Chapter 3 #2
When I approached the door, I chatted with the door attendant and security guard before I went inside.
The music blasting inside the lounge instantly relaxed me.
Music was still an integral part of my life.
So much so that I learned how to DJ and would randomly take over when I felt like it.
The vibes were right, and I moved through the crowd to find Quinn in our usual section with a cup in her hand.
When I reached her, she hugged me, then shoved her cup in my hand.
I needed it, so I guzzled it down while she waved over one of the bottle girls.
“I was starting to think yo ass wasn’t coming,” Quinn yelled over the music.
“Traffic was hell because I didn’t leave as early as I would’ve liked to. Then I had to take a shower and get fine,” I yelled into her ear.
“Which yo ass takes forever to do,” Quinn grumbled.
“Good to see you, Sneaux, happy belated birthday,” Candace, the bar manager, greeted me when she returned to our section with a new bottle of Don Julio Reposado.
She bent over in front of me and mixed the tequila with the pineapple juice just the way she knew I liked it.
I gripped her waist and leaned up to whisper in her ear.
“You trying to be my belated birthday present doing all of that, huh?” I suggested.
She giggled, playing coy, knowing she was really a freak.
Candace was easy to deal with. Didn’t ask a lot of questions, never tried to get serious, and liked doing her own thing since she was older and spent her twenties and thirties married.
Quinn roughly tapped my arm, and I released the grip I had on Candace, diverting my attention to her.
Over her shoulder, I saw Deja strutting into our section wearing next to nothing.
A black and grey snake print bandeau top covered her perky titties, and the tiny pair of black shorts she wore left her thighs on full display again.
I couldn’t admire anything else because when my eyes trailed up to Deja’s face, her brows were furrowed and her lips pursed.
She rudely squeezed between me and Candace, her low glossed eyes told me she was either high or taking full advantage of the bar.
“UMMMM! Excuse you!” Candace yelped, falling forward with her arms extended to break her fall on the small table she was bent over in front of.
“Beat it, girl,” Deja barked.
“Aye yo chill. You’re about to spill everything on the damn table,” Quinn snipped, helping Candace stand back up straight.
“Go ‘head Candace. Thank you for making my drink,” I dismissed her to stop any further altercation.
“And I’ll be making her drinks for the rest of the night,” Deja waved her off.
“Damn, how much have you had to drink?” I questioned Deja as she fell back into my chest, her back resting against my breasts.
My hand instinctively went to her waist. Although she was pissing me off, her soft ass still felt good pressed up against me.
Deja spun around and flung her arms around my neck and fell into me, whispering in my ear.
“I’ve had a few. But let me make this clear, I was never running from you. You clearly have other things going on so you were projecting your shit onto me,” Deja complained, picking up our conversation from earlier.
Even with our heels on, Deja was still shorter than me, and I stared down at her, searching for her real intentions.
The Deja that kissed me on my cheek earlier and just shoved Candace away from me wasn’t the same standoffish woman who I met twice before.
I searched for signs of sincerity, but I came up empty.
I reached behind me, pulling Deja’s arms from around my neck.
Deja’s phone was clasped tightly in her hands, so I felt it vibrate as I freed myself from her hold.
She frowned at me before checking her phone.
I side stepped her to grab my cup off the table.
“I see boss lady is gracing us with her presence tonight!” DJ Star called out over the music. “Come show the people what you can do! You know they go crazy when you bless us with a lil something.” She encouraged me.
After the shooting at my graduation party, I thought we’d never hear from DJ Star again.
However, my father convinced her to take me under her wings during my gap year, and she taught me everything I know.
When I decided to go in on this lounge with my cousins, I offered her part ownership as long as she agreed to DJ three nights out of the week.
She was older, in her late thirties, and that was exactly the crowd I wanted to draw in.
Less risk of the younger crowd fucking our shit up, especially since it wasn’t in our jurisdiction.
I was interested in buying the lounge a few counties over because it was an LGBTQ friendly area and crowd.
We were losing our safe spaces left and right, so I swooped in to take over when their owners retired and wanted to sell it.
“This family never stops,” Deja grumbled, rolling her eyes. “I’m sure you can relate.”
“I can’t. They can handle themselves while I’m off the clock,” I quipped.
“Either way, I have to go outside and call my father back.”
“Candace!” I shouted her name when I saw her massive bushel of curls cutting through the crowd.
She strutted over in our direction with an empty Hennessy bottle in her hand.
“Perfect, you’re going to the back. After you toss that, can you take Deja to a quiet area in the back so she can make a call, please? ”
“No, it’s really okay. I can just step outside. Plus, I need to find my sister-in-law. We were headed to the bathroom when I saw miss mama all in your space, so I told her to go without me,” Deja protested.
“Not a chance. I can’t have something happen to you and your last known location being my establishment. Don’t get scared of Candace now. She won’t beat your ass in the back,” I joked.
“That’s the least of my worries. I can run it with the best of ‘em,” she bantered, offering me a playful eye roll.
Candace begrudgingly led Deja towards the back, and I told Quinn I was headed to the DJ booth.
She was occupied with some chick that fell into her lap, so she wasn’t worried about me anyway.
I quickly finished my drink along the way because I knew Star didn’t play that shit around her equipment.
Even though Star didn’t come out of her pockets for anything in here, she wouldn’t even allow me to tear it up.
“Hey boo. I didn’t know you were coming out tonight,” Star embraced me in a hug.
“I haven’t been out here to check on things in a while, so I decided to pop up.”
“Well, feel free to take over. You know they love it when DJ Sneaux steps on the stage.”
“Don’t gas me,” I laughed, taking her position as she handed me the headphones.
Placing my purse on the built-in shelf below the equipment, I got comfortable in the space.
It felt like a little command center as I scanned the laptop screen and lit up buttons, then looked out at the dance floor.
A confident smirk spread across my face because it was exhilarating to curate the vibes in a packed venue full of half drunk people who just wanted to have a good time.
In my eyes, the DJ determined how much fun you had during a night out.
My Neck, My Back started playing, and the bass from the speakers boomed as I slipped the headphones on, leaving one ear uncovered.
“Y’all know how DJ Sneaux gets down! We are about to take it back to before I was even born,” I shouted into the mic as I got comfortable in the booth.
I locked in, transitioning from My Neck, My Back to This Is How We Do It just as Khia rapped her last do it now.
The crowd loved it, their appreciation for the classics was another reason I chose to cater to the thirty and up crowd.
I went on for a minute, and DJ Star came up behind me, yelling that I was killing it.
Somehow, we ended up playing Lemonade by Gucci Mane, and I was bouncing along to the beat, setting up my transition to Birthday Sex.
For some reason, I looked up, and my mind went blank, ceasing my hand movements.
My heart stopped, and I blinked twice to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.
Birthday Sex was already playing beneath Lemonade, and the beats rode each other longer than anticipated, causing them to clash horrendously.
I could hear the music clashing but couldn’t pull myself together to fix it.
All eyes were probably on me due to my fuck up, but I couldn’t say for certain.
My eyes were searing into the woman who garnered my attention.
Her smooth, rich, dark skin caught the strobe lights for a second time, and I was able to confirm it was her.
Milani Dashae Harris. Except she was all grown up.
Her hair framed her beautiful face perfectly, just barely touching her shoulders.
Those sharp, steady eyes connected with mine, and her juicy, glossed lips parted, and that intense curiosity that I always had still made me wonder what more than a brief peck with Milani would feel like.
Milani was effortlessly perfect. Her almond-shaped eyes, thick lashes, and high cheekbones were all features that some bitches would pay top dollar for.
The cinnamon brown plunging neckline dress barely covered her ass, and then, my heart shattered when I realized a black and gold Bride To Be sash was draped over her shoulders, and a small cinnamon brown veil rested on top of her head.
The crowd groaned, waiting for me to fix my fuck up, but I didn’t give a damn. I snatched up my purse and stepped out of the way as I felt and heard DJ Star over my shoulder. Quinn was at the edge of the stage with her hand extended to help me down the four steps.
“I’m good. I’ll be back,” I lied because I saw the questioning look Quinn gave me.
Nothing about me was good. A twinge of jealousy shot through me when I surmised that Milani’s glow was a result of someone else making her happy.
I couldn’t have that. Suddenly, I completely understood why the men around me crashed out about their wives.
Rage burned through me about a woman who I hadn’t laid eyes on in nearly a decade.
She headed for the exit, and I was on her ass the moment she stepped outside.