by Jade Jones
There was an uncomfortable silence that hung between us for several seconds. I hoped he didn’t expect for me to invite him up because if he did, he had another thing coming. After a while, I finally spoke. “Well, I’d better get going. I really appreciate the ride.”
Jude hit the automatic door unlock and I climbed out and opened the back door to get my suitcase. After closing the door, I waved bye and headed towards the dorm’s entrance.
“Hey, I ain’t even get your name,” he yelled out the window.
I stopped and turned around to look at him. “Cameron,” I said before continuing to walk away.
“Cameron, will you let me take you out sometime?” he asked.
I stopped in my tracks once again and turned around. I was surprised that he even found me attractive in the state I was in. However, after tonight, I really didn’t want to be bothered with any men besides the professors who instructed me. I didn’t even want to deal with Silk’s no good ass, so I was not crazy about the idea of meeting someone new.
I opened my mouth to say something but Jude quickly cut me off. “Look, I know it’s been a rough night for you. But why don’t you just call me when you’re in a better mood. I promise I’ll keep ya’ spirits up whenever you’re with me.”
I shifted from one foot to the other. It was a long night and I really just wanted to get up in my room. However, Jude was nice enough to get me home safely while not expecting a thing in return. I guessed the least I could do was take his number.
Leaving my suitcase on the sidewalk, I headed over towards his car and handed him my cell phone.
After punching in his number, he handed me back my phone. “Alright, hit me up,” he said before rolling up his window and pulling off.
***
When I finally made it upstairs to my dorm, I immediately stripped naked and placed all my clothes into a clear plastic bag. I didn’t want to possess anything that might remind me of what Wallace did to me.
After I climbed into the steamy shower, I scrubbed my skin until it was raw. I was still sore from what happened, but the hot water did what it could to soothe me. Taking a seat in the shower, I allowed the spray of water to wash over me as I cried for the longest.
Chapter 17
“Thank you,” I told the nurse as she handed me a small paper cup.
After swallowing the emergency contraceptive pill, I used the water to rinse it down. Thank God for Plan B.
“You’ll get your STD results in two weeks. If you receive a call from us, then most likely it won’t be good news. If we don’t call, then you have nothing to worry about.”
I stood up and proceeded to get dressed. “Okay, thank you so much.”
As I was leaving the Cleveland State Clinic, my cell phone began ringing its familiar tone. After surveying the number, I frowned.
“Yeah,” I answered nonchalantly.
“Yeah?” Silk repeated sarcastically. “What’s up with you? Why you sound like you got an attitude or some shit?”
I wanted to say a mouthful. I wanted to curse his ass out for not being there for me when I needed him. I wanted to cry and shout and scream at him, but then I thought, what would that change? What had happened last night had happened and there was no taking it back. The only thing I could do was forget about it and move on as best as I could. Nowadays, that was my only coping mechanism. Growing up without parents, I was raised to have tough skin. Besides, I had been through worse.
“I just had a...rough night,” I simply said.
“Well, you know I gotta show tonight at Pandora’s Box.”
“Oh, really?” I pretended I was interested.
“Yeah, and I want you to come down and support yo’ nigga.”
It was Friday, but I really needed to catch up on some much needed studying. Nevertheless, it was my job to support my man whenever he had a show in our hometown. “Alright, baby. I’ll be there.”
Just as I was hanging up, an incoming call came through. “You gotta be kidding me,” I said to myself before pressing TALK. “Bitch, what the fuck you want?!”
“Whoa! Damn! Somebody on they period or something?!”
“Why the fuck did you leave me last night?!” I hollered into the receiver.
“Leave you?” she asked. “When me and Juicy came back, the niggas said you had left.”
“Yeah, that’s because your bitch ass left me!”
“I didn’t leave you, Cam. I put that on my mothafuckin’ daughter! Rico had said he wanted to get a room, so he could have some privacy with me and Juicy. I was coming right back,” she rattled on. “When I finally came back, you were gone. I figured you must’ve gotten a ride from one of the niggas at the after hour spot, knowing your impatient ass.”
“You saw me calling you all that damn time! Did it ever occur to you that something had happened?”
“Come on, Cam. You know how a bitch get when she tryin’ to get paid. I knew you was in good hands.”
“Good hands?!” I repeated. “Bitch, I ain’t got no more words for your ass. Fuck you! You’re through in my book!”
“Cam, why you trippin”--
I didn’t give her a chance to finish her sentence, before I quickly disconnected the call. Of course, she continued to call me but I decided to send her ass straight to the voicemail each time. Gave her a taste of her own medicine.
***
I squeezed a small portion of baby oil into the palm of my hand before slowly rubbing the oil over Silk’s chiseled chest. We were all alone in the dressing room and I was helping him prepare for his upcoming performance. He looked absolutely sexy as hell in his teacher uniform.
Silk wore an unbuttoned white dress shirt which showed off his rock hard abs. Hanging loosely around his neck was a black and white pinstripe tie. He wore a pair of black dress pants and the black rimmed glasses he sported added the finishing touches to his sexy outfit.
After oiling his chest up, I watched as he popped a Viagra and rinsed it down with Gatorade. A ritual he had been doing faithfully before each show.
“Go out there and see if Klimaxxx’s performance is almost over,” he said taking a seat in a chair.
“Okay.”
I quickly exited the dressing room and walked through the hall that led to the entrance of the club. In the middle of the floor, Klimaxxx was seated in a wooden chair, butt ass naked, while stroking his dick underneath a blue towel. Women were hovering all around him as they sprinkled bills on him, hoping and praying that he’d remove the towel. Usually, that part of the performance meant that the entertainer’s show was coming to a close.
Silk was up next.
When I opened the door to the dressing room, Silk was busy jacking his dick off to the cover of King Magazine.
He didn’t bother looking up as I approached him. “Nicki Minaj ain’t got shit on me,” I said before playfully knocking the magazine on the floor.
He looked up at me and smiled. “Show me then.”
Without deliberation, I knelt down between his legs and took his rigid dick in my mouth. I sucked expertly, on the head just the way he liked it before running my tongue along the base of his dick.
“Damn, Cam. You gone make me cum,” Silk said gently pushing my head away. “Then I won’t be able to perform.” He stood to his feet. “Klimaxxx almost finished?”
I’d give him three more minutes.”
Suddenly, Silk grabbed me in his arms and pulled me close. His warm tongue slid into my mouth and his kiss was a combination of passion and aggression. “Tie me up,” he said after we pulled apart.
I picked the small, black sash up from the countertop and knelt down before him at waist length. Gently, wrapping the sash around the base of his dick, I made sure to tie it tightly before zipping his pants up. Once that was done, Silk handed me a wad of singles.
“Remember,” he said, handing me the cash. “Wait five minutes before throwing it.”
I nodded my head in agreement. “Alright, bay.”
Silk and I had been doi
ng this old trick for the longest. He would give me his own money and have me throw it on him while he was performing, which usually set off a chain reaction. Soon after, other women would come rushing up to the stage to throw their money on him.
It was just something about seeing a stripper get “rained” on that made other people want to do the same. The same went for the female dancers. It was a science I would never understand but it worked well in an entertainer’s favor...particularly in me and Silk’s case.
“Alright, baby make that money!” I playfully slapped him on the ass.
I stepped out into the club just as the DJ began playing Silk’s intro music. Fat Joe featuring Chris Brown’s “Another Round” filled the speakers and the lights dimmed as Silk stood in the entrance doorway.
Women instantly began screaming and clapping as Silk slowly stepped into the club, flexing his chest muscles to the beat. Before he was able to really get into his performance, women quickly began rushing towards the stage in a frenzy to shower Silk with bills.
He had built quite a reputation as one of the hottest performers in Cleveland. Women absolutely loved him and he did the damn thing when it came to entertaining. He was definitely a man of his hustle.
Although I was indeed the jealous type, I knew it was all entertainment so I didn’t let my jealousy cloud the fact that it was just strictly business....well for the most part it was.
When the group of females finally exited the stage, Silk pulled his tie off and tossed it into the crowd. You would have thought Ms. Patti Labelle had kicked her shoes off into the audience, by the way women were fighting over his tie.
I was so engrossed with the performance he was putting on that I almost forgot the “five minute rule”. I quickly ran up to the stage and threw the money he had given me all over him.
“Come on ladies! Show some love! Show some love! Cleveland’s own, Mr. Silk!” the DJ yelled into his microphone. “Ladies if ya’ boyfriend or husband came in here right now, would you stop whatchu’ doin?”
“Hell naw!” The women shouted in unison.
By the time I was done tossing the money on him, the stage was littered with two hundred singles. After my part was done, I took a seat at the bar. Unfortunately, I was joined by none other than Tank.
He was dressed casually in a pair of dark Levis, a Young and Reckless graphic tee, and a pair of Jordans. I didn‘t know if he would be performing tonight or not...but I did know that Silk would flip if he saw us speaking.
“Hey. What’s up with you, Cameron?” He took a seat in the bar stool beside me.
I pulled my cell phone out and said, “Hey. I was actually about to do something.” Climbing out my seat, I walked towards the stage and proceeded to videotape to Silk. Anything, to get away from Tank.
The last time I had ran into him, some straight drama had popped off while at the mall and I didn’t need that tonight.
Silk was now at the part of his show where he would choose one lucky woman from the audience to pull on stage and perform with him. A brown skinned female that couldn’t have weighed no less than three hundred pounds had been his woman of choice. She looked like she was going to have a heart attack when he picked her up and gave her the “dry-fuck”of her life.
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at her surprised facial expression. Five minutes into recording my man during his performance, Tank walked up beside me and whispered in my ear, “You gone plug my number in while you got yo’ phone out?”
I whipped my head in his direction and gave him a nasty look. He just didn’t get it. “Tank, you know I’m Silk’s girl. Why you playin’?”
Tank stepped closer to me. “You still fuckin’ with that nigga?” he asked.
Propping a hand on my hip, I told him, “Uh...yeah!”
“Well, look...check this out,” he began. “I won’t tell if you won’t tell. Wasn’t that the motto we used the first time?”
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Silk stop his entire performance and place the heavyset woman down. Here we go, I thought as he stormed over towards us in the middle of his damn show.
“Mothafucka, you just gone disrespect me, huh?” he asked Tank.
“Baby, it’s not what you--”
“If I was you, I would shut the fuck up talking right now!” He lashed out at me.
The music had instantly stopped as everyone’s attention became focused on the scene we were creating.
“Aye! What’s good?” Tank asked stepping up to Silk.
It was obvious that Tank didn’t like to back down from a fight, but judging from the ass whupping I’d witness firsthand, I thought he would have learned his lesson by now.
“Nigga, I done told yo’ ass to stay the fuck away from my ole’ lady!” Spit flew from Silk’s mouth as he yelled in Tank’s face. “I shoulda whupped yo’ ass the first time, my nigga!”
Wiping the specks of saliva from his face, Tank stood his ground. “Last I checked, ya’ bitch blew down on me. Not the other way around. But you can’t blame a nigga for wantin’ to smash again--”
Silk didn’t give Tank a chance to finish shit-talking before his fist landed right into Tank’s big mouth.
Women screamed and backed away from the altercation while others pulled their cell phones out to record the fight.
Seconds later, other male dancers jumped in to break the fight up before it got too intense. “Meet me outside, my nigga!” Silk screamed as Klimaxxx held him back. “I’m not through with yo’ mothafuckin’ ass.”
“Oh, I got somethin’ for ya ass when we get outside,” Tank yelled back before wiping away the blood from his bottom lip.
“Nigga, you ain’t sayin’ shit but a word!” Silk said with outstretched arms, obviously welcoming the warning.
After exchanging a few more threats, Tank was escorted from the club by a few other dancers.
”I can‘t believe this nigga!” Silk cursed.
“Baby, relax,” I said in attempt to calm him down. Obviously, that was the wrong choice of words.
He violently snatched away from Klimaxxx and stepped in my face. “Relax?! Relax?!” he spat. “Bitch, I know you ain’t been still fuckin’ with this nigga behind my back?!”
“Silk, I swear--”
“You been blowing down on me all me this time, but you been givin’ up my pussy to this lame ass nigga?!”
“Silk, I didn’t--”
“Have that mothafucka pay for yo’ college, 'cause I’m through with yo’ ass. Flat the fuck out!” He walked past me, slightly bumping into me.
“Okay! Okay! Shows over ladies! Obviously, we gonna have to end the night here!” The DJ said into the mic. “I apologize about the show’s early ending but same time next week, we’ll do this shit again minus the drama.”
I stood in the middle of the club, feeling completely dumbfounded. Silk had broken up with me because of an accusation that wasn’t even true. He didn’t give me a chance to explain myself. I knew, if I had been in my dorm, studying like I was supposed to be doing, none of this shit would have ever happened.
“I can’t believe I paid ten dollars for this shit,” a women mumbled as she walked past me. “I could’ve watched some shit like this on Jerry Springer for free!”
Instead of leaving right then and there like I should have, I waited for Silk to come out the dressing room. When he walked past me, he pretended like I wasn’t even there.
“Silk, we gotta talk.”
He didn‘t look at me as he continued to walk towards the exit. “Naw, you ain’t got shit else you need to say to me, Cameron.”
As soon as we stepped outside there was a crowd gathered in the parking lot. It was funny how people anticipating to see some drama pop off as long as they weren’t involved.
Tank had the nerve to be leaning up against Silk’s Denali, as if he owned it. “What’s good, my nigga? What was all that shit you was hollin’ inside?” Tank asked as he walked towards us.
“Silk, let’s just get in the c
ar and go so we can talk,” I offered.
But Silk wasn’t hearing me. He quickly dropped his duffel bag and approached Tank. “What’s happenin,’ nigga?”
Tank quickly ran up and threw the first punch but unfortunately, missed. Silk didn’t give Tank another opportunity to throw a second punch before his fist connected with Tank’s skull. He stumbled back a few steps but grabbed Silk’s body for leverage to keep from falling. Together, they tussled and wrestled as the crowd of onlookers watched and continued their recording session.
“Silk, come on! Stop!” I screamed. “Somebody stop this shit!” However, no one was brave enough to step in between the brutal fight.
Tank quickly took hold of Silk’s waist in attempt to drop him to the pavement, but Silk stood his ground as he locked one arm around Tank’s head. Silk quickly, began delivering a fury of blows to his face and it wasn’t until the third hit that Tank dropped to the pavement.
“Come on, mothafucka! Get up!” Silk yelled. “We ain’t done scrappin’! Get yo’ bitch ass up!”
Tank sat on the pavement and wiped away the blood that trickled down his face from his right eye.
“Get up!” Silk screamed as he paced back and forth like a madman.
“Man, this shit dead,” Klimaxxx said finally stepping in. “It’s a wrap. Let it go.”
“I told you, boy!” Silk yelled arrogantly. “Betcha’ ass learn now, mothafucka!”
Klimaxxx offered Tank his hand in an effort to help him off the ground, but Tank quickly slapped his outstretched hand away. “Fuck outta here!” Tank spat as he picked himself up off the ground. Limping towards his Dodge Charger, he shouted out obscenities at both me and Silk.
“Get in the truck!” Silk yelled at me.
“Aye, man you cool?” Klimaxxx asked.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Screams filled the night air as people dropped to the pavement for safety. Others hopped in their cars and skirted out the parking lot while the rest ducked behind vehicles.
“Yeah, bitch! Now what?!” Tank screamed before he sprinted towards his Charger.