Chapter 39: Slim Shady and Shit

OLLIE

~I can wear this dress with elegance and still be sexy as hell~.

I walked to the car, feeling the dress like a second skin.

Vivian and Sarah were seated inside, waiting.

I was almost sure this was the same car Darius had used to take me to the hospital.

“Someone looks smoking hot,” Sarah teased.

“Shit, you look amazing,” Vivian said, her eyes widening. “I think we might stand a chance at winning with that outfit.”

“Winning what?” I asked.

Vivian’s eyes sparkled with mischief as she gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“Oh, I am taking you girls to a little competition,” she said.

Sarah winked at me.

“I told you we were doing something fun,” she teased, her enthusiasm contagious.

Vivian pressed down on the accelerator.

The car surged forward, and I could feel the excitement building between us.

Sarah, sitting beside me, shot me a playful look.

“When was the last time we had fun together?”

We never did.

We never hung out together, unless we went out to dinner with our only friend in common: Thomas.

Vivian was blasting the speakers of this car as she sped out of town.

“I have a good feeling about tonight,” she said, pressing the accelerator.

I frowned as we arrived at a bar.

This was anything but ordinary.

The exterior was alive with flashing red and blue lights, casting a vibrant glow that contrasted with the long line of eager patrons waiting to get in.

We walked together, and Vivian flashed a smile at the bouncer who, with a knowing nod, swung open the back door for us.

What awaited us was a scene straight out of the 1920s—a dazzling blend of glamour and charm with dark wood floors and velvet curtains.

It felt like a jazz club, and it smelled like a smooth cocktail of spicy fragrances and warm scents.

Velvet curtains draped elegantly along the walls, creating an intimate ambiance that felt alive with the spirit of jazz.

Small round tables were surrounded by comfortable chairs, with a circular stage in the middle.

A graceful hostess guided us to a table that held two bottles of champagne chilling in a bucket of ice, shimmering like promises of celebration.

I voiced my concern, casting a glance at Vivian.

“You know Sarah is pregnant, and I can’t drink much?”

“Live a little,” she shot back with a playful roll of her eyes, then looked at me as if I were lame.

~I am not lame!~

“I can have a couple of glasses, but that’s it.” I gave her back some attitude.

“I promise I won’t order tequila shots.” She popped one of the bottles and served us two glasses.

“Pick your songs quickly. If not, we’ll have to wait for that group,” Vivian muttered to Sarah, who was already jumping with excitement.

So it was karaoke.

Great.

I hated singing.

I turned my head and saw a group of guys at one of the tables at the edge of the stage.

They looked young, and one gave me a next-door-neighbor vibe.

He was kind of cute.

Was I starting to have cougar tendencies?

I wasn’t that old.

“Whatever, they don’t look like much of a competition.” I waved my hand.

“Oh, this is a new type of karaoke, Ollie. We bet here. I already paid for your tickets.”

“How much is the winning prize?” I asked.

“Not much, around a thousand.”

“That is an expensive-as-hell karaoke. Is this some kind of ~Pitch Perfect~ thing?”

“No, but if you want to win then you should start playing your game. That guy right there looks like a miniature version of Bruno Mars.”

“Bruno Mars is already small,” I pointed out.

“Exactly. Look,” she signaled the stage, and I saw a tiny little man with big hair, glasses, and a shirt open to his belly standing frozen in a pose before the music started.

My eyes widened.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Oh no, this is just starting,” Vivian assured me.

The guy started his choreography and moved exactly like the music video, but when he started singing it was horrible.

“No!” I stared at the show.

I was just missing some popcorn.

“I think we have a chance of winning. I already bet on our table. I know Sarah has a beautiful voice.”

“My turn,” Sarah cried and hurried to the stage.

The flute melody of the ~Titanic~ theme started.

A love song?

Was she planning on putting everyone to sleep?

“That’s a hard one,” Vivian said.

Sarah started singing beautifully, and everyone watched her.

~Okay, sis, you’ve got this!~

We were reaching the part of the song that was much more difficult.

Once I imagined the high-pitch level she had to reach, I wrinkled my eyes and instinctively covered my ears to protect them.

She opened her arms in the air as the bass hit and sang like her lungs were about to collapse.

She was doing well.

Better than well, but then she—~Oh, shit.~

Her voice broke, and she swallowed hard, touching her neck.

The track continued, and she quickly stepped up the vocals and fixed her performance, but everyone was quiet.

She sang the last line, and I started clapping to support her.

Only a few joined me as she finished the song with dignity.

We needed a serious comeback.

“There goes my money,” Vivian complained, swallowing the remaining champagne in her glass.

“Better to leave the competition to the professionals.” She stood, a little bit tipsy.

This was way more fun than I expected.

I even poured myself another glass of champagne and relaxed in the chair.

Vivian started singing ~Like a Virgin~, and the crowd went wild.

Until she stumbled on stage and fell to the floor, leaving a big bruise on her forehead.

~Shit, so close.~

The guys from the corner helped her to her feet and brought her to our table.

She grabbed a cube of ice from the bucket and held it to her head.

She looked devastated.

I tried to comfort her.

“At least you didn’t break a tooth.”

“It’s okay,” Sarah muttered.

“It is just a silly contest.”

“No, I bet more than I should on our table,” Vivian confessed with fear in her eyes.

“Are you nuts?” I blurted.

“I was so confident, Ollie.”

“But you said the prize for winning was a thousand,” I countered.

“I know, but I wanted to make it more exciting, and I approached some guy, and well… I placed a separate bet with them.”

“How much?” Sarah asked.

“Let’s just say we’ll have to take a cab back home,” Vivian muttered without meeting our eyes.

Sarah slapped her hand over her mouth.

“You bet Darius’s car? That is highly irresponsible.”

I knew it was the same car!

“And who did you bet against?” I asked, looking for a way I could help.

“Against him,” Vivian signaled to the stage, where the next-door neighbor guy was singing like a prodigy.

To our dismay, he hit every note with perfection.

“Darius is going to cut off my head,” Vivian said, mortified.

~Oh, yes, he is.~ I honestly felt bad for the girl.

“Don’t even tell me the value of the car because if you do, I am going to faint,” I muttered.

My heart was already beating hard.

“Oh God, we already lost,” Vivian said, covering her head with her arms.

“Who can beat that?”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t performed yet.”

“Don’t even try. It’s not fun anymore,” Vivian moaned in defeat.

“I might not be a good singer…but I can rap,” I said confidently.

Sarah nodded. “Oh, yes, she is good. Slim Shady and shit.”

“I get it, she is white, and she can rap, but he is too good,” Vivian insisted, watching the cute boy on stage.

~I’ll show you ‘good’.~

“Vivian, order some shots. I am going to need them, and Sarah… Please don’t be mad,” I said, standing and arching my eyebrows.

“Don’t you dare roast me in front of everyone! You get mean when you rap!” Sarah exclaimed.

Oh yes, she knew I was the queen of roasting.

I went to the DJ and asked him if I could do some freestyle instead of a song.

He nodded as he stared at my body with a smile.

At least my outfit was helping tonight.

~Okay, Ollie, you got this. Let’s get that car back.~

I returned to the table, took two shots in a row, and walked to the stage, grabbing the mic.

The next-door neighbor cutie was at a table near the edge and started jingling the car keys in his hand with a confident smile.

~Not so fast.~

With the room silent and me standing on stage, I said, “All right, DJ, give me a beat.”

The beat began, and I started to jump, holding my hand up.

~“Everybody bored with this routine,~

~“Put your motherfuckin’ hands up counting one, two, three.~

~“Everybody bored with this routine,~

~“Put your motherfuckin’ hands up counting one, two, three.”~

I repeated the verse, and everyone followed my movements with their hands, exactly what I wanted.

I walked down the stage, and the light followed me.

I stood in front of my sister, ready to end her. ~Sorry, sis…~

~“This is my sister, Sarah.~

~“Isn’t that awesome?~

~“She is blonde, not dumb,~

~“A gold digger with a purpose.~

~“She eats organic, with fruits and leaves.~

~“She might play vegan, but we all know she craves meat.”~

The crowd cheered, and I saw her eyes widen as she covered her mouth, but I continued.

The words fell from my lips, and I felt how the people were feeding on my lyrics.

~“What meat? Whose meat?~

~“Let me tell you her secret.~

~“She secured her investment~

~“By getting big and pregnant.~

~“The dude is so dumb, and his family knows,~

~“That he’s stretching his pockets to give her all his coins.”~

The audience cheered louder as I burned her with my words, but I was not done.

I was on a new level.

I walked to Vivian, whose face was indescribably purple from the bruise that was already showing.

~“Oh, here we go again,~

~“Prepare to meet your end,~

~“Cause I’m changing to a person that we all know too well.~

~“She is phony and clumsy, and you saw her hit her head,~

~“While she played to be a virgin and that didn’t end well.”~

Everybody looked at Vivian and started laughing while I walked back to the stage.

I knelt on the floor near my opponent, ready to destroy him.

~“And for the newest singer singing sweet and shit,~

~“You have not enough temper to handle me.~

~“I looked up your social media, you have zero friends,~

~“My God you’re such a loser, now get out of my way.”~

The guy’s face was pale, and the crowd went wild, whistling and clapping while I continued.

I watched his hands loosen their grip on the keys, and I knew the moment was now or never.

~“Look at your friends watching over the front road.~

~“They watch you fake smiling, bro they want to slit your throat.~

~“I am the winner here there ain’t no queen like me,~

~“Now give me back my keys before I bust all your teeth.”~

I snatched Darius’s keys from his hands and felt like a winner as the crowd roared again.

Before I stepped away from the stage, I did something I’d always wanted to do: I dropped the mic.