41/Renee
We met Kayla at the bridal shop and did fittings for our dresses.
I’ll have to admit that chocolate and orange aren’t a bad combination.
The form-fitting chocolate gown with the orange trim accented my small waist and big behind and took attention away from my itty-bitty titties.
But I had just the right bra at home to add that extra cleavage I needed.
When Kayla stepped out in her long A-line dress, all three of us gasped.
“Oh my, girl, you’re wearing the hell out of that dress!” I exclaimed.
“You really think so?” she asked with that same insecurity that had gripped her for years.
Danielle rose and stood beside her in front of the mirror.
“Yes, you look so beautiful.”
Nadine whistled. “Wait until Jermaine sees you in that dress.”
We all stood in front of the mirror with Kayla, staring at our reflection. I got misty-eyed as I remembered us in this same exact pose when we were teenagers trying on clothes for some party at the community center. The only one missing from this picture was my big sister Lisa.
Kayla was the first to break the silence.
“I never thought I’d see this day.”
“I don’t know why not,” Nadine scolded, draping an arm around her waist. “You are the only one of us with any sense.”
I had to cosign that.
“I know that’s right.”
“I’ve waited all my life for this moment.”
Her bottom lip quivered, and I knew if one of us didn’t say something funny, she was about to cry.
And then we’d all be crying.
“And a good thing, too. Otherwise, you’d be like Renee’s crazy ass, married three times,” Danielle teased.
I bumped my hip against hers. “Whatever. I believe in going for the moment. You never know unless you try.”
Nadine’s brow rose.
“Yeah, but how many times do you have to try before you get it right?”
I stepped away from the group and took a seat in the dressing room.
“I’m not trying anymore. I think single life is just meant for me.”
But even as I said it, I couldn’t help thinking about Kenny and wishing things could be different. Then again, knowing me, if I actually had his skinny ass, I probably wouldn’t want him.
“Let’s get out of these dresses and go have some lunch.”
I moved behind the partition and reached for the zipper, but Kayla continued standing in front of the mirror.
I couldn’t blame her.
She was beautiful and deserved everything that was happening to her.
Last year, when Kayla was accused of murder, Jermaine, one of the academic advisors at the medical school where she worked, had stood by her through the entire ordeal and eventually confessed his love.
“Hey, Kayla.”
She swung around.
“You can’t marry Jermaine unless you get that dress altered. And it can’t get altered if you don’t take it off,” I teased.
Smiling, she wiped away her tears. “I see you’ve got jokes.”
“Always.”
We shared a smile, and then she disappeared into her dressing room.
We all changed clothes and went down the street to eat at the St. Louis Bread Company. I grabbed a bowl of soup and a small salad and found a large table in the back, away from the door and the crowd.
I was finishing my soup when I noticed a man walking into the building.
“Danielle, isn’t that Chance over there?”
Her head snapped around. I caught the frown before she quickly painted on a smile.
“What’s he doing here?”
“Stalking your ass, apparently,” I mumbled under my breath.
Danielle looked over and glared at me.
Kayla appeared eager to meet him.
“Invite him over.”
Danielle raised her hand and signaled him over. Chance didn’t even look surprised to see her.
I told you he was a stalker.
He was wearing the hell out of a pair of jeans, a navy-blue sweater, and a fresh pair of Timberlands.
I ain’t gonna lie. Chance was fine in a thuggish kind of way. He was just too damn possessive for my taste.
I’d be damned if some man was checking my cell phone.
“Hello,” he said, flashing pearly whites interrupted only by two gold teeth.
“Everybody, this is Chance Garrett. Chance, you met Renee, and that’s Kayla, my friend who’s getting married.”
“Congratulations,” he said as he shook her hand.
“Thanks,” Kayla replied happily.
“Oh, and that’s Nadine coming our way now.”
He swung around. “Hello, I...”
As Nadine drew closer to the table, his voice trailed off.
And we all noticed the stunned look on her face before she said, “Hello, Jaycee.”
Jaycee.
Oh.
My.
God.
The dude who got Jordan pregnant.
The same dude Nadine had been fucking.
Oh, this was about to get good.
“Jaycee? Isn’t that the name of Jordan’s sperm donor?” I asked, playing dumb.
Danielle’s eyes widened. “Sperm donor?”
I looked at Nadine. She shot me a look that said, stay out of it.
Chance finally found his voice and let out a nervous laugh. The kind people use when they're trying to buy themselves a few extra seconds to think.
“You... you got me confused with someone else. But look, baby girl, I’ve got to go. I’ll holla at you back at the crib.”
I jumped up and blocked his path. If he thought he was about to walk away from this table before answering a few questions, he had lost his damn mind.
“Uh-uh. Where do you think you’re going?”
He glared at me, then quickly tried to soften his expression.
As far as I was concerned, he wasn’t going anywhere.
“Look, I’ve got things to do.”
“Like what?” I folded my arms across my chest and waited. “Danny, you better check your man.”
Nadine’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “For what? She going to still be with his trifling ass tomorrow.”
“You don’t know what I’m gonna do!” Danielle barked then turned to Chance, who stood there looking amused by the whole thing. At least he had been until he saw the look on her face.
“Are you the father of Jordan’s baby?” she demanded.
“Yeah, ’cause inquiring minds wanna know.” I was instigating, but so what?
Chance looked from Nadine to Danielle. Both looked like they were ready to strangle his ass. Hell, even Kayla looked like she was ready to land a few licks if the need arose. I returned to my seat and suddenly wished I had a bucket of popcorn.
“Baby girl, we’re in a public place and don’t need to be putting our business out in these streets,” he replied in a sweet, innocent voice.
“Hey!” His slick ass pissed me off, so I threw a cherry tomato and got him right smack in the eye. “My girl asked you a question. It’s either yes or no.”
He looked like he was ready to punch me. I mean-mugged him, daring him to even try.
“Like I said, we’ll talk about this when you get home.” He leaned over and kissed Danielle on the lips. “Baby girl, I’ll see you back at the house.”
Luckily, he stepped around me because I was all set to throw a salt-shaker at his head.
I swung around. “You just gonna let him walk out of here?”
Danielle lowered into her chair and mumbled, “He’s right. We’ll talk when I get home.”
I flopped back down in my chair. “That lying mothafucka ain’t gonna tell you the truth!”
“What truth? His name isn’t Jaycee. It’s Chance.”
I was tempted to throw a cherry tomato at her ass.
“Danny, your man is probably lying.”
Nadine angrily stabbed at her salad. “There’s no probably about it. He is lying.”
Danielle glared across the table at her. “Why would he lie?”
I butted my way into the conversation.
“Because he doesn’t want you to know he’s charging lesbians for his sperm.”
Everyone at the table turned and glared at me.
I rolled my eyes and reached for my soda. I was just trying to help.
“Danielle, I know who the father of Jordan’s baby is. I was there when... when he and Jordan met and hooked up.”
Nadine turned so red in the face that she dropped into a chair and reached for her sandwich.
What Nadine wasn’t saying was that she had fucked him too, but that was something she had told me in confidence, so my lips were sealed...
At least for the next five minutes or so.
Danielle tried to act like it was no big deal and kept eating her sandwich.
“Well, I’ll talk to him about it when I get home.”
“Who’s going with me to look at flower arrangements?” Kayla asked, trying to change the subject.
I didn’t blame her.
This was supposed to be her day, and it had been ruined by Chance, a.k.a. Jaycee, the lesbian-couple baby maker.
I huffed.
“Girl, I’ll go with you.”
We each ate our food. Nadine finally tossed her sandwich onto her plate and pushed her chair away from the table.
“I forgot I have an appointment downtown. Kayla, have fun. I’ll talk to some of you later.”
We mumbled our good-byes and watched her leave.
She was barely out of the building when Danielle finally spoke.
“Nadine is so full of shit. Chance is not the guy Jordan’s pregnant by.”
I waved my hand in the air.
“Correction. He wasn’t messing with her. He was depositing sperm.”
Danielle pursed her lips.
“Whatever the case may be, it wasn’t my man.”
I started laughing at her because she was stuck on stupid.
Kayla gave me a look that said leave it alone, but I couldn’t do that.
“Danny, Nadine’s too much of a lady to say this, but remember when she was telling you about this undercover mothafucka she was fucking?”
Danielle stared at me. “What?”
I nodded.
“That’s how she knows who he is. Hell, she could probably describe his dick if you asked her.”
I told them everything Nadine had told me, in far more detail than either of their asses cared to hear.
“I think I’m about to be sick.” Danielle raced off to the bathroom, almost knocking over a woman with a wide cardboard ass.
Kayla shook her head. “Can we ever get past the drama and start acting like women who are over thirty?”
I gave her an innocent look. “What? What did I do now? I just told her the truth about her man.”
I could tell the entire episode had Kayla upset.
“Where did Danny meet him?”
“At the club.” I wasted no time giving her the details.
Kayla blew air between her teeth. “Figures.”
“Mr. Everybody's Baby Daddy has been practically living with Danielle for the past month.”
I kept looking toward the door, waiting for her to come out.
“I really don’t think Danielle needs this right now. She has been going through so much. That whole episode with her daughter, and then you messing with Calvin.” Kayla shook her head.
“Wait, what?” I was starting to get pissed off.
“I wasn’t messing with him! Danny asked me to set up his simple ass.”
“Whatever the case might be, she’s been through a lot.”
“She’s been through a lot? What about me? I’m the one who caught her husband fucking another man in the ass!”
Kayla’s expression became apologetic. “You’re right. I forgot about that.”
She forgot because everyone always feels sorry for everyone but me. Can’t I be the victim sometimes?
Damn!
“I guess I better go and get Danielle.”
Kayla wiped her mouth with her napkin and started to get up from her chair.
“Here she comes now.”
I watched her walk back to our table with a painted-on smile. She wasn’t fooling anyone.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine.” She nodded, reached for her purse, and swung it over her arm. “Look, I’ll talk to you later.”
She turned and walked out the door, but not before I saw the tears streaming down her face.