by Midnite Love
“I love it!” Sonnet gushed as she admired her new do in the mirror. The Duchess was truly a master at her craft.
“You know how I do. Did you expect anything less than perfection?”
“From you? No... that’s why I had to make my way back here. And I apologize again for the way things went down the last time. I was wrong but you didn’t have to have your girls chase me down like that,” Sonnet replied smugly.
“Now you know that wasn’t nothing personal. It was all about business. After that shit you pulled be glad that I didn’t slice your ass. And I let you back in my establishment, you should consider yourself REALLY lucky.”
“Oh I do. And you can best believe I won’t mess it up this go round,” Sonnet nodded.
After Sonnet left the salon it was on to the mall. She settled on a pair of Michael Kors stilettos in a dark pewter with a matching purse. Her next move was a trip to Sephora to have her makeup done. By the time she made it back to the house she was on pins and needles. Her future was riding on tonight and she wanted everything to be perfect. As she pulled up to the house she noticed that Derrick hadn’t come home for lunch. She still had a baby shower gift bag as a decoy just in case he popped up. Although she highly doubted that he would, seeing as it was a busy Saturday.
“It should be a crime to look this damn good,” she said as she admired her reflection in the mirror.
Seeing herself in the completed look from head to toe reminded her of the days when she had niggas falling for her left and right. True enough, she wasn’t anywhere near where she was back then financially, but with her new found connections she’d met though Derrick she was well on her way. And speaking of Derrick, she decided to send him a quick text just to see where he was at. If he were truly busy and couldn’t get away she might be able to get dressed at the house and only have to worry changing back into her regular clothes before she came in for the night.
“Hey sweetie, I thought I was going to see you for lunch, I guess not,” she said in her text.
“Not a chance, it’s been crazy here, I’ll probably be in late,” he replied.
“Cool!” She said to herself.
“Ok, I was just touching base. I gotta run a few errands then I’m heading to the shower.”
“Have fun, I’ll see you tonight,” he replied.
The shop normally closed at 7pm but it wasn’t unusual for Derrick to stick around for several hours after closing. Now that she didn’t have to worry about him coming home early she could get dressed and leave the house at her leisure. And that’s exactly what she did.
Party Time
As Sonnet headed for her destination she began devising the plan on how she was going to get next to Tree that night. He most likely would be surrounded by groupies. Then it finally hit her. What the hell was she worried for? This is what she did best. If she could pull a man like Kenterris surely she could have Tree eating out the palm of her hands.
Just as she stopped for a red light she spotted someone approaching her car with a cardboard sign. Low and behold it was Bernard, one of the homeless people from her group.
“Sonnet? I thought I recognized you. We was wondering what happened to you. Girl you looking good! You think you could spare a brotha a little change for some food?”
Needless to say she was livid over the fact that she had been spotted by someone who knew her from the streets. That was a part of her life that she wanted to put far behind her.
“No I don’t have any change! Get away from my car!” she barked.
Bernard frowned up in disappointment before moving to the next vehicle where he was given a $5.00 bill. Once the light changed Sonnet sped off without giving him a second thought.
“Aww shit! They playing my theme song! They must have known I was on the way!
Nothing but bad bitches in here tonight.
Oh, if you lame and you know it be quiet
Nothing but real niggas only, bad bitches only
Rich niggas only, independent bitches only
Boss niggas only, thick bitches only,” Sonnet sang as she made her way through the crowd.
“Here come ya girl,” Aisha alerted the other ladies at her table that Sonnet was headed in their direction.
“Not this chick again,” Monet announced, rolling her eyes. “She was with her man and was still parched as hell the last time. Tell her the other seats are taken if she asks.”
“Ugh! Why she gotta come sit with us anyway?” Jade complained.
“Oh she’s not... thots knock, but they don’t get in,” Aisha joked, causing the group to erupt in laughter.
Little to their knowledge Sonnet had no intentions of sitting with them. She was on a totally different mission. The only reason she decided to stop by their table was to gloat. The last time they’d seen her she looked basic as fuck. She wanted to show them that since she’d stepped her game up, there was no competition. After she said a brief hello she continued on her mission. This was her night to shine and she wasn’t letting anything or anyone stop her. Once she spotted Tree she sashayed past the section he was sitting in, making sure that she made eye contact. Just as she suspected he was surround by groupies. That still didn’t stop him from noticing her as she walked by. Once she was sure that he’d seen her she positioned herself at the bar across from him and waited.
Bingo! Just like clockwork. I knew this nigga couldn’t resist! These bitches in here don’t have shit on me, Sonnet thought as she spied him leaving his entourage and walking in her direction.
“Sonnet right?” he asked extending his hand.
“Yes, it’s me in the flesh,” she purred, batting her eyes at him.
“I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Tree. We met at the last party.”
“Oh I know exactly who you are. I never forget a handsome face.”
“Thanks...” he replied, blushing from the compliment. “So where is Derrick? I thought he said y’all wasn’t going to be able to make it?”
This nigga just dried my shit up like the Sahara desert, she thought.
“Oh he’s super busy at work, but I wasn’t going to miss a chance to celebrate with the birthday boy,” She replied, leaning forward to give him a full view of her ample cleavage.
“Ok cool! Well thanks for coming out to support. I’m forever grateful to my fans. I tell you what, how about you join me and my friends in the VIP section?”
Sonnet was pissed. She’s hadn’t put this much work into planning for tonight to spend it with his flock of chickens. And to add insult to injury he didn’t give her one compliment on her appearance.
Ain’t this a bitch? Sonnet thought. Nigga I ain’t one of your damn fans. What the fuck I look like sitting in the damn bird section? If this nigga don’t have sense enough to realize that I’m special he ain’t even worth me wasting this outfit on.
“Thanks for offering but I’m good,” she replied dryly.
“Ok well give a holler if you need anything. Tell my man Derrick I’ll catch him later,” he responded before walking away like she never existed.
“To hell with his punk ass. Time for plan B,” Sonnet said to herself.
It wasn’t long before she was spotted by a table of ballers. True, they weren’t as popular as Tree but they still had that NBA bank account. After a few brief cat calls Sonnet was sitting with them. She gushed at all the attention she was getting from them, seeing as she was the only female at the table. She giggled and key keyed it up as the men told her how beautiful she was. Her thirst was being quenched figuratively and literally.
Before she knew it, not only was she pissy drunk, she’d also hit several blunts they had in rotation before popping a Molly. She didn’t usually make it a habit of getting this high but seeing as this was a celebration of her finally nabbing a REAL baller she didn’t hold back. Tree was now a distant memory. He didn’t recognize a prize when he saw it and he officially lost out to the four fine brothas who had her undivided attention. The only question that was left
was who was she going to make her move on. It was hard to choose seeing as all of them were sweating her. It really didn’t matter, the night was young and she was having such a good time that she agreed to go with them for a private celebration in one of the penthouse suites.
Later that night
“Man you have GOT to come see this shit!” The security officer whispered to Tree in his ear. “It’s a female up in one of the suites busting it wide open for whoever wanna hit.”
“Yo forreal?” Tree didn’t make a habit of screwing groupie thots and he wasn’t about to start now. But he was still man. And from the sound of it, the show upstairs was way hotter than the strippers parading around on stage in front of him. He excused himself and followed the guard up to the room. Nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to see.
Sonnet was on her knees taking it from behind while giving another nigga a blow job. At first he thought that she was being taken advantage of and he was going to have to step in, but upon closer inspection he saw that she was actually smiling and enjoying it.
Once the man she was sucking off was ready to nut he pulled out of her mouth and slapped his dick across her face as he came, shooting his load in her hair and on her chest as well.
“Damn! Did you see that?” The security guard asked Tree. “I know you gon’ tap that next right?”
“Nah man... that’s my boy’s woman. I’m ‘bout to show him this shit right here,” he replied as he played back the footage he’d just taken on his phone.
“Aww snap, you gon’ put her ass on blast like that?”
“Straight like that, she playing my man scandalous.”
“Well you know what they say, when a rich nigga want you.....”
“Shut up fool,” Tree walked off to send Derrick a text.
Meanwhile back at home
Derrick was furious. Not because it was past midnight and Sonnet hadn’t gotten home from the baby shower. It was because he’d gotten a call about unusual activity on his credit card. After he trusted her and given it back to her she’d ran up a tab of over $5,000 in one day. And to make matters worse when he checked the mail he got the credit card statement showing the $3,000 she spent on her outfit for the party. After all the talks they had. After all the promises she made to stay on a budget she turned around and did this. With Sonnet’s spending habits Derrick would never get to the point where he could save like he use to before they were together. He realized that it was no one’s fault but his own. And that he was a fool for taking the risk. Even still, that didn’t make it right and she was due for a cussing when she got in. Speaking of which, he knew damn well that a baby shower wasn’t going on at this hour of the night.
“Where the hell is she?” he said as he tried calling her for like the tenth time.
Each time her phone went straight to the answering machine. He left her numerous voicemails and text messages, but never got a response. Under normal circumstances he would have been worried, but after hearing that the charges that were ran up were from a hair salon and the mall, his gut told him that she had made a detour.
After taking a hot shower and grabbing himself a cold beer Derrick flopped across the bed and turned the TV on. When he checked his phone to see if Sonnet had called him back he saw that he had a text from Tree that came through while he was in the shower.
“Hey man I hate to be the one showing you this but ya girl is here wilding out,” the text read, along with a video attachment.
Tears began to stream down Derrick’s face as he watched Sonnet being worked over like a porn star. This is where she had been the entire time. He had been played like a sucka. He threw the phone down and ran to grab the roll of garbage bags. He was about to Orange Juice Jones this bitch tonight for playing with his emotions. He had seen everything with his own two eyes, so there wouldn’t be shit she could say. It was totally out of character for Derrick to act this impulsively, but he was beyond hurt. Sonnet had taken his kindness for weakness and it didn’t sit well at all with him. He made up his mind in that moment that she wasn’t leaving with anything except the clothes that he bought her when he pulled her off the street.
“You done used me for the last time!” He raged as he raked Sonnet’s belongings from her side of the dresser into one of the bags.
All the expensive perfumes, creams, lotions and potions would end up in the pile for donations, along with the rest of her belongings. Anything that he could take back to the store he would. After yanking open her underwear drawer and pulling out its contents he noticed an envelope tucked between the clothes. He opens it and begins to read it. The header was from Goldberg Women’s Clinic. As his eyes quickly scanned the paper his mouth fell open.
“Abortion aftercare?”
Derrick collapsed on the bed and once again found himself in tears. He felt like he had been punched in the gut. Sonnet had aborted his child without him being none the wiser. His heart was in the pit of his stomach. Everything he knew about Sonnet and their relationship up until this point was a complete lie.
Back at the hotel
“Come on, time to raise up,” a loud voice echoed in Sonnet’s ear.
She popped open her eye to see that the clock on the nightstand read 3:46 am. When she attempted to sit up she was extremely nauseas and she felt like her head was going to explode.
“Hurry up! Get dressed!” the man yelled.
Sonnet looked up to see two plain clothes security guards clearing the room.
“Hang on a minute,” she protested. “I don’t have to leave. I’m with......”
She was about to point to one of the men she partied with earlier that night but they were gone. They had used her up and left her hanging out to dry. In her state of delirium she still figured that she had a chance with one of them. She couldn’t wrap her brain around the fact that she was nothing more than entertainment for the night.
“Where are they guys at? They must have went to grab something to eat. I’ll just stay here till they get back.”
“Uhmm, no you won’t. Y’all hoes know the drill. Party time is over. It’s time to go,” the man replied, handing her the dress she’d worn that night.
“Hoe? Who the fuck do you think you are talking too?” Sonnet barked.
“Get your ass up and outta here before we put you out,” the man demanded.
Sonnet had no choice but to oblige. After she got dressed she slid out one of the side exits out of sheer embarrassment. This was supposed to be the night that put her back on the track to the good life. Instead she was used and kicked to the curb without so much as a goodbye or a phone number to show for it. The night had been a complete bust. There was nothing left to do but go back to her mediocre life with Derrick until something better came along. Speaking of Derrick, she needed to practice her lie as to why she was out so late.
On the way home she stopped at 7/11 to change clothes and grab a cup of coffee. She needed to sober up a bit before she walked in the house. With any luck Derrick would still be sleep and she could ease into bed. When she pulls up in front of the house she notices that Gucci is tied up on the front porch.
‘What are you doing out here?” she asked the whining pooch before unlocking the door. The minute she walked in the door Derrick was waiting on the other side.
“Where the fuck have you been?” he asked. His eyes were bloodshot with fury.
“Hey baby, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” Sonnet stammered nervously.
“I asked you a question! Where have you been Sonnet?”
She wasn’t used to seeing this side of Derrick. She had a feeling that he was going to be pissed that she’d stayed out late, but not to the extent of yelling to the top of his voice.
“I’m so sorry bae. We had a blast at the shower. I had one too many to drink and I passed out. I’m sorry I didn’t call you but my phone died.”
“So you was at the shower huh? Then where is this from?” He asked, showing her the footage on his phone.
So
nnet dropped her purse and covered her mouth. Her heart felt like a drum pounding in her chest. Her mind raced to come up with a quick lie.
“That’s not me...”
“Lying ass bitch! Tree sent me this. You was at that damn party tonight.”
I can’t believe that asshole sold me out! Sonnet thought.
“And why don’t you explain this?” he spat, throwing the paperwork he’d found about the abortion in her face, as well as the credit card statement. “And I got a call about all the charges you ran up on my card. You just full of tricks ain’t you?”
Sonnet was now shaking and crying. All of her lies were being exposed.
“I’m sorry Derrick. I never meant for you to find out this way. I was just scared and afraid to tell you.”
The more she attempted to explain herself the angrier he became.
“Shut the fuck up! I want you out of this house right now!”
Before she knew it he had knocked her down and was removing her clothing.
“What the hell are you doing? You’re crazy!” she screamed as he pulled off her shoes, then her pants.
“Naw bitch, you ain’t seen crazy. Wait till I put yo ass out with nothing but the shit I bought you when you walked in the door. I’ll be dammed if you leaving here with anything my money has paid for. You lucky I don’t make yo ass leave here naked,” he replied as he snatched the buttons on Sonnet’s shirt, before tearing it off of her. “Put this on, then get the fuck out of my house and my life.” He threw her a pair of the leggings and a tshirt.
After she did as she was told Sonnet sat on the floor sobbing as she contemplated her fate. Derrick had taken her in and given her a new chance at life. And she repaid him by treating him like shit, all because she wanted to be greedy, and insisted on trying to one up him. When she thought about going back to sleeping on the cold pavement and eating out of dumpsters, suddenly life with Derrick didn’t sound so bad.
“Please Derrick! Don’t put me back out there,” she begged, as she wrapped herself around his legs.