"I said--" Before she could complete her sentence, her body was yanked away from Terrell's pelvis. The person swung her around. It was Anthony!
"What the fuck are you doing?"
"Anthony … what you snatch on me like that for?" I tugged away from him and smack him on the chest.
"You gonna get a nigga ass beat in this muthafuckin' club!" He was so angry that she could see the veins popping up on his neck.
"Then make a move if you bad." Terrell was caught off guard as well, but if she remembered correctly from high school, he had gotten into a few bloody fist fights when they were in high school together.
"Bitch, I will fuck your ass up," Anthony challenged.
By now, some people on the dance floor had stopped dancing and were now standing still shocked at the drama going down.
"Anthony, stop! This is nothing!" she pleaded with Anthony, placing her hand on his chest when he moved in closer to Terrell.
"Seriously," Terrell said. "What the fuck is wrong with this dude?"
"Naw, man. I told your bitch ass a little while ago that this right here is mine," Anthony went on, pushing up against her hand. Anthony was stronger than her and he finally pushed her hand aside and moved closer to Terrell.
Terrell replied, "Nigga, you said she was your muthafuckin' homegirl. I didn't know you was fuckin' that. Don't you ever run your sorry ass up on me! Ever!"
"What?" Anthony shouted.
"Whoa! Whoa! What's going on?" Leroy must have seen the spectacle and stood between Anthony and Terrell, pushing Anthony away.
"This nigga feeling up on my girl on the dance floor and shit. Blatantly disrespecting me."
"Let it go, man. Let it go. You got the bouncers comin' over here, man." It was too late and the bouncers were on the floor before Leroy could finish the sentence.
"You know the policy, man. Out the club!" The bouncers had both Anthony and Terrell in their grips.
"Hey, man, this Anthony. You know me. How you gonna kick me out the club and this my fuckin' party?" Anthony protesting, shrugging the bouncer off him. "Get this pussy ass nigga off my damn floor!"
The bouncers knew what the deal was. They knew that if they kicked Anthony out of the club, then they would regret it in the long run. Anthony had brought so much business to the club when it was about to go bankrupt that the owners of the club were practically in debt with Anthony. They were still cutting him checks for bringing business in. The bouncer let go of Anthony and assisted the other bouncer in grabbing Terrell, who was aggressively trying to fight off the first bouncer.
"Your punk ass. Nobody was disrespecting you," Terrell argued as the bouncers pulled him away. "If you would have claimed your girl properly, I wouldn't have even stepped to her … "
She was so embarrassed, as she turned around and saw that mostly everybody on the floor was looking at them. Bianca took her hand and led her off the dance floor.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded her head. "That was so embarrassing."
"I know. I was embarrassed for you."
"What's your problem?" Anthony was walking behind her and Bianca.
"You embarrassed me. I don't even want to talk to you."
"What you letting that nigga feel up on your ass for?"
"Nobody was letting him do anything. I can take care of myself," I said. She and Bianca were moving away faster through the crowd.
"Leave it alone, man. Let it go." Leroy was behind them, trying to calm Anthony down.
"No, I'm not letting shit go! I told your ass to stop hanging out with this ho right here. She got you on that dance floor shaking your ass and shit like this is the damn strip club."
Before Annette could check Anthony, Bianca beat her to it.
"Ho? Who the fuck are you calling a ho?"
"Did I stutter?" Anthony said.
"You know what, Anthony?" Annette was getting tired of this embarrassment and she wanted to put a quick ending to it. "Fuck what you're talking about and you're not about to stand here and call my best friend a ho. Cut the attitude before you come near me again."
She pulled Bianca away and they walked off, leaving Anthony shit-faced.
The rest of the night, she hung out with Bianca at the bar. Annette wanted to leave, but didn't want to cut Denise's night short because she was having a bad night. Denise had been talking and laughing with Charles on the other side of the room for a good while. It was almost closing time and she could see people moving away from the dance floor and leaving the club. When Anthony had tried again to come over and talk to her, she walked away from him. He got mad and stormed off and she hadn't seen him anywhere since then. Later on, TJ had told her and Bianca that he was outside the club. He was probably doing promotions and had completely forgotten about her all over again. That's good. Because she didn't feel like anymore of his mess tonight.
"I'm leaving, Annette. Will you be okay?" Bianca and TJ stood next to her as she sat on the bar stool waiting for Denise. Denise was the designated driver tonight, so she had no choice, but to wait. She definitely wasn't going home with Anthony tonight.
"Yeah. I'll be fine."
She turned back around to face the bar. She watched as the bartender took orders for people wanting that last drink before leaving out the club. "Can I get you something?" The bartender had finally reached her.
"Let me get a bottle of water. I'm through for tonight."
"You got it," the bartender said, turning around and pulling a bottle of Perrier water out of a tall chest of ice. He placed the bottled water on a coaster in front of her.
"Thanks," she opened her black leather clutch purse in search of her money clip. Before she could get her hand on her cash, someone placed a twenty dollar bill on the counter. When she looked up her eyes widened in surprise. It was Jordan.
"Uh … " She was so startled that she couldn't get out any words, not even a thank you.
"Change?" The bartender asked Jordan.
Jordan waved his hands, indicating to the bartender that he could keep the change. He placed the money clip back on the wad of cash he had in his hands and put it in his back pocket. She would bet that the thick wad of cash was cushioned by one dollar bills in the center with only a few big bills rolled up on top. She knew the deal. Too many times Anthony had done the same thing, so it would appear that he was ballin'.
"You've been sitting over here by yourself for the past thirty minutes. You looked kind of sad and lonely. I thought I'd come say hello."
His voice was so smooth and sounded so refreshing.
She smiled. "You've been looking at me for the past thirty minutes?" She hadn't even realized that Jordan was still in the club after he disappeared during her escape to the restrooms earlier that night.
"Something like that. You know, you should smile more. You have a pretty smile."
"Thank you. And thanks for the water," she said.
"No problem." He sat on the empty stool beside her. She couldn't help but check out his package again. She wondered what his body looked like without all those clothes on. She wanted to know what all those tattoos were about on his arms.
"What's that tattoo of on your arm?" She pointed to his arm rested on the bar.
"It's Chinese symbols for "Living the good life"." As he gestured to the tattoo, she could see the outline of another tattoo on the same arm hidden mostly by his shirtsleeve.
"That's cool. How many tattoos do you have?"
"Many … " Jordan's blunt answer intrigued her. He seemed interesting and she felt that he was someone that she wanted to get to know a little better. She wouldn't mind him showing her all the many tattoos on his sexy body.
She took a sip of her water. "So, you're a car salesman, huh?"
"I … " He paused, and then spoke again. "Something like that. Why? You wanna buy a car?"
"No, just askin'."
"I might give you my card, but I don't want your boyfriend to come kick my ass."
She could tell that he was only joking by the silly expression on his face. But she was a little embarrassed when she realized that he had witnessed the quarrel between her and Anthony over Terrell dancing with her.
"That was sooo embarrassing. Anthony completely overreacted."
"Why is he so overprotective?"
"I don't know," she said. "But don't worry. He won't come kick your ass."
"Oh, believe me, I am not worried one bit about that. If I had a girl that looked as good as you, I would be protective to. But, I would never put my hands on you like that. You don't deserve all that."
"You think?" How was he so sure of what she deserved?
"I know it."
"Fifteen minutes to closing … " All of a sudden, the DJs voice announced that it was time for closing.