Page 17 of Fraudulent Beauty

My eyes bucked at the audacity. “Until we figure something out? No ma’am. We aren’t figuring out anything. Wherever I go, I’m going on my own.”

“But when you needed somewhere to live, I let you waltz your ass in here with no questions asked!”

“You sure did, and I appreciated it so much that when you needed money to save the house, I gave it to you, and you spent it on God knows what! So, yeah, I’m done.” Grabbing the plastic bag, I placed my food and drinks in, I stormed out of my kitchen with my mother hot on my heels.

“This is what I needed! Mother fuckers want to give me their ass to kiss watch this! When I’m back on my feet keep that same energy.”

“I want nothing more than for you to get on your feet, and that’s the honest to God’s truth,” I replied while walking to the door.

In the car, I let my phone connect to the blue tooth then I called Sheniah.

“Hey boo,” she sang, and I was so happy that my friend wasn’t letting Nook’s hoe ass get her down.

“Want to take a guess for the correct answer of the guess who’s homeless trivia?” I asked in a dry tone.

“Homeless? What the hell?”

I ran the story down to Sheniah and by the time I was done talking, she was just as stunned as I was. “I know you better be on your way over here. You’ll never be homeless as long as I have a place to live.”

“I have to figure something out. I’m giving myself three weeks to have my own place.”

“Tahli.”

“Nope. I’ve let myself get too comfortable. Life is expensive, but I’m an adult, and I have to do what I have to do. I’m shooting wig videos every day, and I’m applying to every bank in the area that’s hiring.”

“I’ll never tell you not to get that money, but please know there is no time limit on my invitation for you to stay with me.”

“And I appreciate you for that, but it’s time for me to get my shit together.”

I walked into the restaurant I was meeting Khalif at for lunch. I had just gotten off work, and he was on a break. I’d never seen him in his uniform before, and I had to admit that he looked rather sexy. I’d never seen myself with a cop, but it wasn’t really that bad. At times, I forgot that Khalif was an officer of the law.

“Hey you look nice,” he stood up to hug me.

“Thank you. You’re looking kind of dapper yourself,” I chuckled as we sat down.

“Talk to me. Why didn’t you want to talk last night?”

Khalif had called, and I texted him that I had been through a literal shit show, and I would catch him up later. By the time I ran the story down to him, he was staring at me in disbelief.

“Are you serious? You don’t have any idea what she did with the money?”

“From what I heard, it sounded like she gave the money to Earl. My mother does drink excessively but as far as I know, she doesn’t do drugs. Her losing a house that was paid for is definitely crack head behavior,” I sighed.

“I know we haven’t known each other long, but you are familiar with my bed. If you ever want a night or two away from Sheniah’s when I don’t have my daughter my door is open.”

“Thank you. I applied for three jobs last night. I’m going to go to Sheniah’s and apply for more. I’m not going to stop until I get something full-time. I can take an offer letter into a leasing office. I have some money in my savings, so I’ll feel comfortable moving in before I earn a few checks. Sheniah isn’t rushing me out, but I just want my own place. Living with other people has left a bitter taste in my mouth.”

“I can understand that. I’m sorry you had to go through that. That wasn’t a small amount of money you gave her, and she has nothing to show for it.”

The waitress picked the right time to come take our orders because I was getting mad all over again. By the time she walked off, I was ready to change the subject. “How has work been today? I’m sure there’s never a dull day.”

“You’re right. Within my first two hours at work, I had to get a drunk man out of Dunkin Donuts that was trying to pee in the trash can, and I pulled over an eighty-year-old woman for speeding, and she had enough meth in the car to send my kid to college.”

“What?” I laughed. “Jesus. All with in the first two hours? Wow.”

Lunch with Khalif went by too fast. He had to get back to work, and I needed to apply for more jobs. I also had to do another wig video. I never thought I’d see the day that I was happy about the fact that no one had reached out to me in a few days. I had at least ten videos to film. I didn’t like talking about my private life at work, but I finally had to tell my co-workers what I did because they commented so much about how often I changed my hair. Which was really none of their business, but I didn’t post much on my page aside from wigs, cooking sometimes, and when I traveled. Hair videos had taken over lately. I didn’t have the energy to post any other content.

Khalif gave me a hug and a forehead kiss before we parted ways. When I pulled up at Sheniah’s house, my brow hiked when I observed Nook’s car in the driveway. It was Sheniah’s house and her life. If she was cool with Nook, I didn’t have a damn thing to say about it. I wouldn’t have forgiven him after the shit he pulled at her birthday dinner, but that was me.