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“I’m Jasmine.”
“Bobby.”
“Chris.”
Tasha smiled and shook all of their hands and looked back at Lynn.
“Did you see Tanya?” asked Chris, the half black and Asian girl asked Bobby, who kind of looked like Tamia. “She was on stage in back. Fucking porn star!”
“Giant freaking A+ on that two-piece!” Bobby said, taking a little mint box from her purse.
The women laughed at her joke and so did Tasha, though she had no idea what any of them were talking about and thought they were saying that some girl named Tanya, who was a porn star, was wearing a bikini on a stage in the back that she apparently hadn’t seen. Aside from the name, all of this was wrong. Translation: Tanya, who had nice legs and thighs, was doing something freaky in the bedroom.
“Does she still work at the radio station?” Lynn asked, taking one of the mints from Bobby and handing the box to Tasha.
“Yes, she was promoted to station manager last month and she’s supposed to be getting me a job there,” Chris said.
“That’s awesome, girl,” Bobby said before kissing Chris on the cheek. “I guess it pays to know big people in big places.”
“Girl fucking power!” Tasha heard someone say, but she wasn’t sure who it was because she was too busy trying to get the nasty taste of the ecstasy she thought was a mint out of her mouth. Tasha was no newbie. She’d had ecstasy before and knew exactly what the pill was once it stuck to her tongue.
“You okay?” Lynn whispered to Tasha once she noticed her wiping her tongue with a tissue.
“I’m fine,” Tasha said. “Just didn’t know that was ex.”
“Eww.” Lynn frowned. “Maybe I should’ve said something. You want to leave?”
“No,” Tasha said, thinking she was fine and not wanting to ruin her first party out with the new crowd. She didn’t understand what they were talking about half of the time, but kept thinking about what Lynn told her—if she wanted to work with these people, she had to understand them. Tasha explored this thought, this desire, this idea for what she was sure was thirty seconds. Maybe a minute. She didn’t know. She was watching Bobby’s earrings. Big chandeliers with pink and white diamonds. How slow they sparkled when she tilted her head to the side. Then she couldn’t tell if it was Bobby or her who was tilting. The room or the table. Pink and white. It was so pretty. She put her thumb in her mouth and watched them slow even more, sitting still like diamonds in the sky.
“Pretty earrings,” Tasha said, reaching toward the diamonds.
“Thank you,” Bobby said, catching Tasha’s hand and moving it to Lynn’s lap, where she held it and massaged it.
The sensation of her thumb in her mouth and the hand massage was so soothing, Tasha leaned into Lynn and rested her head on her shoulder.
“You okay?” Lynn asked, putting her arm around Tasha. “We can leave if you’re not okay.”
“I’m fine,” Tasha said, taking her thumb out of her mouth. “I’m fine. I’m kicking it!” She laughed and looked up at Lynn. “Don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl.”
“Yeah, but—”
“I’m fine.” She looked into Lynn’s eyes.
“You sure about this, baby?”
“Yes,” Tasha said. “I am.”
Lynn leaned toward Tasha and all Tasha could think of was that she wanted to put her thumb back in her mouth. To put her thumb back in her mouth and look at the sparkly diamonds.
?
In the morning, when the sun was up and the penthouse was empty, Tasha would learn what the stage was. She was on it…well, in it.
She knew something was wrong before she even opened her eyes. There was snoring and neither
she nor Lionel had the affliction.
Slowly, Tasha opened one of her eyes and saw a headful of black curls, white sheets, and a huge window with the sun pouring in.
