Hot Boyz (16 page)

“No, just told us to show up. He said he was part owner.”

Torino got the picture. “Ladies, I see what happened. Josh, go ahead and let them in and have Shannon hook them up in VIP with a bottle of champagne. I am so sorry you had to go through this. Please accept my apologies. Be my guest for the remainder of the evening if you would. And make sure they get their money back, too. The thirty dollars.”

The first lady spoke again. “Cool. You’d better check brotha’ with the green eyes, though. He’s shady.”

“I’ll do that. Don’t you worry about him. Enjoy yourselves and if you need anything, let me know.”

“We’ll do that,” she said, cutting her eyes at the cashier.

Torino stepped back as Josh said to the ladies, “Come with me.”

Kyle was near the food table in the VIP area, surrounded by two model-type babes.

Torino approached him. “Kyle, get over here.”

“What’s your problem? I’m busy in case you didn’t notice.”

“Now.” Torino was firm.

Kyle excused himself and walked over with an attitude.

Kyle looked confused. “Dude, why you gonna front me like that in front of those honeys. What in the hell is wrong with you?”

“You. I can’t believe you had the nerve to stab me in the back, bro,” Torino said firmly.

Kyle backed up and threw his hands up. “How in the hell did I do that?”

“You charged for the VIP comps. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Look, Torino. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’d never do anything like that. I just had maybe six people that I know on my early list. And even that’s more than I usually have. I would never do that to you, dude. You know that.”

“What did you do last night?” Torino asked suspiciously.

“I went out,” Kyle answered like it was no big deal.

“Where?”

“Where I always go. To my spot in Upland.”

Torino continued to inquire. “And were you promoting Fore-play?”

“No, man, I’m not gonna go up into another club and promote somebody else’s gig anymore than I’d do that to you guys up in here.”

“You didn’t take ten dollars per head for a spot on my master list?” Torino asked.

Kyle seemed insulted. “Hell no, man. I can’t believe you would even ask me this. Actually, it sounds like you’re accusing me. What’s up with that?”

“I’m basically telling you that it’s not hard to believe, Kyle.”

“What’s hard to believe is that you would doubt my word, dog. Especially after all these years. Who the hell told you this crap?”

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t want you confronting anybody in here. I’ll deal with you later.” Torino started to walk away but Kyle put his hand on his shoulder. Torino stopped.

“Oh, so this person is here?”

Torino turned toward him again. “Don’t worry about it.”

“And I’ll bet you let them in for free, right? You did that instead of calling me to the door, huh? Brother, you just got played. Somebody scammed your ass. You’ve been in the game too long for that.” Kyle shook his head in disbelief.

“Kyle, I have seen it all, but this one seems very possible to believe. For them to pick the one person who has been newly assigned to the guest list. Why would somebody set you up like that?”

“You got set up, not me.”

“You set yourself up. You’re slippin’, dude. You should have kept your list tighter than that and not left any names off. I noticed you’ve been rolling lately.”

Torino finally raised his voice. “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying you need to break.” The bouncer stood nearby and Torino motioned for him to step up. “Escort his ass on out of here.”

Kyle turned toward the exit. “I’m gone. And get your hands off me,” he said as the bouncer touched his elbow. “Torino, I’ve had you covered for too long for this.”

“Don’t get it twisted, I’ve had you covered. But no more.” Torino watched as Kyle reached the door with the big, burly bodyguard on his heels. Kyle looked behind him most of the way, staring at Torino in disbelief. Torino stood silent, noticing a few people giving nosey stares. He headed back toward the DJ booth to get ready for the night’s entertainment.

There must be a full moon tonight

Torino got his mind right and made his introductions from the DJ booth.

“Tonight, at club Foreplay, I’d like to introduce the producers of RAM, Rapp All Mighty, Byron and Brice are you in the house? Please give them a hand.”

Byron and Brice came onto the dance floor to greet Torino. Brice took the microphone.

“Thanks, big time brotha’. Tonight at club Foreplay, we’d like to
debut one of our newest artists, Lady Di. The baddest female rapper in the nation. She’s the youngest in our camp and she bites hard. In honor of Mason Wilson and his skills on the golf course, we translate that onto the field so to speak, as Lady Di will perform her debut release, “Playin’ the Field.” Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Lady Di.”

The beats heated up the surround sound speakers and the short, female rapper stepped up, pounding her petite feet with each sound of the base. She was barely five feet tall, dressed with saggy jeans showing her pink boxers with a hat to the back.

She yelled with a rough, deep raspy voice. “Yeah, y’all. I’m Lady Di and tonight we ‘Playin’ the Field.’”

Lady Di continued her rap as Mason tapped his foot and bobbed his head to the beat with a glass of pineapple juice in hand.

Mason noticed the semi-frown on Torino’s face. “Lighten up, bro. You’ve done a great job tonight.”

Torino stood by him not quite feeling the same vibe. “Thanks, man.”

“Where’s your girl? I only saw her from a distance one time all night.” Mason looked around.

“Who knows? She’s around here somewhere.”

Mason patted him on the back and continued to groove. “Well, you hooked it up. Keep up the good work.”

Torino took a moment to respond, nearly spilling out the goings-on about Kyle, but he stopped himself. “Thanks, man.”

All of a sudden a guy walked by eyeing Mercedes as she stood next to Mason. By accident, the brother bumped into Torino.

“Excuse me, dude,” he said to Torino. “There are some fine ass hotties in here tonight.”

“No problem, man.” Torino found a way to laugh for a second. “Hey, Mason. You’d better keep an eye on your lady in here. You never know.”

“I got that. I’m not even worried,” Mason said, taking a sip and admiring an oblivious Mercedes who bounced her head and waved her hands in the air.

By the end of the evening, Mason and Claude and their ladies had gone home. Sequoia snuck out around the same time. Torino was so busy running around, he didn’t notice when anyone left.

He asked Josh, “I wonder where Colette is, man. When did she leave?”

Josh was walking by to escort the female cashier to the back room. “She left a long time ago,” he said.

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, I saw here walk out during the rap show.”

“Thanks.”

“She’s a trip,” the cashier said as if she knew firsthand.

Torino caught a case of deafness.

Later, Torino drove across Centinela to head home, yet he made a right turn to cruise along La Tijera Boulevard. He did one of Colette’s numbers, pulling up just in front of her duplex. He got out of his car and then stopped to make sure his eyes were not deceiving him. Parked just across the street was Kyle’s new mustang. Torino stood against his own ride for a few minutes, and then turned to look upstairs toward her unit.

He dialed her number on his cell. “Colette, what’s up?”

She was smug and matter-of-fact. “What’s up with you?”

“I’m downstairs.”

“And?”

“And, is this Kyle’s car out here?”

“Torino, like you always tell me, please don’t come by without calling again. I’d really appreciate it.”

“Colette,” he said with urgency as she hung up the phone.

Torino got back in his car and sat for a moment. He was surprised that his heart actually felt like it had skipped a beat. He even felt a little short of breath. Should he go up there, or bash in Kyle’s windshield? Should he call back, or just sit there all night until Kyle left?

Looking out of his passenger window, he peered upstairs again. This time, the living room lights were out.

Torino screeched off, burning rubber. He headed toward Slauson. He stopped at the light, talking as if someone was in the car with him. “It’s cool. I’m glad. She was a trip anyway, and now I know for sure that she’s a ho’, too. She and Kyle deserve each other.” He backed up and then made a three-point turn, heading back toward Colette’s apartment. He sped down the street behind Kyle’s car, coming to an abrupt stop. He just barely tapped Kyle’s rear bumper. The smell of burnt rubber was potent. Kyle’s anti-theft alarm went off, ringing in Torino’s ears. Again, he looked over at the dark apartment just as the porch light came on. He took a deep breath and backed up just barely enough to pull around the mustang. He drove slowly down La Tijera, back toward his home.

“Hello, are you up?” he asked from his cell phone.

An awakened female replied. “Yes, did you just get off?”

“Yes.”

She said softly, “You looked so handsome tonight. I saw you.”

“Thanks.”

“Why don’t you come on by, baby? It’s been a while. I’d love to see you.”

Torino paused. “I’ll be right over.”

Booty-call payback is a dog
, he said to himself, turning back down Centinela and onto Canterbury Drive in Fox Hills.

Torino arrived back home at ten in the morning. First, he stopped by the front house to talk to Mercedes who was in her office. He let himself in and went upstairs.

“Hey, hey, hey,” he yelled as he walked in.

“Hey, there. I’m surprised to see you after the night you had last night.” She gave him a look and then glanced back at her computer.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean being the host, getting everything handled so well. It all went off without a hitch.”

“Yes, without a hitch.” He plopped down onto the love seat.

“You look tired. Why don’t you go back to sleep? Or did you even get to sleep? Isn’t that the same shirt you had on last night?”

He returned her questions with a question. “You got any coffee?

She stood up, coming around, reaching out for his hand. “I’ll make you a cup. Come on. Let’s go into the kitchen.”

Torino held her hand until they got downstairs. He took a seat at the kitchen table.

He asked, “How’s Mom been?”

“She’s fine. I miss her though.”

“And where’s my boy?”

Mercedes poured water into the top of the coffeemaker and slid the pot underneath. “Mason? He’s gone for his morning walk.”

“He’s got more energy than I do. You’d think he was the youngest.”

She took a seat. “He keeps spinning like a top all right. Was he always like that?”

“As far back as I can remember. He always had homework, practice, exercise, somewhere to go, and something to do. That’s Mason for you.”

“I think he’d rather die than slow down. He’s an overachiever. But Claude is like that, too.”

“I guess that’s better than what I’ve got going on.” Torino rubbed his eyes.

“Torino, I don’t know what you mean by that. You’re moving and shaking, too. And you have such a great way with people. You really should think about a job in public relations or marketing.
Or what about real estate like Claude?” Mercedes pulled out a box of chocolate donuts and put two on a small plate, placing it on the table.

“I hate real estate. There’s no way I could do what he does. I’ll just leave that up to the professionals. 1 don’t wanna promote inanimate objects. I wanna promote real people. That’s my strength.”

“Like at the club? They swarm around you like bees to honey.”

“I mean like being a record producer or maybe even owning my own club one day. Something that will bring in more money than managing my brother’s club.”

“I know Mason pays you pretty well,” Mercedes said, standing by to prepare Torino’s cup.

“Not well enough to buy my own home and get back on my feet. I’ve been saving but it’s just not enough right now.”

“It’ll come. Everything in its own time. Just be patient.”

“I will.” Torino ate most of the donut with one bite.

“I noticed Colette wasn’t being so patient about your charming ways last night, huh?”

He shook his head. “When is she ever? But that’s history.”

Mercedes asked like she knew better, “Are you sure? I’ve heard that before. And then next thing I know her car is in the driveway.”

“Not this time. I’m ready to move on.”

Mercedes poured the straight black coffee into a tall mug and placed it in front of Torino. “Do you want cream and sugar?” she asked.

“No. I need it just like this. Thanks,” he said, taking the mug into both hands.

“So the night was that bad, huh?”

“The night wasn’t too bad I guess. I learned a lot about her.”

“She is a jealous one, I’ll say that. She just wants you all to herself.” Mercedes took a seat and picked up the other donut.