GHETTO SUPERSTAR

by Nikki Turner

  “Bitch, this ain't no joke,” the second carjacker barked. “Give us yo shit.”

  Fabiola begin to slowly take off her jacket and then her boots. The short one looked at Toy and she took off her rings and necklace.

  “Y'all bitches ain't acting like hoes that wanna live. Hurry the fuck up.”

  Fabiola and Toy moved as fast as they could.

  “What the fuck?” Adora screamed when she walked out of the service station and peeped what was going down.

  No one paid her any mind.

  She dropped her bag containing bottled water and plain M&M's, then shoved her hand inside the imitation designer pocketbook.

  “Don't make me have to tell you again,” the cartoon character said, talking to Fabiola.

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  “Oh, shit,” one of the jackers screamed. “I'm hit!” He was so shocked that he had been shot that he started dropping things to focus on his wound.

  His partner had already taken off running. Before Adora could get off another shot, the knife-wielding jacker was in the wind, too, limping, while Adora rushed to her sister's side.

  “Oh my goodness.” Fabiola was in shock but managed to grab her stuff off the ground.

  “Give me the keys! Come on, we gotta get the fuck out of here.”

  “They took my keys.”

  Adora ran over a few feet and grabbed some of the stuff that they had taken—Fabiola's jacket, boots, the keys, and her purse. Adora hopped behind the wheel while Fabiola jumped in the passenger seat.

  “Hand me your cell phone so we can call the police.” “Ain't no need. You know dem niggas ain't pressing charges. They were trying to jack you. And we don't need that kind of press anyway. We need to get you home, and get ready for your flight.” Adora pulled off and took another look around and noticed Toy for the first time, hiding under a blue ′92 Taurus. There was no time to bond with Toy now, they had to get the hell out of there.

  “You all right, girl?” Adora asked her sister as she stuffed the gun back in her bag and turned out of the parking lot. “I'm a'ight. I just can't believe that happened to me.” “It's my fault. You shouldn't have been pumping gas.” “No, it's not your fault at all. It's mine. I should have listened to Casino and not disobeyed his rules. I gotta call him.” Fabiola didn't know what to do next. She was scared. She was shaking as she dialed his number.

  “Hang up. We will tell him when we get there.” Fabiola noticed how calm Adora was. “Where did you get a gun? I didn't know you had a gun.”

  Looking a little anxious, Adora said, “I got it from G.P.” “G.P.?” she questioned. Then her phone rang. It was Casino calling back.

  “Don't tell him or anyone what happened,” Adora whispered. Fabiola wasn't ready to share the details of the night with Casino right away, so she only told him she was on her way home to him.

  Once she was done talking to Casino, the conversation picked up where it left off. “Sister, it's not what you think. Please, let's not talk about this now.”

  “Why not? It seems like everybody else is.”

  “It's not what you think. It's just not,” Adora said to her sister. “Mommy cannot know about what happened tonight.”

  “But what about G.P.?”

  “He can't know either,” Adora responded.

  “I didn't mean that. I meant, what's going on with you and him?”

  “Nothing, we are just cool.”

  “Toy said y'all are fucking with each other.”

  “That's not true. I swear it's not true.”

  Fabiola could tell her sister was lying through her teeth. She was hurt but she couldn't bring herself to hate her sister, the same sister who had been living in her shadow all her life and had just saved her life.

  The ride to Casino's was quiet.

  * * *

  Fabiola entered the house, and as she headed to the master suite to try to wind down from the drama, she overheard Spade and Casino talking.

  “Pop, I am sorry that of all the people it had to be her.”

  “Yeah, me, too.”

  Spade was silent a moment before speaking again. “I mean, I always thought she would be your ride-or-die, bottom bitch.”

  “I guess she got tired of waiting for me to commit to her.” Casino shook his head. “Maybe she felt that if I had to lean on her and if I was fucked up, then maybe I would be able to appreciate her more.”

  “But then Fab fucked that up, because she came into the picture. But still that shit is crazy. Because I thought that bitch really cared about you.”

  “You know, son, one thing you will learn is that women are complicated creatures.”

  “But one thing that you taught me is that a snake is a snake, a rat is a rat. And we deal with them all in the same way.”

  Casino took a deep breath and said, “She will be dealt with, son.”

  * * *

  Fabiola quietly tiptoed halfway back down the steps and then called out, “Honey, I'm home.”

  “I'm in here,” Spade called out to be funny and break up the tension.

  With all that she had heard, she knew that Casino had a lot on his mind and decisions to make and didn't want to add to his problems with her stresses. The carjacking was one of those things that would just be her and her sister's little secret. Especially since she had only an hour or so left to spend with Casino, she wanted to enjoy those last minutes in his arms as if they were their last.

  BONUS TRACK

  In a Blink of an Eye

  abiola looked absolutely magnificent as she walked down the red carpet toward the performers' entrance of the Kodak Theater in LA preceded by Kanye West, Akon, and Lil Wayne. She wore a beautiful ocean-blue gown—made especially for her—by none other than Adora.

  “Fabiola.” A correspondent from Entertainment Tonight walked up to her, putting a mic in her face. “May I ask you a few questions?”

  “Sure,” Fabiola said, smiling.

  “First of all, I want to tell you how marvelous you look in that dress. Did your sister make it? I heard that she makes most of your clothes.”

  “Yes, my sister, Adora, created this as well as the outfit that I'm performing in tonight.”

  “I can't wait to see it. You've become somewhat of a fashionista these days.”

  “That's so sweet. Thank you.”

  “I'm happy that you were able to make it. I've heard that you were asked at the last minute to perform due to a cancellation.”

  “Well”—Fabiola gave the cameras a smile that lit up half the block—“I'm just happy to be here. Performing at the Grammys has always been a dream of mine since I was a little girl. I also want to thank Royce for recommending that I take her place, and I wish her well.” Fabiola blew a big kiss at the cameras. “Ciao.”

  The reporter looked back into the camerea. “Fabiola Mays is really turning into America's Sweetheart.”

  Fabiola was a little nervous as she sat backstage waiting to go on. To calm her nerves, she and Casino sent text messages to each other.

  —I'm sitting backstage waiting to go on, nervous, I just keep thinking about you … my superstar.

  —I'm sure all superstars get nervous but you have nothing to worry about. You are the best at what you do plus you my wifey.

  What? Wifey! Fabiola smiled and was taken by the thought of being Casino's wifey. She needed clarity. What exactly did that mean?

  —Wifey? Sounds like music to my ears. Are you sure about that?

  She had to know.

  She'd just pushed the send button and was waiting for Casino to reply, when she got her cue indicating that it was time to set up. She was next. Damn it! She didn't want to leave her phone, because she was eager to know Casino's response. Fabiola took a deep breath and handed her phone to Adora.

  “Hold this, Adora, until I come back.”

  “No problem! Break a leg.”

  “I certainly hope not,” Fabiola shot back with a smile.

  “You know what I mean, sis. Give 'em
all they lookin' for and then some. I'll be right here when you finish,” she said excitedly.

  Fabiola nodded. She met the stage director at the door and followed him to the prop she would use to make her grand entrance.

  Fabiola's heart was beating a million miles a minute until the lights came on and she heard the orchestra playing her music and the people screaming. She rocked the stage and when she finished singing everybody in the theater was on their feet screaming for more.

  Right after her best performance yet, she went backstage and everyone congratulated her. Shug gave her a big hug but sported an even bigger smile as she handed her friend her purse and BlackBerry “Girl, this thing has been going off like crazy.” As they began to leave the area, Fabiola redirected her attention back to her phone to see if Casino had responded to her.

  Her phone was flooded with over sixty new text messages from people congratulating her. She scrolled through the names and numbers trying to find Casino's message and noticed a strange area code, 609, that she didn't recognize right away. She decided to open it.

  —Always remember what goes up must come down.

  At that moment she knew it was from Johnny Wiz, because she remembered something he had said months ago, not to mention the strange area code.

  Hater! She smiled because she knew she had made it. This was indeed the happiest day of her life. She finally found Casino's text, the text she had been looking for, and was high off all the energy going on around her. She had just rocked the Grammys and the crowd was still going crazy over her and now the love of her life, her knight in shining armor, the man of her dreams, was about to make the ultimate commitment to her. Talk about flying on cloud nine. She was high. She clicked on the text message to open it and was about to read it, when someone came up to her and said, “Fabiola Mays?”

  “Yes.” She smiled, never looking up.

  “You have been charged with aggravated assault in the shooting of Victor Lewis.”

  “What?” She looked up. “What are you talking about?”

  “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you …” Fabiola didn't hear the rest. She was in a daze as six police officers almost swept her off her feet and cuffed her. Before she knew it, she was being whisked through a crowd and into a squad car. Although she wanted to break down and cry, she held it in, because she didn't want the world to see her sweat. Paparazzi clicked pictures and the crowd went bananas.

  What had been the best night of her life had turned into her worst. And as she sat in the back of the police car, she saw all that she had worked for slipping away. She glanced back and caught her sister's eye.

  Was Adora smiling?

  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost, I HAVE to thank my God above who watches over me around the clock and allows me the great opportunity to touch so many lives, through a gift that HE gave me.

  Next, I would like to thank my children, Kennisha and Timmond. Though you've both grown up so much you will always be my babies. The love of my life, I have to thank you for your patience with me, whether I lose, win, or draw, you always got my back.

  My little sister, Chunuchi! I will never forget that day when it was pouring down rain and I was so sad because I thought my day was going to be ruined, and you told me that the rain was just the haters crying. That's when I knew you were my little sister. My dear friend, Yvette Caslin, I thank you for the vacation to Mexico, it was the perfect gift after I finished my edits. I am still laughing at all the fun we had. Kenya Howard, thank you for always telling me to push on and for being ready to pitch in wherever I needed you to.

  My dear friend, big brother, and life coach, Damon “Dee Swagger” Williams, you navigate me through this crazy world all while keeping me laughing, so uplifted.

  Marc, my agent, I thank you for always thinking outside the box when it comes to my career. I love you and wish you the very best in all aspects of your life. Melody, I thank you so much for all the time you spent molding this book into such a fabulous book. Jane, Sarina, Dreu, Porscha, and the entire Random House family, for your undying support, hard work, and for making this all possible for me and Nikki Turner Presents.

  The authors of Nikki Turner Presents, Seven, Freeze, and Dana, I am wishing you all the best of luck in all your endeavors.

  Styles P, thank you so much for my dog; you were right, she has touched my life.

  To my loyal Nikki Turner readers, I would never be able to do any of this without you. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  About the Author

  NIKKI TURNER is a gutsy, gifted, courageous

  new voice taking the urban literary community

  by storm. Having ascended from the “Princess”

  of Hip-Hop Lit to “Queen,” she is the bestselling

  author of the novels Black Widow, Forever a

  Hustler's Wife, Riding Dirty on I-95, The Glamorous

  Life, A Project Chick, and A Hustler's Wife, and is

  the editor of and a contributing author to her

  Street Chronicles series. She is also the editor of

  the “Nikki Turner Presents” line, featuring novels

  from fresh voices in the urban literary scene. Visit

  her Website at nikkiturner.com, or write her at

  P.O. Box 28694, Richmond, VA 23228.

  Ghetto Superstar is a work of fiction.

  Names, characters, places, and incidents

  are the products of the author's imagination

  or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance

  to actual events, locales, or persons, living or

  dead, is entirely coincidental.

  A One World Books Trade

  Paperback Original

  Copyright © 2009 by Nikki Turner

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by One

  World Books, an imprint of The Random

  House Publishing Group, a division of

  Random House, Inc., New York.

  ONE WORLD is a registered trademark

  and the One World colophon is a

  trademark of Random House, Inc.

  eISBN: 978-0-345-51487-5

  www.oneworldbooks.net

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