Page 68 of The Prodigy 2: Rise of a Queen

“Don’t cry.”

I looked up at Jaz. “Huh?”

“Don’t cry. It’ll fuck up your makeup.”

“Yeah, and if you do cry,” Bianca chimed in, “don’t rub the tears away cuz that’ll smudge it. Just pat the tear with a tissue.”

“A tissue?” Jaz scoffed. “Tissue is so ghetto. My sis only uses the finest Venetian lace handkerchiefs to dry her tears.”

She pulled a box out of her bag. “This is my grandma Noni’s. Open it.”

Inside the box was a delicate white handkerchief with lace trim. “Aww, Jaz.”

“Something old and borrowed,” she said proudly.

“What’s Venetian lace?”

“Bitch, I don’t know. Fold it up and tuck it in your dress. It’s clean. I had it cleaned.”

“Thank you.” I ran my fingers over it. “I’m so glad I have you. I honestly don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Her eyebrows went up. “Really?”

“Yeah. I’ve learned a lot from you. I’m still learning. I just…I appreciate you.”

“Damn.” She looked stunned, like nobody had ever said anything like that to her before. And knowing this family, they probably hadn’t. “I appreciate you, too, Malika. It’s nice to have somebody around that respects me.”

“I do.”

We shared a smile, and then Luna said, “Hold up.”

“What?”

“Didn’t this hoe pull a gun and a taser on you?”

“Well, she didn’t actually pull the gunout," I defended. "She just showed it to me.”

It was quiet for a beat, and then we all laughed. We clowned for a while until we heard another knock at the door.

“Come in!”

The door opened, and my jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

It was Dionne, in a bridesmaid dress. And Chase in a tuxedo, smiling like the cat who ate the canary. My eyes bucked as I looked at Jaz, but she shook her head and said, “Wasn’t me.”

My family came closer. Dionne was actually smiling. Chase started to run toward me, but Jaz hopped up and blocked his path.

“Uh uh, little man.”

“Chase, you can’t hug Titi right now.” Dionne stopped a few feet away. “You look beautiful.”

I sighed, because I knew I was about to fuck my makeup all up. I stared up toward the ceiling and everyone went into overdrive fanning my face so that the tears would dry. Chase giggled uncontrollably at this display.

“I’m okay,” I said. “Whew. That was close.”

Bianca told me to close my eyes, then she sprayed something on my face. “Alright, I’m done.” She looked up at my sister. “You want yours done?”

Dionne shrugged. “You want me to, Mal?”

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