by Tracy Brown
She walked out of the bathroom and shut the door. She threw her clothes back on, fuming the whole time. Strolling into the kitchen, she retrieved her car keys and her purse and walked out of the house. Once inside her car, she turned her key in the ignition and drove straight to Charly’s.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Sticks and Stones
Charly was doing a roller set in the front of the salon when she saw Nina’s car come to a screeching halt out front. She looked up in time to see Nina step from her ride and charge toward the salon. Charly smirked, figuring this had something to do with their exchange earlier that day. Robin was in the back, preparing to cornrow a little boy’s hair and unaware of what was headed her way.
Nina burst through the shop door and grumbled an incoherent “Hello.” She spotted Robin in the back and made a beeline for her. Robin looked up and saw Nina and she could not hide the shock she felt. She wondered what the hell had gone wrong in order to prompt this visit. Nina didn’t give her much time to wonder. “Hi, Robin. Can I talk to you outside for a minute?” Nina asked.
The little boy in Robin’s chair looked up at her to gauge her response. He could tell that the pretty lady talking to his hairstylist was very angry. Nina was clearly steamed. Robin wondered what she should do. “Sure,” she said. She excused herself from her young client and followed Nina to the door. Charly, by chance, happened to be standing outside smoking a cigarette.
Nina and Robin stood face-to-face. Nina got right to the point. “What did Ishmael come to see you for the other day?”
Robin wondered how Nina had found out about that. Instinctively, Robin looked at Charly. She smiled knowingly, and Robin knew instantly that Charly had been the one to orchestrate this somehow. Robin shook her head and looked back at Nina. She had packed on a few pounds over the years, but she was still a pretty girl. Still, Robin understood why Ishmael was creeping with her. The expression on Nina’s face was that of a woman obsessed. Robin sighed. “I don’t remember,” she lied.
“You don’t remember?” Nina rolled up her sleeves, wanting to beat Robin’s ass for telling such a bald-faced lie.
Charly stepped discreetly closer. Robin didn’t want to tell Nina the truth. She wasn’t out to break up Nina and Ishmael’s relationship. Robin and Ishmael shared an explosive sexual connection. She recalled their recent rendezvous and had to suppress a smile. She and Ishmael had wonderful sex and she knew that she would do it again when the opportunity presented itself. He wasn’t married to Nina. So, to Robin, he was still fair game. But by no means did Robin want to break up their relationship. She wanted to cover Ishmael’s back, but she didn’t know what explanation he had given Nina.
“Nina, what’s the matter with you? He came to talk to me in broad daylight, just a few feet from your own hair salon. Would he be that dumb if he was up to no good?”
“Just tell me what he came to talk to you about. What’s the big secret?” Nina asked. Several of Charly’s customers were standing in the window, watching the events unfold.
Charly walked over near the two women and leaned against the wall, watching their exchange. They both ignored her. Nina waited for Robin’s response. Not knowing what she should say, Robin attempted to walk around Nina and go back inside the shop. But Nina grabbed Robin by the arm and pulled her back.
Robin yanked her arm away defensively. “Don’t grab me. I’m not gonna stand here and be interrogated just because you’re insecure.”
Nina was growing increasingly aggravated. “Stop using all your vocabulary words, Robin.”
Charly laughed at that one. It was about time somebody else called Robin’s bourgeois ass out. Robin was too smart for her own good sometimes, Charly thought.
Nina continued ranting and raving. “Would you be insecure, bitch, if your man was going to see some chick he once fucked in the backseat of his truck?”
Robin wanted to slap Nina but didn’t want to give Charly the satisfaction of seeing her plan succeed. She knew that Charly wanted nothing more than to see a fight. Robin felt like telling Nina how many times Ishmael had called her in the past three days and how she came in his mouth the other night, but she held her tongue. She didn’t want to make a big ghetto scene in front of the beauty salon. That was years ago when she had stooped to that level. She wasn’t going there this time. She told herself that she was bigger than that. She was a mother, a student, a hardworking woman with class. She wouldn’t stoop to Nina’s level. Robin shook her head out of frustration and smirked at Nina. “Okay. You got that,” she said. “You feel better now?”
“No, I don’t,” Nina said. “I’ll feel better when you tell me what the fuck you were talking to my man about.”
Charly heard a car pull up close by and turned to see Ishmael frantically parking his ride. He wasn’t paying attention to how he parked, and his car was left at an angle near the curb as he jumped out and quickly crossed the street in their direction. He looked pissed, and he was. He had gotten out of the shower only to find that Nina had left the house. He felt bad about the argument they’d had and how he had shot down her desire for commitment. He had decided to go and see her at her hair salon. Maybe what they both needed was a nice night out on the town. They hadn’t done that in a while. He figured it would improve things between the two of them. But on his way, he noticed Charly standing next to two women who seemed to be in the midst of a heated discussion. When he looked closer, he saw that it was Nina and Robin. He only hoped that he had arrived in time to prevent Nina from finding out the truth.
He walked up to where they stood and asked, “What’s going on?”
Nina turned to face him, but Robin answered first, pointing at Ishmael’s jealous girlfriend. “This one came here to approach me about why you came to see me. I was just telling her that she shouldn’t be so insecure—”
“Fuck that!” Nina said. “It has nothing to do with being insecure. I just want to know what’s up with you two. Why can’t you just answer the fucking question?”
“Calm down!” Ishmael yelled. He was growing more and more disgusted by Nina. “I told you that I came to see her to ask about Celeste.”
“Celeste?” Charly asked. “What did you wanna know about Celeste for?”
“Mind your business!” both Ishmael and Robin barked at her.
“This is my business!” Charly reminded them, pointing to her name on the sign over the door for emphasis.
Ishmael sucked his teeth and turned his attention back to Nina. “I told you. I only wanted to talk to Robin to see if she heard from Celeste because Rah-lo was looking for her.”
Charly digested this information, as did Robin. Since that wasn’t really what Ishmael had talked to her about, Robin wondered if Rah-lo was indeed looking for Celeste, if he had really left his wife.
“So, Rah-lo and Asia broke up?” Charly asked.
“Yeah.” Ishmael scowled at Charly as he said it. He blamed her for this whole mess. If she hadn’t been running her mouth to Nina about him visiting Robin, none of this would even be happening. “Why you always gotta start shit, Charly?” he asked.
Charly feigned innocence. “What did I do?”
“You put all this shit in Nina’s head about me coming to the shop to see Robin! You always gotta be the one to start some shit.”
Charly had the most innocent expression on her face. “All I said was that I had seen you and I asked if everything was okay between the two of you. That’s it. How is this all my fault?”
“Listen, I’m going back to work,” Robin said, walking toward the salon.
Nina blocked Robin’s path once more. Her instincts were telling Nina that she wasn’t hearing the whole truth. “I’m asking you woman-to-woman to tell me if you’re fucking with Ishmael.”
Robin sighed. “No!” She turned and stormed off and went back to her patiently waiting client.
Charly stood right there with Ishmael and Nina. Ishmael was irate. “Yo, I can’t believe you came down here and made a scene like
this,” he said. “You’re acting just like her.” He pointed to Charly.
Charly shrugged it off and continued to stand there. Nina had tears in her eyes. This was getting good.
“It’s a wrap, ma. I’m serious. I’m not fucking with you no more.” Ishmael was motioning with his hands for emphasis. He was enraged. “Word.” He looked at Charly. “And you need to mind your business.”
She exhaled her cigarette smoke. “I told you—”
“Yeah, this is your business,” Ishmael finished her sentence for her. He stuck his middle finger up at her as well.
As he crossed the street, Nina followed him. “Ish, hold up.”
“Nah.” He stormed off toward his poorly parked SUV.
“Wait a minute!”
Ishmael ignored her. He climbed behind the wheel and peeled out, leaving Nina standing by the curb. She figured she’d follow him in her car to make him talk to her. But as she turned to walk back to her car, she looked across the street and locked eyes with Charly.
Nina stopped dead in her tracks. She looked at her nemesis standing there with so many tricks up her sleeve. Nina hated Charly. She also hated Robin, and any other bitch, for that matter, who got too close to Ishmael. Now Nina had to go and try to mend what was left of their relationship because of the seed that Charly had planted. Nina was angry at herself also for ever feeding into Charly’s bullshit and questioning Ishmael. She shouldn’t have taken it as far as she had. And she never would have, had it not been for this bitch standing across the street. Charly blew the smoke from her Newport out through her nostrils and flicked her cigarette butt into the street. Then she turned and walked back inside her salon.
When she got inside she went right over to Robin, who was clearly still angry. As Robin’s fingers maneuvered expertly through the little boy’s hair, her brow was furrowed. She was clearly agitated after her run-in with Nina. Charly seized the opportunity to make nice.
“She’s really bugging out,” Charly said. “Why did she have to come here and make a scene like that?”
Robin shot Charly a treacherous look and then directed her attention back at the client in her chair. Charly wasn’t giving up that easily.
“You were right when you said that she’s insecure. She is. Ishmael looked pissed, too. He told her it’s over. Do you think he meant it?” Charly was excited by the thought that Ishmael could be a free agent again. She looked at Robin, wondering how she could have ever thought that Ishmael would have entertained the likes of her for anything besides information. Charly felt silly for ever suspecting that something was going on between Robin and Ishmael. What would he want with her?
Robin had heard enough. “Charly, please! You started that whole shit. Why did you say anything to Nina about Ishmael coming in here in the first place?”
Charly shrugged her shoulders. “It just came up in conversation. I was telling her that I had just seen him, and I asked her if they were still together. It was an innocent question. I didn’t expect for her to go run off and make a big deal out of it. How was I supposed to know that she’s so sprung?”
Robin kept working and Charly kept pushing. “Did Ishmael really come to ask you about Celeste?”
“Yup,” Robin lied.
“Wow. So, Rah-lo left Asia.” Charly shook her head in disbelief. It had been years since she had seen or heard from Celeste, and to Charly’s knowledge the woman had left town and never looked back. But suddenly Rah-lo had left his wife to be with Celeste. And Ishmael had conveniently broken up with his wifey. Suddenly, the whole game had changed. Not only was Ishmael a free agent now, but so was Rah-lo. Charly felt like she was a contestant on a game show called Who Wants to Snag a Baller?
Robin said nothing as Charly got lost in thought. Charly thought about the possibilities. After she and Ishmael had ended their brief romance, Charly had trouble getting over him. Truth be told, she never had. And when he got serious with Nina, Charly made an attempt to move on—albeit a spiteful one. She had started dating Neo, the well-known rival of both Ishmael and Rah-lo. The relationship hadn’t lasted long and it failed to get Ishmael’s attention as Charly had hoped it would. She wondered now if her relationship with his enemy would prevent Ishmael from giving her another chance.
As she stood there contemplating these things, Robin watched Charly closely. She was so predictable, Robin thought. She could almost see the wheels in Charly’s head turning as she processed the information. Ishmael was single, and Robin knew that Charly wanted nothing more than to be next in line with him. Robin told herself that she didn’t give a damn. She wasn’t about to get into another competition for Ishmael’s affection. Charly, Nina, or even Celeste, for that matter, could have him. Robin was done with it. No man was worth this much trouble. At least that’s what she kept telling herself.
CHAPTER NINE
Misery Loves Company
Asia charged into Nappy Nina’s and looked around for the owner. She spotted Nina in the back talking to a client and sipping a cup of hot tea. Asia wasn’t here for pleasantries today. She didn’t need her hair done and there was no time for small talk. She was on a mission to save her marriage.
She walked over to where Nina sat and stood there. Nina looked up and saw Asia and sensed trouble immediately. “Hello,” Nina said.
“Yeah. Hi,” Asia said rather snottily. “I need to talk to you for a minute.”
Nina excused herself from her conversation and stepped over to a secluded part of the salon with Asia. She couldn’t imagine what Asia wanted with her and she was eager to find out. “What’s up?”
Asia got right to the point. “I need to know where my husband is,” she said. “Ishmael is not answering my phone calls and I’m about to really hurt somebody.” Asia was desperate to find Rah-lo, and that was clear, judging by the look on her face.
“Well,” Nina said, looking at the floor, embarrassed, “Ishmael isn’t really talking to me right now, either. He came home last night, took a shower, changed his clothes, and went back out. He hasn’t been back since.”
Asia wondered if Nina was lying. Ishmael had been ducking Asia, so maybe he had told Nina to lie for him. But the dejected look on Nina’s face signaled that she was telling the truth. “So you two are breaking up?” Asia asked.
Nina shrugged. “He’s mad at me. Hopefully he’ll get over it.” She didn’t tell Asia that Ishmael was ignoring her phone calls, too. “What happened with Rah-lo?”
Asia shot a treacherous look at Nina, and for a moment Nina was sorry she’d asked. Asia said, “Don’t act like you didn’t hear it already. I know how people talk.” She realized that she was taking her frustration with Rah-lo out on Nina and softened her tone. After all, Nina was going through a similar situation with Ishmael from the sounds of it. “He walked out and he won’t answer my calls. If the kids call him from their cell phones, he answers. But the minute I get on the phone he hangs up. And I know that Ishmael knows where Rah-lo is. But he won’t answer my calls, either. I need to know where my husband is because I know he don’t think he can just walk out on me and leave me with three kids. He must be crazy.”
Nina sympathized with Asia. She knew how bad it felt to have your phone calls ignored by the man you loved. She shook her head sympathetically. “I don’t know much,” Nina began. “But one of the reasons me and Ishmael had a fight was because of how Rah-lo walked out on you.”
Asia was confused. She frowned and asked, “What do you mean?”
“The other day I ran into Charly. She asked me if everything was okay with me and Ishmael because he had come into her hair salon a few days ago to see Robin.”
“Robin?” Asia asked suspiciously. She didn’t know the former Dime Piece stylists too well. She knew only what she had been told. Since the salon had been owned by Rah-lo’s mistress, Asia had never been there personally. She only knew Nina because she was Ishmael’s wifey and, therefore, traveled in the same circles as Rah-lo and Asia. Over the years, Nina had filled Asia in on the other s
tylists—Charly and Robin—and how they had both slept with Ishmael. Nina had told Asia about Celeste’s close relationship with Ishmael and how uncomfortable that had made her. And Asia knew more details of Rah-lo’s affair with Celeste, thanks to all the things Nina filled her in on. “Why did he go to see her?”
Nina nodded. “That’s what I wanted to know. So I asked him, and he told me that Rah-lo wanted him to find out if Robin had heard from Celeste. He said Rah-lo’s in Atlanta trying to find her and he wants to know if any of us have an address or a phone number for her there. I didn’t believe him, so I went and asked Robin myself. She backed up his story, but now Ish is mad at me for questioning her.”
Asia processed the information she had just been given. Rah-lo had actually gone all the way to Atlanta to find Celeste. Asia kept her poker face on, but she was inwardly seething. “Did Robin tell him anything?” she asked.
Nina shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t think so.”
Asia stared off into space. She felt even more desperate than ever to find her husband so that she could patch things up between them. With Celeste back in the picture, Asia feared that her husband might be gone for good. “Thank you, Nina.” Asia took a deep breath and then exhaled, trying to calm herself down. “Call me if you hear anything else, please. Or if you need to talk.” Asia really didn’t want to hear about what was going on in Nina’s relationship with Ishmael. But if she could get any more information about Rah-lo’s whereabouts it would be most helpful. Asia walked out of the salon. Now she had to figure out her next step.
Celeste couldn’t believe her eyes. She sat in her office at work, checking out her MySpace page, and was floored to find a message from Ishmael Wright. It had been years since she’d seen his face and he still looked incredibly fine! She scrolled through all the pictures he had posted on his page and all but drooled. There was one of him behind the wheel of his truck, one of him leaning against a graffiti-covered wall, and then she saw another one. Celeste gasped audibly when she saw it. The picture of Ishmael and Rah-lo dressed to impress at some party almost stopped her heart.
