by Saundra
We tried to shut Macy’s down, spending eight thousand effortlessly before bouncing. I had enjoyed the time I spent with Penny, as always. But I couldn’t help but feel her pain; she was truly deeply affected by Jackie and her lifestyle. I made a mental note to speak with Secret about attending those psychology sessions. Somehow, I had to persuade her to attend at least one meeting with Penny. Penny needed it for her sanity, and it could possibly play a significant role in her healing.
Chapter 27
Secret
Watching rain pour like an overfilled coffee mug, and the gray sky that loomed over Custom Hot Rides, was doing a good job of making me feel sleepy. I had yawned at least a hundred times, and I blinked my fake lashes so hard, I feared a piece of them might fall into my eye. But it was the best I could do to stay awake. Custom Hot Rides was so quiet you could hear a pin drop on the floor. I was covering for Courtney; she had called in ill, and no else was around to cover her shift. I had been up most of the night waiting on a late shipment, so I was beat, but I didn’t mind covering for Courtney; she was cool people, and she always did what she was supposed to do. And to be honest, good help these days was hard to find. So whenever she needed time off, besides the two days a week she already got, we all stepped up and stood in for her.
After my fiftieth yawn, I realized that staring outside at the soothing rain was not going to help my sleep situation. So I decided to actually do some work, and that included my cell phone and Instagram. I figured catching up with social media could help me get my energy charged. For starters, I snapped a quick picture of myself. I knew my fans were always watching.
As soon as I snapped the picture, one of the double glass doors at Custom Hot Rides swung open. A smile went straight to the corners of my lips.
“What’s up, bitch?” One of Isis’s and my close friends, Trina, screamed and rushed over to me.
“Not shit,” I replied and hugged her tight. I could not believe she was back. “It’s about time you blew back through this bitch.”
“Shit, I had to, I couldn’t take the country no damn more. A bitch almost died in that damn heat with not enough wind blowing. And them big-ass horse flies, I just could not take it anymore.”
“I told you when you ran your ass down there to plan-tationville,” I joked.
“Girl, I know.” Trina laughed. “So where my bitch Isis at?”
“She ain’t here but should be any minute. She had some businesses to attend to this morning.” I filled her in.
Trina observed the office. “I can’t front: Kirk got this bitch on point. When I pulled up and seen all those tricked-out-ass cars, I got excited. Shit, Custom Hot Rides on point.”
“It is Kirk doing his thing around here. But you already know how he do.”
“What’s up wit’ Penny? She better?”
“Man, Trina, you wouldn’t even understand. Shit been wild around here.... I mean at first things were getting better. Penny was coming around to her old self—she even told me she wanted to move out. I think I told you about that over the phone once.”
“Yeah, I remember that.” Trina nodded her head in agreement.
“Girl, well, shit went totally left. Jackie done popped back in our lives; next thing I know Penny’s an alcoholic and now in therapy.”
“What the hell happened?” Trina twisted up the corner of her lips and waited.
I didn’t feel like going into detail, so I kept it simple. “Listen, the shit was crazy, but I got it under control.” I was relieved to see Kirk come in the office so we could change the subject.
“Awww, damn, trouble back in the city. Shit ain’t gone be the same,” Kirk joked.
“What’s up, nigga?” Trina walked over and gave Kirk a hug.
“Not shit. And you?”
“A bitch just got off the plane from old hot-ass Alabama, but I’m good. Still thick.” Trina smacked her big butt. Kirk licked his lips and grinned.
“That much I see.” He and Trina loved to play around like that. “Tell that weak-ass nigga Terry I’m comin’ over,” Kirk teased about her boyfriend.
“Fuck him. I just threw his ass out.” She waved the conversation of Terry off. “But what’s up y’all know I’m ready to party.”
“Me too,” I chanted, excited.
“Kirk you gone hook us up, right?” Trina smiled at him.
“Man, y’all too much trouble in the club together . . . But you know I got y’all.” That was music to our ears. Kirk was the man when it came to setting it out in the club for us. He made sure we were treated like royalty, and nothing was left to chance. In the words of T.I., we could have whatever we liked—he made sure of it. “Y’all just let me know what night. Shit go be ignorant off the hook.”
“It’s about to be super hype.” I was excited. I could see the club lights now, music banging, constant flow of drinks. And me and my girls turned up to the max. My girl Trina was back. I couldn’t wait for Isis to arrive.
Chapter 28
Isis
I was happy as shit when I found out Trina was back, because the girl was pure fun to be around. And I was not surprised that her first order of business was hitting up the club; she never wasted any time on that. Trina was a pure party type of chick. I truly believed the phrase “turn up” was invented to describe Trina. The only thing I sometimes wished is that she would slow down on the alcohol. The girl could drink. But she was never trying to hear that, so I chilled and left that to Secret. They were closer when it came to the friends arena. Secret had met Trina and introduced her to me, but either way we were all cool.
But tonight was the night, and it was going down. Secret, Trina, Courtney, and I were dressed to kill and ready to party.
“That is so cute,” I complimented. We all gathered around the cake that one of the waitresses had brought in, loaded with fire sticks blazing.
“That’s that cognac,” Kirk announced; he was standing behind the waitress. He had had the cake made in honor of Trina coming back to town.
“Full of liquor, just the way I like it. Thanks, Kirk.” Trina kissed him on the cheek.
“Shit, cut me a piece of that,” Secret said. “I’m tryin’ to be lit always.”
“Don’t worry, I got ya’.” Trina reached for the knife from the waitress and started cutting each of us a piece of cake.
“Damn, I never had cake wit’ alcohol this delicious.” Courtney forked a mouthful.
“I know, right,” I cosigned, savoring every bite with the intention of getting a second slice soon after.
“Yo, but next time bring a cake laced with the chronic,” Secret joked.
“Shit, please.” Trina laughed.
“Damn, y’all’s ass is wild.” Kirk grinned. “Aye, get me a couple shots of that Don Julio. We ’bout to christen this bitch tonight,” Kirk informed the other waitress, who was approaching wit’ a bottle of Dom. She nodded her head in agreement and turned on her heel.
“Yo, Kirk, this is nice. Thanks for setting it out for us.” Trina smiled. “And I’m so fuckin’ glad to be back.” She stood up as the DJ dropped “Superfreak” by Young Jeezy. “Once again, that’s my shit. Come on, y’all.” Trina grabbed my arm first, since I was closest to her. My plate barely made the table. We all hit the dance floor, and we were twerking so hard, Kirk stood up and started tossing money at us.
“You can’t find his kind of action in no strip club in Florida,” he yelled over the music. We all giggled at him. We were having a good time, I observed as some of Kirk’s crew bounced into VIP. They stood back and watched the action. We danced to another song then made our way back over to the cake.
We were tossing back shots of Crown Royal when Duke, one of the guys from Kirk’s crew, approached Trina. They started chatting while we stood back and caught up.
“Damn, I miss this so much. We don’t do it enough.” Secret referred to the club and fun.
“I know. You two stay acting like some old-ass ladies. But I be coming wit’ my friends, though.
’Cause I can’t be getting old before my time.” Courtney threw in her two cents.
“Don’t we know it.” I laughed. “But real talk, I miss it, too. I just be tired. I’m get my stuff together, though, wait and see.” I hoped to make a believer out of myself. Courtney and Secret both were right, we needed to enjoy ourselves. I spent too much time taking things too seriously and worrying about things that I could not change. I looked over at Trina, who was grinning while she talked to Duke. It was something about the girlish look and excitement that she had on her face that I missed. At least at that exact moment I felt like I did. Was I keeping myself from that feeling?
“Yo, I hope so. ’Cause if not, I’m dragging yo’ ass up out the crib from now on. Real talk.”
“And I’ll help,” Courtney threw in.
Trina approached us smiling, so we knew something was brewing. “Why you smilin’? What that nigga say to you?” Secret didn’t waste any time getting the point.
“Shit, really, but he got my attention for a minute.”
“Ain’t nothin’ wrong wit’ dat. He is a cutie.” Courtney looked over Secret’s shoulder to get a glance at Duke. He was about five nine, a bit shorter than I like them, but he was cute. He wore a regular flat-top, he was brown skinned and tatted all over his body, which was clear from his neck and arms.
“Yep, he not bad on the eyes,” I agreed.
“Duke straight,” Secret said. “But what you thinkin’? I know how you is.”
Secret looked over at Duke like she was trying to size him up. She smiled. “I’ma see what’s up with him. I got his number and, shit, you know me, I’m worse than a nigga. I gotta see how dat booty work first. ’Cause if that’s whack, it’s hard for me to fake it. After that we’ll see . . . Shit, I could use a boo, job just getting started and pockets dry. And we all know that ain’t enough cash for me anyway.”
“Aye, I feel you. Cash coins, not that bullshit.” Secret laughed, and we all joined in.
As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. Men could put you through so much. So it was sad that you had to keep money as the focus to even be entertained enough to stay in the conversation with them.
I excused myself to the bathroom, because all the excitement and drinks had my bladder on full. The crowd was thick on my way to the bathroom. That’s what I loved about VIP: we had plenty of space to move around without bumping into people. That last thing I ever wanted was to be touching elbows with sweaty people who did way too much while on the dance floor. Just thinking about the crowd I had to fight just to get back to VIP made me wash my hands just a little longer to avoid it.
Back out in the crowd, I watched the two-thousand-dollar Gucci shoes that I had purchased like a hawk. I did not want them to be penetrated by another person’s gym shoe or cheap high heel just because they were either too drunk to care or simply showing off and not paying attention. Just as my feet were about to be crushed, I looked up and almost walked smack into Bobbi.
“Hey,” he yelled over the loud Gucci Mane song that was blasting out the speakers.
“Hi,” I spoke back. His cousin Melvin was standing next to him looking surprised to see me.
“Hey, Isis,” he said. I could see the guilty look on his face. I’m sure he knew that Bobbi had told me that he was the one giving up all my locations. But I didn’t care about that anymore; I had moved on.
“Hey,” I spoke back with a slight smile. I was still slick worried somebody might bump into me or step on the back of my shoe. And I was right: just as I was about to be trampled by a heavyweight chick in a skirt so tight she could barely move her legs, Bobbi snatched me out of the way.
“Thanks.” I breathed a sigh of relief.
“I swear, she was about to knock the wind out of you. This crowd is beast.” He laughed.
“Seriously.” I grinned.
“You look nice,” he commented. It felt awkward hearing him say that. Melvin had stepped over to the bar to order a drink.
“Thanks,” I said. I felt a bit nervous as I kind of glanced around at the thick crowd. Knowing I had to eventually conquer it to get back to VIP annoyed me.
“So what’s been up with you? I haven’t seen you around town.”
“Well, this is Florida. You don’t just run into people unless you are looking for them,” I said, glaring at him briefly. I knew that came out sarcastic, but it was not my intention. But I didn’t feel I owed it to him to clear that up, so I didn’t.
“True.” He shook his head in agreement. “How are things at work?”
“Good,” I replied. I wasn’t really sure why he was asking me about work—he never had before when I worked at JCPenney—but I went along.
He was silent for a moment. “I know this is awkward, and I don’t want it to be. I hope we can find some kind of common ground so that we can at least communicate.”
I was glad he had said that, because I agreed. I had forgiven him; things had been laid out on the table. It was time to move forward, and talking never hurt anybody. After that was cleared up, we talked for a minute. Melvin came back over and we even talked, then Xscape’s old song “Am I Dreamin” came on and Bobbi asked me to dance. I was surprised. I had to decline. There was just no way I could see myself standing that close him. People were on the dance floor, so walking space cleared up. I said bye to him and Melvin and headed for VIP without looking back.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I stepped back into VIP. The entire atmosphere was different. I made my way back over to Secret, who was standing alone. A glance to the other side of the room revealed Trina talking to Duke. Courtney, on the other hand, was nowhere in sight. I made it over to Secret just as she tossed back a shot of something brown. She swallowed and glared at me.
“What the hell took you so long? I almost came looking for you.”
I didn’t realize how long I had been gone, but I knew it had been a minute, because I had heard at least eight songs since I left, possibly more. What I didn’t think about was the fact that Secret would question where I had been. Even if she was having a good time, she would notice I was not there. I’d rather eat the words I was about to release to her, but I had no choice.
“I ran into Bobbi on the way back from the bathroom.”
“So, and what?” Her attitude kicked right in.
I rolled my eyes, because she knew what I was about to say. “We talked for a minute, all right.”
“That was no damn minute. You been gone a while,” she pointed out.
“Well, maybe, but you wanted to know, so there.” I signaled the waitress. “Get me a shot Don Julio.” I needed something strong to drown Secret out in case she went berserk.
I could feel Secret’s eyes on me. I didn’t know what she would say next, but I was ready for her to just spit it out.
“What?” I looked at her. The waitress passed me my drink. I downed it right away as if it could ease the blow of the words she was sure to deliver. But to my surprise, her face softened.
“Listen, I ain’t gone give you no speech. You’re grown, and you already aware of how I feel. So I’ma just say be careful, and don’t let him get his hooks in you. Because I know you might still be attracted to him.”
That was a far cry from what I expected to hear from her, and I had to admit, I was shocked, because in the past she would have searched the club high and low until she found Bobbi and cursed him out. But she was right, being around him almost turned on something in me, but I pushed it back.
“I know, I thought about all that, and I wouldn’t have talked to him, but he was looking good and smelling good.” I smiled.
“Aye, aye, aye,” Trina and Courtney both approached both singing along with Yo Gotti’s song “Law” that the DJ was jamming. Secret and I jumped, singing as the waitress approached us with drinks. We all stood back and got to having so much fun that VIP was feeling up as a few of Kirk’s other crew members stepped inside. It was all the way live. I was tipsy and feeling hella good.
“Wh
ich one of y’all is Courtney?” We all looked up at the same time and noticed this light-skinned, thick, like Remy Ma, chick questioning us. All of us looked at each other; it was clear none of us knew who she was. And apparently she didn’t know who Courtney was, or she wouldn’t be asking. Where we came from, when someone approached us like that, that’s the treatment they got. Straight stranger to be watched.
Secret said, “Who wants to know?” The unknown chick had the nerve to roll her neck, but before she could respond, Courtney spoke up.
“That’s me. What’s up?”
The chick looked her up and down, then smirked. “So you the nasty bitch . . . that’s been fuckin’ my husband.”
“Excuse me, what?” Secret started to step to the unknown chick, but Courtney stepped in front of Secret.
“See, I think you got it all wrong. I don’t sleep wit’ married men. And as for your husband, I didn’t know—” Courtney was trying to explain, but the chick swung on her, punching her right between the eyes. Then out of nowhere, another chick, the same as the unknown, appeared and jumped in. Secret jumped in and pulled her off Courtney and started punching her.
Kirk rushed over and started grabbing at Secret, trying to get her off the chick, but it was not working, so Duke and Trina chimed in. Then I started to pull Courtney off the other chick. She had managed to wrestle her to the floor and was on top of her, beating her blow by blow.
Just as I successfully pulled Courtney off the unknown chick, she swung and smacked me in the face. Pissed, I grabbed her by the neck, pushed her to the wall, and one-two punched her so hard I heard the dudes behind us sing, “Whew.” Then Kirk pulled me back, because I had my fist up to go in for more.
“You ungrateful fat bitch!” I yelled. Here I was being a good Samaritan and pulling Courtney off her ass, and she gone hit me. Clearly she had me messed up.
“Fuck you, hoe!” she screamed back.
Security made it inside just as Kirk pulled me back. Duke was still holding Secret and guys from the crew had got hold of both the unknown chicks, who were not bloody.
