I hadn’t been to the Bachelor’s Mill, a gay club in Washington DC, in years. Sweaty queens who ain’t got shit on me, covered the floor as they danced and sashayed to the latest house music. But I’m so busted I couldn’t even tell you what’s playin’.
Today the nursing home called me again about my mother. They said they’re worried about her but for some reason, they think she’s trying to hold on. But I know why. She’s waiting on me to tell her it’s okay to die…and that I’m strong enough to take care of myself now. But I just can’t do it. I’m not ready.
I was on my fifth drink when Miss Adrian and Miss Dayshawn wiggled inside the doors more than fashionably late. They had something to tell me and although I already thought I knew what it was, I agreed to meet with them out for drinks anyway. When all I really wanted to do was go home and stretch out, after my recent flight from LA to D.C.
“We missed you so much, mama!” Miss Adrian says hugging me. “How was LA?”
He looks cute in his black tight slacks and black button down shirt, which exposes his small-sculpted chest. He’s so gorgeous that even in butch he’s slaying the queens.
“It was fine, but you know it wasn’t a pleasure trip. I had to get Miss Daffany squared away. She should be fine for now.”
“So how is she?” Miss Dayshawn asks, sporting a cute black blazer by Lyle Scott with a white t-shirt underneath and his DSquared blue jeans.
“Girls…Let’s stop the fakeness and get to the fuckin’ point.”
I wasn’t about to tell them that Daffany was doing bad and that the doctor put her on bed rest. I knew that the stress of possibly losing our business was too much for her to take. I spent hours telling her I had her back and that everything including her health care expenses would be paid for…I just wish she relaxed and believed in me.
“I wasn’t trying to upset you. I just wanted to make sure she was okay,” Says Dayshawn.
“Look, what’s up? ‘Cause I ain’t got time for all this shit you bringin’ me. Our first party is tomorrow and I wanna go home and rest up so it can be a success.”
Miss Dayshawn takes a deep breath and says, “He wants back in the house.”
“Does he want back in the physical house or the house of dreams?” I ask referring to our crew.
“Both. His wife is over there giving him the blues, Miss Wayne. Making him fuck and suck her every five minutes. He can’t handle it and he feels like we’ve all turned our backs on him. I miss him, Wayne. Don’t you?”
“I can’t say that I do. Tyrone ain’t the same, Day. Doesn’t it bother you that every time we turn around, some crazy ass drama is surroundin’ her ass? I remember lookin’ at this special Oprah had on one day talking about how you are what you think. If that’s really true, what does that say about him? The longer we hang around him the more our lives are in danger. I don’t know, Day, I think we betta off leavin’ him the fuck alone.”
“But he’s sorry.”
“Yes he is, darling! But I no longer care. He’s also ungrateful. I mean…if I didn’t agree to stay in DC, what were ya’ll gonna do? Where were ya’ll going to live? Yet you get mad at me because I tax that ass? It makes no sense.”
“That’s true,” Miss Adrian adds. “Wayne has carried us so far. And just so you know, mama, I’m with you the entire way. I just don’t want you to throw me out.”
“Why do you keep sayin’ that shit? I’m nowhere interested in gettin’ rid of you, twinkie. Who told you that?”
She hangs her head low and says, “Nobody.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I sigh and turn to Miss Day and say, “The cunt can’t want back in the system and buck it too. She has to make her fuckin’ mind up.”
“You right, but she understands now that if she’s not helping out the house, she’s against it. Just give her another chance, Wayne…please.”
I think about their campaign for Tyrone and everything in my soul tells me to walk away from her. The feeling is so strong it makes my temples throb. But I also know that when it comes to whoring, Miss Tyrone is the best girl for the job. And, with Miss Daffany being sick, I realize any money we can raise will help my cause.
“Look, if he wants back in, he has to come up with five hundred dollars, and then I’ll see.”
“Yayyy,” Miss Dayshawn smiles, jumping up and down.
His dedication to Miss Tyrone confuses me. Miss Tyrone is selfish in every sense of the word so why would he and Adrian be so loyal to him? I sure hope Tyrone realizes he’s lucky to have friends who care about him, no matter what, by his side.
I know I do.
Miss Wayne walked quietly into the school cafeteria. That’s the part he hated most…being new and not fitting in anywhere. Spotting an empty lunch table, with his beige meal trey in hand, he moved slowly toward it until he heard, “Wayne! Over here!”
Turning around to see where the voice would lead him, he smiled when he saw the girl he helped protect a few days back waving at him. In a fabulous swagger only he possessed, he strutted toward her and sat down at the table.
“Hi!” Sky smiled. “I never got a chance to thank you for helping me. Them jealous ass bitches always worried ‘bout what I’m doin’. By the way, the name’s Sky, and this is Daffany,” she said pointing to a scraggly looking girl sitting next to her. Wayne knew automatically that Sky liked to be around girls she ran rings around physically, to make her look better. “This is her first day.”
Wayne smiled at Daffany and focused back on Sky. “Sky huh?” he said opening his milk carton with soft and feminine mannerisms.
“Yep, ‘cause my mother and father told me that with my beauty, the sky’s the limit!”
He laughed and said, “So, Sky, why were you gettin’ your ass kicked? I mean…what you do to piss them off?”
“I ain’t do shit but be me,” she said with a sassy attitude. “I guess they couldn’t handle it.”
Wayne giggled and said, “It looked to me like you were the one who couldn’t handle shit and me and that girl had to mix in.”
As they were chatting like little girls, the voice meter in the cafeteria rose and Wayne turned around to see why.
“Look at that black bitch! I bet you she won’t do to me what she did to Diamond! I don’t even know why she jumped in,” said one girl. “Nobody was even talking to her.”
“Ain’t been here a month and already starting shit,” said another.
“Look at that dusty bitch’s shoes,” added someone else.
When Wayne saw whom they were referring to, for some reason, he was consumed with rage. Nothing ruffled his feathers more than people picking on weaker people. So when he saw it was Parade, the girl he also met in the yard, he couldn’t be still.
Parade was doing her best to ignore the girls’ harsh words but her tightly pierced lips were a dead giveaway that she was mad. Still, she took the treatment like a trooper until someone threw a carton full of milk at the back of her head. It bursts at her feet and drenched her legs.
Seeing the culprits laughing, anger overcame her and it took her five seconds to lunge on top of the table and wrap her hands around the girl’s neck. All of the loudmouthed girls’ friends, who had so much to say moments earlier, were as quiet as church mice hiding in a corner.
Wayne dashed to the scene seconds before a few teachers reached Parade. He pulled her off of the girl and the teachers missed the actual events. They did see one girl rubbing her neck and Parade standing nervously in front of her.
“Miss Knight, I know you aren’t starting trouble again!” Yelled a young black male teacher. “Because you were warned that the next time we had an incident with you, you could be expelled from this school! Even your mother said she’d snatch you out by your hair if she had to come up here again.”
The children standing by giggled at the comment. Wayne was enraged.
“Parade what is going on?” asked the white teacher with kind eyes. “Why are you always in trouble?”
Parade was breathing heavily, tears streamed down her face and her fists were still balled up. She was embarrassed by the teacher’s comment regarding her mother.
“Do you hear her? Were you causing a disruption in my school for the tenth time or what?” The black teacher yelled.
“No she wasn’t. It was me.”
Both teachers transferred their glare from Parade to Wayne.
Parade whipped her head toward him to be sure she’d heard him correctly.
“What is your name young man?” the female teacher asked.
“Wayne. Wayne Peterson.”
“Well Wayne Peterson, how come I don’t believe you?”
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “But why don’t you ask her?” He said pointing to the girl who Parade had choked out just moments earlier.
“Young lady, is this true?” the male teacher asked. “Was he the one who hit you?”
The girl looked at the teacher and then at Wayne. She was hesitant with her answer and it was obvious that something or someone had her shook.
“Yes…it’s true. It was him.”
“Well then,” the male teacher said irritated he wouldn’t have the chance to make good on his promise to expel Parade. “Wayne, if it was really you, then you have to come with me.”
Before he left with the teacher, he tucked the pocketknife fully in his pocket he slyly used to threaten the girl with earlier. It was positioned so that only she could see it. Then he gave Parade a smile.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
He smiled back, and walked out the cafeteria’s doors.
I can’t believe he raised five hundred dollars. And then I remember, his wife would do anything to keep him including give him money. To tell you the truth, I was kinda hoping he didn’t raise the money. So much for wishful thinking.
Anyway, the setup for the party was hot if I do say so myself. First I turned on Comcast music channel and let the slow jams play. Then the girls and me placed scented candles and fresh linen in every bedroom. Then there was the food. We had fried chicken, collard greens, French fries and liquor on the dinner table. And the girls were stunning…each one of my queens’ faces were beat to death compliments of me. I made sure their makeup was perfect. I even chose the outfits they wore…trust…we were definitely ready for business.
“All queens, to the living room please,” I say. “We only have an hour before the party.”
Tyrone, Dayshawn, Adrian and the four queens I hired from Quincy Manor come rushing into the living room. They’re dressed in different colored beautiful dresses but all were in full drag. I wore a long royal blue silk dress with a cut so high on the side, you can almost see my black silk panties.
“Now, tonight is our first party and I wanted to thank each of you in advance. We will be workin’, but I want each of you to have a good time too. Because the more relaxed you are, the more money our guests will spend to be entertained. We’re in the money makin’ business ladies and we
are
queens. Remember that shit tonight. Don’t let anyone take you to the playroom, without discussin’ a fair price. What you charge is up to you, as long as I get my ten percent cut. Don’t drink too much or give up the pussy too quickly either.”
“I’m ready, Miss Wayne.” Says Alicia, one of the manor queens. “And we love you in your blue chi-chi-kaka dress!”
“And I love you back,” I say blowing a kiss.
“How many guests are we expectin’ tonight?” Tyrone asks out of nowhere.
“Fifteen. And these gentlemen were handpicked by Sincere, my daughter from the House of Dreams in LA. So they understand what we offer and more importantly know what has to be paid. But don’t be fooled, children. Boys will be boys and we must protect ourselves. So I left condoms in every room…use ‘em. Any questions?”
Silence.
“Well let the games begin!” I say clapping my hands, my short black curly wig brushing my shoulders.
Five minutes after the meeting, we opened our doors wide!
“Welcome to the House of Dreams fellas,” I say to the men coming in one by one, “let your inhibitions run wild and all of your dreams will come true.”
When they walk in, they see Queen Tyrone, Dayshawn, Adrian and the manor Queens all sitting on the couch looking like sex kittens. When the guests pile inside, they pay my fee and pick their flavor. My plan could not have worked any better.
I’m counting my door fee money when my phone rings and I wonder who it is.
“What’s the T?”
“May I speak to Wayne?”
I recognize the voice instantly as the nigga who called me when I was at Popeye’s. “It depends on what you want to speak to Wayne about.”
“Wayne…this is Chris.”
“Twinkie’s Chris?”
“Yes.”
Now I’m all confused. “Did you call me awhile back?”
“Yes…and I really need to talk to you…about what’s goin’ on with me and Chris.”
“Honey, I don’t jump in folks personal lives…and even if I could you wouldn’t want me to if you knew how I feel about you.” I say scanning the room for Adrian. The last thing I needed was for him to be upset.
“But you don’t understand. Things are not as they seem.”
The fact that he is calling me means he’s ready for me to put it to his ass like it needs to be put. “Let me tell you somethin’ fuck boy, the way you beat that chile was terrible! And it don’t make no sense to me. Now if you were near me, I’d show you how I feel about you, instead I’ma just say you betta not ever call me again.”
“Wayne please…you have to listen. This is serious.”
“Chris, fuck off! And lose my number!” I say ending the call.
What kind of shit is that? After everything he did to that boy, why would he think I’d listen to him about shit? I’m over these dudes who fuck us at night and beat us by day. Make up your mind what you wanna be. Gay…straight or whatever!
After I swallow a glass full of vodka, I focus my attention back on business. Things were going better but as the night grew older, some of the guests had a little too much Jesus juice and started acting simple. I guess they forgot we were still men and as strong as they were if not stronger. They found out soon enough.
“No…no, you paid one hundred dollars to get in these doors, but anything else,” Adrian says rubbing her ass cheek over one of the guests face, “is gonna cost you.”
Some of them tried to buck the system but one by one they’d dig into their pockets and pay me a little somethin’ extra for the queens’ time. I held the cash for the ladies until they were done. Over the course of the night, fifteen men trickled into the house and I was already up three thousand dollars until I saw Tyrone on his phone. And since we had two more guests waiting, I was wondering what was up.
“Do what the fuck you want! I’m not doin’ this shit no more.” He yells into his cell phone.
He’s silent for a minute with the phone against his head until he says, “If you wanna kill yourself then that’s on you, maybe then you’ll leave me the fuck alone.”
I gave him a few seconds to handle the call but I remember that he’s been acting really strange lately. Sometimes he gets up in the middle of the night to make calls and he always seems to be sneaking around. Be that as it may, there’s money to be made right now.
“Queen, you do realize we still have guests waitin’ right?”
Tyrone leans up against the wall and says, “Yeah…but I don’t think I can do nothin’ else today. That last guy wanted me to stand on my head, against the wall, while I let him lick my ass. Now my neck hurtin’.”
“I feel for you but not finishin’ up is not an option. Now…after tonight, I’ll set you up an appointment with a friend of mine who does massages. Okay, darling?”
She looks at me, walks to the guests and introduces herself. That ugly fish is workin’ my nerves already! She’s the laziest bitch in captivity.
Twenty minutes later, the queens had worked the hell out of the men, refilling their cups with cheap drinks every time an empty one hit the floor. In the end, we finished the night with no real problems and I was hopeful that our good luck would continue for weeks to come. The money I pulled out of my pockets were overflowing and that’s wasn’t including the money that belonged to the girls.
But when I open the door, to let the last trade leave, I see someone standing outside who looks out of place. The thirty-somethin’ cunt I believe I recognize walks up my stairs. She’s Tyrone’s wife. She’s wearing a black raincoat and the handles are tied tightly around her waist. Black massacre is smeared down her face.
“Is Tyrone here?” she asks in a delirious glare.
I look behind me, close the door and step fully outside. “Honey, I can’t let you in my house. But is everything okay with you? Is there somethin’ I can help you with?” I ask, placing my hands on her shoulders.
“You don’t understand,” she says shaking me off. “I need to see Tyrone now and it can’t wait ‘til later.”
“Shannon, I don’t know what’s goin’ on, but you look upset and because of it, I’m worried. I mean, did you call Tyrone before you came over here?”
She looks up at me with sadness in her eyes, and then her glare is replaced with rage. For some reason, when my eyes focus on the ground, I see a red streak leading from her white Cadillac at the curb, to my house. It’s obvious that the trail is following her, but where is it coming from? Then I see a red thick liquid escaping her arms. This bitch slit her wrists.
OMG!
“You will let me in, Wayne!” she says pulling a gun out of her coat pocket. “Now open that fuckin’ door or I’m gonna blow your shit off!” When I didn’t move fast enough due to shock she says, “Please, Wayne, don’t make me kill you. I didn’t come here for you, but that can all change.”
When I back inside the house, my stare remains on the weapon. I’m also careful about how I deal with her. A woman scorn is one thing, but a cunt with a gun and slit wrists spells murder.
Seeing his wife, Tyrone walks up to her and says, “Shannon, I told you not to come over here! What the fuck are you doin’?!”
“Tyrone, be careful with her,” I whisper.
“I came to see you. We have to talk now,” she demands. “You owe me at least that, since you drained my bank account of over twelve thousand dollars, which was all I had left.” She laughs hysterically. “It was my fault though, I should’ve taken your name off of my account when I had the chance. Just never thought you’d be so grimey to me.”
“I said I’d pay you back later,” he says as I wonder where in the hell all of the money went. “I’m in over my head and I really needed it. But I ain’t got no money to give you now.”
“And like I said on the phone,” she says raising the gun. “I’m sick of waitin’ on you to make right by me. That shift ends today.”
“Shannon, please…don’t do this. You’re goin’ to regret it if someone gets hurt. Look at you.” I say. “Why are you doin’ this?”
“Why?” she laughs crazily. “Ask your friend Tyrone! Since he told me earlier that he didn’t care if I died today or tomorrow. I decided I don’t care anymore either. So I told my mother to get my son, quit my job, and came over here to take Tyrone with me. Why die alone right?” Tears roll down her face and she wipes them away leaving blood smears all over her skin.
Walking into the living room for the first time, when Adrian sees the gun, he screams.
“Shut the fuck up!” Shannon yells, banging the handle of the gun against her temple. “I can’t stand the noise! Be quiet!” she continues shaking the gun wildly at all of us. “Everybody sit the fuck down!”
Afraid the gun might go off, we all sit on the couch and out the corner of my eyes, I see Miss Dayshawn run toward the back of the house. Sneaky Day always knew how to get away.
“Wait…was that Dayshawn? The one you told me died in the fire?”
“No…I mean yes. I mean…not really.”
“I asked one question…and as far as I’m concerned, there ain’t but one answer to it.” Shannon demands.
“Okay…baby I need you to listen,” Tyrone says in a masculine voice although she’s wearing a dress, “Dayshawn died…but then he came back to life.”
She burst into laughter and Adrian and me whip our heads in his direction.
“So what…he’s Jesus now?” Shannon giggles.
“No…he got burnt really badly and was unconscious. Then they reccessated him and gave him some medicine. After that he was cool.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. I knew Tyrone was illiterate, but I never thought he was that ignorant too. The lie he gave her was so obscene, in good faith I couldn’t hear him say it again.
“Oh my God! You
are
sick!” she laughs. Then she falls into the seat across from us…the blood leaving her body was probably making her weak. “My mother told me there was no way on earth I could trust a person like you…but I kept telling myself that you were my husband. You know, after all these years, I never saw the man you were until now.”
“Please, Shannon. Let’s talk.”
“There’s no more talking!” she screams, letting off a bullet into the ceiling. “I’m done talkin’ to you! You are my husband and we made a vow through sickness and health, ‘til death do us part, that we’d be together forever. It’s time to die.”
“Shannon, please…please calm down.”
She fires another bullet into the floor next to my foot and I understand then that she can’t be reasoned with. When I look at Adrian and Tyrone, I see that they feel the same. If we want to live, which we all do, something has to give now.
With nothing else to lose, we all look at one another and charge her ass. She’s immediately knocked out of the chair and onto the floor, but the gun is still in her hand. Then Tyrone proceeds to punch her in the face multiple times until the gun falls to the ground.
“Tyrone, I think that’s enough!” Adrian says.
“Yeah, Tyrone! She’s not movin’.” I add.
When he finally stops, she’s laying lifelessly on the floor. I don’t know what killed her. Blood escaping her body by the pounds or Tyrone pounding her face to a pulp. And then I hear sirens in the background. Betty Badge could not have come at a better time, thanks to Dayshawn calling them when he ducked to the back of the house.
The police were there for two hours taking our testimony. And although we all confirmed Tyrone’s selfdefense story, I wonder what else was behind his blows. It was like he hated her or something.
At the end of the night, I know the cops will always remember three gay men dressed in drag, and the murder on 28
th
place. But what can I do? Like most incidents in my life, I have to move on. So that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.
With the house clean and Adrian and Dayshawn sleep, Tyrone walks up to the couch and sits next to me.
“Can I talk to you, girl?” he asks.
“What’ up?”
“I’m sorry about Shannon. I wasn’t expectin’ none of that shit tonight to happen up in here.”
“Tyrone, why did you hit her like that? And what money is she talkin’ about? And why would you tell her Day was dead? I’m confused.”
“The money was ours and I took it. But as far as me hittin’ her, you saw how crazy she was. She was tryin’ to kill us. That shit with Day was just to get her to let me stay at her house. I ain’t have no place else to go.”
“I think you could’ve been talked Shannon down off that ledge. But it’s like you didn’t care that she was your wife and the mother of your child.”
“But she had a gun! What the fuck was I gonna do? Let her kill me?” he pauses staring at me with wild eyes. “It was her or me and it wasn’t gonna be this girl, honey.”
I can’t believe how selfish he sounds. Shannon must have really been insane to choose Tyrone to be a part of her life.
“All I know is that the situation could’ve gone a lot worse. Somebody else could’ve gotten killed. Really, Tyrone…you’re gonna have to start carin’ about somebody other than yourself. Too much shit follows you wherever you go.”
“Care about people?” he says with sass. “You mean like you care about your mother?”
Have you ever had an experience…where you’ve been in someone’s presence and felt like punching them in the mouth, snatching out their tongue and strangling them with it? Well when he said my mother’s name, that’s exactly what I felt like doing.
“Tyrone, let me tell you somethin’,” I say pointing my finger in his face. “What went on around here ain’t got shit to do with my mother. And I’m gonna leave it at that. But if you ever mention her again, there will be problems for me and you. Are we clear?”
He smiles and says, “Crystal.”
Silence.
“Good…now remove yourself the fuck outta my face…I wanna sit down alone and sort some shit out.”
“So I guess you don’t want to hear anything else I have to say.”
“Tyrone, if I hear your voice again I’ma throw up. So you tell me?”
He gets up and says, “I guess you don’t want to know who burned the house down and almost killed us.” He walks away.
“What did you say?”
He turns around and says, “I know who burned the house down.”
“What are you talkin’ about? I thought it was an electrical issue.”
“It wasn’t. The fire department did a full investigation and found out that shit was done on purpose.” He continues. “I heard it was Queen Paul.”