“Oh, I don’t doubt that. But that wouldn’t stop the next dick from making a pit stop,” she joked. “Anyhow, let me get to the real reason I called you. Where did Paul tell you he was going last night?”

“He said he and Larry were probably gonna go out and play pool, why?”

“I didn’t know Exit had pool tables.”

“Exit? Audrey, what are you talking about?”

Audrey smiled on the other end of the phone, pleased with herself to be able to spread new gossip, even if it might have caused a problem between her friend and her man. “Well, you know how every bitch from every project rolled down to Exit last night for Bad Blood’s performance?”

“What the hell is a bad blood?” Marlene asked, not being up on the hip-hop underground.

“Mar, what planet are you from?” Audrey asked, as if Marlene was supposed to automatically know who she was talking about. “Bad Blood is these sexy little muthafuckas from out of Harlem. They’re doing big things in the music biz.”

“Audrey, please make a point if you have one,” Marlene said, not bothering to hide her irritation.

“Oh, yeah. Well, my cousin Tammy and her girls took they fast asses down there, trying to score a baller, and saw Paul up in the joint.”

Marlene sucked her teeth. “Audrey, you woke me up to tell me something your lying-ass cousin Tammy said? You know she wouldn’t know the truth if it slapped her in the damn face. Remember the time when she said Puffy was taking her to Negril?”

“I know she be lying, but she swore up and down it was him.”

“Bullshit. Tammy doesn’t even know what Paul looks like.”

“Yes, she does. You know you keep that picture of him on your desk and she’s always looming around the office. She said he was up in there with some fat kid and these two stank-looking bitches.”

“Is she sure?”

“She seems to be. Mar, I told you them young boys ain’t shit. The first time you give them a little freedom, they out there chasing…”

Audrey continued to talk, but Marlene really wasn’t listening. She just kept thinking about the fact that Paul had lied to her and what he was trying to cover up by doing so. When she had finally grown tired of hearing Audrey’s voice, she told her that she would call her back after investigating Paul’s story.