Still Wifey Material by Kiki Swinson Page B

anything.”
    “I know I don’t. But I like you, and the people I like, I find myself making sure that they’re all right.”
    “And that’s fine. But you’ve done enough for me already.”
    “Come on, Kira! You can’t be talking about today, because that was nothing.”
    Shocked by his words, I said, “Spending over eleven thousand dollars on me is nothing?”
    “I’m talking for you. That amount of money is nothing compared to what you’re worth.”
    I smiled and said, “I can’t argue with you on that, Fatu. But that was still an awful lot of money to spend on someone you just met.”
    “Just imagine what I can do for you if we really knew each other,” he said in his strong, manly voice. I had to admit that I was turned on. There I was, sitting in the company of this tall, dark, sexy nightclub owner, who appeared to be swimming in dough. The good part about it was that he was single, hadn’t ever been married, and didn’t have any baby mamas. Now how sweet was that? More importantly, I could tell that Fatu was the boss of everybody, including Bintu. When Nikki found out that shit, she was going to have a fucking baby! But she’d be all right, because Bintu would take care of her, I was sure.
    Fatu and I hung out with each other until a little after midnight. I had gotten tired, so I was ready to go home and hit the sack. He tried to convince me to stay a little longer, but I declined the offer.
    “Well, can I take you out for breakfast in the morning?”
    “I’m afraid I’m going to have to take a rain check on that, because I have a few clients coming in bright and early.”
    “Well, what about lunch?”
    “What time are you talking about?”
    “Maybe noon, or one o’clock.”
    “I’ll let you know.” I got up to leave.
    He walked me back through the club so I could let Nikki know that I was about to leave. When I got halfway across the dance floor I noticed her at the bar in a deep conversation with Bintu. I told her I was about to leave, and she acted as if she didn’t care. I wished her a safe drive home and left.
    Outside the nightclub I gave Fatu a warm hug and kissed him on the cheek, thanking him once again for everything. He returned my kiss—a wet one, smack dab in the middle of my forehead—and told me to call him as soon as I reached home.

Welcome to America
(Nikki Speaks)
    K ira must’ve been crazy if she thought I was going to leave with her while I was in the middle of a deep conversation. Shit, I was trying to get in good with this guy, and she was trying to fuck it up. She fucked up my relationship with Syncere because she couldn’t keep her damn mouth closed, but I’d be damned if I let her come between this one. It wasn’t going to happen. After her hating ass left, Bintu and I called it a night. He invited me to go back to his place, and I jumped at the opportunity. If Kira was around she’d try to talk me out of going, but I was a grown-ass woman. If I chose to spend the night at this man’s house and let him fuck my brains out, then so be it. I could take care of myself and I was going to make sure that she saw that.
    Before we left the club, Bintu had a few things he needed to take care of, so I went outside and waited in my car. It took him about fifteen minutes to bring his ass outside. He and another guy stumbled out the side door of the nightclub, dragging a third guy by his neck. My heart stopped. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing. Bintu slapped the third man around while his partner held him. “Don’t ever let that shit happen again! You understand me?” I heard him say.
    The slapped guy nodded. Before they let him walk off, Bintu slapped him around a few more times and then took his wallet. The guy looked pitiful and I was starting to feel sorry for him. It became apparent that he had owed Bintu some dough and probably took a long time to pay him back, so my sympathy quickly wore off and I started cheering Bintu on inside my mind,