by C. J. Hudson
“Yeah, a’ight.” Sunny gave Dani a half smile.
“Or at the very least make the shit sound like a term of endearment,” Dani said, frowning.
“Get the fuck outta ya’ feelings, Dani. We call each other bitches all the time,” Butter reminded her.
“Yeah, stop being so fuckin’ soft,” Kim chimed in. She’d been so quiet that they had forgotten that she was there.
“Nah, there’s a difference between the way she says it to y’all, and the way she says it to me.” The rest of the young ladies looked at each other in bewilderment as Sunny slowed down and pulled over. After putting the car in park, she slowly turned around and glared at Dani.
“Look, bitch,” she said harshly, “my bad if me calling you a bitch hurts ya’ little feelings. But until I warm up to you, I’ll say the shit in whatever tone I want to say it in. I didn’t even know that your ass was rolling with us tonight, and the only reason I allowed yo’ ass to get in my ride was because my girl wanted you to go with us tonight. Now, like Butter said, we call each other bitches all the time, so suck that shit up. Everybody in this crew is built, so we don’t have time for weak bitches. So, either toughen the fuck up, or get yo’ ass out and walk back home. Feel me?”
After making her speech, Sunny looked into each one of their eyes.
“Do any of you hoes have a problem with what I just said? Good,” she said when no one spoke up. She then reached into the backseat and snatched the blunt out of Kim’s hand. She took a long drag, blew it out, and handed it to Dani.
“Now, let’s go have some fun . . . bitches.” At that moment, the gauntlet had been thrown down. Even though none of them said it, no one had to. From that moment on, Sunny had established herself as the head bitch of the clique.
“So, what’s up with this club tonight?” Kim asked. She couldn’t care less about the drama between Sunny and Dani. Of course, if push came to shove, she would stand with Sunny. However, in her opinion, she didn’t see what it would hurt for them to start hanging out together. She had no idea why Sunny didn’t like Dani.
“Because I just don’t like the bitch,” Sunny would say whenever Kim would ask her about it.
“Girl, I heard this club was the bomb,” Jazmine said excitedly. “What’s the name of it again, Sunny?”
“Club Château.”
“Club Château? That sounds classy as hell,” Kim said.
“Yeah, it also sounds like it has an age restriction,” Butter said, frowning.
“It does have an age restriction,” Sunny informed them. The three girls in the backseat looked at each other in confusion. They were all pretty sure that the restriction was at least twenty-one years of age, which none of them were.
“Okay, what’s the fucking catch? How are we going to get in if there’s an age restriction?” Dani asked. Sunny looked in the mirror and smirked.
“Apparently, you hoes don’t know who y’all hanging with. All things are possible when you’re kicking it with the boss bitch,” she said smugly.
Sunny wasn’t telling them that it was her father’s construction company that had built Club Château from the ground up. The owner of the place, a sleazy pedophile, named Barton Reeves, had made inappropriate comments to Sunny one day when she rode with her dad to Akron to check on the progress. She had been only 17 years old at the time, but much like now, Sunny wasn’t a slow leak. She pretended to agree to have sex with him, all the while recording on her phone all the lewd and nasty things that he said he was going to do to her. Later that evening, Sunny sent Barton a voicemail message of the recording and let him know that she would let her dad hear the message if he even spoke to her again. It was the last time the two of them had ever had a conversation until she decided that his club would be an excellent place to hang out at. At first, Barton steadfastly refused to allow her and her friends to enter, citing that he didn’t want to lose his license for allowing minors into his club. He knew that she was over 18, but the age restriction to get inside the club was 25.
“Do I need to have a talk with my father and let him hear all the things that you said you were going to do to me?” she told him, reminding him of the ace up her sleeve. The threat of Darnell finding out how he’d propositioned his daughter caused Barton to change his mind immediately. Sunny and whomever she chose would have access to the club and put in the VIP section, as well as have drinks brought to them free of charge for as long as they were there.
Twenty-five minutes after Sunny got on the freeway, she was pulling into the club’s parking lot. The excitement in the young women’s faces was evident as they quickly hopped out of the car. All heads turned as the young vixens made their way to the front entrance.
“Damn, look at this fuckin’ line. We’re gonna be out here forever,” Dani whined.
“No, the fuck we’re not,” Sunny assured her. “Just follow me.” Frowns and hot stares followed Sunny and her crew as they walked past the fifty or so people waiting to enter.
“The fuck is that bitch doing?” Sunny heard someone ask.
“Who the fuck is that?” someone else wondered.
“These hoes sound like they need to be checked,” Jazmine barked. She was just about to turn around and go off on the girl who had made the last comment, but Sunny stopped her.
“Jazmine, why would you even waste your breath on these basic bitches? Fuck these hoes.”
By the time Sunny and her crew had arrived at the front of the line, nearly everyone in it was staring at them.
“Yo, hold up a minute, li’l girls. The fuck y’all think y’all goin’?” the bouncer said.
Sunny looked the brutish woman up and down. Although she was young, Sunny had been to a few clubs before, but this was the first time she had ever seen a female bouncer.
“Well, after you move the rope the fuck outta my way, me and my girls are gonna roll up in this bitch and let our hair down.”
The bouncer looked at Sunny first before letting her eyes travel to the rest of the young ladies.
“First of all, Rihanna,” the bouncer said, poking fun at Sunny’s hairstyle, “I don’t think these folks will take too kindly to me letting y’all jump the line, especially since some of them have been here nearly an hour waiting to get in.”
“That’s right, little girl. Ain’t it past your bedtime anyway?” a light-skinned woman with a high weave asked. Sunny and the rest of the crew turned and glared at her.
“What? You li’l hoes got an eye problem or something? Y’all don’t want this smoke,” a lady standing next to the light-skinned woman said. She was thicker than the other lady, but they looked so much alike that Sunny figured that they were probably sisters. With a frown on her face, Jazmine looked at Sunny, who gave her a sign to be cool.
“And second of all, we got an age restriction here, and I know damn well ain’t neither one of y’all 25,” the bouncer said, smugly.
Sunny took notice of the bouncer’s attire. Her Reebok tennis shoes were slightly torn. Her blue jeans were so faded that they damn near looked like they were stone washed, but from the looks of them, that was not their original condition. She looked back up at the bouncer and smirked. Without an ounce of fear in her heart, she moved closer to the woman. She had to get on her toes to do it, but Sunny managed to get close enough to the bouncer’s ear to whisper into it.
“Look, sweetie, I can tell by those raggedy-ass clothes you’re wearing that you really need this job. So, unless you want to be unemployed tomorrow, why don’t you do us both a fucking favor and let me and my girls through here before I have to call your boss and get your ass fired?”
The bouncer looked at Sunny as if she had lost her mind. She couldn’t believe that this hot-in-the-ass li’l girl had the nerve to threaten her. If there weren’t so many witnesses around, she would have grabbed Sunny by her ankles, used her as a human bat, and beat the shit out of the rest of her crew with her.
“Li’l girl, if you don’t get the fuck outta my face, I swear on everythi
ng I love that I’m going to fuck you up out here.”
Sunny smirked before taking out her cell phone. She dialed a number and waited for Barton to answer it.
“Yes, this is Sunny. I’m having a li’l problem with your bouncer out here. Me and my friends are trying to get up in this damn club, and this bitch is acting shitty. I’m going to need you to either come out yourself or send someone out here to let her know what time it is.”
Sunny hung up the phone before he had a chance to say anything. She looked at Jazmine, winked, and then smiled at the rest of her crew. After about five minutes, a short, balding man in loud clothes came out. He reached up and pulled the bouncer’s shoulders down so that his mouth was level with her ear. The bouncer’s face twisted into a mask of anger as she listened to what he had to say. After he got done talking, the bouncer looked at Sunny and took a deep breath.
“Sorry, Miss Lady. There seems to have been a misunderstanding. Please accept my apology and come on in,” the bouncer said as she removed the rope. Onlookers and others there to party were outraged. They couldn’t believe what was going on and why Sunny and her young-ass crew were being let me in before them. But Sunny didn’t give a fuck. As long as she got what she wanted, everyone out there waiting in line could go to hell. The bouncer was pissed. Sunny could almost see the steam rising from her head. The woman was huge. She stood at least six foot one and weighed about 220 pounds. Sunny looked at her left hand and was amazed to see a ring on her finger.
Damn, who the fuck this bitch married to? King Kong? Sunny wondered to herself. Instead of dogging the bitch out like she probably should have done, Sunny decided to handle the situation with class.
“No apologies needed, Miss Lady. You were just doing your job. It’s all good,” Sunny said as she smiled and walked past the bouncer with her crew following behind. Kim mean mugged the bouncer. She wanted to call her a bitch but knew if she did, she would probably get her ass kicked, so she remained mute. As soon as they got inside the club, loud music bombarded their ears. The base thumped so hard that it caused all of the girls’ bodies to rattle. Club Château was much bigger than it seemed from the outside. The dance floor was packed with at least one hundred people, and all of them were surrounded by tables and chairs where people were drinking, laughing, and having a good time. Sunny looked around until she found what she wanted.
“Let’s go, bitches. Ain’t no fucking reason for us to be down here with the rest of these basic-ass broads.”
Sunny walked along the wall until she came to the sign that said VIP, upstairs. A winding staircase led up to that area. Sunny smiled to herself. She looked back at her friends, and for the first time all night, she was glad that they were together, even Dani.
“Okay, bitches, let’s go wild the fuck out,” she said as she started to walk up the stairs. After she had taken only two steps, a large, bald man ran down the stairs and blocked her path.
“Hold up, li’l mama. Y’all can’t go up there unless y’all have a VIP badge that looks like this one,” he said, showing them a circular patch with the letters VIP on it. Sunny rolled her eyes.
“Shit, don’t tell me that we gon’ have to go through this shit again.” Before Sunny could begin to lose her temper, the same short, bald man that had set the bouncer outside straight quickly came over. Just like he did the butch bitch outside, he whispered into the bouncer’s ear. The bouncer shrugged, stepped aside, and allowed Sunny and her friends to venture upstairs. When they got to the second floor, Jazmine looked back and saw Kim still downstairs trying to converse with the bouncer.
“Dani, go down there and get that thirsty bitch,” Sunny told her. Dani trotted back downstairs and grabbed Kim by the arm.
“Damn, girl, we just got in here, and you already all up in a nigga’s grill? Bring your thirsty ass on,” she said, damn near dragging Kim up the stairs. When they reached the top, Sunny just looked at Kim and shook her head.
“What? Shit, don’t tell me all you hoes are trying to do tonight is get drunk and high. I’m also trying to get some dick tonight.”
“Bitch, we just got in here. Bring your ass on,” Sunny said. As Sunny led her crew around the VIP area, men were eyeing them like fresh meat. For the first time since they got there, the girls looked a li’l uncomfortable . . . all except Sunny, that is. She wasn’t worried at all. In addition to their crew being treated like royalty, they were also afforded maximum protection. Even though Darnell was a brilliant businessman, Barton also knew him as a stone-cold killer, so there was no way he was going to let anything happen to Darnell’s daughter at his club. Sunny was still surveying the scene when a tall gentleman sporting slacks, a silk shirt, and a tie approached her.
“Excuse me. Is your name Sunny?”
Sunny looked at her friends and then back at him. “Who the fuck wants to know?” she asked with an attitude.
“I apologize, pretty lady. I’ve been instructed by Barton to show you ladies to a table and bring you a bottle of our best champagne.”
“Oh,” Sunny said, clearly embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s quite all right. Follow me, please.”
The man led them to a secluded corner where they could barely be seen but could pretty much see everything that went on. The area that Sunny and her crew were led to had a restaurant-type feel to it. A large table was surrounded by booth-like seats that were comfortable enough to hold ten people. The leather seats were so soft that when Sunny and the rest of the girls sat down, they felt like they were going to sink into them.
“Damn, this shit is nice,” Dani said. A few minutes later, a waitress walked over with a bottle of Dom Pérignon. Sunny looked at the bottle and shook her head.
“Nah, you can take that shit back. Bring us two bottles of Cîroc and one bottle of Hennessy.”
“And five glasses,” Jazmine added. The waitress nodded her head and went to do as Sunny had instructed. When she came back, not only did she have the three bottles of liquor and glasses, but she also had a large tray of complementary barbecue wings.
“Damn, that’s what’s up. I’m hungry as fuck,” Kim said, reaching for a wing before the waitress even had a chance to set the platter now.
“Damn, you about a greedy-ass bitch,” Butter said.
“Nah, I’m just a hungry-ass bitch,” Kim corrected her.
“Well, at least sanitize your damn hands, nasty-ass broad,” Jazmine said as she handed Kim a small bottle of sanitizer from her purse. Kim grabbed the sanitizer and squirted a quarter-sized amount in her hand. She quickly rubbed the sanitizer into her skin. No sooner had she finished than she was grabbing another wing.
“It’s a good fucking thing that all of this shit is on the owner tonight,” Sunny said, “because your greedy ass would have the bill coming to somewhere around a thousand dollars,” she said, laughing.
“Yeah, well, whatever. I’m hungry. You bitches can sit up here and look all prissy if y’all want to, but I’m about to get my grub on,” Kim said, not giving a fuck what the rest of them thought. About twenty seconds later, Butter was also reaching for a wing.
“You know what? Kim is right. Shit, I haven’t eaten all day. Fuck that ‘look cute’ shit. I’m about to dig into these muthafuckas too,” she said.
Before long, all of the ladies had devoured the wings and told the waitress to bring more. The waitress rolled her eyes but dared not say anything. She had been given explicit instructions to cater to Sunny and her crew. Jazmine picked up the bottle of Cîroc and poured a half glass full for each of them. Then she picked up the juice that was sitting next to it and mixed it with the Cîroc.
“What kind of juice is that?” Dani asked.
“Does it matter? Shit, it’s free,” Jazmine said.
“Free or not, I want to at least like the shit if I’m going to drink it,” Dani said.
“That’s the trouble with you hoes. Always complaining about something,” Sunny said, laughing.
“I’m not complaining,”
Dani said. “I’m just saying, if I’m going to drink it, I don’t want to be drinking something that I don’t like.”
“Damn, it’s orange-peach mango, you choosy ho,” Jazmine told her.
“Yo, Sunny. You think they’ll say something if we fire up a blunt in here?” Dani asked. Jazmine, Kim, and Butter all looked at her like she were crazy.
“Bitch, what the fuck wrong with you?” Butter asked. “You trying to get us sent to jail?”
“What? I was just asking,” Dani said, feeling foolish. Dropping her head, she picked up her drink and sipped it. When she looked back up, Sunny was looking at her, smiling. There was something unspoken between them that made them think that they were thinking the same thing.
“You know what? Y’all some scary-ass hoes,” Sunny said. “Dani, fire that shit up.”
The other three girls looked at Sunny like she’d lost her mind.
“What the fuck, Sunny?” Jazmine asked.
“Don’t worry about it. Like I told y’all before, y’all hanging with the boss bitch, so just sit back and enjoy the ride.”
Dani smiled as she pulled another blunt out of her pocket. She lit it and took a deep pull. A couple of seconds later, she blew the smoke into the air.
“Oh shit, here we go,” Jazmine said when she saw the waitress rushing over. To her surprise, when the waitress got there, she set three ashtrays down in front of them and left. Jazmine looked at Sunny with wide eyes. She was surprised as hell.
“Damn, I guess your ass is a boss bitch,” she said to her friend.
The rush of power was intoxicating to Sunny. She loved having her crew listen to every word she said and obey her orders. She loved having Barton’s workers at her beck and call. She nodded her head slowly as she began to give serious thought to what her father had said about her taking over his empire. If this was what it felt like to be a boss, then Sunny was all in. As soon as she got back to Cleveland, she would let her father know that she wanted to start learning about his business and what she had to do to be a boss like him. Since Sunny was driving, she knew that she couldn’t go as hard on the liquor and weed as her friends could. That was okay, though. She didn’t come out to get tore-down drunk or sky-high. She just wanted to have a nice time with her friends, although it did amuse her to watch them get fucked up. After about thirty minutes, the liquor combined with the weed had them all feeling nice. They were dancing at the table, cracking jokes, and bullshitting with each other when Jazmine spotted a guy staring at their table.