Since I had been invited by Jay, I was instructed beforehand to park on the west side of the building and go in through the side door. Parking in a spot not too far from the entrance, I secured my gun before we got out of the truck. I was one of those men who didn’t go anywhere without Black on my person.Too much shit was happening in the world to be walking around bare. I’d been licensed since I was twenty-one and Tripp and I went to the range often. My old man had taught me how to shoot and handle a firearm when I was thirteen and he also educated me on how to keep myself safe. One of the biggest things he enforced was that I should never pull my weapon if I wasn’t going to use it.
Two security officers stood at the entrance when we walked up and neither looked familiar to me.
“What’s up, Shane? Y’all head on in,” the shorter one stated.
I looked at him again to see if I recognized anything about him and still came up short. To play it off, I dapped him like I knew him and headed inside. As soon as we stepped in, the air was filled with smoke and the music was so loud I felt the bass in my chest. The general population was on the dance floor, while two strippers worked the stage. There was money everywhere and everybody was shoulder to shoulder.
“Shane, we over here, man!” a voice shouted over the loud music.
When I turned to see who it was, Mylo stood there with his longtime girlfriend at his side.
“What’s up, man?” I greeted, leaning in so he’d hear me better.
“Chillin’. Everybody in this bitch turnt up! I’ll be back though, man. Bottle on me,” he shouted before walking off.
Looking in the direction Mylo came from, I spotted a velvet rope with security guards standing on both sides. I was prepared to be patted down when Tripp and I approached, but that didn’t happen.
“Your name?” the bald man to the left asked.
His attention fell to a tablet for a few moments before giving his partner a nod. The guard to the right of us stamped our right hands and opened the rope to give us access. We took two sets ofstairs before the section came into view. I’d been to Hittas a few times, but I’d never been in the VIP section. The space was big as hell, holding four tables with bar stools and a long couch with a glass table in front of it. Open bottles and empty glasses were sprawled all over the tables while three bad ass strippers with nothing but their heels on danced in front of Jay.
There had to be at least twenty people in the section and it still didn’t feel crowded. Walking toward the mini bar on the right, I stopped and spoke to the people I was familiar with. These were the guys I saw at the studio on a regular basis and rappers I worked with.
“I’m about to get a drink, bruh,” Tripp said, tilting his head toward the bar.
Nodding, I continued until I found a seat on the couch. It was far enough from what Jay had going on, but still in Tripp’s line of view. Loud talking and laughter made me look up. When my eyes landed on Spinna, I leaned back on the chair and got comfortable. Plotting on people had never been my thing, but watching the way this nigga carried on with Serenity on his arm bothered the fuck out of my spirit. Being in the music industry exposed me to a lot of shit, so seeing a man be unfaithful to his wife or girl wasn’t shit new. For whatever reason, Celeste’s fine ass lived in my head rent free, and to know she wasn’t being treated right pissed me off.
For all I knew, Celeste could’ve stepped out and been unfaithful first, but I knew that shit wasn’t it. Spinna was kissing Serenity’s ass way too hard for that to be the case. This nigga had a beautiful woman who ran her own business and this was the shit he was out here doing. Even if Celeste clocked in to a nine to five, she still deserved better than Spinna’s lame ass. Serenity was a beautiful woman, but she was young, and I prayed this industry wouldn’t chew her up and spit her out. She was drinking from his glass with her arm wrapped around hiswaist. Spinna wasn’t all smiles, but he damn sure wasn’t acting like he had a woman. The last thing I saw of the two was Serenity running a hand down the side of Spinna’s face before Tripp pulled my attention.
“Man, look to your right and tell me what you peep,” he said when he took a seat next to me.
I couldn’t do shit but shake my head when I saw my cousin in a nearby section. Deontay’s ass stood on the couch with a bottle in each hand, rapping the lyrics to the song word for word. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought it was his birthday from the way he was carrying on.
“That shit crazy.”
“That’s that shit Unc was talkin’ about. Nigga in the club with two hundred thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry on and you wonder why Unc don’t want young people in his shit. But I’m the bad guy.”
“Ay, wear the Michael Myers mask with pride, my boy. His ass ain’t gon’ ever grow up. If he gave a fuck about takin’ over the business, he’d be somewhere other than in here every weekend.”
“How much was the bottle?” I asked, shifting the focus from Deontay.
“This shit was only eighty. Shorty said since we already had a section the bottles were cheaper.”
Tripp tapped the cork and tilted the bottle for me to do the same. Once the bottle was blessed, he opened it and poured a glass.
“Pour your own troubles, my nigga,” he said, taking a sip of the dark liquor.
As the night went on, Tripp and I continued to chill. A few strippers gave us dances, but I wasn’t really in the mood. Celeste was on my mind and I wondered what she was doing while her lame ass boyfriend was out here making a fool of her. This partyhad way too many cameras and people for Spinna’s ass to be so careless.
“Yooo, I’m about to dip out in a minute. Marissa said she’s on her way to get me. I thought she was fuckin’ around, but she sent her location,” Tripp said as he showed me his phone.
“It’s cool. I was ready to leave myself.”
Standing from the couch, I looked over and saw Jay had no women on his lap right now. I took that opportunity to wish him a happy birthday before we left the section. The club was still packed, but not as much as it had been when we arrived. The fresh air blessed my nostrils as soon as we stepped outside.
“How far is your lady?”
“She pullin’ up in one minute,” Tripp answered.
