Page 36 of The Millionaire Mortician
Ashley’s breaths came chop-chop, then leveled into shaky longs. She wiped under one eye, smearing her liner.
“I’m not a groupie,” she started, voice lower than that time. “I’m not. He ain’t gotta play me like that.”
“Nobody said you were a groupie,” I replied, low. “We talkin’ respect and safety.”
“Safety?” Her laugh was dry. “I said I’ma get him?—”
“And that right there is what you not gon’ say in my shop again,” I cut in. “Not about him, not about anybody. You hear me?”
Ashley blinked like she hadn’t expected me to respond the way I did. “Why? Y’all scared of him or somethin’?”
Talina and I made eye contact. It was one of those unspoken conversations in a blink.
“Ash,” Talina said carefully, “you don’t know him.”
“I know enough to know he’s disrespectful as fuck,” Ashley shot back.
“And I know enough to know you need to let that whole situation go,” I uttered. My voice softened, but it remained firm. “Ain’t no loss in takin’ a loss, you feel me? It’s an L that would save you from a bigger one down the road.”
Ashley stared, then slumped, the fury draining out like someone popped a valve. She pressed her palms over her eyes, and her glossed lips trembled again. She was young, not in age, but in the game, in the way a man with presence can make you think you’re extra special for a night and then remind you he never promised you anything in the morning.
“He coulda just said hi,” she murmured into her hands.
“He coulda,” I agreed, “but he didn’t. You’ve got two choices. Are you gon’ match bad energy with bad energy... or are you gon’ protect your peace and your bag?”
“I just... I be feelin’ like men get to do whatever, and we gotta smile and swallow it.”
“That’s not what I’m tellin’ you to do,” I countered. “I’m telling you to pick your fights like you pick your lace, very carefully. You said something in front of the whole salon that coulda went left. I pulled you back here, so it didn’t.”
Talina slid a bottle of water across the counter. “Drink, then go take a walk around the block and come back when you’re cool.”
Ashley sniffed and took it, gulping. “He ain’t nobody,” she muttered, but weaker, almost to herself. “He ain’t?—”
I touched her shoulder. “He’s somebody, boo. Just not your body, you get me?”
That earned me the littlest smile. “You sound like somebody’s auntie.”
“I am somebody’s auntie.” I laughed, which made Talina snort. “And this is my shop, which means at the end of the day, I’m gon’ make the calls that keep all of us good. Feel me?” I looked at her. “You gonna be straight?”
She nodded, then hesitated. “You think he’s gon’ say somethin’ to me again?”
“I think he said what he said and moved on,” I told her. “You should do the same.”
We let Ashley sit there until her breathing was stable. Talina talked nonsense about new inventory just to fill the air with something soft. When Ashley finally stood, she smoothed her smock and swiped under her eyes again, with a lighter energy.
“I’ma take that walk,” she announced. “Thanks.”
“Take your time,” Talina advised. “Come back with a new attitude.”
When the door closed behind her, we both exhaled in the same key.
“Girl,” Talina exclaimed, wagging her head, “your life is a reality TV show.”
I huffed a laugh, but it sat brittle. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another.
“You good?” she asked. “You looked like you swallowed a fireball when Maverick came in.”
“I’m good,” I lied, then rolled my lips. “I was just... on the phone.”
