by Niyah Moore
Mina was still grinding and twerking to make her ends meet. She and Zay had a two-year-old daughter now, and they were talking about getting married soon, but I hadn’t seen a ring yet, so who knew when that would be. They were in love, but it was strange how Zay didn’t give a damn what she did to make money. She would fuck if they paid enough. He would be right there afterward, collecting. Shit, I couldn’t give my hard-earned money to nobody. I wasn’t built to have a pimp as a boyfriend.
As far as my love life was concerned, I didn’t have a man by choice. I wasn’t stuntin’ no niggas unless his name was Luxury. That was the only nigga I wanted, and nobody could compare to him. My infatuation grew every time I saw him. I wanted him so bad. It didn’t seem like he liked me like that, though. He never requested a lap dance from me. He would toss money when I was onstage, but that was it. That was the only kind of attention he gave me.
The last time I saw him, he was in VIP, but then he disappeared too fast. I never knew when he was coming up there. Some nights, I would stare at the door, hoping he would walk in. I dreamed he requested a dance and I ground on him while whispering why he should fuck with me.
After three years, I really needed to stop trying to get his attention, because that shit wasn’t working. Since I couldn’t have Luxury like I wanted to, I fucked whomever I wanted when I wanted, but I was absolutely not interested in tricks. I never fucked for money. I wasn’t a prostitute. I never fucked nobody up in that bitch, period. Not knocking those hoes who were down for the shit, but I simply felt like I made enough money without having to lie on my back to get it.
On my twenty-first birthday, I didn’t want to go to work, but my other plans had fallen through. As it turned out, the one night I wanted Mina to hang with me, she couldn’t find a damn babysitter, and so she couldn’t leave the house.
“What am I supposed to do now?” I asked while looking in my closet for something to wear. “We supposed to be going out tonight. How come Zay can’t watch her?”
“Girl, he ain’t even here. Look, go make some money and then get some dick or somethin’. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. See you tomorrow.” She hung up before I could beg.
Get some dick? Dick was the last thing on my mind. The two niggas I let slide through every now and then had brought me birthday wishes. One had given me roses, and the other had given me a teddy bear. I had thanked them with a kiss, had made up a lie about being on my period, and had sent them on their way. I could go out by myself, but I wasn’t in the mood for that.
Making some money didn’t sound like a bad idea. Instead of going to bed, I decided to get in the shower. I washed every inch of my body with Caress Daily Silk body wash. I loved the way it smelled. I took a thirty-minute shower and got out. I tossed on my black joggers from Pink, a black halter top that said BITCH, and black and red Jordans. After I threw my hair in a sloppy bun, I grabbed my purse and keys. I texted Mina as I was going out the door.
Me: Going to work ’cause you suck, sucka.
Mina: I love you too, bitch. We’ll celebrate this weekend. Night.
I rolled my eyes and left my apartment. I hopped into my car and headed to the club. When I walked into Queen’s, Rich Homie Quan’s song “Flex” was playing. I walked straight to the back to change into my yellow two-piece, which accentuated my ass perfectly, and let my hair down. I was ready to hit the floor. After I locked my locker, I started to walk out of the dressing room.
Just then Syn strutted toward me, naked, and said, “Hey, Desire.”
“What the fuck you want, Syn?” I snapped.
“Damn, bitch. What’s your problem tonight?”
Syn was five feet one, a short, thick bitch. She was beautiful, with her hair as red as cherry Kool-Aid, and niggas loved it.
I let out a long sigh. “It’s my birthday, and I should be out partying. Instead, I’m stuck here.”
“You talk to Queen about taking the night off?”
“I had the night off, but I don’t have shit to do. Mina couldn’t get a babysitter, and that fucked up my plans.”
“Damn, that sucks. Well, shit, make that money, boo. And Happy Birthday. How old are you?”
“Thank you. I’m twenty-one,” I answered, letting my real age slip out. Shit, I was supposed to be twenty-one three years ago. “I mean, I’m twenty-four.”
She laughed. “Don’t act like everybody ain’t know you were only eighteen when you started shaking yo’ ass on that stage. Girl, everybody was eighteen when they started taking off they clothes for money.”
“Oh . . . Is it poppin’ out there tonight?”
“You know it’s always poppin’.” She paused. “Luxury is out there,” she said with a grin. “He just told me to come get you, and that’s why I came back here.”
“He asked about me?” I scowled, finding that hard to believe.
“Yeah, he did. I was giving him a lap dance, and he said, ‘Get Desire.’”
“Like that?” My eyebrows rose in doubt.
“Straight like that. He’s over in his usual VIP section, near the bar.”
“His brothers with him?”
“You askin’ too many questions, bitch. Go out there and find out.”
I rolled my eyes and walked out of the dressing room. I scanned the place as I walked, but when I reached Luxury’s usual spot, he wasn’t there. Where did he go? Did this nigga ask for me and then leave? I took a deep breath and exhaled, feeling irritated from his shenanigans.
Some dude signaled for me to give him a lap dance, and I didn’t hesitate, because I didn’t see Luxury’s ass anywhere. The stranger put the money in my thong, and I went to work. I rolled my hips slowly to Future’s “Where Ya At.” When I felt his dick get hard, I knew he had better pull out some more money before the DJ cut to the next song.
Out of nowhere, I heard Luxury’s voice. “Fuck. You workin’ that nigga like you a muhfuckin’ pro. Ooh-wee.”
I looked up at Luxury with a smirk on my face. If he had come to see me more often, he would’ve known that I was a pro. The DJ cut the song, and my three minutes were up. I got up from the guy’s lap as he placed a few crumpled twenties in my bra. I smiled down at him before my eyes landed back on Luxury.
I was hoping Luxury would request a lap dance of his own, so he could really see what kind of tricks I had up my sleeve, but when he didn’t say anything, I walked away. He was playing games and wasting my time.
“So, you just gone walk away from me?” he called.
I turned around and faced his fine ass. “I haven’t seen you in so long, I almost forgot what you look like.”
“Ah, now you got jokes? It’s been a minute, but I ain’t forgot about ya. Ain’t it your twenty-first birthday?”
I tried my best not to look surprised that he had remembered my birthday or even how old I really was, but I guessed I didn’t hide my shocked expression too well, because he gave me the biggest grin, with those deep-ass dimples begging for my affection. He took a bundle of one hundred-dollar bills out of his pocket as he walked toward me.
“I came to give you a birthday present.” He placed the money in my free hand. “I know you’ve been working your ass off for the past three years. You’ve been holding your own. Niggas can’t get enough of Desire. I told you.”
Flipping through the bundle of bills, I bit my lower lip. There were at least forty Benjamin Franklins. This was one night of work, without busting a sweat or popping my pussy for him.
“Damn,” I said under my breath, but he heard me.
“Let’s get out of here. You down?” he said.
“Yeah,” I heard myself say, still in disbelief. “Let me get changed and tell Queen I’m out.”
“I’ll be at the front.”
I walked to my locker, changed back into my joggers. I took out Queen’s percentage from the lap dance before putting the rest of my money in my purse and locking my locker. Then I left the dressing room. Once I reached Queen’s office, I knocked on the door.
“Come in,” I heard her say.
I walked in, and Queen was standing there with Rob, one of the bouncers. Queen looked as if she had been cussing his ass out. She was always cussing somebody out. Queen, nine times out of ten, was an unpleasant woman. She was not that old, but she was straight from the old school and had the mind of a pimp from the seventies. The strands of her short blond wig limply framed her aging face. Her forehead was wrinkled and had many peaks and trenches, caused by years of constant frowning, and her eyes permanently harbored a glare full of disdain. Her entire face always looked drained of any signs of joy and amusement.
Those who thought Queen was nothing but an old-ass woman would quickly be reminded why they called her Queen. She would beat anybody’s ass with that steel bat of hers, and I had been a witness to that a few times. I didn’t fuck with her. I made sure to stay on her cool side. Matter of fact, I liked to think that I was one of her favorites.
“You changed your mind about working?” she asked, glaring at my dressed-down attire.
“Yeah, other plans surfaced. I did one lap dance, though. Here you go.” I tried to hand her the money, but she rejected it as she put her hand up.
“It’s your birthday. Go, get out of here, and enjoy it.”
“It’s your birthday?” Rob asked.
I happily put the money in my pocket and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Happy Birthday, shawty.”
“Thanks, Rob. See y’all later.” I stepped out of Queen’s office, closed her door behind me, and walked to the front of the club. I waved bye to a few girls on my way out with Luxury.
“Desire,” Luxury’s deep voice said as soon as we were out of the club and in the parking lot.
I didn’t look at him, but a smile spread across my face.
“You can smile, but ya can’t look at me? Who does that?”
“Luxury, what I need to look at you for?” I asked, feeling shy, with these butterflies swirling in my stomach like crazy.
“Look at me,” he said in a gentle yet demanding voice.
I slowly looked up at him.
He didn’t say anything.
I smacked my lips. “I’m looking at you, and now you ain’t got shit to say? Boy, you play so fuckin’ much. I can’t stand you.”
He chuckled a little. “A’ight. I see you got a mouth on you. You just rolled with a nigga, and I ain’t even tell you where we going. You trust a nigga like that?”
“Where we going?”
“Shit, I don’t even know yet. I didn’t think you would even roll with me. You’re big-time now. What you want to kick it with li’l me for?”
I sucked my teeth and laughed. “Wow . . . okay. I think you know exactly where you wanna take me.”
He smirked and bit his lower lip all sexy-like. “Maybe.”
Suddenly, I felt the need to go off on him. “Why you don’t say hi to me when you come up here? You don’t even request me. You gave me my stage name the first night we met, and you’ve barely talked to me since. It’s been three years, Lux—”
“When I come up here, it’s mostly for business. This is where my brothers get their inspiration for their music, but don’t think I haven’t been seeing you doing your thing. I’m tryin’a get to know you better and find out what’s inside that pretty li’l head of yours.” He unlocked the doors of his all-black Hellcat. He opened the passenger door for me.
My baby got manners, I thought. I got into his car, and he went around to the driver’s side without closing me in. I shook my head and pulled the handle to close the door myself. Well, a few manners.
“Lavish is having a kickback at his house,” he said as soon as he started up the car.
The Hellcat was loud when it roared. With its supercharged V8 Hemi engine, the Hellcat had power, and the sound of the engine instantly turned me on. Luxury reached into the middle compartment and pulled out a Glock and tucked it into his waist.
“Couldn’t bring my shit with all the metal detectors up in that bitch. I keep my thang on me at all times.”
I nodded, because most niggas around here were always strapped.
“You want me to go with you to Lavish’s li’l kickback?” I asked him.
“Yeah. Is that good with you?”
I didn’t want to feel salty, but I was disappointed. I had thought he wanted to go to dinner or somewhere nice so we could finally be alone. I stared at my joggers and sighed, “I’m not even dressed for all that.”
“Look in the backseat.” He turned on the light on the ceiling so I could see into the backseat. A white box with a red bow was sitting there. The box looked a little big for one piece of clothing. “That’s for you.”
I looked at him. “Okay, wait. How did you even know I was working tonight?”
“Why you think Mina couldn’t get a babysitter? I told her to make sure you made it down here tonight.”
“Oh, so that was you? My own best friend was in on it and didn’t say shit to me about it.”
“I wanted to surprise you.” He reached into the backseat, grabbed the box, and put it in my lap. “Open it.”
My hands were shaking. I wasn’t expecting any of this. I pulled the top off the box and pulled out a hunter-green halter jumpsuit. It was cute as hell. Underneath was a pair of ankle-strapped silver stilettos.
“Did Mina help you pick this out?”
“Nah. What? You think I don’t know how to shop for a woman?”
“I don’t think any man can unless he’s gay.”
“Hell nah, I ain’t gay. I know what will look good on the li’l Spanish mami. If you roll with me, you will wear only the finest and flyest.”
I bit my lower lip and put everything back in the box. “Where am I supposed to get dressed? Right here?”
“Let me run you home really fast so you can get dressed. Little Havana, right?”
“Wynwood.”
“I thought you lived in Little Havana. What side of Wynwood?”
“I stay near Biscayne. I’m from Little Havana, but that ain’t where I live. Just drive, and I’ll show you the way.”
He turned up some music for the ride. I nodded my head. I had heard the song on the radio many times. The Monnahan Boyz had had their first radio hit, and the beat was hard. I loved it. It took about fourteen minutes as I guided him to my complex. He pulled up to the curb and turned down the music.
“I’ll be waiting right here. I got a call to make,” he said.
“Okay.” I thought he would want to come inside, but there he was, on that weird shit.
“Don’t take long,” he ordered.
I snapped, “I won’t. Are you always such a bossy ass?”
“Always.” He smiled.
I shook my head, hopped out, entered my building, and walked briskly to my door, which was a little way down the hall.
Once inside my apartment, I headed into my bedroom and plopped the box down on my bed. I went into my bathroom and washed up quickly, hitting my hot spots. I put on some lotion, deodorant, and perfume before slipping into the jumpsuit. I snapped off the tag carefully and put on the shoes. Everything fit perfectly. I shook my head, thinking about how Mina had managed to keep this from me. I grabbed my phone out of my purse and called her on speakerphone.
“Hello?” she said, sounding as if she was wide awake.
“Bitch, you are so fired. I thought yo’ ass was tired.”
“The baby is asleep, so I decided to watch a movie with Zay. Wait, where you at?”
I pulled my hair into a high ponytail. “I’m at home, getting dressed. Why didn’t you tell me Luxury wanted to kick it with me tonight?”
She laughed. “Ah, so he showed up? What he get you?”
“Fuck all that. We supposed to be best friends, and you hid this from me, bitch.”
“I sure did. Just in case that nigga didn’t come through. I wasn’t in the mood to hear you bitchin’ and complainin’ if he pulled one of his disappearing acts. Hurry up and tell me what he got you.”
>
“This fly-ass jumpsuit and silver stilettos. I’m glad you told him my size, ’cause the shit fits perfectly. And he gave me four bands.”
“What? He asked me only your shoe size. He ain’t say he was gonna do all that. Wait, where he at right now?”
“He’s outside, waiting for me.”
“Girl, you better hurry up. I’m hanging up right now. I don’t need you calling me, talking about how Luxury left yo’ ass.”
I frowned as I wet my hair with the brush and water from the faucet to smooth my ponytail into a bun. “He would leave me?”
She laughed. “You got a lot to learn about Mr. Luxury. His time is precious, and he has no patience, so get yo’ ass up outta there right now.”
Before I could respond, she hung up. I brushed my hair quickly into that bun at the top of my head, making sure not a hair was out of place. I grabbed my purse and locked up my spot. When I got back into the car, he was sending a text message to somebody.
“Hope that didn’t take too long.”
“Nah, you straight.” He looked up from his phone to gaze at me. He didn’t smile or anything. He just stared.
“Thank you for everything . . . the money, the outfit,” I said.
“I know it’s not much, but you know, I loved the surprised look on your face. That made my night.” He started up the car and pulled away from the curb.
I tried my hardest to stop myself from smiling so broadly, but I couldn’t help it. I smiled so much, my cheeks were starting to hurt.
5
DESIRE
Lavish’s Pad
Luxury pulled up to what looked like a mini-mansion. We got out of the car after he parked. I followed closely behind him as he walked up to the front door.
“Why you back there?” he asked.
I shrugged, feeling my insides turn over. I needed a shot of something, but I didn’t like to drink like that, not even when I took my clothes off every night and danced. The girls at the club thought I was a super freak because I could strip sober. It was just a job to me. I saw how liquor had them looking sloppy and loose. Niggas took advantage of drunk hoes, and I had vowed that would never be me. I didn’t need a reason to be taken of advantage of, so I knew my limits.