Yo, I don’t believe I let that clown-ass nigga hit it,” Rhonda said, filling her plastic cup with Long Island iced tea.
“I thought you said he had a big dick,” Reese said, sipping from her cup.
“Oh, from what I can remember the sex was good, but he ain’t really got nothing to offer. I asked my brother about him and he told me that Slick ain’t no heavyweight.”
“So what, you bust a nut and hit the nigga for a few dollars. If anything, you came out on top.”
“Baby, life ain’t always about a few dollars and a nut. I’m looking for the big score,” Rhonda told her. “Speaking of big score, what’s up with you and Don B.?”
“Ain’t nothing up,” Reese said, her thoughts going back to her test results.
Rhonda gave her a funny look. “Reese, why don’t you come clean? What really happened with Don B.?”
“I already told you, we fucked, I got dropped off, and that was that,” Reese said.
“You a better bitch than me, ’cause I’d have been all up in that nigga’s ass.” Rhonda took a gulp of her drink. “On another note, where the hell is Billy?”
“Oh, you ain’t know Ms. Thing had a date?”
Rhonda looked as if she couldn’t believe it. “A date? With who?”
“Dude from the club. Yo, you should’ve seen Billy when she stepped out. Our bitch was killing ’em.”
“I don’t know what she got all dressed up for. She ain’t gonna give him no pussy,” Rhonda hated.
Reese’s attention was drawn by the sound of male voices coming from her left. Under the dim streetlights she could make out the shapes of five men coming their way. Squinting, she could see the faces of True, Pain, Lex, and the little light-skinned one from the group, Lah. When the fifth face came into focus Reese, cursed under her breath.
“Is that True?” Rhonda looked in the direction in which Reese had been staring. “Yeah, that’s him. Good, ’cause I got a few choice words for that nigga.”
“Rhonda, please don’t start,” Reese pleaded.
“I ain’t gonna start, I’m just gonna speak my mind.”
Reese sighed, because she knew when Rhonda said she’d “speak her mind,” she really meant she’d embarrass them. When the five men noticed Rhonda and Reese sitting on the bench, they altered their course and headed over to them. There was something about the look on Jay and Pain’s faces that made Reese uncomfortable.
“Rhonda, what’s good?” True asked, spreading his arms for a hug.
“Oh, now you wanna act like you know a bitch,” she said, backing away. “That was some real foul shit you pulled in the club last night, True.”
“What you talking about?” he said, trying to fake ignorance.
“True, how you gonna leave me with ya people so you can run around the club and whore yourself? You know me and you is cooler than that, so all you had to do was keep it funky.”
True gave her a high smile. “My bad, ma. I got caught up with the show and shit and never had a chance to get back with you. What can I do to make it up to you?”
“I’ll think of something,” she said flirtatiously.
“Shorty, don’t I know you?” Jay asked Reese, taking a drink from the bottle. From the way he was glaring at her, she could tell the liquor had him feeling himself.
“Do you?” she asked with an attitude.
“Shorty, stop acting like that,” Pain said, wiping his nose with the sleeve of his shirt. “You know what it is.”
“Excuse you?” Reese snaked her neck.
“You gotta pardon my dude. Sometimes he doesn’t know what to say out of his mouth,” Jay said in his best pimp voice.
“Well, you need to check him,” Reese said.
Jay took another deep swig and rocked a bit. “Pay that nigga no mind. What I’m trying to find out is what’s popping for the night?”
“I couldn’t tell you. I’ve got plans of my own.”
“You think you could include me and my niggaz in your plan?” Jay asked, putting his arms around Pain and Lex, who were eyeing Reese like fresh meat.
“Nah, I’m good.” Reese turned away from them to hide her nervousness.
Jay took her slight as a green light to go in for the kill. “I know you’re good. That was probably the best pussy I had in a long time, and that’s why I’m trying to let my niggaz see what that’s about.”
“No the fuck you didn’t.” Rhonda got in his face. “Don’t be coming over here trying to disrespect my homegirl.”
“Shit, she did that on her own,” Pain said and snickered.
“What?” Rhonda spun on him.
“She ain’t tell you she blazed the whole Big Dawg squad?” Pain fell out laughing at his own “joke.”
Reese felt like her whole body had caved in on itself. Everyone who had been listening was shocked, except for Pain and Jay, who were doubled over with laughter. The very thing she had been trying to keep on the low ended up coming out because a drunk nigga didn’t know how to hold his tongue.
“Reese, is this nigga telling the truth?” Rhonda asked seriously.
“Rhonda, I…”
“Man, it ain’t even go like that. Shorty ain’t fuck the whole Big Dawg,” Jay cut in. For the briefest of moments, Reese thought that Jay might have a shred of decency in him and had come up with a clever lie to save her reputation. Hearing his next words, that thought flew out the window. “She just fucked me, Don B., Rob, Cool, and Liza,” he said, smirking.
“Oh shit, that’s the chick y’all ran a train on?” True asked, shocked.
“Yo, heard shorty give it up,” Pain said mockingly.
With a feral shriek, Reese charged Pain. The man was caught totally off guard when her nails raked down the side of his face. Reflexively, Pain hooked Reese in the gut, folding her. He went to move in for the kill, but Jay and Lex grabbed him.
“Be easy, my nigga. You can’t be beating on no female,” Lex said.
“Bitch, is you crazy? I’ll leave your ass out here!” Pain raged, trying to break the hold they had on his arms.
“Dawg, you tripping,” True snapped at Pain, helping Reese up off the floor.
“Fuck that bitch, son. If she’s a fucking jump-off, then she’s a jump-off. I know one thing, if these niggaz wasn’t holding me, I’d stomp a mud hole in her ass.” He made another attempt to break free, but his boys kept him in check.
“Youse a fucking punk, putting your hands on a female!” Rhonda shouted from behind True, sending Pain into another fit of trying to get loose.
“Rhonda, don’t make it worse,” True said. “Y’all get this nigga up outta here,” True told his boys while he walked Reese and Rhonda to the building. Pain cursed and ranted for an entire block, while his boys dragged him to the car.
“You need to check your friends, True,” Rhonda said angrily.
True threw his hands up in surrender. “Fuck did you want me to do?”
“You could’ve checked him about his mouth.”
“Rhonda, you know how niggaz is. Your girl put herself out there and got called on it.”
“Fuck you!” Reese said sourly. “Ain’t none of y’all Harlem niggaz about shit anyway.”
“Jay is from Yonkers,” True said sarcastically. “And don’t get mad at me ’cause you got exposed. I ain’t have a nickel in that dollar. You brought this on yourself, ma.”
“See, now this is all starting to make sense. You were avoiding him because you knew you played yourself,” Rhonda said, proud that she had figured it all out, but completely disregarding her friend’s feelings.
“Rhonda, I know you ain’t over here passing judgment?” Reese folded her arms.
“Bitch, don’t come at me sideways. At least if I had fucked a bunch of niggaz I’d have caked off. Your stupid ass ain’t get nothing.”
Reese was so angry that she started getting sharp pains in the back of her head. Rhonda was bombing her, as if she didn’t already feel like shit. She wanted to punch her and True in their mouths, but they weren’t lying. She went there and it blew up in her face.
“Fuck the both of y’all,” Reese said, walking off.
“Don’t take it like that, baby. Ain’t nothing wrong with a little crew love!” True mocked her.
“Shut up, True,” Rhonda told him. “Reese,” she called after her friend, “you on some real bullshit right now, but you still my bitch!” Rhonda beat on her chest for emphasis. “Call me tomorrow!”
Reese ignored Rhonda’s shrieking voice and kept moving toward the avenue. She was so angry that she had to concentrate to make her body cooperate with her mind. A few times she thought her legs were going to give out, but she managed to make it to the corner without incident.
Though Reese was heated, she was more hurt than anything. She had done some whorish things, but she knew she wasn’t a true whore. She had gotten in the Hummer that night because she liked Don B., and the foolish little girl in her said that if given a chance she could make him feel the same way about her. In the end she went out the back, letting Don B.’s crew run through her, and gotten a dose of chlamydia. With the word out about how she got down, a man would never take her seriously. People wouldn’t be able to see past the freak move she pulled in order to get to know who she really was.
At that moment, she hated them all. She hated Don B. for twisting her feelings, Jay for blowing it up, and Rhonda for being so damn judgmental. But as much hate that burned within her heart for them, she felt twice as much hate for herself for going out like that.