“Ahkeem, it’s not funny. He’s in kindergarten.”
“That ain’t stopping nothing. Ain’t that right, Blue?”
“Nope.” Blue chuckled, looking exactly like Ahkeem in that moment.
“We’re gonna have a conversation about this when I get home. You down at that school being fast instead of learning your shapes and colors.”
“I already know my shapes and colors, Jazzy,” he reminded me in a matter-of-fact tone.
Ahkeem smiled proudly before dropping a kiss on the top of Blue’s head. “You a playa and smart. That come from yo daddy side. You get that big ole head from yo mama side.”
No matter what, he always had to throw a jab in about Brooke. I laughed while swatting his arm. We rode the elevator down together, and both my boys walked me to my car and made sure I got in safely. Cyro was going to meet me later in the morning. I didn’t want him waking up too early ‘cause then he would walk around with the stankest face.
I scooped up Taylor from her apartment that Cinco got her since she could never really let go of the city. It was a few blocks down from mine. She came skipping to the car wearing the exact same Alo set I had on, but hers was gray. When we noticed, we both busted out laughing.
“Hoe, get out of my head!”
“You get out of mine!” I replied. There had been multiple times where we unintentionally matched. It was nice to know that even though she was miles away down south, we still had our bestie powers.
We rode with the sunroof pulled back, music blasting, enjoying each other just like old times. Taylor was my girl! We came from nothing together. She was two years older than me, and everyone always tried to play her out when she took me under her wing while I was in sixth grade and she was in eighth. Becoming friends with her was one of the best things I did.
Sylvia wasn’t much of a mother, so it was Taylor who helped me with most of the things I needed to know as a female. She taught me how to use a tampon for the first time, and she taught me how to make do with what I had, even if I didn’t have a lot. I always credited her for my fashion sense because when Priest barely had money to buy me school clothes, she came over to my house, and we mixed and matched clothes I already had and turned them into new looks.
My girl made some bad decisions while coming up, but no one could ever convince me to turn my back on her. She was my sister!
Our first stop was my tailor since I had to check on the alterations to my dress for the all-white party. While I stood on the platform with the seamstress making final adjustments, I gave Taylor the rundown of what happened with Brooke.
“I’m so proud of you ‘cause old Jazzy would’ve popped her as soon as she said the comment about Blue not being your kid. You love that little boy and never did anything weird to him. She honestly should be grateful because there are so many weird-ass stepmoms out there.” Taylor rolled her eyes since she had a weird-ass stepmom.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Exactly, but a little part of me knows she’s right. I’m not his mom, so I can’t be as vocal as I would want to. I try my best to not overstep, but both she and Ahk were acting childish as fuck.”
“If I could just get up with her one good time, she wouldn’t give y’all no more problems.” She threw her fist up.
I laughed while shaking my head. “As much as I would love you to, I can’t.”
My alterations were perfect, so we left the tailor and headed straight to the club. By the time we arrived, Cyro was already there waiting on me.
The white party was the biggest event of the year, so I made sure to always hire the best party planners. It was a big opportunity for the promoters in the city to make some money, so I had flyers all over the city, radio shows making big shout outs, and it was all over social media.
This year, I elevated it to new heights and freed up some space at the back of the building outside so the party could be even bigger.
There were so many moving parts when it came to keeping the nightlife industry under my thumb, but I loved it so much. The club was something I had to do when I was in a bind, but now it was my passion.
I had my dancers come in today so they could be fitted for the outfits I wanted them to wear. Although I wasn’t touching my sewing machine as much as I used to, I still liked making custom pieces for my girls when it came to the white party. It ensured that everybody was in uniform and that they all had an even playing field to make a bag.
“Where the hell is Icey?” I looked around the dressing room, but didn’t find her.
Most of the girls shrugged. They had a call time of twelve, and everyone was on time except her.
“She told me she’s on her way.” Passion held her phone up, indicating that she had gotten a text from her.
“Tell her ass next time she bothers to be late, she might as well not come.”
“You know how Icey is. She always got something going on.”
It was true. She had only been dancing at Reign for a year, and I’d seen so much crazy shit happen to her. From her car getting put on four flats by hating-ass bitches to her coming in with black eyes from her baby daddy. I never pried, but I let her know if she needed anything, all she had to do was ask. She was only 21, and I remembered being her age, not knowing ifI was coming or going. She was gonna figure it out eventually, and when she did, I was gonna back her 100 percent. In the meantime, I was gonna get on her ass about playing with my time.
I got all the girls fitted in the white two pieces, and they all loved them. “Jaz, you need to go back to making our outfits. These pleaser stores sell everyone the same ole shit,” Lolly said as she gawked at herself in the mirror.
