by Jade Jones
I tried my hardest to block the images out my head of Tamika kicking my ass mercilessly. “Yeah…uh…I left the service early,” I simply said. He didn’t have to know why.
“Oh, okay. Well, I ain’t gon’ hold you up, ma. But check this out. If you ever need anything, hit me up, aight? I could slide you my number…or you could give me yours,” he said.
“Alright…I…damn,” I muttered. “I done left my purse in the car…”
“It’s all good. Shoot me your number real quick.”
He pulled out his Samsung Galaxy S3 and I plugged my number in. “Alright, I’ma catch up with you,” he said.
“Talk to you later, Klimaxxx.”
He flashed a sexy smile. “Marcus,” he said.
My eyebrows furrowed. “Marcus?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. That’s my name. Marcus. That way you ain’t gotta be callin’ me Klimaxxx in public.”
I nodded my head. “Ahh. Gotcha!”
“I’ll hit you up,” he said before leaving the store.
As soon as I made it to the checkout line, Tiffany wanted all the 411.
“Damn, who was that, Cam?” she asked watching him through the glass doors of the store. “He fine as hell.”
I looked her up and down and smiled. “Hmm…let me find out you got a thing for male dancers.”
Tiffany clamped a hand over her mouth and gasped. “Oh my God! He’s a stripper?!” she yelled.
A few people in line turned around and scowled at us.
“Sshh,” I whispered. “Yeah, he dances down at Pandora’s Box.”
Tiffany’s eyes followed Marcus as he made his way over towards his royal blue Suzuki Hayabusa.
“Can I help you,” the cashier interrupted whatever provocative thoughts Tiffany and I had going on in our minds.
After paying for our items, we made our way back out to the car. It wasn’t until I turned the key in the ignition, that I suddenly realized Marcus aka Klimaxxx was the mysterious, masked dancer from Pandora’s Box.
However, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself as we made our way to The Shakedown.
Chapter 10
I watched with a disapproving expression as Tiffany staggered towards the stage. It was barely midnight and the bitch had already managed to get herself pissy drunk once again! And if being inebriated wasn’t bad enough, I could have sworn I saw a tiny glint of white powder underneath her nostrils under the fluorescent lighting of the club as she strutted across the stage.
I know this bitch wasn’t back there in the dressing room snorting coke with Champagne’s ass, I thought.
Figuring that it was best to holler at Tiffany about her “unusual antics” when we were all alone, I decided to work the floor until my turn on my stage. After Tiffany finished twirling around the pole—since it was obvious that she couldn’t dance for shit, her turn finally ended and it was now my turn to go up.
Tiffany stumbled a little bit coming down the stairs from the stage and I had to grab her forearm to keep her from falling. “You good?” I asked her.
She held her head. “I just had too much to drink,” she told me.
Now that I was a little closer to her, I could see the unmistakable white substance on her philtrum a lot more clearly. “Tiffany, what the fuck is that?” I asked knowing very well what it was. “Bitch, I know you weren’t back there sniffing that shit!”
“Next we got coming to the stage, a sexy ass tenderoni that goes by the name of Hypnotic!” DJ Chaos announced my entrance on stage, making it clear that I needed to get my ass up there and do my thing.
Tiffany swiftly wiped away the residue. “I—”
“Alright now fellas! Show my girl some love! If you ain’t got no more singles, I suggest you hit up the bar and re-up on some bills!” DJ Chaos yelled into the microphone.
“I gotta go up on stage. Meet me in the back when I get done. I wanna holla at you,” I told her in a serious tone.
Tiffany looked down at the floor like a child being scolded by their parent.
I rolled my eyes before sashaying up the stairs. My turn on stage couldn’t have gone by any faster and once my two songs ended, I hurried down and made my way to the dressing room—even ignoring a few guys who wanted a bit of one on one attention. I wasn’t thinking about any of them though, I had a mouthful to say to Tiffany.
Drinking was one thing but this chick had taken it to the next level. I knew this lifestyle was new to her, but she was obviously taking the path to self-destruction. In a way, it was entirely my fault. I should have never introduced her to this stripping shit knowing her goody goody ass would never be able to handle it. This was obviously not a life she was fit for.
Even though I knew I would miss out on some serious money to be made tonight, I planned on paying the club owner, Ahmad, the tip out fee and taking Tiffany’s ass home. Not my home either. She could get all her things from my house but then she had to go!
The minute I pushed open the dressing room door, I was met with the unexpected sight of Tiffany being confronted by Champagne. A group of dancers stood around, eagerly anticipating for some action to pop off.
“Bitch, I know you took my shit!” Champagne was standing but a mere few feet away from Tiffany. She was also shoeless and obviously ready to brawl if need be.
Tiffany was leaning against the lockers looking as lost as I felt at this exact moment.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tiffany said in a non-confrontational tone.
“Look, ain’t nobody shit ever came up missing until you got here, new girl,” Vixen cut in. “So if you stole Champagne’s shit just admit it.”
Chyna stood beside Vixen with her arms folded across her breasts, ready to jump in any fight her sister got in. The last thing Tiffany wanted was to be jumped on by the two of them. I had heard the stories about how the two of them had jumped some chick in the strip club a few years ago and cut her face up pretty bad with a piece of glass. Talk about heartless.
“I’m telling the truth,” Tiffany cried. “I didn’t—”
“Look, hoe, either you gon’ gimme the money I paid for it, or square the fuck up! Plain and simple.” Champagne clapped her hands together to add emphasis. She was now giving Tiffany an ultimatum.
“She’s giving you a choice!” Chyna cut in.
“I’m not about to fight,” Tiffany said modestly.
“Fuck that!” Champagne yelled before throwing a vicious punch that landed right in Tiffany’s face!
Tiffany’s head bounced off the locker and her hands instantly went up to protect her face. It was obvious that my girl was no fighter.
“Hold up!” I yelled. “Hold up, ya’ll! Chill!” I quickly made my way over towards the fight.
Champagne had a fistful of Tiffany’s micro braids locked in her grip as she pummeled her skull with her free hand.
“You gon’ steal from me, hoe?!” Champagne yelled.
Tiffany tumbled to the floor but before she could get to her feet, Champagne kicked her in the side.
“You fuckin’ bitch!” Champagne screamed.
Tiffany tried her hardest to stand back up but to no avail, she fell right back onto the dirty floor. Evidently, she was not used to wearing the six inch heels she had to dance in.
“Champagne, man, chill!” I yelled, trying to help Tiffany stand up.
Vixen gave me a gentle shove. “Naw, Hypnotic! Let ‘em fight!”
“At least let her take her shoes off!” Juicy yelled.
I ignored all the dancers who were obviously enjoying the fight. I tried to step in between the two but Champagne was determined to kick Tiffany’s ass over the stolen drugs.
“Move, Hypnotic!” Champagne screamed trying to get around me. “This ain’t got shit to do with you. This between me and ya sheisty ass girl!”
“It ain’t worth fighting!” I yelled.
“This dirty bitch stole from me! It’s the mothafuckin’ principle!” Champagne hollered with her fists still clenched
.
Tiffany struggled to get to her feet. Individual micro braids littered the dressing room floor from when her hair had been snatched out. “I didn’t take your stuff—”
“Bitch, shut that shit up! You saw where I stashed my shit yesterday after you did a line with me!” Champagne yelled.
So there it was, I thought. I turned around and looked at Tiffany in disbelief. The good girl I had always known her to be no longer existed. Although, I was mad as hell at her, I couldn’t stand to see her getting her ass mopped all over the dressing room floor.
“Tiffany, go tip out and meet me in the car,” I told her.
Tiffany quickly grabbed her belongings and rushed for the door.
“You saved that hoe this time, Hypnotic, but it ain’t over! Believe that,” Champagne warned me. “It ain’t fuckin’ over.”
***
“Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?” I lashed out at Tiffany the minute I climbed into the truck.
“She just straight attacked me for no reason!” Tiffany cried wiping her tears away with her wrist.
I gave Tiffany a skeptical look. “One thing about these hoes, they aren’t just gonna fuck with you for no reason, Tiff.”
Tiffany’s mouth fell open. “So you don’t believe me?! I didn’t take—”
“Tiffany, I saw the shit all up under your nose when you were on stage! Why are you lying?! You don’t have to lie to me,” I told her. “I’m not them. I’m your friend, remember? You can keep it a hundred with me.”
Tiffany sighed dejectedly. “I don’t even wanna talk about this,” she huffed before taking it upon herself to turn the music on.
MGK’s “Est 4 Life” blared through the speakers of my car.
I am from the city where they—blaow—love that gun sound!
I quickly turned the music off. “Tiff, when we get back to my house, I want you to get your stuff together and then you gotta go.”
Tiffany whipped her head in my direction. “What?!”
“I’m sorry, girl. But you gotta go—”
“Cameron, please! Look, I’m sorry! I fucked up today! I don’t know what’s gotten into me—”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you either,” I cut her off. “I can’t believe you, Tiff. What the hell would possess you to stick some shit up your nose?” I doubted this was her first time using.
“It was just…I just…,” she hesitated. “I just wanted to try it. I’ve been so depressed about finding work and everything…I just figured if I did it, it would take the stress away, Cam—”
“And taking Champagne’s shit?!” I added.
“I honestly don’t know what possessed me to do that,” she admitted.
“Tiffany, you can’t just be starting trouble and expecting not to have to pay the consequences. You’re stealing and shit…and you want me to be cool with letting you stay in my house—”
Tiffany quickly turned to face me. “Cameron, please! I fucked up today. It won’t happen again. I swear on everything I love, I would never ever steal from you. You’re my girl!”
“Tiff, you gotta go—”
“But I can help you pay the mortgage for the condo. I can give you money to help get Jude’s car fixed. Admit it,” she said. “You need help. With Jude’s account being frozen you’re going to need all the financial help you can get.”
Tiffany had quickly managed to turn the tables. As much as I wanted to tell her about herself, she was undoubtedly right. I did need all the help I could get financially.
Before I could even open my mouth to respond, the sudden tapping at my driver window interrupted me.
I turned my head to see who it was—I only caught a glimpse of the metal bat that came crashing through my driver’s window only seconds later!
Tiffany screamed at the exact same moment that the glass shattered! I instantly turned my head in order to keep glass from flying into eyes.
“You bitch! You don’t listen!” Ericka screamed before taking a vicious swing at my driver door.
Tiffany was screaming at the top of her lungs in the passenger seat as Ericka continued to assault my truck with her bat.
I knew the bitch was nuts from everything Jude had said, but I had no idea she was this damn crazy!
“What did I tell you, bitch?!” Ericka screamed. “Huh?!”
Bow!
Ericka knocked the side view mirror clean off!
“I told you to stay away from him!”
I tried to open the driver door but Ericka took a vicious swing at me—I quickly slammed the door shut before she could knock my head off with the metal bat.
“Who the hell is she?!” Tiffany screamed, cowering in the seat beside me.
“Put the bat down, hoe!” I screamed.
I ignored Tiffany as I tried to step out of the car again. This bitch had life all the way fucked up, tearing my brand new truck up. If she wanted to act crazy, I could act crazy right along with her ass.
“Why won’t you just go the fuck away?!” Ericka screamed.
I quickly jumped out of the truck in an attempt to rush Ericka before she swung the bat again—surprisingly, she was a lot faster than I had imagined. She took a swing at my head, but I quickly raised my left arm, blocking the blow. The bat collided with my forearm but I was so pissed that my brain didn’t even register the pain right away.
Before she could swing again, I ran up on her and grabbed the bat.
Ericka and I were in the middle of the street, outside of The Shakedown wrestling to get the bat from one another.
After several seconds of wrestling and tussling with each other, I finally managed to snatch the bat from Ericka’s crazy ass. Before she could react, I sent a forceful kick that connected with her midsection.
She dropped to the pavement instantly, cradling her stomach.
“I’m sick of your ass, bitch!” I screamed before raising the bat—
“Cameron! No!”
Tiffany grabbed the bat before it came crashing down onto Ericka’s skull. She was curled up into a ball, fearful of the vicious beating that she knew was coming.
“She’s not worth it,” Tiffany said in a calm tone.
I allowed her to slowly take the bat from me. Looking around I noticed that a small crowd had formed in front of the club. Funny, how no one but Tiffany had bothered to stop me from beating Ericka’s skull in. There were even a few guys with their cell phones out recording the entire scene.
“Man, I’ma put this shit on World Star!” one of the guys proclaimed.
“What the hell ya’ll just standing around lookin’ for?!” I screamed.
“Come on, Cameron,” Tiffany urged. “Let’s just go home.”
I took one look at my truck and nearly burst into tears. I could’ve snatched the bat from Tiffany and beat Ericka’s ass to a bloody pulp.
“Fuck!” I screamed.
The sudden sound of laughter behind me instantly stopped me in my tracks. I slowly turned around and watched Ericka pick herself up from the ground.
“I’m not gonna stop, bitch!” Ericka laughed sadistically. “I’m gonna keep fucking with you until your stupid ass gets the point,” she said. “I can do this shit all day, Cameron. It’s just a matter of how much you are willing to tolerate before you finally give in. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get my man,” she told me. “How much are you willing to take to keep him?”
“You fuckin’ bitch!” I screamed, running towards her—but Tiffany quickly grabbed me from behind.
“She’s not worth it, Cam,” Tiffany said.
Ericka smirked at me as she firmly stood her ground.
I spit in her direction even though my saliva was nowhere near close to reaching her.
Tiffany forced me to turn around and walks towards my dented up truck to avoid any further altercations.
“Let the police handle it,” Tiffany told me.
At the sudden mention of police, Ericka quickly came to what little senses she had left. Without d
eliberation, she high-tailed it towards her Camry parked on the opposite side of the street.
Tiffany pulled her cell phone out and attempted to snap a picture of Ericka’s license plate.
Ericka quickly pulled off and fled up St. Clair Avenue.
“Shit,” Tiffany cursed walking back over towards me. “The damn numbers came out blurry—”
I waved her off. “It’s okay. Let’s just go home.”
“Are you sure, Cameron because—”
“It’s cool,” I answered in an irritated tone. “Let’s just go.”
I felt a total combination of embarrassment and hatred as I climbed into my battered Audi truck and prepared for the long drive home.
Chapter 11
The following morning, I dropped the Audi truck off in the same shop that was currently working on repairing Jude’s car. Needless to say, the mechanics were more than surprised to see me twice in the same week with yet another fucked up car.
Tiffany was right about one thing. If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any at all. Luckily for me, the mechanics agreed to a payment plan and I was able to pay for the repairs in installments.
Ericka was costing me money with her foolishness and I didn’t know how much more of her bullshit I could take. Not to mention, she had fucked my arm pretty bad when she hit me with the bat last night. My entire forearm was sore and tender to the touch. I feared I might have even had a sprained arm messing around with her crazy ass.
I doubted I would be shaking any damn thing tonight with a sore arm. Unfortunately, I would be missing out on some potential money tonight. Once I made it back to the condo, I was surprised to see that Tiffany was not there—considering I had her car. After checking my cell phone for any missed text messages or calls, I noticed that I had received a text message from her saying she went to kick it with some guy she had met at The Shakedown last night.
I shook my head in disbelief after reading the message. I should have had a talk with her about that shit but she was grown after all and she was free to do whatever she wanted as long as she didn’t bring any niggas up in here.