“What I wanna know is if this is R.J.’s spot, why did we need the hook up from my sister to get in?” Destiny asked.
“Because I don’t want R.J. to know I was here,” Barbara said over the music.
Barbara and Destiny had been friends since they met in the seventh grade. When they met, the pair hit it off right away. They loved the same music, clothes, and each tried to keep to themselves despite the fact that they were both very popular with the boys because they were pretty.
Even after Barbara moved and they no longer went to school together, they called each other on the phone every day and made a point to go to the mall or to the movies or somewhere each weekend. Now they went to clubs that, being seventeen, they had no business being. They had already been to 48 Lounge that night.
“What if Marvin, the white boy or cute-ass Judah sees you?”
“Please.” Barbara laughed. “First of all, they’re not gonna see us. They’re always too busy on the other side of the club. And even if they do, I can handle both Marvin and Pills.” She leaned close to Destiny. “That means you gotta handle Judah.”
Destiny shook her head. “He looks at me like I’m a little girl, Barbie.”
“Probably because that’s how he sees me, as R.J.’s little sister.” She looked at the sleeveless two-piece red pantsuit with the plunging neckline that Destiny was wearing that night. Which wouldn't have been so bad if the pants didn't fit her like skin. Everyone knew Destiny had ass for days. “He won’t look at you as a little girl in what you got on, trust me.”
Barbara was wearing a black jumpsuit that tastefully emphasized her curves. She accentuated the one-piece with gold jewelry. They looked like women, and not teenage girls that had no business looking like that up in a place like that.
Just then, a man grabbed Destiny’s hand. “Come on,” and before she could say anything, started pulling her toward the dance floor. Barbara laughed and shook her head, but it wasn’t long before a man was in her face with the same request.
Barbara jerked her arm back. “Not right now,” she said, because she didn’t like the song, but the bronzed-skin man standing in front of her, now that was another matter. He had soft looking full lips, light-brown eyes and he was tall, just the way she liked them.
He stepped a little closer. “So what’s your name, cutie?” he asked, as Marvin stepped in between them.
“Is there a problem here?” Marvin asked.
“Naw, wasn’t no problem. I was talking to the lady. Fuck is wrong with you?”
“No you weren’t. You were about to walk away from the lady,” Marvin said, as Judah walked up on one side of the man.
“Is there a problem here, Marv?” Judah asked, with his gun still in his hand.
“I was talking to the lady and this mutha fucka-” the man began, but Marvin cut him off.
“Ain’t no problem. My man here was just about to walk away,” Marvin said, as Pills arrived with the pump on his shoulder. He stood directly in front of Barbara.
“Is there a problem here?”
“No Pills, ain’t no fuckin’ problem,” Judah said. “Dude was just about to walk the fuck away from here before he gets carried out.”
He tried to look around Pills to see Barbara, but Pills moved with him. Barbara peeked around Pills, shrugged her shoulders and then she waved goodbye.
The man dropped his head and walked away, with Judah and Pills close behind him. Marvin grabbed Barbara by the hand. “Come on.”
Marvin forced his way through the crowd, literally dragging Barbara behind him. It wasn’t until they got to the office that Marvin let go of her hand long enough to punch the code into the keypad. When he opened the door, he stepped aside, and Barbara walked in with a smile on her face.
“What are you doing here?”
“Me and Destiny were at a house party nearby,” Barbara lied, “And we were on our way home and we decided to stop by to check this place out.”
Just then, Judah burst through the door. “What are you doing here, Barbara?”
“Like I just told Marvin, me and Destiny-”
“Destiny is here too?” Judah held up his hand. “I don’t even wanna know.” He shook his head. “Does R.J. know you’re here?”
“No and honestly, I see no reason to tell him,” Barbara said raising her chin in defiance as Pills came into the office.
“Barbara!” He slammed the door behind him. “What do you think you’re doing here?”