Chapter 8
Glow
“Where you going? Flip the camera around so I can see. I can tell you’re in front of the mirror with the way you keep playing with your clothes. And since I don’t see your bathroom in the background, I know you’re in your full-length one.”
Rolling my eyes at my very nosy and very bossy little sister, I stopped toying with my top so I could flip the camera.
A face eerily similar to mine smiled back at the screen as she gave me a once-over.
Her bedroom was dark, but I could see the poster behind her bed, adorned with the big-ass school’s mascot: a fucking grizzly bear.
Glee looked as comfortable as one could get.
A bonnet was resting on her head, and I could see her natural baby hairs peeking from underneath the satin pink hair protector with a thick band.
The glow from the television and LED light cast a shadow, but her pale skin shone through the phone screen easily.
She looked lighter than usual, even though it was nearing summer.
I was sure having the flu and being on her way to a full recovery contributed too.
Fighting the illness while taking her exams was probably kicking her ass, but my sister was the most determined person I knew.
I was sure she’d ace her tests, even under the weather.
She told my mom and me on FaceTime last week that she would be coming straight home after her last exam.
She was supposed to come stay with me for her summer break, but my mama insisted that she go home to Sparkling City first and spend some time with her.
I was happy she accepted my mama's offer because, if she’d come straight here as planned, she may have brought her germs with her.
My townhouse had more than enough space, with three furnished bedrooms of the five total.
I had converted the two rooms in the basement into a content room and a closet before my sister left for college.
She always found her way into my bedroom despite having a room that she claimed as her own.
She and our mom visited Jagoda Bay a lot in the summertime, but my sister only stayed the night with me three or four times.
Before we knew it, it was time for her to head out for her freshman year.
I was so sad when it was time for her to start college, but my mom and I made sure to create a home away from home for her by decorating her room in their apartment.
It was decorated in the same colors as her bedroom at my mom’s and my townhome, royal blue and brown.
That was months ago, and my sister had now completed her first year at Blake University, an HBCU a few hours outside Atlanta in Cove City, Georgia.
I was extremely proud of her, even though I never made it there to visit her.
I’d been so busy working, and I felt bad about that now that the school year had ended.
On the other hand, Glee didn’t make a huge fuss about me not coming to visit.
We went from talking every day to texting maybe once a week over the ten-month stay.
Despite our lack of communication, I made regular deposits into her account and was still doing so even though the summer had arrived.
I refuse to let my girl work because I know she needs the break.
She ended the academic year on the Dean's List, so it was only right that I turned her and her hot-in-the-ass bestie up for the summer.
“Oh, okay. You looking pretty. Those jeans are making you look thick as ever. Let me find out Glow Eats been really eating good up in the Bay.” She smiled, her chapped lips spreading, making her look even more sickly.
“What? Why you say that? I’m getting big?” My eyes expanded, and my heart pounded.
“Umm-hmm. Thick in them thighs, boo.” She laughed, and at the same time, I sighed with relief.
I loved my current size, and even though I ate on camera for a living, I had no desire to gain weight.
I had way too many clothes I hadn’t worn yet.
Especially the ones stacked to the brim in my content room that eager brands were waiting for me to wear.
I had to get a move on it before they snatched those coins out of my creator fund.
“Where did you say you were going again?” Glee asked as I moved around, preparing to leave my townhouse.
“I didn’t.”
This time, Glee rolled her eyes. “You must be going with the boug-hetto girls that you can’t speak of.”
“The who?”
“The boug-hetto. They look and dress bougie as heck, but with the way I’ve seen them clown in the club on your Snap and theirs, I know they ghetto.”
“Girl! You need to go to bed!” My head shook, braids moving as I chuckled through a grin.
The ladies weren’t bougie or ghetto. I’d say they just didn’t take no mess.
I’ve never been confrontational, but I quickly learned to let that timid stuff go.
You never know what will pop off when you're around them, and we’ve ended up in more than a few fights over the last two years.
If anything, that was ghetto, but I can’t lie—those were the best times.
We didn’t go around starting drama, but when the night ended with a few punches being thrown, I’d wake up the next day with belly soreness from laughing so hard. Good times.
“Un hunh… See, you’re over there smiling. You done let the Kardashians turn you out.”
“Kardashians, Glee. Really?”
Turning sideways, I inwardly praised myself for my look.
It was one of my favorites this year, and even though I wasn’t sure how this look would turn out with braids, I wouldn’t want my hair styled any other way.
My braids had been such a huge hit that I’d gone right back to the same braid shop and had them taken down and redone.
This time, I did pay the ladies even though my review had gained them over twenty thousand new followers.
They wanted to refuse, I simply left the money and all but ran out of the door.
I respected what they were doing, and though I’d normally charge four figures to promote a brand, black businesses were a soft spot of mine.
When I got them done this second time, they had to open up overnight just so I could get on the schedule. I was happy for the ladies. Their work was good and consistent. These second set of braids looked exactly like the first set. Perfection.
“Yes, really. Those ladies drive six-figure cars, rock gigantic rings, and I think all of them have worn Crocodile Kelly bags. You know, they cost like a hundred grand? The Kardashians, they are. But seriously… You can tell me. Are they like some secret assassins or something? Is that why you can’t talk about them? ”
I laughed loudly into the phone. “Girl, what? Get off my phone, sis’. They have not turned me out. I just enjoy their company.”
“And..?”
“And they are most definitely not assassins. They aren’t even people you should compare to the Kardashians either.”
“Oh, okay. Just asking. I thought that’s why you don’t go with them when they go out of town. Sometimes, they’re out shopping and having brunch, and you aren’t with them. I thought it’s because they’re out doing secret missions.” Glee shrugged lazily.
“Wait. How do you know they be out?”
Glee yawned. “Mocha added me to her close friends. That girl can spend some money too. Her husband is really, really fine as hell. Chocolate men are my weakness.” She fake shivered, and I chucked at her antics.
“Your weakness needs to be those books. Stay off that girl’s page. I’ma tell her to block you.”
“No! Don’t do that. She’s only a few years older than me, and I swear… she’s living the life. That’s how Blayke wants to be. Married young to a young, rich dude with a handsome son who looks just like him, so she can shop ’til she drops at breakfast time. Her words, not mine,” Glee assured me.
Blayke had been my little sister’s best friend since middle school.
She was a pretty little thing with strict parents who were heavily involved in the church.
She was supposed to attend a school in Jagoda Bay, but decided to follow my sister to Cove City.
Those two were inseparable except when Blayke’s parents had her holed up in the house with a Bible in her face.
I had to talk on the phone with them for an entire hour, running down the summer plans for the girls, and the compromise was that I would come visit their church.
They were something else, and I could see why Blayke was eager to get the hell out already, even though she’d been away at college for ten months.
She was going to end up with a man they despised, despite their belief that Blayke was going to find a good Christian man.
Blayke probably was at that college fucking out of both pants legs and dragging my sister right along with her.
Glee was a virgin, but that didn’t mean I thought she was all innocent.
“And how do you want your life to be?” Shifting my eyes from the mirror to the iPhone screen, I waited for Glee to answer.
My baby sister had a bright future. Unlike me at her age, she was confident about the life she wanted to build for herself.
She was going to be a first-generation doctor, and even though I was beyond proud of her, I felt something had been bothering her lately.
Something was going on, and I was missing it.
I knew she wouldn’t be my little baby forever, but I wanted Glee to hold onto her innocence for as long as possible.
I didn’t want her to get boy crazy and forget the plot.
But something was nagging me that that had or was currently happening.
Glee’s eyes migrated from the phone screen to the TV in front of her, as if she were shielding the truth from me. “I dunno. I just want to get through school so I can start the next one.”