For a second, I wasn’t in the apartment anymore. I was somewhere else, watching Booda lean back in his seat, chopsticks in his hand, talking through a mouthful of noodles.
“Extra chili oil,” he’d said once, sliding the container back toward the counter. “If it don’t make my nose run, they ain’t do it right.”
I shut the lid and stepped back from the counter, putting distance between me and the food.
I hadn’t seen Booda.
Hadn’t talked to him.
Hadn’t—
I stopped that thought before it finished forming.
“Fuck this shit. I got to get out of this house,” I said, practically running out of the kitchen.
CHAPTER 4
“Ko! You made it!” Tink spotted me the moment I arrived.
A few heads turned my way, giving me quick looks, but they didn’t linger on me long, which I appreciated because I was still on edge. I would have hated to ruin the party by shooting shit up.
Tink pushed off the wall where he’d been standing near the entrance of the breezeway and jogged over with a huge grin spread across his face.
He hadn’t expected me to actually show. I could tell.
“I’m glad you decided to get out.”
“Me too,” I replied, even though we both knew that wasn’t the truth.
He looked me over once, then nodded. My hair was different. I’d found an old wig in my things. It looked practically new. I was likely to have worn it only once.
At first, I was intimidated by it, but when I stepped into my bathroom to put it on, everything came back to me with ease. I braided my hair, glued it down, then styled it, all withoutthinking too hard about it. And when I finished, it looked professionally done.
From there, I added a light touch of makeup and threw on a white fitted tank top, then a pair of muted rust, almost a red clay, colored jeans shorts that hugged my hips in a way I’d forgotten about.
The color set off my skin so well that for a second, I just stood there looking at myself in the mirror, turning my head side to side. I’d forgotten how it felt to look well put together. My wrists sparkled a little from a thin gold bracelet I found at the bottom of my old gym bag, and I wore my favorite gold hoops.
Overall, I felt pretty and was reminded of the version of myself I was before everything went sideways. And that in itself made me sure that, no matter how bad things got, I had always kept myself up.
“You look pretty,” he complimented me, and it took everything in me not to blush.
The kid was smooth. I’ll give him that.
“Thank you,” I replied, and he grabbed my hand.
“Come on. Everybody’s in the back, and my momma been waiting on you.”
I allowed him to pull me through the breezeway, the sound of the music getting louder as we moved closer to the party.
It was live.
The parking lot was packed. Tables covered with black cloths stretched across the lot, with foil trays lined end to end, featuring everything from ribs and jerk chicken to steak, seafood pasta, and grilled lobster tails. Coolers overflowed with ice, liquor bottles, and expensive beer.
A couple of men stood over custom smokers and oversized grills, arguing loudly while one of them flipped meat with a pair of designer shades resting on top of his head. Jewelry flashed every time they moved their hands.
Luxury cars lined the curb and overflowed into the next lot like the whole section had been rented out for the night. Car keys with luxury logos dangled from fingers attached to hands covered in diamond rings and expensive tattoos.
Thick platinum and gold chains rested against white tees that probably cost more than my rent. Watches caught the light whenever someone lifted a drink or reached for the meat on the grill. Nobody looked impressed by any of it, either, and that was the part that stood out the most.
