by D. A. Young
***
Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
To get through this thing called life
Electric word life
It means forever and that's a mighty long time
But I'm here to tell you
There's something else
The after world
A world of never ending happiness
You can always see the sun, day or night
So when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills
You know the one, Dr. Everything'll Be Alright
Instead of asking him how much of your time is left
Ask him how much of your mind, baby
'Cause in this life
Things are much harder than in the afterworld
In this life
You're on your own
And if the elevator tries to bring you down
Go crazy, punch a higher floor
The lyrics to “Let’s Go Crazy” were projected on the ceiling and read by every partygoer present as they waved purple glow sticks in the air to kick off the party. Even though it was short notice, it seemed everyone working in the entertainment industry turned out that night for one of Lavon Murphy’s legendary parties after he blasted social media and used his contacts at radio stations. This one was held at the Avant ballroom to celebrate music legend Prince Roger Nelson’s iconic life. Everyone was encouraged to wear purple or do their best impression of the artist. Local bands were set to perform his music as well as dancers from Cirque du Soleil, Jabawokeez, and El Sol & Le Moon. Just looking around the huge ballroom at everyone’s style, one could see how heavily the icon impacted those with his style and music.
Georgina was going to perform “Baby I’m A Star” with her former co-workers, and she had given them some of her corsets to wear. As she waited in the wings, she watched Max conversing with Lavon, Renee, and Alexis. They appeared to be having a good time as they chatted and laughed easily with each other as the deejay spun Prince classics.
Someone tapped her shoulder, and she turned around to see a medium height black man standing behind her in a navy suit. He smiled at her warmly, and she thought he was handsome with his smooth chocolate skin, pearly white teeth, and light brown eyes. “Excuse me miss, but aren’t you Georgina Carlton?”
“Yes, I am. Who are you?” she asked, curious as to why he was backstage with the dancers. He looked more like a “Suit”, which was how performers referred to upper management.
“My name is James Archer, and I work for Caesars Entertainment,” he introduced himself and held out his hand, which Georgina accepted and shook. Her heart started pounding as she watched him checking out her outfit. Tonight she was wearing a silver teddy trimmed in black, a black tuxedo jacket, and fishnet pantyhose with knee-high stiletto boots. Black, beaded, layered necklaces completed the look.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Archer,” she said politely, and he shook his head.
“No, please call me James. Is this one of your pieces?” James asked, gesturing to her corset.
“Yes it is, and so are those three over there,” Georgina replied and pointed to the other women performing with her tonight. James glanced over at the women as they worked on tonight’s routine. “Have you guys made a decision on who will be providing you with costumes?”
“Not quite, but we do appreciate your assistant’s persistence,” James said with a chuckle.
“Well, I’m sure you could benefit from your vendor being a local business, couldn’t you? We could easily make changes and adjustments if provided within a reasonable time frame of course, and the turnaround time would practically be non-existent,” Georgina offered with a smile, rejoicing inside at the thoughtful look that appeared on James’s face. “Why don’t you stick around for our performance; that way you can see the durability of Feminine Intuition’s product?”
“I think I’ll do just that. It was a pleasure meeting you, Georgina,” James said before giving her a slight bow. “I look forward to your performance.”
Georgina was filled with excitement as she watched him walk away and disappear into the crowd. She had a really good feeling about their meeting, and suddenly the future appeared blindingly bright to her. Good things were definitely coming her way.
Marquise walked by, and Georgina grabbed her longtime friend by the arm and hugged him tightly to her with a big smile. “I need a favor, old friend.”
Laughing, he hugged her back, “Anything for you, dear. What’s up?”
“You’re in charge of entertainment tonight, right? I need you to put my group on for one more song, and then I want to do a solo…”
Chapter Fifteen
Georgina screamed his name long and loud as she came. Her legs, draped over his broad shoulders, shook uncontrollably as Max made good on his promise with his tongue and greedily lapped up her release. Her hands were clenched deeply in his curls to support her body as she lifted her hips to receive every thrust, stroke, and lick his tongue spoiled her with. It was her third orgasm of the night, and apparently he was just getting started.
“Baby, I’m fairly certain your neighbors two blocks over now know my name,” Max teased as he nibbled the inside of her thigh.
“Mmmm, you gotta give credit where credit is due,” Georgina smiled dreamily as he blew cool air on her hotspot. “You’re insatiable tonight, sir.”
“Can you blame me? After watching you perform, don’t act like you didn’t know this was gonna happen. Besides, you started it,” Max growled, referencing their drive from the party to her house.
Georgina’s hands wouldn’t stay still as he drove. She fondled him through his jeans, feeling his length grow hard underneath her fingers, before unzipping him pulling his throbbing penis out. Georgina stroked the satin covered steel, slowly driving him insane, before she lowered her head and took him deeply inside of her mouth. His groans of pleasure filled the car, encouraging her to act even more wantonly. They had just reached her driveway when he lost control and Georgina swallowed every single drop.
As he released his grip on her waist and pulled himself up to lay his big body between her thighs. Georgina eagerly clutched him to her and drew him down for a slow, sensuous kiss. “Taste your sweetness, love.”
“I want to taste something else again,” Georgina whispered seductively as her hand trailed down his rock hard abs until she found what she was looking for, enjoying the way his breath caught as she stroked his shaft.
Max rolled them over so he lay on his back and she on his chest, as he arched his brow. “Your wish is my command.”
Georgina kissed the firm lips she’d become addicted to in such a short time. “Then I command you to place your hands behind your head and enjoy yourself.”
Max groaned as she trailed kisses along his jaw and down his neck as her hand continued to stroke and slide over his cock. He willed his toes not to curl so hard, they cracked as she hit a sensitive patch on his neck. “Uh-uh, where you go my hands go, baby.”
He made good on his statement by sliding his hands down to grip her booty and caress it. Before either one of them could explore any further, Georgina’s cell phone started ringing, and they both froze. Max looked down at her with raised eyebrows. “Who’s calling you at two in the morning?”
“No one I know is that crazy, but hopefully everything is okay with the family,” Georgina said, biting her lip with worry as she reached over him for the phone on the nightstand and looked down at the screen. It was local, but she didn’t recognize it. Now she was annoyed because none of her friends were crazy enough to call this late. She answered it with irritation in her voice, “Hello?”
“Georgina?” the voice on the other end asked sweetly, and she froze in shock, hearing it. “Georgina, are you there?” this time more impatient. “Dammit girl, it’s your mama. I got myself in a bit of trouble, and I need you to come help me.”
Georgina felt Max shift on the bed beside her. “Where are you calling me from?
”
There was an angry huff on the other end of the phone, and the real Ingrid Carlton came out. “A beach in the Bahamas! Where the fuck you think I’m calling from? I’m in motherfucking jail! The cops busted me and Ezra, but it was all a big misunderstanding. Them fucking pigs won’t listen to me! Now get off your lazy ass and bail your mama out, little girl.”
She ignored the look of concern on Max’s face. “What did they get you for?”
“The usual drugs and prostitution,” Ingrid muttered. “But like I said, it was all a misunderstanding and if you just come down here, it could all get straightened out!”
Georgina closed her eyes, in resignation. She still remembered the day Ingrid Carlton found her again after searching for her all those years ago…
Georgina decided to go back to Las Vegas when she started applying for college and received a full scholarship to UNLV. The need to know what happened to her mother was a strong force within her. After settling in at the dorms, she started with prostitution rings and deliberately dated a cop to see if he could look Ingrid Carlton and her known associates up. She tracked them down after discovering the address for Ingrid was no longer valid. The associates told her that she no longer did tricks and was homeless. So Georgina changed course and volunteered at countless shelters in her spare time and during the holidays hoping to run into Ingrid instead of spending them with Nate and Valerie. It was three years before she finally ran into her mother. Ingrid was tired and rundown-looking, but still pretty in a faded kind of way. Heart pounding, Georgina served her a meal, and Ingrid looked her directly the eye and said nothing. When her shift was over, Georgina, filled with trepidation, approached Ingrid’s table and sat down across from her. Ingrid watched her, saying nothing as she continued to eat. They stared at each other in silence for five minutes before Georgina finally spoke. “Do you know who I am?”
“I do,” Ingrid mumbled around a mouthful of food. “You’re my foolish, youngest one.”
There was more silence as Ingrid finished her meal, and Georgina, unable to stand it any longer, offered to help her. “You don’t have to live like this. I can help you if you let me.”
Ingrid got very angry, and Georgina would never forget what Ingrid said next. She leaned over the table and said, “I had hoped you would be smart like your siblings or uncle, but I guess you’re not. I was the worst thing to happen to you kids. Not a day goes by when I’m sober that I don’t think about all of you and what I gave up. I did the best thing I could have ever done for you kids by walking away. That was my gift to you kids: a shot at a better life. I heard about a really pretty girl asking about me down here. It appears you’re wasting your shot clinging to what will never be. I’m never going to be clean, and I will never walk the straight and narrow. Don’t come looking for me again.”
Foolishly Georgina ignored her words and gave her mother her phone number in the hopes that she would use it to reach out and they could build a relationship of sorts and two hundred dollars. Ingrid greedily snatched the money and mumbled thanks. She promised to be in touch, leaving her daughter with the dangled promise of hope for what could be again as she vowed to help her mother.
“Georgina!” Ingrid’s sharp voice brought her back to the present, and she opened her eyes to find Max still staring at her. Ingrid’s voice changed to a whine. “Are you coming or not? You said you would always help me, but I can hear in your voice that you don’t want to. It’s cool, I thought I could depend on my daughter to help-”
“I’m on my way,” she said abruptly and disconnected the call.
***
From across the room, Max watched Ingrid Carlton fidget and twitch uncontrollably, as she stood next to her daughter. Although it was obvious she was a junkie, she had the same wide brown eyes as Georgina, but hers were dull and sunken. Her cinnamon skin was pockmarked and sallow-looking. Where Georgina’s hair was lustrous and sleek, her hair was thin and scraggly. The mini-dress she wore hung off of her small, scrawny frame. She hemmed and hawed as Georgina stood like a stone statue with a neutral expression and listened to everything the detective was telling her. Instinctively Max knew that Ingrid was the reason Georgina kept herself tightly reigned in, why she refused to let her guard down and open herself to her emotions.
“Poor kid’s been coming here and doing this for years,” a gravelly voice said from behind him. Max turned and saw the desk sergeant, an older white man staring at Georgina and her mother. “Since she was nineteen, I believe.”
The sergeant turned to Max with an earnest expression, said, “You should do Georgie a favor and take her away from here. That mother of hers ain’t doing nothing but dragging her down. Smart girl like her should know better and cut her losses,” he shook his head grimly. “It’s like she’s got a spell on Georgie or something.”
Max turned back to watch Georgina shake the detective’s hand and walk away, Ingrid trailing behind her sullenly. As she approached him, he could see how tense she was.
She gave him a wan smile as she addressed the officer behind the desk, “Hi, Sergeant Amos, how have you been?”
“Can’t complain, kid,” Sergeant Amos said giving her a gruff smile, before cutting his eyes sharply at Ingrid. “Kid, you know I don’t mind seeing your pretty face; I just hate that it’s always under these circumstances.”
“Screw you, Amos! You’re just mad that you never got a piece of this sweet ass!” Ingrid shouted belligerently, and the cop snorted in disgust at her.
Max watched Georgina grab her mother’s frail-looking arm and drag her away towards the exit. Ingrid jerked her arm back and stumbled but quickly regained her footing.
“Wait! What about Ezra?” she demanded, and Georgina whirled around to face her. Max could see the anger in her eyes, but clearly Ingrid couldn’t or didn’t care.
“What about Ezra?” she asked carefully trying to keep her voice neutral, and Ingrid crossed her arms as she stared at her daughter with a mutinous expression. It was a standoff between a parent and their child, only in this instance, Georgina was the parent.
“You just going to leave him in jail? Where I go, he goes, and I say you can’t leave him, dammit!” Ingrid exclaimed indignantly. “Post his fucking bail!”
Max didn’t condone violence towards women and children, but he’d never in his life been so tempted to smack some sense into or all of the bullshit out of a woman as he was in this instance.
“What a fucking piece of work,” Sergeant Amos growled, and Max couldn’t agree more. He watched Georgina get in her mother’s face.
“I will do nothing of the sort. You’re lucky that all you got was a warning this time. Let that grown man figure out his own problems. Now get your narrow ass outside and into my car, before I snatch you bald-headed, Ingrid!” Georgina seethed, and Ingrid slinked out the door without another word.
Max walked up to her, and she stiffened at his nearness. He knew she was still angry about his insistence in coming down here with her. “Give me the keys, I’ll drive.”
Reluctantly she handed them over, and he grabbed her hand tightly as they walked out of the precinct together.
***
The ride to the half-way house was filled with Ingrid’s bitter diatribe of how she had to leave her man, and he was gonna leave her now that she hadn’t proven herself to be a ride or die bitch. It was only when she changed subject and started in on what a terrible daughter Georgina was, calling her everything but a child of God, that Max could no longer hold his tongue. He quickly pulled into a gas station and asked Georgina to run in and grab him a fountain drink. At first, she looked like she would protest, but she must have seen something in his eyes that stopped her. As soon as she left the car, Ingrid started in on him.
“What’s a big, strong fella like you doing with a stuck-up bitch like her? You need a real woman-”
Her words were cut off as Max turned in his seat and snatched her forward by her loose dress. This close he could smell her fetid breath and see every cl
ogged pore on her haggard face. Her eyes widened in surprise as he twisted harder.
“SHUT.UP. Don’t you ever disrespect her again. Now you’re going to listen to me. When Georgina gets in the car, you’re going stay quiet until we arrive at your new home. Now I don’t give a damn what you do, but she obviously does, so you’ll stay put in that home and complete their programs until they approve of your leaving. If you leave before the program is over, I will find you and have you dry out my way. I’ve got a buddy that can arrange for you to go cold turkey in Antarctica and keep you there. Picture staring at nothing but white walls and snow as the shakes consume you day in and day out.” Max paused to let the image sink in. “I promise you it will happen; I can make it happen. Either way, don’t call Georgina ever again unless you are clean and sober. She is a wonderful woman, and I won’t have her suffering at your hands out of some misguided guilt because you fucked your life up. Are we clear?”
Wordlessly Ingrid nodded, and Max slowly released her. They waited in silence for Georgina to return.