Page 35 of Alone

“Nah,” Leeah says, still holding her side and stomach. “But she’ll definitely get ripped into.”

Vanessa comes around the corner in all her fashionista glory and holds her arms out, hugging Amanda and Leeah. She looks down at me after releasing the two of them and puts her hands on her hips.

“Late again?” she asks, tilting her head to the side like moms do when they’re scolding someone.

“Guilty,” I say, actually feeling it in my chest. “Too much excitement last night.”

“But she made bank!” Leeah says before wincing in pain.

Vanessa notices Leeah’s posture. “What’s going on, my love? Same stomach issues as last time?”

Leeah nods as if to say it’s the same issue, but then shakes her head and adds, “I’m fine. Just a cramp is all.”

“Raggin’ it still?” Amanda asks, looking at her almost sympathetically.

“I don’t think so,” Leeah says. “And even my last one wasn’t that heavy. But I just have a constant flow with a bunch of cramping that won’t go away.”

“I hate that,” I say. “PMS cramps are the worst.”

The look on Leeah’s face tells me that there’s more to it, but I figure she’s tired of talking about it, so I don’t press any further.

“Enough shark week talk,” Vanessa says. She takes a seat on Megan’s vanity chair beside me. “You have got to get your shit together before Tommy kicks you to the curb. You may be his number one dancer, but if you keep causing his phone to ring with calls from Geani, he’s going to throw a shit fit.”

“Then kick her,” Amanda says in a snarky tone.

“I wish,” Vanessa admits with a chuckle. “But she’s the daughter of his best friend’s wife or something. I don’t remember the connection. Just stop pissing her off.”

“I’ll try,” I say with a sigh. “It just seems that I piss her off if I blink too quickly in the same room as her.”

“It’ll blow over,” Vanessa says with a squeeze of my shoulder. “Now, let’s get this show started. I’m dying to see what you girls put together.”

“Day shift is almost ready to go,” Megan says when she gets back to her vanity. Vanessa gets up and lets Megan sit down. “But I think there’s some drama happening in the main room.”

“Drama?” I echo. “Is Geani out there?” I roll my eyes.

“Surprisingly, it’s not her,” Megan says.

All of us race toward the door to peek into the main room. Vanessa exits the changing room but the rest of us stay behind. She struts herself toward the commotion and I go wide-eyed toward Megan.

“Someone’s gonna get it,” Megan says in a sing-song fashion.

Lola and Candy, the mother-daughter-duo, are standing next to a group of officers when Vanessa closes in. Muffled voices are all we can really hear since they’re talking somewhat quietly. All except Lola and Candy.

There’s a tall man in nice clothes standing with the officers. None of us have any idea what’s going on.

Ten minutes later, all of us peel ourselves away from the door as Vanessa returns to the changing room and closes the door quietly behind her.

“Shit,” she says, tucking her tongue in her cheek and rocking back and forth. “Tommy is going to flip when he gets this phone call.”

“What happened?” Amanda asks, wide-eyed.

I’ve come to learn that if Vanessa gets worked up over something, it has to be big. More than me being late on a few occasions.

“Well, Candy and Lola were just escorted out of the building,” Vanessa says as her head drops and she exhales. “Turns out, Lola has been pimping out her daughter.”

“Nooooo,” Leeah says, growling in surprise.

“Yes,” Vanessa says. “And today’s client turned out to be an undercover officer.”

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