17. Zara
17
Zara
W alking through the halls of Serenity Springs didn’t create anxiety like it used to. Nana’s account was current, and Brandy gave me control of her affairs. She wasn’t happy about it, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t giving her another opportunity to make a mess I would have to clean up.
“Well, don’t you look happy?” Nana slurred.
“I’m looking at you. There’s a lot to be happy about today,” I grinned, moving closer to her bed.
“Or that man gave you your soul back. Along with something else.”
“How are you feeling today, Banana Girl?” I asked, changing the subject. Nana was always my safe place to admit things I couldn’t share with anyone else, but my sex life was not one of them.
“I’m alive. At my age, I can’t ask the Lord for anything more,” Nana replied, her eyes closed as if opening them required strength she didn’t have.
“You’d tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?”
“These old bones are just tired. Nothing you need to stress about, Shana.”
Fear and anger knotted my stomach as I heard her call me Shana . People always said I was the spitting image of her, but something was off with Banana Girl, even if she wouldn’t admit it.
“It’s me, Nana.” I leaned close and rested my hand on her forehead, but she wasn’t warm. “Your Zara.”
“I know who you are, girl,” she laughed, trying to gloss over her mistake. “Can you grab me another blanket? It’s freezing in here.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
I kissed her forehead before strolling down the hallway, hoping Miss G was working today. She always gave me the real, even when Banana Girl wouldn’t. Unfortunately, she was off today, so I grabbed more blankets to keep my girl warm.
I watched her sleep peacefully, praying that this was nothing more than a rough day. It was hard enough doing life without Mom. The thought of losing Nana Banana made me nauseous. After another hour, I packed up and kissed her cheek before heading to work.
“Wassup, Babygirl?” Kenyon asked, answering my call. My words caught in my throat, like someone had tied them down and refused to let them loose. “Zara Nicole, what’s wrong?”
“N-nothing, just leaving Nana,” I replied, fumbling over my words because my brain told me not to worry, but my heart couldn’t help it.
“You’re stuttering, so something is wrong,” Kenyon said in a light voice as if smiling while speaking.
“Something feels off with Nana. She said she was tired today, but I don’t know.”
“Hol’ on for a minute,” Kenyon pulled the phone away and dropped a combination of curse words I had never heard before. His tone was rigid and harsh, nothing like the one he returned to the phone with. “It might just be an off day. I know you don’t want to hear it, but she’s not a spring chicken anymore.”
“I hope you’re right. Anyway, do I have you to thank for working at Aire Kesson’s party tonight?”
Kenyon chuckled softly, “Nah, I don’t handle scheduling. Might want to holla at Megan on that one.”
“I can’t imagine she’d pull me off my beloved day shifts for such a big event without a reason. She hates me like I stole her man or something,” I rambled.
“I’ve never fucked Megan. I have to go. Put on a show tonight, but not too good. I’d hate to show my ass.”
“Hmm, something tells me you might enjoy that. Have a good day.” Hanging up, I sat for a moment, staring at the building, praying Kenyon was right before pulling off.
Ending his call, I was greeted with a barrage of notifications from Brandy. I called her back on the ride to work, but I got nothing. She never called this many times back-to-back, so my fear shifted to Brandy changing course to Banana Girl’s house.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, confused.
“Otto asked me to check on Brandy. He got locked up and hasn’t heard from her,” Romello explained.
Unlocking the door, I quickly scanned the living room before running upstairs. Her room was a wreck, forcing me to pause in the doorway because I’d never seen it look this way.
“Brandy!”
“He’s gone,” she sobbed like he was dead.
“Come on, get up off the floor.”
Her eyes finally focused on Romello, standing in the doorway. She channeled her frustration to him because she needed someone to blame.
“Why did you let him do it? Where were you?” she yelled, jumping to her feet.
“I told him not to do that shit, but he didn’t listen,” Romello fussed.
“Can you give us a moment?” I asked, and Romello nodded, stepping out of the room so I could focus on Brandy, “You’re going to be fine. I promise.”
“I’m not as strong as you! I can’t do this!” Brandy cried, and instead of reminding her of all the things she did have going for herself, I comforted her. We laid in bed like we used to as kids until she finally fell asleep. Creeping out of bed, I walked downstairs, where Romello sat on the couch.
“How is she?” he asked.
“Asleep for now. What the hell happened?”
“A guy named Terence we went to school with had a scheme to make some easy money. They waited outside a fancy restaurant after targeting an expensive car. Otto was supposed to be the lookout, but the man resisted and tried to fight back. Terence panicked and pulled a gun.”
“He’s an idiot!”
“Otto tried to run, but it was too late. Now he’s looking at 5 to 15 as an accessory to armed robbery and aggravated assault.”
“I’m glad you were smart enough not to go with him, but now I’m fucked,” I sighed, reading Jewel’s response to my SOS text.
Brandy was in bad shape, and I was scared to leave her alone. Jewel agreed to come over but couldn’t get here for another two hours. With no other options left, I texted Kenyon, hoping he could cover for me at the club, but he didn’t reply.
“What’s wrong?”
“Aire Kesson’s party is tonight. I can’t leave her alone, but Jewel can’t get here for another hour.”
“I can sit with her,” Romello volunteered.
“No offense, but she hates you right now. Plus, I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You can’t be late either,” Romello smirked.
“This is true. I don’t need to give Megan another reason to fire me.”
“Me and Bran have been down since vacation bible school. She might be mad now, but she’ll be aite. I don’t mind looking out for her.”
“Thank you, Romello,” I replied, feeling obligated to be honest. He deserved that much. “You’ve been nothing but kind to me since we met. I’m sorry, but we can’t hang out anymore. I’m seeing someone else.”
“Keyes,” he smiled, while my face held a big question mark. I’m not blind. I caught how he looked at you when we went bowling.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You didn’t owe me anything but the truth. I appreciate it.”
“Anyway, I should be going. Jewel will be here when she gets off.”
“Go kill it tonight.”
Romello and I shared a friendly hug before I left. Today had gone from bad to worse, and now I had to get my head in the game and focus on my performance tonight.
Aire’s party was a big deal. His name alone had drawn people from far and wide. Rajah was closing tonight, but I went on right before her pissing Phoenix off. She didn’t agree with the decision, and how Megan grilled me made me wonder who made the call.
“You’re late,” Megan groaned, flipping her wrist to confirm.
“Sorry, I got stuck in traffic,” I lied because I was less than three minutes late. The club wasn’t even open anyway. She just wanted us here early today because it was Aire Kesson.
“I have to prepare for tonight, and so do you, but if you keep it up, I will have to confront the boss who doesn’t tolerate insubordination.”
Megan delivered a sidelong glance as I turned to head for the dressing room. If misery had a face, it would be hers. Megan never seemed happy, let alone satisfied.
“What was that about?” Rajah whispered, staring at Megan, who had trailed in the opposite direction.
“Just Megan bitching as usual.”
“Oh, girl,” she waved her long red nails. “She should be glad somebody around here is stepping up ‘cause I’m getting tired of carrying you bitches!” Rajah purposely yelled over her shoulder so the rest of the room could hear.
“Girl, please, that ass ain’t heavy enough to carry all of this!” Cameo jumped on the practice pole and danced while the other girls clapped.
“Y’all are crazy,” I smirked because the camaraderie in the room felt like a warm hug.
“It’s going to be so much money in the building tonight,” Diamond bragged.
“I hope you and your homegirl have some new routines. The others are old and tied !” Rajah clowned.
“Please. I haven’t seen you bust out any new moves,” Phoenix rebutted because she always had something to say.
“It ain’t for you to see, but Nova choreographed me some real fly shit for Aire, so y’all better step your cookies up!” Rajah bragged, winking at me.
After doing my make-up and changing, I stepped out of the dressing room, but it hit differently when I walked onto the floor. The lights were blinding, flashing across the room in waves, and the crowd was massive. I’d never seen Utopia this packed, not even on the busiest nights.
“Hey can I get a whiskey sour?” I asked, easing onto the stool at the bar.
“I got you, girl,” Tambra smiled.
“It’s crazy in here tonight.”
“Shit, you’re telling me. This is the first moment I had to breathe,” she replied, carefully measuring out the ingredients for my drink, “Whiskey Sour Lite . I don’t need you fucking up in front of company.” Tambra slid the glass toward me.
“Thanks, Tam.” I quickly gulped it down, making her laugh.
“Damn girl, are you nervous or what?”
Just as Phoenix brushed by, her elbow swung with perfect timing and spilled her glass all over me.
“Oops,” she cooed, not even pretending to be apologetic as she glanced over her shoulder.
I lunged forward, almost shoving Phoenix to the floor, but Diamond caught her.
“You bitch!” She ran toward me with her fist flying, but I ducked just in time for solid arms to wrap around my waist, pulling me back.
“Enough,” Kross commanded, his voice carrying an edge that silenced the bubbling crowd.
Daris was holding Phoenix, her eyes shooting daggers at both of us.
“That bitch hit me!” She yelled.
“ After you spilled your drink on me! Stupid ass bitch!”
Kross didn’t loosen his grip. Instead, he looked directly into my eyes, his expression softer than I'd ever seen before directing Daris to take Phoenix in the back. I was stunned, not just by his intervention but also by his change in demeanor. Gone was the cold, aloof boss I had grown accustomed to. In Kross’s place was someone who seemed genuinely concerned about the conflict.
He finally put me down and escorted me to his office.
“Club or not, this is your job! Fighting on one of the biggest nights is the fastest way to find yourself without one,” Kross scolded.
“I’m sorry, but she’s been fucking with me since I started. She purposely spilled that drink on me. You can even ask Tambra,” I explained because he was still my boss and had the power to fire me despite the change in Kross's demeanor.
“Sit tight and calm down until I come back,” he replied, sounding too much like Kenyon, as he left and shut the door behind him.