The Awakening (12 page)

I rubbed her shoulders gently and reminded her, “Baby, don't sweat it. Besides, you look like you could use a few lap dances tonight before the real fun begins.”

We finally got to Liquid and I could tell already it was going to be a long night. There were guys arguing with the bouncers at the door. Not that I worried too much about that. Being me does have its privileges.

“Hey, boys, how are things tonight? I hope these guys aren't giving you too much trouble?” Neferterri said as she walked with me toward the front door. We almost made it inside, when we heard a snap from out of the blue that was meant for my wife to hear.

“Come on, what makes that bitch so special that she gets to get
in and we don't?” I heard the little dude in the group have the nerve to say.

I felt the heat rise within me. There were no other women in the immediate vicinity, so there was no doubt the dude with the big mouth was about to have it shut for him. I was ready to let off a few punches, if the security at the door didn't take up for her first.

“So, she's a bitch now, right?” I interjected before my wife got a chance to. “Exactly what has she done to you to make you call her out of her name, especially in front of her husband?”

He saw me make a move on him, and at first, he looked like he was ready to jump and make this night a little more interesting. But once he saw the bouncers weren't trying to stop me, the little dude started thinking twice about the way he spoke.

He started backtracking his words when he saw me getting closer.

Under normal circumstances, I would have simply walked into his personal space, big dude to little dude, and let my presence speak for itself as a cautionary tale. But this time, I needed to pop off a little bit of a personal touch, to make things clear.

“So, are we sorry that we spoke out of line for no reason, or is there going to be a need for violence tonight?” I warned. “I had planned to enjoy the evening with my wife, but she is aware that sometimes business needs to be handled first.”

His eyes got big as he apologized. “My bad, dawg, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to disrespect your wife like that. But these security dudes been saying this is a private party, and I'm saying, Mercedes invited us here tonight, but they ain't trying to hear what I'm saying right now.”

I saw this disgusted look pop across Mercedes' face the minute he said that, and I knew in an instant that it was the dude that she was chatting with earlier in the evening.

Damn.

He obviously figured it out, too, because his whole attitude changed. “Damn, I guess I should have thought before I opened my big mouth. I really am sorry, Mercedes, I wasn't thinking straight. My boys and I wanted to do this party bad tonight.”

Neferterri wasn't impressed by the pseudo-apology. She went into business mode really quick, and I could already tell she was not going to be in the mood to even bother with him once he got in the club. “Well, it's not gonna cut it, shorty. To get in my spot tonight, it's gonna cost you and your boys fifty apiece for the cover, a hundred for the VIP, and every dancer that I send in your direction gets a three dance minimum at twenty a pop. Now, I'm hoping that will teach you not to disrespect a lady, and consider it me letting you off easy, especially when you brought some dudes I didn't approve for you to bring with you.”

You figure that after you'd been punked by a woman, and in front of your boys, and your boys had to suffer for your mouth, too, that it would humble you a bit?

Not this dude.

He got this look in his eye, and a grin popped up across his lips, and he straightened himself before stating foolishly, “Aiight, I'll do it, but I get to holla at you once I get inside, right?”

The bouncers felt me flinch, and they could tell I was about at wit's end, so they flanked dude and stood between me and him. I felt the heat rising again, this time to a boiling point, and to be honest, I really was about to exert my “silent partner” privileges at that very moment. I really was not about to be lowered to his level, but it was about two more words to be said before I remembered I still had a little street left in me.

Neferterri didn't flinch. “Okay, since you don't get it, let's make it a hundred on the barrel head, you and your boys, right now, half
a grand for the privilege of being in the VIP with me, and if that doesn't shut you up, I don't know what will.”

My wife could be cutthroat, especially when she's pissed.

I saw his boys getting a little bit upset, and from the wedding rings on their fingers, I was sure their respective wives would not appreciate a grand being gone from the bank account over foolishness. If I knew my wife, I already knew her money-makers were going to milk them dry.

The tall one on the little dude's right side started twisting his wedding band over and over again, making the calculations in his mind and shaking his head at the end result because he already knew it wasn't gonna happen. The stocky one on the little dude's left side started balling up his fists like his evening had just been ruined, all because of an ego trip and the fact his boy just got punked for not keeping his mouth shut. He looked at me, then looked at Neferterri, and then gave a shrug because he wasn't about to go home with less money than he originally planned to spend either.

“Yo, Lee, let it go, dawg. I ain't getting booted out of the house over your dumb ass,” the tall dude mentioned.

“Yeah, man, all this for a party? This shit ain't worth it,” the stocky one chirped. “I got better things to do tonight, and she already said she wasn't even expecting us to roll with you, too? Damn, man, appreciate the embarrassment.”

“Man, fuck you pussy-whipped muhfuckas. That's why I'm glad I'm single; I get more ass than ya'll do anyway.” Lee stomped off, giving me a wild-eyed look.

He was lucky I didn't strap up tonight.

I followed them with my eyes as they all walked to their cars, and I also saw Lee head back in a rush to get to his car…

Of particular interest were the make and color…the same make and color of the car that was at my house.

11
RAMESSES

Being married to a club owner does have its perks.

But it's nothing we broadcast. It causes too many problems on too many levels, and I usually don't tell people on the net unless they happen to be at the club. We both enjoyed being the “silent” partners, while her cousin DeAngelo and his wife, Honey, handled the day-to-day operations. We invested into the club about six months into the operation, and she kept the books.

We did our normal P.R. thing: checking on the girls to make sure that they were getting money and not being mistreated; talking to the house mother as well; and my personal favorite, getting shots from the shot girls before heading up to DeAngelo's office. Man, getting a shot from a shot girl is one of the most erotic things anyone can experience, and it's not a bad way to get tipsy, either.

“Sup, cousin?” DeAngelo greeted as we walked through the door. “I see it's that time of the month as usual.”

Neferterri replied, “Looks like business is booming, D. All the underground marketing paid off, after all.”

“Shit, that really did the trick. Word of mouth got around quick,” he mentioned, looking in my direction. “What's up, Big Game Kane?”

“Man, keep that to yourself, D.” I got that nickname back in high school, for my actions both on and off the court.

“Hey, it's not my fault you catching more seafood than Red Lobster can dish out at dinner on a Saturday night.” DeAngelo was always corny with the jokes, but that's cool, too. I mean, he is family.

We headed out of his office and back out on the floor in the direction of the VIP area. It was buck-wild as usual, but that's what the area was there for. Besides, if you've been inside of a strip club before, you know the business. If you haven't, it's your loss.

Mercedes walked ahead of me to go find Candy while I kept checking the couples who made it out. I found one Ice was chatting with, so I walked over in their direction to be nosey and see what I could find out about them.

“Kane, you can talk to your boy in a minute; I get to have my attention first, dammit!” I heard Candy shouting over the music at me.

“Damn, you just had to call me out in the VIP, huh?” I asked as I gave my usual suffocating hug to her. “You insisted on having Daddy's attention first, right?”

“Yep.” she answered without hesitation. That's my girl.

I turned around and saw my wife in an exchange with some chick who I vaguely remembered. She reminded me of one of the Pussycat Dolls, not the lead singer, but one of the other girls. She was cute as hell, but from my wife's facial expressions, it looked like she and her date were not going to make it to the house tonight.

I looked around for Ice, and I saw the male of the couple had left. It was only she and Ice getting pretty well acquainted and close.

I shook my head, grinning at the sight.

If she only knew what was about to happen to her later on tonight.

As I walked with Candy in Neferterri's direction, I asked, “So
where's my surprise? I know she's around here somewhere, and don't be holding out on a brother.”

Neferterri winked at Candy, which tipped me off to know someone was standing behind me. I turned around and my mouth
dropped
at the sight of a six-foot Amazon princess standing in my personal space.

“I heard someone was looking for me? Something about being a surprise for this sexy-ass man standing in front of me right now.”

From her accent, it was easy to tell she was of Latin descent, I guessed Puerto Rican. “Oh, so you're gonna be keeping me company while my girls are busy?” I looked from head to toe, and thought to myself,
yeah, like I'm gonna complain.

“Si, papi,”
she replied, nearly triggering my Dominant side. Damn, why is it always so erotic to hear those words from a woman in Spanish?

“May I have the pleasure of knowing your name, love?” I tried my best, but every time I looked into her eyes, she bowed her head and cast her eyes to the floor. I should have known Candy was gonna say something to her about my “dark” side. But then again, she knows me better than anyone, except Mercedes.

“This girl's name is Angel, Sir.” Her voice was softer, more sensual now, so I had to get closer to her to hear what she was saying to me. “It is my honor to serve You and obey Your every command, Sir.”

I was not up to summoning the energy it took to be Ramesses tonight, so, I responded by grabbing her by the nape of her neck and whispering, “you will obey My every command, and that doesn't just include tonight, little one.”

Angel shuddered, telling me everything I needed to know. But I also knew I needed to slow down on the acquisitions or I'd wear
myself out, or even worse, I may have needed to pull an imitation of Amenhotep and include them all under one domicile. But that's not possible, so, I needed to do a re-count and see what needed to happen from here on out.