Stealing Candy (15 page)

“I ain’t no trick,” he said, insulted.

“So why is you frontin’ like somebody axed you for a stack.” She scrunched her nose like Bullet stunk.

Wearing an unpleasant expression, the Spanish girl backed away and resumed pestering the new arrivals to the McDonald’s parking lot.

Not giving up easily, the bigger girl tried to shame Bullet into giving. The girl held out her hands as if perplexed. “I know you ain’t blind. You see me and her—two young girls—out here struggling.” She eyed the big bag of food in Gianna’s lap. “You and your girl eating good, so why you acting like you can’t help us out?”

Bullet’s jaw tightened at the blatant disrespect, but he kept his temper in check.

Gianna knew that beneath Bullet’s silence, there was controlled rage. Anger was simmering while his mind went to work, hatching up a double kidnap plan.

She felt a little sorry for what was about to happen to the Spanish girl, but had no pity for the loud-mouthed girl who had her arms resting on the open window ledge with her head stuck inside the car.

Gianna felt a mixture of emotions stirring: anger, irritation, and impatience. She disliked the brash girl and wanted Bullet to pull off and leave her behind. She didn’t think she could get accustomed to hearing her loud, coarse voice every single day.

She hoped that Bullet used her for target practice after he got her in his grip. In Gianna’s opinion, the loud mouth deserved to be tied to a tree more than Brielle did.

Bullet looked up, as if in thought. “Aiight. I’ma help y’all out. Where you tryna get to?”

“Well…see…Philly’s kinda hot for us right now. But Maria got peeps in New York, so we tryna be out.”

“I can dig it,” Bullet said, drawing out his words, excitement glinting in his eyes. “Aiight, aiight. Tell you what. I’ma be a gentleman, since you calling me a cheapskate and whatnot.”

The girl folded her arms and poked out her lips. “That’s how you was acting.”

“Tell your friend to come on. I’ma give y’all a ride to the bus depot. Shit, the way I’m holding, I can get y’all a first-class flight anywhere in the world. I can put some loot in y’all pockets, too.” Bullet lifted up and pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket.

“Woo hoo!” The big-busted girl waved her friend over. “Come on, Maria. Fuck them broke-ass people. Ya boy over here got bank. We ridin’ with him!”

Bullet slid Gianna his shank. “Handle shit in the back seat.”

Gianna got out the car. “You can ride up front,” she told the chunky girl.

“Don’t be giving me attitude; I don’t want your man,” the girl replied back.

Bullet laughed. “She’s a jealous type of female,” he said, referring to Gianna. “But it’s all good. Y’ah mean?”

“I’ll be up in that grille if she don’t watch how she talks to me.”

“She’ll be aiight.”

Playing her part, Gianna sighed audibly.

Instead of walking over to the car, the Spanish girl was still working the parking lot, begging for money.

“Tell your friend to come on. I ain’t got all night to mess around with y’all.”

The big girl opened her mouth, ready to shoot off some more sass. But Bullet started peeling off the top of his knot. “How much y’all need?” he asked, using the money as bait.

The big girl actually licked her lips. “Um…we can use about um…a hundred dollars.” Drooling over the knot of money, she licked her lips. “A hunnit a piece,” she added, her words coming out in a breathy rush of lust.

“Aiight, ain’t no thing.” He held five bills. “Yo, your girlfriend is a straight nut. Walking up to niggas, asking for chump change. You wanna hang out in the parking lot with her or do you wanna hang with me and my girl? We about to hit up this after-party at a hotel near the King of Prussia Mall. I only got two VIP tickets, but I might be able to get you in.”

“Oh, yeah? Whose party is it?”

“Soulja Boy.”

“Oh, my God! I ain’t hear nothing about him being in town.”

“He’s here on some hush-hush shit. Private party. Y’ah mean? You don’t need no ID or nothing. So whatchu wanna do? You gon’ hang out in this parking lot with your loser girlfriend, begging for change, or roll out and party with us?”

The chunky girl looked at him like he was crazy. “I’m not sticking around here! Me and that chick ain’t joined at the hip. We just happened to get out of a situation together, but we ain’t tight like that.”

“That’s what I’m talking about. Now you using your head. Drop that dead weight.” Bullet smiled with approval. “That enchilada-eating mami is in your way. I got a big surprise and I really only need one of y’all. Two is a crowd in this particular situation.”

As he cruised out of the lot, the Spanish girl yelled, “Portia!”

“Fuck outta here, bitch!” the loud-mouth girl yelled out the window at her and then began helping herself to a burger and some fries.

“You hard core,” Bullet complimented. “You and Soulja Boy might bump heads, but then again, he might like a feisty chick like you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, see what had happened was…uh—” He scratched his head.

Gianna knew that Bullet was weaving together more lies.

“Soulja Boy’s main man told me to grip up some hot girls to dance in his next video. I’m a recruiter for most of the stars that come through Philly. So if I don’t get you in this video, don’t even worry about it. Bow Wow supposed to be coming through next week.”

“Nah, I’m not waiting on Bow Wow. I’m feeling Soulja Boy.” A sudden worried look covered Portia’s face. “They shooting the video here in Philly? Cuz like I said, I’m in a heated situation right now and I need to be out.”

“Nah, they not shooting here. They gon’ fly you out to Miami, if they pick you.”

“Yes!” She smacked her hands together. “I’m
on
that private jet. You feel me? Portia is heading for Miami!”

The girl was grating Gianna’s last nerve. “You’re blowing everything out of proportion. No one mentioned a word about a private jet,” Gianna blurted, totally annoyed.

Portia whipped around. “You need to keep your mouth shut, talkin’ all corny and proper. Where you from, anyway? I know you ain’t from Philly, talkin’ like a damn white girl.”

Bullet let out a burst of cruel laughter. In the rearview mirror, he glared at Gianna, giving her a narrow-eyed look that promised
punishment for being grammatically correct in public and for potentially blowing her cover.

Worried that she’d be used for target practice tomorrow, Gianna shrank into the leather upholstery.

Meanwhile Portia, without a care in the world, began bouncing and busting moves in the passenger seat of the car.

“Work it, shorty,” Bullet cheered, turning up the volume of a Jay-Z CD. “You got serious moves, with your sexy self.”

“Shit, put me on the stage with Beyoncé and I’ll work it better than she can. I won every single dance contest at the girl’s club I belong to,” she said with pride.

“Is that right?” Bullet said. His eyes narrowed and calculating, he wheeled onto I-95 South, toward the airport.

 
 CHAPTER 16

“Why you got Gucci Mane on blast? You should be playing Soulja Boy’s CD so I can practice to one of his songs.”

“Where’s the Soulja Boy CD?” Bullet barked at Gianna.

“Um…I forgot to bring it.”

“Damn!” He gritted his teeth, appearing furious.

“Sorry,” Gianna placated, still playing her part. In reality, Bullet didn’t own a Soulja Boy CD.

“Umph,” Portia grunted in disgust.

“Ain’t no thing,” he said to Portia. “When we get to the audition joint, you’ll have time to rehearse.” He frowned, scratched his chin in thought. “How much did you get paid for winning those talent shows?”

“Nothing. I got a few trophies and a certificate.”

Bullet grunted. “Damn, you was on some sucker shit. Fuck a talent show. You ’bout to bust it up with the A-list stars. I might even take you under my wing and be your manager. Stop wasting your talent at some neighborhood girls club. You ’bout to get paid.”

“You really think I’ma get picked for the video?”

“Yeah, after I get you hooked up with makeup and some new gear.”

“The malls ain’t open this time of night.”

“Fuck a mall. I keep all kinds of fly gear in storage. You know, so the girls I pick can stand out when they audition. See…I get an extra bonus when one of my girls makes it to the top ten.”

“Well, start counting your money cuz I know I’m gon’ make the top ten,” Portia boasted.

Despite the fact that Bullet was lying to Portia, Gianna still felt left out and jealous. She rolled her eyes again, detesting the obnoxious and conceited girl.

“What size you wear?” Bullet wanted to know.

“Twelve.”

Bullet eyeballed Portia’s bosom. “What about your bra size? I wanna put you in something that showcases those big tits you rockin’.”

A smile lit her face. “Thirty-six double D!” she bragged.

“Yeah, I got a rhinestone bustier that will fit you, perfect.”

“A what?”

“A sexy top that pushes your titties up so high, Soulja Boy won’t be able to miss ’em.”

“Oh, aiight. I’m with that.”

“We gotta give you a new name, though. Portia ain’t gon’ get it. You star material, boo. You need a name that shines.”

Portia furrowed her brows in thought. “Star! That’s a good name for me.”

“Nah, you gotta cute baby face. You look sweet and delicious.” He scrunched his face, thinking hard. “I like Bubblicious. Bubbles for short.”

Portia frowned. “I’m not feeling that name at all.”

“Trust me. I know this business. That name matches your assets.”

“Aiight,” she reluctantly agreed.

“Just trust me. You’ll get used to your new name. Let me manage your career and we’ll all be moving to Miami.”

Portia shrugged. “Okay. Getting out of Philly and hanging with the stars in Miami is exactly what I need to be doing. Fucking around with that damn Maria was slowing me down. I’m glad I bumped into you.”

Bullet looked in the mirror and winked at Gianna. Gianna smiled back, glad for some attention, and praying that the wink was a reprieve from any punishment he had in store for her.

He turned his attention back to Portia. “You owe me an apology for calling me a cheapskate. It wasn’t about no coupla dollars. I was trying to check you and your girlfriend to see which one of y’all would work best for the video, but you was coming at my neck, playing me like some kind of sucka.”

“My bad.”

Gianna snickered. It was the most she could do to taunt the obnoxious girl.

Portia shot her a hostile glance and then asked Bullet, “Is she gon’ be trying out for the video, too?”

Bullet fell out laughing. “Nah, that’s my boo, but she can’t dance. If you think she talks like a white girl, you should see how bad she dance.”

Portia cracked up in malicious laughter.

“Whatever!” Gianna snarled from the back seat. She’d been cued to play her part, but the growl in tone was real. She disliked Portia intensely.

“Trust. Lollipop ain’t no competition for you. I have another girl named Tootsie who was gon’ audition tonight, but she way out in the boonies. I ain’t got time to pick her up.”

“Less competition for me,” Portia said.

Bullet nodded. “I like your confidence. Me and you gon’ go far together.”

Watching Bullet giving Portia so much extra attention and so many compliments bothered Gianna. She felt a twinge of envy. She knew Bullet wasn’t being honest with the girl, but she couldn’t help worrying that there was a grain of truth in his words.

Portia was competitive and would probably want to be his bottom bitch after she made peace with the situation. But Bullet had
promised that spot to Gianna. She wanted it. She’d earned it. She was his first piece of candy. That had to count for something.

“How can you stand being with an insecure female?” Portia asked.

“She can’t help herself,” Bullet replied, his words followed by taunting chuckles directed at Gianna.

“I don’t want your man; I’m checking for Soulja Boy,” Portia informed Gianna and then attacked the burger—her head, neck, and shoulders moving in time with the music that poured from the speakers.

“Work it, Bubbles. I’ma put in a special word for you. I’ma see if I can get you the number one spot in the video.”

“For real?”

“Hell, yeah. I’m tired of recruiting girls. I need to play a bigger part and get the big bucks. You and me need an agreement.”

“What kind of agreement?”

“I’m taking you to the video shoot and everything, getting you the kind of exposure you could never get on your own, so I wanna represent as your manager. You know, get my percentage.”

“Oh! Aiight. For sure!”

“Now don’t be trying to ditch me after you get all cozy with Soulja Boy. Stay loyal, aiight? We gon’ split your video profits down the middle. Fiddy-fiddy, aiight?”

“Aiight. That’s cool.”

Bullet’s cell pinged. He glanced at the display and frowned. “Soulja Boy’s man done hit me four times. We gotta speed it up. You might not have time for hair and makeup, Bubbles.”

Responding to her new name, she said, “It’s cool. When Soulja Boy sees my moves, it’s gon’ be a wrap for all them other chicks.”

“I like your confidence.” Bullet took his eyes off the highway and gave Bubbles a quick glance of appreciation.