The Art of Deceit

by Fabiola Joseph

  “Calm down, little Mika. Don’t be so mad. You got to admit that you’ve had this coming. I’m the last bitch that you should have fucked with. You messed with my life, so now I’m ruining yours. I hope that you never find a man to spend another dime on you again. I hope that life gets so bad for you that you’ll need to borrow money just to get a sandwich off the dollar menu at McDonald’s. Rot in hell, you dirty bitch, and may you never rest in peace.”

  She was speechless as I let her arms go. The thought of me getting her first had never crossed her mind. It had just hit her that she had gravely underestimated me, and that bad choice was to her disadvantage. She had lost the game that she thought she played all too well. That was why my motto had always been, “Before you sit down to play a game, you must not only know the rules to the game, but you must also know all your opponents, even if that means skipping a hand or two just to make sure you know their skill level. Having this knowledge gives you an upper hand every time, and an upper hand always wins the game.”

  Tay came over to us and told Shamika that the car was waiting. I told him to send someone with her to make sure that she took her things, and her things only, from the house. He called Carl over and told him what to do. We all just stood there as I took Tay’s hand.

  “Well, Shamika, I’m sorry things ended up this way, but take care of yourself,” I said as I leaned into Tay. I wanted to show her that while she was losing everything in Black, I was gaining everything in Tay’von. She tried to lunge at me, but Carl grabbed on to her before she made contact.

  “You fucking bitch! How could you do this to me? I should fucking kill you! Let me go. Let me go!” she yelled as Tay put his arms around me as I started to cry for show.

  “What is she talking about? I have always been nice to her. Why would she say something like that?” I wailed.

  People crowded around me and started to console me. They didn’t want the bride upset the day before her wedding, so they tried everything they could to make me happy.

  “It’s okay, baby. She’s just crazy. Don’t even worry about it,” Tay whispered in my ear.

  “You know what? I don’t even want her going back to the house. Tell the driver to take her straight to the airport. We can mail her clothes to her at a later time,” I said as I wiped my face.

  Tay’von let me go and helped Carl pull a screaming and cursing Shamika off the ship. When they got to the limo, Tay later told me that he told Carl to make sure to head straight for the airport. Carl had to hold her in the car so that she didn’t run out and make a bigger ass of herself. A few months later, he would tell me about their conversation in the car.

  * * *

  “Carl, I’m telling you that bitch Tangie set me up. She’s the one who put the tape out there,” Shamika insisted.

  Carl was thinking that she was off her rocker by that point. There was nothing that she could say to make him think differently.

  “What reason would Tangie have to do that to you?”

  “’Cause she’s an evil bitch, that’s why.”

  “How would she get her hands on the tape? And why would you make something like that in the first place? What did you do with it once you were done taping?” Carl quizzed.

  Shamika said nothing. She didn’t want Carl to know why she had taped her and Black or for whom. She may have been brave, but everyone who knew Carmello knew never to snitch on him. Your body would never be found.

  Carl went on. “Look, Shamika, it’s too late for you to start blaming other people. You are dead wrong for that shit. I hope you didn’t tape us.”

  “Why would I tape us?” she asked, as if Carl was dumb to even ask such a question. He was just a broke bodyguard with nothing to lose.

  “Why would you tape you and Black? That’s about the dumbest shit I have ever seen a girl in your position do. Plus, you can’t just go around blaming people if you don’t have any proof.”

  She pulled out her cell phone and called the thug boy whom she had met at Carmello’s office. She spoke to him for a minute, then hung up. A short while after, her phone vibrated. She opened her phone and brought up the picture that he had sent her.

  “Well, there she is. That’s Tangie leaving the office of the person that helped her set me up,” Shamika explained as she tilted her phone so that Carl could see the picture.

  Carl took the phone and looked at the picture closely. It wasn’t very clear. You couldn’t tell who or where the person was. The only thing that rang a bell was the outfit the person had on. I did have one just like it, but still, that could have always been a coincidence.

  “From what I can tell, this could be just a close-up of Tangie. This won’t help you prove anything. You could have taken this at any time.”

  Once he said that, she started to panic. Maybe he was right. If she didn’t have any evidence, her life could really be over. And if it was, what would she do? The word would spread that she was the one who had set up Black. She would never be able to get another baller. Not a famous one or even a street baller. She wouldn’t even be able to go back to her hood. She was tarnished and wore something akin to a scarlet letter, the letter T for “trifling.”

  “That fucking bitch.” She said this over and over again as tears ran down her face. “I’m telling you, Carl. I’m gonna find a way to get that bitch back. My life is all fucked up now, and it’s because of her. I have got to do something to get her back.”

  Carl looked at her with pity and disgust. He knew that I was not a nice person, but he didn’t think that I would take things that far.

  * * *

  Back at the cruise ship, Tay was able to calm Black down. Black was way too ashamed to show his face at the bachelor party, so he left altogether. About a half an hour later, all the men left the ship. It was time for the girls to party alone, and things went down like they did at any high-class bachelorette party: lots of liquor, plenty of male strippers, and women going crazy over them. It was fun as hell. Everyone let their hair down and had a ball. It was always nice to see these celebrities for who they really were, instead of that fake, plastic, “I’m perfect” bullshit they put on for the public.

  I partied extra hard and was feeling good because not only had one of my many plans been flawlessly executed, but also when I woke up the next day, it would be the day that I married a millionaire. I didn’t get back to the house until four in the morning. Tay’von didn’t get in until six. Thank God I was having a sunset wedding, because neither of us would be up before noon.

  * * *

  I woke up to Tay’s warm body next to me. I rolled over and faced him. He looked like he had partied just as hard as I had.

  “Tay, baby, wake up. It’s our wedding day. We have got to start getting ready.”

  He smiled and slid his hands through my hair. “Don’t you mean it’s your wedding day?”

  I laughed because he was right: this day was really all about me.

  “It’s twelve thirty in the afternoon. We’re getting married at six thirty. I got a whole lot of things to do, so we have to get up,” I insisted.

  “Yeah, well, all that I have to do is shower, get a shape up, and get dressed. After that I’ll be done.” He glanced at me. “What about you?” he asked jokingly.

  I rolled on top of him, and I felt his morning wood. “This is your last morning as an unmarried man. Do you have any last words?” I asked as I moved my hips around on his hard wood.

  “I don’t have any last words, but I do have a thought running through my mind.”

  “And what is it that you’re thinking about?”

  He flipped me over and pulled my thong to the side. He played with my clit and got me wet.

  “Come on, Tay, you know that you have to wait till after the wedding. Then you can do whatever you want to me.”

  He didn’t stop; he just added more fingers.

  “Why would I have to wait? We’ve already slept together. Let’s just go ahead and let some of this stress out.”

&nb
sp; He was giving me the “sex” look. It was hard for me to say no to him, but I did. I pushed him off me and got out of the bed. “You’ll get some of me tonight. Until then, you can just think about all the things that you want to do to me.”

  I took off my bra and underwear. I did this slowly, just to tease him a little.

  “I’m going to go in and take a bath. Don’t come in after me,” I told him.

  * * *

  I had no mother or father coming to the wedding. I had to make do with old friends from my video days and other industry people. It wasn’t what I would have wanted, but that was life sometimes. And although I knew that I would just have to deal with it, it still bothered me. I was pacing the room now, worrying that something was going to go wrong. All kinds of crazy thoughts ran through my mind. I was even wondering if there really was any love between Tay’von and me, not that it should have mattered, but for some reason, at that moment, it did. I wondered, Could there be? I had slept with a lot of people while I had been with him, even fucking his enemy.

  Sure, I had come into the relationship with my mind only on his money. But now, now I wanted there to be something more than that. I even wondered what it was that he felt for me. I knew that he had slept with other women when he was out on the road. But could he really love me after what went down with Amira? But the more that I thought about it, the more I forced myself to believe that everything that we had been through had fused us together. All the bullshit had to be enough to force two people to love each other. How could he put up with all this shit if he didn’t love me? I’d even stayed with him after he had put his hands on me countless times. Shit, this had to be love, and if it wasn’t, well, I felt that we could always learn to love one another, right?

  I knew what I needed to do. There was only one way to calm myself down. I had to go to Tay’von’s room and get some. I made it to the door behind which Tay was getting dressed, and I was about to walk in, but Carl came walking out.

  Carl held up a hand to stop me. “Whoa. Where are you going? He can’t see you yet.”

  “Well, I have got to see him. I’m going out of my mind right now. I need him to help me calm down.”

  Carl could tell that I was upset, and wanted to help out. But he didn’t know what I had in mind.

  “Okay, let’s just go back to your room and get you dressed, ’cause you know if you go in there, you’ll have bad luck,” he said with a smile.

  I looked up at him, and he looked damn good. His hair was freshly cut, and his skin looked wonderful against the white shirt he had on. I let him take me back to my room, with only one thought in my mind, him. He walked in before me, which gave me a chance to lock the door behind me.

  “So are you ready to get into your dress?” he asked as he held my wedding dress out to me. I took off my robe and pushed the dress back at him.

  “Will you help me get into it?” I asked.

  I looked into his eyes and saw that familiar place that only he let me go to. He yearned for me, he needed me, and he wanted me. I knew that place that lived deep in his soul, and at times, I loved being there. I could feel his hand on certain parts of my body as he helped me into my wedding dress, and it seemed as if he hoped that I thought that it was all by accident, but his lingering touch told me that his actions were on purpose. Once he had zipped me up, I turned around and faced him.

  “So, do I look as good to you as I did that day I tried on the dress in the hotel room?”

  “You look even better, Tangie.”

  “Aw, Carl, you’re so sweet. Well, these are my last hours as a single woman. After today I’ll be Tay’von’s missus.”

  “Yeah, I know. Well, um . . .”

  Carl was acting as if he couldn’t think of what to say. He seemed as if he wanted to let me in on his pain and grief, but the words wouldn’t leave his lips. I knew what he was feeling without him having to utter a word. I got close to him and hugged him tightly. His hands ran across my dress and pressed against my body. It sent chills through me, as if I were in an ice-cold room. We stood there and hugged longer than we should have. I kissed his neck and made my way to his lips. I tasted them as he kissed me back.

  “Tangie, what are you doing?” he asked before slipping me his tongue.

  I didn’t answer him, but feeling his hands lifting up my dress let me know that he understood. Once he got it up around my waist, he slipped his finger in my panties. I moaned and enjoyed his touch.

  “Tangie, you’re about to get married, and Tay is right down the hall,” Carl said with his mouth, but he didn’t stop moving his fingers.

  “Come on, Carl. This is our last chance. Just bend me over right here.”

  He took his time and looked at me while he worked me over slowly. He leaned in and kissed me before turning me around. I held my dress up as he unzipped his pants. He entered me with the force of passion. I held back what would have been a loud moan as he pounded me. I savored the feeling of him inside me. I knew that this was crazy, but I loved it, standing there in my wedding dress while he sexed me up.

  Twenty minutes later I was getting cleaned up so that I could walk down the aisle. Yeah, that was fucked up. I knew that a sane person would never do that. But I had to get it out of my system. Hopefully, I wouldn’t feel the need to do it again.

  * * *

  The time had come to get the show on the road. All the guests had arrived on time to the Miami estate. Everyone stood up as I walked toward Tay’von, but for some reason, my eyes stayed on Carl. I wondered if anyone else could see the look of sadness mixed with satisfaction on his face. For a split second, I asked myself if I should be marrying Carl instead. I knew that he loved me with all his heart, but what about Tay? Was I the woman of his dreams? Would this really be forever? Fuck. I had to stop tripping. I took a look around, and I saw what my life was going to be. It would be filled with jewels, famous people, and lots of money. Fuck it. I forced the crazy thoughts that I was having out of my head. This was what I had always wanted—and not a life with a bodyguard who made just a little more than minimum wage.

  The ceremony lasted forty-five minutes. I thought Carl was going to pass out when Tay and I started to recite our vows. Carl tried to hide his true feelings from the crowd, but I knew why those tears ran down his face. He realized that all the thoughts he had about him and me falling in love and spending the rest of our days together were all a dream.

  “You may now kiss the bride,” I heard the priest say.

  I must have gone so far into my own thoughts that I missed most of what had been said. Tay came close and tongued me down.

  “I would like to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Miller,” the priest announced.

  We turned around and faced our guests. Everyone had that “aw” look on their face, but I still felt the same thing—nothing. Then I started to wonder if this was what married life was like. Would every day be the same? Who the fuck was I trying to fool? None of my days were ever the same. There would always be someone new to fuck, trick, or lick.

  By the time Tay and I had changed into our reception clothes, all the guests had ambled to the back of the estate and were under the tents. We had had large white tents erected and one hundred tables set up to accommodate our guests. The tables and chairs were white and gold. There were big pillars with white candles, gold-colored roses wrapped around them. Everything was candlelit. We had no lights on, nor did we need them. The five hundred big and small candles lighting the area gave the night a romantic glow.

  Tay and I made our way across the back lawn and took our seats at the head table. The evening went on as expected. Friends made speeches and toasts as everyone else listened. The liquor was the best, the food was out of this world, and we had the best live music, followed by one of the best DJs Miami had to offer. While Tay and I were having our first dance together, the music stopped.

  “Okay, everyone, I just want to stop the partying for a second or two,” Tay said as he turned to me and took my hand. “Now, you didn�
�t think that I would let this day pass without giving you a gift, did you? It’s nothing too big, it’s nothing too small, and it’s just right for you. I hope that we are able to spend many happy days with this gift.”

  Carl walked over to him and handed him an envelope. Then Tay handed it to me. I just stared at it.

  “Well, go on and open it,” Tay said as he waited impatiently. “This is the longest she’s ever taken to open anything,” Tay said, joking with the guests.

  When I finally opened the envelope, I almost fainted. It contained a check for twenty-five million dollars.

  “What, what is this for?” I asked as I read the numbers over and over again.

  “Well, you’re always saying how much you hate the house that we live in. Now you can use this money to get us a new one, or two or three.”

  Tears ran down my face. It was funny how the wedding did nothing to me, but a check for twenty-five million made me cry instantly.

  Chapter 18

  Congratulations.

  You’re Going To Be A Father

  We arrived at São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport around twelve the next day. I was so ready to hit the beach that I couldn’t stop smiling. Everything had gone exactly the way I wanted it to go. The wedding was a hit, I got my last taste of Carl, and now I was in Brazil. Who could ask for more? Probably me. A driver picked us up and took us to Natal, the city of the sun. We had rented a beachfront home there called simply “the Beach House.” It was a five-bedroom, 10,763-square-foot house with an ocean view. It came with everything, including a cook, a maid, and a driver. This was just what I needed for the next seven days. I was so happy to see that it had an eight-foot wall that went all around the house, to keep out those peeping eyes of fans and paparazzi.

  Tay and I settled in the biggest bedroom that had an ocean view, while Carl and Tony settled in downstairs. I jumped out of my clothes and put on my bikini.

  “Damn, girl, aren’t you tired from all that traveling?” Tay asked as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.