The Diary of a Side Chick 4: A Naptown Hood Drama (Side Chick Diaries)

by Tamicka Higgins

  Just as Shawna snickered under her breath and sipped her orange juice, she heard keys outside of the apartment door. It was Morgan coming back from breakfast. Quickly, Shawna jumped up off of the couch and rushed over to the door to unlock it.

  “Girl, thank you,” Morgan said as she stepped in then pushed the door shut. “It is so cold out there.”

  “Yeah,” Shawna said, heading back to the couch. She then looked over at Morgan, who was taking her coat off and throwing it onto the counter that looked into the kitchen. Morgan was smiling ear to ear, making Shawna wonder why she was so damn happy. “What the hell is up with you?” Shawna asked. “Wait a minute… It’s like noon or something, I think. Why you back from breakfast so fast? Did they put y’all out because they switched over to lunch?”

  Morgan rolled her eyes, still smiling, as she went back to her bedroom. She took her shoes off and changed out of her black dress and into some gray sweatpants and an old t-shirt.

  “I told you, Shawna,” Morgan said when she came back into the room and slumped down into the couch, next to Shawna. “We was just going to breakfast because he has to be at work later. You know that Valentine’s Day ain’t no national holiday or nothing.”

  Shawna chuckled. “With how you smilin’, I would have thought that it was,” she said, looking at her sister with questioning eyes.”

  “Stop hatin’, Shawna,” Morgan said.

  “I ain’t hatin',” Shawna said. “I’m just observing…and something is up with you. I can tell. I don’t know why you just don’t go ahead and tell me. Cause you know you want to tell me anyway, so just go ahead and spill it, girl. What did y’all do after, or before, breakfast?” Shawna leaned in and smiled. “Did y’all fuck for the first time?”

  “Girl, boo,” Morgan said, shrugging her shoulders. She was still smiling, shaking her head from side to side. “We done been done that.”

  “Awe,” Shawna said, very surprised at what she had just heard. She playfully slapped her sister on the shoulder. “You hoe! You ain’t even known him for three solid months, if that, and you done already fucked?”

  Morgan looked at Shawna, clearly wanting to know how she could say anything. “And how soon was you lettin’ Tron up in you?” she asked. “Huh? Tell me that.”

  Shawna looked away. “We ain’t talkin’ bout me,” she said. “So, um, anyway, how was breakfast?”

  Just then, Morgan held up her hand, showing Shawna a ring on her first finger, left hand. Out of the corner of her eye, Shawna noticed something shiny and silver on her sister’s hand. She turned and looked, zooming her attention in on the ring.

  “What the fuck is that?” Shawna asked. “What is that, Morgan?”

  Morgan turned the top of her hand toward her face and fidgeted her fingers, clearly admiring the ring. “What does it look like?”

  “I know what it looks like,” Shawna said. “I’m asking you what it is? What is that, Morgan? What kinda ring is that?”

  “You know what kind of ring it is, Shawna,” Morgan said.

  “No,” Shawna said, shaking her head. “This don’t make no sense. I don’t even remember you mentioning that you knew him around Christmas, if not New Years. And now, it’s Valentine’s Day, and I still ain’t met this nigga, and he done put a ring on it?”

  Morgan nodded, still smiling. “Basically, girl,” she said. “Ain’t it nice?” She held her hand toward Shawna, allowing her to grab her hand and have a closer look.

  Shawna, in disbelief at what she was seeing and hearing, lightly held her sister’s hand. She looked up and into Morgan’s face. “Girl,” she said. “Are you crazy or something? You ain’t known this nigga for nothing but a minute, Morgan. And now he done actually proposed?”

  “He’s the one, Shawna,” Morgan said. “I know it. I didn’t even care what the ring looked like. You know we been spendin’ so much time together. He got a new job offer and is going to have to move away. But he said that there is no way that he can go without me. So, we was out to breakfast, girl, at this nice restaurant downtown with a bunch of rich white people, you know. And we was talkin’ about us and everything.”

  “Wait a minute,” Shawna said, confused for days. “Tell me this, first. How did he propose to you if the job was based on you going or not?”

  “Well,” Morgan said, not being able to wipe away the excitement from her face. “He told me about the job, and I started to get real sad, you know. You finally find someone and you can tell that it is the real thing. I mean, we really got love for each other. That’s what makes this different, Shawna. I never loved a dude like I love him. Everything about us goes together. We stay on the phone, texting or talking. I like his family and he got a good job and stuff.”

  “Okay, okay,” Shawna said, shaking her head. “So he tells you that he got a job offer? Where?”

  “Chicago,” Morgan answered. “And girl, you know we gon’ be livin’ on the nice side of Chicago, not on the side where you see all that stuff on the news… Chiraq or whatever they call it. He gon’ be makin’ some real money now, and you know, I can get into some things in Chicago that can make some money.” Morgan looked down at the ring when she took a pause from explaining. “So, yeah, we was out to breakfast and he told me about the job. I thought it was going to be like him breaking up with me or something. I was getting’ all sad and shit, emotional, you know. Then, next thing I know, I am puttin’ syrup on my pancakes and he is tellin’ me that he will only take the job if I agreed to go with him ... If I would agree to go with him.”

  “Okay,” Shawna said, understanding that part. “So, how do we get to the ring part? How did you wind up with this on your finger?”

  “You know my rule, girl,” Morgan said. “I ain’t movin’ away with no man unless he put a ring on it first, then we can talk. I guess he knew I was that kind of chick because after we talked about whether or not I would want to live in Chicago, I told him that the only way I would move away with another man is if I was married to him.” Morgan smiled, holding her connected hands up to her chest. “And that is when he pulled it out…the ring. He pulled it out of his pocket and said to me, That’s exactly what I hoped you would say. Girl, it was so romantic. He already knew I was gon’ say yes. You should have seen the look on his face. Girl, it was even snowing outside when he did it with the wind blowin’ and stuff. It really was like something out of a movie…like a dream come true or something.”

  Shawna looked away, shaking her head. “Well,” she said, trying to process all of that. On one hand, she was happy that her sister had found a guy that she was really into, and a guy who appeared to be somewhat good. However, the last thing in the world that she ever thought would happen would be her walking through the front door after going out to breakfast with him and saying that she was getting married. “Congratulations, I guess,” Shawna said, forcing a smile. “It just seems too quick. I mean…it is so quick.”

  Morgan could pick up on her sister’s vibes. And it was obvious that she indeed was trying to be happy for her. Morgan had known, though, that Shawna was probably not going to take this news in the best way. She did not understand, judging by the look on her face, just how deeply Morgan and Chris were in love with one another. They were practically soulmates that God had run across one another in the least likely ways. However, at the same time, the demise of Shawna’s relationship with Tron – well, it actually went down in flames – would surely be something that would taint Shawna’s perception of it all. Morgan knew, though, to just let her have some time. She gripped her sister’s knee.

  “Shawna,” Morgan said, in a loving way. “You know you gon’ be my maid of honor.”

  Shawna looked at Morgan and smiled. She hugged her sister, knowing that it was the right thing to do. “Awe,” she said. “Thank you so much. But, Morgan, I…. I… I just don’t know if you have thought this through all that much. I mean, it is only the middle of February. You two have only been serious for like six weeks, or so. Am I right? How can you
be sure that you want to marry this guy?” Shawna stood up and headed into the kitchen to put her now-empty glass into the sink. By the time she turned around, Morgan was up and standing in the kitchen doorway.

  “What you mean, Shawna?” Morgan asked. “I’m not gonna let the good one get away so I can be embarrassed by the no-good one.”

  Instantly, Shawna could feel a little tension in the way her sister said that. It was clear that she was insinuating something. And whatever she was insinuating was something that was directed at Shawna.

  “What are you try’na say, Morgan?” Shawna asked.

  “I’m not try’na say nothing,” Morgan said. “All I’m saying is that I’m not gonna let the good guy go when I can go with him. I’m not gonna wait until the no-good guy wastes like three or more years of my life then look around and wonder where all of the good black guys are.”

  “Hold up,” Shawna said. “You talkin’ to me like that is what I did on purpose or something. Now, all of the sudden, you want to act like you always thought that Tron was no good or something…like you was always try’na warn me about him or something.”

  Morgan shook her head, not liking to see her older sister take what she was saying personal. “That’s not what I really meant, Shawna,” Morgan said. “All I’m sayin’ is that I want you to invest your time and energy into getting with a good guy. I mean, girl, look at you. There are niggas downtown, working in them office buildings, who would gladly wife up a black chick like you. And there you are you foolin’ around with a nigga who used to deal drugs, and now him and his buddy done used that money to get into the hoe business by owning strip clubs and shit. I know, it’s legal and all… I’m not sayin’ that it ain’t. But, at the same time, you got to know that bein’ with somebody like that is gonna come with some problems. You don’t really think that THOT Desirae or whatever was the only chick that he was fuckin, do you? The chick that done stabbed the nigga with a fork and made the damn news for it?”

  Shawna shook her head and looked down at the floor. “No,” she said, hesitantly. “At this point, not really. And I’m passed all that at this point. I’m not gon’ be that chick who tries to stand in the way of a man who is try’na start a family and stuff. I admit it…I thought about it for a split second. I was just goin’ through the emotions – you know, not thinking straight, is all.” Shawna waved her hands. “I’m just sayin’ that since I been through a little more than you, I was just try’na help. I’m just keepin’ it real with you. It do seem like six weeks is a little too damn soon to be getting married, no matter how old you are or how much the two of you connect with one another and shit. Have you told Mama yet? Have you told Mama that this Chris guy done proposed to you?”

  “Well, actually,” Morgan said. “I was gon’ wait to tell her that, if you wanna know the truth, Shawna. I was gon’ wait.”

  “Wait?" Shawna asked, wanting to know what she meant. “You was going to wait to tell Mama when? Huh? When was you thinkin’ that you was gon’ tell her that your boo thang has put a ring on it? And it all went down in six weeks. You know Mama is gon… Mama is gon jump on you, probably. Girl, I hope you prepared for it. I swear to God, I hope you are.”

  “Girl, ain’t nobody scared of mama,” Morgan said, rolling her eyes. “I swear, you be doin’ the most.”

  “So, when?” Shawna asked. “When was you gon’ tell Mama, then? Huh, Morgan?”

  Morgan looked away. “Well,” she said, hesitantly. “I was thinkin’ of tellin’ her on the wedding day. You see, Chris has to start this job by the first of April, or sometime around then, I think.”

  Shawna looked at her sister in disbelief. “So,” she said. “You actually try’na get married in six weeks, to a man that you really only been serious with for six weeks? Is that what is goin’ on?”

  “Shawna,” Morgan said, hyperventilating. “Ain’t no need to go puttin’ all them numbers on it. Love is love, and that is all it is. There ain’t no reason I can’t go with him, is there? No. Exactly.”

  Shawna snickered – a snicker that soon turned into a full blown laugh. “Girl, you are crazy,” Shawna said, as she pushed passed her sister and went back to chilling on the couch in the living room. “You is a fool, girl. I swear to God, you are. We gon’ have to see how this goes.”

  Morgan came back into the room and sat back down on the couch where she had been sitting minutes earlier. “Oh, Shawna,” Morgan said. “I knew you was gon’ be actin’ this way. This is your first Valentine’s Day without Tron. You over there going through withdrawals, ain’t you?”

  Shawna looked at her sister. Her facial expression let her know right then that whatever Morgan had just said was pure foolishness. “Girl, boo,” Shawna said. “I’m good. I’m over it.”

  Morgan squinted at her sister, knowing that she was putting on a front. “Hmm, hmm,” she said. “Okay, then. If you say so.”

  “I am,” Shawna said. “I told you about what happened at the club. I feel embarrassed all over again. Then the bitch is havin’ his baby, and she crazy as fuck too. I mean, what kinda chick stabs a nigga with a fork?”

  “A side chick!” Morgan answered. “You know the bitch already was unstable or fucked up in the head. You saw the way she was actin’, and walkin’, that day we went up to Clarke’s. Plus, she attacked you while she was at work, so now she pregnant and ain’t got no job. The bitch is just dumb. I swear to God she dumb as fuck.”

  “Yeah,” Shawna said, thinking about her various interactions with Tron’s side chick, Desirae. While the chick was definitely not the kind of woman that Shawna would want to be friends with, Shawna did kind of start to feel sorry for her. Not only had Tron betrayed Shawna, but he had also strung along and made a fool of another young black woman. And, for that reason, Shawna could feel a little bit of what she was going through. “I’m with’chu when you right,” Shawna said to her sister. “So, why did you come back from breakfast so early? I mean, damn.”

  “Cause,” Morgan said, liking that the mood had now changed. “Like I told you, he had to go into work. Apparently, he had arranged to have the first half of the day off so that we could go to breakfast together on actual Valentine’s Day. I’mma see him, later on when he gets done with his mama.”

  “His mama?” Shawna asked, putting Desirae out of her mind. “What in the world is he doin’ with his mama on Valentine’s Day?”

  “Oh, nothin’ crazy,” Morgan answered. “He take his mama out to eat on Valentine’s Day if she ain’t busy or whatever. Tonight, they goin’ to some restaurant – soul food, I think – that she like. Then, after that, we gon’ meet up and chill for a little bit.”

  “Yeah,” Shawna said. “Guess y’all gotta start planning for the wedding and stuff.”

  Just then, Morgan’s phone began to ring. She rolled her eyes and told Shawna to cut it out right before she picked the phone up and answered. It was her friend, Janae. Within a matter of seconds, Morgan was up and pacing around in her bedroom as she told the entire breakfast engagement story over again as if it was her first time telling it. Shawna now sat on the couch, alone on Valentine’s Day for the first time. After glancing at her phone and realizing that she would soon be heading to the shop to do Ms. Susan’s hair, she thought about how she truly wished that she could be happy for Morgan. Deep down, she was indeed happy. However, she could not help but to secretly wish that she and Tron’s relationship had continued on that course. In fact, that course was the very way she thought that their relationship was headed. Shawna simply gazed out of the living room window, at the snowy February weather, until she got up to get ready to go make a little money.

  ***

  To Shawna’s surprise, Ms. Susan was actually waiting out in her car when she pulled into the parking lot of the hair salon. Usually, Shawna had to wait for Ms. Susan, cutting her a little slack and not charging her a late fee because she kept her hair on point – a habit that made Shawna quite a bit of money at times. She did think it was strange that Ms. Sus
an was available to have her hair done on Valentine’s Day since she was seeing a man over in Ohio, in Dayton. However, Shawna then remembered that Ms. Susan was simply living the older version of Desirae’s life. Ms. Susan was seeing a man that did not really belong to her, either. While Shawna sort of struggled to really understand why a woman of Ms. Susan’s class and caliber would stoop to doing such a thing, she also looked at it from a different point of view: she could learn about the mentality of a woman who is okay with being a side chick.

  Shawna walked up to Susan’s car and got her attention. Within seconds, Susan was turning her car engine off and climbing out.

  “Damn, girl,” Susan said. “I didn’t see you pull into the parking lot.” Susan walked up and gave Shawna a quick hug before the two of the walked side by side to the door of the building. “Girl, I was gon’ wait inside. But when I saw that what’s her name was the only one in there, I thought I would just sit out in the car and wait. Fuck that bitch, excuse my language.”

  Shawna chuckled under her breath and lightly shook her head. She looked at Ms. Susan. “Miss Susan,” she said. “Wait till I tell you this. Just wait, girl. Just wait.”

  Ms. Susan could hardly contain herself, wanting to hear whatever details Shawna had for her. Since the night when Tron had been stabbed with a fork at the club, Shawna had not seen Ms. Susan. Once her own feelings calmed down from it, she knew that she would have to tell Ms. Susan. Soon enough, once Shawna got into doing Susan’s hair and the other stylist in the shop was leaving, Shawna spilled all of the details…fork and all.