Paper Dolls

by Sienna Mynx

  Raven pressed her foot on the brake and slowed her car to a crawl. She frowned at the overflow in the small parking lot. She would have no choice but to park on the side street. She settled on a too-tight spot to squeeze her overpriced car into. She flipped down the visor and checked her makeup. The wind tore through her curly style and frizzed her hair. She didn’t mind. She loved riding with her top down.

  The phone call had rattled her more than she realized. She looked to her hands and saw they were shaking. Raven closed her eyes and practiced her breathing. Since the divorce she suffered anxiety attacks. Something she concealed from both her friends and mother. The therapist said it was her unwillingness to let go of the past. Well the therapist didn’t tell her what to do when the past used his assistant to dial her up and ask to have dinner.

  She plucked up her purse and threw her car door open. She left the top down, locked the car, and hurried up the sidewalk.

  The rule was, the ‘late bird’ always caught the tab, so the girls all tried to arrive on time. A glass of wine was her only true motivation now. When Raven entered, the first friendly face she saw was Zephyr’s. Her best friend occupied a booth to the back of the restaurant. She wore a periwinkle blue sundress that tied around her neck. Zephyr had a long natural, thick, mane. She combed it up from her neck and pinned the wavy locks with a jeweled barrette so her long curls fell down her shoulders. She looked pretty and sweet as always. Zephyr’s smile was addictive. There wasn’t a person who met her that didn’t fall for her within five minutes. Immediately Raven’s irritation gave way to elation. She smiled and waved.

  “Hi, boo!” Zephyr said. She stood and greeted Raven with a cheek kiss.

  “So, Val’s late?” Raven dropped down in her seat.

  “As usual.” Zephyr shrugged.

  “Then her grand entrance is going to cost her lunch,” Raven winked.

  “Girl, do you know what today is?”

  “Wednesday?” Raven frowned.

  “No! May 15th. Seven years ago today Val signed her first record deal.”

  “Oh God, Zee. You keep track of everything,” Raven chuckled.

  Zephyr whispered. “She’s trying to make a change. Every date in her career is important. Hell the media won’t leave her alone. They announced it today. So that’s how I know the date, thank you very much.”

  Raven sighed. “My bad.”

  “She called a few minutes ago and said she had big news,” Zephyr said.

  “She doesn’t have to try so hard, I could—”

  “There my girls are!” Valentina shouted from the front of the restaurant. All eyes and heads turned when she arrived. Raven cut her gaze up to the ceiling. She didn’t bother to look back. After all it was Valentina Diamond.

  “Let me guess, people are rising to ask for an autograph?” Raven asked.

  Zephyr sipped her lemonade and nodded. Raven glanced back over her shoulder. A young patron got up and went over to Valentina, and then another, and another. She gushed and asked for a hug, plus a selfie. Then two more people approached Valentina.

  “What the hell? Did you do that to her hair?” Raven gasped. Gone was the dark body wave, silky hair-weave that cost $400 a bundle. Valentina had her hair twisted up in dreadlocks, with extensions to give them a real natural earthy look.

  “Sasha at my salon did. I think it looks nice on her. She’s going through some stuff right now, Rae, don’t make a big deal out of it,” Zephyr said and sipped from her straw.

  The commotion caused a crowd to gather at the front of the restaurant to snap pictures with their cell phones. Valentina laughed and joked with her fans. Raven signaled the waitress and ordered for them all. When the waitress left, Raven searched her bag for her anxiety pills.

  Zephyr sat across from her, watching what Raven suspected was the glow return to Valentina’s face. “She’s having fun, she deserves it after the year she’s had. I heard on the radio that the Black Diamonds are staying in South Beach? How did you let that happen? What if Valentina sees them? That studio she goes to is out there, right?”

  “It’s South Beach, Zephyr, what are the odds she would see them? Besides, Valentina knows they’re here. It’s on every radio station in the city and on the television. Either way it don’t matter, I put the girls on Starr Island, okay?”

  “Oh? Well don’t mention them,” Zephyr warned.

  “You brought it up,” Raven sighed.

  “My fault, no more talk of them.” Zephyr did a zip of her lip and tossed the invisible key. Raven smiled at her sweet tempered friend. Ten minutes later Valentina made it to the table. The girls sipped their favorite drinks.

  “Whoa honey! It’s hard being fierce,” Valentina grinned.

  Raven rolled her eyes.

  “Wsup, ladies? You look good, Rae,” Valentina said in reference to the white business suit and red silk top Raven wore underneath.

  “Thanks,” Raven winked. “I like the fake dreads.”

  Zephyr kicked Raven under the table.

  “Owe!” Raven winced.

  Valentina shrugged. “Time for a change, like you. You’ve been tanning again?”

  Zephyr laughed. Raven’s eyes stretched in surprise. She glared at Zephyr.

  “Hey, I’m sorry okay, it slipped out. I didn’t mean to tell Valentina,” Zephyr said.

  “I went to a tanning salon twice for a spray tan. Black women can tan too. My skin was uneven, and I stay so pale sometimes.”

  “That’s bullshit! It’s enough sun in this city to crisp your ass,” Valentina said. She took a sip from the drink brought to their table. “You need to stop following those spoiled clients of yours around. A black woman in a tanning salon is like a white woman in a big bootie girl contest, a waste of time.”

  Zephyr frowned. “Uh, tell that to Kim Kardashian.”

  The girls shared a laugh.

  “Okay, yawl stop,” Zephyr said. She was always the little peacekeeper. If Raven didn’t love Zephyr so much it would have irked her nerves.

  The waitress placed the appetizer plate at the center of the table. Raven forked some empanadas and ate to keep from talking. Alexander’s voice continued to echo in her head.

  “Okay, who’s first? Cause I got news!” Valentina grinned.

  Raven swallowed. Damn, it was time for their confessions already? She looked over at Valentina’s smile. It dawned on her how long they’d been friends, over a decade. She couldn’t remember a time when her girls weren’t at her side. They made a pact that they’d always be there for one another. And today was the day to share.

  It was simple. Over lunch each would share one important fact about their lives, and listen to the others’ advice. It was a sisterhood that got Raven through her divorce, Zephyr through her mother’s bout with cancer, and Valentina through her bankruptcy and ejection from her band––all of which happened at around the same time. Friendship saw them through it.

  “Go ahead, what’s your news?” Zephyr asked.

  Valentina picked up her large straw purse and fished out two CDs. “My first track! It’s done!” she passed one to Raven and the other to Zephyr. Raven wiped her hands on her napkin and accepted it.

  “CDs huh? So old school? Why not just email the file to us,” Raven chuckled.

  “Old school my ass. I’m keeping everything on lock so we have no leaks. That is my dream in your hand,” she answered.

  “I asked you last week to get me a sample,” Raven said.

  “I told you, Rae, I don’t want you involved.” Valentina replied. “I know you love me and want to help, but I have to do this one on my own. I want my music to be done by me, not some record executives telling me who I should be.”

  Raven’s gaze switched to Zephyr, who dropped hers and kept eating the appetizer. The truth was that Valentina’s new connection to ‘soul and blues’ came after she hooked up with some rapper who called himself enlightening her to the realness of hip-hop. The record companies never wanted to change Valentina Diamond. Valen
tina was just the worst starlet to ever hit the scene. She alienated everyone with her temper tantrums and a-list demands. There was nothing Alexander or Raven could do to save her career when the band had reached their breaking point.

  “So what’s the song called?” Raven asked.

  “Ebony Eyes,” she said.

  Zephyr was the first to respond. “Wait? Didn’t someone already record that?”

  “So what? It’s my song. It speaks to my vision. The beauty within me,” Valentina informed the women.

  Raven tucked the CD in her purse. “I’m proud of you, girl.”

  “Me too!” Zephyr chirped, “I can’t wait to hear it.”

  “Thanks!” Valentina grinned.

  “Okay who’s next, me or you, Rae?” Zephyr asked.

  “Alexander called me.” Raven blurted out.

  Both of them looked over at her, shocked. Raven sucked in a deep breath for courage. Since her mouth spoke before her mind could regulate, she’d have to see the confession through. “I take that back. He didn’t call. His service did. Apparently he’s flying in today. He wants to have dinner.”

  “No!” Valentina said.

  “Go!” Zephyr said.

  Zephyr and Valentina spoke at once.

  “He says it’s important,” Raven said.

  “Rae? Are you serious? Why would you see him? You said you were over it.” Valentina frowned.

  “Okay now, slow down,” Zephyr spoke. “A woman doesn’t just get over the love of her life like that,” Zephyr said with the snap of her fingers.

  “He wasn’t the love of her life. He was a dumb rich asshole who cheated on her.” Valentina announced. The people seated at the table across from them glanced over.

  “Oh be quiet. You just hate the man because of what went down with the Black Diamonds. You loved him until you lost your contract with his record company.” Zephyr said.

  “That’s enough.” Raven waved off the argument, “He was the love of my life, but Valentina’s right. He destroyed that by cheating on me.”

  Zephyr sighed. “He made a mistake, Rae. Alexander adores you. I’ve never seen two people more right for each other.”

  “Spoken by the woman whose man cheats on her every day of the week,” Valentina mumbled.

  Zephyr blanched. She looked physically weakened by the insult. Raven reached for Zephyr’s hand, but she put it in her lap and turned her teary glare to Valentina. “That hurt. It’s a nasty thing to say to me.”

  “I’m sorry, I am. I can’t help my mouth sometimes. Girl, you know I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just don’t get you two. Cheating is the ultimate form of disrespect. I would never let a man treat me like second best, or play me so cold,” Valentina said.

  “Really? So instead you’d rather date rappers that refer to us all as whores for sport,” Zephyr fired back. “Machine gun is a real prince huh?”

  “His name is AK-47.” Valentina narrowed her eyes and gripped her fork. “Rap is art.”

  “Now that’s bullshit,” Raven chuckled. Zephyr and Valentina didn’t. She glanced up to the answering silence. The three of them had been through hell and back. From the outside it would look like they didn’t get along. It was far deeper than that. They fought like sisters and loved each other as if they were. If it had to be said, or needed to be said, it could be said when they were together.

  Valentina forked her appetizer and stuffed her mouth. She ate. Zephyr sipped her drink again and stared off into the restaurant. They did this in silence until Valentina made a peace offering. “Hey, most art can be perceived as bullshit, I agree with that.”

  Zephyr sighed, “If I get a vote, and today is the day I do, I say go to dinner with him.”

  “And my vote is to tell him to kiss your ass,” Valentina added.

  “So we’re deadlocked, which means I have to decide.”

  Lunch was brought to the table. Raven no longer had an appetite. She chose her wine instead and tried to ignore the hardness in her chest where the love for Alexander had withered into a stone. Why was it so hard for her to let this man go?

  Valentina tossed her salad around with her fork. She looked up at Zephyr sitting across from her and pointed the fork. “Okay, diva, what’s your story?”

  “I don’t think I want to talk about it,” Zephyr replied.

  “What’s wrong?” Raven asked.

  Zephyr looked at Raven and then at Valentina. She fidgeted and decided. Raven was more than curious. She set her wine down. Zephyr reached over beyond their view under the table. Her hands emerged with a gossip magazine. She held it up for them. The girls’ mouths dropped open over the headline and picture beneath it. It was of Zephyr’s star pitcher, Dominican boyfriend, who played for the Miami Marlins. He was shirtless in a hot tub with a new songbird that Paper Dolls recently signed to manage.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Valentina snatched the magazine from Zephyr. “José makes another homerun?” she read the headline aloud. She turned to Raven. “Rae, don’t you represent this skanky bitch?”

  “One of my agents does. And lower your voice,” Raven admonished. She took the magazine from Valentina’s hands. “Zee? What did he say about this?”

  “He says that they were doing it for her new album release, to drum up publicity. He was the one that showed it to me. He said it was innocent,” Zephyr said.

  Raven’s eyes lifted from the magazine to her friend. “And you believed him?”

  “If he was cheating why would he bring this home and show it to me before it even hits TMI?”

  “Uhm, maybe because you’d believe his bullshit if he did?” Valentina said, “Zee, come on! Come the fuck on!”

  “Wait, hold on a minute.” Raven tried to remind Valentina to pull back.

  “No! He has hurt her so much this has got to stop. Seriously. Enough with the back and forth already. When are you going to grow a—”

  “Excuse me, Ms. Valentina, can I take a picture with you?” A young girl around the age of thirteen asked. They all smiled at her. It took courage for the kid to come to the table.

  “What’s your name, sweetie?” Valentina asked.

  “Sarah,” the girl replied.

  “Well, Sarah, I’d be happy to. Let’s do a selfie.” Valentina eased out of the booth seat, and Raven took the girl’s phone. She held it out in front of her and snapped their horizontal selfie pose. The girl squealed and hugged Valentina. Raven gave Zephyr a puppy dog pout to make her laugh. She did.

  “Oh, and have you heard the Black Diamonds are here? The beach concert is tonight. I hope it doesn’t rain. Me and my friends were wondering if you’d show up and do a song or two with them? The new girl is good, but she’s not you.”

  “No, sweetheart, now leave us alone,” Valentina, turned away. The girl double blinked over the dismissal. Raven and Zephyr watched in silence as Valentina stabbed the lettuce with the fork.

  “That was rude, Val,” Raven whispered.

  “I got to go.” Valentina announced. She plucked her purse up and slid out of the booth. She reached in her wallet to fumble for cash. “It’s on me right?”

  “I got it.” Zephyr said. “Don’t leave—”

  “I’ll call you. And kick that Dominican’s trifling ass to the curb, girl, before you catch the fleas he got from that tramp.” She air kissed Zephyr on the cheek. She then smiled at Raven. “Don’t meet with Alexander, Rae, spare yourself the heartache, ciao.” With that said she slipped on her sunglasses and breezed out.

  “Valentina’s the one still carrying around all the baggage if you ask me,” Raven said.

  Zephyr nodded. “She’s trying though, Rae. It’s hard being the ‘it’ girl one day, and then having to read about your replacement the next.”

  “Yes, but does she have to be so damn stubborn? If she’d let me help I could have her on the cover of Rolling Stone in a week.”

  “You still represent Black Diamond,” Zephyr said.

  “I ––”

  “Befo
re you get defensive let me finish.” Zephyr put up both of her hands like a traffic cop. “We understand that you’re tied to the contract, but it hurts her feelings. She thinks she has to prove something to you, to Katz Records, to the world. You don’t know how many late nights I sit on the phone with her while she frets and worries over every little thing. Plus she wants to make you proud. She wants to prove to us that she can do this on her own. Especially after everything that went down, and how you and Alexander split-up. Speaking of Alexander Katz.”

  “Look at the time!” Raven checked her watch then grabbed her purse.

  “Wait! Rae, wait! Please.”

  “Zee, I don’t want to do this with you. I know you love Alexander. Spare me the pitch for true love. I married for true love and damn if it didn’t hurt like hell.” Raven finished off her wine.

  “Forget about me, you love him still. You’d never say it in front of Valentina but you know I can see it. And Raven, the man was devastated when you divorced him. I’ve never seen a man like him destroyed. It was brutal for you both.”

  “I’ve heard this all before,” Raven said.

  Zephyr leaned forward and spoke with a determined voice. “It’s been a year. Alexander spends most of his days in Israel now. He said he can barely return to the States because of how much he misses you. He told me the other day that he wishes…” She stopped.

  “The other day? You’re talking to Alexander?” Raven asked.

  “I can explain,” Zephyr said.

  “Wow, Zee! Why do you do this? Do I interfere with you and José? Have I ever?” Raven asked.

  “You don’t understand. Alexander’s my friend. I’m your friend.” Zephyr pleaded.

  “I’m done. You have dinner with him if he’s so special to you.” She scooted out of the booth seat and headed for the door.

  “Rae, don’t be mad! Rae!” Zephyr yelled after her. Raven walked out. She returned her sunglasses from her hair to her eyes. She was angry. It was that old familiar anger that hurt. The kind that ripped at her heart and drained her energy. Of course she loved her husband. Ending her marriage was the second hardest thing she ever had to deal with in her life. The first was the death of her child. What woman could return to a man after so much pain? After she accepted that the man she loved didn’t love her enough to stay faithful, she found the courage to move on. Tears clung to her lashes, but she refused to cry. She hurried her steps along the sidewalk; oblivious to the people she passed. All she wanted to do was forget the disintegration of her marriage.