Heart of Glass (Heart #1)

by Lolah Lace

  “Regardless girl. I’m sure his type— is not me.”

  “You are his type.”

  “Stop lying. There is no way you could know that.”

  “I do.”

  “How?”

  She took a sip of her margarita and looked across the bar. “I sent a few of your Facebook photos to Joel. He showed them to this guy.”

  “Who is Joel?”

  “He’s my boss.”

  “Okay, let me get this straight. Joel is your escort boss?” – also known as the pimp.

  “Yes.”

  “Why would you send my pictures to any-fucking-body without my permission?”

  “Oh Lawd Jesus, because they are public. I got them off Facebook.”

  “Wait so— what?”

  “Joel already showed your pictures to this rich guy. He wants a date with you. He saw you and he wants to pay you money to fuck him.”

  “Are you trying to kill me? I already have a shitty life.”

  “It could be less shitty with some coins in your pockets. Take this money and it won’t be shitty no more.”

  “I can’t even with you right now.”

  “Just think about it before you say no. You need your own spot, not the spot you and Dave shared. This real money right here.”

  “What’s real money?”

  “Look at me.” I gave her the eye contact she asked for. “Not hundreds. This is a few thousands.”

  “Dollars?” My mouth fell open. I had sixty-eight dollars in my checking account.

  “Yes ma’am, but I’m going to let Joel tell you what’s really going on. Just think about it. I can set up a meeting with my boss. He is so nice and sweet. You will love him. He is very persuasive. Think about it. Talk to Joel and then make your discussion. I know this isn’t how you get down but you my girl. I want to see you win. No one will ever know that you fucked one random rich guy. I would never say a word about it. I’m not trying to convert you to thot-ism. This is just a special circumstance. Have some more drinks and just think about it. You can always change your mind from yes or no.”

  I drank and drank some more. Lahasia was paying. I could just forget about her proposition if she’d let me. Somehow I thought that she wouldn’t let me. I was right. She didn’t let it rest. Could this Joel guy be more persuasive than Lahasia?

  CHAPTER 3

  I was interviewing for a job I didn’t apply too. So why was I nervous? I was meeting the infamous Joel Covington. Hopefully, he didn’t show up dressed like the Bishop Magic Don Juan. Joel was supposed to sell me on this escort idea. Lahasia set it up, a meeting at a restaurant near where I lived, a meet and greet. Why was entertaining this? Well, I wasn’t busy at my new job. I giggled to myself. It was nice to have a laugh.

  I was nervous. I had never met a real pimp before. I was ten minutes late to the restaurant. I thought about not showing up but I did show up. I thought it would be rude to not turn Joel down in person. Besides that, I needed to see this pimp with my eyes. Curiosity, boredom, and disbelief catapulted me to the restaurant.

  I spotted my friend right away. When I saw her pimp Joel, he was nothing like I thought. Joel was tall and very fit. He looked like a well-groomed businessman without the suit. He was really quite attractive. I knew he was gay because Lahasia had filled me in on that part. She also told me he started out in this business sleeping with rich older women. I could definitely see that. He was fine now whatever age he was.

  Joel looked smart. He downplayed his looks but clearly, he got attention wherever he went— male and female attention. His looks made him attractive to both genders. He was just a handsome guy whose presence commanded that the room took notice.

  “Hey, girl.” Lahasia greeted me with her charming smile. “This is Joel. Joel, this is Kelby.”

  He stood. “Nice to meet you.” He extended his hand and I shook it.

  “You too.” Maybe. I don’t know if it was nice yet.

  I slipped into the booth and sat across from them. I removed my coat. I tried to not look awkward and shell-shocked.

  “Kelby, I’m going to keep it real with you.” Joel’s voice was deep and breathy.

  “Okay.” I didn’t know what to say.

  “This guy wants you. He is excited and he will pay for your time.”

  “Okay, I don’t know what to say.”

  “Hun, you’re supposed to ask me how much?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “Oh gosh, you’re so adorable. He would love you. I love you. He wants to pay you twenty thousand dollars a night.”

  American dollars? “What?” I think I heard him wrong. I hoped he would repeat the number.

  “Twenty thousand dollars.” He repeated.

  “For sex with me?”

  “Yes, he wants you.”

  “Why?”

  Joel flashed his teeth at me. “Let me see. He’s a man. He likes pussy. He has cash to blow on pussy and blowjobs. Hun, I really don’t know his motivation.”

  Oral sex? I didn’t even think of that. “I’m not a professional at this, sex and sex stuff.”

  “Hun, I knew that. He knows that. He wants you. He wants Kelby, not a pro.”

  “But why?”

  “He saw your pictures. He requested you and he is willing to pay for your goods and services.”

  “I’m not this person.”

  “What, a hooker?”

  “Yes, Joel. I’m not a hooker.” I was whispering. I’m not sure why. There was no one sitting near our booth.

  “Everybody here knows that. This guy knows that. Let me tell you something sweetheart, you can be a hooker this once for this cash. Don’t let this money slip through your fingers. Are you a virgin?”

  “No.”

  “Well, that’s my point.”

  “Maybe he wants a virgin.”

  “No, he wants you. A pretty Black woman, that isn’t a pro, but has experience.”

  Black woman? “He’s not Black?”

  “No, hun, he’s White.”

  “I have never done it, did that with ya’ know.” I corrected my word humble.

  “Fucked a White man?”

  Joel’s profane language almost sounded like a French accent. It was too pretty coming out his perfect mouth to be offensive.

  “I never did that,” I repeated it. I wasn’t sure he believed me. “I have never even seen a White man’s dick.” Why did I say that out loud? I sound dumb as hell.

  Joel laughed at me but somehow he was so good looking it wasn’t distasteful or rude. “Do you want to see mine?”

  What the hell did he just say? I couldn’t say anything after that.

  “Kelby, it’s not anything to be embarrassed about. I can show you mine.”

  I glanced at my quiet ass friend Lahasia. Her faced was buried in her cell phone. She was probably texting one of her boyfriends.

  She looked up at me from her cell phone. “Girl, stop acting brand new. It’s just a damn dick. Joel has a really big dick.” How would she know? “It’s really thick and pretty. You should take a look at it. He loves to show it off. He loves that thing.”

  “Asia you too much.” Joel dumped her shoulder and she giggled. “I love my cock.”

  “Yeah, you do.” She co-signed. “He calls it Captain America.”

  Joel raised one of his perfectly arched eyebrows. “Look Kelby, we are all family at this table. Yes, I’m proud of my dick and I have no problem showing it to you. I’m comfortable with nudity and my body. If you need to see a big White cock then I can show you. If you want to suck it a big White cock, you know for practice. I can help you with that too.”

  I tried really hard to make sure my mouth wasn’t hanging open.

  “Please ignore Joel. Sometimes he forgets he’s gay.”

  “No, I don’t.” Joel reached over and palmed one of Lahasia’s breasts.

  “See, he definitely forgets sometimes.”

  “Kelby, this is what I know about this future client.
He’s in his mid-thirties. He’s circumcised but I don’t know if he’s well endowed. He’s a new client and he has money, lots of money.”

  “Twenty thousand is a lot for one night.” I finally had something to say.

  “He wants three nights.” Did he say three? “He pays me. I take my cut and you get the rest in your account. It’s a simple transaction. All you have to do is get a blood test. He needs to make sure you are free of any and all STD’s and then we can proceed. Look, Kelly, I take care of all my girls. I’ve been doing this for ten years. Just go get the blood test. You can back out at any time. Just go along with the plan and if you ever feel like you can’t do it you call me and we can talk about it. You have time. You can see him and change your mind. You are never locked into anything. I don’t do business like that.”

  “The blood test. Like how do I do that?”

  “He pays for a registered nurse to come to your house and get a few valves of blood. It’s all private and confidential.”

  “When does this happen?”

  “As soon as you’re ready.”

  Who would ever be ready for this hot-mess-foolishness?

  The subject changed and I was happy not to be the center of the conversation. Joel was smart and funny. He could talk politics, sports, entertainment and tech stuff. I wondered why he was just a pimp.

  Lahasia and Joel plowed me with drinks. I gladly took the free drinks. I wasn’t going to spend a dime of my unemployment money on alcohol. I was living on the bare minimum. I needed the booze. How else could I accept the information that was being thrown at me?

  I took a Lyft to the restaurant. I planned on calling one to take me home. Somehow Joel volunteered to take me back to my apartment. There was something about him that was comfortable and safe. I never heard of a woman being raped by a gay man. Not that it couldn’t happen. I just never heard of it.

  Joel talked all the way to my place. I was glad he talked. My words were coming out broken and slurred. I gave him sketchy drunken directions to my apartment but he seemed to know where he was going.

  “Before you get out I want to show you.”

  I froze. I knew what he was talking about and I had to admit I was curious. I wanted to see Captain America. Knowing Joel was gay made me feel secure. Sort of.

  “Okay.” I had the liquid courage that the three or four margaritas provided.

  I watched him switch on the interior light. He unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants. He didn’t rush but it still seemed like it was all happening in slow motion. He pulled his dick out and placed it in his lap. It was huge in its flaccid state.

  “See, it’s not a big deal.”

  “It’s big.” Huge actually.

  “You’re so cute. This guy is going to really enjoy you. I hope you go through with this opportunity. One time is not going to kill you but it will make you a little richer.”

  “Maybe.” I wasn’t sure if this was my true-self talking or the alcohol I consumed at dinner.

  Joel carefully stuffed his penis right back in his pants. “Hope he’s as big as me. Maybe then you could get out of your head and enjoy it.”

  “Um, I doubt that will happen.”

  “He may surprise you. Most women haven’t been fucked they way they truly deserve.”

  “How would you know what a woman deserves?” Damn, I said that out loud and that sounded mean.

  Joel looked over at me and smiled. He was so pretty and handsome and just sexy as hell. “You could always ask Asia how I know.” He flashed his bright teeth at me. Instead of Black Girl Magic, he did some White Gay Magic and my pussy leaked. I felt it.

  “Get some rest hun. I will text you tomorrow and I will send that nurse over to draw some blood.”

  Tomorrow? Geez, I didn’t even have a chance to think about it. “You don’t have my number.”

  “Kelby, you are so adorable. Text Asia when you get inside. These apartments are in a shady area of town.”

  I didn’t live in a bad area. “I’ll be fine.” I would’ve frowned but my face and body were too relaxed to do the most.

  “If you worked for me, you could live in a better place.”

  “I’m fine right here, thank you.” I opened the passenger door and stumbled out. Not a full-blown stumble but it was a mixture of a stumble and a walk. I shuffled up the sidewalk and went inside the double doors. I took the elevator to my quiet empty apartment.

  I got a handful of cookies and a glass of water and crawled into bed. I tried to block out tonight’s meeting. It was too over the top for me. To Pretty Woman or some other hooker movie.

  It was hard to sleep soundly after seeing Joel’s penis. I was really thinking about this opportunity. I was really thinking about a future that I could have if money wasn’t the issue for just a period of time. I wouldn’t do it but this one time. I could play make-believe. I could pretend I knew him. I would never see this guy again after the sex. It could be like it never happened if I just moved on with my life. I’ve moved on before. I moved on from Dave. I moved on from Marcus.

  CHAPTER 4

  I had things on my mind. I wanted to believe everything Lahasia said to me. I played our conversations over and over again. She really wanted me to do this but it was my vagina on the line, not hers. Somehow I knew this wasn’t the type of decision I could just pretend was so cavalier. This would forever change me. Would it change me for the better or the worse? I didn’t know the answer.

  I had lived a life that was so straight and safe. This was something daring. This is something that could liberate me. Did I need liberation? Did I need to be wild and free for once? Was this wild and free or just motherF-ing ridiculous?

  I drove to the mall. I decided to window shop. The only thing a person without money could do while in dire straits. Maybe some alone time out and about would help me come to a decision. I knew I could back out and something inside told me that was the best move.

  I wasn’t the girl that fucked for money. I only had sex with the men I cared about. Some of them I thought I loved. I needed some new clothes. I couldn’t remember the last time I bought myself a new pair of shoes. I lived check-to-check and even when Dave was around he wasn’t the type to spoil me. He paid his share and not a penny more.

  Life was living me. I wasn’t living life. Maybe if I did this one thing I can get back on my feet and get myself together. My fingers found their way to a nice pair of dark denim jeans. I removed them from the rack and searched for the fitting room. It was across the aisle. I would have been on my way but I looked over and there she was. Her— Victoria— my exes new girlfriend, with her wide-bodied ass.

  Her evil eyes were glued to me. I couldn’t miss her because she was staring a hole in me. That cow was looking so hard she could see the blood in my veins. I looked away even though I wasn’t scared. I was surprised. This was the worse time to run into her, lay eyes on her, and breathe the same air as her. I hate this ratchet bitch.

  I returned the jeans to the stand. I pretended to search the rack for my size. I wasn’t in the mood to try on anything anymore. I craved the comfort of my bed. I was just going to ignore Victoria until she vanished from my general vicinity. Nope, that trick had other plans. When I looked up she was standing right in front of me.

  “Kelby.”

  “Victoria.” My attitude matched hers. I hated having anything in common with her. I was willing to tear this place up. Something had sparked a fire in me. If she wanted a fight I had one for her home-wrecking ass. I had nothing to lose. I was broke and unemployed. I was hungry too and that made me irritable.

  She rolled her ugly ass eyes at me. Too much eyeliner. “I wanted to ask you a question?”

  Ask bitch! I flashed her a look of disdain. My eyebrows rose toward my hairline. I felt them move. “What?” Hoe!

  “Are you still fucking around with my baby daddy?”

  That’s the question. I thought about lying and crushing this bitches soul. I decided it was much more hurtful to tell her
the truth. “Nope, it’s not me this time. Check out your homegirls. It’s probably one of them.” Hoes of a feather, flock together.

  “I don’t have no female friends. I don’t fuck with bitches like that.”

  I smirked because I wasn’t done yet. “I know you got a sister or a cousin?” I was being mean and there were zero fucks given at this very moment.

  She paused as she thought about what I said. She was thinking about my words. Boom hoe!

  “You a real bitter bitch.”

  “I’d rather be a bitter bitch than a stupid bitch. But you do you, Victoria.” I spit her name out like chewing tobacco.

  “You talking shit but I’m a let that one pass. I could drag your ass up in this store.”

  I hissed at that bullshit. “You ain’t dragging a motherfucking thing. Don’t nobody want that lowlife motherfucker but you. Check his phone and follow him bum ass around.” Slutty possum looking tramp. I was getting riled up, hostile to the tenth power.

  “If I find out you fucking him, I’m coming for you.”

  “Come for me bitch. Pull up a chair and have several seats while you coming. I don’t give a fuck.”

  Shock registered on her face. I was getting louder and bolder. I was ready to get it popping. I was ready to get arrested. Things were already bad for me right now. An assault charge wouldn’t make or break me.

  “I will fuck you up.” She perched one hand on her wide ass hips.

  “You ain’t gont do shit bitch.” I didn’t know how pissed I was until now. It took a lot of willpower to keep my balled fist at my sides. She could get these hands.

  “Hit me hoe.”

  Hoe, that term was only reserved for her.

  Dave stepped in between us. Where did he come from? I hadn’t seen him live and in person in over a month. Last time I saw him was through the peephole early in the morning and another time at 2 AM. He was drunk and trying to get into my apartment. At first, I thought he had just forgotten where he lived. But he was trying to have sex with me yet again. I refused to open the door and let him knock until he gave up and went home to this psycho bitch Victoria.