Chapter 8
Ari
After Proctor left, Tania suddenly became pushy about us going out, having fun, and letting our hair down. At first, I tried to ignore it. I told myself I wasn’t going because I didn’t need the drama or the temptation of going anywhere near that man. But then I reminded myself that I have to use self-control when it comes to Proctor. Unfortunately, I will have to be around him at times because he is my best friend’s father in law.
I ultimately gave in because I wanted to prove my resilience to myself and prove that Proctor doesn’t have control of my mind or my body. Tonight, I slipped into one of Cyn’s silver dresses with the sides cut from my thighs up, made of spandex. The dress hugged my body with peaks of my ass showing, so it was an attention grabbing dress, I am sure.
I stood in front of the mirror, turning slightly to one side and then the other, watching the material catch against my hips. I hadn’t seen this girl in a while because lately, if I wasn’t in a sundress, I was wearing sweatpants and hoodies that hid what I had underneath. Since I stopped dancing, I rarely felt sexy. Rarely felt desired, but tonight, I looked like the version of me who knew exactly what she was doing when she stepped into a room.
When I finished getting dressed, Tania was still doing her makeup, so I walked into Cyn’s bedroom to check on her. She was sitting in bed, with a phone pressed up to her ear, and she snapped her fingers softly, signaling to me that I looked good in that silent-girl language.
I sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting for her conversation to be cut short.
“Yes, mama. That does suck for her, I guess,” she said into the phone with a sigh.
“How much will it take, Mama?”
“Damn, that’s a lot of money?”
“Well, tell her she could’ve asked me herself. I mean, I don’t mind helping, but still. She should get a job, and stuff like this won’t be creeping up on her.”
I couldn’t tell exactly what the conversation was about, but it was obvious her sister needed money. This was exactly what I was telling my aunt about earlier when she was trying to pressure me to ask for some.
When she finally hung up the phone, she exhaled deeply, like she’d been holding everything in that entire phone call.
“You okay, friend?”
“Yes, girl, but you don’t understand. These people are always up to something. Sometimes I wonder what they would do if I had never met Hawk and his money. It’s so exhausting being the family bank.”
She shook her head.
“You know how it is with family, sometimes they can be the ones to suck you until you are dry. Unfortunately, Josiah and others did it to me when I was making good money. I could onlyimagine how it is for you and Hawk because y’all are obviously rolling in dough.”
She pressed her lips together and shook her head slowly.
When I first started dancing back in the day, I was making so much money you could see it on me. I always had my hair done, I got a new car, got a brand new luxury apartment, and paid my rent on time. People noticed my comeback, and that’s when my phone started ringing. There were family members who barely checked on me who suddenly remembered my number. I heard so many last-minute sob stories about lights getting cut off that I felt like I was the government assistance hotline.
“You know, Ari, I just want to tell you thank you so much for being there for me right now. I know you have a lot of things you are battling internally, probably every day, but you never stopped being my friend and holding me down. And you never ask me for anything or require me to do anything for you, and that means a lot. It shows you are still genuine. Now don’t get me wrong, friend, I will give you the world if you need it, but you don’t require it like a lot of my family.”
“Well, Cyn, I was your friend when we were eating chicken noodle soup and crackers for dinner. I love you without all of this, and that won’t change.”
Cyn waved her fingers in for a hug, and I gave her one because what she said really touched my heart.
“Unt, unt, I know y’all are not in here having a Kumbaya moment without me." Tania walked into the room and caught the attention of both Cyn and me. She was in a see through dress that had diamonds placed on the fabric, some heels as high as the ones I wore on the pole, and a thong with pasties over her nipples.
“Damn girl, you're going to make some money, and we didn’t know about it?” Cyn joked with her.
“Maybe, I don’t know who I might catch out in the city. Might find me a Hawk.”
“I highly doubt that.” Cyn replied.
“My baby is one of a kind.”
“He may be sis, but we will never know if we don’t go out and look.” Tania propped her foot up on the footboard of Cyn’s bed and started shaking her ass until Cyn threw a pillow at her.
“But come on bitch, let’s roll! It’s ten, and I want to get my body's worth in this dress tonight.”
“Okay, bye friend. You sure you are, okay?”
