Real As It Gets (7 page)

M
embership had its privileges. I loved being not in the in-crowd, but
the
in-crowd. I bounced to the front of the line, past all of the nobodies standing out in the cold Miami air hoping that they could get inside.

Sheridan met us at the club—I half expected her to bail on us, but then, since Travis had gone home for the weekend, I guess she decided to make some time for us—or me—because she didn't really cut for Kennedi and the feeling was mutual.

The three of us strutted into the club, looking fly, as usual. I had tickets in hand so that there would be no drama about us getting in. We handed them to the girl at the counter, then made our way inside.

“This party is jumpin',” Sheridan said as she bounced to the sounds of Rick Ross filling the club.

We took in the sights and sounds. This was definitely an upscale crowd. Everyone was dressed to the nines and the ratchetness was at a minimum, thank goodness. Probably because tickets to the event were two hundred and fifty dollars.

After a few minutes, Sheridan leaned in and said, “Hey, is that your friend, Lauren?”

Both Kennedi and I turned to where Sheridan was pointing. That was Lauren. Kennedi, Lauren, and I used to be really good friends back in the day, but after Lauren's parents sent her away to boarding school, she had gotten a little too wild for our taste. Yeah, we did our own dirt, but we kept it classy. Lauren just acted like she didn't care anymore, which was obvious from the way she was dancing on the table right now, tossing her hair from side to side as she did a slow dance to the fast rap music.

Kennedi leaned in and whispered in my ear, “OMG, get your girl.”

“She was your girl first,” I mumbled back.

“Look, that guy has his phone up her skirt taking pictures,” Sheridan exclaimed.

I shook my head in stunned disbelief. That was the kind of stuff that would come back and haunt Lauren. Not to mention she looked like a loose stripper the way she was dancing on that table.

“Come on,” I said, pulling Kennedi in her direction. “This is freakin' ridiculous.”

We pushed our way through the crowd, and Kennedi pushed back the guy who was taking the picture.

“Hey,” he said. “I'm trying to get pictures of the freak.”

Kennedi ignored him as she tugged on Lauren's skirt. “Lauren!”

I couldn't say anything. I was too shocked at the way her pupils were dancing. She looked like some kind of drugged-out groupie.

“Lauren,” Kennedi repeated. “What are you doing?”

“Heeeeeyyyy,” she sang.

“Are you all right?” Kennedi asked.

I wanted to tell Kennedi of course she wasn't all right. She looked a hot mess.

“Baby, I'm better than all right,” Lauren said as she did a little spin on the table. Since it was a small table, of course she fell. Several people around the table cracked up laughing, but Lauren didn't seem fazed. She stood up and tried to get back up on the table.

Kennedi grabbed her arm. “Nah, I think you're good.”

Lauren snatched her hand away. “Let go of me. I got to finish getting my party on.” She looked over at a girl who was passed out in a chair next to the table. “Tabitha, tell them to leave me alone.”

Tabitha didn't move. Kennedi dragged Lauren in the direction of the bathroom. She stumbled as she tried to keep up.

Sheridan and I followed—I think we both were still in shock. I know I definitely couldn't believe I was caught up in this foolishness.

“You guys are party poopers,” Lauren cried as Kennedi pushed her into the bathroom.

Lauren had gotten high in the past. We knew that much. But this was different. There was something about the crazed way her eyes were darting all over the place and she was sweating—hard.

“What's wrong with you?” Kennedi asked.

“Have you been smoking that stuff?” I asked.

“What stuff?” she asked, trying to play dumb.

“You know what stuff. Dope. Or crack. Or whatever it is you do,” I replied.

Just then, the bathroom door opened. A plain, stringy-haired girl eased in. “Hey, I'm Piper. I'm Lauren's friend. We came here together. Is she all right?” she asked, her eyes wide with concern.

“Heeeey, Pipe!” Lauren asked. “Where you been, girl?”

“I was talking to a friend,” she said. “But are you okay? I saw Tabitha passed out and them dragging you in here.”

I didn't know who this Piper was, I thought I'd seen her before, but I couldn't place her. She looked drugged out herself so she couldn't have been a good influence for Lauren.

“Why everybody wanna know how I'm doing?” Lauren laughed. She smiled at Sheridan, as if she was just noticing her for the first time. “What's up, Sheridannnnn?” She leaned in toward Sheridan, who took a step back as if her “high” were contagious.

“Why you hanging around these losers?” Lauren said, her speech slurred. “You know Kennedi don't like you.” Lauren turned to Kennedi. “Ain't that right, K? You said she was a backstabbing troll and you didn't know why Maya was too dumb to see it.”

Sheridan glared at Kennedi, but Kennedi waved her off like now wasn't the time. “Lauren, who did you come here with?”

She pointed in Piper's direction. “With my girl, Piper. Like Peter Piper picked a piper of peppers pickled.” She started giggling. Then, suddenly, she just stopped and ran her hands over her eyes like she was trying to focus. “Wh-what was I saying?”

“Lauren, have you been smoking weed again?” I asked.

Lauren started laughing like something was really funny. “Oh, this isn't your ordinary herb. This that for-real stuff.” She stood up like she had a sudden burst of energy.

“What is for-real stuff?” I asked.

“This girl is on fiiiiire!” Lauren started singing, before turning and bursting out of the bathroom. She continued loudly singing, ignoring us as we called after her. We all raced out behind her, but in one swoop, she jumped up on top of the bar and continued singing her Alicia Keys song. “This girl is on fiiiiiii-re!”

Several people were looking at her crazy. I was getting pissed. I was about to tell Kennedi to leave her alone. I had an image to maintain, and chasing after my drugged-up friend wasn't part of it.

“Lauren!” Kennedi shouted over the loud music.

Suddenly Lauren stopped, leaned over, and threw up all over the bar. Several people jumped out of the way in disgust. I was about to snatch Lauren down and tell her about herself, but before I could say a word, she fell to the floor and began convulsing.

“Call 911!” the bartender shouted. I don't know much about what happened after that because my shock had just gone to a whole other level.

I
know Lauren is supposed to be my girl and all, and some people might say that I wasn't being a true friend. But this was the very reason that I didn't do druggies. Maya Morgan didn't need to be sitting up in some waiting room, scared out of her mind because her idiot friend wanted to get high.

“So, you're really going to bail on her?” Kennedi said.

“The paparazzi are already outside,” I replied. “And the last thing I need is for me to be caught up in this mess.”

“But she's our girl. We can't just leave her here.” I glanced over at Piper, who was sitting in a corner nervously wringing her hands. She'd been a mess the whole ride over here. Not just because of Lauren, but apparently, their other friend, Tabitha, hadn't just been passed out. When paramedics arrived and had everyone move back, they'd noticed Tabitha wasn't breathing. She had OD'd right there in the middle of the club and no one had even noticed. Naturally, when word of her death and Lauren's episode had spread, and especially since there had been celebrities at the party, the paparazzi had come out in full force and they'd followed the ambulance right to the hospital.

Regardless, I didn't want to be anywhere near their cameras when they started snapping. Sheridan had quickly reminded me that Lauren was my friend and she had no desire to be sitting up in a hospital, so she'd gotten a ride home. At first, I'd thought that was jacked up, but now, I completely agreed.

“I just say no to drugs and anyone around me that doesn't do that, I don't have time for. I feel bad about Lauren. I really do. But this is whack.” I grabbed my clutch and headed toward the waiting-room exit.

Kennedi looked at me like she couldn't believe me. “Whatever.”

“Call me when you're ready to go. I'll have the car service come pick you up.”

I made my way out the back entrance. When I saw the news van from my station parked across the street, I was glad I did.

I had just pulled off when my cell phone rang. The number came up as unknown and I almost didn't answer, but my executive producer Tamara's phone number came up like that. I made a mental note to tell her about that because I'd answered one time thinking it was her and it had been some crazed fan who had tracked down my number.

“Hello,” I said, hesitantly.

“It's a dang shame that I have to disguise my number to get you to answer.”

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I found myself actually smiling for the first time since all that craziness jumped off. “What's up, Mr. Love?”

“Oh, now, I'm Mr. Love. What happened to J?” he said.

“Yeah, I usually reserve initials for people I care about.”

“Oh, so you don't care about me?”

“What do you want, J?”

“Yeah, you care about me?” He laughed.

“What do you want?” I repeated.

“You.”

I'd met J. Love after an interview on my show. I don't usually mix business with pleasure, but he'd been persistent and we'd finally started hanging out. I'd really liked him, but some crazed chick who used to work for me had leaked a story about him to the
National Enquirer
. He'd blamed me, and by the time he'd discovered the truth, I had been long gone.

“Yeah, I know that, but when you had me, you didn't know what to do with me.”

“A'ight. Why you always bringing up old stuff?” He chuckled. “Look, I didn't call for all that. I just wanted you to know that I'll be in town this weekend.”

“Really?” Of course I knew he'd be here. His concert had been the talk of the town, but I wasn't about to let him know that.

“Yeah, really. I have a concert. I want you there.”

“And I want a body like Beyoncé's. . . . Wait, I have one,” I corrected myself. “But I want a lot of things that I can't get.”

He laughed again. “Maya Morgan. Girl, you're something else.”

“Waiting on the part where you tell me something I don't know.”

“When we gon' hang out or are you still hanging with your nerd boyfriend?” he asked.

“My friend Alvin is not a nerd. He's a sweetheart. Something that you wouldn't know anything about. But it's not even like that. He's just a friend.”

“Good. You need friends because I'm trying to be more than that.” J. Love definitely had swag, but he wasn't about to wiggle his way back in like that. Besides, Sammy was making moves like he wanted us to be exclusive, and if that happened, J. Love could forget about ever getting me back.

“And you can try all you want, but it's not going to change a thing. So if I were you, I'd stop trying,” I told him.

“Maya ...”

“Look, J. On the real, I'm dealing with some heavy stuff right now. I'm leaving this party and it was nothing but drama, and I'm not even in the mood.”

“Oh, were you at Shaq's party? I just saw a tweet about that. Did some people really OD?”

“Yeah, and one of those somebodies was my girl, Lauren.”

“Word in the Twittersphere was that that K2 was flowing freely at that party.”

That made me pay attention. All this time, I'd been thinking this was Lauren's normal drugs, but there hadn't been anything normal about how she was acting tonight. And K2 would explain that.

“J, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later.” I hung up before he could say a word. I quickly called Kennedi to tell her K2 had struck again and this time our friend was the latest victim.

K
ennedi had been so mad at me that she hadn't come back to my place last night. She'd listened as I'd told her Lauren had probably taken K2, then quickly told me she'd pass that info on to Lauren's parents before letting me have it some more for “abandoning” Lauren when she needed us most. She'd made me feel so bad that I'd gotten up first thing this morning and returned to the hospital. Now, I stood at the entrance of Lauren's room. She was awake and much calmer than she had been last night. I was so glad she was okay, but I had definitely never seen her look more afraid.

“Hey, Lauren,” I said, easing into the room. “How are you doing?”

She nodded slowly as Kennedi took her hand. I didn't miss how Kennedi didn't bother saying anything to me. I was gonna let her make it, though. Kennedi was a very loyal friend, so I knew it would take her a minute to get over me leaving.

“Girl, you had us worried,” I said.

“At least some of us,” Kennedi mumbled, giving me a side eye.

I shot Kennedi a now-isn't-the-time look.

“I had myself worried,” Lauren said, her voice weak. She was lying back against the pillow, and although her eyes didn't look as crazed as they had last night, she looked like she had been through a serious ringer.

“I don't think I've ever experienced anything like that,” she said.

“Yeah, you flipped out for real,” I said. “I'd never seen you like that.”

She frowned, adjusted a tube that was coming out of her arm, then said, “I've never felt like that before. I just remember taking the K2, then feeling real high. I vaguely remember the whole bathroom thing, when you guys took me in, but when I went back out, my heart started beating super-fast and I couldn't breathe, then I guess I started having the seizures. I guess I was hallucinating in the ambulance ride here because I thought they were demons, coming to drag me off to hell.” She shook her head. “It was unreal.”

“Wow” was all I could say.

“She just woke up right before you came in,” Kennedi finally said to me. “She had us all freaking out. Her parents are here. They're in the other room. Talking to police.”

“This is all just so wild,” Lauren said, trying to shift in the hospital bed.

I hated to hear this because I seriously had hoped that J. Love was wrong.

Lauren shrugged. “It's a new drug that Piper got.” She looked away as her eyes watered up. “We were just trying to loosen up and have a little fun.” She took a deep breath. “Me, Piper, and Tab ...” Her eyes grew wide. “Oh my God.” She struggled to sit up. “Where's Tabitha? I remember she passed out. Is she okay?”

Neither of us said a word as we exchanged glances.

“Where's Tabitha?” Lauren repeated as she looked back and forth between the two of us.

Kennedi squeezed her hand. “Lauren, Tabitha ... Tabitha, she didn't make it.”

That sounded like a line off some TV show, but I knew Kennedi was trying to find the right words.

Lauren sat up in her bed. “What do you mean, didn't make it?” Her eyes kept darting back and forth between Kennedi and me. “Didn't make it here, to the hospital?”

Kennedi looked to me for help.

“Lauren, Tabitha overdosed,” I gently said.

Lauren fell back against the head of her bed. “Please tell me she's gonna be okay.”

I shook my head. “She ... she died in the club last night. She never even made it to the hospital.”

Lauren let out a slow wail, then buried her head in her hands.

“I can't believe it. I just can't believe it,” Lauren cried.

We gave her a few minutes to get her tears out. After sobbing silently, she held up her head. “It wasn't supposed to be like this.”

I wanted to tell her it never was. Instead, I said, “Lauren, I don't understand why you guys—”

Kennedi held her hand up to stop me. “We're not here to preach to you about drugs,” she said. “You know how we feel about them. But I heard the police say K2 is cheap, a kind of ‘fake' meth. Why are you messing around with some cheap stuff?” Like our families, Lauren's was filthy rich. I couldn't see how she did regular drugs, but I dang sure didn't get why she'd be using cheap drugs.

Lauren shrugged as she slowly pulled herself up in the bed and tried to pull herself together. “My parents had been on me. Giving me these random drug tests. And this stuff doesn't show up on drug tests,” she said sadly. She closed her eyes and inhaled, like she was exhausted.

“But fake means it's not real,” I said. “Why would you put some fake stuff in your body and some
cheap
fake stuff at that?”

Kennedi cut her eyes at me. I'm sorry. I wasn't going to try and sugarcoat things. That's what was wrong with these druggies. People tiptoed around them, refusing to give them the cold, hard truth. “You could've killed yourself,” I added. That caused the waterworks to start back up.

“It was just for fun.”

I stepped closer to her and took her hand.

“That's what I'm trying to tell you,” I began. I wanted to slap her in the face with the truth, but I also knew that she was upset about Tabitha, so I didn't want to be too harsh. “This isn't normal. This stuff is killing people. I can't tell you how many stories I've heard in the past month about the dangers of K2.”

She silently wept. “Where did you get the stuff?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I don't know. Piper usually gets it. But I know you can get it from any convenience store.”

“You bought drugs from the 7-Eleven?” I balked.

“No, I was just saying you can get it there from a dealer,” she replied, “but they do sell it at my school.”

“At your boarding school?” I asked.

“They sell it at all the schools, Miami High included.”

I don't know why that surprised me, but it did.

“This is bad. This is so, so bad.” Lauren buried her face in her hands again. “I can't believe Tabitha is gone.”

“Yeah, and it could've been you,” I said matter-of-factly.

“Lauren, you know we love you, but you've gotta stop messing with this stuff. All of it,” Kennedi said. I guess Kennedi figured it was time out for sugarcoating as well.

I wanted to know more about where she (or Piper) was getting the drugs. I was about to ask her some more questions when the door to her hospital room opened.

“Ladies, I'm going to have to ask you to step out,” the nurse said, entering the room. She lifted a plastic bottle hooked on the edge of the bed and measured it.

“What's that?” I asked.

“That's a catheter. That's where she urinates,” the nurse said, and I couldn't help but cringe. Now, she couldn't even pee without assistance? If I did do drugs, that alone would be enough to make me stop.

“We'll be waiting outside,” Kennedi said, pulling me toward the door.

Before we reached the door, Lauren's parents walked in.

“Hi, girls,” her father said.

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis,” I said.

They both managed a weak smile before her mother said, “Girls, we really appreciate you all being here for Lauren, but we're going to have to ask you to step out,” her mother said.

“We were just going to wait outside,” Kennedi said.

“It's probably better if you go on and go home,” Mr. Lewis said. The tone of his voice made me wonder if he thought we had something to do with Lauren taking drugs.

Her mother followed us out. “I'm sorry to have to do this to you guys, but we just got some devastating news and we have to figure out how to break it to Lauren.”

“What's wrong?” Kennedi asked, panic spreading across her face.

“Apparently, Lauren had a loss of oxygen, which resulted in some spinal damage.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means”—she took a deep breath—“Lauren may not be able to walk again.”

“What?”

Her mother dabbed at her eyes.

“From doing drugs?” Kennedi asked.

Mrs. Lewis shook her head as she unraveled the tattered tissue in her hand. I reached over, grabbed the Kleenex box off the nurse's stand, and handed her a fresh tissue. She took it, blew her nose, and continued. “I've been so scared that something like this would happen, but Lauren always thought it was no big deal.” She glanced back at Lauren's room. “This is obviously a very big deal.” Mrs. Lewis turned to me and squeezed my hand. “I see you've been covering this on your show. I wish you could find out who's behind this and help put a stop to it. Tabitha's mother is heartbroken. She's lost her only child. And we're just thankful that ... well, we're hoping that not being able to walk will be the worst of Lauren's problems.”

I just kept shaking my head. This was all just so unbelievable.

Mrs. Lewis hugged us both. “You girls go on home. We'll keep you posted.”

By this point, Kennedi and I were both teary-eyed as we watched her walk back to Lauren's room. Finally, Kennedi said, “My mom is on her way up here. She's just as upset about Lauren and she wanted to see Lauren's parents. I know what Mrs. Lewis said, but I'm just gonna stay up here and wait on my mom.”

“Are you sure you gonna be okay?”

Kennedi nodded, as she wiped away her tears. “Why would she do this, Maya? Why would Lauren risk everything just to get high?”

“I don't know. I guess this stuff is pretty powerful.” I didn't have the answer because I just didn't understand it myself.

“Mrs. Lewis is right.” Kennedi's voice turned serious as she stared at me. “You gotta do something.”

I frowned. What the heck was she talking about? “Me? What am I supposed to do?”

“I don't know. Find out who's bringing the drugs in Miami. Expose them.”

“You know that's not what I do.” I know I'd been covering the stories of celebrities hit by the K2 craze, but that was where the buck stopped. I wasn't some investigative reporter. And I wasn't trying to be.

“Maya, you know I don't try to tell you how to do your job, but this stuff is for real. The regular news stations are covering this K2 story, but our friends aren't listening to them. They'll listen to you! They'll take you serious and maybe even help you bust this ring. You've got to do something before another person we know has their lives messed up.”

I was trying to figure out who had died and made me Captain Save-A-Druggie.

“You have a voice, Maya. Use it.”

I looked at my friend. She wasn't usually this serious. About anything. But I guess this was definitely a serious matter.