The Pink Palace 2, Page 9

  My mother had come to terms with it, even though she disapproved. My father bareley said two words to me, but I didn’t care. He liked to sit there and judge me, but he didn’t want to look at the skeletons in his own closet, like the mistress he’d had for the last twelve years that my mother turned a blind eye to. She busted him having an affair with a teacher at the school where he coached football. He begged my mother to forgive him for months, until she broke down and let him back in her life. She was so weak at times. He swore that it was over, but I didn’t trust any man. At least I was up front with my life and not lying to anybody about it.

  The only reason I visited was because of my mother and her heart condition. She had congestive heart failure three years ago and had a triple bypass. I drove down to Smyrna every two weeks or when I could. Despite all the things we disagreed on, I still loved my mother very much. I made sure if there was anything she needed, I bought it for her. I felt like my father resented that I had money like that to spend, but that was his problem.

  I pulled up to the house and used my key to open the front door. I saw my mother sitting on the couch, watching Judge Judy.

  “Hey, Mom.”

  “Jacqueline.” My mom always called me by my full name. I almost at times forgot that was my name. “How are you, darling?” She stood up and gave me a hug.

  “I’m fine, Mom. How are you?”

  “Oh, I’m getting by. Every day is a gift from God.”

  I had a seat next to her. “So your breathing has been fine?”

  “Yes, baby, only when I walk for long distances it becomes a little short, but the exercise is still good for me.”

  “But don’t overdo it. I don’t want you to end up in the hospital again,” I warned her.

  “Hush. I’ll be fine.” She paused then looked at me. “How are you, Jacqueline?”

  “How do I look?” I leaned back, showing off how good I looked in my BCBG dress and Gucci pumps. “I’m doing great, Mom.”

  “So you’re still dancing at that club?” she said in a disapproving tone.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Why, Jacqueline? You’re so smart and so beautiful. Why do you sell yourself short? You’re a college graduate. You can be doing a number of things instead of that.”

  I sighed and leaned back. “Like I said plenty of times, Mother, I’d rather be my own boss, making my own money. I’m not just a stripper. I’m a business. I model. I sell my calendars and posters. I’m independent. I just don’t feel like I have to be a part of corporate America to live the American dream.”

  “So dancing naked in front of perverted men is the American dream? We didn’t raise you to be like this, Jacqueline.”

  “No, you didn’t. I choose this life. I’m happy. More happy than you are, being here with him, putting up with his nonsense,” I retorted.

  My mom sighed. I knew it was a low blow, and I regretted throwing it up in her face.

  “Don’t disrespect your father.”

  “But he can disrespect you?” I could see the embarrassment on her face. “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean that. I just don’t wanna have this argument every time I come to see you. I know you don’t like my lifestyle, but I’m still your daughter, and I still love you. I just want you to accept me as I am.”

  She put her hand on mine. “I love you no matter what, Jacqueline. I just want you to be truly happy. Do you ever talk to Rashida and Joyce anymore?”

  Rashida and Joyce were my childhood friends. I would never admit this to anybody, but I systematically destroyed those friendships because of my jealously of Rashida’s relationship. I was in love with her, and when she didn’t return my feelings, I purposely set out to ruin her relationship with her man. In the process, I wrecked our friendship forever. It was one of the few regrets I did have. I wished I could change that.

  “No, I don’t. I . . . really don’t wanna talk about them, Mom.”

  “Okay, baby.” She stared at me. “You do look beautiful, even with all that makeup on.”

  I chuckled. “Thanks, Mom.”

  I spent most of the day with her, eating lunch and talking. It felt good being with her. I felt like regular old Jacqueline Dawson again, not Jasmine the stripper. It was good to get away from it every now and then. I was enjoying spending time with her so much I forgot what time it was until I heard my dad’s truck pull up in the driveway.

  He came into the house and saw me sitting next to Mom. She got up and greeted him at the door.

  “Hello, baby.” She gave him a kiss.

  He stared at me with those judging eyes,.“Jacqueline.”

  I returned the glare. “Douglas.”

  Another awkward silence filled the room. He walked by and put his bag down by the couch and walked into the kitchen.

  “Well, I guess that’s my cue that it’s time to go.”

  “You don’t have to leave, Jacqueline. This is your home too.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Not anymore. I gotta get going anyway. I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too, darling.”

  I gave her a kiss and bounced up outta there. As much as my mom would have wanted us to be father and daughter again, I knew he’d never accept me the way she did. I’d be damned if I put up a front for him. I was who I was, and I didn’t make any excuses about that.

  * * *

  A couple of days later, it was time to get back on my grind. After I did some digging, I found out from one of Malachi’s boys that the gunfight at Lenox Mall was a hit on Malachi. I guess he wasn’t fazed by the attempt on his life.

  That was a week ago. Today was Hot 107.9 Birthday Bash concert, so that meant it was gonna be a big night at The Pink Palace. Every celebrity in Atlanta from Jermaine Dupri to Usher might be coming through The Palace doors, not to mention the Flip Set Family performing that night was gonna bring out the niggas with green in their pockets! The Pink Palace was going to be extra thick, and I planned on being the center of attention, getting all the money.

  I went to the Birthday Bash concert at Philips Arena with Kandi and got my drink on, enjoying the music, but then we left early in order to get dressed for the club. I put on my black teddy and red Steve Madden stilettos and made sure I looked flawless. Kandi put on a new white bikini I bought her and white platform shoes. She was looking like a little sex kitten.

  “Damn, Jasmine, you look fabulous,” Kandi crooned.

  “I know. You look sexy yourself, thanks to my styling tips. So are you ready to get this money tonight?”

  “Yeah, but it looks like she is too,” Kandi said and pointed past me.

  “Who?”

  I turned and saw Nikki looking in the mirror, wearing a sheer black teddy, looking like a cross between Meagan Good and Naomi Campbell. I hadn’t seen her there in a minute, and now she just popped up. I hated to admit it, but she looked good—gorgeous to be more accurate. She had body that was built like a brick house!

  I walked over to her, and Kandi followed behind me.

  “Wow, don’t you look sexy,” I crooned.

  She looked at my reflection in the mirror behind her and rolled her eyes. “What do you want, Jasmine?”

  “Dang, why you gotta be like that?”

  She didn’t reply and continued to apply her makeup.

  “So where have you been?”

  She turned around. “Listen, Jasmine, I’m here to work. We don’t have to make small talk with each other.”

  “Fine. Just as long as you know who the top bitch is here.” She smirked at me. “You find that shit funny?”

  Nikki shook her head. “You just remind me of somebody I knew a few years ago.”

  I frowned. “I ain’t like nobody else, baby girl.”

  “That’s just what I used to think,” she remarked and walked away.

  What the hell was that supposed to mean? I followed her out to the club floor, and I saw Nikki take the main stage. The club was packed with men and women with dollar bills in their hands, and it was standing
room only. It looked like everybody that was at the concert came to The Pink Palace to get loose.

  Then I heard the DJ announce, “Ladies and gentlemen, The Flip Set Family is in the house!”

  I looked up to the VIP area and saw Kane, Beata Douglas, Ill Tech, and their new female rapper called Mocha G. Kane looked so damn fine with his muscular arms in his black Avirex shirt and black jeans on. He had an iced-out platinum chain around his neck.

  A gang of dancers and groupies flocked toward the VIP area, but security stopped them from entering. I could see why Beata Douglas was hanging on his arm like that, to keep the hoes away from him. Beata looked thicker in real life than she looked on TV. That Gucci skirt could barely cover all that ass she had. But from what I heard on the gossip sites, it was the sexy-ass Mocha G she should have been worried about with her half naked self. If she did half the nasty shit she said in her rap lyrics, then Beata had better watch out.

  I turned my eye to Malachi’s office, and I saw him staring into the crowd intensely through that bulletproof window of his. There was a lot of security up in there that night in case anything jumped off. He wasn’t taking any chances.

  The DJ started to play Ludacris’s “How Low.” I turned and looked to the center stage.

  Nikki began to sidestep to the beat. She turned around and bent her knees as she slowly dropped to the floor. Then the high-pitched vocals of the song came in and Nikki started gyrating her ample ass faster, and the crowd went wild. Niggas were throwing money at her left and right!

  Fuck that. She wasn’t gonna outshine me on my own damn stage! I walked to the back and came from behind the pink curtains on stage with Nikki. She looked at me and chuckled, and that pissed me off even more. I jumped in front of her and started shaking my ass faster than her, making the crowd chant my name.

  Nikki turned around and got in my face and started to dance just as hard as me. We were straight up battling each other on stage. Then she jumped up and did a suicide split to the floor, bouncing her ass on the stage.

  I wouldn’t be outdone by her, so I dropped to a split and started pussy-popping right in front of her. The crowd was going crazy, and money was falling around us like confetti.

  The song ended and we stared at each other. Nikki got up and scooped up some bills and walked off stage. She turned and smiled at me again.

  “Just like me.”

  NIKKI

  That damn Jasmine was a trip. I couldn’t believe how much like her I was. She thought I was there to take her spot, but that was not even close to the truth. Malachi was forcing me to be there. It was not even about the money anymore. He just wanted me. He was a sick bastard. I had to figure a way out from under his thumb.

  The Pink Palace was thick that night. I hadn’t seen so many people up in there even in my heyday. Birthday Bash really packed the people in. Almost every girl was dancing on the stages or doing a lap dance for a dude or a woman.

  They only let a few girls up in VIP to dance for the rappers. I wondered if Jermaine Dupri was up there. He used to pop up in there on the regular back in the day.

  I was the only dancer who was not out front shaking my ass for some money at the moment. I was backstage, trying to get my mind right. I needed a drink. As I was standing backstage contemplating my fucked-up predicament, security came by with The Flip Set Family behind them.

  Flip Set. That name brought back memories of that nigga Damien I used to mess with years ago. His criminal organization was called The Flip Set. They came down from New York and started locking Atlanta drug trafficking down. After Damien flipped out on his boss, King, he went back to New York, and from what I heard he helped form Flip Set Records with his cousin Rob. Kane was their first act, and now here he was, right in front of me, one of the most famous rappers in the game.

  Beata Douglas was right behind him. They all had microphones in their hands, preparing to take the stage for a performance.

  Beata looked up at me, and it was weird. We stared at each other for a second. It wasn’t a mean mug or an envious glare. It was like with one look we understood each other.

  Beata stepped over to the side of the stage where I was.

  “Are you okay?”

  “No . . . not yet,” I answered honestly.

  She stared at me for a second then spoke. “Then do what you have to do in order to be.”

  “Thank you.”

  She nodded her head then walked back over to Kane and the others. Wow, my respect for her just went up tenfold. She didn’t have to take time away from what she was doing to speak to me. I guess she could just sense my misery.

  The DJ got on the loudspeaker. “Ladies and gentlemen, coming all the way from New York City to The Pink Palace, performing their smash hit ‘Kiss’ from their debut compilation album, United We Stand, it’s the Flip Set Family!”

  The music started to play a hypnotic beat, and Kane, Beata Douglas, Mocha G, and Ill Tech all took the stage. Beata started to sing a riff then started her verse.

  (Beata) Do you wanna kiss me? Baby come and kiss me. Do you wanna kiss me? Baby come and kiss me.

  (Kane) She got them thick lips/ them Meagan Good lips/ I love to feel them, every time we kiss/ Like a Rogue kiss/ you draining all my powers/ but I’m feeling superhuman/ ’cause I can do you for hours/ That ass I gotta tap/ hit it from the back/ Sorry you got your hair did/ ’cause I’m pulling on that/You know what you doing/ You ain’t foolin’/ got me acting like a fool/ when we be screwin’/ but I ain’t even mad/ ’cause you the baddest chick/ that I’ve ever had.

  (Beata) Ooh, baby, come and put them lips on me/ Baby, I love it when you kissing me/ Baby, you got my body shaking/ It’s yours for the taking/ Come and kiss my G-spot.

  (Mocha G) He says I’m too mushy/ but I ain’t pushy/ ’cause behind closed doors he loves to kiss on my pussy/ My mocha is so tight/ he want it all night/ I got him addicted on a chocolate high (ha ha ha) I got them juicy lips/ the ones he love to kiss/ Do your thing, baby. Don’t stop, get it, get it/ Pucker up when you kissing on my breasts/ You know Mocha G is the sexiest.

  (Ill Tech) She know she got a man/ but I got plan/ Come creep with me/ and I’ll be your lover man/ Nobody else exist, baby, when we kiss/ I be lickin’ all the spots that he missed/ I can do it fast/ or I can do it slow/ I be switchin’ speeds/ when I go down below/ your waist line/ It’s all mine/ Make your legs shake/ sending shivers up your spine/ We can take a trip/ to whatever beach ya wish/ but I can make ya wet/ with one kiss.

  (Beata) Ooh, baby, come and put them lips on me/ Baby, I love it when you kissing me/ Baby, you got my body shaking/ It’s yours for the taking/ Come and kiss my G-spot.

  * * *

  Wow, they just tore up the stage with that song! The crowd was going wild. They were some real talented people.

  As I was looking at the crowd react to their music, I saw a familiar face in the back of the club. It was Polo, sitting at a table with Malachi’s ugly-ass brother Reggie and his nigga Chaz. What the hell? I knew he did business with them, but he was also hanging out with these muthafuckas too?

  I walked through the crowd, ignoring a few men asking me for a private dance, until I reached the back table.

  “I guess you’re a regular here these days,” I said sarcastically to Polo.

  He looked up at me. “Nikki?”

  “Damn, girl, you thick as a muthafucka,” Reggie droned.

  I ignored his ugly ass. Polo got up from the table and came closer to me.

  “Nikki, what are you still doing working here?”

  “I can ask you the same question.”

  Polo sighed then gestured for me to follow him to a quieter area near the restrooms, away from Reggie’s ears. Polo stared at me seriously.

  “I told you, Nikki, that being here is not safe. You should be home with your son.”

  “If I could, I would.” I turned up the corners of my lips in disgust. “So you’re still here doing business with the niggas that shot your best friend? What kind o
f shit is that?”

  Polo shook his head, “Things are not what you think. Why are you back here dancing again? Is Malachi forcing you?”

  “What do you think? He’s making me dance here for him!”

  Polo frowned and looked up toward Malachi’s office. “Muthafucka,” he mumbled to himself. “You have to get out of here, Nikki. It’s not safe.”

  “Why do you keep on saying that? What’s going on?”

  A guy walked out of the restroom and stared at me and licked his lips. Polo pulled me closer and put his hands on my waist and whispered in my ear. “Niggas are gunning for Malachi. They just tried to kill him in Lenox Mall a week ago.”

  I smiled, “Well, isn’t that great news? That will solve my problems,” I whispered back to him. “Who’s coming after him?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Polo said to me with concern. He gazed in my eyes, and I saw that he cared for me a lot more than just as a friend. His lips were inches away from mine.

  “I can’t have anything happen to you. I’m going to take you home.”

  “Polo, I can’t. Malachi will kill me if I don’t dance here.” I looked around to make sure nobody was watching us. “I have to go.”

  “Nikki—”

  I pulled away from him. “I have to go.”

  I walked away from Polo and headed back to the stage. I had no idea he felt so strongly about me. I guess being Dre’s best friend, he couldn’t express himself like that. But what if I never saw Dre again? Should I have told him about the FBI? No, ’cause I didn’t know why he was still doing business with Malachi’s crew. I didn’t know if I could trust him. But if what he said was true about niggas gunning for Malachi, then I hoped they killed his ass.

  13

  Revelations

  Atlanta, GA

  Jasmine