Chapter 13 #2
The dress was simple, and I liked to have something be a statement piece, so these shoes would be it.
I could get done in twenty.
When we got to K-Q, Courtney pulled up to the valet stand. The attendant opened the door for me. I climbed out while Courtney
gave the other guy the keys to my car. When she got to me, she grabbed my hand and led us into the restaurant. Tanisha was
sitting in the waiting area, and stood as we walked in.
I let go of Courtney’s hand to give Tanisha a quick hug. “Hey, girl.”
She shifted her attention to Courtney. “Hey, Courtney. How you been?”
Courtney held up her injured arm. “Eh, I’ve been better.”
“Yeah . . . Sasha told us what happened. Sorry.”
“Thanks, but ya know, what can ya do?”
“Right. Well, thanks for letting me crash.”
“Don’t mention it. Sash said you got some bad news and needed some girl time. Hopefully hangin’ with us will take your mind
off whatever it is.” Her reply even came with a soft smile, which made me feel good. Especially since she’d seemed annoyed
at the house.
It helped that she and Tanisha didn’t butt heads like Courtney did with Denise. That was still baffling because from the jump
Denise seemed to take issue with Courtney for no real reason. And Courtney was good at giving back the energy she got tenfold.
Court’s friends accepted me into the fold with no issue, and it would have been nice if it were the same with her and my friends,
but she didn’t seem to care one way or the other so I didn’t push it.
Courtney pulled out her phone. “They’re already here and they got a table in the back,” she said without looking up.
“I can take you to your party.” The hostess who’d been standing there spoke for the first time since we’d arrived.
We followed behind the woman, Tanisha and I hanging back some from Courtney as Tanisha told me ol’ boy had been blowing up
her phone from random numbers. He had some real nerve trying to pretend he didn’t know what he’d done and why she’d blocked
him.
When we entered the semi-private room, the chatter of the other three women stopped as they shifted their attention to us.
“About damn time,” Tina said.
“That’s my bad. Was a little indecisive on what to wear.”
“Well, you look cute,” Khadijah chimed in.
I did a few quick poses. “Thank ya, thank ya.”
Attention shifted from me to Tanisha, and it dawned on me that this was the first time that my friends and Courtney’s were
overlapping.
“Y’all, I want you to meet my friend Tanisha. Tanisha and I used to dance together at The Candy Shop. I invited her to hang with us tonight. Hope y’all don’t mind.”
“No, of course, not. The more the merrier,” Tina said. “So, you’re a dancer, huh? Have we seen you?”
Tanisha smiled. “I don’t think so, because if you’ve seen me dance, you’d certainly remember.” She finished with a wink.
Tina grinned and nodded. “A’ight then.”
“Well, Tanisha, that’s Tina.” Tina leaned forward with her hand outstretched. “And that’s Shae and Khadijah.”
They both gave small waves and welcomed her. Much like when Shae brought Khadijah and her sister to the VIP room the night
they met, there were curious glances initially, but the group seemed generally unbothered. My impulsive invitation hadn’t
thrown the night off.
Tanisha smiled at everybody. “Nice to meet you.”
Courtney put her hand on the small on my back and led me over to the side of the booth where Shae and Khadijah sat. Tanisha
took the seat to the right of Tina, who hadn’t stopped grinning.
Tanisha looked around. “I’ve never been to this place, it’s nice. And I’ve never had Korean barbecue.”
“Oh, yeah. We’ve had it before, but this is our first time here. I follow this account called Foodie Tour and they hit up
hot spots around the city. Some well-known, some not, but all tempting. Plus, what’s not to love about Korean barbecue? All
you can eat for one low price. Hell, it’s the best kinda place!” Tina rubbed her hands together, getting more geeked the more
she talked.
We all laughed, knowing her ferocious appetite.
“Hey . . . with an endorsement like that, I can get down,” Tanisha said, smiling at Tina.
“I know that’s right. Let’s get some drinks flowing.” Courtney cut her eyes over at me but said nothing. It was dinner, was she really expecting me to not drink? Besides, she wasn’t, due to the pain meds, so built-in DD.
Tina started snapping her fingers. “Almond Joy.”
“What?” Khadijah asked with a small laugh, looking very confused. The rest of us already knew.
“That is my stage name,” Nish said, filling her in before turning to Tina. “So, I guess you did see me.”
“Given how often we frequented that establishment—” she paused and gave Courtney a brief stare that made me and Shae laugh
“—it would have been impossible not to have seen you dance. You . . . you had that burlesque bit that was . . . well, I remember.”
“I guess you do.”
I snuggled back against Courtney, watching the exchange between Tina and Nish, and noticed that the rest of the table was
just as interested. Before the awkwardness of being the center of attention could be a thing, our waitress arrived to give
us a rundown and take drink orders.
“Hey, Khadijah, how are Jahzara and the baby?” I asked after the waitress left.
A huge grin spread across Khadijah’s face. “They are both doing great. Jah is Jah, already making plans to have me and Shae
on babysitting duty now that the season is over. But it’s my Nolan, so I’m not gonna say no. I have pictures. Want to see?”
“You already know I do.”
Shae laughed as Khadijah quickly whipped out her phone and scrolled through before handing it to me. Courtney rested her arm
along the back of the booth and leaned closer to get a glimpse.
“He’s getting so big already,” I gushed, zooming in on one of the images.
“I know. I know. Look at those cheeks.”
He was an adorable little bundle. “He’s such a juicy baby. I just wanna bury my face in his roly-poly neck and kiss his puffy
little cheeks,” I said as I handed her the phone back.
I loved babies. They were so sweet and precious. When I was younger, I never minded being on babysitting duty for people in
my family or being in charge of the littles during get-togethers. I didn’t do it as much these days since a lot of my family
deemed me irresponsible when I started stripping and that view hadn’t changed.
“I am so ready to get there,” I said after the waitress returned to drop off our drinks and take our first meat selection
orders.
Courtney didn’t say anything, but her body language was enough. She removed her arm and created distance between us. I didn’t
need to look at her to know she was probably frowning at the mention of kids. Another topic that went nowhere. To me, having
a child was the logical next step in our relationship, but Courtney wouldn’t even give me a straight answer on why she was
opposed to the idea.
“That’s news,” Tanisha said. “Since when do you want kids? How did I miss that conversation?”
“I don’t run everythin’ to the group chat. It’s been somethin’ we’ve been discussin’.”
“No, it’s not.”
I snapped my head in my wife’s direction. “What do you mean it’s not?”
She picked up her soda and took a long sip. “Can we just not? Can we not today?”
“Can we not what, Courtney?”
She shifted her attention to the others around the table before looking back at me, drinking more of her soda as she shook
her head. “Nothing.”
I made eye contact with Tanisha and was glad she was actually here to witness how Courtney shut me down because I was sure she thought I was exaggerating at times when I vented.
More and more Courtney acted like she was the only one who got to make decisions about things despite there being two of us
in this marriage. A bubble of frustration swelled inside me, driving me to force the issue because she couldn’t just walk
away this time. But I shot glances at Tina, Shae, and Khadijah, the three of them tense and slightly uncomfortable. This wasn’t
the time. This dinner was for Tina, a good-time send-off, not for Courtney and I to hash out our bullshit.
I picked up my Korean mule, hoping the drink would wash down the anger I was fighting to keep contained. “My bad, y’all. Let’s
get back to seeing how much Tina can put away before she passes out in a meat coma.”
Light laughs scattered around the table just as the waitress returned with our selections and started the cooking process,
which provided a well-timed distraction.