Chapter 16
"You made it?" They slapped hands when Money opened the door to his hotel room. He finally had some time away from Tasha, and unlike Swift, he had plans to find some random pussy to fall inside of.
"Hell yeah." Swift entered the hotel room and smirked. "Nigga, what you think you're about to have, a bachelor party? Granny has three bedrooms. You could have crashed at her crib or Uncle Law's. Does your daddy know you're in town?"
"Pfft, you already know he does, but I'm not refereeing anything those two have going on.
I stopped by the liquor store and ran into Quick.
Remember, he threw the best parties, even when we were in middle school?
His mama would be at work overnight at the hospital, and he had a whole party in his backyard. The summers used to be crazy."
"Hell yeah." Swift took the seat facing the most populated area, downtown Pellum, but because Money was on the top floor, he could see the next city, Lancaster. "What are you getting into while you're here, nigga?"
Swift wanted to see if Money came out of concern or curiosity.
Crazily, he couldn't even tell him what was going on.
All Swift knew was that he'd been walking around in his head while Star stayed hidden in her bedroom or would leave without him knowing.
She wouldn't stay gone long, but she also didn't let him know where she'd been.
It was frustrating as hell, and because he'd never checked a woman about how she moved, he didn't even know how to approach Starlah.
"Shit, Tastees! Quick said that he's deejaying tonight and tomorrow night, and they are giving away cash prizes to amateur strippers." Money grabbed a bottle of bourbon and opened it, pouring himself a glass. "Want some?"
"Naw." Swift shook his head.
"Say, what you're not about to do is sit like you lost your goddamn best friend." He stood and lifted both arms. "Bitch, that's me! Your fucking best friend."
Swift couldn't help but laugh, realizing how much he missed his cousin.
"I know. I just… Shit, pour me a glass."
"Exactly, nigga. I ain't trying to get all in your business, but I figured I need to holla at you, find where your head is."
"Moms done put all my shit out there, huh?" He took the glass, swirled it a few times, then downed it. "Whew, that shit's smooth."
"Hell yeah, and this." Money pulled out a small jar and slid it across the table close to Swift. "Open it up."
Switch looked at him suspiciously because Money was known to have the weakest weed. Anytime they chilled, and most times, which wasn't often because Swift drove for a living, Money would have the worst grade of marijuana.
"Bells and Bliss?" Swift recited, reading the label on the jar.
"Quick said they sell that shit in this store where they sell girly products. The owner, I think her name is Charlie, has that marijuana dispensary on lock. He had about three of these. This is pineapple-infused marijuana. I'm thinking about tapping into that."
"Thought you wanted in on the trucking shit?"
"I do, but to stay ahead, we need three to four streams of income. Tasha's hood as shit, but she reads different books to me and has me following those financial strategists on TikTok. Women are good for more than fucking, Swift."
Swift knew. He couldn't wait to see Starlah back at the mechanic shop, doing her thing. He'd even heard she rode horses almost better than professional riders.
"So, what do you say? We're going to Tastees, or what? Just looking, no touching. You're almost a committed man," he jested when Swift smirked. "Aye, ain't nothing wrong with that, but let's have some fun. Give Starlah some space."
"I have," Swift grunted, but he'd mostly ignored her. He knew that wasn't exactly the same, but it led to the same result. He was missing her.
"One night, then tomorrow we'll figure out how you can go get your girl."
"You sure you ain't lowkey married Tasha, nigga?" Swift asked. Money grinned but shook his head. "Lying motherfucker but thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. Let's see what's going on with Tastees first."
A few hours later, after Swift had gone back to the house and showered, he grew extremely frustrated when Starlah wouldn't come out of her room. He knew she had to have heard Money since he was naturally loud, but it also motivated him to enjoy his night.
"Damn, it's packed."
Money nodded as he scanned the parking lot.
It was packed, which meant entertainment, so the strippers had to be top-tier.
He saw a few military men in the parking lot, pre-gaming as they clanked their flasks and tossed their heads back, and the women who walked in groups of three and four, dressed as if they had come to perform.
"It is. I wish I could bring my heat inside, but not too much drinking. Quick knows these people, not us."
When Money locked his truck, they both sauntered toward the front door, watching their surroundings. Money was dressed in a red-and-blue polo, dark-blue jeans, and white Forces, with a huge, Cuban-link chain.
Swift had no interest in being a target, but he'd stepped out clean in all black from head to toe, with his black and gold designer sneakers. He was simple, but his haircut was fresh since Money brought his clippers. He'd been cutting his own hair, but Money had gotten him right.
"He said ask for this nigga named Heard," Money told Swift as they entered the line.
It moved quickly as the security quickly wand searched everyone.
Money grinned when the girls spun around, their asses jiggling as their bodies were scanned. "Country girls thick as fuck. Damn, Swift. I might need to come here more often."
"They're alright."
Swift had fucked his fair share of women, from full-figured, also known as BBWs, to women that were lean but still curvaceous like Starlah. Her breasts weren't hitting on too much, but if Star had anything, it was her stallion-like thighs and round derriere.
"Aye, I'm looking for Heard."
The security looked at Money, his eyes slitted, then at Swift. He was almost Swift's height at six-foot-two, but his chest was broader, as if he lifted weights in his sleep.
"The fuck asking?"
"Money. Quick told me to ask for Heard, man."
Another security guard passed the scanner around them from the front and back, and the one who questioned Money had a broad smile that extended from left to right.
"My nigga. I'm Heard. Quick told me about you." He extended his fist, and they fist bumped while Swift grunted.
Swift felt that a man who desired respect wouldn't receive it without first extending it, so he didn't appreciate Heard's approach.
"Aye, what's up? Don't trip. I have to make sure niggas are not on no bullshit," Heard advised, then motioned for them to come in. "The table's ready in the VIP for y'all. That nigga Quick brought out his entire entourage. Toni will show you."
"I ain't in no entourage," Swift corrected him, "but appreciate you."
"No doubt."
Heard looked at the other security guard, and they both smirked. He surmised that Swift was easily close to three hundred pounds. He wasn't a punk, but he knew he couldn't take him down if need be, without having his ass almost handed to him.
"Swift, man, stop being so damn mean. I'm ready to see whose daughter I'm about to pull off a pole and make my baby mama," Money asserted.
The beams of colorful lights swirled, along with sparkling bottles, as servers held them high as they weaved in and out of the crowd to serve the patrons.
Smoke swirled in the air, along with the smell of the best chicken wings and fried shrimp — from lemon pepper to sweet bourbon to Hawaiian haze.
Swift had slid the chili his grandmother had made into the refrigerator since he wasn't hungry, but he knew he couldn't leave without some wings.
When "Slide For Me" by Dread Man came on, the men and women howled and rapped along as Quick introduced the two strippers who appeared on the stage. He was a rapper from Miami who was topping the charts alongside his label mate, Lanky.
"Don't be fucking shy, y'all. Tonight, we have Candyland because everywhere you land tastes like motherfuckin' candy."
Money rubbed his hands together, his tongue gliding across his lip at the buttercream-colored stripper who wore glittered candy-cane-striped patches over her areolas and a red, glittery G-string.
"Nigga, it's Christmas tonight!" Money howled when they reached their section. It was just to the right of the stage. "Got damn, I have a sweet tooth!"
"Oh, I see y'all like Candyland but show my girl Tidal Wave some damn love. I ain't gon' hold y'all, but I heard that pussy tastes like water, and that ass jiggling like a tidal wave. She'll have your entire paycheck."
"Fuck, she will," Swift grumbled, taking a seat. He second-guessed even being there, but because Money had come all the way to Pellum to check on him, the least he could do was pretend to have a good time.
"Care to order?" the server asked, leaning in Swift's ear.
Her breasts sat up high, firm like she'd had them made by God's hands inside of her half t-shirt and shorts — if she wanted to call them shorts — that barely contained her ass.
"Money!" Swift called out, ignoring her. He frowned at the sight of her horse teeth that she appeared to have manufactured in a lab. "You're ordering?"
"Nigga, get me whatever you get yourself." Money then pulled out a huge wad of cash and took a step down closer to the stage.
Swift instantly thought of Starlah. Even if he wasn't speaking to her, he wasn't sure if she was eating.
"Let me get three orders of lemon pepper wings, two garlic parmesan chicken wings, and two fries."
"Anything to drink?" She batted her eyes and giggled, causing him to grimace. Her baby hairs looked as if they'd been tattooed on her forehead, and her eyebrows made her look like she was permanently surprised. He'd curse Starlah out if she even tampered with her natural beauty.
"Bourbon and whiskey, top shelf."
She chewed her gum like a cow, grinning when Swift sat back and watched his cousin sliding bills over Candyland, who was on her back, her legs in a V shape.
Tidal Wave, though, was working the hell out of that pole as she flipped and stopped, then flipped again until she slid all the way down the pole into a split.
After five features, the amateur show started.
Outside the wings, Swift was miserable. Money was next to him, getting a lap dance, while Quick shouted them out.
Swift was used to money, women, cars, and all.
Even though he hadn't finished college or garnered any accolades that could land him in the NFL, he had it all.
He had learned that what mattered the most wasn't material items since he'd come to Pellum. It was love.
"Aye, hold up."
Swift frowned and flicked off the stripper who'd flipped her hair, and it brushed against his leg. Money was almost on his back as she rode him while he motor-boated her breasts. She was Latin, too, and whispered in her native tongue, Spanish, in Money's ear.
"Nigga, I have me a mamacitaaa!" Money sang, dry humping her from underneath.
This was one of the times Swift wished he'd driven his own car. Not only did he miss Starlah, but he missed Papa, too, even Chevy. He stood up to make his way to the restroom when Quick entered the VIP section.
"Damn, Swift. You look mad as hell." He bit his lip when two strippers, one on each side, slid their arms in between his. "I'm about to take them to a private room. You want in?"
"Naw. I'm actually ready to clear this shit, but Money's about to marry Jennifer Lopez over there," he teased.
"Oh, I got him. You trying to head out?"
"Let me ask him. He has the keys."
Luckily for Quick, Swift trusted him with his cousin.
He also knew where Quick's mother and sister lived, so he'd make good on any promise if one hair was touched on his cousin's head.
Quick had seen him in action, but even if he hadn't, Swift had no understanding when it came to family.
He'd send Quick home to his mother in a pine box.
"Yo, Money. Quick's set is up. He said he could bring you back to Pellum. You're ready to go or finish up with Shakira?"
Money cackled when he called the stripper, Pina Colada, Shakira, the singer. Before he answered, he felt his cellphone vibrating. It was easily two o'clock in the morning, causing him to panic.
Swift fished out his cell, and his breath hitched. It was Starlah.
Star's the Limit:
I miss you. Can't sleep. You're coming home tonight?
"Hell yeah."
Swift didn't care if he moved to the beat of Star's drum or if he was called pussy whipped. He'd tried ignoring her, but after hours of sitting around pussy and not wanting even to sample any, he knew exactly why. The love bug had bitten, so Swift was headed back to Pellum, with or without Money.