"Hello?" I answered the phone half sleep.

"Oh good, you haven't left yet."

"Briana, what do you want?"

"Why you still sleep? It's 7:15."

"Everyone's not a morning person like you. Plus, I was restless all last night. What do you want?"

"Have you heard from Penny?"

"No, not since Thursday, why?"

"She not answering my calls or texts."

"Maybe she's just busy with family stuff or something. You did say that she told you she had a family emergency; maybe she's still dealing with that."

"I thought so too, so I called her sister up to see if everything was okay, and guess what?"

"What?" I mumbled.

"She didn't know what the hell I was talking about. She said that there was no family emergency."

"Well...maybe...I don't know Briana I'm half sleep. What do you want me to do?"

"I gotta be at my residency in fifteen minutes. Can you go by her apartment and see if she got some company up in there with her? She'll answer the door if it's you."

"Briana, I doubt she's laid up with some girl. I think you're reaching. She wouldn't do some stupid shit like that."

"It won't hurt to go see—"

"Hold up," I interrupted her. "Even if Penny was nose deep in some coochie right now, why would it matter? Did y'all finally get together and have the audacity to not tell me?"

Briana started stuttering, trying to come up with excuses. It's not often that you can make this girl flustered. I had fun mocking her and then laughing when she hung up in my face. I called her back.

"Okay, I'll run by her apartment since you got me up now."

"I appreciate it."

"Mmhmm." We hung up and I went to go throw on something real quick. I made sure Imani was still sleep, and I told Robyn I would be gone at most an hour—before either of them even got up. Hopefully, I would be back in an hour.

On the ride to Penny's place, I called her twice and she didn't answer. If she's not answering the phone, I doubt she'll answer the door for me. I got to Penny's garden-style apartment complex, and the front gate was broken like always. Penny mentioned that the management refused to fix it. I pulled up outside her building and some woman was talking on the phone hella loud. I passed her, walking up three flights of stairs. I knocked on Penny's door and waited. No answer.

"Penny!" I was trying not to be too loud since it was early. After knocking for a few minutes, I sent Briana a text. Maybe she wasn't here. I was about to leave when the door across from me opened. A girl came out dressed in a Walmart employee vest. She looked up and saw me, then she noticed where I was standing.

"She ain't home," was all she said.

"Do you know by any chance when you last saw her, if you saw her?"

"Uhhh, I do actually. Today's Sunday, so I think it's been two days. I think the last time I saw her was around this time Friday," she said popping her gum.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yea. I got a camera, and I get notifications when there's motion outside my door. I check it often cuz I be ordering hella stuff from fashion nova, and people like to steal shit around here."

"Oh okay. Thanks." She nodded and walked off. I was actually starting to get worried now. I knocked on the door one more time and left when I got no answer. I jogged down the stairs and made it my mission to find Penny before I had to leave today.

Briana called me in response to the message I sent her.

"If her family doesn't know where she's at and her neighbors haven't seen her, then I don't know Briana."

"Do you think she's at the club?"

"I don't know. Maybe, but I doubt that it's open on Sunday's, and if it is, it wouldn't be open this early. Ugh, maybe I'll run by there just to make sure."

"Okay, let me know. I have to go," she said. We hung up and I drove to the club. It was very unlikely that it was open at this time, or that Penny was even there.

I drove around the back like I always do. There were somewhat a lot of cars, but I didn't recognize any of them as belonging to Penny. I parked and got out. As I walked closer to the door, I could hear music blaring from the inside. I banged on the steel door until my knuckles started to hurt. I kept banging until someone eventually opened the door.

I stepped back as it swung open, almost hitting me.

"Damn, you almost—"

"You here for auditions?" He interrupted me.

"No, I—"

"We closed," he cut me off again.

"I'm looking for someone, she works here." I folded my arms across my chest as he eyed me from head to toe. I pulled down my shorts, regretting my choice of attire. At least I was wearing a hoodie to cover up the fact that I had no bra on. I would've covered up more if I knew I'd be doing all this.

"Eyes up here," I mumbled rolling my eyes.

"Whatchu want again?" He leaned his entire body against the open door with not a care in the world.

"I'm looking for my friend. Her name is Penny. She works here." He bit his lip, not paying attention to anything I was saying. He was only concerned with trying to undress me with his eyes.

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"Well, can you go see?"

"What's in it for me?" He smirked. Fed, up, I squeezed my smaller frame through the space he so conveniently left open for me, and walked further into to club.

"Damn," he said smacking my ass. I turned around so fast.

"Now you doing too much."

"Ma, lemme hit."

"No." I kept walking. He started following me down the long hallway like a fucking creep. Instead of just letting me go about my business, he apparently had other plans. I looked back just as he tried to reach for me. I did my best to dodge him, but he ended up grabbing me by my hood and pulling me to him. I immediately went into defensive mode.

"Aye aye, relax. I just wanna talk."

"No you don't. Get the fuck off. I don't want anything from you."

He smacked his teeth, "Bitches always stingy." I rolled my eyes and yanked myself from out of his grip. I went to walk off yet again when he smacked my ass YET AGAIN. I was mid swing—literally about to slap the shit out of this dude when a blur passed me and he was violently flung to the floor.

"Asha!" My eyes lit up at hearing a familiar voice.

"Penny." She tugged me away from all the commotion.

"Come on."

I looked down, and not too far away from where I was standing, I saw Meech beating the shit out of that nigga, no mercy.

"Come on," Penny tugged me some more and I followed after her. We passed a bunch of people out in the main area. They were mostly men, but a few women sat among them. It seemed as if they were all deep in conversation despite the loud music.

Penny led me up to Meech's office and closed the door behind us. I walked over to the large glass window and saw the same people still seated. I watched them until Meech showed up and started going off. I could tell by his body language and the way he was waving his gun around that he wasn't happy in the slightest.

"Asha."

"Yes," I said backing away from the window.

"You shouldn't be here."

"I know, but I was looking for you."

"I've been—"

"Why did you lie and say you had a family emergency?" I cut her off.

"It sounded more reasonable than the truth."

"And what's the truth?" I asked.

"It's complicated."

"I'm not upset or anything. Your business is your business. I accepted that you couldn't come to Imani's party because you had a family emergency. Even though that was a lie, I don't care. You weren't obligated to come, and it wasn't a big deal to me. But, Briana called me earlier this morning on some petty shit. You know how she be sometimes. She asked me to run by your place to see if you were in there entertaining some girl. After about five minutes of just standing outside your door looking stupid as hell, my mind started wandering like it always does. I was like, is this girl passed out on the floor bleeding to death from a head injury? Then I met your neighbor and she said she hadn't seen you in a couple of days. Then I got even more worried. If it was the other way around I would like to assume that you would also go on a manhunt looking for me if you thought something was wrong. I'm literally leaving today and I didn't want to leave without making sure that you were good." I took an annoyed breath. I probably sounded stupid.

"Anyway, I say all that to say that I'm glad nothing actually happened to you, and that you've just been ghosting everyone and lying because you've been busy and not because you were being held hostage in someone's basement," I shrugged. Penny laughed a little and I frowned.

"Do you even know me?" She asked.

"Apparently not because now that I'm thinking about it, you're like the last person to be chained up in someone's basement." She walked up to me and pulled me into a hug.

"You're so kind and cute...and sexy," I rolled my eyes. She just had to add that last part.

"Yeah, whatever," I mumbled.

"Are you okay though?" She pulled back, straightening my clothes. I nodded.

"Ugh, that nigga didn't touch you or anything?"

"I'm good. Y'all stepped in before anything actually happened," I shrugged. "But, who is he anyway?"

"Literally a nobody, just a nigga from the streets. Lately he's been tryna get on Meech's good side to see if Meech will offer him a job. After today, he's as good as dead."

"So, you actually for real work for Meech, and not just here at the strip club?" I asked.

"Yes."

Damn, I didn't know that. She always made it seem like she had no ties with Meech.

"So, when I asked you that one time if you could relay a message to Meech for me and you acted as if you barely knew him, you were lying?"

"Yes, but not really. It's not like I'm close with him. I do work for him, but I also work with him. We all do. Everyone in this damn building works with Meech—dancers, staff, security, everyone. But, I can't talk about anything we do." I nodded. Besides the basic shit, I already had a pretty good idea of what goes on behind the scenes anyway. She didn't have to flat out tell me.

"You really shouldn't be here though. Meech is already not in a good mood. He rarely goes off like that."

"Yeah, next time I'll just assume that your ass is fine, and not being skinned alive by some creep." The door was pushed open and Meech walked in. Penny gave me one last look before leaving.

"I didn't mean to cause trouble," I spoke up first.

I followed his movements with my eyes. He went behind his desk and placed his gun on top of it. He then removed his blood stained shirt and threw it on the floor. I eyed the curves and indents of his muscles. He was physically fit, anyone could tell that, but it looked like he took pride in maintaining it. My feet moved in his direction until I was standing in front of his desk. I watched as he exchanged his old shirt for a fresh clean one.

"Meech, I can leave. I'll leave—"

"Let me show you something," he said.

"What?" He positioned his gun on his waistband and nodded in the direction of the door. Right on cue, multiple people came bursting through the door. I took one look at the dude from earlier and grimaced.

"You don't have to show me this. I get it."

"I know you get it, but I need to make sure that this nigga gets it."

It was hard to look at the dude as his face was covered in blood, and it was already starting to swell. Did I feel bad for him? No, but that didn't mean I wanted to stare at his battered face. I shivered in disgust.

"Apologize," Meech spoke up. I looked to Meech and then back at the dude. He started spitting up blood and Meech laughed.

"My nigga, you can take a beating I'll give you that. But speak up."

"I said," he coughed some more, "I'm sorry," he looked up at Meech who was still standing behind his desk.

"For what? Address her not me nigga." They brought him closer and pushed him down almost directly in front of me. I took a step back. He looked even worse up close.

"I'm sorry for putting my hands on you. It won't happen again." He could barely make eye contact with me. I didn't say anything at all. I didn't think I needed to.

"Is that good for you?" Meech asked me and I nodded. The guy was then escorted out of the room almost as fast as he was brought in. When the door closed behind them, I stood awkwardly in my spot.

"Do you feel better?" I asked, not bothering to turn and face Meech.

"I do. Do you?" He asked. I just shrugged.

"You don't need to worry about it. A point was made, and I bet that nigga won't try that shit again."

"And if he does?"

"Trust me, he won't." I could hear the amusement in his voice. It honestly sounded like he was trying not to laugh. I turned to Meech, wondering what he found so funny. He was now seated in his chair smoking a blunt. He looked as if he was completely relaxed despite how angry he was earlier. I narrowed my eyes at him. I could never be at the level of anger he was at not too long ago, and then be completely fine minutes later. Either Meech was a psychopath or just very good at managing his emotions.

I shook my head.

"Are you going to walk me out? I've been here long enough and I need to go." He stood up, still smirking. It was subtle, but it was there. This nigga.

.....

🤷🏾‍♀️😉