“She can be a bit mannish when she’s around an attractive man,” Autumn explained, rolling her eyes at her grandmother. “Trust me, I had the same problems when she first laid eyes on October.”
“And so did I with Frost.”
“If y’all knew what to do with these men, you wouldn’t need GiGi out here having to straighten you out. Fine young thang up here trying to buy her a new wardrobe, and this heffa don’t know how to let a good man be a good man, talking about independence. What’s wrong with y’all?”
“GiGi, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be able to buy something for ourselves. What if we start relying on a man and he turns out to be no good like someone we once knew?” Autumn asked.
“Mm-hmm.” Wynter agreed, rolling her eyes and twisting her lips.
“And this is why we can’t take you anywhere,” Autumn replied.
“Hey, y’all ease up on GiGi. She meant no harm,” Deuce stated, earning an eyeroll from Autumn, Wynter, and me, but a smile from GiGi.
“All you gotta do is let that young man buy you those clothes and stop giving him a hard time. He’s not like that Wilson nigga,” she stated, glaring at Autumn who twisted her lips and glared back.
“It’s not like I’m with him anymore, GiGi.”
“Yeah, but I told you he wasn’t no good in the first place. Should’ve listened to me. Deuce, I was about to take her down, but you got a good woman if she’s willing to fight for you and ain’t trying to empty your pockets,” GiGi stated to Deuce as she handed the woman her credit card.
Deuce reached forward, removed the card from the cashier’s hand, and handed her his card instead. He handed GiGi’s cardback to her. I wanted to be mad because GiGi was my nemesis, and he was essentially buying her thongs, but I couldn’t. It was actually sweet of him to do that.
“Thanks, GiGi. I’ll keep that in mind and maybe keep her on my team a little longer.”
She kissed his cheek and turned back to accept her bag from the cashier.
“All right, Deuce. You’re about to get your heart broken up in this mall,” I teased.
“It’s okay. He knows where to come when you don’t want him anymore,” GiGi declared with a wink.
“On that note, we’re about to hit the streets. This woman is gonna get us jumped one day,” Wynter stated.
“Who? Ain’t nobody jumping me and my dream team. You better tell her, Autumn. We got these hands.”
“Come on, Granma Dynamite,” Autumn replied, grabbing her grandmother by one arm while Wynter grabbed the other one.
“It was nice meeting you again, Sevyn. Hope to see you around more often,” Wynter stated.
“Me too,” Autumn chimed in.
“Not me. If she ain’t around, then I can have her man,” GiGi declared.
“Not in this lifetime, GiGi,” I called back.
I grabbed Deuce’s hand while he waited for the lady to ring up my purchases. GiGi laughed and winked at me. I turned back around and looked at Deuce, who was cheesing. “What’s so funny?”
“A man feels good when he’s got two women fighting over him.”
“Nobody was fighting over you.”
“Yeah, but you were about to.”
“No, we weren’t.”
“Yes, you were. Everybody seen it. You saw it, didn’t you, Miss Lady?” he asked, looking at the cashier who laughed and shook her head at his foolishness.
“I swear I can’t take you nowhere,” I mumbled as he grabbed my bags.
We headed out to my Jeep that Deuce had driven here. I encouraged him to take my vehicle just to keep it running since it hadn’t been used in a while.
