Jessop’s phone rang. We continued to talk until he abruptly sat up.” Baby, calm down. We’re on the way. Drop the pin.”
After he disconnected the call, he stood. “Man, let’s go. Gorjess grandmama and mama scheduled a bogus ass grooming appointment. They done blocked her ass in so she can’t leave.”
We all stood. It was clear that they had lost their complete minds. I had no problem helping them find it. I picked my phone up to open the app to get her location. I was on the fucking way.
That’s NotHow We Gonna Play This . . .
My heart was so conflicted. I was hurt by what happened, but in the same breath, I felt blessed to have these new people in my life that were a part of me. I was still not ready to meet Travis, but the more that I learned about him, the more I became comfortable with the thought. Vanessa showed me a photo of him. I picked apart his features to match mine.
We shared the same eye color and nose shape. I found out that his wife was a professor at UNCC, so I looked her up. She was a beautiful woman. It was clear that Travis had a type.
Yesterday, I groomed Vanessa’s Maltese baby. Shimmy was the cutest baby ever, but she was not used to being groomed at all. When she told me that the previous groomer preferred not togroom her, I thought that I would be dealing with a demon dog. I asked her if Shimmy could spend the night with me the night before. Once I did that, we were alright. It still took a little more effort than normal, but with more time, we’d get it right.
“Elica, I think you should wear it. The dress is gorgeous.”I was on the phone as I drove to my grooming appointment.
Jessop had a championship belt fight in a few weeks. It was their turn for a relationship debut. We went dress shopping with Cadence, Tsia, and Vanessa a few days ago. The dress she bought was beautiful, but she thought that it was too much. We all told her that she needed to do the fucking most.
She sighed loudly like a little ass kid.“Jess, my entire back is out. It’s Tiana Taylor flow, and I’m not that girl’s size.”
“What does she have to do with you? Her ass is bad. Your ass is bad. Aren’t you the one that told me that Jessop had you try the dress on and it ended with you bent over in the dress?”I asked with a tilted head and my eyes between the road and GPS.
Her breathing got heavy.“Whew, child, yes, he did. Girl, that man had me bent over the banister of the balcony in his bedroom under the evening stars with a leg up. If I fell, it would have been damn worth that dick. Bitch, I wore the dress the next morning while I cooked breakfast for a remix of the night before.”
My face scrunched.“Heifer, I hope you took that dress to the cleaners, with y’all nasty asses. My point in asking that question was if your man loves it, then that is all that matters. Girl, these bitches are going to nut up when they see you.”
She sucked her teeth.“You know what, you’re right! I’m about to step all over these bitches with my thick as Wheatena ass.”
I almost swerved because I laughed so hard.“Bitch, what the fuck! Wheatena though?”
“Yes, I am a wholesome, brown skin, thick ass girl. I’m good for the soul and can fill you up really good,”she confidently said. I could imagine her neck snaps and eye rolls to emphasize her point like she stood in front of me.
All I could do was laugh and love it. I glanced at the address on a house, then the GPS to make sure that I was at the right place. It was a beautiful home.“I think I’m at my new client’s place. Girl, their house is nice.”
This was a new client that reached out to me earlier this week. I was excited to meet Dora. She was a beautiful Cane Corso, one-year-old baby. I loved that breed so much. I thought about owning one, but you rarely found them at the shelter.
“Oh, take a picture and send it to me. Let me see where you are.”I knew she was pulling up the app that shared my location.
I turned my truck off. Before I got out, I made sure that the call transferred to my earpiece. Once it did, I got out to start my normal process to turn on the air in the trailer and make sure everything was set up. I kept Elica in my ear, which was normal when I came to new clients. As I walked to the door, I noticed a car pulled into the driveway. I didn’t think too much of it, though.
Before I could knock on the front door, it opened.Oh, hell no!At no time when I was on my way here did I expect Athena to answer the damn door. “What the hell? We are not doing this!”
“Gorjess, please! Just let me talk to you. I just want to talk,” she said as she rushed after me.
Elica was in my ear asking what was going on. The person who drove into the driveway had me blocked in. I walked to the car. “Excuse me, I need to leave. Can you please . . .”
Brenda rolled the tinted window down before the last words of my question left my mouth. “This can’t be life. Move your fuckin’ car. I need to leave.”
“Jess, if you don’t tell me what the fuck is going on! I’m on the way right now,”Elica yelled in my ear. Before I could respond, Brenda spoke. “Is that how you speak to your mother? I thought I raised you better than that.”
I heard Elica say fuck no in my ear before the line clicked. I wasn’t sure what she was doing, but I needed and wanted to get the hell out of here. I ignored her and went to my trailer to shut it down and lock it up. By that time, Athena stood by the front of my truck. “Gorjess, I just want to talk to you to explain myself. I love you whether I was your sister or mother.”
I stared at her blankly for a beat. “You explained yourself at the restaurant. I don’t need any further explanation. I mean, this shit here is crazy. Do you even have a dog and whose house is this? This is my fuckin’ business!”
Brenda came and stood next to her. “And? It’s a business that my husband funded with our money, so technically, a part of this business is mine. I wanted to see how my business was doing.”
My head bucked back. “Bitch, you got me all the way fucked up. None ofGorjess Pupsbelongs to you. Athena, get your mama before I lay hands on her, and I’m not talking about the healing kind.”
Athena huffed. “Mama, just move your car and let her go. We shouldn’t have done this. I wanted to see and talk to you, so I got this Airbnb to book the appointment.” Tears streamed down her face. “I’m sorry. We should have waited for you to reach out to us.”
