Pride (12 page)

She only planned to stay for a hot minute, because even though Salida’s people were jumping up and down and crying and singing with joy at seeing her alive, a few of her female relatives were sitting around looking at Monique like she was a dark stain on a piece of used toilet tissue.

“Call me,” Monique told Salida as she broke for the door. She had already written her phone number on a slip of paper and given it to the older woman. “I’ll have somebody swing by and bring you to the G-Spot whenever you feel like hanging out, okay?”

“The
G-Spot?
”

A lady who was hugging on Salida spit loudly and with mad attitude. Monique glared at the woman and her eyes almost popped out her head when she thought she was seeing double. This chick and Salida looked just alike. From head to toe, they could have been beautifully stunning, identical twins.

“Isn’t that G’s old place?” the woman demanded.

“It’s okay, Lourdes,” Salida said.

“Uh-
uh
! Hell no, it’s
not
okay!” Lourdes glared at Monique with Salida’s exact same eyes. “That’s G’s place, right? The place where they tried to kill Gino? Why would my sister wanna go there?”

 “
Gino!
” Salida entire face lit up at the mention of his name. “Where is my son?” she demanded loudly. “Is he here? Where’s my Gino?”

Salida’s crazy eyes darted around the room and Monique’s did too. The joint was packed out but there was no Gino in sight.

“Gino, Gino, Gino, Gino…” Salida sang in a high-pitched voice. “
Gino, Gino, Gino, Gino, Gino
…”

 “Your son’s away at college,” Lourdes said, gently placing her arms around Salida as she tried to hush her and steer her toward a back room.

Monique paused with her hand on the doorknob. She cocked her ears like a hunting dog as she listened closely, hoping to learn Gino’s whereabouts.

“Gino’s doing fine,” Lourdes continued when Salida kept calling her son’s name and refused to budge from where she stood. “Your son is happy, and he’s doing really good in school. Getting all A’s.”

“But he should
be
here!” Salida wailed. “I’m his
mama
. He’s my
baby!
I wanna see him!” she pleaded with tears in her eyes.

“Soon,” her sister said gently, soothing Salida like she was a sleepy child. “Please don’t cry. You’ll see Gino soon. I promise.” Suddenly Lourdes turned and glared at Monique. There was no mistaking the ‘get the fuck out already!’ look on her face.

Monique knew the deal. She opened the door and stepped outside. She was closing the door slowly behind her when she heard Lourdes say to Salida, “Gino is doing fine, chica. Come. Sit with me and I’ll tell you all about him.”

CHAPTER 13

Two nights later, at the stroke of midnight on Wednesday night to be exact, Monique closed the door on fuck room number 3 and pushed a wrinkled fifty-dollar bill down into her bra. She had just finished flat-backing in one of the G-Spot’s hottest rooms, and she was still damn near broke. She was heading to the bathroom to wash up when she heard a big commotion going on at the front door.

A tall, regal woman had pushed past Greco and swept through the doors lugging two expensive suitcases behind her.

“What’s wrong, Mizz Salida?” Monique cried out as she hurried over to the distraught woman. “Hey, what happened? Why didn’t you call me so I could send a car down to pick you up?”

“Gimme a drink,” Salida demanded, abandoning her suitcases and marching over to the bar. She snapped her finger at Bizzie, who opened his sissy-ass mouth to curse her out. He thought better of it when Ace walked up and checked him with a quick nod.

Monique and Ace waited while Bizzie poured Salida a double shot of hen dog. She tossed it back like it was sweet tea, and then slammed her glass on the bar and signaled for another one.

“You okay, Mizz Salida?” Ace asked, his big hand patting her shoulder. “What happened? Somebody been fuckin’ with you?”

Monique passed Salida a cigarette and Ace pulled out his lighter and sparked it.

“I need somewhere to stay,” Salida said after exhaling a thick funnel of smoke from her nose.

“Sure,” Monique cooed sweetly. She looked Salida over and thought about that envelope full of money that Ace had given her.
Bitch, get a hotel!
“That ain’t no problem. You can stay with me and Pluto. We got plenty of room. Things ain’t working out for you in Brooklyn?”

Salida sniffled, and to Monique’s surprise tears began streaming from the older woman’s eyes as she sobbed into her hands.

Mrs. McKay suffers from terrible mood swings…up one minute, down the next…you never know what you’re gonna get out of her…be sure to keep her on her medication at all times….

“Mizz Salida,” Monique cooed, putting her arm around the crying woman, “you sure you should be drinking liquor while you taking all that medication?”

Salida stopped crying and looked up sharply. “What goddamn medication? I threw all that shit in the trash! They pushed them damn pills into me for over ten years. I ain’t taking so much as a
vitamin
for the rest of my life!”

“Okay, then what’s wrong, Mizz Salida? Why you so sad?”

“Who the hell said I was sad?” Salida snapped, glancing around in confusion. “Who said it?”

A bent, bitter look crossed her face as her tears dried up. “Those bitches don’t know me. They think they can hide my baby from me like I’m crazy. Do I look dead to you?” she demanded.

Monique shook her head quickly. Mama was straight up coo-coo, but her interest had suddenly shot up to the highest peak. “Nah, you look real live from where I’m sitting at, Mizz Salida. But what bitches you talking about? Who’s been hiding your baby? Gino’s a big man now. You not talking about your sisters, are you?”

Salida ignored the slick young girl in her ear. She had already peeped her game and would give Monique her full attention later. When she could be useful. Right now she was just a mouthpiece. Talking all out of her ass.

She puffed on her cigarette and tried to concentrate as random thoughts and phrases floated around in her head. It had only been two days since she’d left the hospital and she was still drugged up and confused. But soon she would be better. Very soon. She laughed inside. Damn right there was a reason G had locked her up all those years ago and tried to throw away the goddamn key. And it wasn’t because she was crazy like he told everybody, neither.

No, it was because she was smart. Way smarter than his ass was. If it hadn’t been for her slick advice and cunning counsel G would still be wandering around Harlem scratching out a hustle under Big Sonny.

Salida motioned for Bizzie to bring her another drink. When it came she flung it back and then held the empty glass up to her lips until the very last residue of liquor dripped onto her outstretched tongue. She’d been living in a dark tunnel for more than ten long years, but now that she was off all those psycho-buster mental pills she was counting on her slick mind and her devious wit to come back in full force.

Yes
. Salida shook her head again and willed herself to focus and control her thoughts. Yes,
yes.
She was coming back! She knew her knack for scheming and calculating might return very slowly, but she also believed her skills would come back stronger and more potent than ever!

$$$$$

After slipping away from Salida and going to wash up, Monique reappeared at the bar smelling clean and fresh, and ready to get her buzz on. She usually popped a tab of X or something to help her get through the long nights of grinding on her back, but she decided to stick to Grey Goose and juice so she could keep a focused eye on Salida.

With her hair laid nicely and styling a short red freak ’em dress, Monique had just sat down at the bar when one of the G- Spot’s former strippers came over to chat.

“Hey Mo,” Nae-Nae greeted her and climbed up on the stool beside her. “What’s good homegirl?”

“Long time no see,” Monique said eyeing the ex-church-girl-turned-stripper with a big grin. “Girl, what you doing up this way? I heard you moved down to Brooklyn. Where’s that cute little fella of yours?”

Nae-Nae smiled at the mention of her son. “You should see Maleek. He’s almost two now and talking like I don’t know what. He’s still staying down the street with my mother. You know my father opened a jewelry store in Brooklyn after he got kicked outta the church. I work down there with him during the week and I come up here to be with my baby on the weekends.”

“Yeah, I heard about your old devilish dick-slanging pops,” Monique said with a wicked glint in her eye. “Papa was a rolling stone, wasn’t he? While you was up in here stripping on the stage, his old nasty ass was tearing up some poon-poon in the pulpit!”

Nae-Nae’s face fell and she looked embarrassed. “Yeah, well ain’t none of us perfect. We all have our troubles in this life. My daddy was a pastor, but he’s still a man. Hey,” she said, perking up a little bit and pointing down the bar to change the subject. “What’s she doing up in here? She’s from Brooklyn.”

“Who?” Monique asked as she scanned the row of patrons who were sitting where Nae-Nae pointed.

“That real pretty Puerto Rican lady in the blue,” Nae-Nae said, and started waving at Salida. “She’s so nice! I cleaned a stupid-sick engagement ring for her about a week ago.”

“Nah,” Monique shook her head. “You didn’t clean no ring for that trick because she just got out the nut-house two days ago.”

“Oh yes I did,” Nae-Nae insisted. “That’s her. She waited while I cleaned the ring, and me and her talked for the longest. She’s so damn pretty there’s no way I could forget that face.”

Monique’s eyebrows furrowed as her mind shifted into high gear. “You said you cleaned an
engagement
ring for her?”

“Yep. It was a block of straight-up ice. She said her nephew was getting married out in Los Angeles and she wanted it nice and shiny so she could send it to him.” Nae-Nae shook her head. “But on the real, that thang was sick, Mo-Mo. It made all the tiny shit my father sells look like little ice chips.”

“Hmm…” Monique was deep in thought. “Are you sure it was her?”

Nae-Nae glanced down the bar again. “Hell yeah. I can go over there and get with her right now. I know she remembers me because we ran our mouths together forever.”

“No-no-no-
no!
” Monique said, hand-checking Nae-Nae before she could slide off her stool. “I believe you. Did she mention her nephew’s name?”

Nae-Nae shook her head. “Nah, I ain’t ask her all that. She just said he was getting married in L.A. and that she was sending him his mother’s ring. It was her, though. I swear to God it was her.”

Monique squeezed her thighs together as she tingled with glee inside. It was a long shot, but she was damn near willing to make a bet on it. If the woman Nae-Nae had spoken to was who Monique thought she was, then she could see why Nae-Nae had mistaken her for Salida. Monique had met her too, and them two pretty Puerto Rican divas looked
just alike!

$$$$$

Monique had fixed up her couch like it was a queen’s throne for Salida. She topped it with freshly ironed sheets, four fluffy goose-down pillows, and a thick purple velour blanket that had never been used.

An insomniac would have gotten a good night’s sleep on that bad boy, but Salida never closed her eyes the whole damn night. And this Monique knew because she’d snuck out into the living room several times to check.

No wonder G kept her bugged-out ass on lock, Monique thought as she peeked around the fish tank and spied on Salida. That nut was sitting straight up on the couch still dressed in her cute blue dress. She was rocking back and forth and crying one minute, then cursing somebody out real good under her breath the next.