URBAN: In Love with A Boss Nigga (20 page)

“Come on son.” Lionel laughed. “I didn’t come here to talk about that.”

“Damn. I won’t lie, but I’m kind of disappointed.”

“Shut up man, I’m serious.” Lionel was stone-faced.

“What is it?” He was now humorless. “Give me the bad news.”

‘I wouldn’t say that it is bad news, but it isn’t good news either. I know you’re going to be mad, but I went looking for that bottle service girl.”

“Bottle service girl?” Antwon’s face screwed up. “What bottle service girl?” Then his eyes opened wide. “I thought I told you to let it go.”

“I couldn’t.”

“All you had to do was wait for me to come out, let me feel better, and then we can both go after them.”

“ I wasn’t thinking.”

“Clearly!” Antwon shouted.

Antwon sighed and sat up on the hospital bed. He shook his head. He was disappointed a little bit. He was the hothead one between the two of them. He Kind of relied on Lionel to always keep his cool. He wasn’t used to seeing Lionel like this.

“I get it.” He sighed looking over at Lionel. “I guess I would have done the same if it was you in this bed. So what happened? Did you find her?”

“I went back to the club and the owner wouldn’t give me any information.”

“So I guess you didn’t find her.”

“But I stayed and waited.” Lionel continued. He was speaking as if he was in a trance. He was physically in the hospital room, but it was as if he was back in front of the club. “And I saw a car pull up and she got out of the car.”

“So you saw her?”

“And then later a whole bunch of niggas ran into the club shooting.” Lionel nodded his head. “I saw one of them pull the trigger and then the girl came out with the dudes.”

“What?”

“And she screamed about going back to the strip club. Next thing I knew, they were all gone.”

Antwon fell silent. The information was racing around in his head. He kept going over what Lionel just told him. Lionel was quiet too, but he was still absorbing everything that was going on. He looked at Antwon and could see that he had a confused look on his face.

“What is it?” He asked Antwon.

“I don’t want to sound crazy, but I think that I heard this before.” He was rubbing his head. “Leo, I know I heard this before. Oh shit, this was on the news.” He nodded. “Yes I saw this on the news earlier. It said that the owner was killed and one of the robbers. Damn, do you know what I’m thinking?”

“What?”

“I think that bitch be setting niggas up. I think that night she saw that I had money, so she set niggas up to rob me. But I don’t get on why she chose me.”

“Well you are a flashy type dude. She probably saw you popping bottles and took it from there.”

“Yeah, I guess, but I don’t get it. A lot of niggas go to the club and pop bottles. A lot of niggas throw stacks and cash, why me?”

“I don’t know. Have you ever seen her before?”

“I see bad bitches almost every day, I don’t keep a list of all of them.” Antwon shrugged.

“I don’t know, it just seems fishy. I don’t get why she chose me.

“Maybe it was just the money.”

“From me being in the club? You know how niggas like to front that they have money when they really don’t. How she didn’t know that I wasn’t in there tossing up my rent money or child support money there?”

“You don’t have kids.”Lionel pointed out.

“I’m just saying, why me? Plenty of niggas throwin up money, buying bottles, going crazy and she picked me. Something ain’t right.”

Lionel shook his head. The more that Antwon talked about it, the more it made sense. Now that he thought about it, why was Antwon shot? He thought at first that it might have been random, but after seeing the club getting robbed, maybe it wasn’t so random after all.

“Too bad we don’t know who they are.” Antwon said out of nowhere.

“Why?”

“Because then we can follow them and find out why.”

“Aren’t you the one to let me go?”

“I know, but I kind of can’t help it now. After hearing all of this, I can’t get it out of my head. What if they set me up before I even got to the club? If only I knew where to find these niggas.”

“She said something about a strip club.”

“Strip club?” Antwon’s eyes then lit up. “Allure?”

“She didn’t say the name.”

“No, but I’ve been to Allure all the time. I damn near live there. That’s got to be the connection.” Antwon nodded. “Ok.”

“Ok, what?”

“I have an idea.” Antwon smiled. “But you need to get Giselle on it.”

Giselle uncrossed her arms. She shook her head but it didn’t matter how many times she did, because nothing was making sense. Lionel spoke slowly so it should have made sense but it still didn’t.

“What do you need from me?” She asked.

“You’re going to help us find the girl.”

“How am I going to do that?”

“You’re going to join the strip club.”

The loud rap music was distracting but it was exactly what Giselle needed. She needed to be brave right now. She saw a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She didn’t even look like herself. She had on makeup, a few tracks of weave in her hair, and sexy clothing. When Lionel suggested that she joined the strip club, she naively thought that she was going to be a bartender, but next thing she knew he was telling her that she had to become a stripper.

“A stripper? Why can’t I be a bartender? Or why can’t I be a janitor? Why is it that I have to be a stripper?” She asked as they walked to the hair salon.

“Because Antwon damn near lives in that strip club, he sees how the strippers treat the bartenders. It’ll be easier for you to become her friend if she thinks that you are a fellow stripper or whatever.”

“And then what?”

“We’ll take one thing at a time, but for now you have to look the part.”

“Is that why you bought all those sexy outfits? Is that why you want me to get my hair and makeup done?”

“Baby, you know that you’re beautiful, but strip clubs aren’t looking for that, they are looking for sexy.”

“So, I’m not sexy?”

“You know that you are, but stripper sexy is a different thing.” Giselle rolled her eyes when she heard him say that. “I need you Giselle.”

“Then after this, what happens?”

“I told you, we’ll get to that.”

“No, I mean after everything, will you do what I suggested before? Can we just live a normal life outside of New York City?”

“Let’s just concentrate on this.” He held her face. “I want to be with you.”

“I know you do, but can we leave this all behind?”

He didn’t answer but instead opened the door of the salon. He pulled up some pictures from his mobile smart phone for the workers to do. He had a specific look in mind. Giselle closed her eyes for most of the process. When she took peeks here and there, she could see the long wavy hair in her head, the arching of her eyebrows, and the lipstick being placed on her lips. Even later that day when Lionel told her to wear the tight jumpsuit, she didn’t look at herself, but now seeing her reflection in the doors, she was shocked. She looked nothing like herself. Usually something like this scared her, but she thought if she looked different she might as well act differently as well.

She walked through the front door and the bartender in the tight outfit threw her off. She started to back away, but when she turned around she bumped right into Lionel. He just gave her a comforting smile. He led her inside and went straight to the bar. She sat two seats away from Lionel. The bartender was pretty busy. Her short shorts were a bit distracting and when she moved her butt shook. She tried not to stare but she couldn’t help it.

“Hey darling.” The bartender smiled at her. She was 5’5, caramel skin, with a short hair bob haircut. She had three piercings on each ear and a tongue ring.

“Hi.” Giselle looked away.

“What can I get for you?” She asked wiping down the counter.

“I don’t know.” Giselle had never had an alcoholic drink before. She wasn’t even 18, but the way she looked right now, she understood why she wasn’t even carded. She glimpsed over at Lionel. He had a smirk on his face. He knew what she was doing.

“Well do you have any favorites?”

“Just give me something sweet.”

“I got just the thing.” The bartender winked.

Giselle turned around and looked at the strippers. They were practically naked. The ladies were hopping on and off the pole, gripping as they climbed, and dancing all at the same time. Men were throwing money at them, and some were putting some in their cleavage or in their thongs. How was she suppose to do this? She kept tapping her fingers against the counter. She had to keep reminding herself to be brave.

“Okay, here it is.” The bartender put down a pink elixir in front of Giselle. “You asked for something sweet and this is my own personal favorite.” She smiled and her eyes twinkled.

“What is it?”

“You have to taste it. I refuse to give up the name.” The bartender’s bubbly personality put Giselle at ease.

“Ok.” She sipped the drink and her eyes opened wide. It was so sweet and delicious. She’d never tasted anything as good before. She closed her eyes and it brought her back to her home in North Carolina. It reminded her of the last party her parents threw.

Her mother and father rarely left the house, but they used to throw these extravagant parties. They would invite old friends, new friends, coworkers, neighbors, just everyone that they could think of. It would be a black tie affair and Giselle would watch people come in dressed like they were going to the Oscars. She would always have to stay upstairs and watch them, but at the last party her father allowed her to come downstairs.

“Gigi.” Her father knocked on her door. “Are you ready?” He opened slowly and Giselle wore her mother’s old dress. It was a little bit too long and didn’t fit all the way, but it looked great on her. Her father smiled and immediately hugged her. He had tears in his eyes. “You’re not my little girl anymore.”

“I’m 16.” She reminded him.

“I know, but it’s still hard to adjust to you growing up.”

“What are you going to do when I get older? Like, what are you going to do when I’m getting married? Are you going to cry then too Daddy?”

“Probably.” He chuckled. “After I give your future husband a talk, beat him up, or whatever, I’ll probably cry.”

“As long as you are not crying while you are walking me down the aisle, I don’t care.” She smiled.

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens then.” He smiled back at her.

He brought her downstairs and the guests greeted them. They shook hands, kissed cheeks, and said “hi” to everyone. When they arrived at the kitchen, Giselle saw her mother talking to one of the waiters they hired. She was making sure that all the food went out and of course making sure that the champagne glasses were full.

“You look great.” Her mother kissed her cheek.

“Your daughter reminded me that she is not a baby.”

“She isn’t.” She kissed her daughter’s forehead.

“And she doesn’t want me to cry on her wedding day.” Her father crossed her arms.

“As long as I can still cry.” Her mother laughed.

Her father took three glasses of champagne and handed it to his wife, his daughter, and kept one for himself.

“No.” Her mother took the glass from her. “You’re spoiling her again.”

“I’m not spoiling her. This is just for one night.” Her father handed back the champagne glass. “Pretty soon, she’ll be off to college and we might not get this night back. So for one night, let the girl have some champagne. She’ll have this one glass and then go out and eat.”

“Fine” Her mother rolled her eyes. “But if she develops a drinking problem, you’re paying for her rehab.” She joked. Her father laughed and kissed her mother. “Okay, all at the same time?”

They all held their glasses to their lips, and then sipped it. The bubbles raced to Giselle’s head.

“Whoah.” She commented. “This tastes pretty good”

As Giselle continued to drink the pink mixture at the strip club, it brought her back to that moment. The drink was sweet, but the fact that it brought her back to one of her favorite memories, made it sweeter.

“So, how is it?” The bartender looked on anxiously.

“It’s very sweet.” She took the last sip. “Thank you for this.” She could feel Lionel staring at her so it reminded her to why she was at the strip club in the first place. “Do you know if this place is hiring?”

“You want to become a bartender?”

“No.” She shook her head and looked into the eyes of the woman. “Not a bartender.”

“Oh.”

“Yes.”

“Well, are you sure that you don’t want to be a bartender? It’s much-”

“Easier.”

“Yes, but not in the way you think. It’s just that some of these girls go crazy with the dancing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Stripper envy. It’s like you are their competition, so they can’t even try to be friendly.”

“Ok.” Giselle still wasn’t getting what the bartender was telling her.

“Don’t expect friends here.”

“Got it.”

“I’m going to get the manager.”

When the bartender moved away to pick up the phone, Giselle looked over at Lionel. He nodded at her; letting her know that everything was going well. She gave him half a smile and circled her finger around the glass of the drink. She watched the strippers danced and wondered just how far she was willing to go to help Lionel. She knew he said that all she had to do was find out if the girl worked at the club, but what if that wasn’t enough? What if she had to get on the pole and lose her clothes. Just how far is she willing to go?

“Hi.” This tall lanky man came out of nowhere. “My name is Manuel.” He extended his hand and Giselle shook it quickly. “Trina tells me that you want to work here.”

“Yes.” She swallowed hard and then followed it with fake smile.

“Ok.” He sat next to her. “What’s your name?”

“Eva.” She smiled even harder. “Eva Jackson.”

“Alright. Well let me start off by saying that what I’m going to be saying to you and asking you, is not about you. When I make suggestions about your look or your style, it’s not about you at all. I say this because, a lot of women come in and out looking for work here, but they don’t even make it past the interview.”