Tell It To The Moon (BWWM) [ON HOLD]

Chapter Six

I looked at the leather brown skirt Tara brought over for our night at the movies. My grandma looked at it too and I knew she was thinking the same thing I was thinking. "Isn't it a little... too... short?"

Tara broke into laughter as my grandma tried to catch the roller that almost fell out of her hair. "Sorry, Mrs. Walson, but those are my best bottoms for this night. I can never be myself if I wore anything other than those."

"These days if you dress like that you might come home with something illegal in your system." We laughed at my grandmas way of telling us to be careful. "You guys think I'm joking but I'm serious. I've seen people walking down in those parts of Tulsa in bad shape."

"I believe you, Mrs. Walson. My mom had to look after a woman who bought caffeine pills off a man on the corner. She said the woman was moving around the hospital like Speedy Gonzalez." My grandma nodded although I doubt she's ever seen someone moving that quick but who am I to say. "But with Yvette there, I doubt we'll do anything besides go to the movie. She's always got to be Miss Responsible."

My grandma looked over her glasses at me as if she disagreed and I know that after what happened a couple of days ago, I lost the title of being responsible. We haven't talked about me up and leaving to see Philip and I was too scared to mention how he reacted. I know she would tell me something like how I should have waited and went with her but I didn't want to hear that.

"All done!" I watched as my grandma pulled out the right curls to make a nice long and curly Afro on Tara's head.

She rushed to the mirror to fluff up her hair and cheese widely at herself. "This is giving me the same love of being Janet Jackson's relative." I rolled my eyes as she grabbed her skirt off the couch and ran to the bathroom to change her bottoms. "Thank you Mrs. Walson! Couldn't have asked for it to be any better."

Just then, the sound of a dying car horn was heard from the cracked open window and we all knew it was Benjamin outside waiting for us. I fixed my oversized sweatshirt as I gave my grandma a hug and kiss to leave. Tara came out the restroom with ripped stockings and her skirt which didn't look as small as we all thought it did.

"Not bad, Tara," my grandma smiled. "You girls be safe and make sure you stay with Frankie and Benjamin."

"Oh please," Tara groaned. "Benjamin is just as helpful as a calculator on a vocabulary quiz."

The two of us laughed as we made our way out of the house and met up with the boys who were standing around on the sidewalk. Frankie draped an arm around my shoulder as he lead me to the backseat of the car and Tara dodged Benjamin's attempt at a hug.

Benjamin got in the car and cranked the music up as loud as it could go which would most likely cause the speakers to explode in the long run. "We better get a head start now or we'll miss the entire movie." Frankie informed while pulling me closer to his chest.

Oklahoma City was almost two hours from where I lived. We went there for movie nights and friend nights in general because the crowd was more fun and if we were to get one night a month to stay out all night, why waste it in Tulsa?

"Benjamin! Keep your greasy hands on your side of the damn car! You make me so sick!"

Frankie snatched his drink from the front and passed it to me so I could have the first sip. "This soda is good and all but why do you two always order from the same place? Don't their fries smell like horse fat?"

Tara looked back and me and pretended to gag. "Men don't have good taste in food. Especially white men." Benjamin rolled his eyes as he stuffed his face with fries. "Yeah , you heard me right!" She hollered.

"What?!" Of course Frankie took offense. "You guys said my dad's cooking was better than Auntie May's could ever be."

I immediately cringed at the lie Tara and I made up months ago. "Baby, we weren't talking about your dad. We were talking about Joe's Burger Joint. It's not the same."

"Tara said white men. Why would she be excluding my dad?"

I looked at Tara for some support and as good as a liar as she was, I knew she had it covered. "Your dad grew up around black folk. His cooking is a reflection of him trying to... how do you say it?"

"Fit in?" Benjamin finished.

"Correct! Fit in!" Tara gave Benjamin a high five which made him swerve the car a bit. "A guy who gets it."

I massaged Frankie's leg as he frowned now that the truth was out. I couldn't verbally agree with Tara or I would be the next victim of his puppy eyes. I just had to be there for moral support and hopefully not get questioned.

We cuddled together in the back seat while sharing a box of horse fat fries. These could make you gain a pound in a day if not monitored during consumption. Frankie obviously never cared about that since he could eat a house and still be the size of a malnutrition child.

The sign notifying us that we entered Oklahoma City flew by my eyes and Benjamin started screaming for no reason. Maybe he did have a reason but it wasn't strong enough to cause him to be this loud.

"We're here!" He pulled a left into a motel right inside the city limits. "This is the cheapest I could remember from last time I came here. Plus there is breakfast in the morning." We all grabbed our backpacks while following him to the check in desk. "Are there any two bed rooms left?"

"Preferably one with a pull out couch?" Tara added.

The front desk woman looked at our small group with a face full of burden. Either she's been working all day and night or she truly hated her job. Maybe a mix of both. "We're crowded at the moment. We have two twin beds available and one king bed." She looked at Tara and said, "no more pull out couches."

"What will twenty dollars get us for a night?" Benjamin put his money on the counter.

"The king and a complementary water bottle." She forced a smile on her dull face.

Benjamin looked back at all of us as we stood completely confused and unsatisfied. "We'll take it!"

Tara didn't even wait until we got to the room to start bickering. "You're such a cheapskate. How the hell do you expect us all to be comfortable in this environment?"

"I didn't see you running to pitch in five extra dollars for the twin room!"

Frankie and I stood idle as they got all their drama out now so we wouldn't have to hear it at the movie festival. He even left a soft kiss on my head when I frowned. "We should pour water on them like they do cats fighting in the streets."

"Frank here with all the ideas," I giggled.

"Next time we're not going to the next rat hotel on the corner of nowhere. I'll pick the place."

"Fine!" Benjamin threw his hands in the air.

"You two done?" Frankie asked while holding me tighter in his arms. "My sweetness and I are ready to go." Tara drew a heart in the air before grabbing her purse then sending an eye roll to Benjamin's direction.

"Never happy," he mouthed.