“Anyway, I’m dying of hunger. Do you want to walk out on the scheme and let us see if di chicken man is out there?” Sophia said.
“Yeah, let me change my clothes real quick.”
“All right, Muma. Hurry up. Dem mosquito are deadly bad.”
I opened the door to my little one-bedroom apartment and rushed inside. I grabbed a pair of little shorts and a small tank top and quickly got dressed. Within minutes, me and my bestie was walking up the road, gossiping about everything that went on in the Gully.
After we got the chicken, we walked back to my house, where we sat down on the verandah and ate. The entire time we were eating, my mind was thinking about what Sophia had said. I mean, I’d been trying not to date anyone, because I was still hoping and praying that Omar would come back to me. But my friend was right. That nigga had dissed me and now belonged to another bitch. What the fuck was I waiting for? It might be too late, though, ’cause I did blow Gaza off twice. A nigga like him could get any bitch he wanted, so what the fuck this nigga wanted with little old me . . . ?
When we were done eating, Sophia stood up. “Yo, bitch, it’s getting late, so I’m going to my yard. You know how Oneil get brindle when he come in before me, and true, I’m not in the mood to fight him tonight. Plus, tomorrow night your show, and I need mi money from him to do my hair and my nails tomorrow.”
“A’ight, goody. Text me when you reach inside the house. I’m going to have a bath right now.”
“All right, boo.”
I watched as she walked down the street. When she was no longer in sight, I unlocked the grill and walked into my apartment. I was tired as hell, and I needed to shower and rest up because tomorrow night was a big night for me. I had a dance contest, and I would receive fifty grand if I won. I knew that one of the girls I was competing against was a big-time dancer who used to roll with the Spice dance crew, so the pressure was on. I knew I had to practice my moves and also come up with some new moves that nobody had ever seen before. I looked in the mirror. Was I ready for this?
Hell yeah, bitch, you ready, a voice echoed in my head.
* * *
My freshly done weave was in a bun, and my body was looking good dressed in a bodycon. I planned to perform tonight in a white jumpsuit from Victoria’s Secret. This was my night, and I was shining like the diamond I knew I was. Some of these bitches in the dance contest did this shit to pass the time, but this was my way of getting out of the ghetto. The more battles I won, the more my name would circulate. I was hoping that one day one of these entertainers would come looking for me to be in their videos or go on tour with them. Yeah, I was only a girl from the ghetto, but that didn’t stop me from dreaming big.
I watched as bitches pointed fingers and whispered among themselves in the club’s lobby. I didn’t even acknowledge them. Instead, I swung the little ass and hips that God had blessed me with and made my way to the dressing room. Then I dialed Sophia.
“Bitch, where you at?” I asked when she answered the phone.
“Yo, I’m two minutes from the club. Are you there?”
“Yes. I’m in the changing room. Hurry up and come on.”
I hung the phone up and changed my clothes. I was almost finished dressing when this one bitch that I had beaten numerous times walked in. I could smell trouble from a mile away. This bitch, Anika, had been salty the last time I beat her, and she had kept yelling at the judges that they were cheating for me. The bitch had gone as far as threatening me. I hurried and put my legs into the pants part of the jumpsuit and pulled it up. I pretended like I was stunning the bitch, but all along I was reaching for my razor in my wallet. I placed it under my tongue. This was a trick that I had learned early on. See, when you grew up in the ghetto, you had to learn how to defend yourself.
“Yo, Marie, see the dutty gyal here that steal my spot last time?” Anika yelled to a bitch that had walked into the dressing room behind her.
“Eh, is that her? Look on the old parasite. They stole yo spot, goody. After this gyal don’t even look like she can dance,” her big, bad friend commented.
“Yo, bitch, I win that fair and square,” I told Marie. “I beat your friend three time, and tonight I’m going to beat her for the fourth time. I’m a good dancer. I don’t have to steal anything.”
Marie glared at me. “Is it me this underprivileged gyal talking to?”
This bitch Anika stepped to my face. I didn’t think twice. I pulled the razor out of my mouth and just went in.
“Oh my God! This gyal cut you, goody!” was all I heard.
I opened my eyes and saw that I had blood all over my dance clothes. I looked over, and I saw the bitch holding her face. She was screaming.
I grabbed my bag and stuffed my things in there.
“She a try to leave. Hold the gyal and beat her,” someone said, pointing at me.
“Nobody better not put a bloodclaat hand on her. Yo, come on.” Sophia grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crowd that had gathered in the dressing room.
We raced to the lobby and then out the front door of the club. The people in front of the building were not aware of what was going on, because they had been standing around, talking and drinking. The second we were outside, Sophia started flagging down a taxi. The taxis that went by zoomed past us, so more than likely they were filled with customers. I happened to look back and saw security running into the building. I knew that by now everybody was aware of what had gone down in there.
“Come on! We have to get away from here,” I told Sophia.
We decide to run across the street in front of the club, but that meant we would have to dodge all these speeding cars. We waited for a gap in the flow of traffic and then ran as fast as we could. We had made it to the other side of the street when I noticed the BMW. It was the car that Gaza drove. I walked over to the car and looked inside. He was sitting in there. I guessed he had just pulled up. I didn’t know he frequented this scene.
He climbed out of the car when he saw me. “Whaddup, shawty? I see we meet again.” He smiled at me.
“Listen, I need a ride out of here,” I told him.
“What’s good?” He looked at me suspiciously.
“I got into it with a gyal in the club, and I end up cutting her. Now they’re after me.”
“Oh, word. Get it in, yo.” He looked around.
I was about to get in the car when Sophia grabbed my arm. “Who is this? You know him?” She was looking at me suspiciously now.
“This is the same youth that I was telling you about. The other man. Come on,” I said.
We all got in the car, and he pulled off. He drove past the club, and the crowd was gathered around the entrance, but we couldn’t see anything else. This was some bullshit.
“Yo, what happen in there with you and the bitches?” he asked once the club was in his rearview mirror.
“Yo, I come up here to compete in the dance contest. This gyal that I beat three times have it in for me. She jump up in my face, along with her friend. I tried to ignore them, but the bitch start disrespecting. So I pull the razor out my mout’ and slice di gyal in her face. A long time, I give that gyal. Whole lot of passes.”
“Yo, goody, I’m sorry I was late. ’Cause, trust mi, if I was there, that gyal couldn’t come up inna yuh face like dat. Trust me,” Sophia said. I could tell by her tone that she was pissed off.
“I didn’t know you is a bad gyal, mon.” He burst out laughing.
“Why you laughing like it’s a joke thing? What if they call the police? I’ll be locked up,” I said in an annoyed tone.
“Yo, relax . . . A Jamaica this, so them bitches ain’t callin’ no police. If anything, you just have to be prepared to fuck them up again.”
“I’m not afraid of these bitches. I’m angry because tonight I’m s’pposed to get fifty grand if I won. This is how I make my money. I’m an independent gyal, and this gyal come fuck with me and fuck up my thing. Yo, I’m vex bad.”
“Yo,
chill out, babes. Fifty grand? That’s nothing, babes. Just easy,” he said.
He was saying that shit ’cause he probably got money, but I didn’t have money like that. I made a few dollars at the bar, but dancing was my thing to get me up out of the ghetto.
“Y’all ladies going home?”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind. Drop me home please. I ’ave this gyal blood all ova my clothes,” I said.
The rest of the ride was quiet; I was too fucking upset to keep on talking. With the anger that I was feeling right now, I could definitely kill that bitch. Why the fuck would she decide to mess with me? I was not a troublemaker. I made my little money and took care of myself. Tears wanted to flow, but my pride wouldn’t let me cry in front of a nigga that I barely knew. So I used everything in me to hold it in.
Twenty minutes later he pulled up at the house. But wait, how the fuck did he know exactly where I lived at? Hmm. Let me find out this nigga been doing his homework, I thought.
“Here you go, ladies.”
“Tanks,” Sophia said and jumped out.
“Thank you. I appreciate it,” I told him. I was about to exit the car when he grabbed my arm.
“Yo, B. Take my number and link mi.”
“Come on, Gaza. Mi appreciate what you just do for me, but I just tell you I don’t want no man.”
“Camille, fuck that nigga that hurt you. I’m a man, not him. Yo, take this number and link mi,” he said in a serious tone.
Finessed a Dope Boy's Heart Page 21