5ive Star Bitch

by Tremayne Johnson

  “You know we don’t tolerate disrespect, I told you that before,” Simeon raised his arm and slapped the kid to the ground. “Get the fuck up!” he yelled.

  I rolled the window up and faced forward. I couldn’t believe what Simeon was doing. He was beating the shit out of the kid. He literally beat him out of his clothes and then he dragged him to the car for me to see. He tapped on the window and told me to roll it down.

  “Now, apologize!” Simeon held the kid by the back of his shirt.

  “Sorr… sorr… sorry…” he cried.

  His eyes were swollen shut, his nose was bleeding and his lips were busted. He looked like he got hit by a truck.

  Simeon gave him a gut shot and the kid spit up blood. “Now get the fuck outta here!” he yelled and got back into the car and we peeled off.

  We rode in silence for the first ten minutes. My eyes were on the road and I was trying to push the disturbing visions of that young boy out of my head. I could feel Simeon looking at me.

  “Cherish, you alright?” he asked. He was calm, like nothing ever happened.

  “You didn’t have to do that, Simeon.”

  “I know,” he said.

  “So, why did you do it?”

  He cleared his throat and kept his eyes on the road. “Listen, Cherish, there’s a few things you may not know about me,” he looked at me.

  I hoped this nigga wasn’t about to tell me some crazy shit like he was a serial killer or something.

  “Remember when you asked me what type of business I was in?”

  “Yeah,”

  “Well, I wasn’t all the way honest with you,” he slowed to a stop at a red light and then looked at me. He didn’t have to say another word. I knew exactly what he was talking about. He had BOSS written all over him.

  “I’m hungry,” I told him, changing the subject.

  He smiled and asked me what I wanted to eat and I told him seafood, so he drove to City Island and we got lobster, shrimp and a few drinks.

  I felt safe and secure with Simeon. It was his strong demeanor and assertiveness that attracted me to him in the first place, and that wonderful smile he had helped too. But I knew what type of nigga he was. He was a street nigga, and street niggas kept plenty of side bitches. I definitely wasn’t about to be nobody’s side chick. I was wife material, and I’ll be damned if I played the jumpoff role.

  We ate, talked and he dropped me off at my car in Harlem. I still couldn’t get that kid’s face out of my head. It was bothering me, but I didn’t let it get the best of me.

  “Get home safe, Cherish. Call me when you get in,” he said.

  I waved bye, jumped in my truck and drove off.

  8

  The summer quickly settled upon us and the heat and humidity was at an all-time high. The temperature read ninety eight degrees, but it felt like a hundred and four, and the local news informed everyone to stay inside unless it was something important you had to go out for. The blaze was unbearable.

  Jillian and I lounged in the waiting area of David Graham’s office while Raquel was briefed of her husband’s situation. It had been two months since they arrested him and the specifics about his case were starting to surface. The feds charged William with drug trafficking. He had twenty counts.

  It was a tough time for my girl Raquel because now she had to maintain her household by herself. She had to suddenly take on the role of a single parent. Her daughter was seven years old and her husband was facing fifty years in federal prison.

  She stormed out of the office and slammed the door. The expression on her face let me know that whatever he told her wasn’t what she wanted to hear. My girl was tight, and she had every right to be.

  “You alright, Raq?” Jill asked.

  “Nope, c’mon… let’s go.”

  We got to my truck and I started the engine. “So, what did he say?” I asked.

  Raquel pulled the seatbelt across her chest. “A bunch of nothing; definitely not what I expected him to say. He told me they’re not giving him a bail yet and if they do it’ll be at least a million dollars,” she turned and looked me in my face. “A million dollars, Cherish… I don’t have a million dollars,” she was about to cry.

  “I know Raq. Don’t worry about it. If they give him a bail, we’ll get him out,” I told her. She half smiled and I turned the radio on.

  “Fuck all this sad shit!” Jill shouted. “We need to go shopping and go out tonight. I need a few drinks and some music, and Raq… you could use a drink or two yourself,” she said.

  We laughed, Raquel agreed and I turned the music up and headed for the highway.

  ________

  My girls and I tore the Westchester Mall apart. We each spent about five thousand dollars on outfits, shoes and bags. It was a great idea to bring Raquel out. She needed to do something other than worry about what her husband was going through. Shopping eased that pain for the moment. My girl was all smiles, swiping away.

  We made plans to go out clubbing, but we hadn’t figured out what club we wanted to go to. Jillian suggested we hit the strip club and I didn’t think that was a bad idea. So, I dropped them off at theirs houses and went to get ready, but first I had to make a quick stop at my grandmother’s house. She called me earlier and asked me to come over to help her with something.

  “Grandma, Dorian!” I yelled walking through the front door. The house was unusually quiet for a Friday evening, “Grandma! Dorian!” I shouted again.

  “What you doing all that yelling for girl?” my grandmother said, walking into the house from the backyard.

  “I didn’t hear anybody and it’s kind of quiet in here,” I said, giving her a hug. “Where’s Dorian?”

  “He was upstairs playing that damn game. Did you see Colin?”

  The look on my face was pure astonishment when she mentioned that man’s name. I asked her what she said because I wanted to make sure I heard her right, “Did I see who?”

  “Girl, you heard me. I said, have you seen Colin, he’s back in town. He came by this morning and asked about you.”

  Colin Hall was my high school sweetheart; my first love. Back then there was nothing bad you could tell me about Colin; nothing. I loved everything about him; everything. I lost my virginity to Colin, went on my first date with him, my first kiss; we did everything together. I loved me some Colin, but our relationship didn’t last because he was getting into trouble, so his mother made him enroll in the army once he turned eighteen.

  “Why is he looking for me? I don’t have anything to say to him,” I replied. I was trying to act like him being in town didn’t mean anything, but I was fronting.

  “Oh, cut it out, Cherish. You know how much that boy loves you. He’s handsome too. Got all tall and stuff, you should see him,” she said, smiling.

  “I don’t wanna see him, grandma,” I walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, and the front doorbell rang. I looked back at my grandmother and she was still smiling.

  This better not be Colin at this door, I thought. “Who is it?” No one answered, so I opened the door to see who it was.

  “Wassup, Cherish, Dorian here?” Kevin asked. He was my little brother’s friend.

  “Hey Kevin,” I let him in. “He’s upstairs.”

  I could hear my grandmother in the background giggling. “That’s not funny, grandma.”

  I stayed for almost an hour. She fed me, we talked about everything and I helped her hook-up her new surround sound system that Dorian had given her.

  “Where he get the money to buy this, grandma? This is nice,” I said.

  “I don’t know, Cherish. I don’t even ask anymore. I told you to talk to him.”

  “I did talk to him,” I told her. When I looked up Dorian and his friend were coming down the stairs. He had new sneakers, new clothes; other than what I had brought him, and he had a gold watch on.

  “Whaddup, sis,” he smiled.

  “Where you think you going, it’s nine o clock?” I said.
>
  “C’mon sis, don’t embarrass me in front of my friends. I’m going out for a minute, I’m comin’ right back.”

  “You know we still haven’t talked about everything that happened,”

  “I know sis, we’ll talk.” He rushed out the door.

  My grandmother just stared at me. “Is that what you call talking to him?” she shook her head.

  ________

  We decided to go to Sues Rendezvous which wasn’t too far from where my grandmother lived. The girls were pretty, the music was good, and the bottles were on deck. Jill grabbed some bad Spanish chick and had her dance on the pole that was in our section. I had five thousand dollars in singles on our table and Raquel was getting wasted, making it rain.

  Jillian tapped me on my shoulder. “Look, she’s drunk,’ she pointed at Raquel.

  “I know right, look at her!” we laughed watching Raquel dance with the stripper. She started removing her clothes and Jill went to stop her. “Let her go, Jill. She’s having fun, she needs this,” I said.

  Raquel stripped down to her panties and bra and ass was everywhere. She was having the time of her life. It was something she definitely needed.

  Jillian tapped me on my arm. “Cherish, look,” she pointed to the entrance and my eyes got big. “I heard he was back in town.”

  “I’ll be right back, I have to use the bathroom,” I told her.

  I rushed into the restroom. I was nervous as hell. Was that Colin? Oh my God! I couldn’t breathe. I looked in the mirror. I was a mess. I fixed my hair and straightened up. I couldn’t go out there looking crazy. Oh my God! Was that Colin? I knew if I didn’t hurry up Jill and Raquel would be looking for me, so I finished up and walked out the restroom.

  “I was wondering how long it was gonna take you to come outta there.”

  I jumped when I heard his voice. My nipples got hard and my pussy got wet.

  “I didn’t know you were waiting,” I said, trying to play cool.

  He grabbed my hand and touched my chin, turning my face to his. “I miss you,” he said.

  I could’ve melted right there in his hands. His touch; one I hadn’t felt in a long time, and that scent; oh my God he smelled so good. I just wanted to lick him.

  “Don’t go there, Colin,” I started walking back to our section in V.I.P. I was trying to make myself angry at him, but I don’t think it was working.

  “Cherish, hol’ up…” he touched my shoulder and I turned around. “You gon’ look me in my face and tell me you don’t miss me?”

  Damn I missed this nigga. He wouldn’t understand how much I’ve missed him, but I couldn’t tell him that; no way.

  “Colin, I don’t have time for this right now, it’s nice seeing you though,” I was trying to get away from him, but he followed me to our area in V.I.P.

  “Oh shit! Colin got muscles now!” Jill was tipsy. “Go Colin! Go Colin!” she shouted.

  He gave Jillian a hug and sat down right next to me. “She alright?” he pointed to Raquel dancing on the pole in front of us.

  “Yeah, she’s venting,” I told him.

  “So, this your new hangout?”

  “No,” I said. “We wanted to try something different.”

  “Change is good,” he said. “Hey, I stopped by your grandmother’s this morning looking for you. It was the first stop I made when I touched the town. That should say a lot.”

  “I’m flattered, Colin, thanks.”

  “Why you giving me such a hard time, Cherish, what did I do to you?”

  That was it. I tried to hold my composure, but this shit just wasn’t working. I had to say something. I had to let him know how I felt. It had been too long.

  “Listen, Colin, just because you decide to pop up out of nowhere doesn’t mean I’m gonna run and jump in your arms and tell you I miss you. Honestly, I do miss you, but you’re the one who left, not me,” I told him. I had to raise my voice so he could hear me over the music.

  “It wasn’t my choice, Cherish. There was nothing I could do about that.”

  “What?” I couldn’t hear him.

  He put his arm around my neck and whispered in my ear. “Come talk to me outside,” he said, and I followed him.

  “I’ll be right back,” I told Jill.

  When we got outside, we walked a few feet down the block and stopped at a dark blue Honda Accord. Colin pulled out some keys and got into the driver’s seat.

  “Get in, what you waitin’ for?” he said.

  “I’m not getting in that car with you. We can talk right here, Colin.”

  “Oh, so, my car isn’t good enough for you, huh?”

  “Colin, don’t start, please. You said you wanted to talk, so talk.”

  “I do wanna talk, but I want you to sit in the car with me,” he smiled and my feet just started moving. Next thing I know, I’m sitting in this nigga’s car.

  “Well,” I said. “What do you have to say, you’re interrupting ladies night.”

  He laughed, “Ladies night?”

  “Yes, ladies night, now what do you want, Colin?”

  “I want you, Cherish.”

  He looked me right in my eyes when he said it. I wanted to grab him by the back of his head and shove my tongue in his mouth, but I didn’t.

  “Why Colin, why do you want me? What makes me so special now?”

  He turned in his seat and faced me. “You’ve always been special, Cherish. I know things didn’t go the way we thought they would, but look, we got a second chance. We got a second chance to make it work,”

  “It’s not going to work, Colin,”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s different now,” I was holding back tears.

  He placed his hand on my leg. “You’re right, Cherish… everything is different. You’re different, I’m different, but together we can make this work. I believe in us. I love you, Cherish.”

  “You can’t do this, Colin!” I could no longer hold in the tears. They came pouring down my face. “This is not right, Colin. You can’t always have it your way,” I cried.

  “Cherish,” he touched my cheek and wiped the tears from my face. “I get it now. It may have taken me a while, but I get it. I don’t want anyone else but you,” he leaned in and kissed me.

  I pulled back. “I can’t do this,” I said, reaching for the door handle. He grabbed my arm and I jerked away from him. “I’m going back inside,” I told him.

  I heard his door slam and he jogged to catch up to me.

  “Cherish, wait… let me say something—”

  “No,” I turned around and got right in his face. “Let me say something, Colin… it’s not alright for you to come here and think after all these years that everything is just going to be alright, it’s not. My life is great and I intended to live it that way. I don’t appreciate you coming here trying to stir up old feelings. I buried those feelings, Colin, and I’m not digging them up, so please… let me enjoy my night with my girls. Now, I’m going back inside.”

  He just stared at me while I walked off.

  “Cherish! Cherish Parker!” someone shouted. I knew that voice. I was going to keep walking into Sues, but something told me to turn around.

  “What do you want Marlon?” I said.

  “Cherish, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked, stepping closer.

  “No,” I walked pass the bouncer and went back into Sues.

  When I got back to our section Raquel had her clothes on and Jill was nowhere to be found. I turned around and Colin and Marlon were on my heels. Colin sat right next to me.

  “What he want?” he asked, referring to Marlon.

  “Nothing, he’s my ex,” I told him.

  Colin stood up and looked at me. “Oh, that’s why things are different, huh… you fuckin’ baseball superstars’ n’ shit. I guess you ain’t got no time for me, I’m jus’ a regular nigga,”

  “Colin, you need to leave,” I said.

  “Cherish, Cherish, can I talk to you!” Marlon ye
lled.

  “No, Marlon!” I turned to Raquel. “Where’s Jill? It’s time to go,” she pointed to the bar. I slid pass Colin and Marlon and went to find my friend. I walked around half the bar and spotted her at the far left corner. “Jill, c’mon, we’re leaving,” I told her. She was talking to two big dudes. They looked like bouncers.

  “Hol’ up, Ma,” one of the guys said. “I jus’ brought you that bottle and you jus’ gon’ bounce like that on me?”

  I saw it in Jill’s facial expression, she was about to go off. I tried to grab her and pull her away, but she wasn’t budging.

  “Wait a minute muthafucka, first of all, I didn’t ask you to buy me shit, I can buy my own bottles,” she reached in her purse, pulled out a hand full of bills and tossed them in the guy’s face. “Fuck you, you broke ass nigga!”

  The guy jumped out his seat and mushed Jill. She almost fell, but she caught her balance and before I could react she was charging at him. All I heard was a thump and the big guy was on the floor. Jill stood there with the champagne bottle in her hand.

  I snatched her by the arm, “C’mon!” we made our way back to our section to get Raquel and she wasn’t there. Marlon was sitting there by himself.

  “What are you doing?” I asked him.

  “Waiting on you, I need to talk to you.”

  “No, Marlon,” I was looking everywhere and didn’t see Raquel at all.

  “Are you looking for your friend?”

  “Yes, where did she go?”

  “You sure you don’t wanna talk to me for a minute—”

  “No, Marlon! Now where did she go!” he pointed to the door. “She left?” I asked him.

  “Yea, her and some dude,” he said.

  Some dude? I grabbed Jill’s hand and we hurried to the exit. When we got outside no one was there. The street was empty.

  “Raquel!” I yelled, “Raquel!” I yelled again, but no one answered.

  “Let’s check down here,” Jill said. “She can’t be too far.”

  We walked down the block and around the corner, and stopped at a small parking lot.