Cush looks at me. “Key . . . ” He looks down at Mandy like he just realized she was there, and swats at her like she’s an annoying fly. “Get off me.” Then he looks back up at me and says, “I lob you.”
Mandy stops what she’s doing and shrugs her shoulders. “Sorry, Keatyn, I didn’t think you were going to be here.”
Meaning she’s not the least bit sorry.
I’m so pissed I can barely see straight. “GET OUT OF HERE!” I yell at her.
She holds up her hands. “Hey, it’s not my fault your boyfriend cheated on you before you even left town.”
Cush’s chin drops to his chest. What’s wrong with him? What did Vanessa say? That he was messed up. That doesn’t make sense. Cush never does drugs or gets drunk.
“What’s wrong with him? What did you do to him?” I ask the snake, Mandy.
She laughs. “I just put a little something in his drink to loosen him up.”
I take two big steps and pin her against Cush’s door.
“What did you give him?”
“Just some valium. He’ll be fine. He was loving it before you walked in.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know, three, maybe four.”
That bitch. She drugged him? And now she’s standing there looking all smug about it. Looking at her smug face, a fierce anger boils inside me. I back a step away from her then punch her right in the nose. Hard.
There’s a loud pop and blood starts cascading down her face. I grab her nasty blonde extensions, pull her out the door, and down the stairs.
“Stop it, that hurts,” she whines, but she has no choice but to follow me. I barely notice that she’s leaving a trail of blood behind us.
Vanessa is waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. She says sweetly, “Anything I can do to help?”
I push the girl toward Vanessa and reply with the same sweetness. “Could you please take out the trash?”
I survey the partygoers, who have all turned to watch, and point to Alicia. This time, I use my bitch voice. The voice you use when you’re being polite to someone but totally slamming them right to their face. “And don’t forget Alicia over there. Alicia, honey, you better come help your friend. She seems to be bleeding.”
Alicia doesn’t move.
“Now!” Vanessa says. “Or do you want to bleed too?”
Alicia quickly gathers up their purses and leads Mandy toward the door. Mandy turns around and yells, “Fuck you.”
“No, thanks,” Vanessa says as she slams the door behind them.
I run back up the stairs. Cush hasn’t moved. He’s still sitting in his desk chair with his shorts down around his ankles.
“Cush, look at me.”
He looks up and smiles. “Keat-un, I lobe you.”
His pupils are so big I can barely see the color of his eyes.
“We need to fix your pants.”
He looks down, seems confused by the fact that he has on no pants, and nods vaguely.
“Stand up, okay? I’m going to help you.”
He stands up, and I pull up his shorts.
I realize I do need Vanessa. I can’t handle this shit alone. I thought I could make my own group. A group of people that would just be friends, not have hidden agendas. I thought Mandy was sweet.
I was very wrong.
Not only that. I feel like it’s my fault. My fault that Mandy did this to Cush. Like she was trying to prove something.
I grab a glass of water from his bathroom sink. “Try to drink this. I’ll be right back.”
I hurry back downstairs and see everyone has gone back to partying.
I find Vanessa sitting on Alexander’s lap.
She sees me, kisses Alex on the cheek, and says, “Give me just a minute” and pulls me aside. “Someone is always going to want what we have, Keatyn. It’s why I work so hard to protect it.”
I look around at the party and know she’s right. “I was nice to her.”
“Whatever you want, I’ll do. I know we’ve had our differences lately, but you’re my best friend.”
“Help me get everyone out of here.”
“Like end the party?”
“Yes. Now. She drugged him. I’m really worried.”
“And what about the girl? You gonna let her get away with that?”
“I’m pretty sure I broke her nose. I didn’t let her get away with it.”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”
I look into her eyes. I know what she means, and for the first time in our friendship, she’s asking me for permission.
I copy Vanessa’s stance. I stand up straighter, tilt my chin in the air, and nod my head. “Do it. Destroy her.”
“And Cush?”
“It’s not his fault.”
Vanessa pulls me into a hug,
RiAnne rushes over to us. “Ohmigawd, you two made up. I’m so happy. You have no idea how much stress this caused me. If I have wrinkles at thirty, it’s your fault.” She pulls us into a group hug.
“Turn around and face the crowd, ladies,” Vanessa says. “We have an audience.”
Vanessa and RiAnne get everyone out of the house while I get Cush into the limo. As soon as everyone’s gone, I lock the house and set the alarm.
Then I call James.
“Where are you?” he asks. “You should be in the air by now.”
“Slight change of plans. Can you let the crew know that I have to reschedule?”