"What the hell was that all about?!" Kevin lashed out the moment they all were back inside of the limo. Robyn couldn't look up as she sat next to CeCe and her husband across from Whitney and Kevin.
"Craziness. Absolute madness." Whitney nervously snickered. "Arista knows how to throw a hell of a party!" She fished around in the cooler and found a bottle of Cristal. "Robyn honey, would you do us the honor and popping the cork on this bad boy? I'm sure we all need a glass after all of this chaos." By the time Robyn filled up everyone's flutes for champagne, Whitney had already finished hers and asked her to refill another glass.
Whitney tried her best to put on her charming smile. "So are we off to The Sapphire for part two of this thing?" CeCe looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "You still want to go to The Sapphire?"
"Of course!" Whitney chirped. "Arista planned a fabulous party and people are waiting on us. What would it look like if we didn't show up because of some ridiculous lie and an attempt to sabotage the release of this album?" Whitney was gunning for her third glass of champagne. "She does have a point," said CeCe's husband. Kevin (who had been unusually mute at this point) was still in a daze about what he had just heard. "Babe, who would want to pin something like this on you?" he finally spoke up.
"Leolah Brown," Whitney said slowly.
"Who the hell is Leolah Brown?" Kevin demanded. Robyn poured herself another glass of champagne. She couldn't wait to see how Whitney would be able to explain all of this. Whitney sighed. "Bobby's sister, my ex-in law." Tears immediately began to fill her eyes. "How long will I have to pay for that mistake of marrying him?" Kevin pulled her into his arms where she cried for several minutes. He took his handkerchief and wiped at his wife's tears.
Whitney finally sat up took a deep breath and continued. "When I was married to Bobby, his entire family expected me to take care of them as well. I would give Leolah money here and there to help out with her family and issues. Well once I realized it was getting out of hand and she was taking advantage, I stopped giving her money. And once I divorced Bobby and he ended up with nothing, she called me one day saying that I would pay for how I "did her brother and family dirty". I said some choice words back, letting her know that I was not afraid of her or her family. I thought that I had settled things once and for all, but I guess she decided to wait years later to try to sabotage my life and image."
"But why she would make up these crazy ideas about you doing drugs? Where is she getting this all from?" Kevin quizzed. Robyn didn't realize that she was ringing the life out of her own hands until she felt the numbness in them. Whitney looked Kevin in his eyes. "Baby have you once ever seen me do drugs? Tell me have you ever caught me ever doing that in the few years that we have been together?" Kevin looked thoughtful. "You're right babe. That's true." Robyn somewhat relaxed.
The limo pulled up at The Sapphire. "So are we gonna go on inside and enjoy the rest of this event? Excuse my French, but we are not gonna let that psychotic bitch ruin a big night for our careers. We all look to good to let that happen." She laughed towards CeCe, her husband and Robyn.
"No way. Robyn agreed. "Let's just all go have a good time."
They all ignored the paparazzi as they got out of the limo and walked into The Sapphire as one big confident group. Big screen monitors were mounted throughout the club, where the party was just starting to jump off. Kellie's planner decorated the club, bringing in couture furniture, statues and fabrics, making it look like grand palace.
They all met Dionne, Cissy, and Whitney's brothers and wives in the VIP section. Cissy sat down and looked at her daughter, wanting to know what happened earlier. "Nippy, what was all of that madness about?" Whitney looked the other way, waving her hand. "Aww mommy, it's just some craziness from Bobby's sister. I just got through explaining it and I don't wanna get into it right now. But I'm gonna contact my attorney first thing Monday and drag her for what she is trying to do." Gary and Michael nervously looked away, glad that Whitney had "explained" the situation already. Because if the beans had been spilled and it comes down to them….
"Okay, but I don't like where these chips are falling. You getting accused of all of this junk." Cissy went on. "Well you know mommy, that's the unfortunate part of being in the public's eyes. They will come to eat your flesh alive." Whitney stated.
Whitney's glowing, beautiful face flickered across the screens. A vibrant house version of "It's Not Right, But It's Okay" thumped on the dance floor and people were out dancing to it. "Come on baby. Let's go dance." Whitney turned to Kevin and allowed him to lead her out to the dance floor. Dionne watched her cousin dance, as they seemed to be having a good time. CeCe watched as well. Both ladies seemed to be in deep thought about what happened and they could barely touch their plates of food. After awhile, Kevin and Whitney returned to the table laughing and in good spirits. "What's up Robyn?" Whitney asked as she sat next to childhood friend. The one person who knew all of her secrets. It was obvious that she was feeling her Cristal at that point. "Can we get out of here for a minute?" "Sure, I need to freshen my makeup anyway." Whitney said before whispering to Kevin and following Robyn out of the club.
"Let's use this bathroom." Robyn suggested as they went into the club's private office, which had its own restroom. After they both were in, Robyn quickly closed the door and locked it. "You know, you deserve an award for how you handled the situation." She softly told her. Whitney made no comment until she returned from the restroom a few minutes later. "I'm ready." She told her. Robyn looked at her strangely. "You're ready for what?" "To get back to my party and to my husband!" Whitney snapped. There was a knock on the door and Robyn opened the door to CeCe. "I knew I would find y'all in here. How's it goin'?" she asked.
"Not now CeCe, I'm on my way back to the party." Whitney started. "I'm sure you won't be missed for a minute. The guys all went upstairs to play pool. Kevin can survive without you for a few minutes." CeCe stated matter-of-factly. CeCe reached over and helped herself to a can of Coke from the refrigerator and opened it while looking at her two friends. "You guys need to come out with the truth before this thing gets more out of hand than it already is."
"Nip, did you tell her?" Robyn inquired to Whitney. "No, but your big ass mouth just did." Whitney's narrow cocoa eyes became stormy. "Both of you need to calm down. No one told me anything. I figured out this had been going on with you all."
"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Whitney asked. CeCe took a long sip of her Coke. "For several reasons. I prayed to God that my suspicions for once, be wrong. I surely didn't want to be right. For you guys to go and keep a secret like this to this length had to be for certain reasons."
Neither Whitney nor Robyn said anything as they sat down in chairs looking defeated. "How did you know?" Whitney meekly asked.
"Like I said, I had my suspicions. Even years ago, when you would invite me to go on tour with you. I remember when you all would go off in a room or somewhere for awhile when you thought I was sleeping or distracted. I knew you all were messing with drugs. Sometimes your whole demeanor would change, Whit. I tried my best not to believe this wasn't going on over the years, but I'm afraid to say that God revealed that I was right the whole time."
No one made eye contact as all of the ladies sat in an uncomfortable silence.
"Your brothers….they are in on all of this too aren't they?" CeCe asked Whitney. Neither Whitney or Robyn said anything, confirming that Gary and Michael had been partaking in drugs as well.
"DAMN!" CeCe cursed as she hit the desk with her fist. Whitney and Robyn nearly jumped out of their seats as they had never heard a calm, collected CeCe curse nor yell. "Why are you doing this to your parents? And most of all, why are you doing this to Kevin? He's such a good man to you. He doesn't deserve all of this deceit." A huge tear rolled down Whitney's cheek. "No matter what you or anyone thinks, I love my husband very, very much."
"Then tell him the truth!" CeCe barked at her. "We kept everything a secret to protect her image and her marriage to begin with." Robyn cut in. "Oh you guys are just so considerate." CeCe deadpanned. "How did this all come out to the light anyways?" "I'm not sure, but a big hunch is that Leolah has started this whole thing." Whitney said. "I did tell him about the whole incident of her threatening to come after me, one way or another after the divorce. "I think she went into the media about the whole thing because…Bobby and I used together. That's when it was heavy. But now that I'm with Kevin, I don't need to or have the desire to use that often…only if I'm stressed."
"Like that makes things better." CeCe continued to dig in at her best friend. "This is a mess…a huge mess."
A few minutes later Whitney and the girls followed out before anyone got suspicious. After checking on her mother and Dionne, she looked on the guys who were now in an intense game of poker. She then went back downstairs and mingled with the partygoers who were still in attendance, speaking with Clive briefly and dancing around with Babyface.
When the song was over, CeCe came over and dragged her off the floor. "You need to go get Kevin and go home." "He's playin' poker with the guys, CeCe."Whitney said, growing irritated with her. "So? Get him outta that game so you two can go and talk." CeCe urged. "We did in the limo!" Whitney hissed. "And besides." She added lowering her voice. "I'm done with it all. I can kick this thing cold turkey." "Something tells me that you have tried in the past, and it didn't work." CeCe read through her. "You need Kevin to know the truth, so he can stand with you to get you help." "I don't need help" Whitney whispered as she looked around for any nosy listeners. "My family means more to me than…that…. I can quit this thing and be alright and move on with our lives."
Whitney walked away to talk to Lauryn Hill and Wycliff Jean and thanked them for their support. By the time she said goodnight to her mother and Dionne as they left, Kevin came back down with a disappointed look on his face. "What's wrong honey?" Whitney said as she wrapped her arms around him. "I lost in the last round, meaning they got some of my money." Kevin pouted. CeCe and Whitney couldn't help but laugh at his faux-pain. A movie- star grin brightened up his face as he joined on their humor. Whitney looked into his dreamy blue eyes and gave him a kiss. "Baby, you look so cute when you don't get your way." She winked at him. "Who's pouting?" Kevin smirked. "Come on. Let's go home so mama can take good care of daddy." Whitney told him. "MMM… sounds good to me. Shall we?" he reached out his hand to her. Whitney took it and snuggled close. "We shall."
"All right you two, good night." CeCe said as she gave them both a hug as everyone came back downstairs to leave.
"I don't have a good feeling about this girl. Tell him everything. Tonight."CeCe whispered in Whitney's ear. "Let sleeping dogs lie, CeCe. Isn't that how the saying goes?"
"Yeah that's how it goes. Except your dogs aren't sleeping. They are stirring awake and waking up the neighborhood." CeCe told her before joining her husband.