Lover's Island, page 3
Nyimah remained quiet and gazed out the window as the vehicle neared the Strip. She was aware that Jabari had dropped twenty stacks on this trip, but the gesture didn’t move her. She was tired of him thinking his money could pacify her.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at their hotel, and the driver offered them a hand as they emerged from the back seat.
“You ladies enjoy your time in Vegas,” the driver said after unloading their bags and placing them at the hotel entrance.
The women rolled their bags into the grand lobby of the Bellagio.
“Oh, this shit is nice,” Aida commented. It was a far cry from the scenery Rocky Mount offered.
“Hi. Deveraux. Nyimah Deveraux,” Nyimah said, greeting the front desk receptionist.
“Welcome to the Bellagio, Ms. Deveraux.” The receptionist smiled as she typed in the information Nyimah provided. “I see we have you booked for the Chairman’s Suite. A splendid decision. Our staff can bring your bags up. Let’s not trouble you with that.” She waved over two bellhops, who loaded their luggage onto a golden bellman’s cart.
“Here you are. Your access code is that five-digit security code you created when booking, and it is written here, in case you forget it,” the receptionist said as she slid the paperwork to Nyimah. “My name is Alexandria. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything during your stay.”
“Thanks,” Nyimah mumbled, taking the paperwork. Then she, Paige, and Aida headed to the elevators.
“Chipper up, bitch.” Paige nudged Nyimah with her right shoulder. “Don’t let the thoughts of yo’ no-good man ruin this trip.”
“I hope you find someone to break that back during this weekend. Nothing wrong with a li’l one-night stand,” Aida added as they stepped onto the elevator that had just arrived at the lobby level.
Nyimah chuckled. “Girl, I’m not sleeping with no stranger.” She pushed the button for the penthouse floor.
“I would!” Aida and Paige said at the same time and slapped hands.
Nyimah shook her head and laughed at her friends’ antics. When the elevator doors opened to the entrance to the penthouse suite, she declared, “I’m not letting anyone ruin this trip for me. Leaving all the baggage in this elevator. I deserve to have the time of my life!”
“Yas, bitch! We getting lit!” Aida exclaimed as she exited the elevator. She dropped low, twerking. Paige, who barely had a lick of rhythm but knew one twerk move, stood beside Aida and wiggled her legs, which in turn caused her ass to jiggle.
“Ayeee! What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! Say it with me, Nyimah,” Paige yelled as Nyimah entered the access code to the suite.
Nyimah opened the door and marveled at the luxurious suite. The place was nearly bigger than the home she shared with Jabari. The floor-to-ceiling windows gave them the most stellar view of the city. “What happens in Vegas,” Nyimah stated as she stood in the middle of the floor, “stays in motherfucking Vegas!” It was her turn to twerk now.
* * *
The ladies stood around the craps table in the Bellagio’s casino. They had settled into the suite, done some shopping, and wound down with a few glasses of top-shelf wine. Nyimah and Aida had smoked a few big blunts, loving the fact that they could blow their trees without worrying about the law. Aida’s baby daddy had a connect on the premium gas and had sent the connect to meet them a few hours after they’d settled in.
“Three thousand on twelve,” Nyimah said as she slid her chips to the boxman. “Five thousand in the field.” Her tone dripped with confidence, and she winked at her girls.
Aida and Paige didn’t gamble or know anything about craps. Nyimah had learned from the best, Ace, and from the streets. Many times she had watched Asun bet against men and take all the money they had in their pockets. Any knowledge Asun had possessed that benefitted him, he had shared with Nyimah. You got all the means to survive and thrive, whether I’m here or not. It’s my job to make sure of that, Nyimah thought, recalling Asun’s words. It was one of the last things he had told her in his last days. Even then, the words had felt cryptic, like Asun could feel death creeping up on him, and it made Nyimah sick to think about it now.
“Twelve!” the dealer exclaimed, snapping Nyimah out of her daydream. He pushed a stack of chips toward her.
Nyimah shook her head and pushed the chips back to the dealer. “Hard six. All or nothing,” she stated as the dice were pushed her way. She picked the dice up, blew three times, and threw them. The table watched, with every person’s eyes following the movement of the dice. It was as if the dice rolled in slow motion. Aida squeezed her eyes shut as the dice hit the table.
“Hard six!” the dealer exclaimed in disbelief. He turned wide eyes to Nyimah and shook his head at her luck. She’d just won his entire yearly salary in twenty minutes. Nyimah winked at him as the ladies controlling the chips slid her sixty thousand dollars’ worth of casino chips.
Aida and Paige jumped up and down in excitement.
“Bitch! Sixty Gs! You betting more?” Paige asked.
Nyimah collected the chips and shook her head. “Nah, then I’d be a slave to the game. I make that shit work for me. Never the other way around.” She schooled her bestie on the wisdom bestowed upon her by Ace. She found herself doing that a lot. Repeating Asun’s lessons and words of wisdom.
For him to have lived only two and a half decades, Asun had acquired more worldly knowledge than the average sixty-year-old. He had spent a lot of his time reading and researching. Street knowledge; spiritual enlightenment; educational, religious, and political matters. You name it. Asun had excelled at any and everything he put his effort into. Looking back, Nyimah appreciated greatly Asun’s wisdom, because it was one of the few things he had left her to remember him by. Unlike any tangible gift he had ever given her, the game he had given her would always guarantee her survival. More than any Chanel bag or any opulent vacation. The love he had shared and the lessons he had taught her were priceless.
“Smart,” Aida said, pointing to Nyimah. “Don’t be like my baby daddy ass on the fish table. That nigga will have two, three thousand dollars on the board and play it all back!” Aida shook her head in disgust.
Nyimah snickered as she glanced around the casino, clocking her surroundings. She locked eyes with a dark-skinned brother sitting at the poker table a few feet away. A lit Cuban cigar dangled between his forefinger and middle finger. A large gold ring encrusted with red emeralds adorned his pinky finger. He was dark, so dark that she almost couldn’t see the ink that peeked out from the rolled sleeves of his burgundy Armani button-down. His hair was cut low, with waves spinning like tropical ocean water. He wore a close-cut goatee, which lined his beautiful full lips. Minimal jewelry, from what Nyimah could make out. One gold watch, which she knew to be a Presidential, one diamond earring in his left earlobe, and two black beaded bracelets on his right hand. Looking closer, Nyimah realized the beads were crystals, for protection. Asun had worn similar jewelry.
She bit her lip as the fine man blew out a cloud of smoke. The smoke danced around him. Time stopped when their gazes met. Nyimah explored his dark eyes and full lips, unable to break the intense stare. A group of men, all dressed down and in labels like the sexy stranger, surrounded the poker table. She could decipher from observation how much money a person made. This group of men was getting to a serious bag. Her eyes were the first to break the gaze when she glanced at the NO SMOKING sign on the wall above his head. The only person smoking in the entire casino. He was the boss. Nyimah was sure of it. The allure of a boss, Nyimah knew it well. That masculine energy was the only type of energy she was attracted to. Jabari had had it once upon a time, but his infidelity had clouded it all. Nyimah smiled, and the man raised a glass filled with dark liquor in her direction.
The snapping of Paige’s fingers brought Nyimah back to reality. “You good, sis? Let’s go cash these chips in!”
“I’m good. Let’s go.” Nyimah inhaled deeply.
She followed behind Paige and Aida as they headed to the nearest cashier’s station. They had to pass directly by the sexy stranger’s table to make it to their destination. Nyimah blushed when her shoulder brushed against his as she walked by. There were so many people inside the casino that it made social distancing nearly impossible.
“I’d like to cash this in,” Nyimah told the young male cashier once she had reached the head of the line and had stepped up to the counter.
The cashier smiled and nodded.
“You keep five hundred,” Nyimah told him.
“Thank you!” the cashier exclaimed.
“I could use some of that luck over there,” a deep voice said from behind Nyimah. Surprised, she turned to find the dark mystery man standing behind her in line. How he had even managed to skip the line without raising hell was beyond her.
He was tall—at least six foot three, she surmised—and even finer up close and personal. The spicy notes of his expensive cologne seduced her nostrils. Oh, how she loved a man that smelled good. His full lips curled into a slight smile.
“Cree,” he stated, attempting to break the ice between them.
Nyimah’s cheeks flushed. She smiled and turned back to face the cashier. “I wouldn’t call it luck,” she responded with her back turned to him.
“No?”
She shook her head and sucked her teeth lightly. “Strategy. Technique. Survival. Whatever you want to call it. Just not luck. I don’t believe in that,” Nyimah said candidly. She had stopped believing in luck the day she lost Asun.
“Hmm,” Cree replied. This beautiful woman had piqued his interest, and she hadn’t even given him her name yet. “Whatever it is, it’s top tier. Can’t put a price on that.”
“Here you go, ma’am,” the cashier said as he slid Nyimah the crispy stacks of hundreds. “Have a great night.”
“Thank you.” Nyimah placed the money in her Chanel bag and turned to look for her girls. They were standing off to the side together, watching Nyimah’s interaction with Cree. She turned back and faced Cree.
“Nyimah,” she said and held her hand out for Cree to shake. Instead, he kissed it gently. Nyimah blushed, feeling her body heat rush to her cheeks.
“It’s been a pleasure, beautiful.” Cree nodded farewell to Nyimah.
* * *
The ladies approached Drai’s Nightclub, looking like superstars. Nyimah made sure to nearly max out Jabari’s credit card, and she allowed her girls to splurge courtesy of him too. Their wigs were laid, thanks to Nyimah. They bypassed the long line of people waiting and walked up to the bouncer.
“What’s up, ladies? You look amazing tonight. Name?” said the tall and stocky male bouncer.
“Deveraux,” Nyimah shouted over the loud music emerging from the club. Jabari had suggested that she book all her club and lounge sections ahead of time, and now she was grateful she had. Standing in line and wearing six-inch YSL heels did not mix.
“Got you. Enjoy your night,” the bouncer said as he stepped aside for the ladies to enter.
Nyimah grabbed Paige’s and Aida’s hands as they maneuvered through the thick crowd and entered the nightclub. The club was full of people of different ethic backgrounds. Nyimah spotted beautiful people of every shade and size. She fucked with the carefree vibe that Las Vegas offered. It was nearly 1:00 a.m., but the party was just getting started here.
“This is our section,” Nyimah yelled over the music as she pointed to the empty booth beside one of the stripper poles.
“Bitch, is that Chris Brown in that section over there?” Aida squealed as they slid into their booth. “It’s so many niggas up in here! It’s like I died and went to bad bitch heaven!”
Nyimah and Paige chuckled as they observed the club’s goings-on. Indeed, CB and a few more celebrities were scattered around the place. Nyimah wasn’t fazed, though, because only one man had ever had her starstruck, and he wasn’t even a celebrity. Asun was the biggest and brightest star she had ever known, though.
“I could live like this,” Paige commented.
Getting out of her hometown had opened her eyes to a life that was so much bigger than Rocky Mount. Bigger than North Carolina. Paige wanted to be able to travel, party, and sit at home, collecting her man’s money, like the women on Instagram. Like Nyimah, though, she worked, and her man was unfaithful. However, Nyimah worked only because doing hair was her passion. She didn’t have to work. Paige, on the other hand, had to slave away, or at least what felt like slaving away, at her warehouse job. It paid the bills and left her with enough money to live comfortably, but she wanted more. Looking around the club, she knew this was the type of lifestyle meant for her.
“I couldn’t,” Nyimah responded as she sank into the plush couch in their section. “Vacation like this? Absolutely.”
Paige sucked her teeth, shaking her head in disagreement. “Nah, I deserve to live like this. Among the stars,” she shouted over the music.
“Yeah, whatever bitch!” Aida laughed. “Somebody get this ho a drink please!”
The girls laughed and kicked back in their section. Just as Paige turned to look for a waitress, four bottle girls headed in their direction with lit, sparkling bottles.
“Courtesy of the gentlemen in booth seven,” said the first bottle girl. She smiled as she nodded across the club and sat the bottle of 1942 on the table. The other bottle girls followed up with Ace of Spades, Casamigos, and Azul.
“For all flavors,” the last bottle girl said to Paige and winked.
“Damn, somebody feeling the kid,” Paige shouted, then licked her tongue across her teeth and smoothed her weave.
Nyimah squinted across the club, but it was nearly impossible to make out who occupied booth seven. Too many people were packed into the dark building.
“We got Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather in the building tonight too!” the DJ shouted into the mic, his voice rising over the music.
Aida moaned as her body rolled to the Li’l Baby banger. “I hope he sent the bottles. I’ll go home with that nigga! Richest nigga in here! Now I really wanna know who sent them! Nyimah, let’s go to their section.”
Sipping the tequila in her cup, Nyimah shook her head. “Bitch,” she laughed, “I’m not fucking with you.”
Out of their triad, Aida held the title of the most outgoing, extroverted friend. She would walk up to anyone and spark a conversation. Nyimah loved that about Aida, but it had also brought them trouble more than once. Aida’s straightforwardness had caused the explosive altercation between Nyimah and Jabari.
“Y’all go ahead and let me know. I’ll be right here,” Nyimah added.
“She in love again. Okay, bitch. We’ll be right back,” Paige said, then locked arms with Aida. The two of them disappeared on the crowded dance floor.
Minutes passed ,and Nyimah busied herself with shots. Never too many, though. She knew her limits and was in a foreign territory. After winning big at the casino, she moved cautiously. Couldn’t be caught slipping. The DJ played hit after hit. A mix of throwbacks and today’s chart-topping singles. He had to be on to something, because he had Nyimah out of her seat, dancing.
“Your girls left you alone?” a deep baritone voice asked, and she turned her head to find the fine-ass black man from the casino. He looked even better in casual clothes, but Nyimah would never forget her first impression of him. The debonair gangster. Now he wore all black, and gold chains adorned his neck.
Nyimah smiled as he took a seat in the booth. “Nah, they’re around.” She retook her seat.
“I’m fucking with you. They actually sent me over here to check on you.” He licked his lips. Not in a seductive way, but in a manner Nyimah knew had to be natural. Like he did it regularly.
Nyimah removed her gaze from his full lips and chuckled. “Booth seven, huh?” she asked, and he nodded. “Aida owes me.” She laughed to herself.
“Damn. What was the bet?”
“She bet the bottle came from the richest nigga in the club. Floyd. I bet that it didn’t, for the hell of it.”
Cree nodded as he admired Nyimah. “Right and wrong, beloved,” he commented.
“Oh yeah?” Nyimah asked. “Enlighten me, love.”
“It didn’t come from Floyd,” he said as he stood, “but from the richest in the building, in that section,” he replied. The words bounced off his tongue so nonchalantly that Nyimah knew it could potentially be true. Men of his stature didn’t talk in vain. “Dance with me?” He held out his hand for Nyimah.
She instinctively grabbed his hand but then remembered how shy she was about dancing in front of people. “In front of everybody? In that crowd? I may have to pass.”
“Don’t break my heart like that. I’m not even a dancing type of nigga, but fuck it. Only here for the weekend. My homies say I need to loosen up. You gon’ loosen up with me, Nyimah?”
Blushing, Nyimah nodded. “Only because I fuck with this song.” Luck was in his favor, because Nyimah loved Future, Drake, and Tems’s collab.
Cree placed his free hand on the small of Nyimah’s back as he led her into the crowd. Nyimah laughed as the two of them stood in the middle of the dance floor, looking at each other.
Cree snickered. “Aye, I’m following your lead.”
“You’re crazy!” Nyimah shouted. Her hips began swaying to the beat as she closed her eyes. The liquor was kicking in. “I will wait for you. I will wait for you,” she sang along. She felt Cree place his hands on her waist, and she opened her eyes.
“If I violate, you let me know,” he said, his dark eyes looking into hers.
Nyimah nodded, never breaking his gaze.
Crying, moaning, just can’t wait till morning.
Waiting too long.
Finally yuh come along . . .
“What y’all know about this?” the DJ yelled. He had just switched the track.
Oh shit, Nyimah thought. God must have wanted her to step out of her shell and freak this nigga. What were the chances of the DJ playing her favorite reggae song at this very moment?
Nyimah wound her hips into Cree, locking both hands with his. He matched every one of her beats. Their bodies flowed together so well that they were speaking to each other with no words. Their bodies had a language of their own, and only the two of them were fluent in it. It looked like they were making love on the dance floor. Nyimah reached her left arm up and wrapped it around Cree’s neck, then pulled his face so close to hers that their foreheads were touching. Nyimah rocked her body into his, and he welcomed her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
