by Tracy Brown
“Step aside.” Sunny said it calmly. “Before you get embarrassed in here.”
Raquel’s friends walked over and waited to see what would happen next. They stood with their arms folded across their chests, as if they were ready to defend their girl at the drop of a dime. Sunny’s friend Olivia walked over and stood behind her with an expression on her face that showed she wasn’t playing. Olivia was no joke either, and Sunny knew she was always strapped and would have her back. Sunny stood with her hands on her hips, and Raquel laughed.
“Sunny, you can’t tell me who I can dance with. This is my son’s father, sweetheart. If I want to dance with him, I’m gonna do that. You shouldn’t be so insecure.” Raquel laughed again, and continued winding her hips seductively in front of Dorian.
Seeing that this was about to escalate, Dorian slipped away from her and stood close to Sunny. He kissed her on the cheek, trying to diffuse the situation. He saw everyone looking at the three of them, and he didn’t want there to be a big scene. Sunny didn’t flip. She took Dorian’s hand and began to wind in front of him with so much seduction that he was visibly shocked. Sunny had his undivided attention as she slowly twisted and wound her hips erotically. And her body looked way better than Raquel’s as she moved in slow motion. Her movements were so seductive that she looked like a professional exotic dancer as she moved. Every single eye in the room was on Sunny, as she danced for her man. It seemed like this was a private moment, and she was performing for his sole pleasure. Dorian smiled, with a woody in his pants. Sunny smiled back, with her hands in the air and her hips moving like a belly dancer, while Raquel boiled on the sidelines.
Jada grinned, as she watched Sunny’s performance and the look on Raquel’s face. Everyone had expected Sunny to hit the woman, but instead she was making her look stupid. The grin on Dorian’s face said it all, as he watched his princess dance for him. Raquel’s friends came close and whispered to her with their eyes glued on Sunny. Sunny took note of all of it, and continued to hold Dorian’s gaze. He came closer to her and put his hands on her big ass as they danced. It appeared that there was no other woman in the room but Sunny, as Dorian danced with her. Raquel fumed in silence until the deejay finally switched back to rap music. Sunny kissed Dorian deeply and he held her close. She looked at Raquel, who was still standing nearby scowling, and she walked over to her.
“Raquel, you don’t need to remind me that he’s your son’s father. I know that. In fact, little Dorian, Jr., is like my own child. When he’s over our house, I treat him like the little prince that he is. And he loves me.” Sunny’s smile was antagonistic, and she could tell that she was getting to Raquel. Raquel’s own cynical smile had long ago faded from her face and had been replaced by an angry scowl, her lips set in a firm line. Sunny knew she had her furious. “So this ain’t about little D.J. This is about you coming in here laying your ass on my man. Don’t get fucked up.”
Raquel twisted her neck in typical black girl fashion. “Bitch, who’s gonna fuck me up?” Raquel was drunk, and it showed in her delivery. She was loud, and all heads turned to them once more. Her words were slurred, and she was leaning a little past six. “Sunny, ain’t nobody scared of you!”
Without any further warning, Sunny backslapped Raquel so hard that she fell backward, and stumbled over a stool behind her. She tumbled onto the floor with so much force that her dress tore. Raquel heard all the laughter and gasping from the crowd around her, and she quickly sprang to her feet. Her girlfriends rushed in to help her get up. Dorian grabbed Raquel by the arm and blocked Sunny from going after her again. But Sunny was finished. She hadn’t even broken a sweat, and she stood there smiling at Raquel. “You don’t have to be scared in order to get hurt. Remember that.” Sunny ignored Raquel’s cussing and yelling, and she looked at Dorian and said, “Send her home now.”
Sunny turned around and started to walk away. But then she turned back to Raquel, who was still cussing at her, and said, “Oh, and one more thing, bitch. You’re not woman enough to make me feel insecure. You’re a ho. You fucked around on Dorian. That’s why he left you. That’s why he fucked your girl CeCe over there while you were pregnant.” Sunny nodded toward one of Raquel’s friends behind her.
The look on Raquel’s face was priceless, as her drunken gaze fell from her friend to Dorian and back again. It was obvious that this information was new to Raquel, and she looked betrayed. Everyone wondered if Sunny was making it up. Would Sunny stay with Dorian knowing that he had not only fucked around on her with Raquel, but also with Raquel’s friend? Everybody wondered. But the look on Dorian’s face suggested it was factual. Raquel looked like she wanted to be sick. Sunny walked away with Olivia, and found Jada and Born along the way. They all laughed together, as Dorian escorted drunken Raquel outside.
Born shook his head and laughed as Sunny and Jada cackled over the episode that had just unfolded. “Yo, you played her,” Born said, as Sunny shook with laughter. “She was heated.”
Sunny shrugged her shoulders. “She shouldn’t fuck with me, then.”
Dorian put Raquel and her crew in a car with one of his boys and sent her home. She was furious, and he knew she would be a headache later on. But right now he was focused on Sunny. He loved her style, loved the fact that she wouldn’t hesitate to pimp slap a bitch even in a dress as sexy as the one she was wearing. He considered himself lucky to have Sunny, and he was grateful that she had stuck around even after he got Raquel pregnant. Sunny owned his heart, regardless of the other women he may have spent time with. When Sunny found out that he had cheated on her with Raquel, she was devastated. Money or no money, she had been prepared to leave him.
When she was pregnant, Raquel had made a point of showing up on Dorian’s doorstep with her belly bulging, demanding that Sunny hear her out. Sunny was distraught, and she left Dorian’s house and moved back in with her parents. But Dorian went over there every day and begged her to hear him out. When she finally agreed, he sat her down and told her the complete truth. He admitted cheating on Sunny, just for the thrill of new pussy. He told her that during the time he was sleeping with her, Raquel was secretly messing around with someone else. So when she popped up pregnant, he was skeptical at first. He told Sunny that he wasn’t even sure it was his baby. He would wait, he said, until the child was born, and have a blood test done. If it was his child, he would care for him or her. But it was over with Raquel. He swore to Sunny. She wasn’t trying to hear Dorian, though. Sunny refused to take him back.
Dorian was so upset with Raquel for blowing up his spot that he seduced her gullible friend for the fun of it. He had even been so disrespectful as to hold phone conversations with Raquel while her friend CeCe was giving him head. CeCe had no problem playing her so-called friend by fucking her baby’s daddy behind her back. She was happy to be the object of Dorian’s desire for once. For him, it was his payback. Raquel had cost him the love of his life. When Dorian, Jr., was born, Dorian got a blood test to prove paternity. But none was needed. D.J. was a darker-skinned version of his father. It was no question.
To win Sunny back, Dorian came clean and told Sunny all about his escapades. He even told her about CeCe to illustrate just how little respect he had for Raquel, let alone love. Eventually his persistence paid off, and Sunny took him back. Dorian considered himself blessed. She was the type of woman that you only come across once in life, if you’re lucky enough. Never had he met a woman who he could be completely real with. Sunny, in turn, respected Dorian’s honesty and how he took care of her. She wasn’t about to let another bitch have her spot, even if it meant that she had to accept Dorian’s philandering ways.
He walked over to Sunny and looked at her with a big smile plastered on his face, as Born and Jada looked on. “Why you had to send that girl sailing across the floor like that?” Everyone erupted in laughter at Raquel’s expense, and Sunny shrugged her shoulders.
“Tell her to stop trying me. You would think she’d have learned her lesson by now.” This
was certainly not the first confrontation between Sunny and Raquel. It would likely not be their last, either.
Dorian held Sunny’s waist, and shook his head. “Listen, I got some friends of mine who just got here, and I want to introduce Born to them. You stay out of trouble.” He looked at Sunny and Jada and back again. Both women smiled innocently, and nodded. Dorian and Born both laughed as they walked away. Jada and Sunny talked over drinks and recounted what had just happened. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
The party went on without further incident. Everyone danced and drank and enjoyed themselves until the wee hours of the morning. It had been a good night for business, and Born had been introduced to quite a lot of valuable connections thanks to Dorian. All night, Born drank his usual Hennessy, and by 3:00 A.M., he was twisted. But true to form he maintained his composure enough to stand straight and walk right. Jada took the keys, grateful for the chance to drive Born’s precious Benz. The two of them walked hand-in-hand toward the door, where Sunny stood beside Dorian saying good night to all their guests. Not many were left. It was late, and few remained, as the deejay packed up and prepared to leave. They bid the guest of honor farewell, wishing Dorian a happy birthday.
Sunny walked Jada to the end of the walkway, promising to call her later in the week. Sunny looked at Born, who was evidently tipsy, and smiled. “I’m glad y’all had a good time.” Jada laughed, and they turned to leave.
As they made it to Born’s car, parked across the street from the brown-stone, Jada noticed a black Lexus pull up slowly in front of the house. Sunny’s back was turned as she sauntered slowly back toward the house, where Dorian stood in the doorway. It seemed like Sunny’s feet were hurting after a long night, judging from how she was walking. Suddenly, the Lexus screeched to a halt and gunfire rang out through the passenger side window. The silence of the prestigious upper-crust neighborhood was shattered by the sound of bullets being fired.
Strangely, Sunny seemed to be the target, and she took off running like a trained sprinter—heels and all. She ran toward the house, as the shooter fired more rounds into the night sky. The person shooting was yelling, and Jada only half heard what they said, as she watched Dorian run toward Sunny to shield her.
“You fuckin’ bitchl You thought that shit was over? You ain’t gotta be scared to get hurt, right?” The shooter let off two more shots. The sound of tires screeching filled the night.
Raquel? Jada was in shock, and Born was instantly sober. Born jumped out of the car and pulled his gun, just as the Lexus sped away.
Sunny had managed to make it to the front door and into Dorian’s arms. Jada and Born ran back toward the browns tone to see if she had been hit, and as they reached the doorway they saw Dorian’s men finally coming to shut shit down. Their guns were drawn as they ushered Born and Jada back inside.
The deejay was hiding behind one of the sofas. The ten or fifteen guests still lingering were traumatized as well. But Dorian’s only concern was Sunny, and ensuring that she was unharmed by the hail of bullets.
Sunny was shaking and crying, and her tough-girl image was momentarily forgotten. She was vulnerable and scared, and Dorian comforted her, gently. “Shhh,” he told her as he held her in his arms. “Okay.” He consoled her, as the room remained otherwise silent.
“That bitch was trying to kill me,” Sunny cried.
“I’ll take care of it, Sunny. She was shooting straight up in the air, she wasn’t aiming at you—”
“Fuck that shit, Df” Sunny stood, fists balled at her side, ready to fight. Her hair was tousled, her mascara was running, and her dress revealed more than it was supposed to. Sunny’s anger was obvious, as her voice echoed off the brownstone walls. “What are you, fuckin’ defending her?!” Sunny was outraged.
“I ain’t defending nobody, Sunny! I’m gonna handle it. She’s fuckin’ buggin’.” Dorian was obviously frustrated.
“That’s your damn fault! You never should have let her come here. The bitch tried to kill me!” Sunny yelled.
Dorian tried to embrace her, and she stepped away from him. Everyone in the room felt like they were witnessing a private moment that they shouldn’t be watching. But no one knew what to say or whether to get involved. Sunny was in tears. “I hate you!” she yelled, sobbing.
Born nudged Jada. “Take her upstairs to calm down.”
Dorian turned and looked at Jada, as if he thought this was a good idea, and Jada stepped forward.
Sunny held up her hand. “I don’t want to stay here. I want to get the fuck out of this house.”
Dorian shook his head. “Not yet. Listen to me—”
“Fuck that, Dorian!”
Jada stepped forward. “Sunny.” She looked into the frightened eyes of her newfound friend. “Come pull yourself together before you leave.”
Sunny began to cry once again, realizing that she must look like shit in front of all these people. That was a tragedy in and of itself, because Sunny made it a point to always look her very best. She couldn’t believe that Raquel was crazy enough to shoot at her, and she was furious. She was embarrassed.
Jada took her hand, and led her reluctantly up the stairs. They went in to a large marble-tiled bathroom, and Sunny sat on the toilet and cried her eyes out. Jada comforted her from a distance, handing her tissues and telling her that she understood how shaken Sunny was. Jada waited until Sunny was calm enough to talk, after several minutes. Finally, Sunny began to make sense.
“The bitch hates me. She hates me because Dorian doesn’t want her. He made his choice. It’s not enough that she has the kid. She has to flaunt it in my face because she knows I can’t have any.” Sunny cried more as she said this, and Jada’s heart broke for the poor woman. She had no idea that Sunny was unable to have children.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “How many times did you try to have a baby?”
Sunny sniffled. “I’ve been pregnant twice, and both times I lost the baby in my fourth month. Both boys.” Sunny’s eyes welled up again. “I have trouble holding the pregnancy into the second trimester. And I want a baby. I want to have his baby so bad.” Sunny looked in the air, wistfully. “It would make everything perfect. But I can’t give him that. And she can.”
Jada listened sympathetically. “How old is his son?”
“He’s three. And he’s so adorable.” Sunny smiled at the thought of Dorian’s son, and her love for him was obvious. “I love D.J. But she rubs it in my face that he’s not my son. She reminds me every chance she gets. After I lost the second baby, she came over and brought me baby clothes. I had just come home from the hospital after having the miscarriage. The bitch came by our house and gave me clothes for the baby, telling me that she figured she’d give them to me anyway, in case I wanted to try again. I wanted to kill that bitch.”
Jada shook her head, finding it hard to imagine having to deal with a woman who could be so cruel and so crazy. “Well, she’s insane. She’s just jealous of you, and that’s the only thing she knows will hurt you. Don’t let her see you sweat.”
Sunny sighed. “I don’t want to let her have the satisfaction of knowing that it bothers me so much. I try to act like it’s no big deal. But now she fuckin’ shot at me, and I’m supposed to just keep being with Dorian? What kind of shit is that for me to have to deal with?”
Jada didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to bad-mouth Dorian, yet she knew that if a bitch was shooting at her over a man, she would be gone. It sounded to Jada as if Dorian was having his way with both women. But she didn’t say that. Instead she said, “You know he loves you. He obviously doesn’t love her. Keep your head, and go home with Dorian so he can handle this. He has to take care of it, because he told you he would. Just wait and see what he does.”
Jada handed Sunny a wet paper towel, and Sunny pulled herself to her feet and wiped the makeup off her face. Looking at their reflections in the mirror, Sunny smiled at Jada. “Thank you. I owe you for this.”
“Nah. You d
on’t owe me nothing. That’s what friends are for.” Jada smiled, and the two of them headed downstairs.
Dorian waited at the bottom of the stairs trying to read the expression on Sunny’s face. Jada, meanwhile, made eye contact with Born, and her eyes looked sad. He watched her make her descent, wondering if she had been able to calm Sunny down. Dorian took Sunny by the hand and pulled her toward him gently. She didn’t resist, and he kissed her lightly.
“She won’t get away with this, Sunny. I promise, okay? Trust me.” Dorian looked for Sunny’s acknowledgment, but none came as she stared back at him blankly.
Born took Jada by the hand, and they quietly made their exit, anxious to get home after what had been a night they wouldn’t forget.
22
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Summer 1996
Dorian and Born did big business together, and their cash flow increased steadily as time went by. Born started his takeover of Shaolin’s slums, as well as of its cul-de-sacs. He made deliveries all over the borough, and he had smoke houses set up in three sections of the island as well.
His childhood crew began to crumble into even smaller pieces. Martin was arrested for attempted murder after a robbery went wrong. His victim survived four gunshot wounds, and was prepared to testify. Martin copped a plea, rather than take it to trial unnecessarily. It broke Born’s heart to learn that his boy was forced to serve a sentence of eight to ten years in prison. But Martin had lived his life with recklessness, and he was paying a heavy penalty. Born made sure he sent his boy money every chance he got, and wrote him letters to keep his spirits up. He knew that Martin was sick about being so far from home.
Born, meanwhile, was getting money like never before, and he was still unafraid of stepping on other people’s toes. He had a spot in Staple-ton, and that was lucrative for him. But Born wanted work in Park Hill as well. He went to see what was what, and he rode through there in his Benz one Friday night. He wasn’t disappointed. All of Targee Street was lined with young workers grinding, trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents.