Danessa's Faded Star
Chapter 1 - Where Are They Now?

The sound of the traffic outside was incessant and occasionally punctuated by a police siren. Danessa wished she could close the window, but the air conditioning was broken. She turned the television up a little louder to try and cover the noise.
Danessa Summers had just turned eighteen, but she felt as if she'd already lived a couple of lifetimes. She had long kinky black hair pulled back in a pony tail in an effort to beat the heat. Her dark brown skin glistened with perspiration that had soaked the sleeveless tee shirt she was wearing. She'd stripped down to her panties, but still got no relief from the sweltering temperature.
How things had changed for young black woman in such a short time. As recently as six years ago she'd been on top of the world. As a child actress on the hit sitcom "The Malarkeys", Li'l Nessa was a fan favorite. She'd wanted for nothing back in those days. It still seemed like a bad dream that it had all come crashing down so fast.
The story of a precocious little black girl from the inner city who came to live with a white suburban family proved to be popular fare. It didn't matter that the real life Nessa had only seen a ghetto from the inside of a limousine. At least, until she ended up living in one afterwards.
After three years the producers decided that Li'l Nessa wasn't so little anymore. A cute nine year old came to stay with the family. By the end of the season, Nessa had been written out of the script. She was a has-been before her thirteenth birthday.
Then came the car accident. Driving without a license while intoxicated landed the child star in rehab. After she came out, she couldn't find work. No studio in town would touch her. Her family had pretty much spent the money from the show faster than it had come in. Her manager embezzled the residuals for when the show went into syndication. Her father disappeared shortly after that.
Today, only Danessa's mother, Natalie, was still around. The older woman had actually played a maid in a couple of bit parts in older family sitcoms some twenty and thirty years earlier. Now, she was a maid for real, working at a downtown hotel. The two of them lived in this one bedroom walk up over a used clothing store.
Danessa sat on the beat up old couch and flipped from channel to channel on the ancient console television set that sat on a paint splattered table. She heard the familiar strains of the theme song for "The Malarkeys" and paused. It was an episode from the third season; her last. Little Trudy made her appearance as her long lost sister. The young girl's face on the screen mocked the present day Nessa.
She clicked the remote and the set went silent. The fan buzzed as it blew hot air on her. Outside she could hear a drunken argument raging on. Danessa debated with herself whether to shut the window so she wouldn't have to listen to it all.
The knock at the door startled Danessa. She wasn't expecting her mother home from work for several hours. She took a peek through the peephole and saw her older cousin, Rolonda waiting in the hallway.
Rolonda Summers was a big girl who still looked like a chubby teenager even though she was now twenty years old. She had a medium brown complexion with dark brown eyes and full lips. Her hairstyle and makeup were truly "ghetto fabulous". She wore her hair straightened and cut short. Mocha lipstick with eyeliner highlighted the edges of her lips.
Danessa opened the door and let her in. Today Rolonda was wearing black Capri stretch pants and a red tank top the left her pudgy belly bare to the world. Her large breasts and wide ass stretched the material of her one size too small outfit. She was sporting a new piercing, a ring in her left nostril that matched the one in her left eyebrow.
Ever since they were kids, Rolonda had been the leader. She mostly led into trouble, but the girls were good friends as well as cousins. The big girl was the only member of Danessa's father's side of the family to stay in touch with her.
"What up, Nessa?" said Rolonda as she entered the apartment. "Dis place hotter 'n a motherfucker! Ain't you got dat air conditioner fixed yet?"
"Not yet," replied Danessa. "Gotta wait for mama's pay day."
"Well, girl, I gots a way fo' you to make some easy money," announced Rolonda. "You int'rested'?"
"Easy money?" asked Danessa skeptically. "I ain't like the sound o' that, Londa."
"Dere's dese guys I know...," Rolonda started. "Dey in da movie bidness. Da nasty movie bidness, if'n you knows what I means. I tells 'em how Li'l Nessa was my cousin. Dey all 'member you, girl. Dey be tellin' me how you could be makin' ten thousand dollars..., maybe fifteen..., fo' jus' a half hour workin'! 'Course I ain't believin' it right away, but dey ain't bullshittin'!"
"Nasty movies!" exclaimed Danessa. "You mean pornos?"
"Hell, yeah!" Rolonda told her. "Pornos. But, it's so fuckin' easy! All you gotta do is git naked..., show off yo' stuff a little..., maybe blow some guy..., maybe do da nasty wit' him. Dat's it! Half hour o' dat an' you got a shit load o' money!"
"Sounds like alot...," agreed Danessa. "But, I don't know if I could do that."
"Sho' you could, girl!" replied Rolonda. "It jus' a actin' job. You know 'bout dat! An' fuckin' an' suckin' ain't nothin' new to you. I remembers you an' dat rapper. An' da actin' coach. You ain't had no problem gittin' naked an' suckin' an' fuckin' dem!"
"That was different, Londa," objected Danessa. "I liked them. An' it wasn't in no movie."
"Well, I's jus' sayin'," said Rolonda. "You my cous', an' I wants to help. Dat's all. Look..., yo' mama be home soon so I better go. I know she ain't like me too much an' ain't wanna start no shit wit' her. Maybe I come by tomorrow."
"'kay," replied Danessa. "I be here. I ain't got nowheres else to go."
Rolonda turned the door knob and went back into the hallway.
"A'right, Nessa," Rolonda said. "See ya den."
Danessa watched her cousin walk down the hall to the stairs. She closed the apartment door and went back to the couch. Picking up the remote, she turned the television back on. The Malarkeys were just going off. She wished those days had never ended.
*       *       *
When her mother returned from work later that afternoon, Danessa was asleep on the couch. She sat down and took off her shoes. The teenager looked up drowsily.
Natalie Summers was almost fifty years old. She was a large black woman with full heavy breasts and a nice wide ass. She had short black nappy hair with a frosting of gray. Even though it had been years since she'd last played the role, she still looked like the stereotypical television black maid.
"You just get home, mama?" she asked. "The heat really knocked me out."
"That's right," replied Natalie. "The bus was late. My feet are killing me."
Danessa sat up on the couch and looked serious.
"It doesn't have to be this way," Danessa told her. "I'm eighteen now. I could be makin' movies for these guys Londa knows. It's easy money, mama. You wouldn't have to be moppin' floors in some damn hotel we wouldn't a even wanted to be stayin' at back in the day."
"No!" replied Natalie emphatically. "I know she's yo' friend an' yo' cousin, but that Londa is a ho! The only kinda movies 'those guys' be makin' is pornos. You do that, an' it's over, girl. You ain't never gonna be workin' in TV no more."
"I'm not workin' in TV now," Danessa pointed out. "I already fucked that up. So, what's to lose? I hate livin' like this. Londa says I can get fifteen thousand dollars for just a half hour of work."
"A half hour on yo' back!" countered Natalie. "Or on yo' knees wit' some nasty ass stranger's dick in yo' face! Is that what you want, girl? To be some kinda ho?"
"Maybe I think it's better'n bein' poor!" exclaimed Danessa. "I can get over suckin' some fool's pecker alot faster than I can get over livin' in this place. How long before some crazy ass junkie busts in the door an' makes me do that for free?"
"This place ain't that bad, Nessa," said Natalie. "I growed up in a place like this. Ain't nothin' like that never happened."
"Maybe not," ceded Danessa. "But just how did you get out? How did you get those first jobs on TV? An' you did that just to be some maid!"
"I did what I had to," Natalie admitted. "But it got me started an' I never had to look back. You go makin' pornos an' that's it. Your face'll be all over the computer net suckin' on a dick! Right on the same page as your pretty ten year old face wit' the cute braids and the big happy smile. Is that what you want?"
Danessa paused to picture that. She knew it was true. Other faded child stars had turned to unsavory ways to support themselves. She'd seen the results. She knew that even has been celebrities commanded alot of interest when they fell from grace. Why else would Londa's friend be willing to pay so much for so little work? He knew it would sell and make his money back a hundred times over.
"No, I guess not," sighed Danessa. "But what am I gonna do? Get a job flippin' burgers? Go clean up after folks at that hotel of yours? I just can't do it! It just sucks!"
"It'll get better, baby," Natalie assured her. "This new agent, Mister Kincaid, I got a feelin' he'll find somethin' for you. I jus' know he will."
"Donald?" Danessa replied, exasperated. "He shares an office with a bail bondsman! He ain't gonna find shit for me. I don't know why you trust those assholes, mama. Your Mister Maguire took everything we had!"
"I know, I know," her mother said. "I was wrong about him. But Mister Kincaid knows people. He's hungry like us. He don't have too many clients. He'll work hard for us an' find somethin'. Even a info-mercial or somethin' would be good. Way better'n some damn porno."
"Okay, okay," Danessa relented. "I'll try an' be patient. But, Londa jus' wants to help, that's all. Please, don't be down on her for it."
"Hmmmf," grunted Natalie skeptically.
*       *       *
Late that night, the traffic sounds had subsided a little and the heat had relented somewhat. Natalie was already asleep. Danessa lay awake in the bed next to her and remembered back to how things had been.
They'd all lived together in a large house in one of the tonier suburbs. Danessa had especially enjoyed the swimming pool on a hot summer's day. When they went out, she would always be recognized by fans of the show who'd want autographs or to have their pictures taken with her. It had really been quite annoying.
Now, however, she longed for that kind of attention again. No one seemed to recognize her. Of course, that might be because no one expected to see her as she was now. No one would think that the young black woman they saw in this part of town was in fact Li'l Nessa, sweetheart of the Malarkeys.
The entire situation was frustrating. Getting fifteen thousand dollars from Londa's movie friends was tempting. However, the idea of having to get naked on camera and suck off some scuzball turned Danessa's stomach. Still, flipping burgers was hardly the kind of thing she'd expected be doing. She had been a star after all!