I squinted my eyes at them. “What the fuck is going on?”
They all shook their heads and took a sip of their drinks.
“Nothing is going on, Islah,” Deja said. “Let’s enjoy the day.”
I nodded… But I knew something was going on.
After a while, the food came out. I got me some fried fish, greens, mac and cheese, cornbread, Alfredo, and a tea to wash it all down.
We ate off each other’s plates while talking, and were having a good time until some niggas came over trying to holla.
It was four niggas, and they all looked good, but before one of them could speak to me, Deja shut it down.
“I see that it’s four of y’all. You would think it’s four of us, but my good girl right here is pregnant and happily engaged. The rest of us are open.”
I laughed and sat back, letting my girls line their niggas up for the night. The men ended up paying for our food, and we left out, hopping back in the truck, and I had no idea what was next.
“Driver,” Kenya said. “I’m ’bout to send you the address to this makeup spot downtown.”
“Makeup? We did that shit the other day. Why are we doing it again?” I asked.
“I thought it was cute and would go nice with our outfits for the night.”
“I don’t even know what I am wearing tonight,” I stated.
They all laughed. “Islah…trust me,” Kenya chimed in.
I nodded and let it go again. I was tired of not getting answers.
About thirty minutes later, we pulled up downtown to the makeup salon we had gone to a few days ago. Kenya locked in with the artists we had the other day and talked to her off in the corner.
I noticed Deja and Renee were trying to keep me busy, but my eyes stayed on Kenya and what she was saying and showing the artist in her phone. After a few nods, they walked back over to us and took each of us to get started.
We all walked over to their seats. I sat down, and my chair got turned around.
And only mine.
“Why don’t I get to see?” I asked.
The artist looked at Kenya.
“Damn, can we surprise you with a good time? I know we ain’t got the bread like Love, but ya girls would like to do something special for you today.”
I looked down the line, and my girls looked sincere.
“Iight, my bad y’all,” I said with a playful pout.
One of the other artists brought me a mocktail and gave Kenya, Deja, and Renee some shots, then the music got turned up.
I started to loosen up a lil’ bit. Kenya’s makeup artist stepped back and hit a lil’ dancing, making Kenya stand up and dance with her. Deja and Renee followed behind her, and then I stepped in to finish off our circle.
For the first time in a while, I felt good. I had no worries. Nobody was chasing me. I had good friends around me who supported me and had my back, and I had a man who loved me and an amazing bonus son. I was blessed for so many things, but my biggest blessing was having Gio outta my life for good.
After our dance break, we sat back down in our chairs. About an hour later, I was getting turned around to see my makeup for the first time.
My mouth dropped for the second time that day.
“Ms. Lady Ma’am,” I said to the makeup artist. “This is beautiful.”
