Page 28 of Her Defiant Warrior

Bonnie was on a three-way FaceTime call with Bradley and Shannon as she pulled clothes out of her closet.

“When I asked him what the dress code was, he said that he’d be wearing slacks, and I should take it from there. Whatever the fuck that means. Dammit, people, he’s already seen me in the only good dress I own,” she whined.

“Bullshit. Don’t tell me you wear the same thing over and over again to Malik and Farah’s barbecues.” Bradley scolded her.

“I don’t. Normally, I wear shorts and tank tops. But Farah insisted I dress up.”

Bonnie pulled another dress out of her wardrobe.

“Shit. This won’t work.”

“Let me see,” Shannon demanded.

Bonnie turned the phone around. “Oh, right, you wore that to Mrs. Anders’ funeral. That’s a no go. Do you have a skirt?”

“You know I do. Management asks us to wear a skirt whenever we have some fancy stylist come in to teach us stuff that we already know.”

“And you wore a hoochie skirt that one time. I remember now.” Shannon had the gall to giggle.

“It wasn’t my fault. I forgot to wear one, and Iris gave me one of hers that she had in the back. Then she insisted I keep it. I think she thought I had cooties.”

“Bonnie can’t wear a hoochie skirt on her first date,” Bradley interjected.

“It’s not really a hoochie skirt. It almost hits her knees. It’s just the way it hugs her ass. Do you do squats or something?” Shannon asked.

“I’m constantly cleaning up things around the house. Trust me, that’s a workout.”

“Try it on,” Bradley demanded. “Put one of your tank tops on with it,” he ordered. Then he paused. “I know, the bright blue one, and tuck it in.”

“Then I’ll be nothing but boobs and ass,” Bonnie complained.

“Just do what I say. Uncle Bradley has an idea,” Bradley countered.

“I’ll trust you… just this once.”

Bonnie shimmied into the skirt, then found the tank top in her dresser and pulled it on, tucking it in, just as Bradley had commanded.

“Done!”

“Turn the phone around so we can get a good look.”

Bonnie turned it.

“No, no, no. Stand in front of the full-length mirror, then point it there,” Bradley sighed in annoyance.

I’m the one who should be annoyed.

“See, I told you, nothing but ass and boobs.” Bonnie turned from side to side.

“Now what about that frothy light blue blouse that you bought when we were at the farmer’s market because you felt sorry for that girl who hadn’t made a sale all day?”

“What in the hell am I going to do with that?” Bonnie was running out of time. Jase was going to be there soon.

“Just trust me,” Bradley insisted again.

It took more than a minute to find the blouse that he’d been talking about. It was beautiful, but who in the hell was ever going to wear a see-through blouse? What’s more, it would never button over her boobs.

“I’ve got it. I’m putting it on before you bitch at me.”