by K'wan
“I hear that, G.” Princess gave me a high five. “So you must be living ghetto fabulous off this place?”
I looked around modestly. “Not really. This place is new, but Jackie’s real job is as a literary agent.”
“A what?” the girl named Tashee asked.
I hated holding conversations with people whom you had to translate for. “A literary agent. He matches authors and their works with publishing houses and handles their affairs.”
“Aw shit, a paper pimp.” Tashee grinned.
Clearly tired of her friend embarrassing her, Princess interjected. “Well, he sounds like a wonderful guy, and I can’t wait to meet him tonight, but right now we gotta get ready to do our thing.” She tugged at Tashee’s sleeve.
I hugged the little girl I used to know and took in her scent. She smelled like weed and alcohol, but the sweetness lingered beneath. “It was so good to see you, Princess. Maybe later on we can get some drinks and I can introduce you to Jackie. He’s not here right now, but I’m sure he’ll be in soon.”
“Sooner than you think,” I heard Randy mumble behind me. I was about to ask him what he’d said, when I heard a commotion at the front door. Big José was parting the crowd, with three or four girls behind him. Bringing up the rear was my husband Jackie, with some chick I didn’t know and that bitch Kim hanging from his arms.
NINE
Princess
From the tension that hung in the air and the look on Gina’s face, I knew something was out of order. Security was ushering in a dark-skinned cat dressed in a three-piece suit. Two small boulders dangled from his ears, reflecting rainbows on the sides of his face whenever he moved his head. At first I thought he was just some cat coming to trick a few dollars and get his stunt on like the rest, but from the embarrassed look on Gina’s face, it had to be her husband.
Jackie ambled into the spot with an expression that said he knew he was the shit. The two dolled-up broads on his arm had the nerve to throw their noses in the air and look at Gina sideways. I gave her the eye to let her know that I was with her if she wanted to beat their asses and his, but she wouldn’t meet my gaze. I knew then that she was, as I had been, a prisoner of her own heart. I watched the girl who had been so very much like family to me try and raise her head and keep some shred of her dignity, but it was a hard fight.
“Hey, baby,” she greeted that piece of shit. She went to kiss him on the lips, but he gave her his cheek. It took everything I had to keep from dipping in my bag and coming across that man’s face. Tashee must’ve been feeling it, too, because I saw her Gemstar glistening between her teeth. Reluctantly I gave her the signal, and the razor disappeared back into her mouth.
“What’s up, girl?” Jackie ran his hands down her sides and slapped her on the ass in front of everybody. Her face turned beet-red, but she took it like a champ. “You look good than a muthafucka tonight.”
“Thanks, baby.” She mustered a smile, but I wasn’t fooled. Jackie was a snake, and he smelled of it.
“What’s up, Jackie?” Randy spoke up. From the look in his eyes, I could tell he didn’t care for Mr. Jackie either.
“How are we supposed to sell liquor if there ain’t nobody manning the bar to serve the customers?” was Jackie’s reply.
“Sasha will be okay for a few minutes while I talk to my sister,” Randy said.
“More like gossiping,” Jackie said. “I don’t pay Sasha to run the bar—that’s your job.”
“It’s okay, Jackie. He just came over to talk to me for a few,” Gina interjected. When I saw the way he looked at her, I knew he was about to clown, so I tried to bow out before the bullshit popped.
“Gina, I’m about to get outta here. Are you good?” I asked her. Without even looking in his direction, I could feel Jackie’s eyes undressing me.
“Yeah, thanks, Princess.” Gina hugged me. When she held me, she held me close. Not like the embrace of a lover, but that of someone who really needed a hug. If you asked me, I couldn’t tell you if it was more for my benefit or hers.
“And who is this?” Jackie asked. He didn’t even have the common decency to hide the lust in his eyes as he looked me up and down like his wife wasn’t even standing there. Slim wasn’t the most loyal nigga, but even his balls weren’t that big.
“Jackie, this is an old friend of mine. Princess, this is my husband, Jackie.” Gina made the introductions like the good little wife, while his mistresses eyed me with contempt. I returned their glares with equal venom, because unlike Gina, I was well skilled in disorderly conduct.
“Princess—” The way he said my name made my skin crawl, but I kept it easy for the sake of my friend. “—what’s good with you, ma?”
“Not a damn thing,” I said very seriously. “Gina”—I gave Jackie my back, which probably only made it worse—“after I get dressed, I’ll come back over and give you my number. Randy—” I gave him another hug, more out of assurance that he had an ally than from necessity. “—I’ll see you in a few because I can already tell I’m gonna need a stiff drink.”
“We’ve got the stiffest in town.” Jackie tried to get fly.
I peeped Tashee about to say something crazy, so I cut it short. “It was nice meeting you, Jackie,” I said, leading Tashee by the hand into the club. As an afterthought, I looked back at the girls Jackie had come in with, who were still staring at us, and capped, “Bum-ass bitches.”
* * *
By the time I’d donned my heels and thong, the place had started to fill up. The part-time hustlers had pretty much ran through their paper, making way for the cats that were a little more ’bout it, but there still wasn’t a Willy in sight except for Jackie, and he was off-limits. I did a lot of foul shit in my day, but Gina was like family.
I watched my long-lost homegirl for a good part of the night while she put up the farce of the happy housewife/business partner. She greeted the guests with smiles and settled disputes between the girls before they could escalate. For all outward appearances, she seemed focused, but I knew that inside, her heart was crumbling. I could never grasp why men never cherished the good women in their lives, but Jackie was twice as stupid as the rest of them. From what I remembered of Gina, she was smart, motivated, and about getting ahead in life, not to mention that she was a cutie. Gina had always been more developed than most of the girls in our neighborhood, but adulthood had done her some serious justice. She was fly in her skirt and suit jacket, showing enough skin to make the mind wonder without looking trashy. When she walked across the room, all the guys and some of the girls admired the way the mini hugged her perfectly curved hips. I could only imagine how sweet she tasted.
When I looked down and noticed my finger absently running along the edge of my thong, I knew I was tripping. Ever since I was a little girl I had thought Gina was beautiful. I had never been with a woman back then, but every now and again, I had a stray thought about what it would be like. I shook my head, embarrassed at where my mind was trying to go with it. Gina was someone who had been like a sister to me growing up, and here I was fantasizing about getting it on with her. The DJ gave me the signal from the booth, telling me it was time to go on. He cranked T-Pain’s “I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper),” and I took the stage. Before going into my routine, I took one last look at Gina and was surprised to find her staring back at me.
TEN
Gina
I was so embarrassed that I wanted to crawl under a rock and die. It was bad enough that Jackie didn’t think enough to ask if I wanted to ride in the limo with him, but he shows up with Kim on his arm like she was the wife and I was the side bitch. I could tell from the look that Princess was giving me that she wanted to whip some ass, and by rights, we should’ve got it popping, but instead I acted like everything was good when me and everyone else knew that it wasn’t. Just another sad example of how low I’d fallen.
I saw Princess watching me, but I pretended not to. I don’t know if it was from the embarrassment of what had gone down with
Jackie, or the thoughts running through my head. Back in the day, Princess had been a beanpole with a slick mouth, but that was a long time ago. Dressed in her stripper outfit, I could truly appreciate what she’d grown into. She stalked through the room, swinging her heart-shaped ass, making sure all eyes were on her. I couldn’t believe the way dudes were fawning over her, even though she was shutting any and everybody down who didn’t have a minimum of a hundred dollars in their hands. She exuded so much confidence that I felt it all the way on the other side of the room and wished I could borrow just a fraction of that.
Get a grip, Gina, I told myself, trying to slow my speeding heart rate. I was so ashamed that I felt all the color flush into my face. This was my best friend’s little sister, and I was eyeing her like a piece of prime rib.
“Stranger things have happened.” Randy startled me out of my daydream.
“What?”
“You know what.” He placed his hands on his slim hips. “I see the way your ass is over here gawking at all that fish.”
“Ain’t nobody gawking at nothing, Randy. Cut that out.” I know he saw through the lie, but I couldn’t even draw a picture in my mind of what Randy was implying. It was too unnatural, wasn’t it?
“You know they say that once you cross that line…”
“Randy, your ass is bugging out—you know how much I love dick!”
“Gina, I love dick, too, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t do a little pussy on the side when I’m feeling adventurous. It’s called being bisexual.”
“Randy, I’m not into girls,” I told him, forcing the certainty into my voice that my heart couldn’t find.
Randy raised his eyebrow, and before he said it, I knew where he was going with it. “What about freshman year?”
“Randy, that was a kiss, and it was only one time.” I rubbed my sweaty palms against my skirt.
“And senior year with Rachel, after the frat party?”
Ouch.
“Randy … we were both roaring drunk. I don’t even remember what happened between us.”
“Oh, you remember, even if you wanna convince yourself that you don’t.” Randy folded his arms. “Gina, you wouldn’t be the first victim.”
“Victim of what?”
“Curiosity,” he told me. “I know plenty of girls who’ve had rotten luck with men, so they got curious about the other side. Some of them decide to stay for a spell, and some go back to their straight lives and try to act like it’s never happened.”
“I’m not curious,” I told him, but couldn’t look him in the eyes when I said it.
“I think you are,” he disputed. His eyes wandered to Princess, who was onstage giving one hell of a show. “I can’t say that I blame you, though—Princess is a bad bitch.”
“Cut it out, Randy.”
“I’m serious. If you don’t wanna fuck her, I just might.” He was smiling, but I believed him.
“Randy, get yo ass back to the bar before Jackie comes over here tripping,” I shooed him.
“Whatever, Gina—ain’t no telling who or what that snake-ass nigga is doing right about now. I don’t see him over here with you handling business.”
“Watch it, Randy,” I warned him.
“They say that a little truth is good for the soul.” Randy snapped his finger twice. “You better get on your job, Gina, before you find yourself on the unemployment line.” Randy switched back over to the bar. He took a minute to say something slick to a guy who was sitting at the bar before fixing two drinks and taking the stool beside him. My brother was off the hook.
He’d hit a sore spot when he brought up Jackie. I had just about worked myself so hard that I forgot about how he shitted on me when he came in. I could’ve slapped the shit out of that skinny bitch Kim for trying to style on me in my own club, but I had to be the bigger woman. This was Jackie’s big night, and I didn’t want to ruin it, but Ms. Plastic Titties and I were definitely gonna have some words, and deep down in my heart, I hoped that she broke fly so I could let out some of this stress on her ass. Jackie might not have respected me, but his bitches damn sure would.
I don’t know if I was madder at him or me over this craziness. Every fiber of my being told me Jackie was bad news and that I needed to get away from him, but still I stayed. Why? Shit, I’m still trying to figure it out myself. I loved Jackie, but it wasn’t that deep passionate love that I used to have for him. When the fire for me in his heart died, I tried to make mine burn hot enough for both of us, but in the end, it was proving to be too much.
One of the girls came over and handed me a purple drink. I looked over toward the bar, and Randy raised his glass in salute before he and the man he’d been talking to slipped discreetly out the fire door that led to the alley on the side of the club. Looking at the man, you’d have never guessed he was a switch-hitter, but I guessed there was a little queen inside everybody. Pushing aside thoughts of Jackie and my crumbling marriage, I sipped my drink and watched Princess do her thing.
ELEVEN
Princess
I danced for three songs and halfway into a fourth when they finally pulled me off the stage. I had those tricks giving it up when I hit the scene, on my Brooklyn bullshit. The way these Harlem niggaz loved to trick bread, I couldn’t see why all these bitches weren’t pushing fly whips.
I took a second to stop by the bar to see Randy, but the girl told me he was on break. I ordered a Grey Goose and cranberry before scribbling my number on a napkin and asking the girl to give it to Randy when he came back. After sipping half my drink, I made my rounds, giving out lap dances and chatting with some of the guys who were spending. I ended up collecting another five hundred dollars from them before I went to the back to freshen up so I could hit them again. On my way, I caught Tashee giving the Puerto Rican bouncer a blow job in the hallway. From the way she was slurping and lapping at his rod, I hoped her jaws wouldn’t be too tired for the contest. Ignoring them, I went into the dressing room and was rewarded by a far more alarming sight.
The skinny girl with the plastic titties was laying on her back on top of one of the vanity tables. Between her legs, drilling for oil, was Jackie. He hit her with quick, deep strokes while calling her everything but a child of God in his lust-driven frenzy. “Yeah, you like that, right bitch.” He dug deeper while she hollered. He flipped her over and took a minute to lick her from her pussy to her ass crack before entering her from behind.
I couldn’t help but be a little turned on by the way he was attacking her. Jackie’s cock made a squishing sound every time it dipped in and out of her, and I could see juices dripping down the back of Kim’s legs. The way she was coming, he had to be tearing the pussy up. Without even realizing that I was doing it, I slipped my hand into my thong and began playing with my clit. It started off with one finger, but before I knew it, two more had joined the party. My hand was getting soaked as I jacked myself off in time with Jackie stroking Kim. I was so caught up in my own rapture that I hadn’t even realized they’d finished until I heard Jackie’s mocking voice.
“Damn, you didn’t have to do all that. We had room for one more.” He smiled devilishly. His thick cock was dangling out of his zipper, bobbing up and down when he moved. It looked like an onyx carving, slick with Kim’s cum.
I was embarrassed, but way too cool to show it in front of them. I took my hand out of my pants and examined it under the light. There was a ring of white foam around my knuckles, and my fingers were slick with my juices. I looked directly at Jackie and Kim before licking my fingers one at a time. “Nah, I did just fine on my own.”
Ignoring the lustful look Jackie was giving me, and the worried one coming from Kim, I walked to the other side of the room and proceeded to towel-dry my body and wipe my pussy and under my arms with a sanitary napkin. I was applying a fresh coat of deodorant when Jackie sauntered over.
“So what’s up?” he asked.
“I told you earlier, not a damn thing.”
Jackie hesitated
for a minute, and I knew he was looking for another angle. “So, how long you and Gina known each other? I thought I’d met all of her friends.”
“We’ve known each other since I was a shorty.” I gave him my back while I checked my makeup in my compact. Just over my shoulder, I saw Jackie’s predatory eyes traveling the length of my body. I tried to ignore him, but I couldn’t stop my skin from crawling.
“I hear that. So—”
“Look, I’m trying to get back out there and get my paper on, so why don’t you stop bullshitting me and get to the point.” I looked at him seriously.
“A’ight, bet. Dig this: I’m the owner of this joint, so I set the tempo. It can be a real sweet ride or a sour one, depending on how you play it,” he said frankly.
I cut my eyes at him. “Jackie, first of all, this ain’t the only club in town, so don’t come over here talking that brolic shit like I’m supposed to be moved by it. Second of all, Gina is my homegirl, but I ain’t into breaking up nobody’s home, especially if ain’t no bread coming my way in the situation. I’m in here trying to get my paper up, and I don’t need no problems.”
Jackie smiled. “So we understand each other.” Jackie reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. He peeled off ten crisp hundreds and dropped them on the bench next to me. “I trust you didn’t see anything?”
“All I see is green, daddy-o,” I assured him, stuffing the money into my bag.
“That’s what’s up, ma. You know if you ever decided that you wanted to—”
“Jackie, you’re really pushing it right now.”
“Okay, okay.” He threw his hands up in surrender. “Come see me later on, and I’ll buy you a bottle.”
I watched Jackie strut out of there with his whore on his heels and found that I was sick to my stomach. I’m not justifying what Jackie did, but men have been cheating since the beginning of time and would continue to do so until the lights went out. Still, I couldn’t stand a tactless muthafucka. Not only was he fucking one of his employees at the workplace, with his wife in the next room, but that bastard had the nerve to be doing her raw. I hoped that Gina was smart enough to protect herself, because that nigga was an STD waiting to happen.