The Hustler's Daughter {DC Bookdiva Publications} (8 page)

“Shooooooot,
I’ll take you up on that offer.” Hazel smiled as she was already looking
through the dresses. Candy shot her a dangerous look. If looks could kill,
Hazel would have died on the spot.

“It’s
okay Candice, if you’re going to my daughters Quincenera. No problem. We want
everyone to look as good as her on her special day.” Maria smiled and waved her
hands to the girls to go pick out something. They got up and Parisha showed
them to her finest dresses. Mercedes helped the girls pick out their dresses.
They all had style, but she didn’t want them coming to her party looking too
plain.

Candy
picked out a pretty, short, cream and pink dress with a pink bow in the back.
Hazel got a white strapless ruffle dress. It was hard for Chamari to find a
dress in her size; all of the ones she tried on were too tight. Paris
disappeared into the back and pulled out an all pink dress that she believed
might fit. Chamari smiled as she put on the dress and it hugged her body
perfectly, detailing all of her curves. Shateeya picked out a plain all white
strapless cocktail dress.

After
the girls picked out their dresses and shoes, they went to grab some ice cream
from Baskin Robbins.  They talked and giggled over the ice cream, then headed
home with all of their shopping bags. They were truly enjoying themselves and
Mercedes could tell by all the laughter.

For
the entire weekend, Mercedes, Candy, Hazel, Chamari and Shateeya had loads of
fun. They went out to the mall, movies, and the arcade. They did everything
they could during the weekend and it brought them much closer. They all got
along really well. They even told each other secrets that they would never tell
anyone.

Late
Sunday evening, as they sat in Mercedes’ room, they began to share deeper
secrets about each other.

“You
still a virgin Mercedes?” Shateeya quizzed her. “Yeah,” Mercedes shook her
head, “Why you not?”

“Hell
no girl, I lost my shit when I was thirteen.” Shateeya proudly said.

“She's
going to lose hers to Chino.” Candy cooed as she playfully nudged Mercedes in
the arm with her elbow. The girls burst into laughter. Mercedes blushed because
she secretly wanted that to be true. She was excited about the chance to see
Chino the next day when she would be handing out invitations. The fun would
really begin and everyone would remember who she was, if they didn’t already
know. The haters were sure to come out in full force now.

You’re Invited

Mercedes
was excited. Today she would be officially passing out her invitations. People
crowded the cafeteria because Candy made an earlier announcement about
Mercedes’ Quincenera. Everyone anxiously anticipated their invitation to her
birthday party. Mercedes stood on top of a chair, with her girls standing next
to her, as they called out people’s names and handed them their invitations.
The ones who didn’t get invitations would be highly upset.

They
were all aware that this was going to be the biggest party of the year,
especially since it was Mercedes’. She called Chino’s name out first, but he
wasn’t in the cafeteria at the time. She was a little sad at first, but she
knew that he would get his invitation. His presence was vital.

   After
they were done passing out invitations, everyone who received one was excited.
They were dancing around and chatting about what to wear. It seemed like
everyone except for the Queen Bee’s was invited.

They
were livid.  They sat at the table mean mugging the other happy students. India
looked as if she wanted to kill Mercedes. She had her arms folded across her
breasts and watched Mercedes laugh with her girls. Mercedes saw Chino walk in
the cafeteria. He was looking better than she remembered. His hair was
straightened and had it pulled back into a sleek ponytail. She immediately
grabbed her pink Louis Vuitton bag and made her way over to him.

   “Hey
Chino,” Mercedes smiled. She made sure she sprayed on some of her Ralph Lauren
perfume before she made it over to him. She wanted him to smell her when she
wasn’t around.

   “Hey
Ma,” Chino kissed her on the cheek. Mercedes pulled out an invitation from her
purse and handed it to him.

 “What’s
this?” he asked, shaking the invitation.

   “Open
it,” Mercedes urged.

“What
a beautiful picture.” Chino complimented. Mercedes blushed and watched him open
the invitation. He read it aloud, “You are invited to Mercedes Carter’s Sweet
16, a Pink and white affair- Leave the drama at home.” Chino laughed as he
rubbed his chin.

“So
are you coming or what?” Mercedes wasn’t amused, but she hid her annoyance.

“Of
course I’ll be there, why wouldn’t I?” Chino asked.

“Maybe
your little girlfriend won’t let you come.” Mercedes joked, but noticed he had
a serious look on his face.

“Nah
Ma it ain’t even like that, that’s my ex and she be tripping.” He assured her,
as he shook his head and chuckled at India’s crazy ass.

“Alright
that’s cool.” Mercedes nodded and turned to leave, but he stopped her with a
question she never thought she would hear.

“So
when are you gonna let me take you out and get to know you?” Chino asked while
staring into her pretty eyes.  Mercedes’ heart dropped while he was asking her
to take her out on a date. She wanted to scream, but she held her composure.
Mercedes caught India grilling her and talking shit to her crew about her, but
she didn’t care.

“Whenever
you want Chino.” Mercedes stated as if she had it like that.

“How
about I take you out Saturday, if you don’t mind?

“Sure.”

“I’ll
pick you up around 7:30?” He asked, but it was more like a demand.

   “That
sounds good,” Mercedes smiled.

   “What’s
your number Ma? So I can lock it in my jack.” Chino reached into his Pepe jeans
and pulled out his Blackberry. Mercedes grabbed her Sidekick out of her purse
and they exchanged numbers. She could feel piercing eyes on the back of her
neck, but she didn’t care. She always got what she wanted; Chino was next on
the to-do list.

   “Alright
Ma, I’m ‘bout to meet back up with my boys. We gon’ head to the gym, they
having some career shit in there.” Chino told her. “So check you later, aight.”
Chino kissed her on the cheek.

   “Alright,
see ya.” Mercedes replied shyly as she watched Chino walk away. She looked
around the cafeteria and found her girls walking toward her. She was beaming
inside and couldn’t wait until her party. Before she could even get her mouth
open, her friends began grilling her.

   “Yo
Cedes, please tell me you got Papi’s phone number?” Hazel questioned. Mercedes
couldn’t even respond, her smile answered her question.

   “So
did you?” Chamari added in.

   “You
can tell she did, look at her cheesing from ear to ear.” Candy added.

   “Yeah,
I did. Guess what? He’s coming to pick me up around 7:30 on Saturday.” Mercedes
smiled.

   “Look
at this bitch! He got her panties all wet.” Shateeya laughed. Mercedes
snickered along with her.

   “Anyway
let’s head to the gym, I heard they are having a career fair in there.”
Mercedes informed the crew, and they headed to the gym. The girls walked around
collecting information for different types of job openings and colleges.
Mercedes told them she was going to the bathroom. When she emerged from the
bathroom, India purposely gave her a hard bump to her shoulder.

   “What
the fuck?” India yelled out. “You need to watch yourself.”

   “No
bitch, you need to watch yourself. You bumped into me.” Mercedes responded.

   “I
know you not talking to me.” India turned around and was now an inch away from
Mercedes’ face.

   “I
guess I am; you the only stupid bitch in here bumping into people.”

   “You
know what, if you don’t get this girl outta my face.” India started yelling
trying to get attention. She knew the look on Mercedes’ face meant that she was
ready for whatever.

   “Bitch
please! You just fucking hatin.” Mercedes smirked.

“Hatin
on what?” India laughed hysterically. “Chino don’t want you.”

“Well
he damn sure don’t want you.” Mercedes blurted out, but she wasn’t finished.

“Oh
yeah, we exchanged numbers earlier. Don’t you get it, he doesn’t want your
silly ass? Come on, you playing yourself.”

That
comment pissed India off even more, and she moved in closer. Within a few
seconds, her girls were standing behind her like they were about to jump
Mercedes.

“What
the fuck, ya’ll bitches gon’ jump me?” Mercedes asked. “Come on, I’ll take you
bitches one by one. Square the fuck up.” Mercedes may have looked like a pretty
girl who only cared about how to dress, but her father taught her well. She
feared no one. She pushed up her sleeves and was ready for anything India had
planned.

Candy
and the other girls heard all of the commotion. They made their way over to the
bathroom, where the arguing was coming from. They stood behind their girl
wondering what the hell was going on. They knew India was the cause; she was
always starting shit, but could never finish it.

   “What’s
the problem?” Candy questioned. She could feel the high level of tension.

   “This
stupid bitch just bumped into me on purpose. She don’t know me, I’ll fuck her
up.” Mercedes yelled as her nose flared in anger.

“Fuck
that hoe!” Shateeya spat. “Don’t make me get my razor.” She carefully removed
the razor from under her tongue and tried to pass it to Mercedes. India tried
to jump at Mercedes as she turned towards Shateeya. Candy stood in between them
trying to prevent them from fighting.

At
this point everyone had run over to see what was going on. Chino’s boy grabbed
his shoulder and pointed out the situation to him. Chino couldn’t believe it;
he immediately ran over and jumped in between them. He pushed India away.

   “Yo,
what the fuck is your problem?” Chino yelled at India.

   “This
stupid bitch right here.” India rolled her eyes at Mercedes with her arms
folded across her breast.

   “You
always starting shit, one day you gon’ get your ass whooped. Don’t come fucking
crying to me when you do.” Chino spat as he turned around and looked at
Mercedes. He apologized for India’s actions.

   “Nah
it’s all good, it’s not your fault.” Mercedes breathed heavily. “We still on
for Saturday?” Mercedes smirked. She looked over Chino’s shoulders making sure
she was loud enough for India to hear.

 India
wanted to push Chino out the way and strangle Mercedes, but she knew that Chino
would never fuck with her again if she did. She managed to keep her cool for
the moment.

   “Yeah,
we still on.” Chino smiled as Mercedes looked at him and said,

“Alright,
call me.” She reached over and kissed him on the cheek.

 India
was sweating bullets and her blood was boiling. Mercedes and her crew calmly
walked out. They left the crowd speechless. India was already plotting revenge.

xxxxxxxxxx

Mercedes
was telling her mother about this boy she met at school for the entire week.
Maria wasn’t so sure if she wanted her daughter going out on a date with a boy;
she wasn’t even sixteen yet. Her mother couldn’t say no to her. However, she
told Mercedes that she would only be able to go if Don and Maria met him first.
Mercedes reluctantly agreed. She secretly hoped that her father wouldn’t be
home; he probably wouldn’t allow her to go.

Mercedes
went upstairs and took a long shower. When she got out, she wrapped up in a
pink beach towel. As she dried herself off, her phone started ringing. The ring
tone was “Smile” by Lloyd Banks; she knew instantly that it was her boo Chino.
She emerged from her private bathroom and skipped across the floor. She grabbed
her phone from her dresser and quickly answered.

“Hello,”
she answered the phone while trying to sound sexy.

“Who
you trying to sound all sexy for Ma?” Chino grinned. Mercedes covered her
mouth, wondering how he knew. “Nah, I’m just fucking with you.” Chino chuckled.
Mercedes was a tad bit embarrassed.

“What
you doing?” Chino questioned.

“Nada,
just got out the shower.”

“Oh,
word up.” Chino smirked with visions of a naked Mercedes running through his
mind. “Well I was just calling to hear your sexy voice, but I’m gon’ let you go
do your thing. See you in a bit Ma.”

“Alright
see ya.” Mercedes hung up the phone and pressed it against her chest. He gave
her stomach butterflies. It was 5:30 PM; she had two hours to get ready. She
rummaged around her closet looking for the perfect outfit. She eventually
decided on an Apple Bottom pair of black skinny jeans, a black off the shoulder
shirt with chain links hanging, and some black flats to match.

Mercedes
brushed her hair up into a high pony tail and curled the bottom of her ends.
She combed down her baby hair to give her an exotic look. She put on her bamboo
earrings, which spelled out her name.

It
was already 7:00 and Mercedes grew impatient as she waited downstairs for Chino
to arrive. She decided to pour herself a glass of water. When she returned back
to the living room, she noticed a car at the gate. The attendant called the
house and Mercedes picked up the phone. “Yes…who? Chino…yes let him in.”
Mercedes informed the attendant as she gulped down her water. She ran into the
bathroom to take one last look in the mirror. She checked her hair and made
sure it was intact. She applied her lip gloss and smacked her lips together as
she disappeared into the foyer.

“Mom,
he’s here.” Mercedes yelled out to her mom from the foyer. Mercedes opened up the
front door and noticed the blue L.E.D. lights from the gate. Chino was pulling
up in a 2004 black Honda Accord coupe. It was dropped low, had no tint, and
sitting on black and chrome 19” Racing Hart wheels. Chino got out of the car
and clicked the car doors locked with his remote. He began walking up the
stairs. He held two bouquets of red roses in his hand.

“Hey,
you look beautiful.” Chino greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank
you, come in.” Mercedes closed the door behind him as he walked in. Chino
looked at Mercedes in awe of how casual she looked, but still fly as ever.

“These
are for you Ma.” Chino said as he handed her the roses. “And the other ones are
for your mother.” Chino added.

   “Aww,
thank you.” Mercedes smiled. “You’re so sweet.”

“No
doubt Ma.” Chino winked. Mercedes blushed and eyed him up and down. He was
looking really sexy tonight. His hair was neatly slicked back looking smooth
and wavy. He had the whole Sean John attire going. He wore a brown SJ premier
vest with a fresh white t-shirt under it. He rocked some dark grey jeans with
seamed back pockets. To top it off he rocked some all brown and white Dunks.

“Well
you can sit down till my mom comes. I don’t know what she’s doing.” Mercedes
sat down on the sofa and admired her roses.

   Maria
came walking down the stairs with a big smile on her face. Her daughter looked
extremely happy while talking to her male friend on the couch. Chino stood up
and greeted Maria with a kiss on the cheek.