Page 10 of Read the Room

Gelly was her stage name, which was stupid, but I digressed. I told the other two bartenders that I would be back before I addressed the men.

“Gentlemen, please follow me.”

“Hell yeah. I’ll follow your fine ass anywhere,” the guy that she introduced as Juan said. “Damn, your little ass is fine. You need to be on that stage not behind that bar.”

I peeked over my shoulder with a flirty smile. I had nothing to say because he seemed like the type of man that if you gave an inch, he would take a mile. When we got to the room, I turned to face them before I opened the door. Emmitt was what we called a normee. He was always here. Juan was a new face to me.

“Alright, gentlemen. Here is your private room.”

I opened the door and walked into the room backward. I never turned my back to the men that I brought into the rooms. I also never closed the door.

“Emmitt, I know that you know how to use our ordering system.”

He smiled, then said, “You already know I know how to use it.” He picked up the tablet. “Let me go ahead and put my order in, so you can get it here before Gelly comes in.”

“That’s why I love you, Emmitt,” I responded in a flirtatious tone. “I’ll head back up to the front to get your order together. Be right back, gentlemen.”

I blew them a kiss before I closed the door. I stopped in room two to grab the empty bottles and glasses to take to the bar. By the time I got back to the bar, Emmitt’s order was in my system. He wanted something simple tonight—two bottles of brown with three different chasers and two beers. I got everything I needed, let the other bartenders know that I would be back again, then was on my way back to private room three with a full tray. I turned my back to the door then used my hip to push the handle down so that I could push the door in.

“Alright, gentlemen!”

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

The tray in my hands fell to the floor. An unmasked man had just put bullets into the two men that sat on the couch. I was frozen, but I thawed when he lifted the gun in my direction. The door was still open because I hadn’t fully stepped into the room, so it made for an easy escape when I backed out of the room and ran toward the back of the building toward the locker room. I’d lived in the hood long enough to know what to do in these situations—get ghost.

“Reya, you good?” Sparkle, one of the dancers, asked me when I got to my locker.

I was sure I looked frazzled. Concern was etched on her face.

I nodded as I unlocked my locker. “Yeah, I-I’m good. Something is wrong with my son. I have to go.”

Normally, I changed into different clothes before I left the club but fuck that. I grabbed my go-bag from my locker and was gone. I didn’t want to bring too much attention to myself, so I walked briskly to my truck, hopped in, and was gone. I had to get the hell out of here.

I was so glad that I emptied my tip jar every twenty minutes or so and put the money in my fanny pack. I would have to use that money to get the hell out of town. I broke the speed limits to get to Mama Bee’s house. She was going to beat my ass forcoming to her house this time of morning. It was after three in the morning at this point.

When I got to Mama Bee’s house, I threw my car gear in park but left the engine running. I ran to her front door and pressed her doorbell. After the fourth press, her door flew open.

“Girl, why are you at my door this time of the morning?” She had a gun in her hand.

“I’m so sorry, Mama Bee. I need to get Lucas. I had an emergency, and I have to go visit family.” I walked past her into the bedroom that she reserved for the overnight babies. I grabbed my baby up.

When I turned around, Mama Bee stood there with her arms across her chest.

“What kind of emergency got you in here at three in the morning grabbing this boy up out his sleep, Reya? What you done got caught up in?”

I shook my head. “Nothing, Mama Bee. I have to go.”

I rushed past her. I didn’t have time for this shit. I needed to figure out what the hell I was going to do. Instead of putting Lucas in his car seat, I sat him in the passenger seat and laid it back.

When I walked around to the front of my truck, Mama Bee stood on her front porch with a scowl on her face.

“Reya, if you need me, call me. I mean it, little girl.”

“Ye-yes, ma’am. I will. I promise.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a promise that I would be able to keep.

The Aftermath

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