Her Sweetest Revenge (Delphine Publications Presents) (11 page)

“
I know, right?” Charlene cosigned.

“
Well, we about to jet up outta here. We’ve been in here for a while, but I will call you later and we can polish off the details,” Rochelle informed Charlene.

“
Cool, me and Bambi gon’ get outta here too.”

“
Hell, yeah. I’m tired, besides my feet are killin’ me,” Bambi responded with her mouth twisted in a circular position. “It was nice meeting both of you.”

“
Later,” Charlene said as she and Bambi turned to walk away.

Rochelle and I started to follow suit when Bambi turned around.

“
Mya, I knew you looked familiar. I rented you a car about two weeks ago. Hertz. I’m the lady with all the questions.”

“
Yeah, I remember,” I said. Clearly my cover was blown.

“
So you just turnin’ eighteen? I knew you weren’t twenty-four. That ID was fake, huh?” she laughed.

“
Guess so,” I shrugged my shoulders not at all amused by her little comment.

“
Wait a minute. You two know each other?” Charlene finally butted in the conversation.

“
Well, not know each other, but I rented her a car,” Bambi nodded in my direction.

“
Dang, Mya, girl, I didn’t even know you could drive,” Charlene responded.

“
You didn’t know that? She’s been driving for a long time. Her dad used to let us both drive before he went up, but how you gon’ rent a car and not tell me?” Rochelle turned her attention to me.

“
It was only for a day. I had some business I needed to tend to.” I gave her a shut-the-fuck-up look. The last thing I wanted was a big discussion about that rental car.

“
Umm, you renting cars and going on shopping sprees. Both you bitches holding out on me,” Charlene said in an unusual tone that caught Rochelle’s and my attention.

I’m not sure, but I could have sworn it was a hint of jealousy, but maybe I heard it the wrong way because jealousy would not be normal from Charlene.

“
Well, we gon’ get up with you later,” Rochelle responded. “These bags are heavy.”

“
A’ight,” Charlene replied. “I will see you bitches at the celebration.”

“
Again it was nice meeting you too, and if you ever need to rent another car come see me, Mya. No need to bring ID,” Bambi added.

“
I’ll remember that,” I quickly replied.

Rochelle turned and headed toward the exit in a hurried walk. “I still can’t believe you rented a car and didn’t tell me,” she complained.

“
Look, Rochelle, I needed the car for business. There was no joy riding involved,” I replied hoping to end this conversation.

“
You still could have told me. We are best friends, Mya. And since when do we not tell each other everything? Especially when one of us rents a car.”

“
Oh, for crying out loud, Rochelle,” I stopped dead in my tracks, “I rented the car to go pick up the money from my dad’s friend. I didn’t want to ride the bus with that type of package on me. I didn’t tell you because I had so much other shit on my mind. So would you please drop it?” I screamed.

Shocked by my reaction Rochelle looked around to make sure no one was looking in our direction. “OK. I’m sorry. Let’s just go home.” She looked defeated.

Chapter 18

“
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you . . .”

I heard people singing “Happy Birthday” and I thought I was dreaming until I opened my eyes and found Li’l Bo and Monica standing over me. “What is going on?” were the first words out of my mouth as I rubbed sleep from my eyes.

“
It is your birthday, isn’t it, or are we in the wrong apartment?” Monica inquired holding a tray that was filled with breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, and grits.

My stomach immediately started to growl. “Is all that for me?” I asked, my mouth watering.

“
Yes, and it’s all made by me and your dear brother.” Monica handed me the tray when I sat up in the bed.

“
Yeah, and whatever you don’t eat, I will,” Li’l Bo informed me. “Happy birthday, sis.” He bent down and gave me a hug, then Monica followed suit by giving me a huge hug.

“
Thank you soo much. I wasn’t expecting this.” I forked some pancakes into my mouth. “So where did you guys get all this?” I asked curiously with a mouth full of food jammed inside.

“
Me and Li’l Bo went shopping,” Monica proudly answered.

“
Just like you taught us,” Li’l Bo proudly added.

I immediately stopped eating. “Wait a minute. You guys went shoplifting?” I asked.

“
Hell, yeah. You know we didn’t pay for it,” Li’l Bo answered with a serious look plastered on his face.

I paused for a minute with my eyes closed and took a deep breath. “Look, I know both of you meant well, but you cannot be stealing for any reason. I don’t want you getting into trouble for doing something stupid. I know in the past that is how we got by, but not anymore. Now we have money, so whatever we need, we will pay for it.”

“
That sounds cool. But we,” Li’l Bo pointed between himself and Monica, “don’t have any money. You took us shopping, but you never gave us any cash. So
we
broke.”

“
A’ight, I’ll take care of that. I will make sure you have money but no more stealing. Agreed?”

“
Agreed,” Monica replied without hesitation.

“
Li’l Bo?” I nudged his leg with my fist knuckles.

“
A’ight. I won’t shoplift,” he said, sounding annoyed.

“
Cool, now leave so I can eat in peace,” I smiled.

“
Uhh, this is my room, too,” Monica reminded me.

“
Oh, sorry, you can stay. Li’l Bo, get out.”

“
I’ll go but call me if you get full,” he reminded me.

Li’l Bo left the room, and Monica started to straighten the covers on her bed. With all my excitement I still noticed one important person was missing.

“
Monica, where is Mom?” I asked before stuffing my mouth with more pancakes and taking a sausage and dipping it in the maple syrup.

“
She ain’t here; didn’t come home last night. Mya, I just knew she would be here this morning for your birthday.” Monica looked sad.

“
Yeah, at least.” I continued to eat trying to sound unconcerned. “I can’t believe you not freaking out about her not being home. I know you worried.”

“
Not today. My only concern was wishing you a happy birthday. Like you always tell me, I’m sure she’s fine, right?” Monica tried to sound convinced.

“
Right,” I said pissed at the fact she ain’t home to wish me a happy birthday but also determined not to let her mess up my day. So I announced my plan for this morning. “Guess what?” I took a bit of my bacon and smiled. “I’m going to get my hair done after I eat this breakfast. A new look is what I plan to get.”

“
Wow! What look do you have in mind?” she asked with excitement.

“
I haven’t made up my mind yet. But I was thinking that short haircut like Kandi has on
The Real Housewives of Atlanta
but a little shorter. That’s hot!” I got excited thinking about that hairdo on me. “How about you go with me? It’ll be fun.”

Monica gave me a big smile, and I know she was down. Excited about my day, I started to devour all my food fast so we could get an early start to a salon. Although I wasn’t sure which salon I would use, I had one in mind. I have always kept up with all the hair salons in the Detroit area. I keep up with what type of hairstyles they specialize in. I guess this sort of thing comes with the passion I have for doing hair. There was this new salon in the Detroit area called 4EverStylz. Recently I read some good reviews about them in a Detroit local magazine. Maybe I’ll stop by to see if they take walk-ins.

***

Welcome to 4EverStylz,” the redheaded girl behind the receptionist desk greeted us when we entered the hair salon.

The place was elegant and beautiful. When we walked in I was speechless. I lost my voice so Monica spoke up.

“
Hello,” Monica replied and gave me nudge on the arm.

“
Um, um. Hi,” I stammered over my words. Embarrassed at my behavior, I apologized. “Sorry. It’s just this place doesn’t look like a hair salon.” I felt like the receptionist and the women standing behind her were looking at me like I was crazy. So I tried to explain. “It’s just really nice, very unique.”

“
Thanks,” the women behind the receptionist replied with a smile.

“
How can I help you?” the receptionist asked.

“
Well, I was hop . . . I mean, wondering, if you guys take walk-ins.”

“
Actually, we don’t,” the receptionist informed me. “But I can set you up an appointment with one of our stylists.”

“
I kinda figured that. Never mind.” I turned to leave.

“
You know what? I’ll do it,” I heard the voice of the other lady who was standing behind the receptionist speak up.

I turned around slowly to see her step from behind the desk. She extended her hand to me. “Hi, I’m Pepper. I’m the owner here at 4EverStylz. I am also one of the top stylists here, and your name is?” she asked.

“
Mya.” I extended my hand. “And this is my sister, Monica.”

“
Well, it’s nice to meet both of you. Monica, we have a seating area in the back that’s complete with a television and all the snacks and drinks you can eat. Normally, I would offer you wine, but neither of you seem old enough.” She smiled and led the way.

After we dropped Monica off at the waiting area, Pepper led me to the styling area, and that shit was banging so hard it also left me speechless. There was a fully stocked bar area with big-screen TVs before entering single booths where the screens can be seen from all directions. I would love to work at one just like this someday.

“
So how would you like your hair?” Pepper’s question pulled me back from my thoughts.

“
Do you watch the
Real Housewives of Atlanta?
” I asked.

“
Absolutely. In my opinion it’s the hottest black show on television.”

“
So you should be very familiar with that hairstyle Kandi rocks on there. I want my hair cut and styled just like that,” I said, proud of my choice.

Pepper ran her hand through my hair but didn’t respond for a minute. “That’s really short. With this long, shiny hair you could cut it off and sell it. Are you sure you want to cut all your hair off? I can always do a quick weave of the same style,” Pepper tried to suggest.

“
Look, it’s only hair. Besides, I thought about it long and hard. It’s what I want,” I replied matter-of-factly.

“
OK,” was her last response before the scissors made a beeline through my hair, chopping it down row by row like high weeds.

Three hours later I was leaving 4EverStylz looking good. I loved it. My hair was the damn bomb. I couldn’t thank Pepper enough. After paying a hundred and fifty dollars for my hairdo, I left Pepper a fifty-dollar tip. It was well worth it. This hairstyle brought out my look. My high cheekbones and brown almond-shaped eyes complimented this hairstyle. Pepper also gave me her number to call her for my next hair appointment. So everything was all good and tonight was the night. I was going to be a bad bitch.

Chapter 19

While getting ready for the party I was feeling pumped. My hair looked good, and the outfit I had picked was banging. I was ready to hit the club. Rochelle was supposed to be picking me up in Charlene’s car. Charlene had plans earlier with Pig so she told Rochelle just to keep her whip and pick me up for the party. It was cool, but I hadn’t seen Rochelle since the incident at the mall a few days ago. She hadn’t even called about shopping for the shoes. So I didn’t know if she was over it or not, but looking myself over in the mirror I wasn’t worried about that tonight. Tonight was my night. All I wanted to do was have fun and forget about the bullshit.

I heard a knock at the door. Rochelle arrived.