Page 32 of Buy Back My Love

“Nothing.”

“Wren.”

“I’m not charging you.”

“Why?”

She looked at me like the answer should’ve been obvious. “Because you gave me my first real chance after school. Half the shit I know about working with clients and running my business came from being at Love-Lee.”

“That don’t mean you work for free.”

“It do today.”

“At least let me tip you.”

“No.”

I reached for my purse again. “Wren.”

She pushed my hand away. “Lee.”

I stared at her for a second, already knowing I wasn’t winning.

She smiled. “You can shout me out when you post your nails.”

“I’m doing that anyway.”

“Good. Then we even.”

“We absolutely not even, but whatever.”

I hugged her before we left.

Once we got back in the car, I held my hands up again and turned them from side to side, still admiring my nails.

Anika glanced over at me. “Mmmhmm. You feeling yourself now.”

“Girl, these nails hard.” I looked down at my toes too. “All I need now is my hair done.”

“We can hit the African braid shop,” Anika said. “They take walk-ins, and it’s Thursday, so they shouldn’t be too busy.”

I looked at her. “What about furniture shopping?”

“That can wait until tomorrow. Your house ain’t going nowhere.”

“Anika, my living room empty as hell.”

“And it’ll still be empty tomorrow.” She started the car. “Come on. We already outside.”

I laughed and shook my head. “If they braid my shit too tight, I’m blaming you.”

“That’s fine. You still gon’ be cute.”

A few hours later, I was starting to question whether being cute was worth all this damn pain.

Kumba had my head hurting so bad I was convinced she was braiding thoughts I hadn’t even had yet. Every time she pulled another section tight, I had to fight the urge to reach up and move her hands myself.

“You okay, baby?” she asked.