By the time we walked out of the building, the paparazzi were everywhere again, cameras flashing in my face and people calling my name like they knew me.
“Thank you for all of this,” I said. “It actually went better than I thought.”
“No. Thank you for being a part of it. I really didn’t want people to have the wrong idea about you, especially with you coming out the gate swinging with such a strong record.” He put his hand on my back to guide me past a man who got a little too close. “Like I said, people gonna think what they wanna think, but I’m telling you, this is your time to shine.”
“I appreciate that.”
We hugged, and of course, the paparazzi got every bit of that. Then we got into the truck and the driver pulled off.
“You hungry?” he asked.
They’d only had little finger foods at the station, some fruit, cheese, crackers, and stuff, and my stomach had been growling since the second caller.
“Starving.”
“Good. I already told Unc to have something ready by the time we get back to the house. We can pick Oaklynn up from your sister on the way, eat, and then handle the DNA test when the technician gets there.”
Hearing him mention the test made my nerves kick up again, but I nodded.
“Okay. Let me text Nourah and let her know we’re on the way.”
ME: Girl, we just finished. Be honest… how did I sound?
NOU NOU: Ahhh! Bitch, you sounded so good on the radio! I’m literally in here screaming!
ME: For real? I didn’t sound nervous?
NOU NOU: Hell no! You ate that shit up! Y’all answered the questions really well too. And bitchhh, you plugged Bodied By NouNou! I keep refreshing my page, and I’ve already gotten 3K new followers!
ME: Good, lol. We’re about to come pick up Oaklynn. Can you have her ready?
NOU NOU: I got you. But OMG, check your page! They following the hell outta you too!
I quickly went to my page and saw thousands of new followers, likes, comments, DMs, the whole nine. I turned my phone around to Ozy, and he smiled before licking those sexy-ass lips again.
“You deserve it, love.”
“Delusional?”
I said it out loud to Trinity, who was sitting on the other end of the line all quiet like she ain’t just watched the same thing I watched.
“I know this bitch did not just call me fucking delusional.”
I had sent her the snippet from The Morning Hour radio show not even five minutes ago. The one where Ozy was sitting up there with that fat bitch, Noree, talking about me like I was the one who had done something wrong.
I couldn’t believe my ears. Ozy didn’t even like doing interviews, so Derez must’ve forced him to.
Trinity sighed. “Okay, friend. I’m about to play devil’s advocate. I know you hate when I do that, but did that girl really just attack you, or did you do something to provoke her? You know how reckless your mouth can get.”
I rolled my eyes even though she couldn’t see me. “I already told you, I did nothing wrong, and she jumped on me.”
“And Ozy really just let her do that?”
“You know what? I’m good on this conversation.”
“Ginger, I’m just saying. Every time you tell me what happened, you skip over what you said or did.”
“So, that means she gets to put her hands on me?”