I remained seated, watching their interaction, cause the shit was funny to me.
“Pay the fucking check and keep your voice down,” Reshunda hissed. When Ebony didn’t bother to reach for the check, Reshunda grabbed her purse off the table. She whipped a hundred-dollar bill off a fat roll and tossed it on the table.
I wanted to stay and make change but I decided to follow them just in case Ebony decided to drive and I had to knock a bitch out.
As we walked out, Ebony continued to make an ass of herself, shouting obscenities at the other patrons who gawked at her like she had escaped from the circus. Ebony continued her rant when we got outside. “Didn’t I tell you that bitch was going to turn her nose up?”
Reshunda glared at me like I’d done something wrong. “Yeah, but you didn’t make it better.” Reshunda opened her door and got in, slamming it behind her.
Ebony went around to the driver’s side and attempted to get in.
“Oh hell to the no! Reshunda, are you seriously going to let Ebony drive?”
Reshunda looked like she’d just woken up. “What?”
As much as I disliked Ebony, I didn’t want to see her body wrapped around a pole. “She can’t drive, she’s been drinking.” It took everything in me not to call Reshunda a dumb bitch when she jumped in the front like it was all gravy. I marched around to the front of the car and took the keys from Ebony, who was having a hard time sticking them in the lock. I was prepared to punch her out if she attempted to fight with me, but she obviously had enough sense not to argue about it.
We didn’t speak until after I’d parked her car in front of their apartment.
I thought Ebony was sleeping but I was wrong. “So when you gonna tell ol’ girl you stripping too?”
I thought it was more drunken chatter but one look at Reshunda’s face let me know it was true.
Chapter Eleven
RESHUNDA WYLDE
Ebony was off the chain tonight and all I wanted to do was get her silly ass in the house and shut it down for the evening. What should have been a pleasant evening spiraled out of control, turning downright ugly. I didn’t want to believe Valencia would be judgmental about me dancing. It was written all over her face that she didn’t approve. I probably could’ve made Valencia understand what led me to dance, but thanks to Ebony, I almost certainly wouldn’t get the chance. I slipped my key in the door and shoved Ebony inside.
“Can I speak with you for a moment?” Valencia asked.
I didn’t realize she’d followed us to the door. She wasn’t loud or ugly so I decided to hear her out. “Yeah.”
“Why you got an attitude with me? If anyone should be mad, it should be me.”
“Mad about what, Valencia? You always talking about why you should be mad. What the fuck did I do to bruise your little ego this time? It’s always about you, isn’t it? Do you ever think about anyone else but yourself?” I was tired and did not want to have this discussion.
“First of all, heifer, I thought we were friends, but more importantly—cause I feel like you set me up—if you wanted to tell me something you should have told me instead of having your stupid-ass cousin deliver the message. And since you want to know what really bruised my ego, as you so eloquently stated, I’m pissed because if I hadn’t shown up on your doorstep today, I still wouldn’t have known what was going on with you. Friends don’t do friends that way, but it’s obvious you don’t know a damn thing about being friends.” She turned around and started to walk away.
“Fuck you, Valencia,” I shouted to her retreating back.
“Naw, bitch, fuck you. My mother may be in a fucked-up situation right now, but at least she knew how to treat a friend.” She continued to walk away. I was not about to let her say something so fucked up and get away with it.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I was ready to punch her dead in the face. In all the years that we’d been friends, we’d never come to blows.
She stood in front of me heaving and blowing out her nose like she really wanted to hit me, and it frightened me to see how bad things were between us.
“I saw my mother today. She told me what happened the night your mother was killed but I don’t feel like talking about it now.” She backed away from me.
I ran toward her but my heels were slowing me down so I took them off. “If I cut my feet I’m gonna kick your ass,” I yelled.
“Then turn your black ass around and go home.”
“I want to hear more about what happened with your mom.” I knew how hard it was for Valencia to go to the jail and I felt like I failed her when she needed me most.
“I said I didn’t want to talk about it,” she said over her shoulder. She was speed-walking and I was catching hell trying to keep up with her.
“Come on, Val, you got my attention now.”
“Should have had your attention the moment I knocked on your door.”
She was really being a bitch. But if I allowed myself time to step back and think about it, I couldn’t blame her.
“You want me to get down on my knees and beg?” I was joking, hoping to get her to laugh with me.
“Yeah.”
I didn’t realize we’d walked so far until she climbed the stairs to her apartment. When she got to the door she didn’t even look at me. She opened it and went inside without saying good-bye, kiss my ass or anything else of that nature. I knew I had hurt her deeply but she’d hurt me too when she said I wouldn’t know anything about being a friend. Of all the things we’d said, this would be the most difficult thing to forget.
I stood there looking at the closed door as memories fast-forwarded through my mind. I was tired of thinking and more than anything else, I was tired of feeling bad. These were supposed to be the good years, but lately all I felt was pain. I knocked hard on Valencia’s door. We needed to squash whatever was going on and get back to the business of being friends.
“Valencia, open the damn door . . . don’t have me standing out here looking like a goddamn fool,” I shouted. Things on the other side of the door were quiet but I knew Valencia hadn’t gone far. She wasn’t above making me sweat. I waited for a few more seconds and I hammered on the door again.
“Shit girl, you might as well open the door because you know my stubborn ass will stand out here all night.” I wasn’t kidding either, especially since going home meant dealing with Ebony’s drunken ass.
After a few seconds more, Valencia cracked open the door with a scowl etched on her face. “What now?”
I could feel the attitude seeping through the door but I couldn’t trip. I had to keep reminding myself that I would act the same way if the situation was reversed.
“Girl, I’m sorry. I fucked up.” She didn’t respond but at least she didn’t shut the door in my face. “I was going to tell you about my dancing. I was waiting for the right time.”
“Right time for what?” Valencia folded her arms in front of her chest.
“Can I at least come in the house? My feet hurt.”
She looked behind her and I didn’t like the expression on her face. She looked afraid. Even though we’d been friends for years, Valencia kept her home life private and not open to much discussion. My life wasn’t perfect but at least it was better than hers.
“Do you want to come back to my house so we can talk?”
“What about your cousin?”
“She’ll be asleep. She tries to act all hard-core and shit but she can’t handle her booze.”
“That’s okay, I’ll take my chances on my own turf just in case you nut up on my ass.” She opened the door wide enough for me to come in. I don’t know what I was expecting to see. Her life behind the door was such a mystery to me, I expected to see abnormal shit. Instead I saw a normal, dark living room. She held her fingers to her lips and motioned for me to follow her. Once inside, she closed and locked the door.
Her face visibly relaxed once the bedroom door was closed.
“Where’s your stepdad?” I whi
spered.
“He’s, uh . . .” The uncomfortable look returned to her face and I was sorry I even mentioned him.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said as I sat down on her bed. Her room was so neat, it made me feel like a slob. Nothing was out of place. I shook my head because this completely contradicted what I’d imagined her room to look like. My room was hardly ever clean, especially since Ebony moved in. I wasn’t a slob, but I tended to leave my dresser drawers open and some dishes on the dresser.
“Why are you shaking your head?” Valencia had started to relax once we were in her room, but I felt her tense up again.
“I was just looking at your room. You’ve seen my shit, I can’t keep it clean to save my soul. I’m embarrassed.”
She laughed and I joined her. It felt good to laugh with her again.
“You ain’t even lyin’.”
“Hey, you didn’t have to agree with me.”
“It is what it is.” She sat down on the bed next to me. She didn’t have much by way of furniture but she didn’t need much since she was alone.
“So you went to see your mother. How’d that go?” For a minute, I thought she wasn’t going to answer me. Tears welled up in her eyes. I’d expected that. She sniffed and wiped away the moisture. I got up from the bed and grabbed a roll of toilet paper, which was sitting on the dresser, and handed it to her.
“Thanks,” she mumbled.
I gave her a moment to get herself together. I completely understood her pain. I kept a roll of tissue under my bed for the nights I cried myself to sleep. She didn’t say anything else but that was okay too. For a brief moment, I even wished I could trade places with her because I would’ve traded the world just to see my own mom again.
“She’s standing tall.”
At first, I thought it was a strange thing to say until I thought about all the shows on television that talked about life in jail.
“How did she look?” I was trying to be slick to see if the women had fucked with her.
“She looked tired.”
Vivid images danced before my eyes and none of them were good for her mother. “That’s understandable.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“She was surprised to see me. Said she thought I’d forgot all about her.”
My heart went out to my friend and I wanted to give her a hug, but Valencia wasn’t the most demonstrative person in the world. If she wanted or needed a hug, she would let me know. “Why did she say that?”
She shook her head but didn’t answer the question. “Can you believe she hasn’t even seen a lawyer yet?” Her eyes blazed with anger.
“What! She’s been locked down for three months and she hasn’t even spoken to a lawyer? That doesn’t seem right.”
“She’s in a holding pattern. They haven’t even charged her yet.” I felt myself getting angry as well.
“That’s crazy. How can they hold her if she hasn’t been charged with a crime?”
“I don’t know. That’s why she needs a lawyer.” Tears started flowing freely down her face.
“What about your stepdad? What does he say?”
Her face twisted up momentarily, stopping her tears. “That motherfucker don’t give a shit,” Valencia shouted. “She could rot in jail for all he cares. All he wants to do is sip on that fucking bottle all day. That’s the only thing he cares about.”
If she was worried about her stepdad hearing her, I couldn’t tell. In fact, I think she wanted him to come in the room and face her. I wished that there was something I could do but I couldn’t think of anything that would help.
“She said she didn’t kill anyone.”
If she expected a response from me, she wasn’t going to get it. Even though I sympathized with my friend, nearly everyone in jail claimed they didn’t do it. She was upset because her mom was in jail—mine was six feet under. Big difference.
“I need to make some money to hire a lawyer. Waiting for a public defender isn’t going to cut it.”
A light went on in my head. I had the perfect solution to Valencia’s money problems. “Why don’t you come work at the club with us? Ebony’s been dancing at this club downtown. She’s making mad money and she just put me on.” I closed my eyes and waited for the explosion I knew would be coming. Instead, silence filled the room.
“How much you making?”
My eyes popped open in shock. This was not the response I expected. “Come again?”
“You heard me. How much money are we talking?”
“You’re not mad?”
She didn’t answer me, but at least she didn’t start yelling at me and shit. “Why should I be mad? If you’re making money, I want to shake my ass too.”
I’d been avoiding her because I didn’t want her to know about the club, when all along it was me that had the problem with it.
“Damn, I was afraid you were going to judge me.”
“When Ebony first said something, I was judgmental, but not for the reasons you think. I honestly don’t believe there is anything wrong with dancing. My fear is that it could lead to other things. Don’t get me wrong. A couple of weeks ago, I might have been judgmental, but now, humph, it is what it is.”
Valencia gave me something else to think about. She wasn’t to blame in all of this. Now I was going to have to convince Ebony to put Valencia on at the club. I started laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“Ebony said you were going to lose your stuck-up mind when I told you.”
“You know, I’m sick of your cousin calling me stuck-up. She doesn’t even know me.” Valencia’s eyes narrowed.
I knew it meant she was pissed so I had to cut her off before she took it out on me.
“Don’t get your panties twisted in a knot with me. I’m just the messenger.”
She backed down a notch. “I know, but I’m tired of her fucking with me.” She eased back down to a comfortable position on her bed.
“I told her to leave you alone but when she starts drinking, she starts talking out the side of her neck. She does the same damn thing to me.”
“Humph, still don’t make it right.” We sat in silence, each of us lost in thought.
“So how did all this happen? How long has this been going on?”
“I’ve only been doing it for a few weeks but Ebony’s been doing it for a minute. Probably since she moved here.”
“Figures, bitch just got here and already she’s making money.”
We both laughed.
“She said she found the club on the Internet. She bought the car the first week she started!”
“Damn, it’s like that? You sure that’s all she’s doing?”
“That’s all she did last night. If she’s doing something else, I didn’t see her do it.”
“Humph,” Valencia grunted.
I wasn’t even going to ask her what she meant because I didn’t want to get into an argument with her. I wasn’t exactly proud of dancing for money and if Ebony hadn’t opened her fat mouth, I doubt I would’ve ever told Valencia.
“How long were you planning on keeping this a secret from me?”
Valencia read my fucking mind like I had tarot cards painted on my fucking forehead. “Damn, I don’t know. I haven’t even been able to wrap my arms around it my damn self. I didn’t go to the club thinking I was going to dance. I only went to watch Ebony, mainly because I thought she was lying about it. I damn near shit a brick when we walked into this gentlemen’s club and folks started greeting her like they were family and shit.”
“Oh yeah?” Valencia had this strange look on her face that I couldn’t put my finger on.
“Yeah, first she took me to the main area and showed me how the girls got down. She asked me if I thought I could do it and I was like, hell yeah. She laughed at me and you know how I get when I think folks be laughing at me and shit.”
“I know that’s right. You start wilding out and losing your damn mind.”
She started laughing, bu
t I didn’t really appreciate it because I didn’t like anybody laughing at my expense.
“Girl, will you stop taking yourself so seriously? I wasn’t laughing at you, I was laughing with you. If the shoe were on the other foot, I’d be trying to show that fake bitch I had what it took too.”
I cringed when she called Ebony fake. It was so hard being in the middle. I didn’t want Ebony clowning my best friend, but by the same token, I didn’t want my best friend clowning my cousin. “Valencia, I had a talk with Ebony today and I told her she was going to have to lay up off of you. I let her know that I wasn’t about to sit around and listen to her dog you out.”
“Wow, I’m glad you finally told the bitch what time it was.”
I cringed again but I wasn’t going to back down. I cleared my throat. “You are gonna have to follow the same rules. You are my friend, don’t get me wrong, but that’s my blood and you’re gonna have to respect it and her. I’m not saying you got to like her, just don’t be disrespectful in front of her face or mine. Feel me?” If Valencia was offended by my comments she didn’t let on.
“So finish telling me what happened. Damn, I wish I could’ve been there.”
“Oh, I almost forgot what we were talking about.” It took a minute to get my thoughts in order. Now that the secret was out of the bag, I had so much to tell her I didn’t even know where to pick up.
“Okay, so we watching and shit and I noticed all the girls were white so I asked Ebony what was up with that.”
“Don’t keep a bitch hanging, what did she say?”
She was beginning to annoy me. It was my story and she was trying to rush how I told it.
“Hold your horses, heifer. Every time you interrupt me you make me forget where I was.” She looked sheepishly at me and I immediately regretted snapping at her.
“Ebony said she looked on the Internet and found out that the club only had white dancers, so she hightailed it down there and stole the show. All them white girls hate her ass and I guess they be hating on my ass now too.” I waited for Valencia to say something, but she didn’t say a mumbling word.
“Well, aren’t you going to say something?” I demanded.
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