My Bestfriend's Man (17 page)

We stood to the side as this
Zaheeda chick continued to conversate with some tall dude. I scanned over him.
He was cute. Light skin, tall, dreads. A heavy chain holding a cross hung
around his neck. I couldn’t deny he was well put together and his persona
screamed money. He must have felt us watching because he glanced over our way.
He must have liked what he saw because he did a double take.

His eyes lingered on me longer
than they should have. I barely batted an eye as I stared back at him. Now that
I got a full view, that
nigga
was fine. I
only did this because I wanted to make Zaheeda jealous. She saw how he looked
at me, but to my disappointment she didn’t appear fazed. She kept right on
talking like his actions didn’t make her business bad.

Their conversation finally came
to an end. They weren’t talking about much anyway. The stack he dropped on her
didn’t go unnoticed either. He rubbed his chin and licked his lips as he walked
past us. If I turned around there was no doubt in my
mind,
he would be checking me out.

“Who was that?” Savannah asked.

“A friend,” Zaheeda answered as
she stuffed the money he gave her in her pocket.

“Just a friend, huh,” Vee
inquired.

“Yep.”

“So all your friends drop money
on you like that?”

“Certain ones.”

“You know what they call those
type of dudes don’t you?”

“Yeah, sugar daddies, but as long
as he
keeps
my pockets stacked that’s
cool with me.” Savannah shook her head. “What?”

“Did I peep a wedding ring on his
finger?”

“You sure did, but they are going
through a divorce.”

“That’s what they all say Zee.”

I wondered what was up with this
Zee shit. Out of all the years I’ve known Vee she has never given me a pet
name. She’s known this bitch all of five minutes and they all chummy. This shit
was sickening. I could feel myself on the verge of getting sick, literally.

“Chick, I don’t care if he is or
not. Maybe her ass has finally
seen
the
light. You know he had three kids on her within two years of their marriage.”
Vee’s mouth fell open. My neck snapped back at that news. “Yeah.”

“Who is he anyway?” Vee asked
being nosey.

“That’s not important.”

“Well, I don’t see why you need a
sugar daddy anyway. You make decent money. I just don’t get the women of the
world today. Where are all my strong independent women who don’t sell their
bodies for money?”

“Yes, I do make decent money but
why spend mines when I can spend his?” Zaheeda asked. I had to agree with that.

“Whatever,” Savannah said shaking
her head. “Oh, Zee you remember Roxie don’t you?”

“Ummm, not really,” she said
shaking her head with this look on her face like she really didn’t remember me.

This is why I don’t fool with
females. They are so
petty
. She wanted me
to take it there with her. I knew Vee told her I was coming, so I don’t know
why she trying to act brand new like she doesn’t remember me. She had ample
enough time to refresh her memory, but it is what it is.

“Well, I’m Roxie. Nice to meet
you Fajita,” I said extending my hand.

“Zaheeda,” Savannah corrected me.

I shook my head and gave her a
phony laugh. “I’m sorry, Zaheeda. I knew it was a weird name.” She rolled her
eyes
but shook my hand anyway. “Nice to meet
you, again.”

“The same here,” she responded.

“
Okay,
now that we have gotten the pleasantries out of the
way
are you ladies ready to shop?” Savannah asked.

“That’s what I do best,” I said
ready to get the ball rolling.

“Let’s do it,” Zaheeda added.

*
  
*
  
*

I wasn’t feeling this Zaheeda
chick. She never knew when to shut the fuck up and on top of that she literally
followed Vee every fucking where we went. This bitch didn’t have a mind of her
damn own. If Vee had to take a piss, she was right behind her. If Vee went to
browse at the underwear guess who
claimed
they needed a damn thong? This Zaheeda chick.

Vee needs to pick her friends
more carefully. If I didn’t know any
better,
I would think she is obsessed with Vee or something.
No,
I’m not over reacting this is true shit. I’m ready to go
anyway. I couldn’t even begin to bond with this overbearing bitch. I felt like
a third
wheel. The way these two carried on as
if they had been childhood friends made me sick to my damn stomach.

Vee was soaking this bitch up
like a damn sponge. Maybe I am a little jealous, but I think I have every right
to be. Vee is so caught up in this girl she can’t see what this chick is really
up too. She wants to push us apart, but that ain’t happening.

After a couple hours of
shopping,
we all agreed the food court was our
next stop. It didn’t surprise me that Zaheeda had an appetite for whatever Vee
wanted. I shook my head as I ordered my food and found a seat. The mall was
crowded, but surprisingly not too bad for a Saturday.

I looked around waiting for dumb
and dumber to get their food so we could get out of here. As I ate, I spotted momma
Karen, Vee’s mother. I smiled because I haven’t had
a chance
to stop by and see them in a while. Well, at least pop
Gerald anyway. Momma Karen allowed me into her home, but I didn’t bond with her
the way I did with pop Gerald. I guess you can call me a daddy’s girl, just
like Vee.

Grabbing a napkin, I quickly
wiped my hands and stood up just as momma Karen spotted Vee and Zaheeda the
bull. This is one thing I had up on Ms. Zaheeda or so I thought. My
nose
turned up as I watched momma Karen give
both Vee and Zaheeda a hug. I stood stuck in my spot for a minute. I couldn’t
believe it. My jealous streak was at an all-time high and I had to find a way
to get myself together. I took in a few quick much needed breaths as I took a
sip of my iced tea.

Vee pointed in my direction. All
three looked at me and momma Karen waved. I waved back although I felt some
kind of way because she didn’t seem all that excited to see me. We haven’t seen
each other in at least a month. I did all I could to dismiss my feelings as I
walked over to them.

“
Hey,
momma Karen,” I said initiating a hug. I could have sworn I felt some tension
in her body. That made me feel some kind of
way,
but I shrugged it off.

“Hi Roxie,” she said sounding
formal.

It could have been me, but for
some reason I felt my presence made the air around us tense. Everyone got quiet
like I was the reason the chemistry had suddenly become off balanced. We all had
stood
there in silence for a few seconds
before momma Karen decided to make her exit.

“Okay ladies, I’m going to head
on up this road. I know your father is looking for me by now. I was only
supposed to stop in and get one thing,” she said shaking her head as she looked
down at the three shopping bags in her hand.

“Okay mom, love you,” Vee responded
giving her mother a hug.

“Love you too,” she said kissing
Vee on the cheek.

I started to make my move to give
her a hug as well, but she began to make her exit before I could. For some
reason, I looked over at Zaheeda. She had this smirk on her face that I wanted
to remove.

“It was nice seeing you again
Zaheeda,
bye
Roxie,” momma Karen said as
she walked away.

“Bye,” I said although my
feelings were
hurt,
but I tried my
hardest not to show it.

“Okay, I’m starving,” Vee said
rubbing her stomach. “You think our food is ready?” She asked as she looked
over at Zaheeda.

“Yeah, it should be,” Zaheeda
responded.

“Oh, make sure you keep an eye on
our bags,” Savannah said looking over to where I was sitting earlier.

“Aight,” I said as I made my way
back to the table.

My food was probably cold by now.
Besides I forgot to cover it up with a napkin and it’s too many flies floating
around in this place for me. I pushed my tray to the side and waited for Vee
and Zaheeda to join me. I wanted to go home. It felt like everybody was against
me, but I didn’t want Zaheeda to think she had won.

“A penny for your thoughts!” Vee
asked as she sat down.

“Nothing much. Just tired.”

“From what?” She asked looking at
me sideways.

“Life I guess,” I said shrugging
my shoulders.

“So Roxie, what is it that you do
again?” Zaheeda asked me.

“Medical Assistant.” She looked
me up and down checking out the diamonds in my ears, the ice that decorated my
wrist and fingers before shrugging her shoulders.

“Okay,” she said digging into her
Chinese food. It got quiet
again
but not
for long. “So, I’m sure you know all about the Brian situation?”

“Don’t start,” Savannah said
looking at Zaheeda sideways.

“No, I think now is the perfect
time to discuss this. If Roxie agrees maybe you will finally listen and do us
all a favor and leave this Brian character alone.”

It was petty on my part, but to
hear that Zaheeda hadn’t meant Brian yet made me feel warm inside. Maybe Vee
still held me high in some regard.

“Zaheeda,” Vee said giving her a
sideways glance. “I came out to shop and bond with my two friends. Now is not
the time for drama.”

“When will be a better time then?
When you’re already unhappily married with two kids? Then you become another
statistic because as soon as the children are grown you decide you want to get
a divorce. I bet my top dollar Brian’s ass would play dirty.”

“Here we go,” Vee said shaking
her head.

“Well, I have to agree Vee,” I
pitched in even though I had no idea what was going on. From my understanding,
things between Brian and Vee were good. Now I was back in my feelings again
because Zaheeda apparently knew something that I didn’t.

“You would,” Vee answered, taking
a sip of her drink.

“All I’m saying is if you’re not
happy why continue to stay?” Zaheeda asked.

I sat in silent shock. Vee isn’t
happy? She never said anything like that to me. My feelings were hurt. She
practically dissed me to be with a nigga who didn’t make her happy. I couldn’t
believe Vee would play me like that.

“I already told you I feel bad,”
Vee answered.

“You gone feel even worse twenty
years later when you’re horny, old and fat.”

“Whatever,” Vee laughed.

“What?” I asked confused. This
shit was getting on my nerves. I’m supposed to be her best fucking friend and
apparently I was out of the loop about everything.

“Oh, I guess Savannah didn’t tell
you. Well, ole boy can’t fuck.”

“Who, Brian?”

“Bingo.”

“All this time you made it seem
like you were happy,” I said in a low voice.

“I never said that,” Vee
answered.

“Apparently there’s a lot you
haven’t said,” I responded shaking my head. It got quiet between all of us. I
didn’t want things to get weird between us again. My heart was crushed because
it’s obvious she and Zaheeda have formed a bond, but I would deal with that
later. I concluded that in my head a few seconds ago. “I agree with Zaheeda if
you are unhappy then you need to leave him alone,” I said hoping to use this
new found information to my advantage.

Vee sighed and shook her head.
“It’s not that easy guys.”

“You are only making it harder by
prolonging it,” Zaheeda said.

“Brian is a really nice guy and
he’s helped me out a lot.”

“No, he’s just been a distraction
that has now turned into a headache. You probably didn’t think he would fall in
love on your ass, but he did. You better clean this shit up while you can.”

Vee sat back and I could tell she
was in deep thought. I wanted her to leave Brian’s ass, but I couldn’t believe
she was up here taking this bitch’s advice over mine. I told her in the
beginning Brian wasn’t any good, but did she listen to me, no. Then to find out
she’s having personal conversations with this bitch had me heated.

“You’re right Zee,” she said with
a sigh. “I can’t do this to him anymore,” she said sadly shaking her head. “I
care for him, just not the same way he
care
s
for me. It’s not fair to him.”

“Good! Now that we have gotten
that out of the way what are you going to do about Brandon?” Zaheeda asked.

“Brandon,” I said frowning my
face at the mention of his name. “What about him?”

“She needs closure on that
relationship.”

“
No,
she doesn’t. He cheated on her, she left. That’s’ the end of the story.”