Sex, Secrets and South Beach (26 page)

The crowds went crazy when Bentley
flowed. Girls screamed, and every head in the house bobbed to the
beat. But the most amazing thing happened when Dez made her
entrance. Seated atop a candy-pink Harley-Davidson, she roared onto
the stage as the music to her upcoming single, "Down to Ride,"
played. The audience went wild. Dez forgot all about Dewante and
all about Bentley as she gave her all to her performance. Dez had
to scream her lines in order to be heard over the deafening
crowd.

After giving them a teaser, she and
Bentley performed their collaboration. Balloons and confetti
dropped from the ceiling as sparks shot into the air and explosions
went off on the stage. It was the best performance NBA audiences
had ever seen at an All-Star Game, and even the most critical
sports announcers had nothing negative to say backstage, Sparks
scooped Dez into his arms and twirled her in a circle.

"You were the shit, mami!" he
exclaimed, kissing her on the cheek. "I'm sorry I was jealous," he
whispered as he set her on her feet.

"Thanks, Sparky!" She smiled, using
her special nickname for him to show him that all was
forgiven.

"Baby brother, another great
performance, as usual." Sparks gave Bentley a pound.

"No doubt. What did you expect?" he
answered nonchalantly as he joined the groupie from earlier and
disappeared.

"You okay?" Sparks asked Dez. He knew
that Bentley's dig had to have hurt her.

"Never better," Dez answered, feigning
ambivalence. "Wanna go celebrate?" she asked him with a
wink.

"You ain't said shit but a word,"
Sparks replied as they headed back to the hotel.

April 2002

I
t
was late, nearly 4 a.m., as Dez dug into her
oversize suede Coach Hobo bag, a gift from Sparks, and pulled
out her two-way pager. There were four messages from K.G. This was
getting ridiculous. First thing in the morning she would call him
and really straighten things out. Apparently, he hadn't understood
that she was serious during their previous conversation. She'd be
firm yet gentle. What they'd had was over. Putting K.G. to the back
of her mind, she scrolled through the pager's address book until
she came across the phone number she had been searching
for.

Please be the right
number,
Dez prayed silently as she dialed
it with shaky fingers.

"Hello?" A sleepy voice breathed into
the phone on the other end.

"Ginny?" Dez asked
hopefully.

"Praise God, Desi, is that you?"
Ginger's voiced perked up.

"Yeah. It's me," Dez replied
softly.

"I've been praying for you to call. I
sensed somehow that you needed me. Is everything okay?"

"Still praying, huh?" Dez
kidded.

"All day, every day. My motto is PUSH.
Pray until something happens," Ginger answered. "But stop trying to
change the subject, Desi. Something's wrong, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but..." Dez
hesitated.

"But you're afraid to tell me what's
wrong because you think I'm going to start preaching. Or, worse,
you think I'll come at you with some 'I told you so' stuff," Ginger
predicted.

"Well, are you?"

"Of course not. We have plenty of time
for that later." Ginger laughed. "For now, why don't you just tell
me what's the matter? When I told you that I would always be there
for you, I meant that. I'm just so glad that you called me. It's
been, what, almost three years."

"Yeah, it has been. I really meant to
call, Ginny. But I had no idea what to say to you. You were right
about so many things. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing already.
I didn't
want
to
be right about a lot of stuff." There was a silence. "Anyway, I saw
you on a billboard
and
during the All-Star Game. You're a real rapper now, huh? I'm
so proud of you. You are very talented, nena. I had no idea." Dez
began to sob softly on the other end of the receiver.

"Are you gonna tell me what's wrong,
or am I going to have to come over there? You still at Dan's?"
Ginger asked.

"Oh no. I want you to come over, only
I'm in New York. Can you get on a plane? I'll have a ticket waiting
for you at the airport. JetBlue, okay? Can you come tomorrow?" Dez
pleaded.

"Yeah, sure I'll come. Some things
change, and some things don't. I'm still always ready to travel.
Are you going to be okay until I get there?" Ginger asked, her
voice filled with concern. "You're not sick or hurt or anything,
are you?"

"Not really. It's an emotional and
spiritual matter."

"And you called me? I'm flattered. You
know I'll be there!"

"Good. Cuz you're my only true friend.
You're the only person that I can trust," Dez admitted.

"I'm glad you feel you can trust me,
because you really can. So much has changed in my life, but we'll
get into all of this tomorrow," Ginger told her. "Well, all I can
say is that you'll be in my prayers until we meet. In the meantime,
say a prayer for yourself. Please. That's the end of my sermon for
now."

"Okay," Dez said. "I'll call you in a
few hours with your flight info. Just be ready to go in the early
afternoon."

"I'll see you later today, Desi,"
Ginger assured her.

"Okay, Ginny, get back to sleep. See
you soon."

Roughly twelve hours later,
Dez picked up Ginger
at JFK in a
chauffeur-driven Lexus truck. Her jaw had nearly dropped to the
ground when she met Ginger at the baggage claim. Ginger's hair was
cropped short in a face-flattering style. Gone were the colored
contacts and skimpy clothes. Ginger looked elegant and
sophisticated in a brown pantsuit and crisp pink shirt, accented
with pearl jewelry. She looked like a businesswoman or
schoolteacher.

"No, I'm not a schoolteacher, unless
you count Sunday school," Ginger quipped when Dez commented on her
change in appearance.

"You do not teach Sunday school!" Dez
shrieked.

Ginger smiled. "I sure do."

"Right. Next you'll be telling me that
you're going to be a preacher or something." Dez rolled her
eyes.

"Well...," she started.

"Get the fuck outta here!" Dez howled.
"Oops, my bad. I didn't mean to curse," she apologized as they
retrieved her bags and headed to the Lexus truck.

"Stop trippin'. I'm not as bad as I
was when I first got saved. Act normal, and I promise that I will
too. I've learned to live in the world, but not of it," Ginger
explained.

"Cool. But you're gonna be a
preacher?" Dez shook her head.

"Well. I had contemplated joining a
convent." Ginger raised an eyebrow at Dez.

"Get the fuck outta here!" Dez yelled
again, then covered her mouth.

"Yeah. But I'm not going to do it. I
was raised a Catholic, but now I'm attending a Baptist church. It
just gives me a different feeling, you know?" Ginger gave Desiree's
hand a squeeze. Dez looked down and noticed a stunning two-carat
pear-shaped diamond set in a thick platinum band.

"What the hell?" Dez lifted Ginger's
hand. Ginger smiled mischievously.

"I guess I'm going to just have to
settle for being a preacher's wife." Ginger wiggled her fingers in
front of Dez.

"You're married?" Dez asked in
disbelief.

"Not yet. In about three months. You
better be in my wedding, but we'll go into that later."

"Who? When? How did this
happen?"

"Well, after I had that experience and
found the Lord, for a while I drifted from church to church, trying
to find a place to call my spiritual home. That's when I went to
discernment weekends and retreats at different convents and checked
out some seminaries and theological schools and stuff. But none of
it was speaking to me. You know I couldn't give up all my stuff.
That might have been cool for Mase, but he didn't work as hard as I
did to get what I had. I knew that some of it was wrong, how I got
it, but still!"

Yeah
, Desiree thought,
she's still the
same old Ginger!

"I'm striving to be like Jesus, but
I'm not there yet. I sold the Web sites for a hefty profit, then I
went to the Dominican Republic and Haiti for a while to get in
touch with my roots and find my center. I figured if I couldn't get
rid of all the things that 'dirty money' had bought, I could at
least do some good with the new proceeds. I needed to get to the
heart of who I was as a person. I found my father and confronted
him. He had a new family that knew nothing about me. It wasn't
pleasant, but we came to a sort of understanding, and it helped me
to vanquish some of the ghosts I had been dealing with. I got rid
of a lot of the anger. I donated a lot of my clothes and technical
help to the poor people in Port-au-Prince. I just went on a
spiritual journey, you know? I met my fiancé while working with
some orphans in Haiti. He's a doctor and a minister, and he was
working on a mission. I don't know, we just hit it off."

"Damn. That must have been...
interesting." Dez looked at Ginger in amazement. She had always
known that Ginger had a good heart; she'd just been hiding it. She
spoke up on it. "I always knew you were a good person, Ginny. You
deserve a good man who's going to treat you right."

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you thought I
was a good person and deserved love, but there were times when I
didn't. But that's enough about me. We've got time for that talk
later. I'll be glad to share any of my experiences with you then.
Tell me where you're at, Desi. Are you wondering if you're a good
person? Are you looking back at how far you've come and at what
price? Are you wondering if it was all worth it? Do you feel like
you've sacrificed too much of yourself and now there's nothing
left? Or what's left–hell, you don't even know who that person is?"
Ginger looked Dez squarely in the eyes.

"Oh my God, Ginny, yes! How do you
know?" Dez sniffled and started to tear up. Ginger had read her to
a T.

"I was going through the same thing
when you came to live with me. Girl, don't worry. We're gonna work
everything out. Now, let's relax and eat a little something. I'm
starving, aren't you?" Ginger tossed her arm around Dez's
shoulder.

Dez felt herself relax as the Lexus
pulled into the gate of Sparks's home. Ginger would help her.
They'd have dinner, perhaps some wine if Ginger still indulged, and
chat like old times. Dez wondered how much Ginger had heard about
the tape and her case against Dan. Dez knew she had to come clean
and reveal to Ginger her true age, and she was hoping that Ginger
could forgive her for the lies. But since Ginger was "born again,"
Dez didn't anticipate any problems with that. Christianity was
based on forgiveness. Sparks had left Dez a note stating that he
had to fly to Virginia for a few days on business, but to call him
if she got bored and wanted to go out so that he could make
arrangements. Dez was glad he was gone; she could reunite with
Ginger in peace.

"You finally made it, huh, girlfriend?
His crib makes mine look like the projects!" Ginger quipped after
settling in and joining Dez on the patio.

Desiree had prepared her signature
arroz con pollo and plantains along with black beans. Ginger bowed
her head and said grace over the food. Without seeking approval,
she held Dez's hand as she prayed. For once, Dez didn't mind
Ginger's spirituality. She felt so lost that anything was bound to
help.

"I see you can still only cook one
meal," Ginger chided as she lifted her head and prepared to dig
into the steaming-hot plate of food.

"I see you're still a smart-ass," Dez
joked back.

"Well, hey, God made me this way. You
got beef, take it up with Him."

"Or her," Dez replied. They shared a
laugh, happy to be with each other again. They ate in relative
silence, engaging in minor chitchat now and then. When they were
done, Dez cleared the plates and straightened up the kitchen a
little.

"You mean to tell me that with all
this big house, Sparks ain't got no maid? I see why he got you
staying here with him, he got you cleaning up!" Ginger laughed as
she helped Dez load the dishwasher.

"That's not why Sparks has me here,"
Dez said softly, looking at her feet.

Ginger took Dez by the hand and led
her to the kitchen table. "Okay, spill it. I've been really patient
with you, but you can't avoid things any longer. Whatever it is
that's bugging you, tell me right now," Ginger said
firmly.

"Okay." Dez sighed. "You still drink,
or no?" Dez asked.

"A little. But if it's
like
that
, I do
believe I'll take a glass of champagne," Ginger remarked. Dez
extracted a chilled bottle of Veuve Clicquot from the refrigerator,
popped the cork, and poured them both a crystal flute of the bubbly
liquid.

"Okay, first things first," Ginger
said. "How did all of this happen? The last time we spoke, you'd
moved in with Dan. Then you fell off and I didn't hear from you.
Then all of a sudden you're a big star and I see you everywhere! So
did Dan help you like he said he would?"

"Fuck no! Dan was a big waste of time.
I spent all my time writing lyrics, only for Dan to brush them
aside, and when I finally did get into the studio, all I did was
sing the bullshit chorus with a bunch of other females. My parts
usually consisted of me screaming shit like 'Do it to me
doggy-style' or 'You like the way I shake my ass? I know you wanna
spank that ass.' Straight garbage. It didn't take me long to
realize that even if Dan put me on, I wasn't going to go lead, let
alone platinum. But the way I saw it, I would milk him for
everything that I could," Dez explained. "But Dan put me in my
first video. Thank God it kind of bombed. It was so cheesy and
embarrassing! Nobody ever mentions seeing me in it anyway, and I
don't put it on my resume. Anyway, he introduced me to my manager.
It just blew up overnight from there. My manager got me some better
gigs, and pretty soon I realized, hey, I don't need Dan. So I moved
out of Dan's place and used his money to get my own spot. He didn't
seem to care too much. He probably went out and replaced me that
night. But Dan caused me more trouble than you could begin to
imagine."