"Is it at his house?" Charlie asked me. I was bent over the counter in my bathroom, swooping my edges and fluffing my hair in the mirror. As I predicted, Charlie was ecstatic when I told her Nas invited us to his press party, and we were now at my apartment getting ready.
"I don't know, I didn't ask."
"Well what's the vibe? What we supposed to wear?"
"I don't know, Char. I didn't ask."
"Damn, did you ask anything?" she said in frustration as she stood before the outfit options she laid on my bed.
"I asked him for the address," I shrugged. My hair looked as good as it was going to get, so I moved on to makeup. Having natural hair in Arizona heat was pointless--as soon I step outside, it's puffs up.
Charlie walked into the bathroom to snatch my phone from the counter, I'm assuming to look up the address of the party.
"Yeah, this definitely is a house. A big ass one at that."
"How far is it?" I asked.
"In Casa Grande, so 'bout 30-40 minutes. But anyway, I think the vibes is casual since it's at a house, but at the same time he's a boxer so it might be cameras there. You see my dilemma?"
"Hasn't your mom held a lot of press parties before?"
"I mean, yeah, but that was when she was running for magistrate so the dress code was super black tie formal. You know how all them professionals be dressing."
"You look good in whatever you wear, bestie," I reassured her.
"I know. It's a blessing and a curse."
I laughed in the mirror at her ego-inflated head, perfectly painting my eyelashes with mascara and giving my hair one last spritz of water.
"We already running late, so pick something," I said, rubbing my legs with baby oil. I walked in my closet and put my outfit on, opting for a plain black romper with gold accessories. "And I haven't charged my car so you're driving."
Nas told me his party started at 7pm and it was 7pm now, but we had a ways to drive. We jumped in the car and headed off.
One thing I liked the most about Arizona that was different from Minnesota was the scenery. I rolled down the window and let the wind from the highway hit my face, as I looked on at the mountains in the distance.
"How was the meeting with my moms?" she asked, turning down the music.
"Ugh, don't even get me started. It's a lot more to it than I thought."
"Yeah, she told me she decided to represent you, but I wanted to hear from you. Imma be there for you the whole time," she said looking over at me.
"You didn't have a choice. I would probably break down in that courtroom if you weren't there."
"I got you, twin."
"I will say, though, I was surprised Ayanna was there at your mom's office. I mean, not surprised she was there but it caught me off guard."
"I know," she huffed, "But she said she wasn't taking her name off my lease until she found another place to stay, and she can't move without a job."
"No, I get it. But was everything okay, yesterday?" I asked, changing the subject.
"What you mean?"
"I sent you a picture of me and Nas' messages but you didn't reply. Your neglect probably made me sound stupid texting him," I teased her.
