Relapse: A Novel

by Nikki Turner

  Beijing wished that all the people trying to get in could see the performance, but she was glad she was with the man throwing the event.

  Once they broke the seal of the entrance, there were so many people stuffed into the huge club that it looked like sardines in a can. Lootchee turned to Beijing and said, “We going to the VIP area.” He gave Steve a nod. Steve then squeezed his way to the front of the group and started elbowing his way through the crowd with Jeff, Lootchee, and Beijing right on his heels.

  After they got about fifteen feet away from the VIP booth, they came to a standstill. Even though it was such a short distance, it turned out to be a chore to get to their desired destination. Steve was in front of them as they pushed their way through the crowded, smoked-filled, musty nightclub. Steve was inching his way one step at a time but not making much progress. Frustration set in for various reasons not only with Lootchee and company but with almost every person in that place, especially a guy named Boo.

  Boo was pissed beyond pisstivity and he wasn’t letting anybody cut in front of him. He was bothered that he had been at the club since 9 PM and the show had not started at 10 PM as promised. To top it off, his girl had stood him up, the event was oversold, everyone was jam-packed like circus clowns in a car, it was hotter than fresh-poured black tar, and he had big pellets of perspiration coming from every gland in his body wetting up his new linen outfit.

  “Motherfucker, go to the fucking back,” Boo screamed at Steve.

  Steve ignored Boo at first and kept trying to inch by. Boo was about three inches shorter than Steve and ten pounds lighter. Boo was so amped by his frustration that he wanted to go toe-to-toe with somebody and it really didn’t matter who. If it was a heavyweight boxing match, both Boo and Steve would have made the ticket. Boo turned around filled with liquor and mischief, wanting a chance at the belt, and Steve had given him all he needed.

  Boo said “What’s up” with a two-piece to the side of Steve’s head and then again to the jaw.

  Unfazed, Steve asked, “Are you crazy?” with three vicious blows of his own.

  All hell broke loose and all Beijing saw were fists, feet, and elbows all over the place. Somebody caught Steve from the back with an Absolut Vodka bottle. The bottle shattered against his skull, sending him down to one knee. Then the situation got out of control and someone else hit Steve, sending him to the ground, and then out of spite people started to kick him. In the midst of everything, Lootchee let go of Beijing’s hand and dropped the bottle-wielding chump with a flurry of blows to the head. There was no way Lootchee could stand by and watch his childhood friend get beat down.

  Security guards came to break it all up, but they were unsure what was what and who was who. Tempers were still flaring and at that point the entire club was outraged. This one incident almost incited a riot. Somehow, through the chaos and madness, Beijing was sucked out the front door. She was shaken up but unhurt. She had no idea where Lootchee was. Her new outfit was ripped, and she had lost one of the Manolo Blahniks she had bought that morning.

  After about twenty minutes of standing outside, scared to try to go back in, she managed to hail down a cab to take her back to the hotel. The first thing she did once she was back safely in the room was sit down with a glass of wine to clear her head. She could not believe that Lootchee had gotten in a fight … at his own event!

  She plopped down on the sofa in her hotel room, thinking of Lootchee, the night they had shared together, and how something so wonderful could turn into something so horrible. One thing for certain, two for sure, she was planning to be on the first thing smoking out of Texas in the morning and wasn’t coming back.

  Someone knocked at the door. She got up and looked through the peephole to see Lootchee standing there, looking fresh as the morning. She was shocked, happy, and mad all at the same time.

  “What do you want now, Lootchee?” she asked through the door. She wasn’t quite ready to forgive him.

  “Will you let me in so I can explain?”

  “What’s there to explain? You left me for dead while you got in a fight at your event. What type of businessman does that?” She had her hands on her hips. “What type of man does that?” She asked the same question again, but she stood aside, waving him to come into the room.

  “You can’t expect me to stand by and watch my man get beat down, right in front of my eyes.” He came into the room. “Just like I wouldn’t expect you to stand by and watch Seville or one of your girls catch a bad one.”

  Lootchee had a point, but she didn’t want to admit it.

  “Hello, Earth to Gangsta Man,” she said and waved her hand at him. “You had a date, a beautiful woman by your side, and you just started throwing blows like Mayweather.”

  “If I had my way, it wouldn’t have gone down like that. Some things you just can’t control in life. Where did you go anyway? You were supposed to help me,” he said, trying to lighten the tension.

  “You can’t be serious?” She stepped back to the end table where her glass of wine sat and crossed her arms.

  He nodded, looking into her eyes.

  “If things were the other way around, I would’ve gotten dirty for you. Believe that. Anyway, I came here because I was worried about you. I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” he said, taking her into his arms and embracing her.

  She didn’t want to hug him back but she couldn’t help herself.

  “I was just thinking about you too,” she said. “But as a businessman you can’t think with your emotions. Please let this be a lesson learned. Violence isn’t always the key.”

  “I get it. Teach! That’s what I like about you. You want to make a better person out of me.”

  After she let go of him, she smiled.

  They had a couple of drinks and soon were laughing about the whole ordeal.

  “Is Steve going to be okay?” She was really concerned. “He took some nasty chucks to the head.”

  “He’s a tough dude. I would’ve been stretched out in somebody’s hospital room after some shit like that,” Lootchee admitted. “I gave him the rest of the night off, though.”

  “How nice of you, what a great boss. Only the night off?” she inquired.

  He put his hand on her leg. She could feel the heat through the robe’s thin fabric. “Yeah, only the night because he’s driving us to the game. I still want to take you with me to the Dallas game tomorrow.”

  Beijing covered the hand he had on her leg with her own.

  “It’s a date,” she told him. “What time does it start? Because I have to catch my flight back to Charlotte at nine PM, which means I have to be at the airport no later than eight.”

  “The game starts at noon,” he said excitedly. “I’ll stay here tonight. When we get up in the morning, we can have breakfast. Steve will scoop us and take us to my place so I can get changed and then head off to the stadium.”

  Beijing gave him a Slow down cowboy look. “What do you mean … you’ll stay here?”

  “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way but if I just wanted some pussy I wouldn’t have to look long for it. I like you, Beijing. If all I get to do is hold you in my arms, I’ll be a happy man. No strings attached,” he said. “It would be a pleasure if you allowed me to hold you tight.”

  “Lootchee, I don’t think so.”

  “Come on, we are both grown.”

  She didn’t know why, but she let him in. He kept good on his word by not trying to touch her in a sexual way the entire night, and if the truth was told, she was surprised to find that she was kind of disappointed. Déjà vu!

  $ $ $

  The next morning she was awakened by the loud ringing of her hotel room phone. “How are things going down there in the Lone Star? Good to hear that everything is going fine down there. That’s one of the finest pieces of property!” he boasted.

  “I love it, the décor is simply beautiful,” she said, thinking, If you’ve seen one you seen them all. Then she decided to cut to the
chase. “To what do I owe this call?”

  “Have you ever heard of the rock band Deader than Dead?”

  “No, I haven’t, but I will research them and make sure that I’m informed if you like.”

  “That won’t be necessary. They’re the hottest band on the rock/heavy-metal circuit and they’re going to be staying at our property in Charlotte to do a concert at the Verizon Amphitheater. They rented the entire top floor, and of course they want nothing but the best, so I’m assigning them to you along with the actress slash gold digger Fiona French.”

  “Now, I’ve heard lots about her.”

  “She’s promoting her new book and will be staying with us one night while on her book tour. And of course, you still have Natalia.”

  “She’s actually out of town and won’t be back until Thursday.”

  “Good for her, but because she’s out of town that doesn’t mean that you won’t hear from her. You know that,” he joked.

  “That’s so true.”

  “So anyway, I know whatever the case, you will make each of them as comfortable as possible.”

  “Of course. Not a problem at all,” Beijing assured Thaddius. “When do they arrive?”

  “Check-in is on Wednesday for both Fiona French and the band, and I have assured both of their managers that they will have the best hotel host attending to their needs when they arrive.” He added, “Nothing less than the best for the best.”

  “You can count on me,” Beijing assured him before hanging up.

  CHAPTER 15

  Keep Your Hands to Yourself

  The stadium was filled to capacity for the NFC matchup. The Redskins and Cowboys always got everybody’s motor roaring. The energy was electrifying. It was a low-scoring game, but all eyes were on every snap of the ball.

  Lootchee had told Beijing during the national anthem that nothing but the best was good enough for her, and he intended on proving it. Beijing was impressed with the skybox but bored with the game. Though she knew the skybox was the best accommodations that money could buy, she felt boxed in.

  Lootchee was a big football fan and was deep into the game because right at that point, the game was deep down in his pockets. It was the fourth quarter. The Redskins were winning seven to six, but the Cowboys had the ball. When Lootchee told Beijing that he had a bundle riding on the game, he meant it. If Dallas didn’t find a way to score, and fast, he would be out fifty grand, and to make matters worse they probably wouldn’t make the plaoffs.

  “I have to go the ladies’ room,” Beijing said. She saw that there were private restrooms in the skybox but needed to stretch her legs and get some air. The game had been going on for three hours with only a fifteen-minute break for halftime.

  “Do you want me to go with you?” he asked, never looking away from the game.

  “No, I think I can manage. I just want to get some air.”

  “You sure?” he asked, only glancing up at her because the play had not started yet.

  “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself. Plus I’m not going that far.”

  “There isn’t any question on whether or not you are a big girl; I just want to make sure you are comfortable on my watch.”

  “Enjoy the game, I’ll be back in a sec.” She kissed him on the cheek.

  Lootchee instructed Steve, “Man, go with her to make sho she good.”

  Beijing was dressed in skintight blue jeans and a white top trimmed in rhinestones with a pair of blue, gray, and white studded cowboy boots and the necklace Lootchee had bought her. It might have been her beauty or her exquisite necklace that commanded the eyes of men and women as she strolled by the concession stands. She saw a restroom sign on the left beside a guy selling pretzels and made a note to get one on the way back.

  As she walked into the stall, she did not notice that a guy had slipped in behind her. Before she realized what was happening, she felt something hard hit her in the back. She stumbled and felt someone trying to snatch the necklace off her neck.

  “What da fuck?” she screamed out loud.

  Beijing grabbed his arm, swung around, and kicked him in the nuts, forcing him out of the stall. She had been practicing this maneuver for a year, ever since she learned it in self-defense class. She anticipated that this trick would come in handy, but she always imagined that she would have to use it behind a building on a dark street or in an alley. But it didn’t matter where it was, because she had her can of whip-ass out.

  When she kicked the attacker in the nuts, she heard him grunt in pain. “Ah!” His groans only fueled her.

  “Bitch-ass,” she screamed. Her adrenaline started going. Beijing swung her purse, beating the dude silly upside the head with intense punches.

  “Motherfucker!”

  An older white lady with bright red hair started to enter the bathroom, but when she saw what was going on she ran out, screaming at the top of her lungs, “Oh he’s got a gun! BOMB! BOMB! Help!”

  Steve burst into the bathroom as if he were Superman without the cape, but Beijing didn’t need any assistance. She had the entire situation under control. She had managed to get the villain on the floor and at that point, she was stomping him with her new boots, drawing blood.

  The police arrived shortly after but not before Steve got a few punches, kicks, and stomps in himself. Once the police took over, Beijing went to pick up her necklace off the floor.

  The police had the guy in handcuffs, and Beijing recognized him as the man at the mall that day.

  “Damn, it’s Owen,” Steve muttered.

  The police emptied Owen’s pockets right there in the bathroom and found six different ladies’ wallets. Owen glared at Beijing.

  “That’s my damn necklace,” he said. “That shit is mine.”

  “That’s enough out of you,” one of the officers said, yanking Owen by the collar, dragging him out the door.

  “Well, it’s on my neck, and that’s where it’s gonna stay! Whether you like it or not,” she said with spunk.

  “You sure you okay?” Steve asked.

  “I’m a little shook up, to be honest, but I’ll be fine,” she admitted, “and my ankle is hurting really bad.”

  “Cool,” Steve said. “But can I ask you a favor?”

  “What is it?” She looked puzzled.

  “When we tell Lootchee about this, can we tell him that I was the one who knocked Owen out?”

  “Fine by me,” she joked. “I don’t want him to think that I’m some gangsta bitch, no way!”

  “Too late,” Lootchee said from behind her. “Let’s get your ankle checked out.”

  CHAPTER 16

  Shoveling Shit

  The weekend in Texas was refreshing and invigorating. Even though she came back with a twisted ankle, Beijing wished she was still there being wined and dined and living the life of luxury, but reality had called. And her reality meant getting her butt back to work fulfilling the desires and needs of other people.

  Beijing spent the next day and entire night alternating between heat and ice trying to get her ankle together for the upcoming big days. When she came to work that morning at six thirty, she noticed about thirty girls milling around the lobby. Most were bearing gifts: flowers, stuffed animals, whips, chains, condoms, lotions, panties. Name it … if it was naughty, it was there.

  The heavy-metal group Deader than Dead was due to arrive that day, and they were going to be more than a few handfuls. The band had had the top heavy-metal song in the country for the past fifteen weeks and counting, and they were a boatload of trouble, noise, and excitement all at the same time. They had booked the entire seventeenth floor for two days.

  “What in the hell is going on?” she asked April.

  “Groupies,” April answered, as if they ought to be ashamed of themselves. “I really hope I don’t look like that when I am chasing down a rich man.”

  “You do,” Beijing half joked.

  By noon the collection of people sitting in the lobby had spilled out into
the parking lot and swollen to around two hundred—and it wasn’t just girls anymore. Grungy-looking guys trying their best to look cool and nonchalant and not being successful at all joined the slutty-looking girls. By five o’clock when the band was supposed to arrive, there must have been six hundred people outside the hotel, and the party was on! A huge four-by-four pulled onto the premises with a Deader than Dead promotional wrap front-to-back and their number one hit blaring from the speakers. The fans were out of control as they sang and danced to the music. What are the other customers going to think, Beijing worried.

  April was acting as Beijing’s assistant this week, and together they were going over a checklist to make sure that all of the band’s needs and wants would be fully taken care of.

  “April, was the paperwork for the eight extra security guards taken care of? You know we need them in place to make sure no one makes it onto the floor unless they are invited guests of the band.” Beijing had hosted a few other rock bands before and knew that it would be smart to have the extra manpower on hand.

  “Check. I also contracted the off-duty police officers for crowd control in the lobby.”

  “Ten cases of Jack Daniel’s sent up to their rooms.”

  “Check.”

  “Access to twenty-four-hour room service?”

  “Check.”

  “Remove all Bibles from their rooms,” Beijing read off, then thought about what she had just said. “What the hell is that about?”

  “No clue, but it’s been taken care of.”

  “All I know is we need to say a prayer to help us through this one. Girl, give me your hand.” Beijing took April’s hand, closed her eyes, and said a few words.

  “If only Ms. French’s requests were that simple.”

  “Now, she’s another story.”

  Ms. Fiona French’s latest claim to fame was dating an Arabian billionaire. She had co-starred in a few movies, was in the process of shooting a reality show, and had just released her new book, How to Land a Billionaire. The media could not get enough of her flamboyant, outlandish personality. She was in town promoting the hardback.