“I was terrible!” I laughed, as Red quickly removed my outfit with no problems.
“No you weren’t,” she said, helping me back into my dress.
“Yeah you was,” a voice said with a snicker. She had tried to conceal it, but I knew by the way she reacted to our gaze that she had intended for us to hear.
“Hey, bitch. Why don’t you keep your comments to yourself,” Red snapped, her temper flaring as a result of too much alcohol, and her possessiveness over me.
“Bitch, I can say what I want to. I run this motherfucker.” The girl was tall, her legs going on for days. Her skirt was so short I could see the cheeks of her ass, and her miniscule tube-top was just a thin piece of material that was just wide enough to cover her areolas.
“Ohhh, okay,” Red said, turning to me, feigning interest. Like she actually gave a shit who this girl was. “So you’re Lonnie. Now I see it. You do look a little butch. I’m pretty sure that’s a penis between your thighs.” This time, I did snicker.
“Bitch, what you laughing at?” she snapped. I guess she thought she could pick on the little one. Wrong.
“I will beat your ass with her,” I said, my voice slightly slurred, as I jutted my thumb at Red.
“Really, Dallas? That’s all you got?” Red asked, forgetting our confrontation for the moment to scold me on my pathetic comeback.
“Yeah,” I said, with a defeated sigh. “I’m pretty drunk.”
“You can’t dance and you can’t talk shit,” the skank who supposedly “ran shit” said, counting off each of my shortcomings on her fingers.
“Look chick,” Red started, as I stood next to her with my arms crossed, nodding my head to stress the importance of her words. “We’re here to have a good time. It’s her birthday and she danced for fun, not for tips. So, I would really, really appreciate it if you would just, shut. The. Fuck. Up.” Go Red, go Red, go Red. I chanted in my head, as Red pulled us away from the woman before she could respond. We made it to the table just in time to see top cunt take the stage. Red fought hard to control her anger, but I could tell the girl had gotten under her skin. I made a point of ignoring the girl and engaging in conversation with everyone, including Red. It seemed to be working until the bitch on stage walked in front of our table and threw a wad of ones at me.
“Here, ho. Bye ya’self some lessons.”
“Oh hell, naw!” Brooklyn said, standing and walking to the stage. “Bitch, we’ll fucking kill you!”
“Yep. That’s possible,” I added, standing and nodding in agreement with Brooklyn’s threat. “We do not fuck around. Nope. Not us.” I wobbled on my heels, trying to look intimidating, but in my inebriated state, I was more comical than threatening.
“Well why don’t we take it to the stage?” the girl asked, now through a microphone. Who the fuck had given her a microphone? I looked around, to find Chris on the phone. I was sure he was calling for back-up.
“Pussyyyy!” I whispered, loud enough for him to hear. He responded by giving me the finger, and I clutched my chest to feign a broken heart, which earned me a smirk. The crowd had grown louder, and I turned to see everyone cheering in favor of a dance off. I cheered too, throwing my fist in the air and screaming with the rest of the fools in the building.
“Would you sit down,” Mary said, with a laugh, as she pulled my arm to bring me back to my seat.
“You fuckin’ up, girl. That’s all I’m sayin’,” Punkin yelled to the woman on stage.
“Yeah? Well what you gonna do about it combat boots?” the girl shouted into the microphone, earning her a round of ooohs from everyone in the club, including myself. Katina shot me a warning with her eyes and I shut up, grabbing another drink off of a waiter’s tray. When he started to protest, I informed him I was VI-mothafuckin’-P. He walked off with a shake of his head. I guess I told him.
“That’s it!”Maddie yelled, standing on our table and hushing the crowd with just her voice. “Red, get on the stage,” she commanded, without making eye contact with her.
“Maddie!” Red snapped, in a hushed voice.
“What? You’re our only shot!” Maddie replied, stepping down from the table as we all leaned in, while Maddie gave Red a pep talk. “Do you really want us to look like fools?”
“No.” Red said, her voice defeated. The amount of liquor we had consumed was absurd, impairing our judgment, and making all of us act completely out of our norm.
“Where is that fiery red-head we all love?” Katina asked, ignoring the impatient crowd as they all stood fist-pumping the air, and chanting.