I'd Rather Be Single 2 (4 page)

“Then let him be stressed out by himself. A nigga that loves you won’t hurt you
. He won’t hit you or disrespect you like that.”

I reached my hand down to help her get up
, and we sat on her air mattress.

“I don’t know what I would do if I really lost him
, Tyra.” she cried.

“
Are you serious? I’ll tell you what you’re going to do. You are going to get your ass up, look in the mirror, and realize that you are too pretty and gifted to be with a man who treats you like that.”

I never realized how low Dalia’s self-esteem was
, but as a friend, I felt that I needed to help her get past the demons she was fighting.

“I’m not as strong as you
, Tyra. I’ve never been single long, every time I get out of a relationship, I always get into another one quickly. I don’t like being alone, it scares me.”

“Well listen to me
. We are going to get through this together, you hear me? You and I both know all that I’ve been through. We can help each other out. Maybe you moving in here was a blessing in disguise. You gotta love yourself more than you love a nigga.”

“I
know, but you know my mom died when I was young, and my father tried his hardest to raise me, but I was never told often that I was pretty. I always sought validation through men.”

I
looked at her and smiled. “Girl we got more in common than you know. But trust me, all that matters is that you know who you are
now
and what you have to offer. Don’t waste your good years on a man that is not worth it. He knew you had to move in here today, but he didn’t lift a finger to help you. He put his hands on you, and plus he has NO job. You don’t need that nigga!” I was disgusted.

“You’re right
, Tyra.” She sniffed. Her pretty face was all red and puffy.

“When I was younger, I was diagnosed with bi-polar
disorder.” she revealed.

“Uh oh, let me find out I just moved
Rosslyn
into my crib.” I joked.

“No, it’s not funny.
I don’t know what kind of illness Rosslyn was diagnosed with, but when I was young, I was depressed a lot after my mom died. Although I had my dad, I felt alone.”

“Oh wow.
I’m sorry.” I placed my hand over my chest.

Dalia
turned toward me, gazing her teary eyes into mine. “Tyra, at age ten to thirteen, I failed at many attempts to kill myself. I took pills, I cut myself, and even tried to hang myself before.”

My heart ached
for Dalia. Tears fell from her eyes as she was explaining her sickness. My eyes were now filled as well.

“My father got me help
. I went to counseling, and I used to be on tons of medication. I no longer get depressed like I was when I was younger, but as an adult, I think my medication is now men. I’m always in a relationship because it makes me feel better to be with someone.”

I grabbed her hand.
“Well guess what, now you have me. I’m here for you. You don’t need a man like Stax to help you feel loved, because he wasn’t loving you the right way. You will find true love one day. You are way too pretty to stress about anything. You have so much life to look forward to.”

Suddenly
, Dalia’s phone vibrated in her purse. She ran over to it and read the text message.

“It’s from
Stax. He said he’s sorry and that he wants to come back over to apologize in person.” She clutched her cell to her heart and asked, “Should I let him?”

I was confused
, and I’m sure it showed in my face. I really thought our talk had registered, and that she was regaining her strength, but I was a witness to the fact that Stax was indeed her weakness.

“Did you hear anything we just talked about just now? NO!
I mean, I’m not the one to tell a woman what to do with her relationship, but if I were you,I would tell him it’s over and keep it like that! He just spit in your face, are you serious? The nigga is wack and disrespectful!”

“
I know, but it’s hard, Tyra. I love him.”

“
I understand you love him, but what’s love when the nigga is a bum and don’t even add value to your relationship?”

“But I’ve
never loved anyone like I love him.”

“Yo Dalia, he’s wack
, okay? How many ways can I spell that out for you? I don’t even know him, and he showed me everything I needed to see today. He ain’t for you. Not to mention the nigga still has braids, eew!”

Dalia laughed through her tears
. “Shut up, Tyra. He got that hood swag, I still like hood niggas.”

“
Shit, I still like hood niggas too, but he has to be hood with swag and a career, not an Enyce T-shirt and baggy ass jeans that look like he ordered them from an old FUBU website. Girl bye!”

“Haa!
You really got jokes right now, huh?” she wiped her tears from her eyes and then looked serious again. “All jokes aside, I took him for who he was and I thought he would change and become responsible.”

“Love can be blind, but don’t let it make you stupid.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” she said. She sat back on the air mattress and laughed again. “I can’t believe you talked about his Enyce T-shirt and his jeans, though. You are too much, Tyra. I really needed this laugh. I was always alone, dealing with his shit, and every time I go through shit like this with him, I take him back. When it comes to loving a man, I often lose myself because I want it to work so bad. From here on out, I gotta look out for Dalia first. I’ve kept my sickness maintained for years. I’m no longer going to let a man be my medicine. I’m going to let happiness be my medicine. ” She looked around. “I live in this fly ass apartment with my fabulous friend who is also single, let’s live life to the fullest.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about. I already poured myself a glass of wine, I’m about to go pour you one as well
, and we are going to toast to that.”

“Let’s do it.”

I poured Dalia a glass of wine while she went into the bathroom to wash her face from the rest of the spit that bitch ass nigga had put there. We spent the rest of the night talking about what our expectations were in our future men. The girlfriend time was much needed, and it was refreshing. As I looked at Dalia while we were talking, I felt so bad about what she went through when she was younger. She was so beautiful and soft-hearted, but I know the loss of her mother probably had her feelings in a stump as a child. She and I had so much in common, especially the fact that we sought love from the wrong places. I was determined to be there for my friend. Her past was riddled with mistakes, and she deserved so much more. Tonight it seemed like she had finally realized that Stax wasn’t the one for her, and I was convinced that she was serious about moving on.

It was Saturday night, and my boring ass was washing clothes and cleaning up the house. Dalia was in the living room flipping through the channels. I heard her let out sighs of boredom as she tossed the remote on the other couch when she couldn’t find anything to watch. She picked up her phone and surfed the net until she grew bored.

“Tyra, this shit is crazy
. You do this every Saturday. You clean up like the house is filthy, when we don’t even be here to make it dirty during the week. All we do is work. You need a personal life, stop acting like old Mary Maid. Shit, I miss Stax like shit, but I think he finally got the picture and realizes that I ain’t going back to him, because he hasn’t been calling. I’m ready to get back out there. Come on girl, let’s go out. We are both single and we need to have fun. Come on Tyra, you are so damn boring. You need a life.”

I laug
hed from the kitchen. “What’s wrong with being boring? It’s better than drama.”

“Girl
, whatever. Come on, get dressed. I know a spot we can hit up tonight.” she smiled devilishly.

I threw my last load of laundry into the dryer
and thought about it.

“Come on
, Tyra!” Dalia had her hands clenched together like she was begging from the couch.

“Alright,
alright. I do need a drink.”

“Yess!” she
shouted, jumping on the couch.

“You better get your ass off my nice furniture
. You know I do NOT play that.”

She
jumped off the couch, aimed toward her room, and spun around once she reached her door. “Tyra, can I use that pink dress you have with the lace back?”

“Bitch, let me find out you been in my closet.”
I grilled her.

“Hell yeah
. You got so much shit, it’s like Saks in that bitch.”

I
shook my head, then headed into my room and threw the pink dress at her. “Go ahead and wear it. It’ll take me a half hour to get dressed.”

She caught the dress
with one hand and ran into her bathroom to get ready.

I fingered through my closet for something to wear.
My ass and hips had gotten a little wider. My body had gone from looking Kim Kardashian curvy to Venus Williams curvy, so I hoped that I could fit into some of my old clubbing dresses. I found a stretch black clingy dress that addressed every curve I had. It was the perfect single lady dress for the night. My black red bottoms with gold spikes were the perfect addition to my outfit. I took a peek at my hour glass figure and smiled. I was ready to make my debut back into the single world.

I hooked Dalia up with
my long dangly silver earrings and silver bulky bangles. I wore gold studs with a large shiny spike necklace. You couldn’t tell Dalia nothing in my dress. She stayed in the mirror checking herself out. I let her hold my pink and black Gucci clutch and the pink eye shadow over her large oval eyes made her look like a celebrity. Her confidence exploded when she walked in my room like she was on a modeling audition.

“Okay, Miss Diva.” I said
. She struck a dramatic pose in front of me.

“Girl, I’m trying to meet me somebody tonight
. This lonely shit is not for me,” she said.

“
Dalia, don’t go out with your focus on meeting a man, because you’ll be disappointed if you don’t meet anyone. Go out with your mind on getting away, listening to some good music, and turning UP. You know how we do.”

“Yeah whatever,
I’ve done enough turning up with your ass. I wanna turn-up with a new man.” She snapped her fingers and then headed back to the mirror to brush her long curls to one side of her head with her fingers.

“You are a hot mess indeed
, Miss Dalia.” I affixed my right lash on my eye and made sure my long fake ponytail was slick and neat.

“Ok, girl I’m ready.”

We grabbed our clutches and headed out.

Most of the clubs in Boston were
in downtown Boston, so I headed in that direction. “What club did you say was supposed to be poppin’ tonight, Roxy?” I asked.

All night
, she was bragging about this exclusive event that was going on in the city, that she just had to go to.

“Yup, Roxy
. It’s gonna be a fun night.” She flashed a suspicious smile. It seemed like she was up to something, but I turned up the radio and headed to the club.

I pulled my car up to the valet
. I had it like that, since I was no longer struggling with my bills. Plus, there was no way I was going to waste time looking for parking in downtown Boston. Not to mention, the line to the club was streaming around the corner. It was evident that some type of celebrity or athlete was patronizing the club that night.

“Dalia, what
is going on in here tonight?”

The Spanish valet handed
me my ticket and we walked to the club entrance.

“
Excuse me ladies, please let Cleve Devine through.”

The bouncers pushed us aside as Cleve Devine from the Celtics and his entourage made their way into the club. Of course
, they were eyeing Dalia and I from head to toe. Cleve told the bouncers not to make us wait in line, and that we could come in with them. We waited until the last person from their entourage walked in, and they allowed us to walk in behind them.