Page 6 of Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming
“Oh, I can explain that. You see, Bridge, this woman believes that she’s an ally. And being reminded of something so horrifying in our nation’s history makes her uncomfortable. She recognizes that she, and others like her, still benefit from slavery’s existence. This is forcing her to reflect on how much of an ally she really is, and she doesn’t want to do that,” Suchi interjects.
“Dr. Brown coming with some heat.” Bridget smiles at her.
The white lady turns red and looks at the map the tour guide gave them when they first arrived.
The tour guide glances at the ladies and mouths, “Thank you.”
Lyric nods at her in acknowledgment.
An hour later, they are in the back of an SUV on their way back to the hotel for some rest. They want to relax and sleep in before going out on New Year’s Eve.
“Aims, we never got a report on green eyes from the coffee shop last week.” Bridget says.
Once they arrive at the hotel and get on the elevator, Aimee replies, “His dick game was on point, but afterward, he was talking about ‘when can we see each other again?’ I literally said, ‘this is not meant to go beyond tonight’ when we hooked up. How hard is that to comprehend?” Aimee rolls her eyes. “After what happened with Wes, I’m in no hurry to be in a relationship. And I thought all men wanted was pussy, what is with these dudes?”
“Girl, you know you got that good good.” Lyric jokes. “Remember that sorry brother from school who practically camped out right outside our dorm?”
“Kelvin!” the other ladies say at the same time.
“God, I want to know what you did to that poor man, Aims. He had it bad,” Bridget says.
“Who are you telling? That fool still sends me DMs. Damn, I can’t wait to become big time like you, Bridge. Then I’ll hire an assistant to deal with these men. This shit is starting to happen more than me being tagged in negative reviews.”
“I’m not that big time. Hell, my fifteen-year-old daughter is still my assistant at conventions.”
“I’m glad we did our girls’ trip early. It’s going to take me a minute to recover. Doing New Orleans and then San Fran Rom Fan Con would have been exhausting,” Aimee remarks.
“Speaking of exhausted, I’m calling a masseuse, then heading to bed. I’ll see you kids tomorrow,” Lyric says.
“Send him to my room when you’re done!” Aimee calls out.
Lyric looks at her with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face. “Miss ma’am, you just said you’re tired of these clingy-ass men.”
“Send him to my room for a massage, Lyric.” Aimee waves her away.
Suchi and Bridget laugh at their antics.
It’sNew Year’s Eve, and the ladies walk around the French Quarter with Lyric’s arm looped with Bridget’s and Suchi’s looped with Aimee’s behind them. The ladies all instinctively swivel their heads to the left. They see a psychic shop called Gifts from Gaia.
The ladies look at each other.
Lyric addresses her friends. “What do you say, girls? We did say ‘Be more adventurous.’”
“Let’s do it,” Aimee replies.
“Yeah, it sounds like fun,” Suchi says.
They all look at Bridget. She shrugs. “What the hell. Let’s see what lies ahead for us.”
The women enter the shop.
Lyric is hit with the smell of sandalwood, incense and palo santo.
There’s a young woman at the register. She positively beams when she greets them.
“Good evening, ladies. Are you ready to learn what the future holds?”
“Ready and waiting.” Aimee answers.
