“Come on, Carmello. Why would you fuck me raw?”
“Don’t you think it’s a little too late to be asking that? Besides, I got a clean bill of health from my doctor yesterday,” he told me as he pulled up his pants.
He also told me that he had a reason for never having sex with me until that day. He wanted to make sure that he didn’t have any STDs. He said that there would be no reason to go there unless he could fuck me raw.
“So, what’s your chart looking like?” he asked.
“Don’t you think it’s a little too late to be asking that?” I said, returning his question to him, but then I quickly assured him that I didn’t have anything. I went into his bathroom and cleaned up. When I was done, I came out, got dressed, and opened the door to leave.
“Remember, no more calls until I call you,” I told him right before I left his office.
Thug boy was sitting in the waiting area, and as I walked by, I caught him looking at my ass.
“Caught you,” I said to him jokingly.
He smiled but said nothing.
I got into one of the cars Tay had bought me and drove home. I sped like hell just to make sure that I had enough time to get Carmello’s cum out of me before Tay’von got home. I soaked in the tub and got spick and span. I dressed in a sexy outfit and waited for my man.
Forty-five minutes later Tay’von walked through the door, looking very tired. I was just thankful that he would have some time to rest. He gave me a long, tight hug and kissed me on the forehead.
“Damn, Tay. I have really missed you,” I said as I pulled away from him.
“I got a pre-wedding gift for you,” he told me.
My face lit up, and I couldn’t wait for him to tell me what it was.
“Calm down, calm down. It’s not here yet.”
I must have looked like a five-year-old child. He took my hand and kissed it, hoping that this would calm me down.
“You’re such a brat. It will be here soon. Don’t look so sad,” he joked.
We went into the kitchen, and I started to show him all the plans that I had for the wedding. About fifteen minutes later the intercom came on. It was someone from a car dealership, asking for Tay’von. I jumped up, ready to go outside.
“Aren’t you going to finish showing me this stuff?” he teased.
“Later for that. I want to see what’s outside.”
I grabbed his hand and tried to pull him up. We got to the front door, and he put his hands over my eyes.
“Now, remember that this isn’t too big. It’s just a pre-wedding gift,” he said.
I heard him open the front door. When he took his hands from my eyes, I just stood there in the doorway, with no emotion. I didn’t see what I wanted to see.
“Where are they going with my cars? Why are they putting them up on that truck?” I asked.
“’Cause it’s over. I want you out of my life. Get the rest of your shit and get out.”
My mouth dropped, and my heart pounded a mile a minute. “Why? What did I do?”
I thought that maybe there really were active cameras in the house and that Tay had seen videos of me getting down with Carl. Or maybe the Amira thing was just too much for him to live with. Or, hell, did he know about Carmello? There were so many reasons why he might want to end things.
“It’s just what I said, Tangie. I don’t want to be with you anymore.”
Tears formed in my eyes once I realized that I was about to lose everything.
“Aw, don’t get misty eyed. It’s too late for all of that. Plus, I’m just joking. Take a look behind you.”
I couldn’t move. I felt like I was having a heart attack. He put his arms around me to stop my body from trembling.
“Damn, baby. I was just playing. You’re not mad at me, are you?”
“Don’t ever play like that. I almost passed out. That wasn’t funny, Tay.”
“I didn’t know you loved me like that. My bad. Just turn around and you’ll feel better.”
I slowly turned to see that the first tow truck had left and another truck had pulled up in its place. It had two new Bentleys on it.
Tay smiled. “So, are you over my bad joke now?”
“Hell, yeah, I’m over it. Tell him to put the cars down,” I demanded as I walked over to the truck. I told the driver myself to put my new babies down.
The cars were out of this world. I felt the same way I had when Tay first gave me the other cars. Everyone came out, and I took pictures with my new cars as Tay told them how he had to have the Bentleys brought up from a California dealership.
* * *
I was in the tub when Shamika came rushing through my bathroom door. I looked at her as if she was crazy for just barging in.
“What in the hell is up with you?” I asked, annoyed.
She held a magazine in her hand but didn’t show it to me. “You better get your ass out of the tub. Tay’von and Carl are fighting like shit downstairs.”
When I asked her what for, she then handed me the magazine. On the cover was a picture of Carl and me going into the hotel, and one photo of us leaving. Shamika guided me to the article in question.
It seems like the soon-to-be wife of Mr. Too Fine has found someone to help her get rid of those pre-wedding jitters and maybe even get over the death of Amira. The hip-hop star Tay’von is soon to marry an ex–video dancer who is known as Tangie. She is pictured here with Too Fine’s bodyguard, leaving one of New York’s finest hotels. Witnesses say that the duo were holding hands and kissing each other in the lobby and elevator. Photographers were unable to go into the hotel and snap shots of them, but they were caught trying to sneak out. We hope Mr. Too Fine isn’t too heartbroken after the famous words he spoke during his latest interview “This is forever.” Guess we will see if it really is forever after he sees these photos.
I must have been heaving for air, because Shamika looked scared.
“Girl, just don’t sit in the tub, breathing. Get your ass downstairs,” she urged.
I threw the magazine on the floor, jumped out of the tub, slipped on my robe, and ran downstairs. The game room looked like they had broken everything in it. Black and Tony were both holding a man back.
“How the fuck are you going to do this to me? You have been working for me from the start. Yet that still don’t stop you from fucking Tangie?” Tay’von roared.
“Fuck you, Tay’von. If all it takes is for you to read one thing in one of them trashy magazines, then yeah, I did—”
I cut him off before he could say something too stupid. “Tay, nothing ever happened at the hotel with Carl and me.”
“Oh, bitch, please. First, it was Amira. Now it’s Carl? I don’t know what made me think that I could ever marry a freak like you. You’ve turned me into the laughingstock of the industry. Well, I guess I should have remembered what they say about turning hoes into housewives. I should fucking kill both ya motherfuckers! At least I would feel a sense of redemption,” Tay said, more to himself than to anyone else.
I walked away, got my planner, and returned to the game room. I opened the planner and showed Tay the date in question. I then handed him the designers’ card and told him to call them.
“Maybe you’ll see how much of an ass you’re being,” I told him.
Tay pulled out his cell phone and actually made the call. After he hung up, I stood in front of him, with my hands on my hips.
“Well, don’t look sorry now. What did they tell you? Was I there on that day for a dress fitting or what?”
He didn’t say anything. He just sat there, looking like the jackass he was.
“You know what, Tay’von? I don’t know why you’re marrying me, either. You don’t trust me. And for you to come out of your mouth and call me a freak and a ho is way out of line. How about we just call everything off? I’m not willing to go through this shit for the rest of my life, so that’s it. The wedding is off.”
“Man, all I know is that my manager calls me and te
lls me about you and Carl being on the cover of a magazine. When I asked if anyone knew anything about it, Shamika ran upstairs and brought the magazine down to me, and that’s when I lost it.”
“Where is it? I wanna see it,” Carl said, still boiling hot over what had just gone on in the game room.
I glared at Shamika; I couldn’t believe what Tay had just said. He had made it sound like she couldn’t wait to get that magazine into his hands.
“That bitch just showed it to me. I left it on the bathroom floor. She should give it to you. She was so quick to show it to Tay,” I said.
Everyone waited for Shamika to run up to my bathroom and get the magazine. She came back downstairs and handed it to Carl.
I stared at Shamika across the room. “You know what’s killing me? How are you going to have this in the house and never show it to me? You would think that since it has to do with Carl and me, you would have brought it up. What were you waiting for? For Tay to come home, hoping that you would start some bullshit?”
The more I spoke, the more upset I got, so I started to walk toward her. “You been in my house, acting like we were cool, and then you go and pull some shit like this? How are you gonna try to set me up like this?”
She didn’t utter a word.
“Answer me, God damn it!” I yelled after waiting in vain for her to respond.
When she still didn’t answer, I jumped on her and tried to pull out every hair on her head, while not forgetting to try to knock her teeth out of her mouth. By the time Black and Tay pulled us apart, my robe was on the floor, and she had a couple of tracks missing. Tay pulled off his shirt and handed it to me as I spat insults at Shamika.
“You dirty bitch! You walk around here like we’re friends, but you’re just really waiting for a chance to fuck my shit up. Fucking ghetto trash! Didn’t even know how to put an outfit together before you met me. I was just trying to help Black out. He shouldn’t have to be seen with such a gutter-butt bitch as you, but I figured, hey, maybe I could change a hood rat into a classy bitch like myself. I should have known that I couldn’t extend a helping hand to vermin. A hood-rat bitch will always be just that!”
“Aw, fuck you, bitch!” Shamika shouted. “Ain’t nobody trying to fuck nothing up. And I don’t have to be in your house. You act like you and Tay are the only ones who are paid around here. My man is just as famous as yours. Why would I have to try to fuck your shit up? We’re on the same playing field!”
I tried to jump on her again, but Tay held me back.
“Get your shit and get the fuck out, then!” I snarled. “There’s no one holding you here. Take your things and go back to your little town house, or whatever it is that you live in.”
“What, you think you better than Black and me just because you live here? You can lose it just as fast as you got it, bitch,” she countered.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Oh, I see. That’s why you did this. You were trying to make me lose everything that I have. It’s not about where you live. It’s about the trash that lives there. You’re a hateful bitch, Shamika. You’ve got half an hour to pack your stuff and leave.”
I made my way upstairs, and everyone followed me. I went into her bedroom and took the purse that I had given her out of the shopping bag.
“What are you doing? Put my bag back on the bed!” she said as she reached for the purse. I pushed her away, and Black pushed her on the bed.
I shook my head. “Don’t think that I want this after you’ve had it.”
I picked up the bottle of Hennessy that was on one of the nightstands and poured it on the purse. She tried to jump up, but Black made sure that she stayed on the bed. I took the purse and threw it in her bathtub. I took a lighter and set that bad boy on fire. I poured more liquor on the purse to make sure that it was totally torched. I couldn’t help but smile when I remembered Left Eye. She had always been my favorite. The thought of her reminded me to make sure I stayed put until the fire was completely out. I said a silent RIP both for Amira, my dead lover, and for Left Eye, my favorite member of TLC.
“Buy your own fucking purse,” I said after turning the water in the tub on and putting out my man-made fire.
I walked out of her bedroom and went into my own. Tay walked in after me, amazed by and kind of scared of what he had just seen. The look on my face as the fire burned had given him a glimpse at my very dark side. I didn’t even look at him. I didn’t know if I should be mad because I had been caught or because he hadn’t asked me if I really did it. I sat in the chair by the dresser and lit a cigarette. I decided that I wasn’t going to say anything to him until he spoke.
“Tangie, I don’t know what to say.”
“If you don’t know, then don’t say nothing at all. You have gone way too far this time. You didn’t have to bring up Amira or fight with Carl. You are out of control, and I want no part of it.”
He put his hands around his head, as if he were losing his mind. I knew that this was the time to play on his emotions, and I wasn’t going to stop until I won. I looked at my watch and got up from the chair immediately. I walked back to the bedroom in which Shamika and Black were staying and listened at the door. I heard what sounded like hammers hitting the wall. Tay walked out of our bedroom and came over to where I was standing. We listened; then Tay opened the door. Black stood over Shamika, who was lying on the floor. She looked like she had slid down the wall and had landed on her back. Tay pulled Black away from her just as he was about to hit her again. Tay took him into our bedroom and left Shamika on the floor. I ran downstairs and found Carl still in the game room, holding the magazine.
“I knew that this would happen. This shit has me about to lose my job. I have never gotten myself into this kind of situation, never,” he grumbled.
“Don’t start your shit now. You already know what your choices are, and neither one of them is to tell Tay the truth.”
“Your mind never stops working, does it? Here we are in the middle of a shit storm, and you’re still trying to keep the stench from all this bullshit off you. I just can’t act like nothing has happened. The shit has hit the fan, and something has to be done.”
I took a deep breath and tried not to go off on him. “Fine, Carl. You can do anything you want, but do not tell Tay about us. If you do, I’ll turn it around on you so fast that your head will spin.”
I picked up my cell phone, which I’d left in the game room, pocketed it, and headed for the front door. Along the way, I grabbed the keys to one of my new cars, and once I was behind the wheel, I sped to the gate. I took out my phone and called Carmello.
“What’s up, Tangie? I thought you said no more calls for now?”
“I don’t have time to explain everything right now. But did you see—”
“Yeah, I saw it. So did Tay go crazy after he saw the magazine?” Carmello said.
I went ahead and gave him the lowdown on what had gone on in the house.
“Damn, Tangie, that’s fucked up. What are you going to do to fix this?”
“Well, I hope that you’re at your office, because I’m on my way there to get the sex tape.”
“You know that I can’t give you my only copy. Why would you want it, anyway?”
“’Cause it’s time to do what we talked about. I don’t need the original. Just make a copy of it. I’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”
As soon as I hung up, my phone rang. It was someone from the house calling, and I was pretty sure that it was Tay.
“What do you want?” I yelled into the phone.
“Where in the hell did you go? You just can’t get up and leave without telling anyone where you’re going.”
“I just had to get out of there. I have to think, and when I get back, I’ll let you know what I want to do.”
“What do you mean? What is it that you have to let me know about?”
“Us,” was all I said before hanging up.
* * *
When I got to Carmello’s office, almo
st everyone was gone. I walked in, wearing only Tay’von’s T-shirt and one of my long fur coats.
“Damn, girl. You wearing the hell out of that tee. Why don’t you go on and jump on this desk?” Carmello said, half joking.
“You have got to be out of your mind. Tay’s back at the house. I can’t stay long.”
“Aw, come on, Tangie. Just let me taste it.”
“Stop playing around and give me the tape.”
I walked over to him, and he turned his desk chair around to face me, then slid his hand up my shirt.
“You mean to tell me that Tay is home and he let you leave the house with no panties on? This nigga’s buggin’.”
“He didn’t let me do anything. I just kind of, um, left,” I said slowly as he hit my spot, but since I wasn’t there for that, I pulled away. “Come on, Carm. I need the tape.”
“Don’t get all new on me, ’cause your ‘man’ is home. All I’m asking for is just a little taste. You won’t get the tape unless you give it to me.”
That man always had to have things his way, so I sat on his desk and leaned back.
“Just a taste, Carmello. I can’t be here all night,” I said as he spread my legs.
I couldn’t deny it; the flicker of his tongue made me want more. I looked at the clock behind him and prayed that the five minutes that I was giving him moved by slowly.
Exactly five minutes later, I said, “Okay, baby, that was a taste. Now give me what I came for.”
He lifted his head, then licked his lips.
“Come on, Tangie. I can tell that you were close to cumming. Just give me what I want, and I’ll hand over what you want.”
He was right. I was close. I pushed his head back down, and he pitched a home run.
After I got off the desk, I went into his bathroom and cleaned up. I wanted some dick, but I was going to wait on that. When I walked out of his bathroom, I saw that he had placed the DVD on his desk. I walked over to him and put one of my legs on his lap.
The Art of Deceit Page 25