HARVEY
Although things were a little awkward between Myles and me, I still wanted to proceed with throwing his party.
While he was out, probably searching for his sister, I had the girls meet me at Diamond’s longue.
Everyone knew about the surprise party except Myles.
Yana talked Diamond into letting us use his longue for auditions.
I knew what my nigga liked, and strippers were one of them.
I wanted him to have dancers at his party; however, I needed to be the one to select them.
With the girls joining me, I figured it was the best time to let them know what was going on with Myles’ sister and me, and to get some advice before my relationship crumbled over something I felt was silly.
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.”
I sucked my teeth. “I picked who I wanted already.”
“I said I have someone I want you to see,” she gritted.
I went to get up, but I felt a hand on my arm, stopping me. It was Sasha. She shook her head no. My eyes landed on Yana. “Shit, I would let her beat her ass, but that’s me.”
My lips disappeared between my teeth as I nodded.
Lakia snickered as she opened the door to allow the girl to come in.
Her pretty brown complexion, dark lipstick, and long braids were the first things I noticed.
She was slim up top but thick as hell at the bottom.
She came through the door with extreme confidence.
A smirk eased on her face. I could tell she knew she was about to fuck it up.
“Music,” she said.
Her eyes narrowed in on me as if Lakia had prepped her on who I was, because when the music started, she went right to it.
The way she moved, she knew she was fucking it up.
I could see Zaria, Navi, and Sasha hyping her up.
Yana was by the speakers, waving her arms. “Get that shit, mama!” she shouted.
A smirk eased on my face as my eyes never wavered from hers. She was good. I knew Myles would enjoy her. When she was done, she stood there with her hands on her hips. I stared at her long and hard. “You got the job, the party is next weekend,” I muttered.
I glanced over at Lakia, who smirked hard as hell. I was going to give this girl a chance, but if for any reason she tried something, I was putting her down along with Myles’ sister, and I meant every fucking word. I turned back to the dancer. “What’s your name?”
She smiled. “Flex.”