Be Bad For Me(18)

"Aaahh! This is so beautiful," she breathed, admiring the sparkly diamond in the middle.

"I promise that if you're patient with me that I will put another ring  on the other finger the next time," Anthony said, looking into her eyes.  "Don't give up on me because I'm not perfect. I'm trying to be though."

"I won't," Annette smiled and kissed him.

Suddenly, she had forgotten about the incriminating text message on his  phone. This promise ring was just enough to keep her satisfied and  confident that she hadn't wasted two years or her life with Anthony and  that she wouldn't be wasting time in the future.





Chapter 12





"I don't think I'm gonna go, Denise." Annette said, kicking off her bedroom slippers and sitting on the couch beside her.

"Man, you're a sell out. What's up with that? You want Bianca and me to go by ourselves."

"Yeah! Don't be such a sell-out." Bianca agreed with her, searching Annette's refrigerator.

"Anthony's not going. He said that he and Tango don't get along."

"So, what! Let his ass stay home. Where is he at now, anyway? If he  ain't going that don't mean you have to stay at home with nothing to do  while he's out somewhere else," Denise said.

The fact was that she didn't know where Anthony was. He had called her  this morning saying that they were not going to Tango's party. That's  right. His exact words were: We're not going to that party tonight. I'm  just not feeling that guy Tango anymore. He act like his damn shit don't  stink. Apparently, Tango had said something about Anthony's  unsuccessful rap career and Anthony had taken the insult pretty hard. "I  don't know where he is. He might be at the studio."         

     



 

"You're going. Go get her some clothes, Bianca," Denise said.

"Will do," Bianca said, escaping into Annette's bedroom. Bianca had no  problems searching through Annette's huge walk-in closet that was filled  with designer clothes, shoes, and bags. Some she hadn't even worn yet  with the price tags on to prove it.

"You don't have to tell him you went."

"What if he finds out?"

"He won't. And if he does, so what? Tell him that you went with me. Call  him right now and see what he's doing. I bet he's out having fun,  already." Denise said, picking up Annette's cell phone off the coffee  table and handing it to her.

Annette speed-dialed Anthony's number. It went straight to voicemail.

"See? He can't even answer his phone. You're going out with me and  Bianca," Denise said, and before she could protest, she pulled Annette  off her couch, and pushed her towards the bedroom.

Bianca already had an outfit spread out on the bed and her head was  still buried in Annette's closet. "Girl, this outfit is hot!" It was a  sleeveless black leather mini dress by Gucci. "And here are the shoes."  Bianca had found a pair of coordinating black leather low cut boots with  stiletto type heels.

"We'll coordinate real good if you wear that," Denise said. Bianca and  Denise were also wearing mini dresses in different colors. Denise had on  a white halter mini dress, with gold accessories for accent. Bianca was  wearing a tight red satin mini dress and black accessories to  coordinate.

"Well, since I have my own personal dresser, then Denise, will you flat iron my hair and do my makeup?" Annette asked.

Denise smiled and the girls got started on her hair and makeup. In less  than an hour, all three were ready to go party and no one couldn't have  told them that they weren't going to be the best looking girls in that  mutha.





Chapter 13





When they arrived, the party had already gotten started. Tango was  hosting the party at a friend's mansion on the other side of town. As  they walked up to the entrance, the place looked like a club on a  Saturday night. There were people everywhere. Outside, inside, on the  patio, hanging out on the wrap around deck, around the pool, and even in  the pool. The music and loud voices drifted from inside the mansion  through the huge double doors. Annette saw a few familiar faces, but  couldn't put names to any of them. Most of them she recognized from the  clubs. If she didn't know their name, maybe they didn't know hers  either. She wanted to keep a low profile, tonight. After all, she wasn't  even supposed to be here.

"You know where we're headed first, right," Bianca said, turning around  to look at them when they reached the entrance. She nodded towards a bar  set up in a corner.

"And you know this," Annette agreed, and she, Bianca, and Denise kept  close to each other as they headed towards the bar. They had decided to  use a cab for transportation to and from the party since neither of them  wanted to be the responsible designated driver.

They each ordered martinis before maneuvering through the crowd of  people again, going from section to section waving to people they  recognized along the way and checking out the scenery. Tango had gone  all out for his birthday parties. Not only was there a full bar at no  charge to the guests, but it was also catered with finger foods and  appetizers. The center of the first floor was dedicated as a huge dance  floor where a handful of people were dancing and getting their groove  on. Everywhere you looked you could see people forming groups and  cliques, laughing and chatting with each other. Several sections of the  first floor were dedicated to card players, video game players, and pool  players. They walked outside to the backyard and pool area. Only a  handful of people were in the pool and hot tub. She scrunched up her  nose when she saw several couples making out with each other with no  regards as to the people around them.

"Annette, isn't that Terrell?" Bianca nudged her, pointing to a chaise lounge on the side of the pool.

It was Terrell. His arms were wrapped around the waist of the girl that was seated on this lap.

"Yeah," Annette said. "Let's go back inside. I don't even want him to  see me." Annette turned around and Bianca and Denise followed her back  inside the mansion.

"Let's go see if they have a pool table free," Denise suggested.

When they walked over to the area with pool tables, they weren't  surprised that they had to wait for other people to finish up their game  before they could get their own table.

"Bianca, you think TJ is here with his crew?" Denise asked as we leaned up against the wall waiting our turn.         

     



 

"I didn't see him. I didn't see any motorcycles outside on the way here either. I told y'all he said that he might not be here."

"That's okay. We're still gonna have a good time … with or without males," Denise said.

"I know that's right. We came to paarrteeey … not worry about men," Bianca  exclaimed, rocking her hips from side to side to the music to show that  she meant business.

All three girls laughed in agreement. Two tall guys that were waiting in  front of them, each with a Heineken beer in their hand, turned around,  no doubt trying to figure out what all the excitement was about. Both  guys gave them the once over and turned to look at each other with  knowing looks.

"Hey, you girls waiting to play pool, too," the youngest looking one  directed his comment to all of them, smiling and giving each the once  over.

"Why else would we be waitin' in line?" Bianca snapped.

"Oh, you got a smart-assed mouth, don't you?" he shot back.

"No, I'm just sayin' … we ain't standing here for our health."

"I'll take that as a yes. We just wanted to know if you two want to pair up on a table with us. Us against you three."

Annette, Bianca, and Denise looked at each other, pretending to  contemplate his request. "Okay, it's better than waiting in line any  longer than we have to," Annette said. "But, you know y'all gonna get  your ass beat, right?"

The two guys bust out laughing as if she wasn't serious. Annette could beat anyone in pool any day.

"You may think you're at an advantage ‘cause y'all got one more person  than we do, but you will be sadly mistaken in a few," the younger one  said again. "I'm Gerald, by the way, and this is my homeboy, Rico."

Annette's eyes went from Gerald to Rico. Both had long neatly styled  dreads and shiny grills over their teeth. She wondered how they could  talk with those things in. What? Did they think that they were Lil'  Wayne or Lil' Jon and the East Side Boyz or something? She kept her  comment to herself as they introduced themselves.

"Are y'all sisters?" Rico asked, looking them up and down.

"Not really. We're just friends," Denise answered.

"Y'all from Atlanta or what?" Rico continued.

"Yes, and y0u?" Denise ran her hands through her hair. It looked like she was into Rico.

"We just moved here from Florida. Miami, actually."

"Florida, huh? What made you want to move from the beach to Atlanta?" Denise questioned.

"The females, especially the thick ones," Rico answered, looking at Denise's cleavage. Denise didn't seem to mind, either.