Vengeance

All of that had been running through my head prior to Antonio’s question.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a mess,” Nikki added.

“It’ll be fine. I have an appointment, so there really shouldn’t be a lot of people around.”

Nikki was sitting beside me on the rear seat of the SUV. Antonio was up front with the driver and Kagiso and Diederik were following us in a Mercedes CLS 550.

“You know better than that,” she said. “That chick has probably called or texted everyone she knows to tell them you’re coming. A chance to meet Wicket? Girlllllllllll, it’s going to be a madhouse!”

“If it gets too bad, I’ll simply say unto her, ‘Bye, Felicia.’?”

We both giggled.

Antonio asked, “Isn’t she the one whose dude was outed in a video last week? I saw something about it on MediaTakeOut.”

“Really? What happened?” I replied, feigning ignorance.

“Oh snap!” Nikki exclaimed. “I hadn’t even put that together.” She turned to me. “Her boyfriend has a sex tape with two women where he’s doing them both at the same time.”

“My motherfucking hero,” Antonio remarked. I saw him give the driver a fist dap. Apparently, the driver had seen the shit, too. Perfect!

“That’s a damn shame.” I tried to pretend like I was bothered by it. “She must be so hurt. I’ve met him before and he seemed to be so into her.”

“That video is on point,” Nikki said. “You want me to pull it up on my iPad so you can see it before we get there?”

I suppressed a laugh. “Sure, why not? Seems like everyone else in this whip has seen it. I feel left out.”

* * *

Once we arrived at Ascending Trends, a group of both men and women were hanging around outside like they were simply kicking it. Who shoots the breeze in front of a clothing store? You would’ve thought Cherie was serving free Starbucks coffee up in that mickey.

Some were obvious as we pulled up, and whipped out there camera phones, pointing them directly at the back door of the SUV. Others tried to act like they didn’t know what was going down. Diederik and Kagiso got out the Benz first and went inside to make sure I could have a clear walkway into the place. Then Diederik came out and Antonio got out the front to help him make a path on the sidewalk for me. I had just finished off the video, making comments the entire time like I was shocked and appalled about the entire thing. In the back of my mind, I was commending Glaze once again for doing the damn thing.

Nikki and I were escorted out the back and I spent a good two to three minutes posing for photos, but no one was allowed to take one with me. All they were able to do was snap away and jockey for positions to take selfies with me in the background. After I grew tired of it, I walked inside.

“Wicket, I’m so glad you could come!” Cherie exclaimed, dressed to the nines at that time of the morning. She had on a red satin dress with a big bow on the side. It was smoking hot. I had to give it to her. “I have some champagne waiting for you back in the viewing area.” She paused to make sure everyone was listening and then announced, “Cristal.”

I wanted to gag. Cristal, at about two hundred a pop, was cheap to me. If she had been talking some vintage Krug Brut, then she would’ve been saying something.

I faked a smile. “Sounds good.”

“I’m sorry they’re so many people in here. A lot of people are hitting me up early for the holidays.”

“Well, perfection takes time, so I understand. You’re going to be real busy from the looks of it.”

When she winked at me and flashed a phony smile, I lost it. I was about to initiate Plan C. I actually went there for a reason and wanted an audience. Nikki and Antonio mentioning the video in the car and then showing it to me had been unpredicted, but it was right on time. Now my “act” would make a lot more sense. Won’t He do it?

There were a good twenty-five or so people in the boutique. I glanced around and took them in. Some of the hairstyles were “unbeweavable.”

“It’s a blessing to be so popular, both in the local community and globally.”

“I guess you’re ever more famous, or should I say infamous, now?” I ran my fingers over a little black strapless number on a mannequin. “I just caught that porno of Michael on the way here. Over forty million views on that one site? He’s the man, huh?”

Cherie looked like she wanted to drop dead right then and there. The others were being quiet, trying to catch every word. Antonio chuckled a bit.

“That entire thing was a misunderstanding,” Cherie replied. “He was set up.”

I squinted at her in disbelief. This bitch was going to try to make excuses for him. Shame on it all. “Set up?”