19. Chapter 19
King Dame
I sat back deep in the booth while the heavy bass from the club speakers vibrated through the floorboards, rattling the ice in my glass.
Right in front of me, a chocolate dancer with waist-length braids had her heels planted on the edge of the cushion, bouncing her ass like her rent was due in five minutes.
She was going to town, pulling out every trick in her playbook, reversing it, dropping it, and throwing it back.
I pressed my money gun and made it rain on her.
With my free hand, I was holding a double bacon cheeseburger from Wendy's while taking it all in. The lap dance was fire, the energy was crazy, and the burger was hitting the spot.
I took a big bite, chewing slowly, and looked past the dancer’s shoulder up toward the upper balcony.
Nana was up there, standing right at the glass railing, putting on a show.
She had a fat stack of crisp dollar bills in her hand and was raining cash down on the main stage below, tossing money into the air like confetti.
The whole floor was going wild. The strippers were scrambling and beaming as the green rained over their heads.
To make it even crazier, Nana started shaking her hips right in the middle of a circle of dancers who were hyping her up, clapping, and cheering her on.
I couldn't help but laugh out loud, slapping my money gun hand against my thigh. "Go 'head then, Nana!"
Then, I reached into my pocket, pulled out a thick wad, and slapped some hundreds into the palm of the girl dancing on me. She smirked, pocketing the cash, and doubled down on her rhythm, giving me a private show that had half the section staring.
I let the beat take over for a minute, but as the liquor settled deeper into my chest, my mind started drifting right back to where it always went: my loony toon of a wife.
What the fuck is she doing right now? And where did she run off to looking that good in her all black get up?
Danni had packed her bag and hopped on a chopper without giving me a full layout of her mission.
If she was back over there doing some slick, secretive shit behind my back, me and her were going to have a real motherfucking problem.
I was already on edge. My soul was heavy, weighed down by the suffocating unknown.
What if that damn baby really was mine? My chest tightened at the thought. What the fuck was I supposed to do then? Was I just supposed to love it despite it having half of Brooklyn's venomous blood in its veins?
That shit sounded hard as fuck. Truth be told, I didn't give a damn about raising a kid with that snake, and the mere thought of it was turning my stomach into knots.
Before I could sink any deeper into my head, the heavy scent of perfume and greasy paper bags hit my nose.
Nana came marching back into the section and glared down at me.
"I dragged your ass out the house to get off the island," Nana yelled over the club music, "and you sitting over here in the corner looking like a mopey-ass Muppet! What the fuck are we doing here, grandson?"
I sighed, setting my burger wrapper down on the table, and looked up at her. "I just wanna know what the fuck she doing, Nana. That's all."
Nana rolled her eyes, snatching a chair and pulling it right up to the edge of my booth. "How about you stop trying to prepare yourself for whatever that girl is gonna do, and just handle the shit when it actually happens?!"
I kept my mouth shut, listening.
"You can't get prepared," Nana continued.
"Because with Danni, you'll never fucking know!
Trust me! How the fuck you think I survived all these years without having a damn heart attack?
! You gotta let her be her, and just rock with it.
And if the shit is really bothering you, you let her know straight up!
Y'all can work that shit out among yourselves.
But you ain't gonna be sitting over here stressed out like a woman in the corner when you got all this ass, all this money, and a whole bag of burgers in front of you! "
A genuine smile broke across my face.
"Yes, ma'am," I said, giving her a nod.
I reached over to the Wendy's bag and tossed it into her lap.
Nana unraveled the paper bag, peering inside. "I told Jade and ‘nem they had a damn seven-for-seven special, and ain't nobody wanna listen to me! But you know what? It's cool, cause this shit was worth it."
She pulled out a double cheeseburger, unwrapped it, and took a massive bite, nodding in approval.
"Mhmm," she chewed, wiping her mouth with a napkin before grabbing her glass of bourbon and pointing back up toward the balcony. "Now watch my spot. I'm going back upstairs."
I watched her strut back up to the top floor, ready to throw another five grand off the balcony.
I leaned back against the seat, taking a long sip of my drink. I took another bite of my burger, pulled out another stack of hundreds, and waved the dancer back over.
Nana was right. I couldn't control the storm, but I sure as hell wasn't gonna sit in the corner and let it ruin my night. I laid my arms across the back of the booth, let the bass rattle my chest, and started enjoying the hell out of my night.