Chapter 11
Tangie stormed out of her house and stomped up the street. She didn’t know exactly where she was going, but the place had to include a shelf with vodka and gin. She couldn’t believe that Antwan was showing his ass the way he was. All she asked him was did he feel like taking her out to dinner, and he had a shit fit. “Ungrateful bastard,” she mumbled to herself. “After that hellafied blowjob I gave his ass this mornin’, the nigga oughta take me out for the next week.”
Tangie stopped at the first bar she laid eyes on. She walked in with an attitude, determined to drink away her anger. She looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed that the place was practically empty. Besides herself, there were only three other people in attendance. There were two half-drunk women sitting at the bar gossiping, and there was also one lonely looking woman sipping on a Corona.
She looked disappointed when Tangie walked in, almost as if she was expecting someone in particular. Tangie walked over and plopped down on a stool. She made sure that she sat far enough away from the other patrons so there would be no casual conversation. With the mood she was in, Tangie did not feel like being bothered. A few minutes after she sat down, the bartender strolled up. He was a heavyset, older man who walked with a slight limp. The look in his eyes told Tangie that he intended to flirt with her as soon as he got to her. But the look in her eyes said, “Don’t fuck with me.”
“What’ll you have?” he asked, taking the hint.
“Let me get a double martini.”
While the bartender was busy fixing her drink, her cell phone rang. Without even looking at the screen, she sent it to voicemail. She knew that it was probably Antwan, and she didn’t want to talk to him right then.
When the bartender brought her drink back, Tangie downed it in ten seconds flat. The bartender was on his way to wait on the two half-drunk women when Tangie called out for him to fix her another. One of the women popped her lips when the bartender did a U-turn and walked back to serve Tangie.
“The fuck kinda shit is this?” she said to her friend. “We been spendin’ mad cheese in here. This bitch just got in here, and he treatin’ her ass like she a VIP.”
Tangie’s head snapped around. “Who the fuck you callin’ a bitch?” she screamed. “Ho, you don’t know me, so you best mind ya fuckin’ bidness!”
“Whoa, wait a minute now. I’m not gonna have that in here. If you ladies wanna fight, y’all gon’ have to take that nonsense outside.” As the bartender poured Tangie’s drink, the other two women and Tangie continued to stare at each other.
The bartender couldn’t say it out loud for fear of it getting back to his boss, but truth be told, he really wanted the two women to leave. From the moment they walked through the door, they were causing trouble. Before Tangie arrived, they were snickering and pointing at the other woman, who was doing nothing more than keeping to herself. He’d hoped that by not serving them fast enough, they would get up and leave. But his plan seemed to backfire.
When the bartender set Tangie’s second drink down, she sipped that one a little more deliberately. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the women whispering and stealing quick glances her way.
Thinking that she may have to whoop some ass, Tangie took out her cell phone and called Veronica. The two of them had always had each other’s backs, so Tangie knew she could call on her girl. That thought disappeared when her call went straight to voicemail. Tangie tried again and got the same result. “Yo, bitch, get the dick outta yo’ mouth and answer the phone,” she said, leaving her homegirl a message. Tangie then got up to go to the bathroom but stopped in her tracks. After thinking about it, she snatched her drink off the counter and took it with her. She didn’t trust the two women, or the bartender for that matter.
Tangie walked into the bathroom and headed for the first stall. She had to piss so badly her stomach hurt. She set her glass down on top of the toilet paper dispenser, pulled her pants down, and handled her business. She knew it seemed like a nasty thing to do, but she wasn’t about to leave her drink unattended.
After relieving her bladder and wiping herself dry, Tangie emerged from the stall. Standing there with screwed-up faces were the two women at the bar. “What’s up now, bitch?” one of them said. “Talk that bullshit now!”
Tangie looked at both women who were struggling to stand up, and she started laughing.
“The fuck so funny, bitch?”
“You two drunk, ignorant-ass hoes, coming in here like y’all on some gangsta shit. Get the fuck out my way.”
The shorter woman walked up on Tangie, waving her finger. “Bitch, let me tell you—”
That’s as far as she got before Tangie threw her drink in her face. The woman staggered back, frantically trying to wipe the alcohol out of her eyes. Tangie then turned her attention to the other woman, but before she knew what was happening, the woman rushed her. The football-like tackle momentarily knocked the wind out of Tangie. She fell back into the stall and landed on her ass. Trying desperately to catch her breath, Tangie began to cover up as the women started throwing wild punches.
By this time, the woman who was the recipient of Tangie’s facial splash had reemerged. “Fuckin’ bitch,” she said, pulling out her switchblade. In one quick motion, she had it pressed against Tangie’s throat. “Now I gotta carve yo’ stupid ass up,” she threatened.
Before she could make good on it, she heard a pistol click from behind her. The woman turned around to see the lonely looking woman aiming a .25 at her.
“Hey, this shit ain’t even your business,” the other woman said.
“Well, I’m making it my fuckin’ business. Let her the fuck go!”
The two women took one look at the seriousness in her eyes and backed off. “This ain’t ova, bitch,” the woman said as she and her friend walked toward the door.
Tangie had never been so grateful in her life. She didn’t know if the woman would have cut her, but she didn’t want to find out. “Thanks,” Tangie said, still a little out of breath.
“Don’t worry about it. Them bitches been getting on my nerves ever since I walked through the door. I’m Cynthia,” she said, extending her hand.
“I’m Tangie. Let’s get the fuck outta here. I got some liquor at home we can drink. Shit, I just came here to get out of the house.” Tangie peeked out of the door just in case the two women were waiting to ambush them. When she saw the coast was clear, she walked out. A few more people had come into the bar since she’d been in the bathroom. Tangie sucked her teeth when she noticed the bartender all up in a strawberry’s face. She looked back Cynthia, who just shook her head.
“No wonder his fat ass don’t know what’s goin’ on.”
“Hol’ up a second. I gotta pay my tab.”
“Don’t worry about it, girl, I already got it.”
“Shit, thanks again.” Tangie and Cynthia walked out of the bar and jumped into Cynthia’s 2016 Dodge Charger. As the two of them headed toward Tangie’s house, Tangie couldn’t help but imagine how much fun she, Cynthia, and Veronica were going to have together.
* * *
Antwan crept out of Rhonda’s apartment on rubber legs. She had fucked, sucked, and drained him dry. He hadn’t planned on going to see her, but when Tangie sent his call to voicemail, it pissed him off. Even though he was wrong for going off on her the way he did, Antwan felt that whenever he called, she was supposed to answer. So when Rhonda sex texted him a picture of her dripping wet vagina, he couldn’t resist making that trip. The funny thing about Antwan sleeping with Rhonda though was that it totally went against his “never sleep where you shit” rule.
Rhonda and Tangie were cousins. First cousins, as a matter of fact. The two hadn’t spoken to each other in three years. The blame rested squarely with Antwan, who got drunk one night and pushed up on Rhonda after running into her at a club. Rhonda, trying to be a good cousin, ran right back and told Tangie. But instead of Tangie believing her own flesh and blood, she accused Rhonda of trying to break up her and Antwan, implying that she thought Rhonda wanted him for herself. Rhonda became enraged. The two of them engaged in a heated argument in which Tangie, who had secretly always been jealous of Rhonda’s looks, told her cousin that Antwan would never want a piece of trash like her.
Rhonda’s feelings were crushed. She cried for days, but after the crying stopped, revenge crept in. Rhonda promised herself that she would make Tangie hurt just as much as she hurt. She caught up with Antwan at Gordon Park one day and offered the goods up to him. She had planned on recording it and sending Tangie a copy just to show her two things: that her man wasn’t shit, and that she could indeed fuck him if she wanted to. But something else happened. She got sprung. And since she knew that Antwan was never going to leave Tangie for her, she became content being the side chick. That wild incident made Antwan adopt his rule.
Antwan thought about the way Rhonda had ridden his dick like a rodeo star, and he got hard all over again. He thought about turning around and going back to get another shot, but then decided that he at least owed it to Tangie to tell her why he went off like that. It really wasn’t anything she did. Antwan was just so frustrated that he’d come that close to getting in the dope game and didn’t. In his mind, that was his big shot at making a grand come up.
But after visiting Rhonda, his motivation was restored. Antwan stuck in his favorite CD, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ by 50 Cent, and jammed to it the rest of the way home. He pulled into his driveway and looked at his watch. He had just enough time to eat and shower. Earlier, he’d received a text from Temp calling an urgent meeting over at his house. Antwan got out of his car and walked up on the porch. He did a double take when he saw a car he didn’t recognize sitting in front of his house. Instantly, thoughts started running through his head.
“Man, this bitch betta not be stupid enough to have another nigga in here,” he said. “’Cause it’s gon’ be a muthafuckin’ problem if she do.” He patted his gun.
Antwan eased through the door. He was half expecting to hear moaning sounds coming from the house. But instead, all he heard was laughter coming from the kitchen. Confused by what was going on, Antwan walked into the kitchen to see both women sitting across from each other. They were both slapping the table and laughing hysterically, and both of them had nearly empty glasses of liquor in front of them. His face twisted when he saw a woman he didn’t recognize. Wanting to make his presence known, Antwan cleared his throat.
“Oh, hey, Antwan,” Tangie said, unenthused. She was still a little upset about his blowup earlier. “I want you to meet my friend, Cynthia.”
“Sup,” Antwan spoke as he walked straight to the refrigerator.
“Hello,” Cynthia responded.
Antwan grabbed a beer and looked at Cynthia again. There was something about her face that was strangely familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. As Tangie and Cynthia continued to talk, Antwan went upstairs to get ready to meet up with his boys. He tried one last time to remember where he’d seen Cynthia before, but he couldn’t. He thought about asking her but decided against it.
“Oh, well,” he mumbled. “The shit will come to me sooner or later.”