Page 122 of The Ninth

“Yeah! Of course. Who’s this private party for again?”

“Some rich niggas from Alabama mixed with some business niggas from down there. No regular-degulars and no one we’d know of. No phones. No walking in. Security heavy. We’ll have fewer staff than usual. It should be cool.”

“Remember what I said...right?”

“UGH! I was hoping you were beefing with your ten niggas when you said that.”

I cackled, “You’re sooo weird! You know my nigga is crazy, stop!”

“Ben about to head out. He told me if you was serious then to come holla at him.”

“Alone?!”

“Ain’t that what you been wanting?! Bye! And hurry up so you can do make-up!”

She sped away with her boneless clipboard. I looked around, searching for any of the girls. The three of them dispersed as soon as we got in here. I was the only one still standing by the employee door. Swallowing hard, I made my way to the back office.

As I passed the VIP section, I remembered Juan always waiting there. I remembered me and the girls crowding around, taking shots. The first time I spoke to Kenzie. My nervous drink before my first dance. I’ll miss The Ninth and all of its memories.

Music started playing as I approached Ben’s office door, knocking softly.

“Yop!”

I pushed the door open, pushing it closed behind me. He looked up from some papers and his phone before standing.

Ben: I’ma hit you when I’m on the jet, boah.

Nigga: Bet bitch.

“Cassandra! They saying you leaving me.”

“Huhhhhh. I could never leave you, Ben. You’ll always be on my mind. Specifically after 12am.”

He chuckled, “Come here.”

I walked to him, rubbing my left arm slowly. He was still kind of caught up in the papers on his desk. His phone lit up, showing a picture of him and a beautiful brown skinned woman. It looked like his sister. He glanced at me and then looked again. I was surprised when he grabbed my face.

It wasn’t sexual. It wasn’t romantic. He held it tightly, almost like when a parent or uncle notices something off about you. A scratch or a black eye that you tried to hide. He scanned my face rapidly. The same dark look slowly appeared into his eyes.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Cassie, you look like you’ve seen a dead body. No jocin, wassam? It’s Pink and that nigga?”

“No! I just argued with my man. That’s it.”

“I don’t be around enough to know what the hell you girls in here be having going on. I hope you’re staying safe, Cassandra. You can always tell me or Liv if it’s some other shit. Straight like dat. Is that why you’re leaving?”

“Nah. I came to The Ninth to do make-up. To stack up. For my relationship, I gotta move on.”

“You want me to kill him?”

“WHAT?! NO!” I laughed but quickly stopped when he didn’t laugh. “My baby always going to have me. I appreciate you, though. Especially allowing me to do make-up and keep all the money. To only strip on your biggest nights. Hiring Devyn. I came for a check but am leaving full of love and memories. I’ll forever be grateful to and love The Ninth.”

“Always, Love. I didn’t ask you to come back here to question you or ask you to stay. I just wanted to thank you for all you’ve done while working here. Coming up with special nights, doing what you do well...I’m grateful to you. It felt like this place mattered to you as much as it does to me. Everybody loves them some Cassie.”

I giggled, wiping a tear from my cheek. He tore a check from his check book, folding it in half and handing it to me. We leaned in for a hug at the same time, squeezing each other tightly. He chuckled, pulling away and patting my head.