Betrayal (9 page)

Yeah, it was a real bad time to be jetting off and leaving Nooni with nothing but opportunities to fuck and connive on her hands, but what else could Rita do? Juicy needed her, and she had to be there for her girl. She just had to. She sighed as she zipped her suitcase closed and lifted it off the bed. She was only one person, and she had to give of herself where she was needed the most.

And right now, that was definitely out in California. Her sisters would be cool until she got back. Everything would work out fine. Nooni was just gonna have to go along with the program. No matter how grown the girl thought she was, she was just gonna have to stay her hot little ass at Mrs. Moreno’s crib and chill until Rita got back.

CHAPTER 10

Her big sister hadn’t even made it outta Harlem good before Nooni started trippin’. She jetted out of Mrs. Moreno’s apartment with the sounds of the old lady fussing in Spanish ringing in her ears. Feeling free as a bird, she walked down the streets of Harlem swinging her hips and enjoying the attention her tight jeans and sexy, curvaceous body attracted from the young boys on the block and the grown men in their shiny new whips.

Fifteen minutes later she ran up the stairs to her friend Cheyvon’s project apartment and knocked on the door. The two girls caught the train uptown to 149th Street and spent the whole day boosting cheap outfits and eating pizza slices and Italian-style heroes.

It was getting dark outside by the time they returned to Harlem with their stolen goods. Nooni had picked up a couple of pairs of jeans, two skirts, and an ultra-sheer white mini dress that had an open slit from the neckline to right below her navel. Cheyvon had boosted three skirts, a cute dress, and a cheap bottle of perfume for her grandmother.

The thrill of stealing was physically exciting, and it had Nooni’s coochie nice and slippery. Maleek was heavy on her mind, and the last thing she felt like doing was ending her night by knocking on Mrs. Moreno’s front door.

“You staying in the house tonight?” she asked Cheyvon.

“Hell no,” was the answer she got.

“Good, ’cause there’s gonna be a real hot party over at T.C.’s Place. Maleek and his set are gonna be up in there. He thinks I’m on lock down with a fuckin’ babysitter tonight so I wanna roll up and surprise him.”

Cheyvon frowned. “T.C.’s Place? You mean that pool hall over on St. Nick where Thug and the ’Licious Lovers used to spit? Where all them people got killed?”

Nooni nodded. “Yeah. That was Trust Chambers and his wife, Miss Lady. Thug-A-Licious was their godson. My hair dresser, Miss Vyreen, used to work for T.C., and she got shot up in there too.”

Cheyvon frowned some more. “And they opened that place back up again?”

“Oh hell yeah,” Nooni shrugged, trying to sound much growner and wiser than she really was. “Why not? They got all the dead bodies up outta there and besides, it’s the only place in town where the cops won’t come fuckin’ with us about underage drinking and stuff.”

“Then that’s what’s up,” Cheyvon agreed. “Yeah, okay, I’ll come. Maybe I can do like you did and hook me one of them thug dudes with the knotty pockets.”

“Cool,” Nooni said, “but I ain’t tryna go all the way home and then come all the way back over here, though. Can I take a shower and get dressed at your crib?”

“Uh-huh,” Cheyvon answered. “Hell yeah. But hold up. What you wearing? One of them hoochie-ass outfits you just stole? You know I can’t let you roll up in no club pulling all the good looks away from me!” Cheyvon laughed, but she was serious about that shit. Hanging out with Nooni was fun, but most dudes couldn’t even see her when her girl was on the scene.

Nooni giggled. “Chey, please. You can have all them little club pups for yourself. Maleek is my man, and the only eyes I want checking for my booty are his.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you and Maleek was still kickin’ it like that,” Cheyvon said innocently. “I thought he was messing around with that real bowlegged girl named Ashanti from 145th Street.”

Nooni’s eyes narrowed as her heart fell. It was Ass-Almighty Ashanti this week, it had been Big Titty Tameeka last week, and it would probably be Dick-Sucking Dominique next damn week. Maleek was down with a strong street crew, and even though he was young, he balled so hard that females just pulled off their thongs and dropped them at his feet.

Nooni rolled her eyes as Cheyvon’s words sank in. Maleek was a pussy hound, but he was real jealous and controlling too. He messed around behind her back like mad, but just let him catch her even thinking about another dude. His ass would go gorilla. He’d stretch her
and
the niggah she was scoping straight out on the ground.

“I said,” Cheyvon repeated, cutting into Nooni’s anguished thoughts, “ain’t Maleek with Ashanti now?”

Checking herself, Nooni smirked and chuckled. “Hell no he ain’t with her,” she said, playing her role. “His ass is with
me
. Ashanti ain’t nobody special. Maleek don’t mess with that nasty, camel-toe hoe.” Nooni laughed. “You didn’t hear what they said about her? That trick gave Dirty Legs the crabs! She had his ass on itch mode. I know Maleek is a hoe, but he ain’t stupid enough to be digging around in no ass-dumpster like her. I don’t care how fat her booty is. My pockets is puffed up too!”

Cheyvon looked doubtful, but she nodded and agreed anyway. “C’mon,” she said as they walked around the corner and toward her project building. “Forget Ashanti. Her booty is big, but her teeth are shot out. You got me ready to party now! Let’s go cop us a little piff so we can slip into our new gear and hit da club.”

$$$$$

It was warm for September and T.C.’s Place was busting at the seams. Young Harlemites who wanted to feel and act grown, but couldn’t get past security at other clubs pushed into the newly re-opened pool hall in droves.

On paper, T.C.’s Place had been re-classified as a youth development center, but in reality it was run by a powerful Harlem drug sect, and it was a hot spot for everything an under-aged teen could hope to get into.

The pool hall had lost its liquor license when its owners Trust and Lady Chambers were gunned down in a brutal robbery, but that didn’t stop its young patrons from sneaking in alcohol and other forms of get-high by the bagful.

Nooni and Cheyvon got cleared through security and the metal detectors and paid their five-dollar cover charge, and then stepped inside. Styling their boosted gear and letting their long hair swing down their backs, they knew they looked good and the appreciative comments and stares from the young trap boys on the scene just confirmed it.

T.C.’s Place had been partially remodeled. One whole side of the hall had been cleared of pool tables and replaced with tables, booths and bucket chairs. The other side of the room was still set up the way T.C. had left it, with ornate pool tables positioned in a long row, and endless pool cues racked against the wall. A small dance floor sat in the middle of the room, and couples were out there moving hard to all the latest cuts.

Nooni and Cheyvon shook their hips to the loud rap music that blared from the speakers as they looked around for some familiar faces to click up with.

“It’s time to get buzzed,” Cheyvon declared, passing Nooni one of the small bottles of rum she’d stashed in her purse. Security frisked for guns and knives and shit at the front door, but they didn’t give a damn about liquor. The entire club was getting lifted. Yay was in the air big time, and a few chicks were popping X and sipping on colorful liquid they had poured into empty water bottles.

Nooni took the small bottle of alcohol from her girl and cracked the top. Taking a deep breath, she turned it up to her lips and throated the liquid fire straight down from the first drop to the last.

“So is ya man up in here?” Cheyvon sipped from her bottle and hollered over the music. Her head was on a swivel as she tried to spot Nooni’s infamous young baller, Maleek, a cat so brutal he had dudes twice his age giving him mad respect. “Do you see him?”

Nooni froze in place as her eyes scanned the crowd. “Yeah,” she muttered, swallowing hard. “I see his ass.”

She narrowed her eyes and angled her chin toward the VIP booths. “He’s over there with the willies, see him? He’s got on a red fitted.”

Cheyvon stared in that direction. “Oh, I see him now. Yo, who’s that bitch sitting all up in his lap? She looks just like that crab-ass chick, Ashanti!”

Nooni felt flushed as the alcohol burned in her stomach and slowly buzzed her head. She stared at the scene in the booth. There were some major drug dealers and hustlers surrounding Maleek, and that bitch Ashanti was right in the thick of it, laughing and grinning and bouncing all around in Maleek’s lap.

Nooni sighed. Once again her man had broken her heart and betrayed her trust. He was so disrespectful! He’d told her the only reason he was coming out tonight was to take care of a little business, yet here he was ballin’ in a booth with a ’rilla bitch riding his dick. Well, disrespect was a two-way street, and Nooni was about to show him that.

“Let’s walk around,” Nooni told Cheyvon as she strutted through the crowd and rolled her ass in her see-through white mini dress. Underneath it she had on a bright red thong, and no bra. She plastered a big smile on her face and made sure she bumped her hip against almost every horny dude she passed.

All eyes were glued to her smooth brown skin, wavy hair, and vicious young curves as she switched over to the VIP area. Ignoring Maleek, she flashed a sexy grin at a few of his boys who were secretly clocking for her, and then moved down to the next booth where a crew of hoods from the other side of Harlem sat puffing sticky and getting toasted.

“What’s up, y’all?” she cooed. Giggling, she draped her arms over the back of the booth and the ballers sitting there turned around in surprise.

“How y’all doing tonight?”

Before they could answer, Nooni sashayed around to the front of the booth and struck a sexy pose. Her silhouette of plump breasts, a tiny waist, and wide, curvy hips made all five dicks in the booth jump on instant rock.

“We good, beautiful,” replied the guy sitting closest to her. He took a pull from his blunt, then extended his hand and passed it to Nooni. “What’s your name, baby?” he asked, rising to his feet.

“I’m Nooni. I saw a bunch of fine ballers sitting over here without no chicks, and I started wondering if I was in the right place tonight.”

They laughed with her as their hungry young eyes roamed the curves of her body.

“We was talkin’ a little bizz and just waiting for a dream like you to float by,” joked the guy who had slid her the yay. Looking down at her, he grinned and sized her up with lust leaking from his eyes.

Nooni gave him a once over and dismissed him right away. He was tall and kinda cute in the face, but he was also light in the ass and had a goofy air about him. Not only wouldn’t Maleek get jealous over a sherm like him, he would sense the lack of competition and smash dude with absolutely no remorse.

She scanned the other four dudes in the booth and zeroed in on one. He was light-skinned and had real pretty eyes. He was built solid and had a rugged look about him, and while his gaze let her know he liked what he saw, he sipped his beer coolly, like he wasn’t really all that interested.

“You wanna dance?” Nooni hit on him with her softly stated question.

He paused with his beer bottle halfway to his mouth, then shrugged. “Yeah, aiight. I’ll dance witcha, baby.”

His manz on the left got up to let him out the booth, and when dude stood up Nooni was damn pleased by what she saw. He was real tall and real buff too. He looked a little bit older than her and niggah was packing muscles all up under his gear. His hair was curly and under the glow of the club lights his eyes looked like they were light gray. He grinned down at her and she was almost blinded by his ultra-bright smile. His hand snaked around her waist and slid up to her hip. Without a word, he turned Nooni toward the dance floor, and then grabbed her hand and confidently led the way.