Crooked G's (12 page)

Latrice was touched by what he said and felt remorseful, for she, too, was also drawn to him by his music. She relived hours ago when she was listening to his demo in her bed, as she pleased herself with the help from his words and rhythm. Latrice was suddenly speechless and had to break her stare from him as she became guilty of what all the other women that he met shared.

“Listen to this track,” Teyron said, changing the subject to ease the awkwardness that suddenly came between them.

The beat came on and it revamped her emotions again. She got a chill down her back as he broke the song in with his notes. Latrice was perplexed by what she was feeling, as it reminded her of how she felt in her bedroom earlier. She wanted Teyron more by the second and wanted him to know as well. She walked up to him and stood in front of him as she stared into his eyes.

Teyron's heart started to beat faster now that he knew what was about to happen. His first encounter with Latrice at the club was no accident. He wanted her as soon as he saw her, but didn't think they would both end up where they were now. Latrice stared into his timid eyes and didn't see him making the first move. If anything was going to happen between them, she would have to initiate the act. Without warning, she grabbed his face and they started to kiss heavily. She climbed up on his lap and began to grind on him intensely. They both began to peel their top layers off as the rubbing and kissing heightened. Teyron picked Latrice up and carried her over to the wall. He managed to quickly get both of their
pants down. He then picked her up and engulfed her wet insides with himself.

Latrice's eyes rolled to the back of her head as she blinked heavily as the flashing lights toyed with her vision. All Teyron could hear were her loud seductive moans, as he attempted to feed her mind with his sexy wordplay, while his lips nuzzled her earlobe. But all Latrice could hear was his music beyond everything else, only further proving that Teyron was right about why he was single. They never could hear his real song; they never could hear him.

“G
ood morning. My name is Bev and I'll be your waitress. Is there anything I can get for you?”

Latrice quickly browsed over the menu. “Yes. Can I have an orange juice for now? I'm still waiting for my friend to arrive.”

“No problem. We'll give 'em a few more minutes. I'll be back,” Bev said with a smile, as she walked off to go wait on another table.

Latrice tried to study the menu, but the thoughts of her and Teyron kept filling her mind. Her experience with him completely overshadowed the one she'd had with Clarity. The sex was so good that she was almost able to block that aspect about Clarity out of her mind. The special moment that she and Clarity had was a bust and would never be retried again.

Shakita walked casually into Afterwords Café. She was wearing her sunglasses to hide the bags under her eyes from getting only a minimal amount of sleep. She didn't get home until five in the morning after another great night at work. She'd made another three thousand-plus in tips and was feeling good about her earning potential.

“Hello, miss. Will it be just you today?” the hostess asked.

“No. My friend should already be here.”

“Do you know the name she would be under?”

“Probably under… Never mind. I see her,” Shakita said as she
spotted Latrice. Latrice got up to greet her as Shakita walked down the steps.

“What up, girl?” Latrice said, hugging her tightly.

Shakita rocked her back and forth. “What's going on?”

“I feel like I ain't seen you in like two months.”

“It does seem that way, don't it?”

Shakita tried to hide her uncomfortable disposition of what she was doing with most of her time from Latrice. So far she was doing a good job with the help of her glasses. They both sat down and started looking at their menus.

“Nice shades, by the way,” Latrice said, complimenting Shakita on her stylish frames.

“Thank you. So what's new?” Shakita quickly asked, changing the subject to keep Latrice from asking her to take her glasses off.

Latrice couldn't help but to tell Shakita about her new-found friend, but since the waitress came back around, it would have to wait.

“Hi. Are you two ready?”

“Yes, I would like the Nouvelle Leo, please,” Latrice said before closing her menu.

“And you, miss?”

“I'll have the Soho Omelet with an order of turkey sausage and wheat toast.”

“And what would you like to drink?” she asked Shakita.

“I'll have a cappuccino and an iced coffee.”

“Okay. I'll be right back with your drinks,” Bev said as she took both of their menus and walked off.

Latrice gave Shakita a puzzled look. “When did you start drinking coffee?”

“I'm trying something new, that's all.” She really needed the caffeine to keep herself awake.

Latrice didn't want to spend too much time trying to figure Shakita out. She thought she was going through her usual phase and wanted to talk about something more important.

“Girl, I gotta tell you about what I was doing last night,” Latrice said, with a glow on her face.

“What happened?” Shakita asked, gladly to keep the spotlight off of her.

“I met this dude, right. Well… he's this new artist I'm signing to our label. I was listening to his demo and that shit was cranking. So he invited me to his house so I could listen to more of his music, right? Then one thing led to another. And girl, it was so so good,” Latrice said, covering up her face as she reminisced.

Shakita shook her head and was not amused by Latrice's story.

“Don't you find it funny that you always end up fucking all the artists you meet?”

Before Latrice could defend herself, the waitress came back with Shakita's coffee.

“Here you go.” Bev set both of her beverages on the table. “Your meals should be out shortly.” Bev then walked away to assist another table.

“I don't fuck all the artists I meet,” Latrice said to Shakita as she was adding sugar to her iced coffee.

Shakita sucked her teeth. “Latrice, please. Every artist you always take interest in, you end up fucking them.”

Latrice became bashful when Shakita called her out on the way she was.

“If you want to be the best in the biz, you can't go around fucking all your artists. Then they won't just be calling you a CEO. The whole industry will be calling you the CEO Hoe. You don't want that, do you?”

The waitress came with their food giving Latrice a minute to
think about what Shakita had said. She was always attracted to talented singers and rappers and couldn't deny that Shakita was telling the truth. She knew right then that she had to be taken more seriously and would stop her naive ways.

“Damn, girl. You really put that shit in perspective for me. I got to stop being stupid. I should've never fucked youngin' last night.”

“Don't even worry about it. So what, you fucked him. What's done is done. Besides, it's not too often you get good dick anyway.” Shakita smiled.

They both broke out in laughter as they continued eating their food. This was what true friendship was all about, they both thought to themselves. They knew each other so well that they never took it to heart when they were called out on their foolish habits. It was all love between them, and that alone outshined any character flaw that caused them to make bad decisions.

“Is there anything else I can get you ladies?” Bev asked, picking up their empty plates.

“Just the check, please. Thank you.” Shakita took the bill from Bev and dug into her purse for her money.

“How much is it?” Latrice asked.

“Don't worry about it. I got it.”

Latrice was shocked.

“That's a first.”

“Like I said earlier, I'm trying something new.”

“Ain't nothing wrong with that,” Latrice said as Shakita handed Bev the money.

“I'll be right back with your change.”

“Don't worry about it. Keep it,” Shakita informed her.

“Well, thank you. You two have a nice day,” Bev said as she walked off with a big smile.

“All right. So what you about to get into?” Shakita asked.

“I was about to ask if you wanted to go to the mall with me?”

“Nah, homie. I got something I got to do.”

“Aw, come on, Kita. You can go to the mall with me. That's the least you could do since you carried me like shit by not going to the club last night.”

“I'm sorry about that. I wish I could go with you, but I really can't.”

Latrice knew something wasn't right.

“What is going on with you? You ain't acting yourself.”

“I'm good. I really got some important things I got to handle right now. I'm the same old me.”

“Is everything okay? Do you need me to go with you?”

“No. I'll be fine.” Shakita's conscience was starting to get to her and she needed to leave. “Look. I got to go,” Shakita said as she rose out her seat.

“Tomorrow I'm not doing anything. We can get together then. Okay?”

“Whatever,” Latrice said with an attitude. “Well then, answer me this. Are you in some type of trouble?”

“No, everything is straight, okay? I'll call you later.” Shakita quickly left the restaurant leaving her friend still sitting at the table. Her emotions were starting to get to her and she had to leave before she started crying. Holding on to the secret was starting to become all too much for her.

She hated lying to her best friend, but it was the wisest thing to do right now. Shakita couldn't tell her about the money. She got in her car and removed her sunglasses. She cracked open a Red Bull that was in the cup holder and took a few sips. Shakita had money in her pocket and was going to go put it to good use. She was off to Hollywood Casino to add interest to the money she already had. Shakita was feeling lucky and didn't think that losing was going to be a part of her day; she was ready to gamble.

S
hakita arrived at Hollywood Casino in exactly one hour and a few Red Bulls later. Charles Town, West Virginia had the closest casino to D.C. until Maryland Live! opened up in the next few weeks. She wanted to get a few hours of gambling in before she started work so for now, Hollywood Casino served its purpose. Shakita lost her last dollar here a few days ago, and hoped to win some of her money back, hopefully all of it. She sat down right beside a lady who looked like she had been at the same machine for hours. Shakita thought the lady was playing away her pension by the way she hesitated to put dollars in the machine.

Her strategy was to take over the machine if the lady left without any winnings. Shakita inserted a hundred-dollar bill into the five-dollar play Triple Bonanza machine. She selected all three lines and pulled the lever. The reels started to spin and then quickly stopped on all odd symbols. Having no winnings on the first pull didn't discourage her at all. She had enough money with her to potentially secure a big win.

After an hour of senseless betting, Shakita had lost way more than she'd won. She was looking for a break that would end her losing streak and get her a big payout. Her opportunity finally came when the lady sitting next to her decided to leave, after her machine neglected to return any of her hard-earned money, or anybody else's. Shakita didn't even wait until the lady was out of
sight before she started loading the machine up with bills. She pulled the reel down on the Mardi Gras Madness machine and waited to see what happened. The reels stopped spinning and Shakita was still not a winner.

Shakita continued to play both machines simultaneously hoping to increase her winning probability. She pulled the lever down on the Mardi Gras Madness machine and waited for the reels to stop. Three babies lined up on the middle line, sending the sirens off. Shakita couldn't believe her eyes as she stared at the loud and flashing digital screen. She pictured herself cracking the machine but didn't think she would win like this.

“All right. Here's your money, ma'am. Come back and see us now,” the deep-voiced cashier said as he handed Shakita her payout.

“I most certainly will.” Shakita smiled, pleased to do business with their establishment. She took the stacks of money and put them in her purse as she made her exit out of the casino. Shakita had won twenty thousand dollars from the same slot machine that was abandoned by the poor lady. If the older woman would have stayed a little longer and played, that would have been her jackpot to take home instead of Shakita doing so. Shakita had over thirty thousand dollars toward the money she owed to Bay. With the amount of money she was making at the spa, she would be guaranteed to have all of Bay's money before he got out.

The only problem was that Shakita didn't plan on working at the spa any longer than she had to, which meant she was going to have to take another trip to Atlantic City. The casinos in Atlantic City had blackjack and roulette tables that would bring in the big bucks, giving her a jump start to riches. Shakita was feeling luckier than ever, and would be coming back this time from Atlantic City with all Bay's money and more. Shakita was going to leave for
Atlantic City right after she got off work. All she needed to do was run home real quick to gather up an overnight bag before she saw her first client. She had the whole thing figured out and now she was off to get some more Red Bulls.

•  •  •

Shakita was so tired after she had finished with her last client that she wanted to lay down and take a short nap. She didn't want to go to sleep and risk not being able to wake up in time to leave for Atlantic City, so she stayed up, and drank another Red Bull to keep her energy level high. It was 4:30 a.m. when she got in her truck and was on her way to 295-N en route to Atlantic City. She drove with the music blasting loud and the windows rolled down, so the cool morning air could blow in her face to help keep her alert. Shakita was exhausted but was going off of pure adrenaline from being so eager to make it to Atlantic City in good time.