Heaven's Hell

by Takerra, Allen

  Her body tensed at the unfamiliarity and then she relaxed when she turned and saw G standing there.

  “Hey you,” she sang to him.

  G looked at her beautiful face and thought she did look sexy, but she had too much makeup and not enough clothes on.

  “Look at you ma, I wasn’t expecting this,” he said sort of flatly. His voice caused Heaven to frown slightly.

  “You don’t like it?” She asked sullenly. She was now regretting wearing it.

  G noticed the look on her face and didn’t want to hurt her feelings and have her spend the rest of the night upset or self-conscious. He figured the damage was already done.

  “Nah, I wouldn’t say that. You look sexy as hell.” He paused then looked her over. “I just hope you only spent half the money since you got half a dress. You gonna make me hurt somebody in here.”

  Heaven giggled but G only half chuckled, because he was only half joking. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a seductive kiss, as G looked behind her at the small circle of guys that were there. One look, and they began to retreat away.

  They broke the kiss and G looked over and noticed Shay for the first time.

  “Damn Shay, I didn’t even see you standing there. What’s up girl?”

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t expect you to,” Shay shot sarcastically, with a double meaning based on the attention Heaven seemed to be hogging.

  “You look nice,” G added.

  Shay smiled for the first time that night and looked G over in his all black suit, down to the black shirt and black and diamond cufflinks. His jet-black waved hair and goatee were shining and he looked debonair.

  “Thank you G, you aint looking too bad yourself.”

  Heaven was busy looking around at all of the people who were staring at them and felt a high, but she did hear their convo.

  She poked G in the chest.

  “Hey, what about me? Don’t I look nice?” She mocked him.

  He looked down at her and ran his hands along her curves.

  “No, you babygirl, you look incredible. Amazing. Fucking breath-taking,” he said, kissing her forehead.

  Heaven smiled widely and turned around to Shay, for some reason; wanting to make sure she caught that.

  “C’mon, let me take yall around the party and introduce you to some people,” G insisted, grabbing a glass of champagne from a circling waitress.

  The ladies followed suit and grabbed a glass as well, and fell in line behind G.

  The party was going very well, and the birthday boy was yet to arrive, however no one seemed to mind.

  Everyone was getting fucked up and talking, laughing, mingling, debating, macking, hoeing, pimping, networking, and dancing.

  As they all laughed at a story one of G’s associates was telling, Heaven heard Shay mumble and felt her nudge her.

  “Oh, boy,” she whispered, as Angie made her way over to them.

  The last time G had seen her was when we she was putting on her clothes in his apartment, begging him to call. She wore a dress even more scandalous than Heaven’s, which seemed damn near impossible, and Shay turned her nose up in disgust. Heaven just looked on as she did the first time she had seen her, sizing up her competition. However this time, Heaven felt like she could go toe to toe with the bitch in the looks department. G always had felt like that though.

  “Lookee lookee here,” Angie sang to the group. She focused her attention on G and Heaven. “You know, I’ve heard about you two but I had to see it with my own eyes. G, off the market? So you two are the real deal now, huh?” She asked, looking Heaven up and down.

  G swallowed his drink down to respond, but Heaven did first.

  “You see it, don’t you?” Heaven shot back with a smile on her face.

  G interrupted the cat battle.

  “Yo Angie, get that shit outta here. Aint nothing over here for you, ma.”

  Angie stared at G, who then turned his back to her and ordered another drink. Angie focused her attention back on Heaven. She had to admit the girl was bad, and her body was sick. She gave Heaven a slow twice over and licked her lips amusingly.

  “I’m not so sure about that,” she responded, still staring at the young temptress.

  Heaven looked at her confused, but Shay was not shocked. She knew how Angie got down.

  “Well, I am,” Shay interrupted, sick of the circus show.

  Angie giggled lightly, and grabbed a glass of champagne.

  “Ooh, what’s wrong Shay, you got your claims on this one?” She laughed. Angie leaned into Heaven as she prepared to walk off. “You better watch her little red riding hood,” she warned. “Everyone knows Shay is the real big bad wolf.”

  Angie came back from Heaven’s ear, but gave her a wink to solidify the statement. G became frustrated.

  “Angie, you fucking heard me, walk yo!”

  She blew a kiss at G.

  “Walking daddy,” she obeyed, and strutted off. Heaven watched her leave and wondered exactly what she meant by her personal warning to her. She studied Shay who was now guzzling a glass of champagne with a permanent blush on her yellow face and wondered exactly why she couldn’t stand Angie so much.

  As the conversations picked up where they had left off, Heaven took a small sip of her Pérignon champagne, a taste she still hadn’t become accustomed to.

  “So, what’s the deal with you and Angie?” She leaned into Shay coolly.

  “What you mean?” Shay countered, on the defensive side.

  Heaven read her body language and noticed her uneasiness.

  “I mean, you never told me what you didn’t like about her.”

  Shay rolled her eyes and shot back.

  “What’s there to like?” When Heaven didn’t respond, she simply added. “Just stay away from her Heaven.”

  Heaven smirked playfully and figured she’d leave it alone, for now. Neither Angie, nor Shay for that matter, was of any concern to her now. She felt like she was living on the top of her own world.

  “Okay mama bear.”

  As Shay and Heaven shared a giggle, they noticed everyone’s attention focused on the front of the room, the man of the hour had finally arrived.

  Loc looked fine as wine, especially to Shay, in his smoke gray suit and neatly trimmed edge up. As he made his way through the crowd, she sized him up thinking of how she wasn’t used to seeing him in this element.

  Shay smoothed out her skirt, making sure that she would be perfect by the time he reached their circle. There were so many people surrounding him, she was only able to see pieces of him at a time.

  “What up, cuz?” G greeted him with a light hand slap pulled into a halfway hug. “Happy birthday, nigga.”

  “Yeah, happy birthday Loc,” Heaven added sweetly with her own embrace.

  Loc noticed how seductive Heaven was dressed but tried to fight his instinct to look, out of respect for his cousin.

  However, Shay noticed.

  “Happy Birthday big head,” Shay greeted him and gave him a close-knit hug.

  Heaven looked on and noticed the chemistry between them. Ooh Shay got some dirt to tell me, Heaven thought to herself.

  As Shay, G, and Loc made conversation, Heaven excused herself to the restroom.

  There were always times that the three of them would begin to talk and Heaven would feel so left out. Many of those times, G would grab her hand and give her a wink, or whisper something naughty in her ear to make her feel special. That’s what she loved so much about him.

  As her red Cavalli heels clicked across the white marble floor, all eyes around were glued to her and she prayed she didn’t slip or do something embarrassing. She put an extra switch in her step to mask her insecurity and enjoyed the attention it received, she was on a high.

  As Heaven made her way into the bathroom, she went into the first stall. The champagne had her damn near ready to piss on herself and there was no underwear on her to hold a drop in.

  The stall was spotless and smelle
d so fresh and all she could think of was how two months ago, she was pissing in the projects at mama and daddy’s or at Khalil’s. Mama. Daddy. Khalil. She briefly thought of them. Oh well, the past is the past. Carpe Diem, she added, quoting a Latin line used by the refined that Heaven had picked up from G’s prestigious associates, meaning ‘seize the day’.

  She flushed and made her way to the sink full of crystals to wash her hands. She noticed a group of girls to her right, out of the corner of her eye, and didn’t want to make eye contact until she was forced to, when her name was called.

  “Heavennnn…. come here Heaven, real quick,” Angie sang.

  Heaven looked at her through the mirror as Angie sat on the side of the sinks on a stool, surrounded by three other gorgeous girls. Heaven recognized two of them from Atlantic City.

  “Heaven, please. I’m not gonna bite,” she added.

  Heaven could tell she was tipsy or something else, her eyes were glazed and her posture was loose.

  She leaned her blond head against the wall as she watched Heaven make her way over.

  “What’s up, Angie?”

  Angie laughed lightly before answering.

  “Heaven. That’s a nice name, Heaven…. look, Heaven, sweetie. I just want you to know, that despite of how I come off.” She got up. “I don’t want you to hate me.” She put her arm around Heaven.

  “I. Totally. Respect. You. And. G.” She enunciated. “And you.”

  Yup, she was definitely on something, Heaven thought.

  “Um, okay. Thanks, I guess.” Heaven was ready to make her way out of the restroom.

  “And wait! Wait girl.” Angie grabbed her hand. “I also wanted to say, you look so pretty tonight, love. You and G, really, really good looking couple.”

  Heaven could see something in Angie’s eyes that flattered her and made her wary at the same time.

  Here was this beautiful girl, who Heaven thought could be a supermodel, telling her that she was pretty. Maybe Angie wasn’t so bad. Angie leaned into Heaven’s ear.

  “You just gotta get rid of that Shay,” she added.

  Heaven felt that now was as good a time as any to find out what was going on between them.

  “Yeah, um Angie, what’s up with you two? Why don’t- ”

  But someone coming into the bathroom cut off Heaven’s question.

  “Hey Heaven, I was wondering what happened, I thought you fell in,” Shay joked, wondering why Heaven was conversing with Angie and her crew, and looking so comfortable doing so.

  “Heaven, sshhhh,” Angie warned her late, giggling and still leaning on Heaven. “Wait! Get back Heaven, don’t go with her,” Angie joked, jumping in front of Heaven and holding out her arms dramatically.

  Angie’s friends laughed and Shay rolled her eyes.

  “Fuck you Angie. Heaven, come on, let’s go.”

  ‘Um, no thanks,” Angie replied to Shay’s remark.

  “Yo Angie, fuck you!” Shay screamed. “Heaven, what did I say. Let’s go!” Shay demanded.

  Heaven looked at Shay shocked and stood in place, as Angie stepped up to her.

  “God, I said no thanks you fucking dyke!” But her last word was introduced to Shay’s left hand slapping her. Angie quickly fired back grabbing a fistful of Shay’s hair, and the girls tousled, but Heaven and Angie’s friends broke up the soon to be brawl.

  “Hey guys, c’mon!” Heaven screamed.

  “Angie, don’t let her bring you down to her level!’ One of her friends added. “She’s trash!”

  “I’ll fuck all yall bitches up!” Shay screamed with Heaven holding her. A small crowd had gathered in the women’s bathroom by now. “Get off of me!” Shay pushed Heaven. “Either let me whoop this bitch ass or bring your ass on Heaven, cause I aint got time for this shit!”

  Heaven let go of Shay slowly scowling at her, and for the first time she knew she would not take the backseat to Shay’s demanding ways. Yeah she had joked and said she was mama bear but Heaven felt as if she was a grown ass woman now, and she felt like Shay was beside herself.

  Heaven was G’s woman, and had a new image that she was enjoying living up to, there was no way that Shay was going to treat her like a little girl and punk her in front of people that G was trying to establish as her peers.

  “You know what Shay, I’m good,” Heaven said with attitude. “I think I’ll wash my hands a little longer.”

  Shay looked into Heaven’s eyes and saw the attitude and saw the fire of a woman, and she knew she had lost her teenage friend that was like her little sister. But she had lost her in front of Angie and felt offended.

  “Whatever Hev. You know what, fuck you too.”

  And with that, Shay stormed out of the bathroom.

  Heaven could not believe Shay’s words, she was boiling and wanted to go after her and start another fight, but she figured, Fuck you too Shay. There seemed to be a whole lot of fucking that night.

  Angie straightened out her dress and placed one of her fake breasts back into its compartment, it had slipped revealing a little nipple from the brief fight.

  “Oh my god, can you believe that butch bitch?” Angie asked to everyone. The other people started dispersing and re-joining the party.

  “She done fucked up my hair, and my high,” she added, laughing lightly.

  She ran some cold water and splashed it on her face where she had been slapped.

  Heaven stood to the side wondering what had just happened, had she really just dissed Shay? Was she really standing there with Angie whom she thought was her immortal enemy? Her thoughts were cut off.

  “Heaven, don’t even sweat her,” Angie said, reapplying her makeup. “I know she was like your first friend in this circle, but you’re better off, trust me. She’s not the type of person you want to associate yourself with to keep G. G likes ladies, women, not butch dykes, and that’s what she was trying to turn you into.”

  Heaven just looked at her and wondered if she herself was the type of person that Heaven should associate herself with. Angie turned to face her and continued.

  “Listen mama, we in a whole different ball game now. I know how you feeling girl, I was just like you. I was a young, pretty, innocent girl that used to date a big time hustling cat, and I even was friends with Shay at one time. But I smartened up, learned the game from being around it, and when that big time hustling cat was done with me, I was at a caliber to get me another, and another, and a ball player, and a rapper, and whatever else I wanted. Hanging with Shay, you’ll never learn the things you need to survive. Because she’s the type of person that wants you to be a little girl forever, and she wants to control you.”

  Heaven tried to not pay Angie any mind, but she could definitely see that in Shay. The thought of G being done with her though was not even existent, so she paid no mind to the other stuff.

  “Ugh, anyway!” Angie yelled with a smile. “I need to get right again, Mami, Darme mis pastillas!” She ordered one friend, who pulled out a pretty pink pillbox and handed it to Angie, after taking one pill out and sliding it onto her tongue.

  Angie quickly popped one like a tic-tac.

  “Heaven, you want one?”

  Heaven was embarrassed to not know what it was. Angie assumed so by her silence.

  “It’s E Heaven, you know the feel good drug. Is that what they’re calling it in high school these days?” She asked her friend.

  Heaven remembered Shay telling her about ecstasy and how not to do it, but Heaven had also heard of it in rap songs and assumed that it was pretty popular. When Angie noticed her skepticism, she added.

  “Half the party’s on it, I used to pop these shits all the time with G. He fucking loved me on these shits, he used to say it was the best!” Angie noticed Heaven’s sour face. “Oh c’mon don’t be mad at me, that was the past. I’m just looking you out. Heaven, it makes the sex incredible.”

  “Increíble,” her Spanish friend added, taking one for herself.

  Heaven was livid at the
thought of Angie and G having sex but was now determined at that point to show her up. There was no way that G would remember Angie as the best he ever had.

  Heaven put her hand on her hip and held out her hand.

  “Alright, give me one bitch.”

  They all laughed and were shocked at Heaven’s boldness. She popped the pill and gave a smile. They stayed in there for a while longer and then she made her way out of the bathroom with the foursome of beauties.

  Shay noticed Heaven coming out of the bathroom with the girls, all laughing, and she wondered if the joke was on her. She felt bad about blowing up at Heaven and now wondered if their friendship could be salvaged. She figured she would talk to her in private so that they could try to mend things.

  G had walked off somewhere, so it was just Shay and Loc standing alone when Heaven made her way to them looking for her man.

  Angie and her friends continued walking to scout out the party as Angie said her goodbyes.

  “See ya later, Hev!” Angie made sure to put emphasis on Hev, to let Shay know they were now friends.

  “Bye Ang,” Heaven responded.

  Loc looked at them confused but stayed silent, Shay had told him about the spat in the bathroom.