GHETTO SUPERSTAR (29 page)

“Are you sitting down?”

This must really be big news
. Fabiola took a seat on the edge of the bed. “Okay, I'm sitting. Now, what's going on. Please fill me in!”

“What have you been dreaming about ever since you were a little girl?”

“To be a singer,” Fabiola answered without a second thought, “and thanks to hard work”—Fabiola got sentimental—“and those who love me—like you, Casino, and Adora—that dream has come true, and I love you all for what you've done for me.”

Hearing her daughter say those words made Viola a little misty-eyed. God only knows she and Fabiola had gone through their share of mother-daughter spats getting here. “Thank you, baby, but what else have you always dreamt about doing? Think a little harder.”

“Mother,” Fabiola said, not having the time or patience for playing guessing games, “just tell me whatever it is that you want me to know.”

Viola couldn't hold it in any longer, so she blurted out, “They want you to perform at the Grammys Sunday night.”

She couldn't have heard right. “What did you say, Mother?”

“They want you to perform at the Grammys as a surprise performer. It's in two days and they know it's short notice, but it
seems that one of the scheduled artists had to back out due to an unfortunate accident.”

“Oh my God, Mother! The Grammys! I've wanted to perform at the Grammys ever since I was able to sing. Hell, before I was even able to carry a note.” Then suddenly her tone changed. “What song am I going to sing? What am I going to wear? What about my hair? What about my—”

“Calm down, baby,” Viola cut in. “No need to panic. Everything is going to be fine. Let us take care of all the particulars. All you need to do is sing your heart out on that stage come this Sunday night. Just promise me that?”

“I will. Oh yeah. When do I leave?”

“First thing tomorrow morning.”

“Good”—she let out a sigh of relief—“because I gave Keys my word that I would come see him play tonight.”

“That's fine, but make sure you don't stay out too late because you must be on that plane.”

“I will. Nothing and I mean nothing is going to make me miss that plane. I can promise you that.”

“Well, okay then, my darling superstar. I am going to start making all my calls to get everything in order. I will call you back.”

“Okay, Mother, but can I ask you one question before you go?”

“If that'll make you feel better, go ahead.”

It didn't really matter, but Fabiola just wanted to know out of curiosity. “Whose place did I take?”

Viola smiled. “Royce's.”

That was all the inspiration, revenge, and drive that she needed. That alone would make her sing the roof off the building.

* * *

“Guurrrl, that nigga Keys did the damn thang up in that piece tonight,” Adora gave praise to the piano player from Ricky's dis-functional band. Keys had been wanting to do a solo jazz gig and finally he took the plunge.

Fabiola was so proud of Keys. “That ain't no lie.” She took a quick peek over at her sister before putting her attention back on the road. Adora was definitely a few ounces of Grey Goose over her limit. They had been together since the morning running errands—shopping and paying bills—and Keys's performance at the Infantry Blues Café was a great way to cap off the evening, or start the night. The strongest thing Fabiola had drunk was Pepsi Zero—she never drank and drove. Besides, Casino would never let her hear the end of it if he found out that she did. She was al-ready breaking one of the conditions he had handed her along with the keys to the convertible Mercedes by driving with the top down after dark.

It was a quarter after one and the wind was blowing through her hair as she glided down the black asphalt streets—joyriding—listening to her own CD playing one of the hottest songs in the country The repeat button was glued to the
on
position and she couldn't stop thinking about how in less than twelve hours she would be on a flight to Los Angeles, and less than twenty-four after that onstage performing at the Grammys.
Dreams do come true
. Her thoughts were interrupted by a beeping sound, and the fuel light came on. “I'm pulling over at that Shell; we a hot second away from pushing this bad boy.”

“That wouldn't be a good look for neither of us, gurl,” Adora admitted. “I need to stop anyway; my mouth is dryer than week-old refrigerated cornbread.”

“Okay”—they pulled into the station—“then I pump and you pay” Fabiola handed Adora a hundred-dollar bill.

“Bet”—she took the folded Franklin—“but we gonna have to cut this party short. If you don't get home in time to get at least a couple of hours of sleep before your flight, you know good and well that Mom and Casino is gonna blame me for keeping you out. It don't even matter that I ain't the one driving a damn thing.”

“Chile, I ain't worried about no sleep. That's the last thing on my mind. Nothing is going to make me miss that flight. And push come to shove, I'll sleep on the plane tomorrow morning.”

Fabiola got out and stood between Pump 4 and her car watching her sister sashay toward the Shell station, which doubled as a convenience store, to pay the cashier and get something to drink. She expected Adora to stagger, but surprisingly, Adora glided across the parking lot in four-inch heels, as graceful as a ballerina. She smiled as she thought about her sister being tipsy as hell but still on point as she listened to herself coming through the speaker.

“Since when did superstars start pumping they own gas?” someone voiced.

Fabiola looked up to find the owner of the voice.
Damn
, she thought,
Toy
. Not letting a hating bitch steal her joy, she said, “Hey, girl, how you doing?”

“I'm good,” Toy said with a crooked smile. “You look cute.”

“Thanks, girl, you do, too.”

Toy swallowed the hollow compliment whole. “What you doing in these neck of the woods by yourself?”

“Oh, girl, I'm not by myself,” Fabiola corrected. “My sister's in the store standing in that long-ass line. I had the honor of pumping while she stands on her feet in that small-ass cramped store to pay” She smiled as if she was getting the better end of the stick.

“Adora?”

“Yeah, girl, who else? That's the only sister that I have.”

“Right,” Toy said, ignoring the sarcasm, shooting her next question. “Are you and Casino still together?”

“Sure are,” Fabiola reluctantly answered. “Why do you ask?” She knew Toy was fixing her lips to say something twisted, but there wasn't anything a no-good hating broad like Toy could say or do to deflate the bubble of good fortune she was riding on. She had a man who adored her and had her back, her song was at the top of the charts, and it wouldn't be long before the entire world would know her name.

Bluntly Toy shot from the hip. “Do you and Adora share him, too?” Caught off guard, Fabiola was momentarily speechless, and Toy knew it. “I mean, since you had no problem sharing G.P. with your sister and all.”

“Girl, please” was all Fabiola could come up with. “You crazy as shit.”

“Oh, you didn't know, huh?” Toy cracked a disturbing chuckle. “That's how it always goes: The main girl is always the last to know. Well, it's true: Your adorable sister, Adora, is fucking G.P. They tried to keep it on the down-low, but honey it's the talk of the town. Sorry I had to be the one to break the mind-blowing news.”

“You a sad bitch.” Fabiola shook her head and cut loose. “You have nothing better to do than fabricate lies about people.” She replaced the gas pump handle in its proper place.

“I may be a sad bitch, but it's true—yo sister been fucking yo man from day one.”

Truly caught up in the conversation, Fabiola didn't even see the two guys were beside her until she heard, “Give me everything out your pockets, your pocketbook, the keys to this fly-ass whip, and those Gucci boots you're wearing, too,” the shorter of
the two jackers said. The deep voice sounded cartoonish coming from such a small body; he couldn't have been much taller than five foot three. If he hadn't been holding a foot-and-a-half-long machete, Fabiola probably would have tried to take him out with a swift kick to the nuts.

“Bitch, this ain't no joke,” the second carjacker barked. “Give us yo shit.”

Fabiola begin to slowly take off her jacket and then her boots. The short one looked at Toy and she took off her rings and necklace.

“Y'all bitches ain't acting like hoes that wanna live. Hurry the fuck up.”

Fabiola and Toy moved as fast as they could.

“What the fuck?” Adora screamed when she walked out of the service station and peeped what was going down.

No one paid her any mind.

She dropped her bag containing bottled water and plain M&M's, then shoved her hand inside the imitation designer pocketbook.

“Don't make me have to tell you again,” the cartoon character said, talking to Fabiola.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

“Oh, shit,” one of the jackers screamed. “I'm hit!” He was so shocked that he had been shot that he started dropping things to focus on his wound.

His partner had already taken off running. Before Adora could get off another shot, the knife-wielding jacker was in the wind, too, limping, while Adora rushed to her sister's side.

“Oh my goodness.” Fabiola was in shock but managed to grab her stuff off the ground.

“Give me the keys! Come on, we gotta get the fuck out of here.”

“They took my keys.”

Adora ran over a few feet and grabbed some of the stuff that they had taken—Fabiola's jacket, boots, the keys, and her purse. Adora hopped behind the wheel while Fabiola jumped in the passenger seat.

“Hand me your cell phone so we can call the police.” “Ain't no need. You know dem niggas ain't pressing charges. They were trying to jack you. And we don't need that kind of press anyway. We need to get you home, and get ready for your flight.” Adora pulled off and took another look around and noticed Toy for the first time, hiding under a blue ′92 Taurus. There was no time to bond with Toy now, they had to get the hell out of there.

“You all right, girl?” Adora asked her sister as she stuffed the gun back in her bag and turned out of the parking lot. “I'm a'ight. I just can't believe that happened to me.” “It's my fault. You shouldn't have been pumping gas.” “No, it's not your fault at all. It's mine. I should have listened to Casino and not disobeyed his rules. I gotta call him.” Fabiola didn't know what to do next. She was scared. She was shaking as she dialed his number.

“Hang up. We will tell him when we get there.” Fabiola noticed how calm Adora was. “Where did you get a gun? I didn't know you had a gun.”

Looking a little anxious, Adora said, “I got it from G.P.” “G.P.?” she questioned. Then her phone rang. It was Casino calling back.

“Don't tell him or anyone what happened,” Adora whispered. Fabiola wasn't ready to share the details of the night with Casino right away, so she only told him she was on her way home to him.

Once she was done talking to Casino, the conversation
picked up where it left off. “Sister, it's not what you think. Please, let's not talk about this now.”

“Why not? It seems like everybody else is.”

“It's not what you think. It's just not,” Adora said to her sister. “Mommy cannot know about what happened tonight.”

“But what about G.P.?”

“He can't know either,” Adora responded.

“I didn't mean that. I meant, what's going on with you and him?”

“Nothing, we are just cool.”

“Toy said y'all are fucking with each other.”

“That's not true. I swear it's not true.”

Fabiola could tell her sister was lying through her teeth. She was hurt but she couldn't bring herself to hate her sister, the same sister who had been living in her shadow all her life and had just saved her life.

The ride to Casino's was quiet.

* * *

Fabiola entered the house, and as she headed to the master suite to try to wind down from the drama, she overheard Spade and Casino talking.

“Pop, I am sorry that of all the people it had to be her.”

“Yeah, me, too.”

Spade was silent a moment before speaking again. “I mean, I always thought she would be your ride-or-die, bottom bitch.”

“I guess she got tired of waiting for me to commit to her.” Casino shook his head. “Maybe she felt that if I had to lean on her and if I was fucked up, then maybe I would be able to appreciate her more.”

“But then Fab fucked that up, because she came into the picture.
But still that shit is crazy. Because I thought that bitch really cared about you.”

“You know, son, one thing you will learn is that women are complicated creatures.”

“But one thing that you taught me is that a snake is a snake, a rat is a rat. And we deal with them all in the same way.”

Casino took a deep breath and said, “She will be dealt with, son.”

* * *

Fabiola quietly tiptoed halfway back down the steps and then called out, “Honey, I'm home.”

“I'm in here,” Spade called out to be funny and break up the tension.

With all that she had heard, she knew that Casino had a lot on his mind and decisions to make and didn't want to add to his problems with her stresses. The carjacking was one of those things that would just be her and her sister's little secret. Especially since she had only an hour or so left to spend with Casino, she wanted to enjoy those last minutes in his arms as if they were their last.

abiola looked absolutely magnificent as she walked down the red carpet toward the performers' entrance of the Kodak Theater in LA preceded by Kanye West, Akon, and Lil Wayne. She wore a beautiful ocean-blue gown—made especially for her—by none other than Adora.