Still Wifey Material (11 page)

I made sure the locksmith wasn’t located too far away, because I didn’t like the feeling of being there all by myself while someone else had the keys. After the locksmith arrives and was switching my locks, I tried to call Fatu, but one of his bartenders told me that he was in the middle of a meeting. I left a message to have him call me when he was free.

It only took the locksmith twenty minutes to change my locks. I paid him, set my alarm, and had him walk me to my car. Before I drove off, I looked back at the shop and wondered to myself,
Who in the hell could’ve robbed me?

I couldn’t help but glance over at Sophie’s shop. All the lights were out, but they weren’t out when I’d first arrived, so it wouldn’t shock me if they had something to do with it, or saw the perpetrators who did it. God only knew. Hopefully we would soon find out for ourselves.

I
didn’t know what the fuck was going on with Bintu. He hadn’t returned any of my calls. The last time I’d spoken to him was the morning after we left his apartment and had brunch, which was two days ago, and I was pissed. I sat at my station twiddling my thumbs while Kira’s stupid ass styled her client’s hair and Rachael washed a perm out of one of her client’s heads. Everybody was acting like they were so fucking busy, but I saw right through that shit. I mean, I looked at Rachael’s silly ass. She was mad as hell that Kira wouldn’t reimburse her for her loss, which I thought was ridiculous of her to ask, but it seemed like she was trying to cope with it. Sadly for her, though, she had nowhere else to go right then, so she was stuck like Chuck and couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

Carmen, however, wasn’t playing. Her man told Kira that she wasn’t coming back, and he meant that shit too. Even though Carmen didn’t have a shop to call her own at that point, I was sure that she and X were working on that. I definitely wished her the best, because she was cool, and I would love to work with her again.

Several hours passed and I was still unable to get in touch with Bintu, so I took a ride over to the nightclub. I didn’t see his car, so I immediately busted a U-turn and headed over to his apartment. I knew he had to be there, so that was where I went, because I needed some answers.

Upon my arrival I did the curbside valet parking and then tried to board the elevator, but the tall, blonde, female concierge stopped me in my tracks. “Excuse me,” the woman said, “are you a new resident I’m not aware of?”

Embarrassed by the way she approached me, I smiled to kind of play it off and then I said, “No, I’m not a resident. But my boyfriend is.”

“And who might that be?”

“His name is Bintu.”

“Does this Bintu have a last name?”

“Yes, it’s Oduka. His apartment is on the—”

“I know what floor he lives on,” she interjected, “but since you’re not a resident, you can’t just go up to his apartment without being announced.”

“I just wanted to see if he was home because I’ve been trying to contact him all day.”

“Oh, so he’s not expecting you?”

“No, he’s not.”

“Well, come with me to the front desk and I’ll see if I can get him on the phone.” She gestured for me to walk ahead of her. I was frustrated and hesitated a bit, because I didn’t want her to give Bintu the heads up that I was downstairs. I honestly wanted the chance to walk up on him and find out why he’d been avoiding me, but I saw that that wasn’t going to happen. I sighed once more and went over to the front desk. The concierge dialed the extension to Bintu’s apartment. I waited patiently while she prepared to announce that I was in the building. To my surprise, when someone answered on the other end, she immediately turned her back to me and started whispering. I couldn’t hear a damn word she was saying and was getting more pissed by the second.

“Well, is he there?” I blurted out.

She ignored my question and hung up the phone. With a cheesy-ass expression, she said, “I was just told that he wasn’t in.”

“Who were you just talking to?” I growled.

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

“What is the big fucking secret? It couldn’t have been nobody but Bintu or his brother Fatu, unless there’s somebody else up there that I don’t know about!”

“Ma’am, I’m afraid you’re going to have to leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me who you were just talking to,” I protested.

“And I told you, I’m not at liberty to say.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” I snapped. “Trying to play fucking mind games with me. I’m not stupid! I know you were talking to Bintu because you would not have turned your back to me and started whispering.”

“Ma’am, I’m only going to tell you to leave one more time.”

“And what’s going to happen if I don’t?”

“I’m going to call security, and if you like, I could get you banned from this building indefinitely.”

I stared at her in shock. “You can’t do that!”

“Yes, I can. Now the best thing you can do right now is take a walk before this thing gets out of hand.”

“Yeah, what the fuck ever!” I stormed off because I really didn’t want to get thrown out of there. She probably could have banned me from coming back, and I didn’t want that to happen. I got my car from the valet attendant and got the hell out of there before I did something I’d probably regret later.

During my drive back to the shop, all I could think about was what the hell was going on with Bintu? I mean, was he trying to play me or what? I just couldn’t believe that the first night we spent together was a one-night stand, especially after all the talk we had about spending more time together so we could get to know each other more. Whatever was going on with him was totally a mystery to me, but I was determined to find out what it was.

N
ikki had probably been gone from the shop for about an hour or so, and it was so peaceful while she was away. When she came stomping back through that front door, it seemed like all the peace we had just evaporated into thin air. She had a chip on her shoulder before she left, and now it seemed like her whole world had just fallen apart. She threw shit around like her mind was going bad, so I had to say something to her.

“Nikki, could you please stop throwing your things around? It’s irritating everyone in the shop.”

“You mean it’s irritating you,” she struck back.

I sighed because I saw where this conversation was going. “Yeah, all right. It’s whatever you say.” I went back to rolling up my client’s hair, but Nikki didn’t want to let it go.

“You think it’s all about you, huh?” she asked.

“What are you talking about now?”

“You know what I’m talking about.” She took a couple steps toward me.

“Nikki, you need to chill out,” I warned her.

She immediately got cocky. “What if I don’t?”

“Come on, now, Nikki! What is it with you and all your drama? It was so quiet while you were gone. And now you’re back and have started up some shit, and you’ve only been here for about sixty seconds.”

“And so what?” she snapped. “Has it ever crossed your mind that I’m tired of a lot of bullshit that goes on around here?”

“You’re the one who’s causing it,” I retorted.

“Well, since I’m the one causing it, then tell me who’s been running their fucking mouth?”

“Running their mouth off to who?” I asked in confusion.

“To Bintu.”

“I don’t understand what you’re asking me. I mean, what does Bintu have to do with all the drama you create around here?”

“Kira, don’t be a fucking bitch! You know what I’m talking about! You know you been running your mouth to Bintu about me, and that’s why he won’t return any of my phone calls.”

I looked at her in confusion. “That’s bull! I haven’t said shit to Bintu. As a matter-of-fact, I only saw him once, and that was at the club after me and Fatu had lunch. When I saw him then, we didn’t have much to say to each other.”

“Do you think I believe that shit you’re telling me? You’re a hater and you’ve been hating on me since the beginning, telling me not to get involved with him because of how possessive African men are, and that they’re very controlling. And now look at you, damn near broke your neck to hop in bed with Fatu.”

“That’s a motherfucking lie! I didn’t break my neck to do shit! That nigga spent close to twenty grand on me before I even kissed him. Can’t say the same about your ten-dollar, drink-getting ass! ’Round here trying to front on me like I’m hating on you! Last time I checked, you didn’t have shit for me to hate on! You live with me and I have way more expensive shit in my closet than you do. Remember, Nikki, I am the one who introduced you to this lifestyle. You didn’t know shit about fucking with cats with a whole ass full of money. So show some respect, please, because you’ll never be able to get to my level. You’re too naïve and stupid! And on a more serious note, I could care less about your relationship with Bintu. I’ve got my own shit to deal with.”

“Oh, bitch, you can sell someone else that bullshit! I know what time it is with your ass! You’ve always been jealous of me since we were kids. You think I don’t remember you telling me how you wished you had supportive parents like mine and you wished that you lived in the house that we had and that you wished you could’ve went to college too? Yeah, you thought I forgot! But I didn’t. So sell somebody else that shit about me wanting to be like you, because as far as I can remember, it’s been the other way around.”

I chuckled. “Nikki, no you didn’t go way back there.”

“Yep, I sure did, because you think you’re hot shit and that everybody wants to be like you. But let me be the first to say that that is not the case. You are not all that! And if Brian was still alive today he’d sure vouch for me and tell you that my pussy was better than yours.”

Shocked by her words, my veins damn near popped out of my head. I could not believe this bitch just came out her mouth and said that motherfucking shit in front of everybody. I mean, now how could I come back on that?

“Don’t stand there looking stupid! Face it, your pussy is whack! Brian knew it and so did your late husband Ricky, and that’s why he fucked every chick in your last shop!”

Hearing Nikki’s words tumble out of her mouth made my blood boil, and I was two seconds from punching her in her fucking mouth. “Look, Nikki, I’ve heard enough. Let’s just drop this conversation right now!” I demanded.

“What, ya ashamed?” She laughed. “Yeah, bitch! The joke’s on your silly ass now!”

Instead of responding to Nikki’s loud outburst, I just stood there in silence. All I could think about was how humiliated she was making me feel in front of everyone. I was screaming inside and hate was building up in me at a rapid pace. The first thing that came to mind was to grab her around her fucking throat and choke the hell out of her. But then I figured that wouldn’t be smart on my part. I had clients watching me, so I had to remain professional at whatever cost.

“Nikki, I said let’s drop it,” I said in a calm tone, trying to let on that she had won the argument.

“I ain’t gon’ drop it until you tell me what’s up! I know you know something.”

I burst into laughter to keep from smacking the hell out of her. “Girl, you are really tripping right now.”

Nikki took two more steps toward me. “I don’t think this shit is funny!”

“Nikki, you better go back over to your station and have a seat before it gets really ugly up in here. I am not feeling too safe with you walking up on me like that, especially while I’m servicing a customer.”

“Do you think I care about your fucking customer?” She took yet another step toward me.

My customer, Kimberlie, a young, dark-skinned girl in her early twenties and a certified hood rat with a little bit of weight on her was caught off guard by Nikki’s remark. She whirled herself around in my service chair and said, “Now, I ain’t trying to be funny, Nikki, but you need to care because if you fuck around and get me caught up in that drama that should between you and Kira, I’m gon’ act like a pure fool up in here.”

“Kimberlie, I’m not scared of your ghetto ass!”

“All right, Nikki, now that’s enough! You are going too damn far!” I yelled. This bitch was really going out of her damn mind and it was affecting my clients, so I felt it was time to shut her down. “Now the reason why that nigga is probably avoiding your silly ass is because I caught his trifling ass fucking the hell out of some chick in the kitchen of the nightclub! I saw it on the security monitor in Fatu’s office that very same day you came up in here bragging about how good he fucked you the night before.”

Nikki’s eyes bugged out and her mouth fell wide open. “You saw him doing what?” she asked.

“I said, I saw his trifling ass fucking some chick in the kitchen part of the nightclub on Fatu’s security camera,” I repeated. “And to make matters worse, the nigga was digging her stinking ass without a damn condom.”

“Oh, now that’s nasty,” Rachael commented from her station.

“It sure was! That’s why I went off on Fatu’s ass and told him to go straighten that shit out,” I lied to make her stupid ass look sillier than she’d already looked. “But here you are, trying to accuse me of throwing salt when all I did was take up for you,” I continued, hoping she’d drop the subject and leave me the fuck alone.

Nikki shook her head. “I don’t believe that.”

“What don’t you believe?”

“I don’t believe you saw him fucking some chick at the club. You’re just talking shit so I won’t fuck with him anymore. But you need to come a little harder than that, sweetheart, because I ain’t gonna feed into that bullshit!”

“You know what, Nikki? I could care less whether you believe me or not. It really doesn’t matter. But I’ll tell you this. If you ever fuck him again, you’d better make him strap up before you fuck around and catch something you ain’t gonna be able to get rid of.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need your advice. Keep that shit for yourself!”

I shook my head and watched her as she grabbed her handbag from the bottom drawer of her station and stormed out the door.