by Ambria Davis
“I feel ya,” she replied. We didn’t say anything the rest of the ride to the mall. The only sound that could be heard was the music on the radio. Other than that, we were both quiet.
Ten minutes later, we were pulling up to the mall. Considering that it was an early Saturday morning, the mall was stupid packed. The whole damn parking lot was filled up. If it wasn’t for someone coming out and leaving, I don’t think we would’ve found a close spot to park.
“I really hope all these people are not in this mall right now,” Kourtney huffed once we parked.
“I hope so too,” I said. I turned off the car, and we got out.
“I’m trying to make this as quick as possible. I’m only looking for something comfortable and simple. I’m not looking for nothing expensive to go pretend around people who I don’t even care about,” I said as we made our way toward the mall entrance.
“Ain’t shit about this going to be right anyways, so why would I spend my money when I know damn well that something wrong is going to go down?”
Walking into the mall, I was somewhat hurt. I thought for sure that we were going to be in and out since it was early in the morning, but I was wrong. The minute we stepped foot in the mall, I wanted to step foot right back out of there. I damn sure wasn’t looking forward to trying to fight my way through this crowd of people.
“Damn,” I said under my breath. I was regretting that I didn’t go to the mall back in South Carolina. That would’ve been much easier and less stressful.
“Where do you want to begin?” Kourtney asked as we looked around at all of the people walking about.
“I guess we can start looking in Forever 21. You know a girl can never go wrong in there,” I said, giving her one of them girlish laughs.
“Right,” she said, doing the same.
“Come on,” I said as I began walking in the direction of the store. I hadn’t been in here in so long, and I must admit that the state of Florida was doing great. This mall was so big and so beautiful that I couldn’t help but to stop and admire it.
I swear the little walk it took for us to get to Forever 21 had me all kinds of tired. I wanted to sit down on the bench because my back was hurting me.
“Come on, fat mama. I already see ya slowing down,” Kourtney said, grabbing my arm and walking through the door.
“I don’t know how you know it. I was just thinking that I needed a seat.”
“You got pregnant women problems,” she said, blushing. She always did that when we were talking about something in reference to the baby or my pregnancy. “I think we should find you one of them maternity stores up in here.”
“I’m not about to go there with you, girl,” I said, rolling my eyes at her.
“Aww, boo, don’t take it personal. I was only playing with you and nanny’s baby,” she said, rubbing my stomach.
“Oh, I didn’t,” I replied. “Nah, let’s try to find something so we can get up out of this mall.”
“Okay,” she said.
“If you see something nice, call me.”
“I gotcha,” she said. She went her way, and I went mine.
I had only been in there a few minutes, and I could already tell that I wasn’t going to find anything in there. Half of the things weren’t my type. I was choosy when it came to my attire, so I knew it was going to be hard.
“Nay,” I heard Kourtney calling my name, but I didn’t see her.
“I’m over by the belts,” I said to her. A few seconds later I spotted her.
“You didn’t find anything you like, huh?” she asked.
“Nah,” I said, turning my nose up.
“I figured that, because I didn’t see anything in here that you like or would wear,” she replied. “But look,” she said, holding up a knee-length gray skirt, with a teal-colored shirt that had a long V that stopped almost to her navel.
“Oh, I like that,” I said, giving her a high five.
“You didn’t find any shoes and jewelry in here?” I asked her.
“Nope,” she said, shaking her head. “I didn’t see anything that would go with this.”
“Okay, well, come on. Let’s go try this on and see how it fits you,” I said, heading to the dressing room.
“Umm . . . We need a dressing room,” I said to one of the girls standing by the counter.
“Okay,” she said coming from behind the counter, key in hand. “How many?”
“Two,” Kourtney replied, holding up the two items that she had just found.
“Okay, you can go in dressing room number two,” she said, opening it.
“Thanks,” Kourtney said.
“No problem, you’re welcome,” the girl replied, walking back to where she’d just come from.
“Brinay? Brinay Williams?” someone said from behind me. I turned to find some light-skinned chick standing there. I just stood there staring at her, because I didn’t have a clue who she was.
“Umm, I don’t want to seem rude, but I’m clueless. Can you tell me who you are?” I asked, not trying to seem like I was stuck-up or something.
“It’s me, Latoya. Latoya Washington,” she replied.
“Latoya Washington,” I said, repeating the name and trying to see if it would ring a bell somewhere in my head.
“Yeah, we went to high school together. We took Mr. Carter’s chemistry and physics class together,” she said, trying to jog my memory.
“Oh, Toya,” I said, finally remembering who she was. “What happened to that little sweet girl that I remember, because as you can see, she’s surely not there anymore.”
She laughed, “Nah, I’m not that little girl anymore. I’m all grown up now,” she said with a smile, giving me a hug. “How have you been? I haven’t seen you in a minute.”
“I’ve been doing great, and yourself? I don’t live in Florida anymore, so that’s probably why you don’t see me as much,” I said hugging her back.
“All is well. I’m still living, so I won’t complain,” she responded. “So what brings you down here?”
“Just coming to visit my family for the weekend, that’s all.”
“Oh, that’s good. How has your brother been? I ain’t seen him in a while.”
“Brandon’s been good. He’s almost done with his bid, so you’ll be seeing him in a minute.”
“Nay,” Kourtney said, stepping out of the dressing room as I turned to look at her. “What you think? Oh, hey.”
“Hello,” Toya said, waving.
“Kourtney, this is Latoya. Toya, this is my best friend Kourtney,” I said, introducing the two of them.
“Nice to meet you,” Kourtney said, reaching her hand out for Latoya to shake.
“Likewise,” Toya responded, returning the gesture.
“Now, about that outfit, it looks great. You look great. I think you should buy it,” I said, nodding my head in approval. The skirt and shirt fitted and looked fantastic on her.
“Okay. Let me take this off and go and see if they have another one like these in my size. You know I don’t buy anything I try on,” she said, heading back into the dressing room.
“Don’t I know it,” I said, laughing at her, because I was the same way. I wasn’t trying to buy anything that I had already tried on. That was a no-no.
“We have to hang out before you leave to go back home,” Toya said.
“Let me get your number,” I suggested, turning back to her and handing her my phone. She took the phone and programmed her number in it, then handed it back to me.
“I’ll call you when I have some free time because we most definitely have to get together before I leave to go back home.”
“Okay. I’ll be waiting,” she said.
“All right,” I replied, and with that, she left.
“Come on, I’m ready,” Kourtney said, walking out of the dressing room.
“Okay. I’ve already wasted enough time in here as it is,” I replied, walking out of the dressing-room area. She went to the area where she f
irst found the things and exchanged them for some unworn ones. We then headed to the counter so that she could pay for them.
“I hope I can find some shoes to go with this,” she said, handing her things to the woman at the front counter.
“I’m sure you’ll find something. You already have an outfit. Finding shoes shouldn’t be that hard to do,” I said to her. “Unlike me, my ass have to find every damn thing. Hopefully, it won’t take me forever and a day.”
“That’ll be forty-six dollars and seventy-eight cents,” the lady said, giving Kourtney her total.
“Here you go.” She handed her a bill, then waited for her change and her bag.
“Fifty-three dollars and twenty-two cents is your change. Have a great day and thank you for shopping at Forever 21,” the lady said, handing her the bag, receipt, and her change.
“Thanks, and you too,” Kourtney replied. “Okay, I’m ready,” she then said, turning to me.
“All right, come on, because if I don’t find anything I like in here, I’m just going to wear something that I brought with me,” I said as we headed for the door. I was damn near out the door when I spotted one of the chicks that worked there, hanging new items on a rack in the corner of the store.
“Hold up right quick,” I said, spotting this yellow top that I just had to have. If anyone knew me, they knew for sure that yellow was definitely my favorite color.
“Umm, excuse me, but can I have a look at that shirt right there,” I said, pointing to the shirt that caught my attention.
“Sure,” she said, handing me the garment. I looked at it for a minute and knew that I had to have it.
“Do they have this in a medium?” I asked her. I’d normally wear a size small, but since the shirt wasn’t stretch material and I was pregnant, I wasn’t trying to suffocate my child.
“Yes, here you go, ma’am,” she said, handing me the shirt that I needed.
“Thanks,” I said as I continued to look at the items that she had on her cart. I also grabbed a peach-colored blazer, which stopped at my elbow, to go over the shirt since it had spaghetti straps.
“And she finds something that she likes in here after all,” Kourtney said sarcastically.
“Actually, I did,” I said, beaming. I was so happy that I didn’t have to play all morning in these people’s stores.
“Now all you need is some pants, and you’ll be almost there, like me.”
“Girl, I spotted some jean capris in here on the sales rack,” I said, making my way over to where I had seen the pants when I first walked in. I had to pass by a few other things before I finally found a pair in my size. “Bingo! Here I go!”
“All right. Now beat ya feet. We still have to go look for some shoes and stop by the nail salon to get a color change on our nails and toes, plus we have to do our hair,” she said, motioning for me to hurry up and go and get checked out.
“Girl, you play too much, but I think I’ll probably just do my own hair, because I’m not trying to be up in the salon all day, and I want to take a nap before it’s time to roll,” I said, placing my things on the counter.
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” she said, cosigning with me. “Hopefully, they have a nail salon in here where we could just get our color changed and find our shoes in here as well. That way, we’ll be able to grab something to eat in the food court, then head back to the hotel so we can both take a nap.”
“Your total is going to be thirty-seven dollars and sixty-five cents.”
“Here you go,” I said, handing her two twenty-dollar bills. She handed me my bag, my receipt, and change, and we were on our way. Everything was fast and easy and was going so well. I was actually starting to smile. I just hoped that nothing got in our way.
* * *
We didn’t finish shopping until well after twelve in the afternoon. To say that I was tired and beat was an understatement. I was well past hungry, and my feet were killing me. All I wanted to do was to eat, go back to the hotel room, and dive straight in the bed.
“Yooo, I’m starving over here,” I said, rubbing my stomach while desperately trying to hold all of my bags in the other hand. “Plus, my arms hurt.”
“I told you not to buy all of that stuff. Most of that was things you didn’t need anyway,” Kourt said laughing. “You want to stop by the food court and grab something to eat?”
“I don’t care, as long as we get something, because if I wait one more minute, I’m sure I’ll be on my way to starvation.”
“All right, come on. Let’s get a table so we can put all of these bags down first,” she said, leading the way to the food court area. There were so many people there that we barely could find a damn table. I was getting more and more pissed off by the minute.
“Look, there’s a spot over there,” Kourtney said, pointing to a table where a lady and two kids had just gotten up from. “I’ll hurry and go get it before someone else tries to take it,” she said, walking off. She was walking so fast that I thought she had fire in her pants or had to pee or something. I was walking so slow that she had left me behind in her first few steps.
“Damn! Let me find out you speed walk in your free time,” I said once I had reached the table, all out of breath. I placed my bags on the floor and took a seat. Then I removed my shoes and rubbed my feet.
“I see you got jokes, huh? I wasn’t trying to let no one take our spot,” she laughed. “Your ass was walking all slow. I thought it was going to take you a whole day to get here, and put them stanky-ass feet away.”
“Ha-ha. Now I see you got jokes,” I said sarcastically. “I told you that my damn feet was hurting . . . shit. You should be massaging them anyways, since you took forever to find some shoes that you liked.”
“Yeah, right! I ain’t touching them things. You crazy,” she said, turning up her nose.
“I thought I was your baby mama,” I asked, faking like I was hurt. “You’re going to do me like that?”
“You are, boo, and I’d do a whole lot for you, but touching your stank-ass feet ain’t one of them, ya feel me?” I said talking like she be talking when she’s mad.
“Girl, bye,” I said, waving her off. “You need a little more work; then you probably can hang with it.”
“Ha-ha. Whatever. What you want to eat, baby mama?” she said, changing the subject.
“I don’t care, just get me something to eat before I die of starvation,” I said, clutching my growling stomach. It was so empty, and I was so hungry that it started to hurt. My baby started kicking, so I knew for sure that it was time to eat.
“No, ma’am, I’m not about to stand in line and get something for you to eat, only for me to come back and you say that you don’t want that,” she said, placing her hand on her hips. “You know you picky as hell, Nay.”
“Honestly, right now, I’d really eat anything, so can you hurry up and go ahead and get me something to eat, please,” I practically begged her.
“Okay, okay, don’t bite my head off,” she said, throwing her hands up. “I’ll be right back.”
I shook my head at myself, knowing that I was wrong for talking to her that way. Hell, she was getting on my damn nerves, though. I told her that I was really hungry, and she wanted to play games. She should know better than to deprive a pregnant woman of food. They’ll get hostile; well, that’s what I heard.
While she was gone, I decided to take a look around. There were really a lot of people at the mall today. I looked over to my left and spotted some lady and her baby sitting by a table near me. She was bent over to feed ice cream to the baby, who was sitting in the stroller. I thought it was cute. It had me kind of wondering how things would be when I had my baby. I actually couldn’t wait to find out. I only hoped that I’d be as good of a mother as that lady. Hell, I don’t know the first thing about being a mother, I thought.
I was about to look for Kourtney when my phone started to ring. Since it was in my purse, and my purse was on the floor, I removed my foot from my
lap and grabbed my purse. Taking the phone out of my purse, I noticed that it was Dontie calling me. I should have never taken his ass off of the block list, I thought, sending his call to voice mail. I didn’t have time for him right now. All he was going to do was make me mad, and I didn’t need any of that right now.
“Here you go,” Kourtney said, placing a salad and water in front of me.
“Thanks, and I’m sorry for blowing up on you. I was just that hungry,” I said, sincerely apologizing to her.
“Oh, girl, I’m not worried about you one bit,” she said, waving me off. “If I had a dollar for each time that you’ve blown up, I’d be hood rich,” she replied.
“Still, I want you to know that I’m sorry. I don’t want to mess up our friendship over nothing.” I grabbed her hand.
“Really, Nay, I’m okay. I know that it’s the baby and the hormones that have to be blowing up like that, so I’m not worried, nor are my feelings hurt. I do accept your apology, though, baby mama,” she said giving, my hand a gentle squeeze.
“I said that I was going to be here, no matter what, so you better go ahead and get used to me, because your little temper tantrums will not run me anywhere,” Kourtney continued.
“That’s why I love you. You’re so understanding, even when you shouldn’t be,” I said sincerely. “I’d kiss you if I didn’t think people would think that we were gay.”
“Oh no. You can keep those lips over there, ma’am. I don’t know what or who they’ve been on,” she said, playfully frowning.
“Girl, whatever. Don’t even try to play me like that. You know I don’t do them kind of things with my mouth,” I said, just as my phone started to ring.
“Yeah, tell me anything,” she replied, rolling her eyes.
“No, you didn’t,” I said picking up my phone. When I noticed that it was Dontie’s ass calling me, I put it back down on the table without even answering it. “My God, why won’t he leave me alone!”
