Pausing briefly, Q let his last statement sink in. “Look, I ain’t tryin’ ta start nuttin’. Or play both sides ta da middle. I got betta things ta do. I ain’t on it like dat! I don’t even rock like dat. But dig, ya gurl Kat iz hatin’ on you somethin’ terrible, fa real. Somethin’ terrible. I don’t know what you done did ta her. Or she ta you. But da shit don’t sound right. Soma da things she said ’bout you don’t even match ya character. I had ta check da broad. I’m like whoa, dat ain’t got nuttin’ ta do wit—You know she copped an attitude? But listen though, word ta da wise. Jus’ watch yaself. Get up outta dat house. She ain’t got no love fa you. Dat’s some real shit right there too … na’mean?”

It’s like that? Tender thought. Kat was running her mouth to Q about her. At least that’s the way she took everything into account.

“Thanks fa lettin’ me know,” she said. “I know you didn’t hafta do dat. But you did.”

“Anytime,” he responded. “Even if we don’t rock like dat no more. We still always gonna be fly, gurl, cause dat’s how I do … I neva jus’ sever my ties. I try ta keep all lines of communication open. Tender, gotta go. Holla at me if you need somethin’. Da boy always got love fa you. We bigger than dat … take care ….”

“You too, Q. You too,” she said, putting an end to their brief conversation. “I will holla atcha if I need somethin’.”

KAT AND TENDER BARELY SAW EACH OTHER. When Tender was out, she was in and vice versa. Kat knew where she was at, if she really wanted to find her. All she had to was come to the club. Tender still would leave large sums of money on the kitchen table along with a yellow sticky stationary note that simply read, “For Goldie.” She wasn’t going to let anyone or anything make her break her promise.

Tender decided to fight fire with fire. She wasn’t a coward. To every stripper she knew who knew Kat, even those who didn’t, she told them just how Kat really was—really gettin’ down. She was an egotistical, self-centered, backbiting, two-faced yellow bitch.

One day, while home alone, she went to take a shower and there was the phone. She hadn’t seen the house phone in a minute. Kat had spitefully taken the cordless phone out the kitchen and locked the other in her bedroom. Tender was amazed by her pettiness. Like that hurt her. After all, she had her own cell phone.

As she undressed and was about to enter the shower, the phone rang. She answered it.

“Hello?” She spoke softly into the phone.