Scandals

by Sasha Campbell

  I stepped away from his grasp and wiped the tears from my eyes but kept standing. “What happened is my husband found out I was stripping and now he’s suing me for full custody of the girls.”

  “I’m sorry, but I swear I didn’t have anything to do with that,” he said with finality.

  I nodded. There was really nothing else to do at that point except leave, go home, and figure out what to do next. As much as I needed the money, I didn’t dare show my face at the club anymore. Which meant my girls and I would be struggling again.

  Without a word I headed toward the door.

  “Do you have a lawyer?”

  I swung around look at Tremayne and shook my head. “No, I don’t.”

  “What about your divorce lawyer?”

  “I never had a lawyer. Anthony’s lawyer handled everything.”

  He stood there and didn’t say anything, but I could see it in his eyes and knew what he was thinking. Stupid. I mean, who in their right mind allowed their husband’s lawyer to handle the terms of a divorce without hiring a lawyer of their own? Anthony had all the money. He controlled it. Before he even announced he wanted a divorce, he had already transferred almost all the money out of our joint account. So there was no way I could have afforded a lawyer of my own.

  “One of my junior attorneys will handle the case for you,” Tremayne said with certainty.

  I looked him in the face and said, “Why are you helping me?”

  There was hesitation in his voice. “Because despite how you lied to me and didn’t trust that my feelings for you were real, I care about those girls and I know it would tear their hearts if they were torn away from their mother. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll have my secretary contact you with an appointment.”

  Nodding, I stepped out the door, then swung around. “Tremayne ... I’m sorry.”

  “So am I,” he said as he closed his office door behind me.

  41

  Robin

  It was an All White Party and Club Swag was packed with everyone in their cleanest gear, but I expected as much. Whenever Halo had a private party, everybody wanted to be a part of the excitement. Free liquor, DJ Phenomenon spinning the hottest hip-hop, and some of the baddest strippers working the crowd, what more could a nigga ask for?

  Honey, me, and this dancer named Cherry had been working the club for almost two hours, and I was ready to take my ass home. Don’t get me wrong, the money was damn good, but I was starting to think that I wasn’t gonna find any evidence regarding Mannie’s murder. I was tired of riding Halo’s dick, trying to get information that he wasn’t giving. At the same time I was trying to keep him from popping up at my house and finding out my nephew was living with me. All that shit I’d been feeding him about not being ready for him to spend the night was only gonna work for so long.

  I sauntered over to Honey, who was standing at the bar in the far corner with an apple martini in her hand, swaying her hips to the beat of the music.

  She stopped dancing when she spotted me coming her way. “Hey, girl. I’m making out like a bandit tonight. What about you?”

  “No doubt.” I grinned and held up a clutch purse that was hanging from a strap around my wrist. I hadn’t bothered to count my money but I was sure I had already made at least five hundred, and that didn’t include the money Dollar was paying me.

  “Shit, tomorrow I’m going to get my hair done, and then Jordan and I are driving to Virginia Beach for the rest of the weekend to do some shopping.”

  “Shopping? Hold up ... I thought you were going to spend this money getting a decent place so Sophia could come home?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Girl, I got plenty of time for that. I’m tryna do something for me for a change. Hell, it’s hard out here for a pimp!” She started laughing at her own joke, but I didn’t see shit funny. Like I said before, seeing is believing, and that chick had a long way to go before she’d finally got her shit together. By then Sophia would have forgotten about her ass. I reached inside my purse, pulled out a cigarette, and lit up. To get through this night I was probably going to smoke an entire pack.

  I was getting ready to dip to the bathroom when the music stopped and we all whipped our heads around to see a large cake being pushed onto the center of the dance floor. Halo walked over holding a microphone in his hand and everyone got quiet. Despite the fact he was starting to wear my nerves, that man looked good in all white.

  “Yo, I just wanna thank all y’all for coming out to celebrate my boy coming home. Everybody raise your glass for Lil D!”

  I was standing in the corner taking a few puffs. Smoking was against the law in public places, so as soon as I filled my lungs, I dropped it to the ground and put it out with my foot before someone said something. Hell, everyone was doing it. I’d smelled weed floating around the room all night.

  I listened to cheers, then the music started with that sexy new Beyoncé joint and then like a jack-in-the-box, someone jumped from inside the cake and the niggas went wild. My jaw dropped when I realized who it was. It was Mercedes dressed like I Dream of Jeannie.

  Honey and I exchanged looks. “Did you know she was coming?”

  She shook her head.“I swear. I thought it was just the three of us.”

  Frowning, I watched Mercedes wiggle out of the cake, then gyrate over to the man of the hour, who was sitting in a chair at the center of the dance floor wearing a big shit-eating grin.

  “She’s fucking Dollar now, so she probably begged him to be a part of the show,” Honey spat over the crowd.

  I watched in disgust as Mercedes wiggled her skinny ass all up in Lil D’s face. Most of the moves she was doing were mine. I rolled my eyes, headed over to the bar, and ordered a cosmopolitan.

  “Yo, you having a good time?”

  I almost jumped when Halo came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me against him. “Yeah, it’s cool,” I said and forced a grin. It’s hard to believe that at one time the mere touch of him made my panties wet. Now all I wanted to do was get away from his ass and throw up.

  “You coming home with me tonight, right?” he cooed.

  I nodded even though I had no intention of going with him. As soon as he wasn’t looking, I planned to dip out the back door. “Of course,” I purred.

  “That’s whassup.” He was grinning like a damn fool as he ordered a bottle of beer. As soon as he had it, he took my hand. “C’mere, I wanna show you something.”

  Reluctantly I followed him away from the crowd and down the hall. I’d been in there enough times to know we were heading to his office. Shit, at one time I was second in command in that bitch. I glanced down as he punched in the code to the door and noticed he hadn’t changed it. It was still 919—his birthday. He stepped in and I followed, and as soon as he turned on the light, I gasped.

  “Wow!” One entire wall was a mural of him sitting at a table covered in piles of cocaine. The picture looked so real, a dope fiend would have picked up a straw, ready to take a hit. Only a cocky muthafucka would put on blast how he really made his money. That’s because Halo had it in his head he would never get caught.

  “You like it?”

  “Hell yeah.” I said what he wanted to hear. He looked pleased by my answer, then put his beer down and pulled me into his arms and leaned me back against the desk. He started kissing my neck, lips, and cheeks while his fingers traveled down underneath my minidress to my clit, where he stroked. “You look sexy as a muthafucka in that dress. Remember when we used to sneak back here and fuck on the floor?”

  I moaned while I tried to think of a way to get away from him. Speaking of floor, I turned my head and looked down and noticed the bear rug wasn’t there. “What the fuck? You really did throw out my rug.” I pushed him away and dropped a hand to my waist.

  “Yo, I told you some bitch threw up on it.”

  “Whatever. See if I ever buy yo ass anything again.” I faked like I had attitude.

  “A www , don’t be like that.
Come on and show Big Poppa some love.” He reached for the zipper of his pants, lowered it, then pulled out his dick. I tried to resist, but he wasn’t having any part of it, and the last thing I needed was to make him mad. Besides, if I worked his ass now, there was no way he would trip when I dipped out later.

  When he guided my head down, I dropped to my knees and was getting ready to put his dick in my mouth when something under his desk sparkled under the light, drawing my attention.

  “Yo, Halo! I need to holla atcha.”

  Thank goodness there was a knock at his door. Halo cussed, fixed his pants, then walked over to answer the door. I reached down and picked up the object from under his desk, and as soon as I took a closer look my pulse began to race.

  It was Deena’s butterfly charm.

  “Babe, we gonna have to finish this later. I gotta make a quick run.”

  All I could do was nod as I rose to my feet, clutching the charm in my hand so he wouldn’t notice. I followed him out of his office and slipped into the bathroom, then moved into a stall and took a seat.

  I lost it the night Mannie was killed.

  I ain’t gonna lie, my heart was beating so hard, I felt like I was going to collapse at any second. Deena and Mannie had to have been at Club Swag the night Mannie was killed. When Halo said she threw up on the rug, it never dawned on me that he was talking about the exact night Mannie had been murdered. No wonder Deena didn’t know nothing about it. She was too drugged to remember.

  I slipped off my bracelet and put her charm on next to mine. We were sisters, and these charms were all we had of our past. The rug was gone as well—the only proof I had that she had even been in his office. I wasn’t ready to give up hope just yet.

  I went back out onto the floor and found Honey sitting on some dude’s lap. I sat down at the table with them. “Girl, you missed it. Mercedes was dancing and her wig fell off her head!”

  Damn, I always missed the good shit. “I would love to see an instant replay of that shit.” I laughed and then suddenly I stopped and my breathing became shallow as I gazed over at the hidden camera in the corner. Halo taped everything. If Mannie was killed at Club Swag, it would be on a video in the panic room behind Halo’s office. “Where’s Halo?” I asked.

  She pointed toward the door. “He and Jordan stepped out for a second.”

  He had a run to make, which didn’t leave me much time. “Honey, c’mere, I need to talk to you for a second.” I practically yanked her off his lap and into the ladies’ room, where I locked the door.

  “What?” Her brown eyes were large with anticipation.

  I checked all the stalls and made sure the two of us were alone before I said, “I need you to do something for me.”

  “Yeah girl, anything, whassup?”

  I took a deep breath before finally saying, “I’m gonna sneak in Halo’s office, but I need you to make sure he doesn’t come back there until I’m finish.”

  “Girl, what’s going on? You know he’ll kill you if he catches you.”

  “I know, that’s why I need your help. I’ll tell you later when I have more time, but you gotta promise me you’ll keep him away.”

  She hesitated and looked nervous before she finally nodded. “You know I got your back.” She hugged me, then returned to the table. I stayed in there long enough to take a few puffs on another cigarette, then I opened the door, made sure no one was looking, and moved down to his office, punched in the code, and slipped inside. Back when we used to date, Halo had given me the code to his panic room. He said if the club was ever raided, he wanted me to have a place to hide while everything went down. I walked over, punched in the code—the day we met—and sighed when it opened.

  Inside were cameras showing every corner of the club, including the parking lot, and to the right were rows of recorded video. Shit. I had to rack my brain and remember the date Mannie was killed, and as soon as I did, it only took me a minute to find the DVD. I slipped it inside my panties and just happened to glance over at the monitor and almost peed on myself when I spotted Honey giving Halo a lap dance. He’s back! I hurried out of the panic room, shut the door, and tripped on my stiletto as I made my way across the room and out into the hall.

  “Where’s Halo?”

  I jumped when I spotted Mercedes. She was standing outside the door, with her hand raised like she was just getting ready to knock.

  “He’s not in there,” I said, then pulled the door tight behind me.

  “Then what are you doing in there?” she said with a mischievous smirk.

  “I’m his girl, or have you forgotten?” I sucked my teeth and turned on my heels. “By the way ... your wig is crooked.”

  I made it into the club and saw Honey pulling on Halo, trying to keep him distracted. The last thing I wanted was for him to see me. I weaved around the crowd and out the door of the club. As soon as I reached my Camaro, I texted Honey to let her know I was gone. I didn’t know what was on that video, but I needed to find out fast before Halo realized what I had done.

  I don’t know why, except that I was afraid to go home, but I headed over to Trey’s apartment. Kyle was with his sister, so that gave us a chance to be alone and hopefully talk. I rang the bell and started having second thoughts about just showing up. But as soon as he opened the door, my entire body began to tingle. He almost looked happy to see me.

  “Hey, whassup?” I was shaking and he noticed. Trey took my hand and escorted me into his place.

  “What’s wrong?”

  My teeth were chattering but I felt safe there with him. Ever since I had left Club Swag, I’d been watching over my shoulder, expecting Halo to pull up beside me at any second. “I think he killed him at the club.”

  He gave me a strange look. “Who are ... What did you just say?”

  I started babbling and knew I wasn’t making any sense. I walked over to his entertainment center, stuck in the DVD, then lowered onto the couch and laced my fingers with his. Without saying a word, I hit Play. Together we sat there watching and waiting. My cell phone started vibrating and I was sure it was Halo wondering where the hell I had gone, but I didn’t dare look. I was sure that by now he’d realized I had left, or even worse, Mercedes told him she saw me leaving his office.

  “How you been?” Trey asked.

  I glanced away from the screen. We stared at each other silently until I said, “I’m cool.”

  “I wish I could say the same. I’ve missed you.” He leaned over and pressed his juicy wet lips to mine.

  “So what are you saying?” I hoped it was what I thought he was saying, but I didn’t want to get ahead of myself.

  “I’m saying ... I hope you are through fooling wit that knucklehead.”

  “Yeah ... I’m done.” Even if there wasn’t anything on that video, I was through messing with Halo.

  “That’s whassup.” Trey lifted me over onto his lap and I wrapped my arms around his neck. We sat there kissing and rubbing. I had a feeling that everything was going to be all right between us. Trey must have felt it too because he was playing with my nipples and getting my coochie all wet. He had just slipped his hand underneath my dress when I heard Halo’s loud voice coming from the television. I turned toward the screen and saw Deena, semi-conscious, being dragged into Halo’s office along with Mannie. I didn’t move until I watched the entire tape.

  Halo had shot Mannie, and I now had proof.

  42

  Monica

  The next two weeks went by and my head felt like it was in a cloud. I was so out of it that I failed my first exam, but my instructor was nice enough to allow me to retake it. The second time, I at least managed to get a passing grade. I still couldn’t believe Anthony and that skinny bitch were trying to steal my babies away. It wasn’t fair, and unless I could prove that I was a good mother, I was going to lose them.

  “What are my chances?” I asked, staring across the desk at Bernard Robinson. The man was sharp and seemed to know his stuff. And I was truly thankf
ul he was representing me.

  “According to his petition, he’s claiming child endangerment.”

  “Child what?”

  “He says you have men in and out of the house. And the girls are living in an unsafe environment.”

  Was he serious? “Men? I was seriously involved with one man, your colleague, Tremayne.”

  He appeared truly uncomfortable with his next question. “Has he been revealing himself to the girls?”

  Oh God. This was so unreal. Before Tremayne dumped me, I bent the rule and allowed him to stay the night. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to lock the door, and the girls had barged into the room like they did every morning. We were making love with the covers off and they saw Tremayne’s naked booty in the air. “This is crazy.”

  “No ... I’m afraid this is serious. Your ex-husband’s determined to show he can provide a stable home life. Stripping is only a part of the problem.”

  This was all like a bad dream.

  Bernard was quiet for moment before he asked, “Have you stopped dancing?”

  I looked away. “Yes and no. I’m dancing this weekend. I’m sorry, but I can’t afford not to unless he plans to give me more child support. There’s barely enough money left for gas. Hell, I haven’t even figured out yet how I’m gonna to pay for you.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that. Tremayne is covering my fees.”

  “What?”

  “It’s covered,” he assured me.

  I wanted to refuse, but I was in no position to do that. “Since I can barely make my monthly expenses each month, I am in no position to object.”

  He gave me a puzzled look. “That’s another thing. As much as your ex-husband’s firm is worth, I would have expected your financial support to have been much more substantial.”

  Shit, I would too.

  Bernard lowered his pen then leaned across the desk. “I think we need to hire a private investigator to check into your husband’s finances.”