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Brian sent Dior a text message a few hours after they’d run into each other at the store. He asked her to go to the movies with him, but he’d also asked if she would bring Breeze along for his cousin. He was visiting for the summer and had come a few days earlier than planned.
“Brian is a lame and I bet his cousin is too,” Breeze said with her face scrunched up.
“Breeze, just come. We ain’t done nothin’ since school let out and it’s free,” Dior said, trying to convince her friend.
“What if he ugly or stank or somethin’?” Breeze asked.
“I’ll owe you one. Come on Breeze,” Dior whined.
“Ugghh.” Breeze groaned then sighed. “I don’t know why you even like Brian square ass, but I guess I’ll go,” she said, giving in.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Dior said as she wrapped her arms around her friend.
“I’m finna pack my bag and find somethin’ to wear. Call and let me know what time we leavin’,” Breeze said before she hung up.
***
As Breeze took a shower she thought about Primo’s fine ass. She had no idea how Dior could be into a square ass nigga like Brian when there were niggas like Primo in the world. Breeze knew that she could never settle down with a guy like Brian. He was cute, but he was boring as hell. He had an old, used car while Primo only drove the nicest, most luxurious cars.
Brian was probably going to go to college and become an accountant or something boring like that. He’d be home by six o’clock every night and they’d sit at the table talking about that same boring shit over a bland ass meal.
Primo on the other hand already had plenty of money, and although Breeze didn’t know much about him she’d heard a lot of good things. He was in the big leagues and she wanted to be his star player.
Primo ran the streets making money and turning heads. Once she was on his arm Breeze would he going to the hottest night clubs and traveling all over the world. She wouldn’t be tied down living like an old lady. She was going to see the world and wear the best designers, all on someone else’s dime.
Dior could get stuck with Brian if she wanted to, but Breeze was getting a baller like Primo so that she could get away from her mother and live the glamorous life.
Breeze was already stuck with Nya now and she’d be damned if it lasted much longer. Dior seemed to like watching Nya, but Breeze hated it. Once Breeze got a man like Primo to wife her up, she was getting out of her mother’s house and never looking back.
She turned off the shower and climbed out. She continued to think about Primo as she covered her body with lotion. She knew that his hands would feel good on her smooth skin.
She applied her makeup as fast as she could. She knew that her mother would be home soon, bitching as usual. She sighed as she heard the front door open.
“Breeze!” Lauren called out.
“What?” Breeze answered dryly as she rolled her eyes.
“Don’t ‘what’ me,” Lauren said as she headed into the kitchen.
Breeze didn’t feel like arguing, so she didn’t say anything else, she just continued to put on her eye liner.
“Get down here!” Lauren yelled.
Breeze finished her makeup, sighed and went down the stairs to see what her mother wanted.
“Yeah?” she asked as she stood in the doorway of the kitchen with her hand on her hip.
“Where you think you goin’?” Lauren asked as she looked her daughter up and down.
“To the movies.”
“Wit’ who?”
“Dior.”
“Why ya’ll goin’ so late?” Lauren asked, like she didn’t already know the answer.
“Because I wasn’t takin’ Nya wit’ me. What you call me down here for?” Breeze asked impatiently.
“What you feed my baby?” Lauren asked before taking a sip from her glass of Arbor Mist Mango Strawberry Moscato.
“Chicken nuggets and fries.”
“Why you dressed like a slut?”
If she’d lost the baby fat around her stomach and thighs she’d still be dressing the same way, so Breeze knew that she was just jealous.
“Cuz I want to,” Breeze said before she turned to walk way.
“Don’t fuckin’ walk away from me!”
Lauren grabbed Breeze by her sandy brown, shoulder length hair, stopping her in her tracks.
“Let my hair go.”
Breeze didn’t try to pull away because she knew that Lauren would only tighten her grip.
“I wasn’t done talkin’ to yo’ funky ass. Where you get some money from to go out? You suck somebody’s dick?”
Breeze rolled her eyes as she fought back tears. Lauren was still holding onto her hair and she hated it when her mother talked to her like that. It was disrespectful, degrading and unnecessary.
“Let my hair go,” she said again.
“Get out my face wit’ yo’ ugly ass,” Lauren spat as she finally released her hold on her oldest daughter’s hair.
If I’m ugly you ugly, Breeze thought as she went back up to her bedroom. She looked just like her mother and it made her sick. From their caramel colored skin to their round nose and full lips, the mother and daughter were damn near identical. They were even the same height. Five feet three inches tall. Lauren was just older, of course.
Breeze brushed her hair and dried up the tears that had formed in her eyes. She couldn’t wait until the day that she never had to see her mother again.
I hate her, she thought as she walked out onto the porch to wait for her friend.
***
It was cool outside by now so Dior decided to wear some yellow leggings, a white shirt that covered her butt and some white wedge sandals. She took a shower, put on a yellow and pink panty and bra set and some Incredible by Victoria’s Secret lotion and perfume. She’d gotten it as a Christmas gift the year before and only wore it when she was sure that she’d run into Brian.
“Where you goin’?” Donna asked as she stood in Dior’s doorway.
“To the movies wit’ Brian, his cousin Cornelius and Breeze,” Dior replied as she brushed her dark brown, chest length hair.
Unlike Breeze, Dior had a great relationship with her mother. It seemed that the only problem was that they didn’t get to spend enough quality time together. While Breeze couldn’t wait to get away from her mother, Dior loved her mother to death and couldn’t see her life without her.
Donna mostly worked the overnight shift, but her schedule varied from week to week. Tonight she wasn’t scheduled and was going in to help out since someone had called in. She hated working extra hours, but she could always use the extra money.
“Oh, why are you leaving so late?” Donna asked. It was almost eleven o’clock.
“We had to wait for Miss Lauren to get home. She gets home at like ten thirty,” Dior explained.
“Oh, I see. You look nice. Have fun and be safe,” Donna said before she went to finish getting dressed for work.
Dior put on a little bit of eye liner, mascara and lip gloss. She admired her smooth, caramel colored skin in the mirror for a few seconds before she grabbed her white jacket and headed to Breeze’s house, where Brian and his cousin Cornelius would pick them up.
“You look cute,” Breeze said after she’d checked her friend out from head to toe.
“Thank you,” Dior said with a big smile. “You look sexy,” she said with a raised eyebrow.
“You know me.” Breeze shrugged.
She was wearing a short blue jean skirt with pink, sheer leggings, a low-cut pink shirt and some pink gladiator sandals. Her D-cup breasts were spilling out of the shirt and the leggings weren’t hiding her thick thighs.
“Just in case you feelin’ his cousin?” Dior teased.
“Wit’ a name like Cornelius, I know I’m not gon’ be feelin’ him,” Breeze said surely as Brian’s green Pontiac Grand Prix turned the corner.
“Be nice,” Dior warned as the car stopped in front of the duplex.
Cornelius got out of the passenger seat and waited for the girls to approach the car. He didn’t look half bad. He was five feet ten inches tall with a solid, muscular build. He was a little dark for Breeze’s taste, but he was kinda cute.
“Hey. I’m C,” he said with a smile as he extended his hand.
“I’m Dior and this is Breeze,” she said as she shook his hand.
“Hey,” Breeze said quickly before she climbed into the backseat.
“Sit up front,” C said as Dior started to join her friend.
Dior reluctantly climbed into the front seat and C closed the door for her.
“Hey Brian,” Dior said softly.
“What’s up?” he replied.
Dior sat with her hands in her lap as they drove to the theater. It wasn’t far, so the ride wasn’t long. C opened the door for Dior and helped Breeze out of the backseat. He admired her round butt as she walked a few steps ahead of him.
Brian paid for the tickets and C asked if anyone wanted anything from the concession stand. Breeze got a box of Bunch a Crunch, a medium Sprite and a small bag of popcorn. Dior asked if Brian wanted popcorn and ordered a large popcorn for them to share and two medium Pepsi’s. C got an order of nachos and a medium orange pop, then paid for everything.
“Where Jeff and Shawn nem at?” Breeze asked as they headed for the theater that was showing Ted.
“They already in there,” Brian replied.
He gave the tickets to the ticket taker and they headed down the hall.
They found Jeff, Shawn, Tia and Ciara and joined them near the back of the dark theater. They all went to school together, but the girls barely knew one another. They didn’t have anything against one another; they just ran in different circles.
All of the teens laughed as they watched the movie. Dior’s heart stopped every time her hand touched Brian’s as they reached into their bucket of popcorn. She had never spent so much time with him, and she hoped it wouldn’t be the last time.
***
C helped Breeze out of the car and carried her overnight bag up to Dior’s door.
“Thanks for comin’,” Brian said as he grabbed Dior’s arm, stopping her from getting out of the car.
“Thanks for inviting me,” she said as her eyes slowly met his.
“We might go to the beach tomorrow. You think you wanna go?” he asked.
Hell yeah she thought.
“Yeah, but let me run that by Breeze,” she said.
“Aiight. Hit me in the morning and let me know.”
He continued to hold onto her wrist. He wanted to kiss her, but he wasn’t sure how she’d react, so he didn’t.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Dior finally said before she got out, wishing he’d kissed her.
“It was nice to meet you,” C said as he stood outside the car.
“You too,” Dior replied before she hurried up to her porch where Breeze was impatiently waiting.
“You like C?” Dior asked once they were in her bedroom.
“I mean, he okay.” Breeze shrugged. He seemed cool, but he wasn’t her type of nigga.
“Well uh, they goin’ to the beach tomorrow,” Dior said, hoping Breeze would fill in the blank.
“I gotta keep Nya tomorrow.”
“She can come,” Dior said quickly.
“I can’t enjoy myself while watching her,” Breeze said with an attitude.
“I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Dior would do damn near anything to spend some more time with Brian. This was her summer to finally land her man.
“I guess.”
Breeze yawned. She didn’t have anything better to do but sit on her porch and wait for Primo to come through anyway.