Trife Life To Lavish (A King Production Presents...) (11 page)

"I went from shopping at Saks, to rummaging
through the sales rack in Rainbow. Ain't this some
bullshit?" Tierra complained, as she and Simone
tried desperately to find a dress that was cheap,
but didn't look like it.

"What you think about this one?" Simone
asked, holding a bright orange strapless dress under
her neck.

"Trick, you know damn well if you gon' wear
a cheap dress, you can't get it in no Easter orange.
You need to stick to basic colors, like black and
gray."

"But those colors don't do nothing for my
skin tone. I like bright colors so I can stand out."

"Whatever, Simone. If you wanna walk up in
that party looking like a reject Easter bunny, then
go the fuck head and wear that whack ass dress."

Simone grunted and then immediately put the
dress back on the rack. "Well, I don't see nothing
in here. Let's go to Forever 21. They might have
something cute. But we need to hurry up, because
the party starts in a couple of hours."

"Wait, this right here is cute," Tierra said, picking
up a short black dress with a plunging neckline. "I
could jazz this up with those black and silver Gucci
stilettos I have, and those diamond earrings."

"You talking about them diamond earrings
that nigga, Keondre gave to you?"

"Yep."

"I thought you took them to the pawn shop."

"I did, but them crooked ass motherfuckers
was tryna' bullshit me on the price. I know what
the fuck those earrings cost. I was there when he
bought the shit. They tried to play me like my shit
wasn't official. I told those slimy bastards to kiss
my ass and I kept my shit."

"Hell, I don't blame you, and with your
current predicament, ain't no telling when or if a
nigga will ever drop some jewels on you like that
again."

"Thanks for the pep talk, Simone. After those words of encouragement, you got me feeling real
optimistic," Tierra cracked, rolling her eyes. "Come
on, let me pay for this dress so we can break out.
All these bargain basement prices is giving me a
migraine."

Nichelle twirled around in front of the mirror
in amazement. Her teal, silk beaded chiffon dress
with a thigh-high side slit made her feel like a `hood
goddess. No one would believe she was the same
awkward, braces-wearing chick from the projects.
She only wished that Tierra was there to see how
nicely she cleaned up. This was just the sort of
slap-you-in-your-face dress that Tierra would rock
and shut the game down in.

"Damn, you look good!" Carmelo proclaimed,
snapping Nichelle out of her daydreaming.

"I still can't believe this is me."

Carmelo walked over to her and cupped
her ample ass, "Yeah, it's you," he grinned. Don't
nobody got a booty like my baby."

"Shut up," Nichelle laughed, placing a playful
kiss on his lips.

"You ready?"

"Almost. Why, are we running late?"

"Nope, I just want to show you something before we leave."

"Let me touch up my hair and makeup, then
we can go."

"Cool, I'll be in the living room."

Nichelle stared at her reflection in the mirror
and knew nothing needed to be touched. She only
wanted another opportunity to admire how she
looked, not knowing if she'd ever feel this beautiful
again. She grabbed her metallic hard-frame clutch,
excited about the rest of her evening.

With Carmelo in his tailored smoky-gray
Armani suit with a teal tie-the exact same color
as Nichelle's dress-the duo exuded the style of a
power couple. As they made their exit, during the
entire elevator ride down they held hands, gazing
into each other's eyes like a newlywed couple.

"If I forget to tell you later on, thank you for
making this the best night of my life," Nichelle said,
as they walked through the underground garage
towards Carmelo's car.

"Wow, if you're saying that now, wait till you
see this."

"See what?" Nichelle turned her head in
the direction that Carmelo was staring in. "Happy
belated birthday, baby!"

Nichelle let go of Carmelo's hand and
covered her mouth in amazement. There was a big
red ribbon on top of an ice-blue CLS550 Mercedes
Benz. "This can't be mine!"

"Yes, it can and it is. You deserve it, baby."

"And I thought you forgot."

"Of course not. The custom rims weren't
ready on your birthday, so I decided to wait. I felt
you would forgive me once you saw the present I
had for you."

Nichelle was damn near speechless as she
walked slowly, circling the car and taking in every
detail. "This is really my car?"

"Now it is," Carmelo replied, tossing the car
keys at Nichelle. She caught them, and her hands
began shaking from her excitement. "So, are you
taking me for a ride or what?"

"Carmelo, you really are too good for me. I
don't know what I did to deserve you. Nobody has
ever made me feel so special." Tears began rolling
down Nichelle's face.

"Baby, don't cry." Carmelo gently wiped her
cheek. "I'm not too good for you. We're perfect for
each other. So stop with this Hallmark moment and
drive us to this fuckin' party so you can show these
`hood rats how it's really going down."

"Yo, I see some serious heavyweight
motherfuckers up in this joint tonight," Simone
said, to Tierra as they both put an extra swagger in their walk.

"You ain't lying. One of these niggas got to
be able to get me out my mama's house and back
into the lifestyle I'm accustomed to."

"What about dude standing over there by the
bar eyeing the shit out of you?"

"I know you ain't talking about that clear
wrap over there!" Tierra barked.

"What, you don't fuck wit' white boys?"

"Hell no! You ain't neva seen me wit' one of
those."

"Shit, if the motherfucker got paper why does
it matter?"

"Besides the fact that no matter how bad they
be irking my nerves, I love me some black men.
A white boy gon' eventually say something out of
pocket, and I'll have to slit his ass with my knife."

"Say something like what?"

"Call me a nigga, a black bitch... one of those
terms that motherfuckers toss around loosely when
they pissed the fuck off. `Cause I know when I'm
mad, I'm quick to start throwing around a race,
color, or something to describe what you are. Even
though I don't like it, it's one thing for my own
to call me out my name, but when somebody of
another race do it, you better call 911, `cause it's
about to go down."

"Girl, you crazy."

"No, I'm fuckin' serious. There are a lot of cute white boys running around, but they can
bypass me and kick it wit' the cute little white girls
out here. . .and there's no shortage of them."

"Speaking of cute, check out that fine
specimen that just entered the building."

"You ain't lying! That nigga look fine and rich.
Do you see that suit he got on? That ain't no S&K
Menswear type bullshit either, his shit is official,"
Tierra commented, sizing the man up. Upon further
inspection, her admiration quickly turned to disgust.
"I can't believe this shit!"

"What?" Simone questioned while plotting
on how to get the attention of the man who had
walked in."

"When he turns his face back around, zoom
in for a closer look."

Both women stood for what seemed like
a few long minutes but were actually seconds,
waiting to catch another full frontal glimpse.

"Get the fuck outta here! That's Carmelo! And
look. Nichelle is with him, wearing a bad ass dress.
She definitely didn't get that from Rainbow."

"Shut up, Simone!"

"I'm just saying. ..damn! But you can't front,
Nichelle do look stunning."

Tierra watched as her best friend and her
man made their way to the VIP area. She was
burning up on the inside, wondering how in the
fuck Nichelle's star was on the rise and hers was quickly fading out.

"Girl, come on, let's go over there and talk to
Nichelle."

"You go `head. I'ma stay over here."

"Tierra, she over in VIP. You know they gon'
be poppin' bottles. And all the real ballers gon' be
laying in the cut over there. I thought you said you
wanted to get out yo' mama's crib. So come on,
let's go." Simone grabbed Tierra's arm and guided
her to the velvet rope.

When they walked up, the big burly security
man was blocking their path and seemed to have no
intention of moving out the way to let them through.

"Excuse me, but can you move? Our friends
are waiting for us over there," Simone said, pointing
in the direction of Nichelle and Carmelo, although
their backs were turned away from them.

"You don't have a VIP wristband, so you can't
get through."

"Come on, Simone. It ain't that serious. Let's go."

"Hold on a minute." Simone was adamant
about getting to the other side of that rope, and a
little thing like a three hundred pound man wasn't
going to stop her. She began waving her hands and
calling out Nichelle's name until she finally got her
attention.

"Baby, I'll be right back. There's Simone and
Tierra."

Carmelo glared in their direction and wanted to tell Nichelle to leave those money thirsty broads
right where they were at, but didn't want to ruin
her night.

"A'ight, baby."

"Hey, ladies! I'm so glad to see you!" After
security moved to the side, Nichelle gave Simone
and Tierra a hug. She was sincerely happy to see
her friends, especially Tierra.

"Nichelle, you killin' the game wit' that dress
you rockin'. Drop a name. I know that's some label
shit," Simone said, sounding hyped.

"Yeah, it's actually a Zac Posen. Carmelo
picked it out for me."

"Bitch, you doing the damn thing," Simone
added, giving her a pound.

"Yeah, that dress is hot," Tierra said, dryly.

"Come have a seat at our booth. I know you
ladies want some bubbly."

"See, I told you." Simone nudged Tierra as
they followed behind Nichelle.

When they sat down, Simone spoke to
Carmelo, giving him a big Kool-Aid smile, but Tierra
kept her face lowered, purposely not wanting to
make eye contact with him.

"Let me pour you some champagne," Nichelle
offered, trying to ease what could easily become a
tense situation. Both the ladies raised their glasses
up, ready to catch a buzz.

"Nichelle, come here for a second. I want to introduce you to somebody." Nichelle handed
the bottle to Tierra and walked over to Carmelo.
"Baby, this is Marley, the birthday boy."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, and happy
birthday."

"Nice to meet you too. If you don't mind,
can I borrow your man for a moment? I want to
introduce him to some of my people."

"That's fine."

"I won't be gone that long," Carmelo said,
giving Nichelle a quick kiss on the lips.

"Man, that's a pretty little young thang you got
right there," Marley remarked after Nichelle sat down.

"Yeah, that's my baby. She's the one."

"Let me find out you might be in love!"

"Ain't no might to it. I am in love."

"Ain't nothing wrong wit' that. Shit, I'm in love
too...wit' pussy!" Marley said, slapping Carmelo on
his shoulder. "But let's talk about my other love
right now."

"Which is?"

"Money, nigga!"

"And I thought it was all pleasure tonight, no
business."

"Always business, which brings pleasure."
Marley grinned then added a wink. "I have this cat
I've known for many years now, who is interested
in getting his product from you. I told him you got the purist coke in the streets."

"So, I take it your vouching for him?" Carmelo
wanted to make it clear before going any further.
He didn't like fucking with new buyers, but since
he knew Marley was a straight shooter and they had
an excellent business relationship, he was willing
to be open to the idea.

"No doubt. You know me, I wouldn't waste
your time if I couldn't vouch for the nigga. He
shoots straight from the hip, just like me."