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been here. Once I quit, I didn't look back -- that had been my plan, to sever all ties. But then the call had come in this morning from Buck and curiosity replaced the blood in my veins and pumped all through me. I’d called him back the moment Kenny walked out the door.
    “ Pepper! ” he sang when he picked up. “ What's happening? You ready to come back to work? ”
    “ Buck, please don't waste my time. I'm only calling 'cause you paged me, twice. What's up with that? ”
    “ Can't an old boss call his best girl? ”
    “ Not for no nonsense, ” I said, with an attitude.
    It still surprised me how I could get away with talking to Buck any ol’ way, especially since he scared me to death the first time I'd met him: this big-hipped white boy, with his thick, blond, shoulder-length locks, who talked like a Black man. I'd been shaking when he made me take off my top and drop my pants so that he could check out what I was working with. He'd looked me over like I was a piece of meat, which I guess I was.
    Anyway, that was the last time he had me shaking. The only times I shook after that was on stage for money.
    I have to admit, though, Buck and I had a special relationship. That man looked out for me. I “ dated ” a lot of men, but because of Buck, I never felt like I was in any kind of danger. He didn't play that, and those dudes knew it. If anyone ever wanted me to leave the club with them, Buck had to know about it. Had to know who it was, where was I going, and then I had to call and check in once it was over. I always pretended that Buck did that because he cared for me. But I knew what was up. This was all about the Benjamins; Buck had a vested interest. I was, by far, his biggest rainmaker. He couldn't let anything happen to me.
    But we had parted ways because I was getting married and I wanted to be the wife who stayed true. So a call from him was not what I wanted the day before my wedding.
    “ Listen, Buck, ” I’d said to him. “ If you ain't talkin' 'bout nothin', then, I'm gonna hang up. ”
    “ No, no, you know I'm just playin'. I do need you to come by the club, though. ”
    “ For what? ” I put a lot of bass in my voice so that he could hear my frown.
    “ I got something for you. For your wedding. ”
    I knew that was a lie right off the bat. “ Your cheap behind didn't get me a dang-bang thang! If you don't tell me, I'm just gonna hang up and … ”
    He laughed. “ I didn't get you nothin'. You need to be paying me … leaving me and you were my best girl. ”
    I rolled my eyes. How many times was he going to take me back to that? I'd quit Foxtails three months ago, figuring that was going to give me enough time to feel like a virgin again on my wedding night. But that didn't stop Buck from calling and begging me to come back.
    Buck just didn't know. It was hard for me to walk away from all of that sex and all of that money. Especially since the star I thought I was marrying never got around to shining. Kenny had taken a job with the Los Angeles Times in the finance department. And even though he had a degree from one of the top schools in the country, he had settled for earning only $25,000 a year, half of what I was making at my job at Carnation. It seemed that the man I fell in love with, the man who talked big about living large and having dreams, didn't have very much ambition at all.
    I'd thought about calling off our engagement many times -- I needed to be married to someone who was much more like me when it came to wanting the best out of life.  But I was never prepared to walk away. Not only did I really love Kenny, but he was still the popular college football star who got invited to all kinds of top-shelf events as a keynote speaker. Those engagements brought in some loot, and if I helped him work it, that could still be our ticket. But it was going to take some time for that river to start flowing, which is why I'd kept my gig at Foxtails even after I graduated. Dancing for and