Page 88 of Just Like Summer

Kamilla slapped her forehead. “No, I left it on the table. I should’ve known better.”

Dania snickered. “Little slimy nigga is determined to get you one way or the other. You gotta get rid of him.”

“Considering he put a ring on my hand I can’t get off, getting rid of him might not be so easy,” she grumbled, plopping down in the chair. “I’m never doing this dating shit again, I swear.”

“I know you’re mad because you’re cursing,” Dania replied with a soft laugh. “Getting out there isn’t bad, Mila.”

“How would you know? Nate isn’t letting you go anywhere. Furthermore, getting out there is a waste of my time, especially with this new position, I can’t balance a man who wants me to conform to his world on top of everything else I have going on. So when I get rid of him, I’m done with this.”

“Don’t count yourself out so fast; you never know what’s going to happen,” Dania spoke.

“Mm,” Kamilla groaned. “Another date and man and his representative trying to get in my pants or play daddy to a child that has five strong male figures in his life. I’m cool.”

Dania shook Kamilla’s hair out, keeping her comments to herself. “What am I doing with this?”

“Wash and go, I’m not going to have time to curl and wrap and retouch in the desert,” she replied. “Just the curls. Big and free.”

“Great idea. Going into your next season free. Make sure you keep me updated on all the tea.”

Kamilla rolled her eyes and laughed. “You’re so nosy.”

“You love it.”

“I love you; it comes with the package.”

thirty-six

A fresh haircut, new clothes that fit the massive muscles he’d developed during his time away, and settled in Dania’s chair getting his hair braided, highlighted the remnants of who he’d begun to evolve into before getting locked up. He didn’t fight his reentry, he couldn’t. Especially when no one around him would let him.

While Dania parted his thick hair, she smirked. “I see you were using the shampoo and conditioner I sent you.”

“Yeah, I had to break a jaw or two, so niggas would keep their hands off my shit,” Cairo stated, looking at her in the mirror. “So you gon’ tell me?”

She raised a brow. “Tell you what?”

“How she doing?” Cairo asked. “You gonna make me say her name?”

“I’m not going to make you do anything. How she’s doing isn’t my business to tell,” Dania informed, making him kiss his teeth.

“Everybody’s business is your business to tell,” Cairo rebutted.

“Not hers. And not yours. You see my friend, that’s called duality. And I’m not sending my friend back into a spiral behind you. So that’s your shit to figure out,” Dania shared. “And before you get all crazy, you blocked her.”

Cairo groaned. “I was fucked up.”

“This is true; a lot of shit happened that day,” Dania replied. “We all hold a shared weight. I swear if I could’ve, I would’ve helped her.”

Dania finished the cornrow and placed her hand on his shoulder. Cairo placed his atop hers and shook his head.

“None of that is on you,” he grumbled, pulling in a deep breath. “Anyway, how is my niece?”

“You should come by and see her when you get back from the festival. She knows the Ekho album through and through,” Dania said with laughter.

“You know good and damn well her little ass shouldn’t be listening to none of that,” Cairo replied with a laugh of his own. “That’s why she bad.”

“She’s not bad, a little sassy maybe. And considering her daddy is a hellraiser, she’s in good company,” Dania joked, starting the next braid. “Give me your plan for the festival. Are you looking for an artist, looking to get signed…what’s the deal?”

“I feel like if I find a label and have an artist, it gives me a leg up. I gotta see what the vibe is when I get there.”