Barbies From The A

Part One: The Girls

Karama Fairbanks was a lot of things. Dependent was not one of them.

When her ex cheated, she keyed his car, slashed three tires and did it all without so much as a drop of mascara leaving her face. When she got in a fight with her friends, tracking them down was not something she did. They knew where to find her when they wanted - no, IF they wanted to work it out.

Point is, she was a bad bitch and she didn't chase anything. Except her paper.

Her mother Qu'Von was the same way. Her father, Kivoni, joked that he didn't work out now because he spent so long running after the woman. Karama just always said red bottoms weren't made for running after those that couldn't afford them.

So, looking down at this text from her supposed best friend Teyana Ortiz stating that she needed time away from their close knit friend group because she felt they were toxic, she didn't sweat it. Do you bitch, but we've had your back since day - don't act hurt or surprised when we don't have your back after this. She set her phone down, rolled her eyes and went back into the recording booth.

"You good over there Ms. Fairbanks?" Ronnie, her producer, nodded toward the booth. "Let's run through Fake Friends, I'm feeling it right about now."

+

Teyana Ortiz was always a very small girl. Both in stature and in personality. She was the youngest of their group, always very timid, almost worryingly unaware of the real world. She had spent four years with a man twice her age and it had driven a wedge between her and her family. When he left her for a new fresh teen, she'd become even smaller.

Point being, her friends were her safety wall. Yet, here she was leaving them. She didn't even have a reason why. Karama was right - they'd always had her back. Never coddled her, always told her what she needed to hear rather than what she wanted to hear. I'm sorry, I've decided for me. She sent back, shaking her head.

But they were mean, and all rich and Teyana was just not like them. Her family had wealth of course, it's hard not to when your parents are Celestia and Juarez Ortiz of Un Poco Loco restaurants all over Atlanta. They'd mixed home southern cooking with a Latin twist and had made a fortune. Her friends were never ones to settle with being Princesses though. All were very business driven, all wanted to make their own money. Teyana kinda liked living with Papi's car and Papi's card and in Papi's house that he bought just for his first little princess. They'd never made her feel like less than them, but she knew.

"Mija!" Teyana set her phone down at the call of her father and walked to the front of the restaurant, pulling her hair up as she walked.

"Sí Papi? Que paso?" She leaned over the table where he was counting money and kissed his cheek. "Where are your friends Mija? Normally they're in here begging me for pupusas by this time." She looked away and shook her head.

"I'm going to make new ones Papi. In New York. Los que realmente se preocupan." (Ones that actually care.)

Her father looked appalled. "Go from here now. You upset me. After all those girls have done for you, for this family. When Keylani was arrested, who was there?! The Fairbanks. When Abuela had to deal with ICE, who was there? Ms.Reeves and K'maya. When the Southside restaurant burned to the ground. Who was the first to start helping us rebuild? Royalty. Los tiras como si no fueran nada. ¿Cómo te atreves a decir que no se preocupan por ti?" (You throw them away like they're nothing, how dare you say they don't care about you?") He aggressively threw his hand towards the door. "Fix it." And like the obedient, small girl she was, Teyana ducked her head down and left the restaurant.

+

K'maya Reeves was a bad bitch. The definition of. Her father died when she was 1 and her mom had refused to let that slow her down. She raised K'maya to be independent, and to work for what she had. Of course she was spoiled, but she was not a spoiled brat. A difference a lot of Atlanta royalty had never learned.