Jose escorted Sheila back to the area where Marco’s posse collectively mingle but her stud was no where to be find. Sheila took a seat, feeling a bit odd due to the pain killers, Jose inquired to Marco’s whereabouts but he had virtually disappeared. Jose explained this to Sheila who seemed a little ditzy and wrote it off as, “The big jerk is probably making a deal or something.”
Jose leaned over and took Sheila by the hand in which he kissed, “It was a complete pleasure having a beer with you, I hope you’ll honor me with your company in the future and not only concerning a business transaction.”
Sheila rubbed the side of her face, “You talk so sweet. Do you have to go?”
“I have to my dear, my cohorts and I have beer to drink. I’ll see that one of your friends keeps an eye on you.”
Sheila squinted, “Never mind that, could you please fix me a plate, please?”
Jose nodded and marched toward the banquet tables. Soon enough he returned to Sheila with a plate of food.
Sheila smiled as Jose handed her a plate and fork, “Thank you, Jose.”
Jose replied softly, “Marco doesn’t appreciate the treasure he has, if you were my woman you’d have my constant attention.”
“Despite his flaws, Marco has his good side, I know he does care for me, he’s just stupid sometimes…”
Sheila continued while gnawing on the food, speaking as she chewed, “…..shit, Marco….be crazy…witd, affection…when I win his..heart from other hoochies…”
Jose shook his head, “We’ll be in touch”, and backed away, courteously asking the small group of people to look after Sheila which they agreed to do so.
__
Sheila had finished her meal and was on the verge of clonking out when Marco finally arrived on the scene. Sheila fluttered her eyes, a weak smile forming over her face.
“Damn, babe, you’re sloshed!” Marco said with his bad boy grin.
“Where were you…honey, I miss…I missed you…” Sheila sluggishly uttered.
Marco ignored the comment, “I was expecting you to help clean up, you let me down again.”
Sheila tilted her head and pointed at Marco, “No, no, no, no, we supposed to be together tonight and party and shit….”
Marco stepped closer to Sheila, naturally he wouldn’t admit to any wrong, “Don’t blame me, you’re the one who’s stinking inebriated. I’ll find Lena; have her get somebody to drive you home…”
Sheila fought hard to stand up from her chair, “You were with them hoochies, what the fuck…”
“You know I see other women, you shouldn’t be surprised about that”, Marco bluntly stated.
Sheila wiped the bangs from her eyes, “You said I was your number one, you treat me like crap.”
Marco removed a package of smokes from his pocket, lighting a cigarette before his reply, “Relax, you’re blowing this all out of proportion. So what, I spent some time with another woman, I still think you’re special. I’m not what you might say totally in on having just one significant other.”
Sheila sniffled; her eyes welled up, the mechanics of mind manufacturing the inane idea that she was to blame, that she wasn’t affectionate enough, didn’t completely surrender to his needs.
A smile blossom over Sheila’s face as she flung an arm over Marco’s shoulder and pressed her breasts into his chest.
“Its still not too late, we go back to my place, we make wild love…”
“Not your place, Sasha, that cow’s there”, Marco uttered with a cold stone expression.
“You mean, Yolanda? She’s so skinny, if she’s a cow, what does that make me? A fucking water buffalo!” Sheila peeped.
Marco grabbed Sheila by the waist, “You’re in no condition to make love, I’ll have somebody drive you….”
“You love me, aw, Marco!” Sheila interrupted, her eyes as big as saucers, her lips curving into a wide, stupid smile.
“The state you’re in!” Marco huffily remarked, “You’re sloshed!”
Marco escorted Sheila over to Lena, all the while Sheila a glow, misconstruing Marco’s words.
“Oh honey, I love you too! We be sweethearts forever….”
Within five minutes Marco had all but dragged Sheila over to Lena who was beginning to clean up.
Marco steadily held Sheila by the shoulder, Lena noticing her intoxicated condition.
“She was supposed to pick up the trash and collect the folding chairs!” Lena scolded Marco, “She’s damned drunk!”
Sheila wrangled free of Marco’s grip and swung around, clutching his torso, “Ohh, baby, I’m not feeling so well…”
Marco delicately grasped the side of Sheila’s face, “Can you understand what I’m saying?”
Sheila nodded, Marco sighed, “I’ll see you in a few days, okay. Lena will have Jessie or one of the girls drive you home.”
Marco lifted Sheila upward, cradling her in his arms, dropping her off on a chair.
Lena approached Marco, “Some help she is”, she grumbled, but her mood changed, sweetly conveying, “Don’t worry, Marco, I’ll see that she gets home.”
Marco half-smiled, gently cupping Lena’s upper arm, “Thanks, Lena.”
“Now you run off and go home or whatever, have a good night…” Lena smiled.
Marco wished Lena a good night as well before walking away.
_______
Courtesy of Jessica, Sheila was brought back to her apartment, Yolanda answering the door.
“Your roommate can’t handle her liquor”, Jessica giggled.
“So it seems!” Yolanda answered back with a grin.
Jessie maneuvered the partially conscious Sheila into Yolanda arms, the beauteous college student requesting some help, “Mind giving me a hand getting her in bed?”
Jessie nodded, Sheila cracked an eye, rambling incoherently about Marco, Yolanda inquiring, “How much did she drink?”
Jessie shrugged her shoulders, “I wouldn’t know.”
The females finally brought Sheila into the bedroom, not too gently tossing her unto the bed.
“Where’s Marco? Why didn’t he bring her home?” Yolanda asked.
Jessica sighed, “You know Marco, he’s not exactly noble with his dates.”
“I see”, Yolanda replied, “Marco abandoned Sheila to have his own fun.”
Jessie was well aware that Marco could be a jerk, “Don’t I know it. Funny thing though. Marco dumps me because I gained weight but I’m still bowled over every time he looks at me. I need my head examined.”
Yolanda held the same exact opinion, despite Marco being a heel he had a peculiar charm that at times took her breath away.
The females filed into the front room, Yolanda asking if Jessie would like a beer or something before leaving.
Jessie modestly refused, “Nah, it’s been a long day, I need to get home. Thanks anyway.”
Yolanda walked Jessie to the door, “Well thank you for delivering Sasha back home.”
Jessie paused at the door, clearly surveying Yolanda figure.
“I don’t know how you manage to stay so trim.”
Yolanda smiled, “You would think good genes but…”
Jessie giggled, “No, I’m serious! I mean, I never meant to get fat, it’s a rarity in this neighborhood for a woman to keep her figure!”
Before Yolanda could reply, Jessie added, “And the crazy thing is you’re Marco’s type and you don’t make a play for him. What’s up with that?”
Yolanda smirked, “Review your history with him; it was the same with me. Sure we have fun now and then but I can’t wait to be rid of him.”
“No shit!” Jessie blinked.
The friends hugged while saying goodbye, Jessie admitting, “If I had your body, I’d be making sure Marco noticed me.”
Yolanda tightened her grasp around Jessie’s pudgy waist, “You could do better than him.”
Jessie half-hardheartedly questioned, “You’d think that?”
Yolanda took a step back, “Girl, regardless of Marco’s proficiency in bed and his good looks, he’s just another thug.”
Jessie sighed, shrugging her shoulders before saying goodnight.
____________
Yolanda returned to bedroom where she began undressing the slumbering Shelia.
“Damn girl!” Yolanda chuckled while struggling to remove Sheila’s garments, “You’re heavier than you look!”
Sheila’s plush belly fat gushed outward as Yolanda unzipped her jean shorts, her navel ring pointing upward from the flab.
“Packing on a few there, chica!” Yolanda mumbled with a smile.
Yolanda proceeded to tug off the short pants that tightly nestled Sheila’s bottom half.
Sheila’s tummy quivered as did her thighs, the shorts off, Yolanda couldn’t resist poking Sheila’s flab encased belly,
“Don’t worry; Yolanda’s going to see that you get the full makeover!”
Yolanda subsequently pinching a small amount of Sheila’s belly chub.
Yolanda folded her arms over her breasts, grinning at Sheila while she laid dormant in a deep siesta.
“Yes, oh yes. Another thirty or so pounds on that plump belly of yours should put you out of the running for Marco’s affection.”
Yolanda continued sharing her thoughts aloud while removing the halter top, “Kind of a shame, chica. You did have a nice figure, but no more bikinis or short-shorts for you. You’re going to have to learn how to dress to hide your figure, not flaunt it.”
Yolanda added a final thought while covering Sheila with a blanket, “You’ll have to get by on a budget too, cheap clothes typically aren’t very flattering to heavy chicks but I’ll help you look as nice as possible.”
Yolanda picked up Sheila’s garments and brought them to the hamper in the bathroom.
Catching a glimpse of her reflection, Yolanda impulsively nodded with a smile.
Slim and shapely, even she had to concede to her beauty.
_______
Sheila woke up in the afternoon, her hunger overpoweringly enough to thwart her fatigue.
Yolanda answered her friend’s needs and went about making her a breakfast hearty enough for lumberjacks.
Ham and eggs, toast, yogurt and not the fat free kind either, pie and chocolate candies. All that and milk and coffee.
“You‘re not having anything?” Sheila said in perfect Spanish, “Have something, Yolanda, I feel self-conscious stuffing myself alone.”
“Speak ENGLISH around me!” Yolanda scoffed at Sheila, “We’re in America and you’re an American!”
Sheila sulked while covering her toast with butter, “Sorry! I no remember you rules!” she answered in a pathetic attempt at English.
Yolanda sighed, pouring herself a cup of coffee and then joining Sheila at the table where she nibbled on a piece of pie.
“You never told me what happened yesterday at the picnic and how you got so inebriated”, Yolanda stated, adding with a strict tone, “And please convey the information in English.”
“Shit”, Sheila blinked, “Where we be? At some important office, and why when you talk so big like you miss smarty-pants.”
Yolanda favored Sheila with a friendly smirk and giggled.
“From the top, what happened when you arrived?” Yolanda asked, slicing off a tiny piece of the pie which she then discreetly nibbled.
Sheila pushed back her bangs, speaking while sloppily consuming the yogurt, “I put to work, Lena more bossy than you, then I eat and have beer, I see Marco again, and like, he be with friends and hoochies, sends me over to have more food.”
Yolanda watched as Sheila went from the yogurt to pie and then back to the yogurt in such swift speed it was completely astounding somebody could eat that fast.
“You’ll have no problem getting chunky enough to slide off Marco’s radar slobbering the way you do”, the thought zipped through Yolanda’s mind.
Sheila wiped her lips, downed a glass of milk, then buzzed while attacking the ham and eggs, “I see that big man, Jose. We go to his van and he gives me pills and…”
“Hold it!” Yolanda snapped, “What kind of pills?”
Sheila slowed down her food intake by a hair, “Pain killers, they make me dizzy but good at same time. Beer and weed too, I happy mood, you know that shit. You must done that, right?”
Yolanda hesitated but sheepishly nodded, “Okay, but when I used to party like a moron!”
“I don’t do it anymore and you shouldn’t either”, Yolanda said before sipping her coffee.
Sheila resumed her ravenous gnawing on the meal, “Dis new to me, I never was bad girl this way, I like it. Don’t be huffy wet blanket and shit. Let me have fun.”
Yolanda stared at Sheila for a moment, it would be hopeless trying to reach her friend at this point but once out of this neighborhood, Yolanda would do her utmost best in making Sheila at least somewhat respectable.
Sheila loudly sipped her coffee, munching on the candies and pie as she conveyed, “Jose needs me to help with new deal, I’ll make easy money…”
Yolanda became engaged at the news, “Are you kidding me! There’s nothing easy about drug deals, they could go awfully wrong! You could get arrested, maybe even deported. What would you do in Mexico, how would you survive? You’re not even a real MEXICAN!”
Sheila motioned to Yolanda with a frivolous wave of her hand, “You worry too much, Jose sweet, he no let stuff happen to me.”
Yolanda swung her face from side to side, heatedly demanding, “Tell Jose you changed your mind, Sasha, this is wrong! Damn, you used to be a distinct attorney; you used to put this scum behind bars.”
Sheila went ballistic, rattling off in Spanish, wildly gesturing with her hands, “Yes, I put these people in jail but I’m no lawyer anymore, now I scrape by doing what I got to do. You’re a lot of talk, Yolanda; you forget how it is for Hispanics now that you’re a white wannabe and have turned your back on your culture!”
Yolanda blinked as Sheila continued, “We’re despise, thought no more than cockroaches, I remember very well, because that’s what I used to think!”
Yolanda slammed her fist against the table, “Enough! This isn’t about you being Mexican; it’s about you getting involved with criminals.”
Sheila winced, the words flatly rolled off her lips, “Ug, why do you care? You hated me.”
Yolanda tossed back her lovely locks, with a slight nod softly replied, “I care now.”
Sheila watched as Yolanda picked up her coffee cup and left her chair, subsequently refilling her cup.
The conversation continuing in Spanish as Sheila apologized, “Sorry, I get very emotional.”
Yolanda sipped her coffee, “Of course you do, Latina’s are hot blooded.”
A moment of silence, Yolanda inquiring as she walked back to the table, “Did you even hang with Marco at the picnic?”
Sheila looked downward, nervously squeezing her tummy bulge, “No, not really, Marco was partying with some hoochies.”
Yolanda sniffled, abruptly wiping her nose, “How does that make you feel?”
Sheila wagged her head, a funky smile fleetingly over her lips.
“Marco means no harm; he’s like a bad little boy, showing him affection will make him nice.”
Yolanda adjusted her body on the chair, gazing at Sheila straight on.
“I want you think very hard about Marco and how he treats you, and while you’re at it, you better think over this drug deal. Because whether you believe me or not, neither is going to end well.”
Yolanda stood up, “I’m going to call my boy…”
As Yolanda was about to make tracks out of the kitchen, Sheila exhaustively sighed.
“Yolanda….”
Yolanda turned around, “Yes, what?”
“I’m need to get back in bed, maybe get me up in a few hours”, Sheila humbly addressed Yolanda, “We could get takeout later, have a good dinner together.”
Yolanda nodded, “Sure, Sasha. I was thinking about going to the supermarket, what if instead of take out I make us a nice dinner.”
Sheila shook her head and smiled, “I like that, yes.”
______________
Yolanda sat on the floor, her back against the sofa, throughout the entire phone conversation with her son, Sheila played heavily on her mind.
Marco’s originally scheme concerning Sheila didn’t seem so yummy to Yolanda anymore, add the drug deals into the mix and Sheila could be in some real danger.
Sheila lifted the cell phone upward, staring at it a moment, gruffly uttering, “Shit”, as she dialed Marco’s number.
“Yeah”, Marco answered.
Yolanda was far too serious for words to even appear marginally sociable, “We need to have a talk.”
Marco chuckled, “So talk!”
Yolanda’s facial features soured at the robust resonance of Marco’s voice.
She plopped her free hand over the side of her head, clutching strands of her lustrous dark mane, “Not over the phone, in person. When can we meet?”
“Oh sweetheart, You can’t refuse me for too long!” Marco arrogantly buzzed, “You dream of making sweet love to me!”
Sheila wanted to curse at the thug but her better judgment prevailed, it was to her advantage to remain cool.
“Nothing like that, so when can I see you?”
“You’re still my favorite hoochie even if you’ve gotten too uppity realize it. You don’t have to make an appointment to see, come over now.”
Yolanda heaved a long sigh before owning up to their relationship, “I know that despite calling it quits we have occasionally shared some bed time together, just so you’re aware, this isn’t a romantic call. Understand?”
Yolanda’s skin crawled as Marco replied, “No booty call? That’s a shame. You have a body like nobody else, thunder and lightening between your thighs. I’m better than average too.”
There was a cold pause as Yolanda held back the vomit.
“I’ll be over in 15 minutes, conduct yourself like a gentleman”, said Yolanda as she ended the conversation.
___________
“Right on time”, Marco smiled, opening the door to his bachelor pad, welcoming Yolanda in.
“Can I get you a drink? Wine, bourbon, tequila, or do you prefer a beer?”
Yolanda held tightly to her purse and took a seat on the sofa, “This isn’t a social call, I can’t stay very long, I’m making dinner for Sheila and me.”
Marco stood above Yolanda, “Why do you call her Sheila? That girl’s Sasha, Sheila has been totally erased.”
“I don’t like you standing over me; take a seat so we can talk, okay?”
Marco grumbled but complied.
“Okay, sure.”
Yolanda was about to speak when Marco gave her a look that sent shivers down her spine.
“I don’t know why you bother going to college; you’re too beautiful for that. If you want a career be a model, you have the face and figure, sitting behind a desk is a waste.”
“You have always noticed what’s on the surface, never considering what’s inside”, Yolanda firmly steered her eyes into Marco’s eyes, “You disregard the heart and mind, you’re no genius but you could at least look beyond the trivial.”
Marco softly snorted, the bad boy grin leaping over his face, “That’s why I don’t like smart women, they talk to much, don’t know their rightful place. No, chica, you should be hanging on my arm instead of going to school.”
“I wonder if you’re intimidated by strong women”, Yolanda smiled.
“Sasha was a strong woman, now she’s stupid and weak, cleaning up in a kitchen, scrubbing toilets.” Marco softly chuckled. “She found her place.”
Yolanda nodded, “Which brings me to why I’m here. Cut Sasha lose, you have plenty of girls, you don’t need her. You have done enough, I think your revenge or whatever you prefer to call it has been served.”
Marco slowly removed himself off the sofa, Yolanda watching him pour a glass of tequila and lighting a cigar.
Rolling his eyes at first, positioning himself in front of Yolanda.
“Sasha is starting to bore me but letting her off the hook I cannot do.”
Yolanda tilted her head, “Have a heart; she’s messed up in the head as it is.”
Marco sipped his drink, took a long drag from the cigar, sharing the details with absolute smugness.
“No, I’ve been thinking of sending Sasha on a trip to Mexico. You’re familiar with Hector Gutierrez; he’s now running a hotel resort. Be a fresh change of pace for her, don’t you think? I mean she will be away from me which is what you want. In Mexico Sasha will be groomed to be the perfect housekeeper, in such a way it’ll be her only function, she won’t be brainy enough to do anything else.”
“Marco, be serious”, Yolanda pleaded her case, “She’s already terribly inept, lazy on top of it. What else can you do to her?”
Marco landed on the sofa next to Yolanda.
“That’s partially my desire but I’m very eager on damaging her looks.”
Marco laid his hand over Yolanda’s shoulder to emphasize his point, “I’ve made my intentions known to Hector that I want Sasha fattened up until she looks like a big obese cow. Whether it takes a year, a year and half, whatever. When she comes back to the USA, she’ll be a dimwitted blimp, picking up after white people, the same people who will now flaunt their superiority over as she once did to me.”
Yolanda stood up, sneering at Marco, “You get this into your head, Marco. You harm her at all and you’ll regret it.”
Marco grinned, “You threatening me, hoochie?”
“I have information on you that can have you locked away for years”, Yolanda nodded, “Get the hell out of her life. I promise you, Marco. I’ll do whatever I can to protect Sasha.”
Marco chuckled, “Oh, now she’s Sasha!”
“Oh another thing, tell Jose Morales to find somebody else to make the score, she’s not interested!” Yolanda huffily announced.
“She said that?” Marco inquired.
Yolanda elevated her chin, “You and Jose stay away from my friend.”
Marco sipped his tequila, a wily smirk to his face as Yolanda bolted out the door.
__________________________________________