Chapter 5
Even Though He Was Knee-Deep
In The Act Of Betrayal,
He Knew She Had A Heart Of Gold
I know that at this point people must think that I am one fucked-up individual. To some, sex is something that should be done in bed between two people. Some people may have to love or even like the people they sleep with. But at that time in my life, money, sex, love, and hate were all the same. I still have to ask myself at times if I’m really satisfied with just being Tay’von’s wife. The money is wonderful, but as far as having him as my man, well, it could have been any ballplayer, rapper, or actor, to tell you the truth. I loved and still do love Tay’von, but that love was built on the paychecks he received and spent on me.
After getting my hair done, I walk up to the counter so that I can pay. Tasha comes up to me and gives me a last-minute reminder.
“Just remember that the ride in the car is not the only ride Carl can give you.”
I share a smile with her as I think about all the rides I have gotten from Carl over the years.
“Okay Tasha. I’ll see you in a couple of days. This time let’s make the appointment at my house.”
During our trip in Vegas, we did it all. We shopped, gambled, did drugs, had sex, and ate at five-star restaurants. This was such a welcomed trip, since I had been missing Tay so much. I decided to lay off Carl until we got back home, giving him a chance to recuperate. I gave Tay’von all my attention since he would be with me for only two more days. I had been thinking about things, and I really did not want to be left behind this time. I was sure that Tay was having a lot of fun without me, but it was time for me to have my own fun.
While we lay in bed after another round of mind-blowing sex, I brought it up.
“Tay, how come you never ask me to go on the road with you?”
“I just never thought that you would want to go. Plus, that is the fastest way to fuck up a good relationship.”
I looked at him as if he was trying to run game on me. “Come on, honey, you can do much better than that. If you have another bitch or two who are on the road with you, then just say so.”
Tay’von sat up and picked up the jay that was on the nightstand. He lit it, then spoke. “What makes you think that I am fucking other people?”
He must have realized how dumb his question was, because he started to smile as soon as the words left his mouth.
“Come on, Mr. Too Fine. Who do you think you’re trying to fool? You have the number one song out right now, you’re sexy as hell, and you’re out on tour without your girlfriend. So don’t ask me why I think that you are sleeping with other women. I am not new to this game, Tay.”
By then, Tay was laughing so hard that he had started to choke on his blunt. He had always known that I was smart, but he had thought that I would be naive about his indiscretions.
“Look, all I am saying is that I don’t want to mess things up. But if you really want to come with me, then, hey, do you. But just know that it will not always be about partying and getting high. There will be times when you won’t see me or be around me. There will be a lot of girls and people around, period.”
He looked at me, hoping that his words would make me change my mind, but there was no way that I would back down and decline his invitation.
“I’m going, and I will even make a deal with you. You can do whatever it is that you have always done when I wasn’t there, and I will not get in your way.”
He looked at me as if he was trying to read my thoughts. He wondered if I was telling the truth or if I was just saying this so that he would really let me go with him.
“You mean to tell me that when I get up to go out, you’re not going to question me about where I am going?”
I got on top of him, kissed his neck, then started working my way down, way down.
“You can do whatever you want, Tay, but there are some things that you will want me to be there for, don’t you think?” I asked as I moved my head down to his dick.
By the time he came from my feel-good head, I had a yes as an answer to whatever question I asked. After a fast few days in Vegas, we headed home.
* * *
We went to lunch the next day with Tay’s friend and fellow tour mate. He had called the house and had told Tay that he had some good news, so we had all decided to make an outing of it. Before lunch I was running late, as always, so I had told Tay to go ahead and that I would meet him at the restaurant.
A half an hour later, I showed up at La’ Tre. I walked in the place as if I owned it, and all eyes were on me. I was shown to the table where Tay; his friend Black Dialect, as he was known in the rap world; and Black Dialect’s girlfriend, Shamika, were sitting.
Black was the first one to stand up, and his girlfriend noticed. He had a smile on his face that told me that he was stunned yet pleased, and so was I. I had seen him in his videos and knew that he was fine, but I had always thought that he was too short for me. He stood at a tall six feet and was the spitting image of the rapper Common. Just as light, just as bald, and just as sexy. I wondered if I would ever get a chance to ride what I knew was his well-hung dick. I caught the look on his girlfriend’s face, which lasted only a few seconds. She hated me already.
“Well, this is Tangie. She’s fashionably late, as always,” Tay said as he stood up and pulled out my chair.
“I’m sure that she always has a good reason, unless she wakes up looking this good,” Black gleefully said with a friendly smile on his face.
“Yeah, well, she’s here now, so let’s order,” Shamika spit out, with her attitude showing through the fake smile that was splattered across her face.
I really wanted to tell that hood rat that I could speak for myself, but I let her slide. She was just trying to take all the attention off me, and I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“This is Shamika,” Black said, introducing his trash box to me, and I wasn’t impressed.
I held my hand out to shake hers, but she just looked at it. She was just used to saying, “What’s up?” to everyone she met, without shaking their hand. I left my hand out, refusing to be ignored, and she finally took it and shook it hard. I took my time to look her over and had to stop myself from laughing. That day I had on Louis Vuitton— all black, with diamonds to shine—but that bitch had gone overboard. She had on every designer in the world. I could tell right away that she was a total label ho. Her hair was a bright red, and she had on way too much makeup. When it came to her bling, or the lack thereof, she had on gold, silver, and even a wooden anklet. The only thing good that I could say about her was that she looked like she might have a cute face under all that makeup and that her bright weave was glued in right. I couldn’t look at her anymore, so I turned my attention back to the men.
“So did I miss the big news, or did you all wait for me?” I asked.
“They waited,” Shamika said while rolling her eyes.
I reached over and put my hand on Black’s arm. “Well, I’m ready to hear the good news if you’re ready to tell me,” I said as I slid my hand off his arm slowly. I winked at Tay, letting him know that I was just doing this to piss Shamika off. He smiled, and I assumed it was because he had noticed the change in Shamika’s attitude after I walked in. She deserved everything that was coming to her, and he knew it.
“I wanted to tell Tay that I just got picked up to do All Bases of Hip-Hop full-time. I will no longer be a guest star who just shows up at certain cities, but a headliner, just like him.” Black beamed.
“Get the fuck out of here. That’s some real good news, man,” Tay said as he stood up and gave his friend a man hug.
“Ever since my single hit number four on the hip-hop charts and the album hit number two, it has been on and poppin’.”
“I think that is wonderful,” I said as I reached over and touched Black’s arm again.
Tay ordered champagne and then told everyone that I would be joining him out on tour. Shamika had always gone on the road with Black, so my news was nothing new to her.
“Girl, being on tour ain’t shit. Most of the time you’re by yourself, and the other half you have to put up with them hoes and niggas that just want to hang around a rapper,” she informed me.
The table got quiet. A minute later Tay and Black got up to go to the bathroom, leaving Shamika and me at the table. I picked up my glass and sipped my drink. I hoped she would keep her mouth shut until they came back, but I should have known that I was asking for too much.
“So you really want to go on tour with us, huh?” she asked.
“Yeah, that is what you just heard, right?” I answered in the same tone she had asked me her question in—sarcastic as hell.
“Look, Angie, Tangie, or whatever your name is, I just want to let you know that it takes a special kind of girl to go the road with these rap niggas. Just know that who they are at home is not who they are when they are on the road.”
“You may be right, Jameeka, or whatever your name is. Not just any kind of girl can hang. I am a woman who is well aware of what goes on while the men are on tour. It wasn’t so long ago that I was one of them girls who were out to land a rap star, so I’ll be okay.”
Shamika just laughed. She looked me up and down, then continued to give me her unrequested opinion. “Look at you, Tangie. You’re not hood enough to handle them bitches. I bet if it wasn’t for you hanging out with Tay and them, you wouldn’t even know what a rap song was. Come on, how many of them hoes do you think is going to know where to put the napkin at dinner or which fork to use for a salad? As soon as you walked in, I knew that you were a stuck-up, wannabe high-class ho.”
I looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “So are you saying that I have to act like a ghetto, hood-rat chick in order to go on the road with Tay?”
“No, I’m not saying all of that, but we will see how long you’re going to be acting all ladylike when some half-dressed, ready-to-fuck ho is at your man’s dressing-room door.”
“We will see, Shamika. We will see,” was all that I said. That low-class hooker just didn’t know that I was twice as good, if not three times better, at the game we were all playing.
A year later, Tay would recount the talk the two men had shared in the bathroom that day.
“Man, your girl is something else. How is she just going to come out and say some shit like that?” Tay asked as he shook his head.
“Don’t pay her any mind. That’s just how she is. She’s been holding me down since back in the day. She even used to do my runs with me, so you know how that is. You just can’t leave them behind, just ’cause you make it big.”
Tay’von could understand. That was how things were with him and his last and somewhat current girlfriend, Connie. Tay let his thoughts linger on her for a second. She had always been a good woman. She had even fronted him the money to make a demo when his first record deal went bad. Things had been good until she went out on tour with him and he chose fame over her. It took a long time to patch things up with her after that, but he made sure she forgave him. Even though he was knee-deep in his act of betrayal, he knew that she had a heart of gold.
“My question to you is, where did you find Tangie? She’s fine as hell.”
Tay smiled proudly at his friend. “Man, if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Try me.”
Tay went over every detail of our first days together. By the time he was done, Black was standing there with his mouth open. He was amazed and wanted to know even more.
“So you’ve been kicking it with her ever since?”
“Yeah, after having to kind of push Connie aside. I really wasn’t looking for a girlfriend, but Tangie just kind of fell in my lap. And I have to say that I am cool with having one. She’s not a ghetto chick, and she’s fine as hell. Plus, she’s a real freak, and I love me a girl that’s classy but knows how to get down in the bed, ya feel me?”
Black nodded. “Yeah, I hear that. Well, if you don’t change your mind about her going on tour with us, how about you ask her to help Shamika out? I love her and all, but I just want her to be a little more refined. The ghetto shit was all right for the hood, but you can’t act or look like that everywhere you go. Just see if Tangie can help her out with her attitude, but mostly with her style.”
They shared a laugh. Tay was happy that his friend could see that his girl needed some help, because he was thinking the same thing. He promised Black that he would ask me for my help, and then they left the bathroom.
About an hour later we finished our lunch and said our goodbyes in the parking lot. I headed to my car, and as I leaned over to put the rest of my lunch on the backseat, Black could no longer control himself. He just had to sneak a look at my ass. Tay saw him, and so did Shamika. She seemed pissed off, while Tay’von loved the attention I got. Having both his friends and strangers gawk at me meant that he had a five-star chick on his hands, which made him proud. As Black looked as if he was thinking about what I might look like naked, I thought about the road ahead and what or whom it would bring my way.