Page 15 of Not A Homie, Lover Or Friend
When I pulled up in front of the building, Yana was unlocking the door while Zaria came walking up the street. “Hey, boo,” I said to Zaria.
She smiled brightly. You would think we hadn’t seen each other in forever, the way we greeted each other. The way Zaria’s body snapped back after the twins was like magic. I was so happy for Chevy and Zaria. They had truly gone through a lot and somehow pulled through the storm, standing firm. However, not everyone got that happy ending, as Navi ended up alone, and I wasn’t sure which direction Myles and I were heading in. After hugging each other, she looked at me curiously. “You ok?” she asked.
“I guess. Where is Sasha?”
Zaria glanced toward the street, then back at me, “She said she would be here.”
We entered the building behind Yana as we began moving chairs to create space for the dancers' arrival. When the door opened, I thought it was Sasha, but to my surprise, it was Navi. She smiled at us, “Hey y’all!” she squealed.
I turned to look at her sisters. “Wait, I thought you were leaving.”
She shrugged. “I thought so too. I’m still here.”
Yana walked over toward the rest of us. “I invited her,” she paused.
I waved my hand, “Come on, the more the merrier.”
I didn’t have a problem with Navi. What she and Preach went through was their business. I had my own shit to worry about. Another ten minutes passed before Sasha came walking in. “Sorry, I’m late. Harvey, you got a line of girls outside.”
I smiled. I was super excited because I knew this party was going to be everything. I got up from the chair to let the first girl in when Sasha stopped me. She glanced down, then slowly raised her head. “They fought each other,” she mumbled.
Confused, I tried to catch her eyes. “Wait, what?”
She blew out a sharp breath. “Foe and Monfua got into a fucking fight.”
My stomach dropped.Is that why he left the house to fight?I knew that if neither Lakia nor I got this situation under control, it was going to get way out of hand before it got better. I took a deep breath and nodded as I walked to the door, put on a fake smile, and opened it.
The first girl greeted me. She had two-tone hair, face tattoos, and a body that was obviously built under the knife. “Come in,” I smiled.
She walked in, strutting like she was ready for the men to be sitting here. Little did she know I was the judge today. “Damn, ain’t no pole in here?” she hissed.
Zaria’s head swung in her direction.“Next!”she yelled.
The girl turned to look at me. I shrugged. “Your audition is over.”
Over the next hour, we watched dancer after dancer, some good, some dry, some extra and some were trash. Out of all the girls that had come through the door, I had only picked two. I needed one more, and so far, two looked like the golden number. Yana poured us all a shot from the bar, “Zaria, I know you're breastfeeding, so if you don’t want to—”
“I will be fine. Give it to me,” she said to Yana. “Shit, the last seven months have been crazy. I need this drink.”
We all laughed as we took the shot back. I paused as I looked at the girls. “Myles’ sister does not like me, and I think it’s going to be the reason we break up.”
Navi shook her head. “Did she say she didn’t like you?”
They all stared at me curiously. I hated it when I became the center of attention. It reminded me of my high school days. The girls I hung around with were cool until I got into it with one of them over a boy. When I tried explaining, I felt like they judged me. Like I was the fucking problem and I wasn’t. It was the moment I learned that having female friends wasn’t it
“She,” I paused. “She knows about the shit that happened with Zeus and now she’s trying to make him choose. I-I—”
Yana slammed her hand on the bar, “Fuck that! Foe is your man, and if he’s dumb enough to even let that play a role in your relationship, he’s the fool. Look, what’s done is done. If Foe and Zu can forgive each other, and you, that’s all that matters. Besides, who is she to judge when she ran off and married a man because of the way he looks? Y’all not about to convince me she didn’t marry that man because the way he looks,” she laughed.
“I concur,” Zaria said.
Sasha ran her hand through her hair. “Monfua knows he’s fine, but I think he really likes her. He’s going to try to make it work. He doesn’t believe in divorce, so she’s kind of stuck.”
I shrugged. “I don’t care about the marriage shit, she’s grown what I care about is my man and him choosing—”
“Him choosing what?” I heard Lakia’s voice.
We all turned to see her coming in the door. She cut her eyes at me, then smiled. “I brought a dancer. She wants to audition.”
