by Deja King
BALLER BITCHES
First of a series by
Joy Deja King
EPUB Edition
A King Production
P.O. Box 912, Collierville, TN 38027
ISBN (13):
Cover concept by Joy Deja King & www.MarionDesigns.com
Cover layout and graphic design by www.MarionDesigns.com
Typesetting: Keith Saunders
Editors: Suzy McGlown and Linda Williams
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data;
King, Deja Joy
Baller Bitches: a series/by Joy Deja King
For complete Library of Congress Copyright info visit;
http://www.joydejaking.com/
Copyright © 2012 by King Productions. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For information, address Published by King Productions, P.O. Box 912, Collierville, TN 38027 http://www.joydejaking.com/
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This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to real people, events, establishments, or locales are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. Other names, characters, and incidents occurring in the work are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, as those fictionalized events and incidents that involve real persons. Any character that happens to share the name of a person who is an acquaintance of the author, past or present, is purely coincidental and is in no way intended to be an actual account involving that person.
This Book is Dedicated To My:
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I LOVE you guys so much. Please believe that!!
Diamond
“Bitch, you ain’t shit!” When my baby daddy stood in front of me screaming that bullshit with spit flying everywhere, I kept putting the clear coat of polish on my nails ignoring his ass. “Did you hear what the fuck I said?” he belted as the vein in the middle of his forehead started pulsating.
“Mutherfucka, everybody in the damn building can hear what the fuck you just said. Are you done ranting ‘cause I got shit to do?”
“That’s what’s wrong wit yo’ ass, yo’ mouth too fuckin’ slick.”
“Umm this shit gettin’ repetitive. Ain’t but so many ways you can call me a bitch and tell me I ain’t shit. I get it, you think I’m foul. So either come up with some new descriptions or move on to something else.”
“I can’t believe I got a baby wit’ yo’ stupid ass. You don’t give a fuck about nobody but yourself. One day I promise I’ma take our daughter away from you because I refuse to let her grow up and end up like you.”
I put my polish down and eyeballed Rico because I wanted him to know what I was about to say wasn’t a game. “Nigga, the day you start plotting to take my daughter away from me is the day you better tell yo’ mama to start making your funeral arrangements. You can call me every ho, dick sucker, no good bitch all mutherfuckin’ day but when you bring Destiny into the mix we have a problem. Now please get the fuck out my crib and take that noise you spewing someplace else.”
“Diamond, this shit ain’t over. I’ll be back tomorrow to pick up my daughter for the weekend and she better be here and not at your mother’s house.”
“I tell you what. Why don’t you pick Destiny up from my mother’s house tomorrow because I can’t take having to see yo’ ass two days in a row.”
“No, I’ll pick Destiny up from here tomorrow. So whatever partying and fucking you planning on doing tonight make sure you have yo’ ass up in time to get my daughter in the morning.”
“That’s what your problem is now. So busy worrying about what the fuck I’m doing,” I huffed under my breath not wanting to reignite the argument because I was ready for Rico to bounce. “Bye,” I said keeping my head down, until I heard the door shut.
There was a time an argument with Rico would fuck up my entire day but this shit had become so routine I barely broke a sweat over it now. See, there was a time when Rico was actually my boyfriend. I thought we would be together forever but that was when I was young and dumb. He swooped me up when I was fifteen and not used to good dick or money. When I was walking home from school one afternoon he pulled up in a tricked out Benz and I couldn’t believe when he rolled down the window asking me for my name. He was one of those pretty niggas who knew his packaging was right.
From that day on we started dating. Rico would pick me up from school almost everyday and them chick’s mouths dropped every time he pulled up and I would get in the car. We would go get something to eat and just talked. Although he was three years older than me he never made me feel like a kid instead I felt like a woman. But I wasn’t a woman and Rico was way out of my league. He quickly made me his girl but that didn’t keep him from having mad other bitches, so many I couldn’t keep count. In the beginning I fell for all his lies. He had a valid excuse for every accusation I had. By the time I woke up to the truth it was two years later and I was pregnant with Destiny.
That was the roughest nine months of my life. I had bitches calling my phone harassing me. They would say my man just left their crib and he fucked the shit out of them. My feet swelled up, belly poked out feeling depressed and helpless having to hear this shit. By this time, Rico wasn’t even trying to hide his dirt anymore. He felt I was pregnant and stuck. Even after all that I stayed with Rico. It took another year before I wised up and gave that nigga the deuces. When I did, Rico tried to make my life a living hell. I guess he thought I would be a dumbass forever…not!
I spent the first year of Destiny’s life being with her day and night while Rico ran the streets. I don’t even remember him changing one diaper. But I loved her so much it didn’t even matter. Destiny was like my real life baby doll and she helped me get my shit together. I had gained so much weight during my pregnancy and even more afterwards and I think it was out of depression, because Rico had me so stressed out. I decided I had to get myself back on point and I started taking Destiny out in her stroller everyday. Within six months I had walked all that weight off. After that you couldn’t tell me nothing, including Rico. I went from being a sad, miserable bitch to a baller bitch.
Kennedy
“Kennedy, I need you to read over this carefully,” my boss, Darcy said, handing me two pieces of paper. As I sat in my cubicle, I looked over the agenda. I was an account executive at a PR/Event Planning firm and there was a long laundry list of things I was supposed to handle for the charity event tonight. I had so much to do I barely had time to go home and change clothes but due to past experiences I learned to always keep a few outfits with me. Darcy was notorious for waiting to the very last minute to give me a shitload of things to do and have me scrambling to get it all done.
So here I was, shaking my head wondering how I would pull this off and still look halfway decent doing it. But somehow, someway I would—I always did and it probably was due to the fact this had always been my dream job. When I was in college, I interned at just about every PR firm in New York hoping one would lead to a full time position. But working for Darcy Woods was always my #1 choice. She was the rep for all the young, hip stars, which turned her into a celebrity herself. If you saw a star on the red carpet most of the time you would see Darcy standing right next to them looking like a star too. So when she offered me the position
as an account executive, I jumped at it although it paid the least out of all my other job offers. But it was worth taking a low salary if it meant working under the queen herself or so I initially thought. But I quickly found out that the reason Darcy was able to be so cool, in control and look on point was because she delegated the work to everybody else and it freed up her time to mingle and be fabulous. But I also figured that was why her turnover rate was so high, because her employees would get burnt out and quit. With the money she was paying there wasn’t much motivation to stay. None of that mattered to me though because I was determined to learn all I could from Darcy before going anywhere and I felt I was well on my way.
“Tammy, I need you to go down this list and confirm that the press covering this event have their proper credentials and know what time they should arrive at the venue.”
“No problem, is there anything else you need me to do?”
“That’s it for now but let me know when you’re finished as there is definitely more to follow.”
“Whatever you need, I got you,” she smiled. Tammy was my saving grace. She was my intern and she busted her ass like she was making a big boy salary. When I was stuck in the office working to ten or eleven o’clock at night, Tammy was right there with me. I called her my co-pilot.
As I started getting my stuff together so I could head over to the venue to make sure the seating for the celebrities was correct I heard my cell ringing. “Hey, Diamond, what’s going on?”
“Girl, you sound stressed.”
“You know how it is on event day…hectic. So what time are you coming tonight?”
“That’s why I was calling you to see what time I should come?”
“I think eight is good.”
“Cool and can I bring my cousin?”
“Diamond, I already told you I can only get you in and I’m sneaking doing that shit. You know how Darcy is.”
“I know but you know I had to ask again. You know I hate going to this shit alone and you’re always way to busy to kick it with me.”
“Girl, you always end up seeing somebody you know or some guy be up under you all night so you’ll be fine. I would love to chat but work calls.”
“No problem, see you tonight.”
When I got off the phone with Diamond, I motioned for Tammy to come on. She could make her calls while on the move. This business taught you to do multiple things. While Tammy was handling press calls I was speaking to artist’s managers on one phone and responding to text messages about the event on the other. This event was a major deal for Darcy and everything had to go smoothly. She was used to doing events for rappers and singers, but this was the first time she had scored an A list actress. Mega superstar Tyler Blake was hosting a star-studded charity event for Autism Awareness Month. Darcy bragged for two weeks straight when the gig was sealed and I was right there cheering her on. See, after grinding my ass off for over a year my hard work had finally paid off. I played an intricate part in securing the deal for Darcy and she promised me a commission for doing so. All I had to do was make sure the event went smoothly and I was micromanaging every detail to make sure that happened.
“Can you take us to the Soho House on Ninth Avenue,” I directed the driver when we got in the cab.
“All the press has been confirmed. None of them seem to have any intentions on missing this event.”
“Yeah, this is definitely the biggest gig Darcy has ever had. I haven’t had so many calls from managers and agents trying to get their clients on the guest list. I had to explain to them that the tables have all been sold out for weeks. It’s literally standing room only and that’s full to capacity. Unless it’s President Obama, I can’t get anybody else in.”
“Darcy, will be pleased to know that.”
“You know it! She lives to be able to tell people they can’t get in,” I laughed.
“So what do you need for me to do when we get to the venue?”
“The first thing is making sure the table placement is correct. I made sure to sit certain celebs next to each other and keep others away. We don’t need any drama.”
“I got you.”
After paying the cab we headed inside to the 4th floor where the private ballroom booked for the event was located. When we stepped off the elevator the craziness was in full effect. There were workers everywhere putting the final touches on the décor and making sure security was extra tight.
“Let’s go check on the tables.”
“Kennedy, the layout is gorgeous,” Tammy commented as we walked into the room. “You totally made the right choice with the peach and cream colors. It’s beautiful.”
“It did turn out even better than I thought it would.”
“Is Darcy here, I know she must love it.”
“No, she sent me a text. She’s doing the red carpet so she won’t be here until the event is about to start.”
“Luckily she has you to oversee everything. You basically put this entire event together yourself.”
“Thanks, but luckily I have you. You’ve helped me out tremendously. So let’s get to it because I have a feeling this will be a night we’ll never forget.” I didn’t give a damn what I had to do I wanted to make sure this event went off without a glitch. Yes, this was Darcy’s company and she was the boss, but one day I knew I would be a boss too and everything I did was preparing me for that.
Blair
“Is that what you’re planning on wearing tonight?” When Michael asked me the question I just stood there for a second and didn’t say anything.
“Yes, why you don’t like it?”
“Out of all the clothes I’ve bought you, that’s the best you could come up with? You need to go find something a little more sophisticated to put on.” I looked down at the short lavender dress I had on. I spent all day yesterday looking for something to wear and when I found this dress I thought it would be perfect for the event tonight but clearly Michael didn’t agree.
“I’ll go change. Give me a minute.”
“Hurry up, I don’t want to be late.” As I walked to my bedroom all the excitement I had been feeling only a few minutes earlier disappeared.
When Michael first told me I would be attending the charity event with him I felt like I must’ve been dreaming. He was a well sought after entertainment attorney, so we attended a ton of really nice industry events but this one tonight was super exclusive and for the last two weeks all I had been thinking about was what I would wear to something so special. But as always Michael had found a way to ruin my joy.
I practically ripped off the lavender dress I was wearing and threw it on the floor. I then picked it up and tossed it in the trashcan. I wanted it out of my face. It was nothing but a bad reminder of the shortcomings Michael thought I had. I walked over to my closet and pulled out one of the black cocktail dresses Michael had gotten for me. I slipped it on and did a quick glance in the mirror before going back out.
“Now that’s more like it,” Michael smiled.
“Maybe you should just start picking out my clothes for me every time we go out.”
“Do I detect an attitude?’
“I just don’t understand what was wrong with the other dress I had on.”
“After all these months of us being together, I would think you would’ve learned the difference between trash and class but obviously I’m wrong.”
“That dress wasn’t trashy.”
“Blair, you’re a pseudo model. You know nothing about real class. I’m trying to teach you but that attitude of yours is making it difficult. Now lets go. We’re already running late.”
As we sat in the back of the chauffer driven car I had to fight back the tears that wanted to flow out my eyes. A part of me wanted to give into my pain but I refused to but it was becoming more and more difficult. Maybe part of the pain came from the fact that I felt Michael was right about me. When we met I was barely getting by. I was waiting tables, trying to become an actress. Let’s just say the roles weren�
��t rolling in so I took up some bullshit modeling gigs that practically paid no money, hoping it would give me some exposure and in a way it did because I did meet Michael. That would’ve never happened under normal circumstances because we definitely didn’t run in the same circles. But one day I was doing a photo shoot with a rapper that Michael was the attorney for. He had to stop by and get him to sign some papers. I guess the two-piece bikini I was wearing caught his eye because he left there with the signed papers and my phone number.
I was stunned he was even interested in me. He had the looks of a young Denzel Washington and the brains of Obama but after some time, I would learn he could also be cruel like a cold-blooded killer. The first time we went out he took me to this elegant restaurant that had things on the menu I couldn’t even pronounce. It amazed me how he could talk about Fortune 500 companies but relate to the streets. He was everything I grew up believing I would never find in a man and if I did he wouldn’t want me because I wasn’t good enough.
My grandmother on my father’s side raised me in Harlem. My mother was young and didn’t want to be bothered with me so when I was six she dropped me off with my father and never came back. He was a hustler and made a lot of money. He took good care of his mother, so she had no problem taking care of me. But when I was eleven he got robbed and killed. My grandmother was devastated. I wasn’t sure if it was because her son was dead or her money supply ran out because after he was gone it was like she didn’t want to be bothered with me. I basically ended up raising myself. So having a man like Michael show interest gave me a feeling of worth but it came at a high price.
“We’re here. Let’s go.” As we stepped out the car there were photographers everywhere and they were all going crazy taking pictures of Tyler Blake. She was one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood and hands down the biggest black actress. I remember the first movie I saw her in. She was my inspiration to try and break into the business. Watching Tyler Blake work the red carpet she made it seem so easy, but I knew making it in that business was much harder than anybody could anticipate.