TENDER HAD MENTIONED to Goldie and Kat that she’d met a guy from Philly, but hadn’t said too much about him. Kat started getting the picture when she saw the bling-bling. If she was getting gifts like that, he had to be paid.

“Damn, dat nigga really blessed you,” Kat exclaimed, as she enviously stared at Tender’s necklace. “Either he must really be ballin’ or you really rocked dat nigga world.”

“Maybe it’s a li’l of both,” Goldie commented. “You neva know. Maybe Tender got dat whip appeal. Huh?”

“Maybe,” Tender joked. “I ain’t sayin’. Ancient Chinese secret. Been in my family fa generations … Eat ya heart out!”

Whip appeal my ass! Kat thought. Da bitch iz lucky. Dat’s all!

“I ain’t mad atcha!” Goldie said.

“How much you think dat chain costs?” Kat asked.

“I don’t know. I ain’t ask. It was a gift. You’re not suppose ta ask those kinda questions … As long as it’s real, I could care less,” Tender stated.

“Still,” Kat countered, “if I were you, I’d have it appraised by a jeweler. Just ta know what kinda change you lookin’ at if you should havta sell it.”

But you’re not her! you greedy, conniving bitch! Goldie mused, while hiding her thoughts behind a fake smile.

“I ain’t into dat. How I’m gonna sell sumthin’ somebody gave me?” Tender said.

“Fuck dat, you don’t know dat nigga like dat. I’d sell it inna heartbeat …” Kat replied. “Let dat had been me … You need ta step ta ya bizness and play dat nigga how he suppose ta be played. You bitches runnin’ ’round here bein’ kindhearted and shit … If you can’t handle him, pass ’im off and I’ll show you how it’s done.”

Goldie could hear the larceny in Kat’s heart already. There was no mistaking it. She was envious. That was typical of Kat; she wanted hers and yours too. She wanted everything for herself.

“Naw, dat’s aiight!” Tender replied coolly. “I’m good. I got dis.”

“Jus’ jokin’,” Kat lied. “Do you.”

Tender shrugged it off, and continued to engage in conversation. Idly they chitchatted about their trip to South Beach, and what went down when they parted company. About who did what. What went down behind closed doors. Tender made a crucial mistake of mentioning Q’s huge member and bragging on how good he was. Goldie just brushed her comments aside, thinking nothing of it. But Kat absorbed it, wanting to know more details. She was hanging on Tender’s every word. She filed them away in her memory bank for later use.