about Candace?” Sean asked.
“Candace will always be my soul-mate,” Jacque laughed.
Over the next couple weeks, Candace watched in dismay as Claire went out of her way to hook up Jacque and Melanie. They made a bet that Jacque wanted to lose his virginity to Melanie instead of Candace. She didn’t believe he would, but went along with the program. Claire planned to set them up when they went to the annual school dance.
Jacque was always well dressed. Like a male model, his tall wispy but muscular frame was sporting a purple suit. He spent most of the night chatting and laughing with Melanie. Later on, he was seen leaving the party with the giggling Melanie on his arm. She took him to her place. He and Melanie were upstairs in her bedroom kissing when the phone rang. Melanie pulled away from his embrace to get the phone.
“Do you have to take that call?” he asked Melanie.
“Yes,” she laughed pulling her top off. “It’s for ya ass…”
Jacque looked at her strangely, and reluctantly took the phone.
“Yes…?”
“That’s it nigga, ya ain’t never getting any of this ass. Ya hear boy…”
The voice was loud and Jacque stared at the phone with surprise all over his face. It was Candace. He could hear Claire laughing in the background.
“You fucking fag! You better enjoy that Cuban pussy because you ain’t getting any of this, ever. You can ask your man, Sean, and he’ll tell you what it feels like to fuck Claire and Candace Osorio. Bye Jacque!”
He put the phone down and stared with the look of a lovelorn putz at the sexy Melanie and tried to smile. She let out a big laugh and pushed his face into the cleavage of her breast. Jacque drooled. Things happened fast and before he knew it, Jacque was putting on his jacket and being escorted out the door.
Waiting for him when he reached outside Melanie’s apartment were Candace, Claire and Sean. They were all smiles.
CHAPTER 3
Mimmy tried to give her daughters all they wanted. This tendency of fulfilling their every need caused the girls to expect others around them to do the same. Victims would often be seduced and deceived by the spoiled rotten Osorio sisters. The blame could clearly have rested on the shoulders of their hardworking mother, stirred by the conniving talents of Melanie.
Sadistically they seemed to enjoy destroying anything they couldn’t have after taking all that was given. They did this equally well and with no remorse. Sheryl knew it first hand when they started on her. Candace and Claire constantly riled her about her past and Mimmy did nothing to put it to rest. Sometimes she even encouraged it.
“Hey, you better get tough skin if their silly words are gonna bother you,” Mimmy said.
Sheryl had just been told for the umpteenth time that she was an orphan. The joke had gotten old to her but not apparently to Mimmy. Jacque, who seemed to be always visiting, was there and tried to speak on her behalf.
“There are penalties for everything you do and they’ll get theirs in the end,” Jacque said.
He was there trying to see Candace. After his sexual episode with Melanie, Candace was always too tired to speak to him. Jacque came around looking for her and heard both her and Claire clowning. Mimmy didn’t intervene.
“Jacque why are you all up in the family’s biz?” asked Candace.
“Why have you been avoiding me?” he asked turning the tables.
“You’re asking question like you have warrants or sump’n,” Candace said.
“You haven’t been returning my calls. What’s up, Candace?”
“Where your mouth been?” she asked.
“On my face…”
“Are you sure?” Candace laughed.
“What’s really good?”
“Last week, I made a bet and lost,” she answered dryly.
“And…?”
“I thought I knew the person and couldn’t lose. I thought wrong, Jacque. Claire won.”
“Claire…? Oh she never plays fair.”
“She did this time.”
“What was the bet about?”
“I bet her that you wouldn’t fuck Melanie…”
Jacque opened his mouth but no answer came. Finally he released a heavy sigh.
“That’s a fucked up thing to do but I never did anything. I’m still a virgin,” he breathed. “Believe in me Candace…”
His voice trailed off, and he could no longer continue the lie when he saw the evil look on her face. It made him lightheaded. Candace and Claire started hanging with Melanie and her father, a self proclaimed Cuban refugee living in Washington Heights. Papa was a drunk who hung out at the bodega on the corner, and tried to tell his life story for a Budweiser to anyone. Candace and Claire were popular and very playful.
Whenever they went out, Mimmy always encouraged Sheryl to accompany the sisters to make sure they didn’t get out of hand. Slowly with the help of Melanie and her father, the girls launched a life of crime. Then they underestimated what they were up against once store owners started letting them slide. It started out with Sheryl unwittingly following the sisters and Melanie into a boutique called Le Chic.
“Let’s check out this place,” suggested Melanie, winking.
Melanie, Candace and Claire planned on stealing but conveniently forgot to tell Sheryl. They moved cautiously into position and noticed that security was in the back.
“That just makes our getaway so much easier,” Candace said.
Melanie found a pair of jeans and Candace found two tops. She checked the sizes. They were perfect. She stashed them in Sheryl’s backpack. They were about to leave the store, and a security guard swooped down, blocking their exit. He brought them back into the store and wouldn’t let them go until after Sheryl spent all the money she had on the stolen items. The store owner knew Melanie’s father and notified him. Papa was there an hour later, half drunk and talking plenty trash.
Sheryl was sick to her stomach from embarrassment. Candace was scared that Papa would report the incident to Mimmy. Claire tried to diffuse the situation. Claire’s mind was working fast.
“Hey Papa,” she greeted the old man. “You know us better…” Claire started.
“Back home in my country, I’d whip yer ass until y’all were sore. But in this country you can get away with anything, if you know the way…”
“What?” the girls answered at
