Kittie
Kittie was about to enter the parlor to wait for her next client when she heard Dana’s sharp, high voice pierce through the wall, stopping her in her tracks. After working here for so many weeks, she knew how to spot the signs of an upcoming tantrum, and that tone in Dana’s voice was definitely a good indication that shit was about to get thrown. Oh, Jesus, here we go, Kittie thought, sagging against the wall outside of the parlor. I wonder what’s going on now.
“What are you talking about?” Dana snapped, her voice booming out even through the wall separating the parlor from the main hallway. “Explain yourself.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” a squeaky high-pitched voice answered. “Really, I am. But it’s the truth.”
There was a short pause where Kittie strained her ears trying to pick up on any noise from inside the parlor, but finally Dana cleared her throat and spoke again. “Tell me what you said you heard. From the beginning. Start again. I need to be sure I understand you correctly.”
“Well, I was walking around upstairs, you know, minding my own business and all, and then I heard Trina talking really loudly in one of the bedrooms. She sounded really upset, and, well, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, really I didn’t—”
“Oh, save it!” Dana interjected. “Just get to the point.”
“It took me a minute to figure out what was going on, but madam… Trina said she was going to have a baby.”
Kittie’s heart jumped up into her throat. Oh, fuck. Somebody had overheard her conversation with Trina earlier. Fuck, fuck, fuck! What was she supposed to do now?
“Did she… I mean… is she pregnant right now? Is that what you’re telling me?” Dana asked in an unnaturally stiff voice. “Answer me!”
“Yes, ma’am,” the snitch said. Kittie’s stomach turned over, making her feel like she was about to vomit just from sheer panic, but she stayed in the same spot, determined to hear as much information as possible. “I’m sorry, madam.”
“Get out,” Dana said in a strangely calm voice that sent shivers down Kittie’s spine. Kittie didn’t have a chance to react before the snitch, a new girl named Patricia, exited the parlor, but luckily, she was in such a rush that she didn’t notice Kittie standing there in the shadows.
Kittie took a few deep breaths, steeling herself as much as possible before slowly entering the parlor. She decided to pretend that she hadn’t overheard anything and just watch Dana to see what her next move would be. Maybe she won’t do anything, Kittie thought hopefully. Maybe she knows that she’s lost, totally and completely, and she won’t try to hurt Trina anymore.
Kittie’s first clue should have been that Dana didn’t even react to her coming into the room. She was on her phone, eyes glued to the wall behind Kittie’s head, her face gone as stony and pale as a statue. “Papa,” Dana said into the phone. “Papa, I need to call in a hit.”
A hot flush of panic went up Kittie’s back and the bottom of her neck, but she kept her head down, pretending to be interested in a magazine propped up on one of the chairs in the center of the room. She could barely make out Caliperi’s voice on the other end, but Kittie thought she could hear him sigh deeply and ask Dana what in the hell she was talking about.
“That little fucking whore,” Dana spat. “She’s knocked up. With Lucas’s baby.”
Loud, raucous laughter erupted from the phone, so roughly that Dana reared back from the receiver. Another couple of girls stumbled into the parlor laughing, but Dana didn’t react to them. She just stood there, listening to her father laugh at what had happened with Trina and Lucas. If Kittie didn’t know how vicious Dana really was, she would have felt bad for her.
Suddenly, Papa Caliperi stopped laughing, his tone turning icy cold on the other end of the phone as he said, “What’s your point, Princess? I told you to stop fucking bothering me with this bullshit.”
“But Papa—” Dana tried to interject, but Caliperi didn’t let her continue.
“No. Stop it!” He yelled at her so loudly that all the girls in the room stopped what they were doing to see what was going on. “You’ve been going on and on for weeks about this shit, and I’m tired of it. So what? The slut is pregnant. Big deal. It’s her fucking problem, not ours.”
Dana was quiet for a moment, tapping her long elegant nails on the back of her cell phone, filling up the otherwise oppressively tense silence hanging in the room. “You know Lucas’s not just done with me, right, Papa?” Dana asked innocently.
“What are you talking about?” Caliperi asked. He seemed to scoff at the warning tone in his daughter’s voice, but he sounded a little more cautious than he had mere moments before.
“I’m not the only one he fell out of love with,” Dana said. “Before he stopped fucking me, he talked all the time about wanting to get out from under your control, Papa. All he needs is a reliable supplier, and he’s as good as gone. He’s not going to stay in your company.” She paused, chuckling bitterly to herself. “And I bet he’ll use all the information he learned about the inner workings of your business to launch himself to success. Ha! I guess we’re both getting what we deserve, right, Papa?”
“Dana Christina,” Caliperi said sternly. “Are you lying to me right now? Is this one of your little games?”
“I wish,” Dana sighed. “Oh, well. I guess you’ll just have to do what you always do, Papa. Roll over and let Lucas do what he wants.”
There was a long tense pause where nobody spoke. All of the girls in the room held their breath and looked at each other worriedly, their eyes gone as wide as cereal bowls.
“Well, we’ll just have to take care of this little situation, then, won’t we?” Caliperi said in a low dangerous voice. “I’ll call you back when it’s finished. Good-bye, Dana.”
There was a slight clicking noise as he hung up on his daughter. After a single moment of silence, Dana burst into full-body laughter, tossing her head back as the deep guttural noises left her throat. It almost sounded like she was choking, but when one of the girls approached Dana to see if she was okay she threw the girl off, making her collide into the nearest wall roughly. “Leave me alone,” Dana said in between hysterical giggles. “Oh, boy, oh, boy. Lucas doesn’t even know what’s coming. Him or that little conniving bitch. Tonight, we are getting a show!” With that, she turned and stormed out of the room, still laughing and wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Oh, Jesus, poor Trina,” one of the older working girls said sadly, shaking her head.
“Yeah. She’s as good as dead now,” another one replied.
Fuck that, Kittie thought, getting to her feet and striding out of the room. I’m not going to let anyone hurt my best friend. Even if it kills me.