Dagger To The Heart

1. Jade

The lights dimmed as bystanders began to find seats closer to the stage. It was "Hustle" night at the Land of Hearts, and the dancers were ready to make their money. Hustle night brought in some of the wealthiest men of Atlanta.

"Jade, You're up!"

Nasty by Joshua Showtime Williams began playing throughout the club, and a stream of purple lights came from the dancer's room door by the stage. Lamar, the dj, restarted the song for the next performance. A tall, voluptuous silhouette appeared in front of the door  causing the crowd to go wild with applause. "Alright yall, Jade has something special tonight so get your pocket ready. Don't be nice with it, Jade?"

As the beat dropped to the chorus again, Jade smirked as she cracked a whip onto the stage, stepping into the light. Her chocolate toned skin glistened under the purple lights. She stood in her favorite 12 inch stilettos, the black and red ones with a silver elephant chain that hung from her ankles. Her outfit was the smallest leather shorts that barely covered her ass as red thong straps hugged her hips. Her top was a shimmery red bra that held her DDs up nice and pretty for all to see. 

Her 22 inch Brazilian bundles swayed with her hips as she walked around the pole before cracking her whip again. The seductive expression on her face was enough to drive the audience crazy, woman or man. She looked up at the dj, letting him know to spin her next song. Scratchin Me Up by Trey Songz began and so did the water works. A light shower of water fell down over Jade and her performance, making the crowd go crazy again.

Jade was halfway through her performance, hair and body soaked, but her makeup in place. As it should be. Because the stage was wet, the money she made was left on the carpet below the stage. An ocean of green before her by the end of the show.

The popular stripper made her exit to the backrooms, grabbing a towel from her friend on the way back. "Girl, you did that, as usual." Kelis, Jade's friend, said as she smacked her on the ass. "Thanks, honey." Jade smiled, showing her pretty teeth.

"So, what's the move after work? You need to crash at my place again?" Kelis asked thoughtlessly, then turned around to her friend with apologetic eyes. "Ooo girl, I didn't mean it like that. You know you are welcome..." Jade raised her hand as she laughed at Kelis. "You're good. I know what you mean, and yeah, I'm crashing at your place." Jade finished dressing in her grey sweats and anime graphic tee, "As far as what's going on after here, I don't know. I'm not against chilling with some drinks at the crib, though." Kelis agreed as they both picked their duffle bags up and made their way to the parking lot.

" Guess who I heard from today?" Kelis said as they tossed their bags into the backseat of her car. Jade gave her a knowing look before sitting in the passenger seat, "I don't want to hear shit from her, Lis." Kelis laughed as she pulled out the parking lot, "I know, but check this out. Word on the street is that homegirl done got caught up and may be looking at some prison time." Jade hated that her friend had caught her attention.

"What the fuck she get caught up in?"A tinge of worry laced Jade's voice, even though she was also annoyed by the subject matter of the conversation. Kelis shrugged, "I ain't really too sure, but whatever it is, it ain't good." Jade sighed as she watched the city lights as they rode through the Atlanta streets. Mona, the topic of discussion, used to be Jade's world. They'd almost made it to marriage until everything went up in flames. 

Jade was a true ride or die for Mona, but all of that seemed to go unnoticed as Mona played in the streets on multiple occasions. Jade moved on and tried to heal herself from all the bullshit she had been through. So far, things were moving slowly but surely. Jade looked at her phone as it vibrated twice. She had two new messages.

Bitch: Hey Beautiful. Can we talk?

It was Mona. Since Kelis mentioned the criminal's name, Jade had the feeling she would be hearing from Mona soon. She was right. Mona always remembered she existed when there was trouble or a struggle going on in her life. Jade rolled her eyes and held her phone up to show Kelis Mon's message. "Damn girl. I done spoke her up. My bad, Jade." Kelis gave an apologetic look as she parked the car in the apartment complex parking deck.

Before Jade could block the number, Mona was calling her. Kelis handed Jade her apartment keys, "Go ahead, I'll bring our stuff up." Jade sighed as she got out of the car and answered the call. "What is it, Mona?"

"Damn ma, you happy to hear from me? I know it's been a minute." Mona spoke as if she found something funny with what she said, and it pissed Jade off to no end. Jade stepped into Kelis's apartment and fell onto the couch. "What the fuck do you want? I heard you're in some shit now. No, I can't help you." She heard Mona suck her teeth. "Wah mek yuh sucking yuh teeth at me?!" Jade yelled.

Mona sighed, "You know I don't understand you when you talk like that, so stop." Jade sucked her teeth this time, "Mi duh wah mi wa." There was silence for a few seconds until Mona decided to speak. "Anyways, I need you to pick a pack up for me and run it. I gotta get bail soon. I'll get you back and you know I'm good for it."

Without saying another word, Jade ended the call and left her phone on the couch while she met her friend in the kitchen. Kelis had brought their belongings up and made them a drink to close out their night. "So, how did it go? You look over it." Kelis asked while trying to hold back her laughter. Jade chugged her drink down and cringed a bit as it burned her chest a little on the way down. "You already know how it went. That bitch brought Kehlani right out of me for a second."

Kelis burst into laughter, spitting some of her drink out. They both knew how bad Jade could get with her words once she was pissed off, and Kelis loved to see it every time. "Girl, I hate I missed it but don't let Mona fuck with you. I'll make us some drinks, then we can call it a night." Jade nodded as she leaned on the counter to watch Kelis make their drinks.