All That Drama (3 page)

T
o the best of Sammie’s knowledge, Jessie did not make it home last night. When her set was up, she quietly left the club and took a cab home. This was happening more and more on a regular basis, but Sammie refused to think about it and instead relished her temporary freedom. This was her only down time.

Over the past few years, Sammie had fought against dancing in those sleazy clubs. She had pleaded with Jessie to allow her to attend open auditions for modeling jobs but she no longer had the body for it. Dejected, Sammie became accustomed to the smoky dimly lit room.

Alone, at last, she leisurely stretched and belted out a hearty yawn. Scratching first her crotch, then her armpits, Sammie climbed out of the bed. She did not know how long her reprieve would be but she knew she was going to make the most of it.

After checking the driveway to make sure his car was gone, Sammie ran into the kitchen and pulled out the box of chocolate chip cookies she had hidden in the crock-pot. She glanced at the clock and realized that it was almost noon. It was unusual for Jessie to let her sleep this late on a weekday but she quickly dismissed her worries.

Gratefully, she bit down into the cookie and breathed in its sinful smell. With each bite, some of the tension that had been building in her neck and shoulders eased. Suddenly, she remembered the potato chips she’d hidden in the bathroom cabinet behind stacks of toilet paper. She quickly ran to the bathroom and retrieved her stash. She put the snacks on the table and grabbed a two-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper from under the sofa.

She could not eat these types of foods when Jessie was around so she decided to have a bonafide feast in his absence. From the linen closet, she retrieved some chocolate cupcakes and a bag of Doritos. She tore off the top of the Doritos and crammed a few in her mouth on her way back to the kitchen.

With her bounty laid out before her, she sat down to enjoy her feast. She briefly looked down at the frayed nightgown she wore and paused long enough to wipe her hands before tearing into the bags before her.

“I wonder who he’s with this time?” she said out loud, but those thoughts did not slow down her fevered consumption. She alternately shoveled sugar and salt down her throat with pauses in between gulping her soda. She remembered the onion dip in the refrigerator and knocked over her chair in her haste to get it.

“Uh!” she said after letting out a loud satisfying belch. Crumbs spewed out her mouth and landed on the front of her nightgown but she didn’t even notice. She also had a smudge of dip under her chin. She was so preoccupied with her meal, she did not hear Jessie’s car when he pulled into the driveway. She also did not see the dark shadow that paused at the kitchen window momentarily blocking out the sun.

“What the fuck!” Jessie exclaimed when he saw Sammie hunched over the kitchen table and more importantly with all the junk food scattered all over the table. After watching her for a few minutes from the window, he approached the front door. He masked the anger he felt and noisily opened the door.

Sammie’s head snapped up when she heard his keys jingling. She quickly threw all the evidence of her binge in the trash. She ran to the refrigerator and grabbed a carrot, which was an acceptable snack, according to Jessie. She bit into the carrot hoping it would hide the smell of chocolate on her breath. She did not expect Jessie to kiss her but you never knew with him.

“Hi,” Sammie said brightly despite the brick of fear lodged in her chest.

“Um,” he grunted in response. “What are you doing?” he asked angrily.

“Just having a snack,” she replied, holding up the half-eaten carrot as evidence.

“I can see that; I ain’t blind,” he flipped back. “Is that all that you have eaten today?” he asked, going through the mail that was left on the table from the day before.

“Yeah, I’m still trying to watch my weight,” she said, allowing her breathing to relax thinking she was in the clear.

“Where did you get that from?” he inquired, pointing to the carrot that she was holding.

“The refrigerator,” she said, not understanding his line of questions nor where they were going.

“We had carrots just like that in the refrigerator?” he asked. “Are those the same ones I bought last week?”

“I am not sure when you bought them but I got them from the fridge. I sure didn’t buy them ’cause I rarely have money for anything other than cigarettes.” She really wanted Jessie to leave the room so she could take out the trash and destroy any evidence left of her binge. She was mad that she had to throw out her remaining goodies but wanted the opportunity to take them back out if they hadn’t spilled onto the other garbage in the can.

“Those look like real special carrots to me,” Jessie said, walking closer to Sammie. “And that’s all you have had today?” he asked again. She turned the carrot over in her hand examining it. She didn’t understand why he was making such a big deal of the carrot anyway but she continued to play along. She took another bite of the carrot before she responded.

“Yep, this is it,” she said, wiping her sweaty palms down the sides of her tattered nightgown.

Jessie was fuming. Not only had he caught her eating forbidden items, but
she had the audacity to lie to his motherfucking face,
he thought. He was a mere two inches from her when he punched the shit out of her.

“My carrots don’t leave crumbs, you dumb bitch!” His punch knocked Sammie clean off the chair and left her breathless. His fist hit her squarely in her face, busting her lip in two places and causing her nose to bleed profusely. Dazed, she did not know what he was talking about. She shook her head, trying to clear it, sending small drops of blood onto an already dirty white linoleum floor.

He stood over her, shaking with rage.

“Not only that, you would sit there and lie to my motherfucking face!” He drew back his leg and kicked her in the ribs. “I have been busting my ass for the last few years trying to make something of your sorry ass and all you do is lie to me!”

He bent down to get up close to her face. He had been drinking and she detected another aroma that resembled cheap perfume. Sammie drew an involuntarily deep breath, which caused her to immediately start coughing. She sprayed more blood on the floor and Jessie slapped her repeatedly in her face. One blow landed over her left ear, causing it to ring. Tears rolled from her eyes as the pain traversed through her body. Still dazed, she did not get what he was talking about.

She looked down at her nightgown and for the first time noticed the crumbs mingled with her blood from her bleeding lips and nose. Jessie pulled her up from the floor by her hair, shoving her when she reached her feet. She pulled back from his grip fearing another assault. Disgusted, he pushed her body back against the wall. Her hands trailed the walls, painting them with her blood and tears.

Jessie swung at Sammie once more but this time he missed her head and his fist crashed into the wall. The cheap plaster immediately folded, leaving a hole in the dingy white wall. Instinctively, she raised her hands to defend herself when he drew back his arm. “Shit!” he exclaimed as he repeatedly shook out his pain. Jessie turned around in circles shaking his hand. He looked so ridiculous going in circles, Sammie had to stifle her laughter. If he hadn’t been trying to hurt her with that hand, Sammie might have felt sorry for him. “Rat bastard,” she mumbled to herself.

“Clean yourself up before I kill your fat ass,” he said between clenched teeth. Sammie scurried past him and did not stop until she reached the safety of the bathroom. She sat on the toilet stool and tried to collect herself.

Jessie had hit her before but never in the face. She finally realized that he’d seen her feeding frenzy and was afraid of what he was going to do to her next. Her nose was still bleeding so she stuffed it with toilet paper. She glanced in the mirror and was stunned by the person gazing back at her on the other side. Both of her eyes were blackened. The blow to her nose must have caused that damage because she could not recall him hitting her in the eyes. Her bottom lip was indeed split in two places and swollen to twice its normal size. Fresh tears pricked the back of her eyes.

“I have really had enough of this shit,” she said to her reflection. Her life had changed so drastically since she’d left Atlanta and for the most part it was not for the better. She liked the fact that she did not have to constantly deal with her mother but Jessie was worse than her mother in a lot of ways. He dictated everything in her life, from the clothes she wore to the way she styled her hair to the friends she was allowed to make. And since she had started dancing, he had stopped showing her any type of affection. She could hear Jessie enter the bedroom and she got up and turned on the shower. She used the guise of the running water to hide her anguished cries. Her life was spiraling out of control and she had no way to stop it.

“Fat bitch,” Jessie exclaimed, slamming the bedroom door behind him. “I’m not gonna take this shit!” he jeered as he hit his other hand on the top of the dresser. His hand that hit the wall was still sore so he protected it. He withdrew a small vial from his breast pocket and poured out two thick white lines. He deftly rolled a ten-dollar bill into the shape of a straw and quickly snorted the heroin he had laid out. Instantly, his body began to relax and his head cleared. His head dropped forward onto his chest and he began to plan Sammie’s punishment.

“She will pay for this shit,” he proclaimed as he dozed off on his feet.

J
essie impatiently waited for Sammie to emerge from the shower. The dope had him chilling but he was still pissed with Sammie for her defiance and he needed to teach her a lesson that she would not quickly forget.

“Hurry up,” he barked through the closed door. His nose began to run. He was battling the sniffles and the constant nasal drip.
This was some good dope,
he thought. All he really wanted to do now was take a nap, but he knew that if he did not deal with Sammie right now, he would lose all control that he felt he finally had over her.

“It don’t take that long to wash that fat ass of yours!” he yelled, opening the door and letting in a cool draft that enveloped Sammie’s wet body. Sammie had been getting bold with her defiance and Jessie had had about as much as he could stand.

He slammed the door shut and stomped back into the bedroom. Moments later, Sammie emerged with her head hung down low. She was still dripping water and that enraged Jessie even more. Briefly he felt a familiar tingle in his loins that he used to feel when he saw her nude body but he quickly suppressed it. He could not get past her improper behavior and deception.

“Do you have any idea how much money I have invested in you?” Sammie did not know if he really expected an answer so she kept quiet. This only enraged Jessie further. He beat his hands on the dresser not wanting to hit her again since she would have to be leaving soon for the club.

Financially, they were on shaky ground. The money that Sammie made from her modeling gigs was long gone. Even the residuals were spent before he received them. He was supporting them solely on the money she made at the booty clubs and his day job doing hair. Unfortunately, his clientele at the shop was dropping because of his drug abuse so he needed her to be in top physical form for him to survive. The owner of Magic Weave told him that if he didn’t come up with $700 for his booth rent that he could pack up his scissors. “Fuck him,” he uttered out loud.

Facing her for the first time since she came out the bathroom, he saw the evidence of his anger. He momentarily felt a tinge of guilt but it quickly evaporated when he thought of all the things that were on the line if she failed. He needed money and he needed it now and Sammie was his only means to get it.

“No matter what I do for you, you continue to try to fuck it up!” he exclaimed. Jessie had worked his self up to a pretty good mad now and Sammie was afraid to even look at him let alone defend herself.

“We have been out here in this fucking hothouse for four years and don’t have shit to show for it!”

Sammie went to the closet to pick out her outfit for that night. She thumbed through the thick closet looking for something that she could still fit into. All of her show clothes were too tight on her now pleasantly plump body. After several minutes of going from one end of the closet to the other, Jessie stomped over and pushed Sammie out the way. She stumbled but did not completely lose her footing.

“Here, wear this,” he said, shoving a bright red dress into her chest while moving past her to select her shoes. This dress used to be her favorite but that was before she gained all that weight. It was a short spandex outfit that once accentuated her shapely hips and thighs but now did nothing but mock her former figure.

“Put it on,” he spat when he noticed her hesitation. She wanted to protest but thought better of it since he was in such a sour mood.

Sammie struggled to get the dress over her head. It briefly locked up around her shoulders and she had to force it over her hips. It stuck to her like glue and folded around her growing stomach and ass. Jessie grunted in disgust as he watched her.

“That is what all those cookies and cakes have done to your body!” he snapped at her as if she didn’t already know.

“I know. I will do better; you will see,” she said although she had promised those words before in vain.

“Can I change into that black dress you bought last week?” she asked pleadingly.

It was a size bigger and was not quite as revealing as the one she was currently wearing.

“We don’t have time for you to change now! Just hurry up,” he exclaimed. Fearing another physical assault, Sammie swallowed her pride and went into the bathroom to put on her makeup. Ever watchful, Jessie followed her and grabbed her compact from her shaking hands.

“Sammie, I have had enough—you hear me? Sit down and let me finish this.” His voice was loud but it was not the same angry, irate voice that she had heard earlier. She was hopeful that he had somehow regained his senses.

He artfully applied her eye shadow, mascara, and blush. He even penciled in a tiny mole on the right side of her face, which made her look more sexy and exotic. He then turned his attention to her hair and quickly swept her micro-braids into an uncomplicated French roll with tiny braids of hair hanging down framing her face.

Even though Sammie was still angry with Jessie she had to give it to him when it came down to makeup and hair. He was truly blessed and had the talent to make even the ugliest women look like beauty queens. Since she was already beautiful in her own right, he did nothing but enhance her outer beauty. Oddly, when he was working on her face or hair, she truly believed that he loved her.

They arrived at the same seedy club that they had been going to for over two years. Realizing that this was their destination for the night, Sammie sucked in her stomach and strolled into the club as if she owned it. This was a walk that Jessie had pounded into her head and it allowed her to alter her personality to be able to perform.

Instead of promoting and exploiting Sammie’s body, Jessie should have concentrated on her acting abilities. Only an actress could have pulled off the charade that Sammie’s life had become.

Jessie took a seat in the far right corner of the room. Sammie looked in his direction as he wandered off but knew that she was expected to take a seat up front and center of the stage. She was no longer ashamed to be in the front row with women prancing in her face. Her dance routine was to pretend that she was an audience member who got caught up in the moment and climbed onto the stage and stripped.

Jessie would pretend that he was a customer so enamored of her routine that he kept throwing money at her. He would hype up the audience of lustful men so that they, too, would dig deep into their pockets and throw money at the stage.

Her face still hurt as well as her ribs where Jessie had kicked her earlier. She tried not to think about those injuries as she waited for her introduction. Sammie scanned the crowd. She noticed Jessie was now talking with Kim in a corner booth and that her hands were all over him. He appeared to be oblivious to her even being in the room.

“Scotch on the rocks,” she requested of a passing waitress. “Make it two doubles,” she added. The waitress, Amber, arched her eyebrows and turned to look at Jessie and Kim. She patted Sammie’s hand and headed straight to the bar. Tears pricked the back of Sammie’s eyes, but she refused to turn and look back into that corner. Instead, she fought back the tears and stared straight ahead at the dancing women.

Sammie drank both drinks in quick succession. She tugged at the hemline of her dress and prayed that she would be able to get it off without getting stuck when it was her turn to dance.

From her seat, Sammie began taking her dress off from her shoulders, leaving her breasts uncovered. Normally she would have waited until she was actually on stage to undress but getting out of that dress was hard enough without trying to be sexy with it. She was lightheaded but she assumed it was ’cause of the drinks. Small beads of perspiration broke out on her forehead.

On cue, Sammie jumped up from the audience and yelled, “Hey, party over here!” while waving her arms above her head. Her large breasts were swinging back and forth as she swirled her hips to the beat of “Friday Night” by Earth, Wind and Fire. She bent over and continued to seductively slide the dress over her hips. Remarkably, it came down a lot easier than it had gone on. The men went wild. She stepped out of her dress and began making her way to the stage. The DJ slowed down the beat as Sammie approached the lip of the stage. Jessie and Kim came over to the table she’d just left and sat down.

Sammie kept her eyes focused on the other members of the audience until Jessie called her over. She stopped directly in front of him and squatted down with her legs wide open giving both Kim and Jessie a frontal view. She grabbed one of her boobs and put it in her mouth, gently sucking on it. She used her other hand to play with her clit.

Sammie was no longer lightheaded; she was down-right woozy. She did not realize that Kim had moved from her front-row seat to the lip of the stage stopping directly between Sammie’s legs until she felt Kim’s hands moving up her thighs. Kim was wearing a black g-string that contrasted with her bright yellow skin. She had removed her bra as well and the tips of her small breasts were erect. Kim’s hands worked their way up Sammie’s thighs until she reached Sammie’s breasts. Kim grabbed them firmly and looked intensely in Sammie’s eyes. Kim stood directly in front of Jessie, leaning on the stage with her ass jutted in Jessie’s salivating face as he fingered Kim’s round ass.

Sammie sought to see Jessie’s face but could only see the top of his head as he bent to examine Kim’s crack. He gave new meaning to the term,
head up her ass,
Sammie thought. She was confused about this turn of events and her limbs felt lethargic and heavy. Kim put Sammie’s breast in her mouth while continuing to rub her hands on her thighs and in between her legs. Sammie struggled but did not have the energy to protest much.

Jessie peeked around Kim’s ass and smiled at Sammie. This was the first real smile that she had received from him in months.

The predominantly male audience exploded to their feet trying to get closer to the stage. Kim pinched Sammie’s already erect nipple sharply as she bent down and put her tongue onto Sammie’s already enlarged clit.

“Mmm,” Sammie moaned as she fought the emotions that shifted back and forth between pleasure and pain, passion and acute embarrassment. Kim released the pressure on Sammie’s breast and nuzzled her face in Sammie’s cunt. Instinctively, Sammie locked her knees around Kim’s face. Money was raining down all over them but Sammie was oblivious. She forgot the audience, Jessie and even the fact that it was a woman who was making her feel so good. She gave herself up to the moment, offering her hips to get closer to the source of her pleasure.

Jessie was finger-fucking Kim and grabbing up the money being thrown at the same time. Although he had intended to use this night to teach Sammie a lesson, he found that he was enjoying the action as well.

Sammie screamed in climax as the song ended. Kim raised her head, and smiled. She blew a kiss at Sammie.

“Um,” Kim said as she seductively licked her wet lips. She wiped her chin and licked her hands while devouring Sammie with a look of pure satisfaction on her face. Sammie, suddenly realizing the enormity of what had just occurred, suppressed the urge to gag. She stood up and dislodged the money that was stuck to her sweaty body and quickly ran from the stage.

“Oh God, what the hell have I done?” she uttered through her tears. When she reached the shabby dressing room, she threw on the robe that she kept in there and nauseously waited for Jessie to come. Sammie was deeply ashamed, and could not control the tremors that shook her body.

The owner of the club, Owen, stomped over to the table where Kim and Jessie were sitting. Jessie was pleased with the money he had made and was eagerly counting out Kim’s share. Since Kim was bisexual, she only wanted $50 to perform oral sex on Sammie. She enjoyed it and would have done it for free but Jessie insisted that she take a share. He intended to put Kim in his stable and the $50 was an incentive of more to come.

“What the fuck did you two think you were doing?” Owen demanded. He was torn between greed, lust, desire and disgust. He had run this club for over twenty years and he had never had anyone openly have sex on his stage before—much less, two women.

“Chill out,” Jessie said as he threw him his share of the take from the set.

Realizing how much his share actually was, Owen’s anger quickly subsided. Carefully examining the hundred-dollar bill he held in his hand, he carefully turned it over in his hands to make sure it was real. He shoved the money into his pocket and continued to rave.

“You can’t just have sex on stage, no matter what it pays. What if the law had been in here? They would have shut me down, man!” He huffed.

“But they didn’t. I had my boys watching the doors. It’s cool. Breathe, man, it’s over!” Jessie said.

Owen shook his head not knowing whether to continue to protest or stay quiet.

“We need to discuss a business proposition,” Jessie said.

“What would that be?” Owen asked as his curiosity was piqued.

Owen took a seat and together he and Jessie decided to continue the show but on a more private scale. Owen agreed that he would present the freak fest to the high rollers that frequented the club. They’d have to pay $500 for a private set to see Kim and Sammie together. If they wanted to participate, naturally it would be extra. Everyone was happy with the business arrangement except Sammie. In fact, Sammie was the only person that was not consulted about the deal.