knew my shit was hot. I bet I’m gonna hit platinum the first week.”

  “Rob, you gonna order us some more drinks? My girl Gina likes apple martinis, and you can go ahead and order us another bottle of Cristal.”

  Rob-Cee grinned and bit Puddin’ lightly on the neck, then put his hand up to signal a passing drink waitress.

  “Excuse me, I believe you’re in my seat.”

  Regina looked up, and her eyes widened as she saw the platinum blonde from the bathroom standing over Puddin’.

  “Excuse yourself, bitch. Your hot young ass mighta been keeping it warm for me while I was occupied, but your services are no longer needed. Dig?” Puddin’ said with a wicked grin. Still looking at Blondie, Puddin’ licked her lips, then took Rob-Cee’s hand and guided it down her blouse and into her bra. “Ain’t that right, baby?”

  “I’ll let you two work it out,” Rob-Cee said with a laugh. He gave Puddin’s breast a quick squeeze before pulling his hand away.

  Puddin’ turned in the booth to face Rob-Cee, an incredulous look on her face. She was silent for a moment, then put her hand in front of his face. “I’ll get with you in a moment.” She swung back toward the woman. “And you . . . how ’bout you get the fuck out my face?”

  The girl put her hands on her hips. “And how ’bout you get the fuck out my seat, you old-ass bitch? Rob-Cee don’t want no dried-up prune like you,” the blonde said in a voice loud enough to draw attention.

  Puddin’ tapped her long fingernails on the table and looked at Regina. “You believe this shit?” she said, nodding her head toward the blonde. “But I guess I’m still supposed to hold my temper, huh?”

  Regina shook her head, then looked at the blonde, who still had her hands on her hips. “Why don’t you just step off?” she said in a low voice.

  “Like your cokehead girlfriend said in the bathroom, was I talking to you?” The girl almost shouted as if to make sure she could be heard over the music. People were staring, and some walked closer to the booth to make sure they got ringside spots in case something jumped off. A photographer scurried over and crouched down with his camera ready to get pictures.

  “What’s going on here?” Tamika said as she walked over with Yvonne right behind her. “You guys okay? Regina? Puddin’?”

  “What’s up? I thought you guys weren’t going to be able to make it out tonight,” Puddin’ said, twirling her fingers at them.

  “Looks like it’s a good thing we did,” Yvonne said, eyeing the blonde up and down.

  “Oh what? Now y’all gonna try and jump me?” The blonde slid her hands up to her side and did a slow twirl.

  “Yo, mama.” Rob-Cee snapped his fingers at the drink waitress. “Can you bring over a magnum of Cristal?”

  “What, Rob, you getting champagne ready for the winner?” someone from the crowd shouted out.

  “You know it, man,” Rob-Cee shouted back.

  “You motherfucker,” Puddin’ said before Regina put her hand over Puddin’s and leaned over the table to make sure she wasn’t heard by anyone else. “Puddin’, this man ain’t even worth it,” she said soothingly. “Remember what we talked about holding your temper, okay? Take a deep breath. Why don’t we just get outta here?”

  “Um, how about ’cause I ain’t gonna give this bitch”—Puddin’ pointed at the blonde—“the fucking satisfaction.”

  “I know y’all ain’t whispering about me,” the blonde all but shouted. “What y’all got to be whispering about? If you wanna say something, say it loud enough for me to hear. You old bitches gonna try and jump me or some shit? Come on with it. I’ll kick all y’all old bitches’ asses.”

  “Yeah, well, I wish you’d get to it instead of just talking about it,” Rob-Cee grumbled. “I’m ready to see some shit jump off up in here.”

  “What the fuck?” Yvonne asked Regina, pointing to the rapper.

  Regina glared at the man. “He’s just an asshole.”

  “Little girl, ain’t nobody gonna jump you,” Puddin’ said, turning to the blonde. “Ain’t nobody even thinking about your stank ass. Now, why don’t you take your bottle of peroxide and go somewhere so grown folks can talk?”

  “Why don’t you make me?” the girl said, bobbing her head and shaking her shoulders.

  “’Cause I don’t put on shows for free,” Puddin’ said calmly. “And this pencil-dick muthafucka ain’t worth it.”

  “Oh, now you gonna try and play me because some bitch is threatening your ass,” Rob-Cee said.

  “She ain’t threatened me,” Puddin’ said with a shrug. “She’s just blowing off a little steam.”

  The whole thing suddenly struck Regina as hilarious. Here was Puddin’, the most fiery-tempered woman she’d ever met, playing the levelheaded one and pulling it off well. Regina couldn’t help herself. She started laughing. Which made Tamika and Yvonne start giggling.

  “Come on, Judy.” A woman with long burgundy braids grabbed the blonde by the shoulder. “This shit ain’t worth it. Let’s go to the bathroom so you can cool off.”

  As the disappointed crowd dispersed, Puddin’ kept her eyes on the two women until they disappeared into the bathroom. “Okay,” she said, and finally stood up. “That’s my cue, wouldn’t you say, Regina?”

  “I would certainly say so,” Regina said with a smile. Shit, she thought, the deal was Puddin’ was supposed to take a couple of breaths before going off on someone. No one could say that Puddin’ hadn’t done at least that. “Give her an extra kick on my behalf, okay? Old bitches, my ass.”

  “There’s two of them in there, so I’ll go in with you,” Yvonne said, passing Tamika her pocketbook.

  “Yvonne, will you stop that shit? You know your ass can’t fight,” Puddin’ said with a chuckle. “Besides,” she said as the burgundy-braided woman sashayed out the bathroom, “she’s in there alone. Y’all just stand by the door and make sure no one comes in till I’m finished.”

  Regina, Yvonne, and Tamika took their posts outside the door, and Puddin’ disappeared inside.

  “Sorry, they’re in there mopping the floor,” Regina said when a woman tried to push past
them. “You’ll have to use the men’s room.”

  It took only five minutes for Puddin’ to emerge from the bathroom. There was a small scratch under her left eye, and her hair was slightly disheveled, but otherwise she looked none the worse for the wear. The girls silently followed her back to the club area and the booth.

  “Hey, baby, you miss me?” Puddin’ said as she leaned over the table toward Rob-Cee and his two friends.

  “You know it, babe.” Rob-Cee grinned up at her. “I just opened the Cristal and was waiting on you before I poured myself a drink.”

  “Well, we can’t have you thirsty, now, can we?” Puddin’ grabbed the bottle off the table and poured the contents over Rob-Cee’s head. She jumped back before he could connect with a punch to her face, then she grasped the bottle by the neck and brought it full force against his forehead.

  “Damn, he’s out cold,” Tamika said. She grabbed his wrist and felt for a pulse. “But he’ll be okay.”

  “Like I give a fuck,” Puddin’ said, straightening her clothes. She turned around just in time to be blinded by a flash cube as a photographer snapped her picture. “Hold up, man, hold up.” Puddin’ put her hand over her face. She turned to Yvonne. “Let me get a comb real quick.” She quickly combed out her weave so it lay perfectly over her shoulders. “Okay, now you can take my picture.”

  “All right, let’s go,” Regina said after two or three photographers shot Puddin’ posed next to the table where Rob-Cee lay sprawled facedown.

  *

  “That was some crazy shit, and you know there’s going to be hell to pay,” Yvonne said after she took a deep drag off the joint Puddin’ passed her. They were lounging in Yvonne’s living room, listening to one of the free CDs Rob-Cee had given out at the listening party.

  “You think he’ll give the police your name?” Regina asked, twirling her rum and Coke.

  “No, he’d lose his street cred behind doing some shit like that,” Puddin’ said, using the remote to turn up the stereo.