Roy Glenn - All About The Money

“But I. .” Bella managed before breaking down and sobbing again.

I looked over at Bella who was crumbling on the phone. I walked over and slowly removed the receiver from her shaking hand. I placed it back into its cradle and took her into my arms.

“My mother called me a streetwalker,” she sobbed onto my chest. “She said she never wants to see me again,” she added.

I rubbed her back. “We’re your family now, don’t worry about it,” I told her.

“Her parents are devoted Jehovah Witnesses-you know, like they go door to door and all,” Simone said.

“I just didn’t want to follow the faith,” Bella said.

I stroked her back. “Don’t worry about it. Like I said, we’re your family now.” By the time I looked up, Diane had walked into the room. I didn’t know how much she had heard, but I could tell by the look on her face that she agreed with my statement.

“If your parents don’t want you because you don’t want to go door to door, you ain’t ever gotta worry about them again,” Diane said walking over to us.

Bella finally pulled back and looked up at me.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.

I looked at her, moved hair from her face then said, “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. You have nothing to be sorry about.” I looked around the room. “I know everyone here agrees, we don’t ever have to worry about feeling left out, or like we don’t belong. By the time we’re done, we’ll rule this town.” For the first time since I walked into the room, I realized that we were at a turning point in our relationship If things went the way I planned, our little close-knit family would be unstoppable.

“Thank you, Jada,” Bella said sniffling. She turned away from my embrace. “Thank you all,” she added. We enveloped her in a group hug and laughed at ourselves for being so emotional.

Two months into my self-employment gig and business was very slow. As a matter of fact, business was a bit too slow. We were for the most part, living on my back. I still had my regular clients. When I had an appointment or when the client would allow it, I would send Bella or Simone. Diane was still a little too ghetto for prime time, but she was working hard. I had thought about doing some work for Sasha, until she informed me that her fee had increased to 51 percent since I was now direct competition.

“It’s just business,” she said, then sipped her Mimosa.

I couldn’t fault her, but talking with her gave me an idea. Working with Sasha, business was steady because of her clientele and connections. But now that I was on my own, maybe I needed a different approach.

“So what’s up, Jada?” Bella asked.

“Yeah, when do we get to see some real money?” Simone had asked.

“I’ve got an idea,” I said, shedding thoughts of Sasha from my mind. “I think we need to go out and see if we can drum up some business.”

Bella had a worried look across her face, but it was Simone who fired questions at me. “Drum up business? Why? I thought you had that all under control. You mean we gotta go out and get the johns?” She sucked her teeth.

“Okay, first off, these are not johns. These are very important clients who are a bit lonely and are willing to pay for the company of an attractive lady,” I corrected.

“Whatever,” Simone snapped.

“I think what she means is, we thought things were a bit more organized and setup already,” Bella informed me. “I didn’t think we’d actually have to go out there and have to get our own clients.”

Simone jumped up. “I don’t know about this,” she said.

“I thought you guys were ready to make some paper. I guess I was mistaken.” I shrugged.

“Yeah, but I ain’t about to go on the stroll,” Simone said and smacked her lips.

“Nobody’s asking you to go on the stroll. All I’m saying is, right now my client list isn’t enough to sustain us all, and I don’t think it would hurt to do some networking at some exclusive events.”

“So how do we get ourselves invited to these exclusive events?” Simone asked.

“I know exactly where we’ll start.”

“Where?

“Sensations.”

Sensations was a nightclub frequented by our target clientele. My plan was a simple one.

Advertise.

If you have a product and you wanted to get maximum product recognition with your target group, you have to advertise. Get that product out in front of your target group. Once a week we would go to Sensations.

“Are you guys gonna trust me or what?” I needed to know. “I’m telling you, we’re doing the right thing.”

Simone was a bit reluctant, but after some convincing, quite a bit actually, she agreed. Once I had Simone, Bella fell right in line. By the time Diane arrived, it was agreed we’d go to Sensations the very next Friday night.

That night I realized that my new family had found their voice. Simone was by far the strongest personality of the three. Bella was soft as butter, and Diane was just glad to be down, so she went along with whatever everybody else was doing.

But not Simone, her favorite line was, “I don’t understand this at all,” she would say, laced with attitude. Which to me always meant that she wasn’t with what I was sayin’, and before we moved on, I needed to make it clear what we were talking about and more importantly, how it would benefit everybody. I knew that once I had Simone on my side it was over.

We spent the day shopping for that evening’s attire. Simone chose a Nicole Miller stretch, satin ruched slip dress with spaghetti straps. I couldn’t really appreciate the straight neckline, but I did like the ruching at center bust and at the front and back bodice. When she first walked out of the fitting room, I wasn’t sure I liked the dress.

“Work it, girl,” Diane encouraged.

And when Simone worked it, it was like she gave the dress a life of its own.

“I think that’s the one,” I told her.

“You like it?” she asked Bella.

“It’s nice. And obviously you know how to work it,” she said excitedly.

With Simone out of the way, we turned our attention to finding just the right outfit for Bella. I was flipping through a nearby rack of dresses when my head snapped toward a squeal coming from Diane.

“Well, I’ll be damned!”

I turned to see Bella strolling out in a bodysuit. But this wasn’t just any bodysuit; it was a sleek one-piece that hugged her curves.

She strutted and ran her hands along the length of her body.

“I feel so sexy.” She giggled. She spun, then struck a pose.

“Girl, you are too fierce in that getup,” I said.

“You think I should get it, Jada? I mean, you don’t think it’s-I don’t know”-she shrugged-“too much?”

“Too much?” I stepped a bit closer to her. “Girl, you look hot!”

“For real, with that outfit on, I just pray we’ll be able to get some play up in the club standing next to you,” Diane cosigned.

“Okay, if you guys like it, then I’ll get it,” she said before turning and rushing into the fitting room.

Once we piled into the car, Diane turned to me and said, “How come you didn’t get anything?”

“Yeah,” Bella added.

“Please, all the stuff I have in that closet; some of that shit still has tags dangling from them.”

When Snoop’s new cut came on, we all started rocking to the beat. All the while I thought about the black Just Cavalli satin bustier dress, laced with a leopard-print tie. It was just the right mixture of elegance and class; the perfect outfit for the Queen B. When I thought about it, I knew for sure that the night would belong to us.

Everyone agreed to meet at my place by seven. After I went over the plan again, we got dressed and was sipping champagne while we waited for the bewitching hour. Our game plan didn’t involve going to the club to party, we were strictly there for business. I had put in a standing reservation for a limo to pick us up every Friday night at eleven o'clock shape. We would arrive at the club and make our grand entrance at exactly midnight.