I nodded my head reluctantly as Cory continued with the story. “A few years later, Tricey forgave Vic, the hussy, but you didn’t. Then the hussy had a baby hussy by Tricey’s ex-boyfriend/baby-daddy, moved back to Chicago, and now the first time that allof the ‘2 Live Crew’ will be in the same locale again will be today at Tinkle Bell’s baby shower?!… And you want me to come?!”
“Yes! I need moral support.”
“Oh heeeeeeeeells no! No way! No way! No how, honey! I am not putting myself in the middle of this long overdue WWE wrestling match! This might turn into a fight. Then I’mma have to help you ‘cuz you my girl. One of those bitches may break my nail, and then I’mma have to air the place out because you know how I feel about my nails! Now why do you want Tricey’s mama to be mad at me for airing out the restaurant?!”
All I could do was laugh. I love Cory so much. Six months ago, I met him at a gay bar downtown during a date I was on with a lady friend. He walked up to me and told me that I was “sick’ning” and “eating my dress”. We bought one another drinks all night and have been attached to the hip ever since.
He’s obviously flamboyantly gay. His personality, aura, and body language ooze “queen”. The only thing he’s missing is drag dressing and hormones, but, in his words, Cory “likes men who love men”, so he has no desire to dress or look like a woman. In spite of this, he obviously owns a female persona and has even nicknamed himself “Satasha Sunflower” after his ability to be more of a diva than his female counterparts; including me.
“Why don’t you ask your girlfriend to go with you?”
I instantly rolled my eyes in the back of my head. “Not funny. Evette is not my girlfriend.”
She isn’t, though both Cory and Tricey call her that. Evette is a “friend” that I’ve been seeing for about eight months. I met her at a party after me and Bradley’s relationship and engagement came to the screeching halt that it did. She was a cool chick and was obviously bisexual, so I thought she could fill the gap in my life left open by Bradley and Veronica’s absence. Evette and I in no way have any feelings for one another that are beyond friendship. It has been fun to play with her from time to time.
Evette later introduced me to how her husband, Jelani, plays, and that made our time together elevate from fun to exciting and adventurous.
Apparently Cory was just giving me a hard time, because no sooner than I started getting dressed for the baby shower, so did he.
Now that we are here, I kinda wish that I would have left his “don’t care what he say” ass right at home.
“Look at Miss Pregnant Mama looking like a big ol' ball of Hershey kiss,” he gabbed as we sat at table sipping complimentary wine.
Tricey did look like a Hershey kiss bar. She was dressed in a light brown sundress with her hair falling in long, full barrel curls past her shoulders. She accessorized with low-heeled gold sandals, gold bangles, a gold Louis Vuitton Vernis Alma handbag,obviously a hook upfromBlood, and huge gold hoops that sparkled from behind her curls. Tricey had yet to gain too much weight; maybe about ten or fifteen pounds that was mostly belly. However, she hasn’t reached her ninth month yet, so we’ll see.
We were at Ann’s Villa, an American cuisine restaurant located in downtown Chicago. We were secluded on its lake front patio, so for a sunny day in July, the atmosphere was beautiful. The breeze from the lake cooled off the ninety-degree heat beautifully.
Tricey’s voice caught my attention as she approached us. “Heeeeeeey, y’all!”
She was beaming. It was so good to see her happy. Considering the circumstances, she has really held up well while dealing with having this baby on her own. Many women have babies alone because the father chooses to leave, but her situation is so different because the father doesn’t even know. Amiel chose his wife over Tricey, so once she found out that she was pregnant, she let Amiel stay where he chose to be. This situation would make me feel so unsure of myself, but Tricey converted that insecurity into energy to become a great mother.
“Hey, girl,” I greeted. “You look so cute!”
“Yes, honey,” Cory added. “You look fierce!”
Tricey was having a great turn out. There were about twenty people here already and it was only an hour into the shower. Many of the attendees were Tricey’s family and co-workers. I couldn’t help but look anxiously at the door awaiting Vic’s arrival.
I haven’t seen Vic in person in nine years. Of course I’ve seen pictures of her that I stumble upon as I go through Tricey’s digital camera or visit Tricey’s pages on various social networking websites, but Vic and I have yet to be face-to-face since I ended our friendship. I’ve never asked about her nor do I care. I know that no one is perfect and that everyone makes mistakes, but what Vic did was something so pathetic that I can never forgive her.
“Look at Jordan. He’s gotten so big,” I told Tricey.
Tricey’s nephew, Jordan, was over a year old now. Star, Tricey’s sister, sat in a corner at a table text messaging and feeding Jordan at the same time.
Cory agreed. “Hasn’t he? What do you want to have, Tricey?”
“I don’t even care,” she said with a smile. “As long as it’s healthy, I will be happy.”
“The sound of a first time mom,” I said with a laugh.
Just then, Vic came strolling onto the patio. I am assuming Sugar was with her because alongside “Sugar” was a very soft butch chick. Tricey has told me about Vic’s friend, Sugar, who is a lesbian and often dates soft studs, so I assumed this was her.
Cory was all too happy to see fellow gays. “Heeeeeeeeeey! Dykes in the house!”
Both Tricey and I quieted him nervously. “Sssshh!”
“It’s not my fault this little clan is full of gays,” he muttered.
Tricey looked at me as if she felt guilty for something. I don’t know why. No matter how much I can’t stand Vic, I would never ruin her baby shower with my attitude.
“Go ahead over there and say hi to her,” I told Tricey.
Reluctantly and nervously, Tricey walked away.
For the rest of the shower, Vic and I avoided one another. It wasn’t that difficult to do. Cory and I sat on one side of the patio, and Vic sat on the other with Sugar. Eventually, another friend joined Vic. Tricey told me that her name was Lynn.
Cory teased me as Vic’s party grew. “Damn! She brought a gang just in case you wanted to jump!”
I laughed Cory off, but he continued ranting. “That’s okay. You don’t need a gang. I got a gang of bullets chillin’ in a glock right in my purse. I’ll air this motherfucka out!”
“Shut up,” I demanded as I started cracking up.
Cory closed his mouth right in the nick of time. Tricey’s mother, Ms. Anderson, just approached the table.
Luckily, she hadn’t heard Cory. Immediately, she asked me, “Can you go check on Tricey?”
“What’s wrong?”
“She’s crying. Everyone keeps asking her where the father is and it is annoying her. She went in the restroom.”
Just as I stood up, I noticed Vic going in the same direction. I hoped that this wasn’t a ploy of Tricey and her mother’s to get Vic and I in the same room.
Cory looked at me questioningly. “You need back up?”
Ms. Anderson laughed as she told him, “No, she doesn’t.”
Cory snuck me looks of confirmation as he reminded me by mouthing, “Bitch, I got the gun.” I laughed, shook my head, and both Ms. Anderson and I walked away. Ms. Anderson went back towards her seat. I reluctantly walked towards the restroom.
By now, the many glasses of wine that I had were kicking in. I wasn’t drunk, but my buzz was nice enough to deal with the awkwardness of today’s events.
And just as I walked into the restroom, things got even more awkward.
Tricey was leaning against the wall with tears streaming down her face. Vic was handing her a tissue. It looked like Vic had put on a few pounds. Nothing more than what aging would do to you. Obv
iously, life doesn’t allow her to be in the gym as much as it did back when she was on campus in Urbana and her body was on point.
“Don’t worry about what other people think,” Vic was telling Tricey as I approached them.
Luckily, the bathroom was empty.
Ironically, I felt like we were back in high school. This reminded me of when the three of us would be in the bathrooms of Kraton High consoling one another about one of our many issues; a pregnancy scare, a boyfriend who did us terribly wrong, sick of our parents … anything.
“What’s wrong?” I was obviously avoiding Vic and keeping my distance from her. I stood on the other side of Tricey and didn’t even look in Vic’s direction.
“I’m sick of people asking me where the father of my baby is! It’s obvious that the motherfucka ain’t here! Gawd damn! Stop asking me!”
“Well, Tricey, you can’t expect people to know not to ask. They don’t know that it’s a sensitive subject for you,” I told her.
She huffed and puffed in frustration. “You’re right. I just can’t deal. I thought this would be easier for me. I’ve been able to ignore the fact that Amiel even exists. Now with everyone constantly asking about him, I can’t help but be reminded of the fucked up situation that I’m in.”
“Tricey, this is your first baby and your first baby shower,” I told her. “You don’t want to look back on this day and regret it because you spent most of your time in the bathroom crying. So what if the father of your child isn’t here! You are one among millions of women who are single parents, and that’s all they need to know. The people close to you understand, and that’s all that matters. These people are here to support you and have come with a lot of good gifts. That’s it and that’s all. So who cares?”
“Stop messing up your make-up, girl,” Vic told Tricey with a smile. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. You chose for him not to be here. He is not here out of convenience for you, so there is no need to be embarrassed.”
“Next time somebody asks you where the father is, tell them to come ask me,” I playfully threatened.
“I could if you were anywhere near me!” Tricey then rolled her eyes and shouted, “This would be a lot easier for me if my best friends were around, but you heifers are so busy trying to avoid each other that you are also avoiding me in my time of need!”
The wine made me laugh at that versus being humble about her pointing out my insensitivity. In response, Tricey looked at me, rolled her eyes, and walked out of the bathroom dramatically. I saw Vic looking at me longingly. It looked like she wanted to say something, but before she could part her lips, I was on Tricey’s heels.
I was not about to have some dramatic conversation with Vic. Surely there are things that the both of us need to say to one another, but there is nothing I want to say her. Just because she got a lil’ Jesus in her now does not change the fact that she doesn’t deserve my friendship.
VICTORIA
Shame kept me from immediately returning to the patio.
I stood in the bathroom fighting back tears. Today was so overwhelming for me. It’s not as if I live my days yearning for Lyric’s friendship. I know what I did was wrong, and I know that I deserve only what comes to me, but she doesn’t have to be so rude about it.
I know I can’t judge her reactions. I slept with Tricey’s heartbreak, but that was almost ten years ago. If Tricey and I can get over it, so can Lyric. I don’t expect to be her friend, but damn, can she please just get over it already?
“What happened?”
I looked up to see Sugar, Lynn, and Gloria, Sugar’s friend, entering the bathroom.
“Nothing,” I immediately answered.
“Did that bitch say something to you?”
“Sugar, please. If she did, I deserve it, so it doesn’t matter.”
Sugar reiterated her question through gritted teeth. “Did she say something to you?”
“No, but I wanted to say something to her. She ignored me like I was one of the tiles on the floor.”
“Fuck her,” Sugar spit. “You don’t need her. You have friends.”
“I don’t want to be her friend. I just think that, as Tricey’s best friends, Lyric and I should come to some sort of understanding so that we can co-exist in Tricey’s life without the tension.”
“Well, you’ve given it the good ol’ college try,” Lynn said. “Now, just let it go. You did what you had to do. If she chooses to be childish and avoid you, oh well. She doesn’t have a key to lock you out of heaven or to let you into hell, so who cares what she thinks?”
“Damn. She said that sooo much better than me,” Sugar said.
We all laughed a little, and, thankfully, the laughing made me feel a bit better. I know it is so redundant to allow something that happened nearly a decade ago to make me feel the same shame all over again, but I can’t help it. I risked very close friendships just to be with Taij, and that backfired in my face like a CTA bus. Of course, that embarrassment resurfaces every now and then.
“Go on out there and take care of Tricey,” Sugar instructed me. “Don’t let Lyric faze or up stage you.”
It was sad that our friendship had come to this. Though Lyric and I haven’t talked in years, I never thought that she would act this way once we were face-to-face again.
However, I sucked it up in order to lie in the bed that I made. Tricey was not about to yak my ear off for the next week about how wrong I was for leaving her hanging, so I followed Sugar, Lynn, and Gloria out of the rest room, down the mirrored hallway, and back out onto the patio. Tricey immediately looked at me threateningly, as if I better not sit back in the corner that I once claimed. I looked at her as if she was silly and sat on the other side of her. Lyric was sitting right next to her on the opposite side. Lyric and I were solid walls of protection against all evil that wanted to know where Tricey’s baby-daddy was. Ms. Anderson and Star were beside us at the gift table organizing gifts since it was time for Tricey to start opening them.
Luckily, those closest to Tricey know the real deal; me, Lyric, Star, and Ms. Anderson. Tricey eventually told her mother and Star the truth about her relationship with Amiel, since it was so obvious how Amiel suddenly disappeared. I thought Ms. Anderson would flip when she learned that Amiel was actually married with a kid and a pregnant wife. She was, surprisingly, very supportive. I honestly believe Ms. Anderson was more focused on being there for Tricey during this pregnancy since the God awful end of Tricey’s first pregnancy was all Ms. Anderson’s fault.
Just then, Tricey let out a little squeal that caught my attention. I followed her eyes to the entrance of the patio. Entering the baby shower was Blood along with six other guys who looked and, assumingly, smelled like money. Each one of them carried big boxes wrapped to perfection and tied with bows. Knowing Blood, he purchased every gift from the finest store and got them professionally wrapped.
Star squealed as she said, “Open his first!”, and waved hello to the new attendees.
It was funny how every woman under forty years of age suddenly perked up when the new attendees made their entrance. Like I said, Blood looks and smells like money and so does anyone with him. In his case, birds of a feather surely flock together. Blood is never the kind of man that flashes his bank account total with flashy jewelry, but one can never ignore the quality of his 1.50-carat diamond stud earrings, eighteen-carat white, yellow, and rose gold and diamond bracelet, and Bentley key chain.
Blood is not a man of quantity. However, his quality speaks words that no ordinary bank account can understand.
Blood kissed each one of us on the cheek and his posse followed by shaking our hands. They were all familiar since Blood always has two or three men with him when he is in the streets.
Blood and his friends sat at a table nearest the front of the patio as Tricey began to open his gifts first, as Star suggested. One darling and expensive gift was unveiled after another. I knew the quality of each gift since I wished to be able to afford them when I wa
s pregnant with DeSire. As Tricey grinned and the crowd would “ooo” and “awe” over a $350 Mia Bossi diaper bag, $600 Mutsy stroller and car seat, $200 Peg Perego activity seat, $250 Svan high chair, and random boxes of designer onsies, Blood simply blew her a kiss and ordered his meal.
I smiled at Tricey and whispered in her ear, “Now who needs a sperm donor with a friend like that?”
I managed to leave with no further awkward moments between Lyric andI. I stayed on my side of Tricey and Lyric stayed on her side quite successfully.
Of course, Ms. Anderson and her Godliness wanted to counsel me on how silly it is that Lyric and I aren’t speaking. I am sure she gave Lyric the same speech, or at least, she better had. I simply nodded, told her that she was right and kept it moving out of the nearest exit. I learned back in elementary school that arguing with Ms. Anderson is not an option.
When I pulled into my driveway, Taij was sitting in his running Armada waiting on me. It was his weekend with DeSire, so he was returning her like clockwork.
Before I could get out of the car, Taij was collecting DeSire and her things from the car and heading towards my front door. We smiled hello to one another as he waited patiently for me to unlock the door.
Taij and I have a much better parent-relationship than we did a few months ago. Back then, it was so obvious that I was not over what Taij did to me and that the pain was affecting my life. Yes, Taij sold me a dream that led me to deceive my best friends. Yes, he cheated on me. Yes, he was foolish enough to give me an STD in result. However, I was ruining my own life with the pain from it all as Taij lived happily ever after. It was time for me to let go and forgive him and myself so that I could allow my daughter to have a better relationship with her father than I had with my own.
Good Girls Ain't No Fun Boxed Set (The SIX romance and urban fiction volumes of the LOVE, SEX, LIES series) Page 22
