Page 6 of His Strings Make Her Legs Sing
“I already told you, baby girl.” My father’s eyes softened. “When it comes to you, your sister, and your mama, your imperfect is perfect. I taught y’all to operate under the umbrella of excellence that God placed in y’all.”
My mother clapped her hands like he just gave a mighty word.They really need to find a church.“I know that’s right. God made my babies perfect. ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’That’s what Jeremiah 1:5 said!”
Wynsdae gave me that infamousdon’t fall for the traplook. I just put some mashed potatoes on my fork and continued to eat. If we so much as whispered an amen we would be tricked into a bible study session. Wynsdae changed the subject to the trip that my parents would be going on soon. For their anniversary, my sister and I got them an all-inclusive weeklong getaway to the Bahamas. They were so excited about it, and we were excited that we could do it for them.
We stayed long enough to eat, help our mother with the dishes, and freshen up. Our father insisted that he prayed over us before we left and reminded us that he’d kill niggas over us. We had the best parents that anyone could ask for. God did His thing when He assigned them to us.
Wicked Strings . . .
I couldn’t believe that we had never been to this place. I wasn’t sure what I expected it to be when I walked in, but I was pleasantly surprised. The decor fit the name of the establishment perfectly. There were guitars on every wall. The wallpaper was actual sheet music which was so cool. It was clear that everyone loved this place based on how packed it was. Karaoke with a live band was lit.
“Hey, ladies, how are y’all tonight?” A deep voice said from the side of the table that me and Wynsdae occupied. When my head turned to see the owner of the voice, I had to tell my drool to stay in my mouth. “I’m Citrell, the owner of Wicked Strings. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen you ladies here before, so I wanted to check in to make sure y’all were good.”
This man was fine as Basil Sand wine. The tattoos on his neck and arms looked like artwork that was worthy of being on the walls of a prestigious art gallery. His caesar haircut, full, moisturized beard, and his lineup were the things that hundred-dollar haircuts were made of. He had perfect facial symmetry. His skin was the perfect milk chocolate tone, and I wanted to lick it.Wait, what! All he did is say hello, Sundae.
I snapped out of my daze when Wynsdae kicked me under the table. “Oh, hey! Thank you for checking in on us. Yeah, we-we’ve never been here before, but we’ve heard amazing things about it.”
His sexy smile prompted me to take a sip from my cup. That was the only way that I could keep the drool in this time. “That’s what’s up. Are you two twins, Miss . . .”
“Oh, sorry.” My head tightly shook. “My name is Sundae and this is my sister, Wynsdae. No, we are not twins in the traditional sense. We’re Irish twins.”
His eyes bounced between me and Wynsdae. “Wait, is Sunday and Wednesday your real names or like childhood nicknames?” Amusement dressed his features.
Wynsdae laughed. “Yes, that is the name that our parents gave us, but it’s spelled differently. If you think that shit is crazy, her middle name is Whekli and mine is Dailee.” I kicked her ass under the table because she didn’t have to tell him all of that.
He abruptly walked off.What the hell?Our faces were torn up. Moments later, he returned with another man. “This is my homeboy and co-owner, Marco. Marco, this is Sundae Whekli and Wynsdae Dailee.”
Marco stood there for a beat. “That’s like y’all real names or childhood nickname?” He held his hands up, palm facing. “No offense by the question.”
“Wow, are you two twins?” I asked with a giggle. I pointed at Citrell. “He asked the same question. Yes, that is our legal names.”
Both men had handsome smiles, but Citrell’s smile was captivating. At least to me it was. “That’s interesting as fuck. Are you ladies going to get on the list for karaoke?” Citrell asked.
“That’s the plan,” Wynsdae responded. “It’s cool as hell that y’all use a live band. We haven’t sang with a live band since we were teenagers in church.” Her excitement sat on the tip of every word.
“Bet!” Marco said. His eyes were glued to my sister.Looks like she might have found her new slide.“Well, we can’t wait to hear y’all. Let’s see if the church girls can sing.”
We spoke for a few minutes before they left to move around the bar and greet other patrons. “Girl, did you see how that man looked at you?” Wynsdae asked. She had her tongue out as she did a little jig in her seat.
“He wasn’t looking at me any kind of way.” I waved her off. “You always think someone is looking.” I discretely pointed where he was at a table full of females. “See, he’s friendly with everyone.”
Before my sister could respond, the waitress came over with two more of the drinks that we had on the table. When we told her that we didn’t order any more drinks, her light cheeks brightened as they rose. “Citrell, the owner, told me that everything for you ladies is on the house tonight. Well, as long as y’all get up and sing a song.”
My mouth opened to say something, but she walked off. I didn’t want to look at my sister because I already knew what it was going to be. There was no avoiding her when she cleared her throat.
“So, you think he’s that friendly that he’s offered every girl in here free shit to get them to sing?” Again, my mouth opened, but Wynsdae put her finger over my lips. “Don’t play yourself. If he did that, this place wouldn’t make any money.” She stood, then grabbed my hand. “Come on so we can pick a duet and solos.”
I giggled as she pulled me to the side stage where a woman sat at a counter to take the requests. Citrell still stood by the table with all of the women. When we passed him, he paused his conversation to give me his beautiful smile. The girlies at the table didn’t like that. So much so that one of them called us fat under their breath, but loud enough for us to hear her.
I closed my eyes when Wynsdae’s feet stopped, then she backtracked her steps. Her stare bore into the female that called us fat. I think everyone was anxious with anticipation of what she would say. “Fat? Did you really just call us fat? Baby, the onlything that is fat on me is this pussy that I’m sure your husband would fuck the shit out of.”
I gasped when I noticed the enormous ring on her finger. My sister always had the fuck around and find out attitude. Even when we were deep in the church, she got in so much trouble because of her mouth. All of the women at the table eyes were golf ball big. I shook my head, giggled, then pulled my sister to the song request booth.
“Hey, ladies! Y’all want to get on the list?” the sweet girl asked us. When we told her yes, she smiled then swiveled the large tablet that was mounted to the counter in our direction. “We have a huge song selection. Take your time.” There were two other tablets on the table for other patrons to select songs.”
I was so impressed with the selection of songs. On the first page on the screen, before you flip to the next, was the number of songs in the catalog. I bumped into my sister and pointed. “Wow, there are seven hundred songs in here?”
The girl smiled. “Yep, and they add more weekly as they rehearse new songs. Our band is amazing and can play anything if they know it. That’s why this place is a whole vibe.”
