5. Nourah Marcell
Ididn’t even bother knocking on the door to the guesthouse. I pushed it open and walked straight in, hollering my sister’s name.
“Noree! Noree!”
I moved through the front of the house, looking around, and by the time I made it to the living room, there they were. Ozy was sitting on the arm of the chair, and Noree was sitting up on the sofa, looking like she had been through a war with a weirdo-ass bitch, which I guess she had.
I went straight to her and leaned down to hug her.
“Girl, are you okay?” I asked.
She laughed a little as we pulled away, and I plopped down next to her.
“Yeah, sis, I’m good. I was just telling Ozy how I feel like I might’ve thrown my back out fighting. I’m too damn old for this.”
I laughed a little too, but I wasn’t done. I turned my head toward Ozy and squinted my eyes at him before smacking my lips.
“Mmm… Hey, Ozy. I really have a bone to pick with you.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Me? Why you got a bone to pick with me?”
I pointed toward Noree’s bandaged fingers. “This right here is exactly what I’m talking about. Why was she even fighting your girl to begin with?”
He sighed, wiping his hand down his face. “She ain’t my girl,” he said, shaking his head. “I broke up with her.”
I caught the look that crossed Noree’s face out the corner of my eye, and I knew right then that was news to her too.
“I ain’t saying they should’ve been fighting,” Ozy went on, “but Gin’s ass was doing too fucking much.”
“As long as you know.” I then looked back and forth between the two of them. “So, I heard the cat is finally out of the bag.”
Ozy nodded his head slowly.
“Finally. I was so tired of keeping that secret.” I looked at my sister before turning back to him. “And based on the energy I walked into, it seems like y’all probably already got to talking about all this, but I still need to add my two cents as Oaklynn’s favorite auntie in the whole world.”
Noree shook her head. “Girl, please.”
“No, seriously. You went through hell trying to make ends meet, and the whole time, you were the best fucking mother I have probably ever seen in my life. Seeing you cry and worry about what was next was hard. I’m just glad you don’t have to do it by yourself anymore.”
Noree smiled a little. “Aww, thanks, sissy.”
I smiled too. I was dead serious about what I said. She was a beast with this mother shit, but he had better step right on up.
Ozy rubbed his hands together, looking at me. “I would’ve been there if I knew.”
“I know. I’m not saying you wouldn’t have.”
Noree lowered her eyes to her hands, so I blurted out, “Y’all got cameras in the main house? Run that footage back for Big Mama. Let me see how well my big sis handled Ginger’s ass right quick.”
“Nourah.” Noree laughed.
“What? I still don’t like that bitch after how she insulted my clothes back at that video shoot. She’s just a jealous, evil-spirited-ass bitch.” I looked at Ozy. “And even if you and my sister don’t end up together, I’m glad you left her ass.”
Ozy shook his head and looked down at his phone, laughing a little. I could tell this was probably a lot for him. Hell, I understood a hundred percent.
“Okay,” Noree said. “That’s enough damn talking.”
We heard the front door open and close. A few seconds later, PB walked in with a woman behind him.
I didn’t wanna stare, but I gave ol’ girl a quick lil’ one-two, looking her up and down, but not in a rude way. My first thought was that she was probably his baby mama.
It got a little awkward and quiet for whatever reason.
“I didn’t know you were here,” PB said. “Give me a hug, love.”
I smiled and got up, and he gave me a real hug, not one of them one-arm side hugs. I wrapped my arms around his neck, his resting on my waist, and then he kissed my cheek.
The woman cleared her throat.
He pulled back. “Paisley, this is my friend Nourah.”
I held my hand out for her to shake, and he kept going.
“Nourah, this my baby mama, Paisley.”
She took my hand apprehensively and gave me a little smile that didn’t look the least bit real.
“You look so familiar,” she said, instantly confusing me because I had never seen her a day in my life.
“Really?” I said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.”
Once our hands dropped, Paisley said, “Yeah, well, I’ve definitely seen you before. I just can’t put my finger on it.”
PB broke the awkwardness. “Bruh, we ’bout to head out. Rah Jr. isn’t feeling good. You mind if Summer stays overnight with King?”
Ozy shook his head. “She can stay, but I don’t know what time I’ll be back, so I’ll let Unc know. She got clothes?”
“Yeah, she got a bag with some nightclothes and a few daytime outfits too, just in case.”
“Aight, bet.”
I sat back down beside Noree, but Paisley was still looking at me.
“Oh, I remember now. You were the woman in the pictures from his honor ceremony. You must be really special for him to have invited you, huh?”
“Pais, chill. The fuck is you doing?” PB said in annoyance, his face frowned up.
She smiled. “What? I’m just talking.”
But it was something about her smile I didn’t like. It looked very much like she was up to something, and that I didn’t fuck with because I had done nothing to her. She was cute and had a nice lil’ body on her, but if I was being honest, she ain’t have nothing on me.
I laughed. “I’m very special. But that’s probably something you should ask PB about.”
Paisley sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes a little, and it took me aback because I wasn’t understanding the energy she was giving.
“Is there a problem?” I asked, the attitude very present in my tone.
“No, there’s no issue at all,” she said. “I just like to know who my baby daddy has around, so I know who’ll around my daughter.”
“Well, yeah, like he said, we’re friends.” I turned to my sister. “Anyways, sis, I got some tea to tell you.” I stood up. “Show me where your room is.”
Noree set her water down and slowly got up. It felt tense, so we headed out of the living room and toward the bedroom. But as we walked past Paisley, she and I made eye contact for a second.
When we got to Noree’s room, she looked at me.
“Girl, what the hell was that about? Why is his baby mama sizing you up like that?”
“I don’t know, but like I told her, that’s something she gotta take up with him if she got a problem, ’cause I’m not even about to go back and forth with her.”
“She was looking at you like you came in and stole her man, pulling the rug right out from underneath her,” Noree kidded.
“Girl, I’m single. And honestly, after that little introduction, he needs to get his shit together before we go any further, ’cause she’s still living with him. So, until he figures that out, I’m good on him.”
“Even after y’all kissed?”
“Yeah, but that was one kiss, and it wasn’t planned.”
Noree gave me a look. “You still kissed him, though, Nou Nou.”
“Shut up.”
She eased down on the bed, and I sat beside her. I got quiet for a second, then sighed.
“But I do have something to tell you. All bullshit aside, Carl popped up on me and tried to propose.”
Noree’s eyes got wide. “What? He tried to propose? What you mean, tried?”
I held up my ring finger. “Well, you don’t see a ring, do you?”
“Hold up. So, you turned him down?”
I paused, replaying that moment over and over again because it didn’t make any sense to me how it all played out.
“I told him I needed time to think. Then he started asking what happened while he was gone, so I ended up confessing that me and PB kissed. And girl, he called me a hoe.”
Noree’s mouth fell open. “No… he didn’t.”
“Yes, he did. And then I slapped him. So, I think things are pretty much done between us.” I shook my head. “You know that’s not even how he talks, so I’m still shocked about it. Girl, I cried the whole way over here. You can’t tell?”
“Actually, I kinda can,” Noree said. “I didn’t want to mention it in front of Ozy, but your eyes are a little red and puffy.”
“I wasn’t ready to say yes, but I wasn’t ready for us to be done either, you know?
” I let those words linger. “I thought after what I heard on the phone that he was trying to play me. Now he’s saying it was all a misunderstanding, and I don’t even know what to believe.
” I looked down at my empty ring finger.
“I’m just so damn hurt, but you know me.
I bounce back fast. I’m not gonna dwell on it. But damn, it’s fucked up.”
“Yeah, it is,” Noree said. “But maybe he wasn’t your person for real.”
“Yeah. Maybe he wasn’t.”
It got quiet between the two of us for a second.
“So, what’s going on with Ozy meeting my niece?” I asked, nodding toward the living room.
“I told him to give me a moment to kinda decompress and get some food in my system,” Noree said. “’Cause my damn hands and legs were shaking so bad, I felt like I was about to pass out.” She looked down at her phone. “Actually, let me text Ma now, ’cause we’re about to pick Oaklynn up together.”
“Wait… like, together together?”
Noree looked up from her phone.
“Yes, girl. Together.”
“Oh shit! I can’t wait for the deets on that.”
We talked a little more before I rode with her back to the main house. She said she was going to grab a snack, shower, change, and then head out with Ozy. Now that I knew my sis was okay, I headed home. Honestly, I wanted to lie down too, but on the way there, I got the urge to text PB.
ME: I know you’re probably busy, but when you get a chance, can you come see me? I could really use a friend right now.