5ive Star Bitch (2 page)

“Is this nigga crazy?” Jill said, staring at the man, “It’s twenty degrees and his ass is out here in goddamn tank top.”

“He gotta be cold,” I said.

“Somebody’s ass is in trouble,” Jill pointed.

“Marisol!” the man shouted. He ran over to a lady who sat on the opposite side of where we were. “You lying bitch!” he slapped her.

“Tony, get out! I’m calling the policia!” Rosita yelled.

But Tony was adamant about what he came to do. He ignored Rosita’s warning and cocked back his arm a second time to slap Marisol again, but Marisol wasn’t having it.

I thought she just slapped him back, but when the blood started to drip down the side of his face, I knew exactly what she did.

Tony jumped back, put his hand on his cheek and blood dripped down his arm and onto the floor. He looked down at his blood stained jeans, “Bitch, I’m gonna fucking kill you!”

He charged Marisol and again she hit him in the face with the razor in her hand. Blood splattered the walls in the shop.

“Cherish, c’mon… we need to get the fuck outta here,” Jill said.

We skipped to the front of the shop and Rosita was standing by the door on the phone. “Cheri, I so sorry, I sorry Cheri…” she said.

“It’s okay Rosita, we good.”

“Her name ain’t Cheri, it’s Cherish, you fuckin’ immigrant. Learn how to speak English,” Jill was rude as we left out.

“Fuck you, puta!” Rosita hollered.

We laughed the entire ride home; Rosita’s shop was off the hook. There was never a dull moment.

When we got back to my apartment there was a tall box sitting on the side of my door.

“What the hell is that?” Jill asked.

“I have the slightest idea,” I looked at the tag that was attached to it and it had the words ‘My Love’ written on it in script. I knew whose handwriting it was as soon as I saw it, “Oh, it’s from Marlon.”

“I should’a known that,” Jill rolled her eyes.

“Whatevea, bitch,”

I unlocked my door, grabbed the box and we went inside.

“It’s nice and warm in here,” Jill said, removing her coat.

“Yeah, I made sure I left the heat on low while I was out.”

My loft was the crème del la crème. It was over two thousand square feet with fifteen foot ceilings, state of the art appliances and it was tucked away in the cut. No one knew where I lived unless I told them or showed them. Some world renowned artist lived on the other side of the hall and when I moved in he gave me one of his paintings as a gift for becoming a new tenant. It was the only piece of art I had hanging on my walls and I didn’t even know what it was. I just liked the colors.

“So, what you and mister Marlon got planned for Valentine’s Day?” Jill asked.

“Not sure yet, we’re meeting up later at his place.” I ripped open the box and saw what was inside, “Oh my God, these are beautiful!” I pulled the six foot roses out and placed them across the table.

“Dom Perignon and hard dick, happy Valentine’s Day!” she joked. “Those are nice.”

I laughed. “Whateva bitch. What about you and Troy? I know y’all got plans for the night.”

“Please, that nigga fucked up big time, and I’ma make his ass pay.”

“What he do?”

“I went through his wallet a few nights ago and found a muthafuckin’ condom. You know I hit the floor!” Jill shouted.

“And what was his excuse?”

“Ahh, baby, that been in there forever,” Jill mocked her boyfriend’s voice.

“Yeah, okay…”

“Umm hmm, that’s the same reaction I had. I told him I wanted a make-up bag and then I would think about forgiving him.”

“I hear that. Yeah, that twelve thousand dollar Hermes will erase the frown off a bitch’s face real quick,” I said laughing.

“Ain’t that right!” we hi fived and I went into the kitchen to pour us some drinks. “What you want, Mascato or Rose?”

“Mascato,” she answered.

I fixed us drinks and sat down next to Jill on the couch.

“Is that your phone ringing?” Jill said.

I looked around and didn’t see it. “Where is it?”

“Sound like it’s coming from your bag.”

I went into the dining area and grabbed my phone out of my bag. “Hey Doctor OConnor.”

“Hello, Cherish. I have your results back from the lab. You got a minute?”

“Sure, Doctor OConnor,” I went back to the couch to sit down.

“Well, Cherish… usually all your results come back negative, but today they didn’t.”

My heart dropped and I stood up. What the fuck did he mean, today they didn’t? “What’s wrong Doctor OConnor?” I felt sweat building on my forehead.

“You tested positive for gonorrhea.”

“What!”

Jill jumped up and almost spilled her drink. “What happened?”

“Doctor OConnor, please tell me you’re playing an awful joke on me, I’ll forgive you.” I said.

“I’m sorry, Cherish, I’m not joking. You tested positive.”

“Positive?” I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. This had to be a bad dream. There’s no way I could test positive for an STD. I was only fucking one dude.

“Yes, I’m going to recommend a prescription for an antibiotic and you can pick it up at your local pharmacy. All you need to do is take the medication as prescribed and everything should be back to normal.”

I stood there in awe, shocked, in disbelief, holding the phone, staring at nothing, just thinking.

“Cherish,” Jill tugged at my arm. “Cherish, what happened?”

I couldn’t even look her in the face. “I tested positive for gonorrhea,” I mumbled. I couldn’t come to grips with the words that had left my mouth. I was devastated.

“Gonorrhea?” Jill was just as surprised as I was. “Are you for real?”

I put the phone back to my ear. “But how Doctor OConnor, I haven’t had any symptoms. As far as I know, I’m good. Maybe we need to do the testing over.”

“It’s not a problem doing the testing over Cherish, but I’m pretty sure we got it right the first time. And the reason you haven’t had any symptoms is because you’re asymptomatic. Meaning, you won’t get the symptoms but the disease is still prevalent. What you need to do is let your partners know what’s going on.”

“
Partners?
I already told you, I’m only sleeping with one person. I don’t believe this shit!”

“Okay, well then he’s been having unprotected sex with someone other than yourself. It’s not the end of the world Cherish. If you hurry and get the medication I prescribed you can get rid of it in two weeks, but you must let him know.”

“Oh, yeah… I’ma let his ass know alright,” I pressed end and tossed the phone onto the couch.

3

9PM VALENTINE’S DAY EVENING

I mashed my foot on the gas pedal pushing my truck to speeds over eighty miles an hour. I was on my way to Marlon’s house. He lived in Manhattan in the Trump Building on One Forty Riverside Boulevard. He was renting a suite on the top floor for forty five hundred dollars a month. He stayed there throughout the season, but during the off season he vacated to his home in Atlanta.

Keyshia Cole’s song
I Remember
came on the radio and I turned the volume to the max. I loved this song. I gripped the steering wheel and focused on the road, but my mind was elsewhere. For the last eight and a half hours the only thing I could think about was that horrifying phone call I got from Doctor OConnor. I still didn’t believe it, but I made sure to get the medication he prescribed.

My mind was in shambles. Marlon had been lying to me; and to think, we only had unprotected sex one time. The one time I tell him it’s okay to take the condom off, look what happens. Just the thought alone made me bang my hand on the dashboard. I made a stupid decision and I was paying for it, but Marlon fucking deceived me. He looked me in my eyes and told me a bold faced lie, and for that, he was going to pay.

I was wearing
That Dress
. No, literally, I had on the same dress Elizabeth Hurley wore in Nineteen Ninety Four. It was designed by Versace. It was a little black dress. The sides were open and gold safety pins held it together. It was hot. I brought it at an auction Marlon made me go to. I paid eleven thousand for it. It was some type of charity event.

Now that I think about it, I did a lot of things that I did not want to do. I only did them because Marlon would insist. I hated his friends—his so-called friends—and I hated the events he made me go to. But I went, and when I attended, I made sure I was the baddest bitch in the room. I smiled and I represented my man well, every time.
And this is what he does to me? This is how he repays me?
I couldn’t wait to get to his house.

I pulled into Marlon’s garage, parked in my reserved spot and took the elevator to the top of the building. Marlon lived on the twenty first floor. The ride up was fifty three seconds exactly. That was if it didn’t stop.

I stepped off the elevator carrying a bag with Marlon’s Valentine’s gifts. Yeah, I brought him a few things. He was sure to love them. I just knew it.

The closer I got to his door, the angrier I became. I was fuming, but I was trying to hide it. I wanted to wait it out and see if he would come clean; I knew he wouldn’t, but there was a glimmer of hope. I just couldn’t believe Marlon would do this to me.
How could I trust him after this?

I rang the buzzer and a few seconds later the door opened. I pushed my way inside, carrying bags on one arm and my purse on the other. “It smells good in here,” I said.

His apartment was huge. He hadn’t done much to it, but it was comfortable and it was his. He had a few pieces of furniture imported from Italy, a few paintings and pictures on the wall, and a big ass flat screen television in the middle of the living room.

Marlon was in the kitchen, dicing something at the counter. He looked up when he heard my voice. “Hey baby,” he dropped the knife and rushed to help me with the bags. He leaned in to give me a kiss and I almost pulled back, but that would have been a sure sign of my attitude, so I played it off. I was disgusted when his lips touched mine. Lord knows who else he’d been kissing, or what else he’d been kissing. I put my purse on the glass coffee table and he tossed the bags onto the sofa.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, babe,” Marlon said, wrapping me in his arms.

I felt smothered. His scent usually made my pussy wet; today it was making me cringe. Everything about him irked me. His voice, his touch, that majestic smile; even his appearance made me want to throw up in my mouth. It took everything in me to put on a happy face and act like nothing was wrong. “Happy Valentine’s Day, babe,” I replied.

He helped me remove my coat and then he hung it up in the closet by the front door. “You ready to eat? I made you something nice, something special,” he said.

I had something special for him too, he just didn’t know it. “Sure, chef Marlon, what did you cook?” I followed him into the kitchen.

He removed the lids off the pots and showed me his meal. “I got some coconut shrimp, black rice, Cajun salmon; broccoli, and for desert…” he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a cake, “Your favorite; strawberry shortcake,”

I fake smiled. But I did love me some strawberry shortcake.

“And…” he reached into a brown bag that was on the counter. “I got this for us to sip on. I’ma get you drunk tonight,” he winked, holding up a bottle of Dom Perignon.

If this nigga thought he was going to get me drunk and give me that dirty ass dick of his, he had another thing coming. He’d be lucky if he ever touched this kitty again.

“You got it all planned out, huh?” I said.

“Yup,” he smiled and I just wanted to slap the shit out of him.

After we ate, Marlon went into his bedroom and returned holding a small black bag. I already knew what he got me. We had talked about it a few months ago.

“You go first, babe, let me see what you got me, and then I’ll go,” he said, putting the bag on the table.

I smiled at him, “You sure?”

“Yeah, go head…”

I walked to the sofa and grabbed the bag with Marlon’s gifts. I couldn’t wait to see his face when he opened them. He was about to get the surprise of his life, and he didn’t even know it.

“Okay, open this one first,” I told him, handing him a box out of the bag.

He sat at the kitchen table and tore the wrapping paper off the medium sized box. “What is this, babe?” he shook the box and put it to his ear.

“Just open it, Marlon.”

He opened the box and his eyes got wide, “Handcuffs?”

“Yup,” I licked my lips and started to unbutton his dress shirt. “Let’s play cops and robbers. I’m the cop and you’re the robber.”

“Babe, I don’t know about this one, I never been in a pair of cuffs.”

“Pleeeease,” I fake begged him just to stroke his ego. “Let your first time be with me.”