Even before they had reached Rolex, Skinny could tell that they were going to have to pay for parking. The place was packed. After having E pull to the side so she could lead the group, she pulled up beside the club’s head bouncer and rolled down her passenger side window. “Ay Red!”
The tall muscular bouncer named Red turned to the sound of his name and peered into the car it had come from. He recognized Skinny immediately. “Skinny! What’s good girl? Where your man?”
“He out of town,” Skinny lied, adding, “You gone get us somewhere to park?” She asked as she pointed towards the parking lot.
“I know he locked up,” Red replied, shaking his head and ignoring her question. “It’s the word on the street.”
Skinny’s brow creased as she leaned further into the passenger seat. Her head was now parallel with Kita’s breasts. “How the streets know ‘bout that?” she asked.
“Don’t worry ‘bout it. I got three parking spots right here for y’all three.” Red pointed towards the spaces as he spoke.
Skinny dug some money out of her purse and tried to hand it over to Red, but he held his hands up in protest. “It’s on the house ‘cause you know Rich Kid showed me love when he was out here.” Red smiled and then turned to move the orange and white construction cones that separated the street from the parking lot. Once moved, Red waved Skinny into the lot, using his hands to tell her to pull forward.
Kita had silently sat by and watched the whole conversation. At the exact moment that Red had said “on the house,” Kita’s jaw had dropped in shock and the expression had stayed there until Skinny had finished pulling into one of the open spots. Now she turned to Skinny; her jaw was now closed, but her eyes were still wide with amazement. “Damn…a lot of mother fuckers know y’all. Do everybody treat y’all like this?”
Not really understanding what Kita was so shocked about, Skinny turned and answered, “Just me, Rich Kid, Lil’ B and E…why?”
“’Cause when I came here last time, they made us park at Walgreen’s across the street.” Kita’s expression reflected the disgust she had felt that night having to walk so far just to get to the club.
“Well,” Skinny smiled. “I’m gone let him know you part of The Family, so you ain’t got to worry ‘bout that no more.”
Kita watched Skinny fish under the driver’s seat for something, her mouth twisting into a look of concentration as she searched for whatever it was she was trying to retrieve. A satisfied smile crossed her lips as she started to sit up, a colt 45 in each of her hands. Again, Kita’s mouth hung open in shock. She wondered if there were more guns under the seat. She also wondered how everyone could just drive around with guns in their cars without considering the consequences. “What if we would have got pulled over?” Kita asked, pointing to the guns.
Dismissing Kita’s question as naïve, Skinny nodded her head in the direction of Lil’ B and E. “Lil One would have made them turn around with the hundred pound drum. “Her tone matter-of–factly, but there was an edge of irritation starting to creep up. Skinny wasn’t used to answering so many questions.
“What about the tag numbers?”
Skinny rolled her eyes. “These rentals. Just report them stolen and have more cars in the morning or we can just lose them in a chase. These cars go damn near two hundred twenty miles an hour.” Done answering questions, Skinny shoved the driver’s side door open and swung her legs out.
Kita climbed out of the passenger side, but hadn’t picked up on Skinny’s irritation at answering questions. “They gone let you in there with them?” she asked, pointing at Skinny’s purse, where she’d tossed the guns.
Skinny stopped, turned around and marched back where Kita stood, about eight steps behind. “What I told you’ bout all them questions?” Skinny asked, the irritation in her voice now palpable.
Kita looked down at the ground. “I-I just want to know.”
Feeling a little bad for being so hard on Kita, Skinny placed her hand on Kita’s shoulder and guided her towards the door of the club. “Well,” she whispered in Kita’s ear. “This is what I want you to do. I want you to just watch everything and how it goes down. Then you won’t have to ask no questions.” Kita nodded in understanding as Skinny continued. “Don’t make it obvious though, cause you don’t want the haters to think you slipping.”
Skinny had finished the explanation just as they had reached the front of the club. Kita replied, “I got you. I can do that.” She smiled at Skinny, hoping that all of her questions hadn’t been too much of a bother.
Certain that she was now free of all the annoying questions, Skinny turned to where Red stood, still guarding the parking lot entry. “Ay Red! Let me holla at you before we go in the club.”
Without a word, Ron walked towards Skinny and Kita. Only when he’d reached where the girls were standing did he say “Wuz good, Skinny?”
“Check this out,” Skinny wrapped her arm around Kita and pulled her into the small group as she spoke. “You see her? This here my girl ‘til my boy come home. If she come up here with her lil’ friends, do her right. She family.”
Red nodded in understanding, smiled, and walked away as Kita and Skinny made their way back towards the club doors. Just as they were getting ready to walk in, Skinny heard a familiar voice calling her name.
“Ay Skinny!” Skinny spun around to face a grinning Ron. “How much y’all pay for them Daytona’s?” he asked, pointing back towards the Charger.
Skinny grinned back. “Wuz good, Ron?”
Ron suddenly noticed the new face standing next to Skinny. “Who this with you?” he asked, his gaze sweeping over Kita’s curves.
“I’m Skinny’s wife and Rich Kid’s wife,” Kita blurted without thinking. “We just got married tonight.” She smiled shyly and dropped her gaze to the ground. She wondered where that outburst had come from.
Skinny noticed the disappointed look on Ron’s face as he said “Oh, ok. So you family then.”
Lil’ B and E had finally made their way up to the door. Knowing how Ron could talk, Lil’ B came up to the crowd, set on getting them through the front doors. He was ready to play with some strippers already. “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said, smiling and using his hands to motion them forward.
As Ron pulled the door open for everyone to enter, Alicia stepped out of the exit door. They would have missed her completely if Lil’ B hadn’t turned to watch another hottie coming out of the exit just before Alicia.
“Ay Auntie!” Lil’ B hollered over, smiling. “I know you ain’t leaving!”
“I ain’t going nowhere,” Alicia said, stepping out into the cool night air. She walked over and gave Skinny a hug, then moved on to Lil’ B. “I’m going to get some fresh air. I’ll be back in in a few.”
“A’ight,” said E, leaning over for his hug from Alicia. “We gone be in the V.I.P., Sis.”
Alicia nodded her head as she spoke, “Okay, I’m coming back in like five minutes.”
Ron, Skinny, Kita, E and Lil’ B all headed into the club and requested three tables in the V.I.P. section. As they headed back, one of Lil’ B’s favorite songs came on and he bopped his head to the music, leading the group to the back of the club, looking the honeys up and down as the crowd parted to let them all pass.
The music pulsated through their bodies, the flashing lights added excitement to the atmosphere. Bodies gyrated throughout the club, some of them strippers, some of them patrons. It was a busy night.
“What y’all want to drink?” Skinny asked as they took their seats.
While everyone ordered their drinks, Kita leaned over and whispered in Skinny’s ear. “I feel new, baby.” Kita’s caramel complexion looked even more enticing under the neon lights.
Patting Kita’s shoulder lovingly, Skinny smiled. “I know baby. Just stunt on these hoes.” She pointed to the girls now crowding around Lil’ B’s table. “That’s what this family do.”
“Here’s your drinks,” the waitress said, placing a bottle down in front of each of them. Kita watched Lil’ B carefully and finally decided that there was only one way to figure all of this out: dive right in.
“I’m gone chill with my nephew,” Kita said as she stood up. “I know them hoes off the chain.” Something about the club – the pheromones rising in the air, the dancing lights or music that vibrated through every bone – she couldn’t be sure which, had ignited something in her that she’d never known was there before now.
Skinny smiled and stood as well. “Go head. I got to go to the bathroom.” Before leaving the V.I.P. section, Skinny shot a look back at Kita. She seemed to be doing much better after their little talk. Breaking in was hard, but Kita had what it took, of that, Skinny was certain. Seeing her, right now, only solidified that confidence.
Walking down the hall that led to the bathrooms, Skinny heard a commotion coming from the women’s restroom. “Look here! You hoes let me get out this bathroom or its gone be on!” Funny, that voice sound a lot like Alicia’s…
Skinny’s eyes rested on three girls crowded into the far corner of the restroom. They had their backs to her. Inside their little circle was another female, but Skinny couldn’t see the face around the heads of the small crowd.
“Wuz up?” Skinny asked, standing directly behind the three girls. They turned away from the person they were crowding around, but still kept her hidden behind them. Looks ranging from anger to confusion and shock flooded each of their faces.
If it hadn’t sounded like Alicia yelling a few moments ago, Skinny probably would have minded her own business, but she was certain that it had been Alicia. Her suspicions were quickly confirmed as Alicia poked her head around the girls to catch a glimpse of Skinny’s face. A loud laugh of relief escaped Alicia’s throat as she threw hear head back. “Sis, these’ hoes trying to jump me.”
Calmly and without a word, Skinny reached into her purse and pulled out the two colt 45s . She aimed each one at one of the girls in the group. “Y’all hoes get naked,” she said as an evil grin pulled at the corners of her mouth.
All three of the girls reacted in fear and shock. One pulled her hands up over her face, as if she could will Skinny and her guns to disappear. Another bounced her eyes wildly around the restroom, no doubt looking for help. The third jumped behind the second, looking as if she would cry. “Please don’t shoot us,” she whimpered, hanging onto the shoulders of the girl in front of her.
Skinny’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “I ain’t trying to hear that shit!” She lifted the gun in her right hand in an upward motion and brought it back down, as if she were nudging the girls. “Now get like God sent you into the world.”
Out of nowhere, Alicia brought her right fist across the side of the whimpering girl’s head. “You heard what she said, bitch!”
Quickly, the girls started stripping down to nothing but bras, underwear and shoes. “Y’all done fucked with the wrong person tonight,” Skinny said, shaking her head. “Take it all off.” She waved the gun again.
“And give me them heels,” Alicia said, shoving one of the girls right out of her shoes, smiling with gratification at the way her situation had turned around in her favor.
With all three girls completely naked, Skinny stepped to the side, unblocking the exit to the bathroom. “Now get the fuck out,” she said, using the gun in her left hand to direct them out the door.
Trying to cover their breasts with one hand and their crotches with the others, the girls ran out of the restroom. Skinny and Alicia followed them to the end of the hall and laughed as they watched the three women run out of the club completely naked.
With their entertainment now over, Skinny turned to Alicia and said, “Come on, Sis,” as she led the way back to the V.I.P. room.
Kita had watched the three naked, crying girls leave the club and then noticed that clothing in Skinny and Alicia’s hands as they walked into the V.I.P. room. “What was that all about?” Kita asked, putting two and two together as glanced towards the exit that the three women had run out of, just moments before.
“Just some hating ass hoes,” Skinny answered nonchalantly. Alicia shot Skinny a questioning look, wondering who the new girl was. “Oh! This here’s your sister, Kita,” Skinny said, answering Alicia’s unspoken question before turning to Kita and saying, “This here’s your sister, Alicia.”
“How she my sister?” Alicia asked.
“It’s going to show in some time,” Skinny answered, smiling.
Shrugging, Alicia extended her hand out to Kita. “Well, nice to meet you then,” she said, smiling.
Tossing the clothes onto the ground next to their booth, Skinny and Alicia sat down and enjoyed the party. They had so much fun that four o’ clock in the morning came quickly.
Stretching a little, Skinny looked over at Alicia. “Sis, how you getting home?”
“I told my friends to leave ‘bout an hour ago, so I guess you taking me ‘cause they got my car,” Alicia answered with a yawn.
“A’ight then. We bout to leave,” Skinny said before standing up and walking over to where Lil’ B sat, enjoying the company of two scantily clad strippers. Placing her hand on Lil’ B’s shoulder, Skinny leaned down and spoke into his ear. “Lil’ one, y’all go make sure everything straight outside before we leave.”
Lil’ B nodded his head in agreement, “A’ight ma,” he answered, shooing the women away with his hands. With disappointed looks on their faces, the girls headed back out into the club. Standing up, he called over to Maybay and Ham. “Let’s go y’all!”
The guys headed out to the parking lot and did a quick scan. Seeing no one, Lil’ B hopped into his Charger and turned it around so it was facing the street. Seeing no one worth worrying about, the men headed back inside to the fetch the women, but they had missed the car sitting across the street in the Walgreen’s parking lot.
“They made me get naked and walk out the club baby,” sobbed the whining girl from the group of women who’d tried to jump Alicia.
Her boyfriend looked over at her naked, shivering body and stroked her cheek softly with his thumb. “Don’t worry ‘bout it, baby. I’m gone handle this shit right here tonight, so stop crying.” He turned his gaze back towards the front door of the club. “They gone pay.” But he had missed Lil’ B’s trip to the Charger’s trunk.
“You had fun, Wild Kat?” Skinny asked as she, Kita and Alicia walked through the club doors out into the parking lot.
Kita wrinkled her nose at the nickname. She wasn’t so certain she liked it, but a smile quickly came to her lips as she answered Skinny’s question. “Hell yeah! I had a ball! But why I…”
“Ma! Get down!” Lil’ B yelled, shoving Skinny, Alicia and Kita to the ground. He had been the first to see two men walking across Twenty-Seventh Ave, guns raised and ready.
“What’s up now, pussy ass hoe!” the man yelled as he pulled the trigger, sending the first line of shots in The Family’s direction.
Shots from Lil’ B’s AK47 rang above the women’s heads. Lil’ B stood and took both men down with one round.One of them died instantly, but the other wriggled on the ground, clenching his gushing side. He looked up to find Maybay looming over him, the barrel of a Mack 11 staring him in the face.
“Still breathing, nigga?” Maybay asked.
“Please….”
Maybay aimed the gun directly in the man’s face, pulled the trigger and watched the brains of the begging man fly across the street. “Face off, mother fucker,” he said as he delivered on last kick to the now dead body.
As everyone ran towards the Chargers, Red came through the club doors into the lot yelling Skinny’s name. “Take this!” he said, tossing the security camera tape to her.
“Come on y’all! Load up,” Skinny yelled, throwing the driver’s side door open to climb in. “Let’s hit it!” she yelled, just before slamming the door shut. She shoved the key into the ignition and the engine roared to life. Slamming the car into reverse, she backed out, leaving a cloud of burnt rubber behind.
“Baby, I’m scared,” Kita cried as she watched Skinny toss the security tape under the driver’s seat with one hand while driving with the other. “I ain’t never been in a shootout before.”
“Calm down, Kat,” Skinny said, placing her hand on Kita’s arm. She explained how the only witnesses were dead and that they had the security tape. “It shouldn’t have been like that, but this gone be your first secret,” she said, turning to meet Kita’s frightened gaze. “We gone see if you can hold water. If you do, you all in. If you don’t…,” Skinny pulled her arm away, turned her gaze out the driver’s side window and shrugged. Her tone dropped an octave as she finished her sentence.“Well, you know…” Then, without another word or even an expression for Kita to read, Skinny reached forward and turned the music up.