Page 30 of Tainted

“All you do is work! It’s a midnight run going down, and my man’s squad is racing, so you should come,” Brandy smiled, leaning in to bump my shoulder.

“If you wanted me to come, you should’ve lefthimout.”

Jewel covered her mouth to contain her laughter while Brandy rolled her eyes.

“I can’t wait for you to get a man so I can talk shit about him.”

“You know Otto is off limits, Nova. Don’t say nothing about her man, her man, her man,” Jewel added.

“What’s a midnight run?”

“Girl, where are you from again?” Jewel snickered while Brandy looked more panicked than I did. Maybe it was because she hadn’t been groomed to lie on the spot like I had.

“A little bit of everywhere. I moved around a lot.”

“Ohh, me too. My daddy was military,” Jewel shared, trying to connect our experiences.

“So that means you’ll come?” Brandy asked, circling back to her original question.

“I don’t even know what a midnight run is.”

“Another name for nigga’s playing Mario Kart in real life.” Jewel’s explanation made us both chuckle.

“Like street racing?”

“Yup, and everybody knows the DDs run shit around here,” Brandy boasted.

“Yeah, and Otto is like Donkey Kong out there,” Jewel’s joke forced out a snort that made them both laugh.

“Just know you’re coming for siding with an outsider over your own blood,” Brandy declared.

I didn’t know what to expect at a midnight run, but I would soon find out. After I finished Jewel’s hair, I kicked them to prepare for a long evening at Utopia. I didn’t see the point of us sitting around a circle like we were friends when this was simply a means to an end for most of us.

I needed my job, so I pulled up a chair and listened to Megan review upcoming events. Basketball prodigy Aire Kesson booked Utopia for his 21stbirthday and if we wanted it, we’d have to show and prove because Megan was personally selecting the girls for his VIP section.

While in the dressing room, they all made bold declarations about bagging Aire. Some were too old to be skimming his social media page. I tuned them out and focused on laying my wig for the night. I didn’t have time to think about the future when money needed to be made tonight.

“Damn, Freshie, that shit looks like it came out of your scalp!” Rajah raved, bringing unwanted attention to my lavender wig. I wasn’t sold on the color, but I let the girl at the beauty supply talk me into it.

“Thanks, girl.”

“Shit, I need an appointment. My cousin usually does mine, but she’s back with her trifling ass baby daddy, so you know how that goes.”

I didn’t, but I played along.

“I can if you want,” I offered because Rajah had been the nicest to me since I started.

Rajah’s posture drooped, wearing a slight smirk. “Duh! Can’t be a bad bitch with a bad wig. It’s enough of that going around.”

Some other girls whispered insults, but nobody was brave enough to refute her claim.

“Why are you looking at me?” Elektra asked.

“Because you need to be over here trying to get an appointment, too,” Rajah declared.

“Bitches always think they’re better than everybody,” Phoenix mumbled.

“And?” Rajah shrugged, “If you thought better of yourself, you wouldn’t be busting your ass just to hand your money over to a nigga.”

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