13. Nourah Marcell
Iwas posted up next to my sister while people ran around with clipboards and lighting equipment, and I was eating it all up. Me and Noree were giggling about something stupid, like we always did, when I peeped a familiar face cutting through the crowd, headed straight for us.
I leaned into Noree and dropped my voice. “Girl, don’t look now, but that’s the dude I was telling you about last night. The one from the liquor store.”
“Which one?” she whispered back, doing a terrible job of not looking.
“The fine one walking up right now, heffa. Stop looking.”
“What’s up, Nourah?” he said, smooth as ever, hands in his pockets, looking even better today than he did last night. Like, how was that even possible?
“Hey, PBJ,” I said, smirking.
Noree’s whole face scrunched up. “PBJ?”
“Like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” I said, and me and him both laughed while Noree stood there looking between us like she was watching a tennis match.
“Wait, hold on. I’m confused,” she said, tilting her head at him. “Aren’t you Ozy’s brother?”
I swear my neck damn near snapped. “Wait. What?” I looked at her, then at him, then back at her. “Ozy’s brother? You didn’t tell me that last night when I sat there and told you my sister won the Weekend with Ozy Love contest!”
PB shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, but I don’t really like leading with that, though. When people find out who my brother is, they start acting different. They try to…”
“Use you to get to him,” I finished for him.
He chuckled. “Exactly. See, you get it. My bad, though. I wasn’t tryna be on no weird shit.” He smiled, tryna smooth things over.
His eyes traveled down my fit, and he nodded slowly. “You look real good, by the way.”
I spun around in a little circle so he could catch the whole thing, the way the fabric hugged everything it was supposed to hug. “Baby, I put that shit on, huh?”
“Yeah, you did. That’s one of your designs?”
“You already know it is.” I pointed at Noree. “And that’s one of mine too. Bodied By NouNou, honey.”
He looked at Noree’s fit and nodded. “That’s tough. Both of them. You got real talent.”
“Thank you,” I said, all sweet, and then I flipped the switch on him. “You know what else is tough? You not texting me last night. And you damn sure didn’t text me good morning this morning either.”
“My bad, love.” He put his hand over his chest like he was wounded. “I had a lot going on. I been moving around all morning, doing a lot. But I was definitely gonna get to it. Trust me.”
“Mm-hmm. Yeah, okay.” I gave him the side-eye, trying to hide my smile. I had no clue why I was all of a sudden so schoolgirlish around him.
We stood there making googly eyes at each other for a second too long, and I could feel Noree watching us with her lips pressed together, trying not to laugh.
“Okay, well,” I said, clapping my hands together, “between the two of y’all, somebody needs to introduce me to Ozy. Mainly you, Ree Ree, especially since you stayed in the man’s room last night.”
Noree gave me a look that could’ve put me six feet under.
“Girl, what? This is his brother. You really think his brother doesn’t know you were sleeping in his brother’s room?”
PB busted out laughing, and then all three of us were cracking up right there in the middle of the set. I glanced across the room and saw the stylist finishing up, smoothing down the shoulders of Ozy’s shirt while he stood there in the mirror.
“Ooh, he’s free. Come on, y’all.” I grabbed Noree’s hand and started pulling.
When we walked up, Ozy turned around, and let me tell you, that man’s whole face lit up like somebody plugged him into the wall. You might as well have called him a Christmas tree! Okurrr!
His eyes went straight to my sister and stayed there. He was looking Noree up and down like she was a whole snack, appetizer, entrée, and dessert. And she was looking right back at him, probably thinking whatever the hell he was thinking.
I cleared my throat. Loud.
“Hey, Ozy Love.” I stuck my hand out. “Nice to meet you. I’m Noree’s baby sis, Nourah, or you can call me Nou Nou. Thank you so much for letting me come through today, especially after I heard it was some WWE SmackDown-type stuff going on around here.”
He laughed and shook my hand. “It was definitely some shit poppin’ off.”
“And I also heard you and my sister had a nice little situation going on last night,” I added, all innocent.
“Nourah!” Noree hissed.
Ozy just laughed harder. “You funny,” he said, shaking his head. “But nice meeting you, for real.”
“And it’s a small world too, because guess what? I met your brother last night. At the liquor store. Ain’t that cute?” I pointed back and forth between me and PB. “The universe is doing something, honey.”
“Apparently so,” Ozy said, glancing at his brother with a little smirk.
I leaned in like I was about to share a secret. “So, real quick, what was y’all really doing in that room last night? Because she told me y’all ain’t do nothing, but see, I know my sister, and I feel like she lying. So, what really happened? Because…”
“Girl, you are doing TOO much.” Noree grabbed my hand and yanked me so hard I almost lost a nail. “Come on.”
“I’m just talking to the man!” I hollered over my shoulder while she dragged me across the set.
She pulled me all the way to the food table, both of us laughing so hard we could barely breathe. They had a whole spread laid out—fruit, little sandwiches, wings, all types of stuff. We started fixing our plates, and that’s when the energy in the room shifted. I felt it before I saw it.
Ginger Maree’ had arrived.
She came through them doors with a whole entourage, security on both sides, her assistant trailing behind her, and I ain’t gone lie, I stared.
“Damn, sis,” I whispered. “She look good. I ain’t even gone lie, she pretty as hell in person.”
Noree stared at me through the slits of her eyes.
“What?” I shrugged. “You prettier. I’m just saying that bitch is bad. But you badder with a capital fucking B!”
She rolled her eyes, but her lips were fighting a smile. “Mm-hmm… Girl, I’m not no hater. Pretty is pretty. It is what it is,” she said.
I popped a grape in my mouth. “But uh-oh. Not you getting a little jealous over your man.”
“That man is not my man,” she said way too quick.
“Okaaay,” I sang, stuffing a little sandwich in her face. “Here, eat this so your mouth can stop lying.”
She smacked my hand away, and we were giggling again.
Then here came Ginger, floating over to the food table with her assistant.
And baby, when I tell you this woman did not touch one single thing.
She just pointed. And the assistant picked everything up for her with them little tongs and put it on the plate while Ginger stood there with her arms crossed like touching her own food was beneath her.
Me and Noree looked at each other. I ain’t say nothing, but my eyes said everything.
That’s when Ginger looked over at us. Well, actually… she looked at my sister, and she took her time with it too, dragging her eyes from Noree’s shoes all the way up to her hair, with her whole face turned up like she smelled something stank.
Noree shifted next to me, confused, and honestly, so was I, because what was the problem?
Ginger started to walk past us, then stopped right next to Noree like she just remembered something.
“Cute little outfit,” she said. “It’s giving very much…
clearance-rack chic.” Then she brushed past and bumped Noree’s shoulder on the way, hard enough that Noree’s plate tilted and a wing damn near hit the floor.
“Oh, excuse me,” Ginger said over her shoulder, not sounding sorry at all, and kept it moving with her little entourage behind her.
I was already putting my plate down. “Oh, see, now…”
“Nourah.” Noree grabbed my arm. “It’s not worth it. Not here.”
“First of all, I MADE that outfit. Clearance rack? She got me fucked up. I don’t give a damn about her being famous, I’m about to famous my foot up her ass.”
Noree squeezed my arm, but I could see her jaw tighten. “She been coming for me since I got here. Just let it go. I’m not worried ‘bout her ass, for real sis, I’m good.”
“Fine,” I muttered, picking my plate back up. “Because baby, I wanna lay my hands on her, I’ma drop it though.”
Noree snorted. “Good, cause then ima have to jump in…now we in jail.” And just like that, we were laughing again because that’s what we did. Couldn’t nobody steal our joy for long, not even that bitch.
A minute later, somebody came through with a bullhorn, and the whole set jumped to life. “All right, people, let’s get started! Places, everybody! Places!”
This woman with a headset and a clipboard came power walking straight at us. “Ladies, plates down, please. Plates down. You two are in the background for this setup.”
I gasped and grabbed Noree’s arm. “Wait. Hold on. We get to be in the video?”
“I guess so, girl,” Noree said, laughing as they took our plates from us.
They ushered us over to this cute little fake café they had built on the set—little round tables, string lights, coffee cups that ain’t have nothing in them. They sat us down at a table together, across from the other winners, and told us to pretend to talk to each other.
Easy!
“Action!”
Ozy came strolling out of the café doors, his music blasting through the speakers, singing, doing his thing, stealing glances at my sis. The cameras followed him while me and Noree sat there fake sipping and fake talking.
Then the fake rain started falling over him under the lights, and I ain’t gone lie, it was fire! Ginger’s stank ass came out with the backup dancers and did a little one-two step. It was fun, and somehow, my eyes kept landing on PB on the sly.
He was off to the side, but he was the real eye candy.
Candy I’d like to lick!
Mmm!