“Denver, this is your first solo project. How do you feel doing a film without Diamond?” a reporter for Smut Magazine screamed over the roar.
“Well, I’m happy to be doing the solo project, but I will definitely miss Diamond,” Casey responded.
“Do you think your solo film will be better without Diamond?” another reporter asked.
“I’m ready to branch out. I want to give my fans what they deserve,” Casey answered. Dominique stepped off the stage and ran out of the back door of the building. No one even noticed she was gone. Jordan stood on Casey’s left and Mikey on her right. Casey’s solo debut was being promoted and marketed as one of the biggest movies to hit the industry in years. It was rumored that Casey’s movie could even put Jenna Jamison out of business.
Since their arrival in Los Angeles, Dominique and Casey had had vastly different experiences with the industry. An L.A. film company, Hot Licks Productions, had taken one look at Dominique and said they would “stick her in” when they could. Dominique had been called to do a few scenes when they wanted Casey to get licked or when they wanted to get the male actors hard enough to carry out short takes with Casey. Dominique felt degraded and disheartened.
One filming producer, Sylvester Sin, had been very blunt with Jordan. “We just don’t have any use for the black girl anymore.” Jordan had argued that the two were a “package deal,” but Sylvester had threatened to let them both go if he couldn’t just use Casey. The producer offered Jordan a solution to his dilemma. “There is a black film company called Sunshine Productions. They take her type,” Sylvester said, handing Jordan a card. Afraid of losing his only source of income, Jordan agreed to take Dominique to the black film company.
“What the fuck is this, Jordan?” Dominique asked, looking out the car window at the decrepit looking house located in a rough suburb of L.A.
“Yo, this is the address they gave me for Sunshine Productions,” Jordan said, ducking his head to examine the building.
“This shit gets worse and worse. Casey gets bonbons and fucking caviar sets and I get a crackhouse?” Dominique screamed, lighting up a cigarette.
“Diamond, the industry is different for black girls than it is for white girls. Casey went mainstream . . . I don’t know what to tell you. You can either stop complaining or get the fuck out and be broke,” he said harshly.
Dominique and Jordan got out of the car and walked up to the address. Dominique felt tears burning behind her eyes. She couldn’t believe the disparity in treatment between her and Casey. Dominique had learned the hard way that black girls very rarely become major porn stars in mainstream, bigbudget porn movies. When their movies first starting blowing up, as hard as she had worked, Dominique had been seen as just an incidental to Casey’s performances.
Jordan pressed a small rectangular bell at the left of the battered door. A scary, looking giant of a man yanked open the door. “Yeah,” the man grunted.
“Mikey Cuntmore and Sylvester Sin sent me,” Jordan announced.
The giant motioned Jordan and Dominique through the door. The high scent of several different perfumes hit Dominique’s nose and she scrunched her face in response.
“Dayum,” Jordan echoed, covering his nose with his forearm. Dominique didn’t have a good feeling about this, but she was plain broke. The last time she had gotten paid, it was a fraction of the percentage Casey received. Dominique saw this as her chance to make her own money–enough to get her back to New York, at least.
“I’m Mr. Wonderful,” a tall, skinny, dark-skinned man with a ponytail introduced himself as Jordan and Dominique sat in the kitchen of the house. The house had been converted into a low-budget studio. There were no cranes and movie lights; instead, tripods and cheap photography umbrella lights on stands littered the rooms inside.
“I’m Jordan Bleu and this is Diamond Tiara,” Jordan introduced, extending his hand for a shake. Dominique puffed on her second cigarette.
“I’ve heard you are the manager for Denver Peaks. Man, that’s some good shit,” Mr. Wonderful complimented, his eyes lighting up.
Dominique rolled her eyes. “Here we go again. Are we here to discuss her or are we here to talk about me?” she asked.
“A feisty one, aren’t you?” Mr. Wonderful said, grabbing a handful of his crotch, eyeing her seductively. “I don’t know what you’re used to, but I pay two-fifty a movie,” he said, getting right to the point. Dominique turned her head and looked at Jordan with raised eyebrows.
“Everybody here works. Ain’t no fake-ass short takes that get edited together for one big movie, either. I like to give my viewers the real thing, not the same scene over and over again,” Mr. Wonderful explained. Jordan was shaking his head up and down in agreement. “So in other words, you either agree to fuck or no deal,” Mr. Wonderful said.
“It’s s all good. She’s down,” Jordan agreed on her behalf.
“Ain’t this some shit,” Dominique spat. Jordan sealed the deal on a handshake. There were no contracts; no waivers; no high-priced medical physicals. Just fuck ’em and get paid.
A week after their first meeting with Sunshine Productions, Dominique sat on the bootleg set and took a long drag on the blunt Mr. Wonderful had given her. It seemed to enhance what already flowed in her system.
“You ready?” he asked, noticing her low eyes.
“I was obviously born ready,” Dominique answered noncommittally.
“Well, then, it’s show time, baby,” he said, reaching down into her blouse and pinching one of her nipples.
Dominique walked over to the queen-sized bed that sat in the middle of the room. On the left side of the bed was one small wooden nightstand with a huge bottle of baby oil sitting on it, and several condoms. Dominique jumped up on the bed like she was happy to be there, the drugs making it easier. Mr. Wonderful called in his three best male stars: Sizzla; Aries; and Long Dong Shiver. They looked at Dominique like she was a plate of their favorite food.
“First, you and Sizzla going to do a one-on-one, and Long Dong is gonna come in and join,” Mr. Wonderful directed.
Dominique flipped over onto her stomach and inched to the edge of the bed. Sizzla stood at the edge, his dick in hand, waiting. Dominique moved her face closer to his obviously pumped-up flesh and she could smell the cheap Irish Spring soap still on it. Closing her eyes, she licked her lips, and took him into her mouth.
“Yeah, just like that, Diamond girl. You know how to do it,” Mr. Wonderful called out like a coach. Dominique moved her mouth up and down on Sizzla’s dark flesh, the vein pulsing on her tongue. As she continued, she felt the bed moving. Long Dong Shiver had climbed on the bed behind her. His rippled muscles and hard body had Dominique a bit concerned. She stopped her act to see what was going on.
“Don’t stop, Diamond. He won’t bite,” Mr. Wonderful instructed. Long Dong pulled Dominique up onto her knees as she went back to her original act of fellatio. She felt him pouring the cheap baby oil onto her ass and he used his hands to mix it in, swiping up and down her crack. Then he took his unbelievably large manhood and drove it into her.
“Oww!” Dominique yelped, sharp pains surging through her abdomen as he plowed her from the back. Sizzla grabbed her hair and pulled her face back into his crotch forcefully. She was being banged from both ends. Dominique gagged as Sizzla didn’t take any mercy on her mouth. Saliva involuntarily dripped from her lips and mixed with the tears that were coming from her eyes. She could hear Mr. Wonderful’s voice, but her ears had begun to ring so loudly that she could no longer hear his instructions.
Long Dong slapped Dominique’s skin unmercifully. The more excited he got, the harder he hit her ass cheeks, causing them to sting. Finally, Sizzla removed himself from her mouth. He grabbed her hair and pulled her face up toward the camera. Dominique felt like her neck would break from the awkward position.
“Aggh,” Sizzla growled, spewing a thick wad of his semen all over her face.
Mr. Wonderful ran over with the c
amera and panned in as Sizzla swiped it all over her.
“That’s the money shot!” Mr. Wonderful called out.
When they were done with her, Dominique gathered her things to head toward the little makeshift dressing/bedroom they had for the girls. Before she could make it out of the room, Mr. Wonderful walked over and handed her $250 and two vials of crack. They exchanged a knowing glance before she raced into the bathroom. With the shower turned on full blast, she sat in the tub with her knees drawn into her chest and sobbed until she lost her breath.
When Dominique was done scalding her skin off in the bathroom, she came out to the kitchen. Mr. Wonderful’s powerful voice, echoed by moans and grunts, filtered through the house. Mr. Wonderful had begun filming other short movies that would be added to Dominique’s DVD. On her way to the refrigerator, she noticed a girl sitting at the kitchen table smoking a Black & Mild.
“What’s up?” the girl asked. Dominique looked at her like she was crazy. She wasn’t in the mood for no jealous female bullshit today.
“I’m Carissa,” the girl introduced herself. She wore a long, lace-front, Beyoncé-style wig over a heavily made-up face complete with long, fake eyelashes.
“I’m Diamond,” Dominique returned.
“You already finished filming?” Carissa asked.
“Yeah, I’m done. You work here too?” Dominique asked
“Yup, I’m Sunshine’s biggest anal star,” Carissa boasted like it was something to be proud of.
“Oh,” Dominique said, lowering her eyes and taking a seat at the table.
Carissa looked at her long and hard. “Hold up! You the girl who was in those movies with that new white girl everybody talkin’ about, right?” Carissa asked.
“Yeah, that’s me,” Dominique admitted.
“Well, shit! What the hell you doin’ in this low-ass budget joint? You already went mainstream,” Carissa inquired.
“Those white boys didn’t want me. Those muthafuckas are prejudiced as hell,” Dominique spewed, eyeing Carissa’s neatly twisted joint.
“I know what you mean,” Carissa agreed, passing Dominique the joint like it was a peace pipe. Dominique gladly accepted. She took a long drag and inhaled. They puff-puffpassed until the joint was smoked down to a roach.
“Where you from, Diamond?” Carissa asked.
“New York . . . and don’t ask what the fuck I’m doing way out in L.A. fucking for less than the amount of money I could make on the street,” Dominique said.
“Well, why are you here?” Carissa asked.
“I guess you can say I was loyal to some people who didn’t have the same values as me. I’m trying to get back to New York, though,” Dominique explained.
“I always wanted to go to the Big Apple. I’m from Compton,” Carissa said wistfully.
“I will keep that in mind when I’m ready to bounce. I probably could use the company,” Dominique said, smiling.
Dominique and Carissa talked for hours. It was the most fun Dominique had had since her relationship with Casey had become strained. Friends were in short order, but to Dominique, Carissa seemed a pretty solid type.
Dominique left the press conference for Casey’s solo debut with a lot on her mind. She took a cab back to their rented condo so that she could smoke her bones in peace. Dominique knew that Jordan and Casey wouldn’t be home anytime soon since they were headed to the party Mikey was throwing for Casey. They were also supposed to be meeting with representatives from Playboy to negotiate her first photo shoot for the magazine’s new calendar.
When Dominique made it to the condo, she was happy to be alone. She walked around inside like it belonged all to her. She tried on Casey’s new wardrobe. So many sexy lingerie costume designers had been sending Casey their new designs so that they could get free advertising in her movies.
Dominique looked through the closets and drawers and accidentally came across a small safe hidden behind a monumental stack of sneakers. Curious to see if she could crack the combination, she twisted and twisted, left right left . . . right left right. Dominique thought about numbers that would be significant to Jordan. Since she had met him, she knew that although he hated his mother, he sent her flowers and a card every year on July 31. He’d also told her that his mother was born in 1959. Dominique twisted the safe combo knob left seven, right thirty-one, left fifty-nine. “Fuckin’ bingo!” she whispered when the lock clicked open.
Dominique was spooked when she first observed the contents of the safe. There were several rubber-banded stacks of one hundred–dollar bills; plastic baggies full of different colored pills; and two handguns. Dominique’s first instinct was to take the money and run, but self doubt and fear caused her to hurriedly close the safe and exit the closet before her roommates returned.
Casey’s solo movie, Denver s Peaks was a smashing success. Casey and Jordan were making unheard-of money for being newcomers to the industry. Casey’s face was on every porn magazine. Those sky blue eyes and that golden hair had propelled her to the top. Casey was so busy lavishing in the fame that she barely missed Dominique’s company. Jordan was doing much of the same. He’d recently purchased a new luxury car and several new watches and pieces of jewelry. He and Casey were on the L.A. party scene almost every night.
One night, the two were partying at Skybar with tall types of celebrities including several rappers and some of the players from the L.A. Lakers who were huge Denver Peaks fans. Casey was the center of attention and looked like a goddess. She wore an all-white mini-dress so short that if she had shifted wrong everyone would be able to see up into her womb. Her hair was twisted up into a messy but stylish bun, and she rocked the hottest sparkly Christian Louboutins that hadn’t even been released yet. Casey was popping her pills and chasing them down with expensive Ace of Spades champagne. She giggled incessantly, high as a kite and feeling larger than life. Anna Nicole had nothing on her.
Jordan complemented her in his usual all-black linen, his new jewels and watch, upgrading his style from hood rich to almost wealthy. Relishing in his newfound fame, he didn’t notice Dominique making her way toward them until it was too late. Jordan squinted to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him.
“Fuck,” he whispered under his breath, noticing that Dominique looked completely tossed. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered in Casey’s ear, never alerting her to what was going on. Casey smiled and giggled with a music producer who apparently was a big fan.
Dominique forged ahead, pushing people out of her way. Her hair weave was a tangled mess, her cheap spandex dress was baggy on her skinny frame and her face was ashen with too much misapplied make-up. They met in the middle of the crowded club, toe to toe.
“Where do you think you goin’ lookin’ like this?” Jordan asked harshly, grabbing her arm.
“I’m coming to congratulate Casey on her number-one hit movie. Ain’t this her party?” Dominique slurred, clearly under the influence of some drug.
“You should’ve gone home and got dressed first,” Jordan said, pushing her back toward the door.
“Well, if somebody would’ve fuckin’ told me there was a party in honor of my protégé I woulda been here front and center,” Dominique spat indignantly, backing up as Jordan pushed forward.
“Look, Diamond, obviously you had too much of whatever it is you fuckin with these days. Don’t make me go up top on ya ass in here. Go home and sleep it off.” Jordan gritted his teeth, propelling her through the crowd.
“Go home! Go the fuck home? You just dismissing me like that? I don’t fuckin’ deserve to enjoy the fame and fortune? I made both of you, muthafuckas! You and that fuckin’ farm bitch of yours got rich off my back and don’t you forget it!” Dominique screamed, causing some of the partygoers to turn in their direction.
Jordan looked around, the heat of embarrassment climbing up his neck and rising to his face. He had an image to maintain. He didn’t want anyone to see him throttle her ass, but his patience was running low. Jordan grabbed Dom
inique by the neck and lifted her off of her feet. The crowd cleared a path and watched the exchange take place. She kicked and thrashed against him, clawing at his hands as he cut off her airway.
“What’s going on?” one of the club’s bouncers asked.
“I got this,” Jordan assured him as he forcefully tossed Dominique out the door. She screamed as she fell to the ground, breaking three fake nails and scraping her elbow and the left side of her face.
“Jordan, you gon’ treat me like this after all I did for you, muthafucka?” Dominique cried out, pulling herself up off the ground. “You ain’t gon’ never have no fuckin’ luck, you bastard!” Dominique cursed as she limped away.
Dominique went to Carissa’s house where she stayed whenever she wasn’t at Sunshine Productions performing some lewd act for money. When Carissa pulled back the door, she put her hand over her mouth. “What the hell happened to you?” she asked.
“That bastard . . . That bastard!” Dominique screamed over and over again, falling to her knees.
“You need something?” Carissa asked. Dominique’s face lit up. She scrambled up off the floor and turned over her pocketbook until her stem fell out. Carissa handed her the goods and Dominique prepped her pipe. With her hands shaking, she let the poison ease her pain. Carissa was there for her. That’ s all that mattered.
Dominique stayed with Carissa for the next two weeks. Between their degrading stints at Sunshine, they got high together. They would have their little bit of movie pay spent and owed out to the dope man before they even got it in their hands.
Mr. Wonderful had taken notice that Dominique didn’t look as pretty as she did when she first arrived. He wasn’t about to keep filming a crackhead. Although Carissa smoked, she also ate, so her body was not gaunt and drawn up.
Mr. Wonderful finally fired Dominique. She had gotten the news the same day she’d heard that Casey had been nominated for an AVN award, which was like the Oscars of the porn industry.
Price of Fame Page 14
