Chapter 19
MELLIE
“Idon’t see why we have to have a meeting.”
I force a smile at Peach. Savvy was able to organize this girls’ night, and I’ve been looking forward to it for the last two days. Lyric’s been preoccupied with club business, and no matter how many times I ask him what’s going on, he’s remained close-mouthed.
We’re gathered in the room that Savvy and Patti share, and Lulu made sure to whip up a huge batch of strawberry daiquiris for us to drink.
“It’s not a meeting,” I tell her.
“Oh, get off your high horse,” Lulu snaps before taking a sip of her daiquiri. “This is supposed to be a fun night.”
“Coulda fooled me,” Peach grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest, causing her cleavage to expand over her low-cut leather halter.
“Look, Savvy told me that we were all friends before my accident,” I explain. “I thought it would be nice to try and get to know each other again.”
“I know all I need to know about you,” Peach argues. “You stole Lyric from me.”
Star jumps to her feet and gets in Peach’s face. “You can’t have something stolen from you that was never yours to begin with.”
Peach narrows her eyes. “He woulda been mine if she ha—”
“That was never gonna happen,” Patti states matter-of-factly.
“You don’t know that.”
“We all know it,” Savvy counters. “Lyric has been in love with Mellie from the day he met her. You were told that he was off-limits the second you signed on as a club whore.”
Peach rolls her eyes but doesn’t continue to argue.
As for me, I file away the piece of information that Savvy just revealed.
It’s not much more than Lyric has revealed, but it somehow means more to hear others confirm what he’s told me.
Especially when it’s from someone who doesn’t have a vested interest in my memory.
“I didn’t want to get together with you guys to talk about Lyric,” I say, and Peach snorts. “Really, I didn’t.”
“Girl, don’t worry about it,” Star says with a smile. “You and Lyric are kinda a package deal, ya know?”
Patti slaps her on the arm. “Of course, she doesn’t know,” she hisses.
“It’s okay, Pattycake,” I say with a chuckle.
“What did you just call me?” she asks, her eyes wide.
“Pattycake.” I shrug. “Sorry, it just, uh, came out.”
Lulu squeals. “That’s what you always called her before…”
“Really?” I ask when she doesn’t continue.
“Yep,” Patti confirms, popping the ‘p’.
For the next few hours, I listen to them tell stories, and for the first time, I don’t feel like an outsider. Other than the dirty looks Peach keeps tossing my way, I’m treated with respect and a familiarity that only comes from strong friendships.
“Holy shit,” Star exclaims, pulling me from my thoughts. “I forgot about that.”
“About what?” I ask, wanting to reengage in the conversation.
“The night we all got arrested for solicitation,” she replies with a laugh. “Fuck, Lyric was pissed.”
“Wait a second…” I blurt. “I was arrested for solicitation?”
“Damn, girl, that was a fun night,” Savvy states. “And yes, you were. It was a huge misunderstanding, though.”
“It wasn’t a misunderstanding,” Lulu counters. “It was the police flipping the middle finger to the Kings.”
“Okay, someone is going to need to explain,” I say.
Patti waves her hand dismissively. “Not much to explain. We all went out to a bar, and when we wanted to go home, we realized none of us were in any condition to drive. You tried to call Lyric, but he was tied up with club shit, so we got the brilliant idea to wave down a cab.”
“For the record, I wanted to call an Uber,” Star interrupts. “But the app was down or some shit.”
“Anyway, we were all standing on the curb, drunk off our asses and waving at every car that passed.” Patti laughs so hard, tears run down her cheeks.
“None of them were damn cabs,” Savvy grumbles. “But one of them was a cop. You,” she says, pointing at me. “You got mouthy with him because he’d had a run-in with Lyric the week before or some shit, and we all joined in.”
“If anything, he should’ve taken us in on drunk and disorderly,” Lulu states. “But he really wanted to piss off Lyric, so he booked us all on solicitation.”
“Damn,” I whisper. “I bet Lyric was livid.”
“Not just him,” Savvy informs me. “He and Zombie, along with Rowdy, Undertaker, Copper, and Quake, showed up at the jail, raising hell. Needless to say, we were released, and nothing ever came of it.”
Peach, who’s been quiet for most of the night other than grumbling under her breath every once in a while, speaks up. “They shoulda left you there.”
I’m not sure what possesses me to do it, but I get to my feet and stalk around the small table before bending to get in the whore’s face. “What the fuck is your problem?”
“You!” she shouts, jumping up and throwing her glass against the wall. “You’re my problem!”
The sting in my palm when it connects with her cheek barely registers. “You need to get over yourself,” I snarl and slap her again. “I’ve done nothing to you. In fact, from what I’ve heard, Lyric and I are nothing new, so you can’t use our relationship as an excuse.”
“If you hadn’t—” Peach presses her lips together and breathes through her nose before continuing. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter.”
She turns to storm out, and I grab her arm, forcing her to whirl back toward me. “You don’t get to walk away from me. That’s not how this works.”
Before I can stop it, her fist connects with my jaw, and I’m thrown off my feet.
“What the fuck, Peach?” Savvy shouts. “Lulu, go get Lyric.”
I ignore the others, scramble to my feet, and launch myself at Peach, slamming her into the wall. She’s taller than me by several inches, but that doesn’t seem to matter. I grip her chin and slam her head against the wall, over and over.
Arms circle around me, pulling me away from Peach, and she takes advantage of my distraction, kicking me in the stomach and knocking me and whoever grabbed me to the floor.
“Ouch,” Star mutters, pushing out from under me.
Blinking several times, I try to breathe through the nausea and roll to leverage myself up. I’m just getting to my feet when something hits me from behind, and I collapse again.
Peach straddles my hips, keeping me face down on the floor, and yanks my head back by my hair.
“You stupid fucking bitch,” she hisses. “I was gonna make my move.” With her free hand, she punches me in the ribs. “You were sup—”
Her weight is lifted from my body, and I curl in on myself, arms wrapped around my middle as if to magically stop the agony. My head throbs, and when I try to roll to my back, the room spins.
I try to suck air into my lungs, but the air around me swirls like a vortex, and I’m sucked into the dark void.