Free Trife Life To Lavish (A King Production Presents...) by Deja King Page A

talk to you about
something," she said passively, greeting him at the
front door.
    "Can it wait until after I give you something?"
    "Sure." Carmelo handed Nichelle a garment
bag. "What's this?" she asked, unzipping it. "Oh my
goodness! This is a Zac Posen gown!" Nichelle was
in disbelief. She had only seen dresses like this in
magazines, decorating famous celebrities, never up
close, let alone holding one. She slowly pulled the
dress out of the bag and let her hand glide across
the lush fabric. It definitely didn't feel like the rayon
and polyester blends she had grown to adore.
    "You like it?"
    "Fuck like! I love it! I can't believe you bought
this for me. I don't even know a place to wear a
dress like this."
    "I do."
    Nichelle looked at Carmelo with confusion
written on her face.
    "We're going to my man's birthday party tonight, and I want you to wear that dress."

    For a quick second, Nichelle wanted to
mention how he had forgotten her birthday, but
decided not to be a mood killer. "Okay, but I need
you to take me to the store because I don't have
any shoes."
    "Don't you see this other bag in my hand? I
got you covered."
    "Baby, thank you. I know you were upset
with me because of the whole Tierra fiasco, but I
hope that's now behind us."
    "It is. You're my baby, and I'm going to give
you a night you'll never forget."

    "I went from shopping at Saks, to rummaging
through the sales rack in Rainbow. Ain't this some
bullshit?" Tierra complained, as she and Simone
tried desperately to find a dress that was cheap,
but didn't look like it.
    "What you think about this one?" Simone
asked, holding a bright orange strapless dress under
her neck.
    "Trick, you know damn well if you gon' wear
a cheap dress, you can't get it in no Easter orange.
You need to stick to basic colors, like black and
gray."

    "But those colors don't do nothing for my
skin tone. I like bright colors so I can stand out."
    "Whatever, Simone. If you wanna walk up in
that party looking like a reject Easter bunny, then
go the fuck head and wear that whack ass dress."
    Simone grunted and then immediately put the
dress back on the rack. "Well, I don't see nothing
in here. Let's go to Forever 21. They might have
something cute. But we need to hurry up, because
the party starts in a couple of hours."
    "Wait, this right here is cute," Tierra said, picking
up a short black dress with a plunging neckline. "I
could jazz this up with those black and silver Gucci
stilettos I have, and those diamond earrings."
    "You talking about them diamond earrings
that nigga, Keondre gave to you?"
    "Yep."
    "I thought you took them to the pawn shop."
    "I did, but them crooked ass motherfuckers
was tryna' bullshit me on the price. I know what
the fuck those earrings cost. I was there when he
bought the shit. They tried to play me like my shit
wasn't official. I told those slimy bastards to kiss
my ass and I kept my shit."
    "Hell, I don't blame you, and with your
current predicament, ain't no telling when or if a
nigga will ever drop some jewels on you like that
again."
    "Thanks for the pep talk, Simone. After those words of encouragement, you got me feeling real
optimistic," Tierra cracked, rolling her eyes. "Come
on, let me pay for this dress so we can break out.
All these bargain basement prices is giving me a
migraine."

    Nichelle twirled around in front of the mirror
in amazement. Her teal, silk beaded chiffon dress
with a thigh-high side slit made her feel like a `hood
goddess. No one would believe she was the same
awkward, braces-wearing chick from the projects.
She only wished that Tierra was there to see how
nicely she cleaned up. This was just the sort of
slap-you-in-your-face dress that Tierra would rock
and shut the game down in.
    "Damn, you look good!" Carmelo proclaimed,
snapping Nichelle out of her daydreaming.
    "I still can't believe this is me."
    Carmelo walked over to her and cupped
her ample ass, "Yeah, it's