Drama Queen Read online

  Drama Queen

  La Jill Hunt

  URBAN

  Renaissance

  www.urbanbooks.net

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Prologue

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  29

  30

  31

  32

  33

  34

  35

  Epilogue

  Drama Queen Readers’ Guide Questions

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated in loving memory to Sis.

  Sheila Artis, who taught me courage by living it and to my godmother, Mrs. Faith Peck, who taught me beauty by being beautiful inside and out.

  To Marshall Hunt, Sr., who in spite of all my mistakes, told me I never disappointed him.

  I love and miss all of you dearly.

  Acknowledgments

  Wow! Writing the book was easy, trying to remember everyone to thank is hard. I have to start at the very essence of my being and thank God Almighty for not only the gift and talent of writing, but for His favor in everything I have ever stepped out on faith and done. Lord, I praise You and rejoice in Your might and omnipotence. Thank you for putting me at the right place at the right time, even when I didn’t even know it. To You be the glory!

  To my husband, Charles Corey Williams. Thank you for your love and support. I know this hasn’t been an easy process, but know that I appreciate you and your patience. I love you, Mi Corbello!!!

  To my daughters, the Jr. Drama Queens, as they are affectionately known. You are the reason Mommy works so hard and tries even harder. I love you, love you, love you more than you will ever know.

  To my parents, Charles and Martha Smith, and my “Ma” Minnie L. Hunt, for supporting me in everything I have done in life. All the years of fussing, lecturing, punishing, encouraging, praying, loving, helping, paying, driving, praising, guiding, and not giving up on me paid off!!! I love you and hope that I can influence my children in such a way as you have influenced me.

  To my sister La Toya Smith, James Turner and my brother Chaz, thanks for the little things. You know what I mean, so I don’t have to say any more. I appreciate you all.

  To Marshall Braxton Hunt III, the first “little brother” I ever had. You have always been there for me, even though I was older. I thank you for your “pep-talks” and advice over the years! I apologize for the beatings I caused, LOL. I love you.

  To my extended families, Mr. and Mrs. Caroll Williams, the Smith family, my Uncle Marshall and Aunt Liz, Gloria Scott, Karis and Kendall, Joycelyn W. Hunt, Gabriel Peck, Jr. and Gabriel Peck, III (DJ QueTip, ATL), the Lindseys, the Yorks, and Lynne Westbrook; Stone Street Baptist Church, Bishop Rudolph Lewis and First Lady Lewis and New Light Full Gospel Baptist Church, thank you as well.

  To my true friends, the ones that I can call anytime for anything, and there is never a complaint—Yvette Lewis, Joycelyn W. Ward, Shantel Spencer, Saundra White, Norell Smith, Tracy and Troy Lee, Roxanne Elmore, Tonya Kabia, Torrance Oxendine, and Theodore Wingfield, in no particular order. You are the greatest and I love each and every one of you.

  To Pastor Kim W. Brown and Sister Valerie and the Mt. Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church family, I can not put my appreciation into words. I thank you for looking out for me and my family from day one, before we became “official”. Pastor Brown, I have never, nor will I ever question why you do the things you do and just praise God for you and your uniqueness (You never try to be like anybody else’s church). Thank you for your courage and your guidance in addition to your awesomeness. (Hey Rev. Mitchell, remember Sarah and her blessing, LOL!)

  To St. Paul’s College, especially Mrs. Rebecca Akers who took her own time and money and provided some struggling students with nothing but the best to read. Don’t think it went unappreciated. If it wasn’t for you, a lot of us never would have read, LOL.

  To My Verizon family, Joya Boone, Cherie Johnson, Vonda Majette, Donnise Batton, Milly Avent, Denise Green, Tomeica Bynum-Shelton, Yolanda Stanislaus, Frieda McNeil, Danita Manley, Toney Black and Bonita Coins, thank you for helping a sister out on the job.

  To my publicist Robilyn Heath. Girl, you give the phrase “work it” a whole new meaning. This is it, the ball has started rolling!!! Thank you for doing your thing and working the connects. “Love ya like a bestseller”!!! To Blessed Child Web Design. Ju Joyner, with your crazy self, thank you for just being you and hooking me up!!!

  To my editor, Martha Weber. Thank God for you!!! You made the magic happen and I just have to give you all the props in the world. You are the best person in the world to work with. Thank you for your insight!!! (Ha, I didn’t use any contractions in your shoutout, LOL)

  To Dwayne S. Joseph and Angel Hunter. Thank you for taking a naïve wanna-be from VA Beach and making me feel a part of your world. Thank you for all of your encouragement and advice, even when my questions were crazy. You two have always looked out.

  And now, to Carl Weber, all I can say is Thank you for opportunity, for guidance, for friendship, for influence, and for faith. I will forever be grateful and I hope I can be to someone what you have been to me. See you on the bestseller list, keep my spot warm for me!!!

  I think I remembered everyone else this time. Hold up, I forgot to thank the haters, the disre-specters, the drama causers and the disbelievers who gave me so much material to write about. I was gonna call names, but there is no need. Smile, you know who you are. Just read the book while I enjoy the fame. Jeremiah 29:11.

  E-mail me at [email protected]

  Prologue

  Kayla drove home, slightly buzzed from the mixture of alcohol and the contact smoke from her girls who were smoking weed while they put together favors at the house of one of her bridesmaids. As Ice Cube put it, today had definitely been a good day. Hell, it had been a good year. She and Geno, the love of her life, her Boo, her sweetheart for the past two years, her best friend and the best lover she had ever been with, to say the least, were getting married in two weeks. She smiled at the thought of being his wife.

  She met him her junior year of college. They were both transfer students and both majored in English, which meant they were in a lot of the same classes. They hit it off instantly. She was attracted to his rugged body and intellectual mind, a ruthless combination in her book. He was funny and kept her laughing, and she loved being around him. He called her his pro-bono tutor and they did homework together. Study sessions turned into dates and dates turned into overnight rendezvous, and senior year she moved into his small apartment. After graduation, she began teaching and he began working at the local radio station, and they got a bigger place. It was inevitable that they would be married, she knew it. Geno was her soul mate, and everything was looking up for them. Life was good.

  She pulled into the driveway and decided to leave the wedding favors that she and her bridesmaids had finished in the trunk of her car. She was too sleepy to even bother with them. She fumbled with her keys and unlocked the door, giggling to herself as she stumbled into the dark apartment. Geno was probably passed out in a hotel room somewhere. His
bachelor party was tonight and she had the entire place to herself.

  As she made her way past the kitchen, she thought she heard a noise and stopped, listening closer. It was coming from the bedroom. She inched her way to the room that she and her fiancé shared and stood in the doorway, amazed at what was going on. The room was completely dark, but she could make out two shadows in their bed, illuminated by the glow of the streetlight coming through the window. The first shadow, was without a doubt a female. Her body was rocking back and forth, breasts bouncing, hair flowing as her head rolled in ecstasy, riding as if she was on one of those mechanical bulls that Kayla had seen in commercials for country western bars. The dick must have been good, because whoever she was, she could barely moan. Every time she tried to catch a breath, the second shadow would put it to her with quickness, causing her to gasp again. But Kayla knew the dick was good because it had been thrown to her on a regular basis. She knew what the girl was feeling because she had felt the exact same way that very morning. The second shadow was Geno’s. She could tell from the moans and the way he was gripping the headboard with his thick fingers. He liked to grip it when she rode, because he said he could get more leverage that way.

  She stood for a few moments, too shocked to move. She had heard stories of men sleeping with the strippers from their bachelor party, but this took the cake. I know this nigga ain’t bring home one of those tricks from his party and fucking her in our house, in our bed. This nigga must be high on crack, Kayla thought to herself. She got her thoughts together and ran into the kitchen. Making sure she was extra quiet, she pulled a big pot from under the cabinet and filled it with scalding water. When it was full, she struggled back into the bedroom and closed her eyes. Her grandmother had once told her about two dogs that were screwing in her front yard and got stuck together. The only way that they got them unstuck was to toss hot water on them. Well, Kayla was about to get two bitches out of her bed. She groaned as she lifted the heavy pot and tossed the hot water on the two shadows.

  “Sssshhhit!” the female screamed as the water hit her on the back. Geno was dazed by what was happening until the liquid hit his arms and upper torso.

  “What the fuck?” he screamed in pain as the girl rolled from on top of him onto the floor, writhing in pain.

  Satisfied with her handiwork, Kayla finally flicked the light switch. Everyone squinted as their eyes adjusted.

  “You bastard! You brought a trick home and did her in my bed? Our bed? What kind of shit is that?” Kayla screamed and jumped on the bed, swinging at him.

  “Kayla, what the hell is wrong with you? What are you talking about?” he said, looking at his burnt skin.

  “Don’t play crazy, Bitch! How could you do this to me?” She clawed at his face and he grabbed her arms, still looking confused.

  “Kayla, calm the fuck down!” he warned. They had never gotten physical in all the time they had been together. It was Geno’s rule never to push each other to that limit. He had seen his parents fight his entire life, and told Kayla that would never be him. But he had gone beyond that limit this time, and she didn’t care what the rule was; she was out for blood.

  “Calm the fuck down? Calm the fuck down? I know you ain’t in here fucking another bitch and you telling me to calm the fuck down! Where are you at, Bitch? I ain’t forgot about your ass, either!” Kayla yanked away from Geno and jumped onto the floor, standing over the still whining woman. The woman whimpered as Kayla yanked her by the hair so she could look into her face. A combination of nausea, betrayal and pain came over her as she realized who was looking back at her.

  “Kay . . .” the woman began. She could not finish because Kayla slapped her so hard that she fell back onto the floor.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Geno sat up and looked at the crumpled body next to his bed. He shook his head as sobriety set in and it became apparent that it wasn’t his fiancée he had been making love to as he thought, but another woman.

  “I can’t believe you would do this to me, Geno. Her, I could, but you?” She looked at him with hate in her eyes. Never in a million years would Kayla have thought that Geno would cheat on her. It was the one thing she told him from day one that she wouldn’t stand for, and he assured her he’d never do.

  “Kayla, I swear. I don’t know how this happened. I was drunk and I thought it was you. She was in the bed when I got here.” He tried to explain.

  “You thought she was me. My God, Geno, then your perception of me ain’t that great, is it?” She looked over at the woman and shook her head. “I’m not surprised by you. I just thought you would have pulled something like this after me and him got married.”

  “He came onto me. I was in here ’sleep and he seduced me!” the woman cried.

  “Bitch, what the hell were you doing in my bed? Why the hell were you even in my house? You know what? It don’t even matter. You fucked him, you marry him, you slut. At least the same parents will have paid for the motherfucking wedding,” Kayla told her. She wiped the tears forming in her eyes before they had a chance to fall.

  “Kayla, don’t do this. Wait a minute.” Geno scrambled for his sweats as he got up. His head was throbbing and his arm began to blister, but he paid it no mind as he tried to get Kayla to listen to him.

  “Let her go, G. She better be glad I don’t call the police on her for assault. Look at my back. Payback is a bitch, you’d better believe that!” Kayla’s sister pointed at her red, swollen back. Kayla ignored her and began to snatch clothes out of the closet and stuff them into her duffel bag. She knew she could not stay in that house another moment.

  “Get dressed and get out, Anjelica!” Geno yelled, “Kayla, listen to me. Don’t throw this away. I love you and I wanna marry you. This is all just a big misunderstanding.”

  Geno tried to take the bag from her but she slapped him.

  “I advise you to stop talking. The more you try to explain, the worse you make this already fucked up situation. She doesn’t have to get out. Y’all can pick up right where you left off after I get my shit!”

  “Where’re you going, Kay?” he pleaded. He knew he had messed up big time and Kayla was gonna need some time to think. But he wanted her to understand that what happened was not his fault. He needed to know she would still marry him.

  “None of your fucking business! I’ll get the rest of my stuff later, when neither of you is here! But good luck to you both.” She took off the engagement ring she had been wearing with pride for the past year, and threw it at Anjelica. “You can have this and him!”

  She stormed out of the house with Geno calling after her and Anjelica still whining about her back. The stupid bitch still didn’t have the sense to apologize. Kayla checked into a hotel, not wanting to face her family or friends.

  In the two weeks leading up to Kayla’s wedding date, she moved into her own place and sent out cancellation announcements, telling everyone that she and Geno decided they just weren’t ready. On the day they were supposed to wed, Kayla boarded a plane to Jamaica, their honeymoon destination, by herself. She called Geno from the plane, telling him that she would never forget how he hurt her. He told her that she was totally overreacting and he still wanted to marry her. That they could get through this. She told him she didn’t want to get through it because she was already over it. She had decided to go on with her life and so should he. She hung the phone up, vowing to never again trust another man.

  1

  Whoever said it’s better to have loved and lost than never loved at all was a ign’ant ass, Kayla thought as she checked herself in her rearview mirror. It had been a year since her breakup with Geno and she still felt like shit. She had tried to throw herself into teaching and becoming a better person, but even that wasn’t helping to mend her broken heart. Her girls had discovered this new sports bar called State Street’s and actually convinced her to come. She wasn’t all that enthused, but hell, maybe a night out was what they all needed.

  All of Kayla’s girls were sin
gle with no kids. They were hard working, smart, educated black women who were attractive both inside and out. Any man would have been blessed to be with one of them, but they found themselves man-less at the present. Kayla had affectionately named them the Lonely Hearts Club and they had fun, nonetheless, just hanging out, living the single life. Their group consisted of Roni and Tia, two of Kayla’s college buddies, and Kayla’s co-worker, Yvonne.

  The club was not overcrowded, but there were quite a few people. Kayla had just arrived and was looking for Yvonne when she felt someone grab her hand, startling her. When she turned around, she had to do a double take. For a moment, she thought it was Geno, but it wasn’t. Although they had the same caramel complexion and similar features, this guy had a bald head, where Geno kept his thick curls cut close. He wore a mustache and goatee, as did Geno, and they had the same athletic build.

  “Oops, my bad,” he said when he saw the confused look on her face. “I thought you were someone else.”

  He checked out Kayla with her cocoa brown skin, dimpled smile, curvaceous figure and short-cropped hair cut. It was no doubt he liked what he saw.

  “Oh, no problem.” Kayla finally found her voice. “Excuse me.”

  “At least let me buy you a drink. I know you wanted to slap me for grabbing you like that.” He smiled at her and extended his hand. “Craig.”

  “Kayla, and you don’t have to do that, really, it’s okay,” she answered, shaking it. She quickly turned and spotted Yvonne and Roni coming toward her. She maneuvered past him and shook her head, forcing herself not to turn back around.

  “Who is that, Geno’s cousin or something?” Roni asked.

  “I don’t know. He accidentally grabbed me, thought I was someone else or something. His name is Craig.” Kayla shrugged.

  “He looks just like Geno, except he got a bald head and he got the thug thing going on. Better watch out,” Yvonne said. Yvonne thought all hard looking guys were criminals, and she and Roni always had comments about drug dealers and jailbirds.