Five minutes after exiting the hotel, a black Nissan Pathfinder on large chrome rims pulled up to the curb. Trenda took a step back until she recognized Lollie’s cute chocolate face. She walked up to the window. “Damn, I didn’t think you would be rollin’ like this.”
Lollie tossed her freshly blow-dried hair over her shoulder. “I might be a broke bitch, but I still ride like I’m ballin’!” They laughed as Lollie unlocked the door. “Get on in.”
Fifteen minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of the local hot spot, Fats. The club was a one hundred-year-old Victorian house that was converted into a restaurant/nightclub a decade ago. Situated on the border of downtown and the ghetto, the club drew a mixed economic crowd. Trenda followed Lollie down the side of the club. A line of people waited to enter a side door, which led into the club. The front door took you upstairs to the seafood restaurant. The food was almost as legendary as the club’s female deejays. Lollie pulled down the hem of her burgundy sweater dress. It fit her like a condom. She fished through her small burgundy Juicy Couture purse, which hung from her shoulder, for her ID. “What you think so far, Mya?”
Trenda’s mind was on the knife in her boot and the burly bouncer at the door with the metal detector wand. She noticed that when he talked with the women trying to get in, he only waved the wand from their tits to their crotch. She looked from the bouncer to Lollie’s round ass. “What do I think about what?”
“What do you think about my town so far?”
“So far it’s all good! I got a job, the weather is way better than in Baltimore and I’ve met some cool people…hell, I might just make this my new home.”
Lollie opened her purse for the lusting bouncer to inspect. “That’s real cool! I need me another runnin’ buddy.”
Trenda looked up into the bouncer’s eyes and gave him a flirtatious smile. “How you doin’ tonight, muscles?”
The bouncer barely glanced in her purse. He instead focused on her eyes and tits. “I’m real good…especially now that you just showed up.”
She stepped closer to him and opened her purse. “I hope all the bouncers here in the Bay Area are as sweet as you!”
Her hypnotic eyes and smile successfully distracted him. His wand dangled at his side. “Where you from?”
She closed her purse. “Jersey. I just moved here a few weeks ago. Maybe you can recommend a few places where I can have some fun?”
He glanced at the line of people waiting to get in. “Yeah, holla at me on your way out.” He winked at her. “I’m sure I can help you out with that.”
Trenda walked away. “Thanks, boo. I’ll be lookin’ for you later.”
So smooth was her move, no one noticed she got away from the bouncer unscanned. The cityscape-painted walls vibrated from the bass rumble of the music. The tall, bronze Amazon-like DJ shook her six-inch blonde Mohawk to the beat. Lollie took Trenda by the hand. “C’mon, let me buy you a drink to celebrate your new job!”
Trenda basked in the lusty gazes of the men. “Sounds good to me. Let’s do this.” She followed Lollie to the unique bar. It was all chrome and glass, adding to the old building’s modern look. A gigantic fish tank full of colorful, tropical fish sat on display behind the circular bar. Three bartenders navigated the bar. Trenda sat down on one of the chrome and leather barstools. She watched Lollie sit down and adjust the cups of her black bra. “I like that dress!”
Lollie swept her hair back and smiled. “Thanks. I got this from Old Navy a while back.” She waved to the heavyset Asian bartender. “What you drink?”
Trenda scanned the shelves around the enormous fish tank. “I dunno; I might just have a glass of wine.”
Lollie shook her head. “Hell no, not tonight.”
The bartender came over and placed his hands on the bar. “What can I get you ladies?”
Lollie opened her purse and removed her wallet. “Bring us two Mojitos, please.”
“Ohhh! I ain’t had a Mojito in a long time.” Trenda barely heard her phone ring as she rocked to the music. Who in the shit is callin’ me? She took her phone out of her purse and saw she had missed a call from Walter. I’ll call you later, baby. She put the phone back into her purse.
Lollie smiled. “That’s right; turn that phone off, girl! We’re here to have some fun.”
The pair of hotties turned down half a dozen dances before their drinks arrived. Trenda read the room and saw a few thuggish men in the crowd. The same kind of men she did dirt with back in Baltimore. The familiar itch for the excitement and thrills of the street life gripped her. Something about the danger of running pounds of marijuana or kilos of cocaine from place to place was damn near orgasmic in intensity to her. She watched a short dark man with a mouth full of gold teeth approach. He reminded her of the first person she delivered drugs for—her first boyfriend, Ishmael. After promising to buy her a leather jacket if she delivered an ounce of cocaine to a customer in D.C., she gave in and did it. He bought her a bus ticket and sent her on her way. The danger of getting caught kept her aware, alert and intoxicated. That feeling never left her. It really became an addiction after she started getting paid to make those deliveries. The dark man walked up and stood in front of Trenda and Lollie. He flashed his gold grill. “Wassup, hotties?” He studied Lollie’s long legs. “I’m Geno. Most folks call me King Gee. Can a King buy his Queen a drink?”
Lollie waved her glass at him. “No thanks, King. I’m good.”
He looked at Trenda’s tits, then her face. “How ’bout you, sexy?”
Trenda took a sip of her drink. “Oh, no thanks. I’m not good at being second choice.”
King Gee held his hands up and feigned shock. “C’mon now, baby! I could only choose one of you ladies at a time.”
Trenda lifted her eyebrows. “Looks like you shoulda made a different choice.”
He cocked his head, removed his oversized sunglasses and read her green eyes. “Where you from, baby? It sounds like you from back east.”
“Virginia.”
Lollie glanced at Trenda, grinned and took a sip of her drink. Trenda returned her grin as King Gee split his gaze between the two sexy women. He turned back to Trenda. “I thought that’s where you was from. I got folks back there. I can tell that accent anywhere.” He held his glass of Hennessy high enough for both women to see his large, diamond-studded, G-shaped ring before downing the liquor. “Why don’t you ladies come sit wit’ me and my folks at my table?”
Lollie set her drink down, placed her hand on Trenda’s thigh and tossed her hair back. “No thanks, Playa. Me and my girl are just gonna chill right here.”
He watched Lollie pat Trenda’s thigh and grinned. “Oh, I see… y’all together.” He placed his glass on the bar next to Trenda. “I’m feelin’ that. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with some girl-on-girl lovin’.”
Lollie removed her hand, traded her grin for a glare and pointed at him. “You really need to get out of our business and go on back to your table.”
He smirked. “Baby, you betta be cool; you don’t know who you fuckin’ wit’.”
Trenda crossed her leg, giving herself easy access to the knife in her boot. “Look, Gina, you are fuckin’ up my buzz. You needs to go.”
He snapped his head toward Trenda. “Gina?” He grabbed his crotch. “Shorty, my name is Geno and I’m all man! Don’t make me pull this muthafucka out and show you.”
Trenda bounced her crossed leg as she watched one of Geno’s friends approach. “That shit-colored suit is bad enough; don’t pull out your tired little dick and embarrass yourself some more.”
Lollie laughed. “That’s clownin’!”
King Gee grimaced and took a step toward Trenda. “Bitch, don’t get ya ass beat up in here!”
She eased her hand toward her boot as King Gee’s friend wrapped an arm around him and pulled him back. She looked Geno in the eyes. “Call me another bitch.”
The bartender waved frantically for the bouncer. The people on the small dance floor
looked over to see what was going on. Lollie got out of her seat, stood in front of the restrained, angry King and looked at his friend. “You had better talk to your drunk-ass friend before I call my brothers down here to handle his ass!”
A pair of large black bouncers ran over and stepped in between Lollie, King Gee and his friend. Trenda remained seated and calm. Threats from wannabes like King Gee didn’t faze her. In the circles she ran in, his type were a dime a dozen. She had left plenty of men like him leaking blood. As the bouncers escorted King Gee and his friend back to their table, he glared at Trenda. “We ain’t done, ho. We got business!”
Trenda downed the rest of her drink, smiled and showed him her middle finger. “Whatever.”
Lollie fixed her hair and looked at Trenda as the folks on the dance floor went back to partying. “I’m sorry, girl. That fool is always here actin’ like he’s runnin’ shit. Usually this spot is real cool.”
Trenda shook her head. “Don’t trip. I ain’t gonna let that trick mess up my night.” She waved to the bartender. “This round is on me.”
While standing near the dance floor, halfway through their second drink, a pair of men approached. Lollie adjusted the hem of her short skirt. “We got company on the way.”
Trenda nodded and sipped her drink. “I see.”
The two average-looking, late twenties-aged men smiled, spilt and each addressed one of the women. The shorter of the two light brown men offered his hand to Trenda. “Hey, lady, wanna dance?”
Trenda watched the other dude repeat the same offer to Lollie. She smiled, placed her drink on a vacant table and took his hand. “You must know this is one of my favorite songs.”
Trenda and Lollie captivated not only their dance partners but also all those around them. They danced with each other almost as much as with the men. The way Trenda moved was like watching a hypnotist swinging a coin. Her body melded with the music. She had a move for every beat of every song. Even the sexy dancer Lollie had to admire the way Trenda’s body undulated. By the end of the third song, Trenda’s dance partner showed signs of exhaustion. He wiped his bald head with his sweat-soaked handkerchief. “Damn, baby! You give a brotha serious workout.”
She winked at him as she sauntered off the dance floor. “Yes I do.”
He licked his lips, grinned and attempted to follow her to her seat. “I wanna hear more about your workout routines.”
Trenda saw King Gee glaring at her from the dance floor as he danced with a young blue-eyed, blonde-haired woman dressed in the finest of urban street wear. She rolled her eyes at him and looked at her dance partner. “Maybe some other time, sweetie. I’m gonna go to the ladies room.”
“How ’bout I wait for you right here?”
She watched Lollie and her partner exit the floor. “Not tonight, baby. I’m just here to kick it with my girl.”
He removed a pen from the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “Can I give you a call later just in case you change your mind?”
She picked up her drink, saw all the ice had melted into the last of her Mojito and put the glass back on the table. She read the pleading in his horny eyes. “Give me your number instead.”
He sighed. “Okay, I’ll be right back. I’m gonna go find a piece of paper. Don’t you go anywhere!”
She looked over his shoulder and waved Lollie over. “I’ll be here.”
She watched Lollie go through a similar separation anxiety issue as she tried to escape. After accepting the man’s phone number, she finally got away. She sat next to Trenda. “Damn, you ever run into a dude that can’t take a hint?”
Trenda elbowed Lollie in the side and nodded toward King Gee and his alabaster friend on the dance floor. “There’s one right there. That fool’s been givin’ me the evil eye all night.”
Lollie looked at him just as he caught sight of them. He pulled the blonde closer to him and gave them a smug, see-what-y’all-missed-out-on look. “Oh, no! I just know he don’t think we care about him and that skank!”
Trenda made eye contact with him and laughed. “I actually think he does.” She saw his smug look transform into a scowl. She kept her eyes on him, made sure he was watching, then leaned over to Lollie. She then held her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. “I guess that gray-girl don’t mind him having a little dick.”
Lollie bent over and laughed. “That’s fucked up!”
Trenda laughed as King Gee stopped dancing, grabbed his girl by the wrist and headed toward them. Trenda let her hand dangle next to the boot containing her knife. “Looks like little dick has something else to say.”
Lollie stopped laughing, stood and looked around. “Where the fuck the bouncers at? I ain’t about to let this fool get all up in my face again.”
Trenda sat calmly nodding her head to the music. “Don’t worry. If he starts some shit, I’ll give him some shit.”
Something about the calmness in Trenda worried Lollie. She spotted a bouncer leaning on the bar and waved to him. Meanwhile, King Gee stopped a few feet short of Trenda. His date gave them a nervous smile. The odor of brandy ran out of his mouth, and a bit splashed out his glass as he spoke. “I see you still ain’t learned how to respect a man.” He staggered, grabbed his belt buckle and glared at her. “Maybe I need to take this off and give yo’ ass a whoopin’ and teach you some manners.”
Trenda continued to nod her head as her fingers slipped inside her boot and touched the knife. She looked at the blonde. “You might wanna take this drunk back to your table before somethin’ happens to him.”
King Gee snatched his hand away from his date, swayed and yelled, “Bitch! I’m gonna ki—”
A pair of huge black arms grabbed King Gee and dragged him away from Trenda. The bouncer held him tight. “That’s enough, Geno. Time for you to go.”
Geno grimaced at the laughing Lollie and tossed his drink at her, soaking the front of her skirt. “Laugh at that, ho!”
“You muthafucka!” Lollie yelled as she pulled at the fabric of her skirt, trying to prevent the alcohol from soaking through to her skin. “You better hope I don’t see you again, I’m gonna have my brothers kill yo’ ass!”
As the bouncer struggled with King Gee, Trenda eased the knife into her palm, hiding most of the knife in the sleeve of her shirt. Let that sorry punk get loose and come at me now, I’ll gut his ass right here. Two other bouncers joined the first one, and they managed to hustle King Gee out of a side door of the club. She slipped the weapon back in her boot, removed the napkins from under their drinks and handed them to Lollie. “C’mon, let’s go to the bathroom and get you dried off.”
The crowd parted like the Red Sea before Moses and let them through. Inside the women’s restroom, the aroma of brandy filled the air as both Lollie and Trenda attempted to dry Lollie’s skirt. Lollie slammed the wad of paper towels to the floor in disgust. “Of all the years I’ve comin’ here, this is the first time I’ve ever had to deal with this kinda bullshit!” She looked at the Australia-shaped brandy stain on the front of her dress. “I could kill that muthafucka!”
Trenda shook her head as the stain began to set. “You are gonna have to go soak that in water so it won’t be ruined. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Lollie touched her expensive purse and stomped the floor. “Awww, shit! That bastard got brandy on my fuckin’ Juicy Couture!”
Outside the club, Trenda shook her head at the light rain that greeted them. “What the fuck else can happen? Now we gonna get rained on to top everything off.” Surprised at Lollie’s lack of a response, Trenda turned and found her glaring at someone or something across the street. “What you see?”
Lollie continued to glare. “That faggot-ass Geno.”
Trenda looked across the street and saw Geno pleading his case with one of the bouncers as his pasty female friend held an umbrella over his head. The remainder of his small entourage hovered around them. She grabbed Lollie’s arm and gently pulled. “Fuck that trick. Let’s bounce.”
&nb
sp; Reluctantly, Lollie began walking with her. In the parking lot, she stopped in front of a fairly new, red, convertible Saab. “I wish I had a brick to throw through his goddamn windshield.”
Puzzled, Trenda cocked her head. “What you talkin’ about?”
Lollie pointed at the oversized red letters across the top of the windshield at the roofline: KING GEE. “He likes attention.”
Trenda looked around and found they were alone. She grinned. “Too bad it has a hole in that pretty peanut butter top.”
Lollie gave her a confused look. “What are you talking about? That top looks new.” Trenda bent over, removed the butterfly knife and flicked it a couple of times. Lollie’s mouth hung open. “What the hell?”
Trenda placed a finger to her lips. “Shhhh.” She then walked over and made a two-foot-long incision in the convertible top. The puddled rain on the roof leaked onto the plush tan leather interior. She whipped the knife closed, tucked it back in her boot and smiled. “Ahhh, now I feel better.”
Lollie finally managed to close her mouth. “Girl, you are crazy! Let’s get the fuck out of here!”
Twenty
Once she was satisfied no one was following them, Lollie broke out in a fit of laughter as she drove them away from the club. “Where the hell you get that knife? How did you get it in the club?”
Trenda grinned and removed the blade from her boot. “This is my friend, ‘Baby.’ Baby takes good care of momma.”
Sins of a Siren Page 11