Forever Loyal To My Thug

Chapter One.

"Mom I'm leaving," I said as I peeked my head into her room.

  Mom nodded her head as she looked over at me. "Okay have a good time be safe Candice," she replied, pulling the covers back over her head. I closed her door as I swung my Nike duffle bag over my shoulder. My phone vibrated and I picked up knowing exactly who it was.

"Hello?" I answered irritably.

"Hurry your light skinned ass up. You know how Billz is," my good friend, Nicole, said.
I sighed as I slid inside my Range Rover and headed towards XXX, a strip club on the north side of Jersey.

Hanging up the phone, I turned on the radio and Future's "Wicked" song began booming through my speakers. My momhad no clue that I was a stripper. I hated lying to her but this was what I had to do to keep a roof over our heads.

My dad damn sure wasn't going do it, he left when I was five years old to marry a man. A fucking man. I had nothing against the LGBTQ community but I was angry at him for abandoning me. I was his only child.
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I pulled into the parking lot of my job, grabbed my bag and got out of the car. I didn't love working at XXX but I got use to it and if anybody had something negative to say they could kiss my ass.

forever," Nicole said, rolling her eyes as she put her cigarette out.

"Shut up," I rolled my eyes as we walked inside the building.

"You love being late. Bitch you bold as fuck." She chuckled as we got on the elevator.

Ignoring her words, I pressed the button for the main floor. Walking straight to the dressing room, I sat down at my assigned vanity and Nicole took her seat next to mine.

"So who gon' be up in here tonight, Nicole?" I asked, checking my hair to see if my pin curls were still intact.

"From what I heard, it's gon' be some ballers in this bitch tonight but they not from here. They from Philly."

"That shit is far as fuck. Why them niggas won't just go to the club out there?" I quizzed with dipped brows, looking over at her.

"I don't know," she shrugged, applying her MAC foundation. "I guess we really are that good."

Don't get me wrong a strip club is a strip club but this club was the baddest out here hands down. There was no dirty work on the side everything in here was legit and I appreciated that.

I glanced over to the side of my mirror as I took the last Bobby pin out of my hair. There was a picture of me and my deceased best friend, Nasir. He died in a cross fire when I was fourteen and that was eight years ago. There isn't a day that does by that I don't think about him. I visit his grave every birthday or whenever I get a chance to.

Standing up, I walked over to my locker and pulled out my fit for tonight. I pulled on my lace lingerie with the matching Cheetah print Jimmy Choos. Fluffing out my curls, I spread them apart to make my hair look fuller.
I'm a bad bitch, can't no one take that away from me, I thought to myself.

"Damn bitch, you cute," Nicole complimented, looking me up and down.

"Thanks boo. So who's supposed to be entertaining these so-called ballers?" I asked sarcastically, using my fingers to make quotation marks.

"You." She smiled, puckering her lips to smooth out her lipstick and got up. Even with her cheap silky Lingerie on, my best friend still looked like she was worth millions. The difference between Nicole and I was that she wasn't one to splurge with her money. She could put a cheap piece together and people would still think she spent tons of money. Me on the other hand, I loved designer clothes because they made me feel like somebody.

I asked, leaning against the wall.
Nicole only nodded her head in response.

"What section?"

"Section D," she answered, giving me a high-five. "Bitch we about to get paid toniiiigghhhttt."

Section D was also known as VIP. You had to be blessed in every department to work the VIP area and since I had ass for days, supple titties, a slim waste and a cute caramel face, I always got chose. Instead of everyone performing, Billz would usually hand pick a specific girl to work the entire room.

I walked over to Section D and peeked inside where I sawabout eight guys sitting around joking while they waited.

One of my associates, Peaches, walked up and stood next tome. I sighed in relief, knowing that I wasn't going be the onlyone after all. We walked in and "Sex On The Ceiling" by SevynStreeter started playing. Both of us made our way to the back and I told Peaches she could go first. She rolled her eyes but went anyway. Pulling the curtain open a little, I noticed that theguys were making it rain as Peaches twerked to the beat. One man in particular stood out, he looked bored. Something about his face was familiar but I couldn't put my finger on where I knew him from.

When Peaches finished, she picked her money up and came back out chuckling. I rubbed my palms together in anticpation as "Partition" by Beyoncé started playing. I walked into the small space seductively and I could already see the lust in their eyes. I instantly started working my magic on the pole.

"Damn you bad!" One of them shouted as I slid down the pole, going straight into a split. Gazing into the bored man's eyes, my mouth dropped into a "O" shape when I noticed exactly who this man was. I couldn't believe it. It was Nas.

"Aye where you goin' Ma?" One of the men shouted angrily as I got up and started running away. I didn't even bother picking up the money.

My emotions were all over the place. I couldn't believe that he had lied to me for so long and left me heartbroken. Not for a few days or a couple months, he carried on with this shit foryears. How could he? This nigga was alive and in the flesh. I stormed into the dressing room and locked the door behind me,even though I knew I couldn't hide forever.

"Candy, someone is here to see you," Billz called out to mefrom the other of the locked door.

This nigga Nas got me fucked up. Now he wanna see me? Now?

"Nah! Fuck that nigga, I don't wanna see his lying ass face," I snapped, swinging the door open with force. My eyes popped out of my skull when I realized it was Nas at the door as opposed to Billz.

"Candice?" He questioned, his hazel eyes squinting with confusion.

He said my name in a way that made all of my anger melt away, even if only for a second. And I do mean a fucking second because when I thought about all that money I had spent on Charmin Ultra Sensitive Tissue from crying my self to sleep every night, I reared my hand back and slapped the dog shit out of him.