put this back in my purse.” I handed Porsha the phone after turning it down to vibrate. I didn’t need any additional distractions while shopping. This spree was hella important.
Modeling back in the mirror, I was feeling myself the most in this dress. It showed the perfect amount of cleavage and half of my thick thighs, and it had a triangular dip in the back that showed my tramp stamp of Calvin’s name. I thought that was the part that made it a winner to me. I loved showing hoes I was branded along with my man. He had my name tatted on his neck.
“Ma! Hello.” Porsha snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Are you getting that outfit or no? We’ve still gotta hit the beauty supply, and the good one closes before dark to keep from getting robbed,” she rushed me.
“Yeah, damn. My bad. Give me your opinion—do you think I’m on fleek? Am I killin’ ’em? I’m trying to walk up in that party stunting hard,” I said, using a mouthful of young slang.
She rolled her eyes at my choice of language. “Oh, wow, Ma! You swear you’re the one about to be eighteen. Yes, you look fleek. If you get a killer pair of heels and a handbag to match, you’ll have the whole hood of ho . . . oops, I mean, women, talking about you in the morning.”
“Oooh, for real? Hell yeah, that’s what I wanted to hear. You know Momma likes to serve bitches nothing but the bomb dot com.”
She blew out a long, exasperated breath of air like I was annoying her. “Please, Ma, quit being corny and get the dress. We’ve been in this store foreverrrr,” she complained. “And you’re killing me with your corniness.”
“Shut ya ass up, I’m coming,” I sighed, giving in because I knew how it felt to be a teenage girl out with your wannabe-hip mother. “Matter of fact, g’on to the nail shop and put our names on the list.”
I heard her say thanks over her shoulder, but Porsha started heading out the door as soon as I’d said the word “g’on.”
PORSHA
Being that school was out for the day and most people were done with work, the mall was swarming with people. The nail shop was really off the chain. Every pedicure chair bowl had some crusty feet in it, and every nail tech was filing or designing away. I put my and my mom’s names on the list along with the services we wanted and sat down. I only needed a fill-in and maybe a polish change on my toes, but my mom needed a full set and pedicure. I texted her a picture of the waiting area so she’d be prepared for the long wait.
My phone was dry since it was still set on restricting Imani’s texts. I was, however, kinda salty that Street hadn’t called or texted me. Since we weren’t on our way back to the hood, I left the restriction on and stayed off social media, too. Imani was probably posting pictures there too.
All into my phone, I’d tuned out all the background noise and movement going on around me. When I finally set my phone to sleep and looked up, my mother was coming in with a sour look on her face. She hated being cooped up in a room with a bunch of women. I didn’t think we were going to stay, but she ended up giving the manager a few dollars extra in exchange for moving us up the list.
Another woman spoke up. “Um, excuse me! But I had an appointment for over an hour ago and have been waiting patiently. You can either seat me in a pedicure chair before or along with that lady and her kid or lose ya job. Don’t make me call the owner of this establishment on you. I don’t think Miss Woo will be too pleased about you running a loyal client away,” she threatened and complained.
Of all the words the disgruntled customer said, “that lady and her kid” was the phrase I saw my mother’s eyes rise to. I knew my mother was seconds away from popping off. Politely taking her purse from her hand, I took two quick steps to the side and waited for the situation to play out.
“No, no, no! You not have to call Miss Woo. I get you seated now,” the nail tech promised, spinning around to find a resolution to the suddenly urgent problem.
The woman was busy feeling herself since she’d rushed the li’l Korean lady along. She had not even noticed Trinity walking from the pedicure chair back toward the waiting area, or me right on her heels. “Good idea. I like my water on the piping hot side.”
“Hey, Miss Lady, are you good now? I couldn’t help but overhear how upset you were about me and my daughter getting seated before you.” She was mimicking the woman’s high- pitched and proper voice.
The woman looked up, halfway frowning, and then rolled her eyes before responding. “Yes, I am. Just like you valued your time enough to cut in front of me, I value mine to do something about it.”
“Oh, okay. Well, since this is the day to stand up for ourselves and shit, I didn’t like how you made a reference to me and mine. I’m gonna act like I’m a lady and not smack the shit out of you this one time, but if ya do it again, my hand will fly toward you without warning. I’m not trying to make you have an unpleasant day, so don’t make yourself have one.” Taking her attention off the woman, she then checked me. “Give me my damn purse. I’ll tell you when to hold my shit. I might’ve had to whip my buddy out and put a hot one in her impatient ass.”
As Trinity nonchalantly marched back to the pedicure chair, the whole nail salon sat in awe and fear behind her blowup, the last statement especially. I was used to her clowning, but they hadn’t known what to expect. A few of the customers were disgusted enough to get up and walk out, including the disgruntled woman, while those cut from the same cloth as Trinity praised her for giving them a show. My mom fed off people kissing her ass, which was where I got the drive from.
It took me a few minutes to pick out my polish, but after I did, I climbed into the pedicure chair beside my mom and found the perfect massage speed. By age, I wasn’t old enough to have kinks and stress. But it felt like there were weights on my shoulders and someone was relentlessly pinching the nerves in my back and neck. The vibrations from the chair were soothing.
“There’s the thug right there. That wannabe lady in the black jogging suit,” I heard the lady’s voice yelling out, making me open my eyes. “She said she had a gun. Arrest her!”
Two mall security guards were coming into the nail salon with grim expressions. Behind them was the lady my mom went tough on, telling them verbatim what she’d said. The manager dropped my mom’s feet into the bowl, splashing water everywhere, and rushed to intercept them from trapping us in the back of the salon. It wasn’t that she was going hard for us. She didn’t want the shop shut down, resulting in the owner being called. Her “dirty deed” would then be exposed. Too bad for her. The guards didn’t back down.
“Ma’am, we need to search your bag. We don’t allow firearms on the premises,” one of the officers growled, pushing past the manager.
Oh, shit.
CHAPTER 4
CALVIN
Being one of the biggest drug dealers in Detroit, I rarely had time to fall back and chill with my family. Hell, I rarely got a moment of peace to think. Either a worker of mine was out of line, there was some drama from another squad, or I was simply in the mud hustling with Fame. Making money by living dangerously was the only way I knew how to live. So I was enjoying the small window of chill time I had with Benzie. All his toys were spread throughout the living room, and we had been watching clips off the sports channel all day. I did not watch cartoons with my boy, because wasn’t nothing funny about the world he was about to grow
