Black is the Color of Beauty

Chapter 4

NiNi's POV

December 21, 2018

Shaker Heights ( A suburb of Cleveland), OH

Her apartment

   As much as I love Ty, I wish that she did not speak her mind all of the time. The last.... fudging... yes, I said fudging, thing I want to think about is Bo or Tyrell at the moment. Why? Because one of them irks my soul and the other. Ding Ding Ding, irks my freaking soul too just in a different way. Without even processing what is going on I make my way over to the kitchen, I need to eat something before my I go crazy. Yeah, I need to occupy my hands and mouth whenever I am in a stressful predictament. But first, let me message Jeremy on Instagram. Moments like these makes me wish I would have kept in contact with certain people from undergrad. Jeremy, from my person experiences and knowledge, is a very sweet and down to Earth guy. He was extremely protective over his black sistas on campus and always down to talk if someone needed to vent. I go right to the DM icon on the top right corner on my Instagram account and type in his name. I click on his name and it opened up a fresh,clean message thread. Damn, what should I say. I need to keep the message transparent, without divulging too much information, enough information to put Jeremy on guard but not enough to invade Ty's privacy or to set Jeremy off.Like I said before, Jeremy is protective of us black sistas. After about five minutes of thinking, I settle on this as a message, " Jeremy, I hope all is well with you. I am so very proud of you opening up a dance studio especially in NYC. I know that was always a dream of yours. I spoke to Ty earlier today and she mentioned that you are friends with a guy named Lei. I am just going to come out with it. Lei has hurt Ty. That is all I am going to say. Please, be careful and watch out for Ty. Sending much love your way." I click send and exit out of the DM chat.

  I walk over to the fridge and open it up. Hmmmm, what should I eat. My fridge a beautiful, tasteful mess filled with an array of healthy and devilishly good food items. These items included fresh veggies especially my favorite baby cut carrots, yogurts, pasta dishes, a crapful ton bottles of water, a pot of spaghetti, a few Pepsi unopened cans, etc. Ya see what I mean, some healthy and some devilishly good. My motto is 60% good and 40% bad, I make sure to eat more good than bad, but enough bad to keep me sane. Before I reach for anything, a bottle of green tea ginger ale catches my eye. One of Ty's favorite sodas. She has been pressuring me to drink light colored sodas and recommend this one since green tea is filled with antioxidants. Seeing this bottle of green tea ginger ale makes me think of my baby Ty, which triggers me to think of the conversation we had earlier. The conversation that was consumed by men, revolved around men, men, men, MEN. Like freak, I am tired of thinking about those ain't ish eff boys. Now that I think about it, I need something shit to take the edge off from me thinking about Bo and Tyrell. I grab a brown box out of the fridge, close the door and grab a knife. Time to dig in!!!

  As I open up the box, my eyes are greeted with the sight of burnt orange goodness surrounded by a pie crust. Sweet potato pie, my favorite. My mother made me my own pie, 1. because its that time of year again and 2. I was promoted to a supervisory promotion last week at my job. She dropped it off yesterday and I have been waiting to enjoy my first piece of this mouthwatering piece. I hum as I take my first bite out of it. Nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla flavors burst onto my tastebuds. Who needs men when you have food? Tyrell is cool, but he is kinda a bore and entitled which irritates me. And do not get me started on Bo, he might be good looking and all. He is still an eff boy and friends with a predator. The more I think about Bo, my chewing pattern slows down. The taste of the pie goes from a sweet piece of heaven, to making me feel a bit sick. Something must be off with the pie and that is why I do not want it. I walk over to the trashcan, open it up and toss it in. There, hopefully the next one taste better. But, a small voice in my head scolds me by saying there was nothing wrong with that piece. Before I have a chance to address the thought, I hear a knocking at the door. I walk over to it. " Good evening ma'am, I have a delivery for a NiNi Thomas." a guy dress in a navy jumpsuit say in a robot like voice. Damn, he must be tired from doing deliveries. " That is me". " If you could sign here, here and here." he points are three different positions on a tablet screen. I hurry up to sign it, so I can get back into the house. I am ready to relax and watch my KDramas. After I sign my John Hancock for the third time on the screen, the delivery pass to me a white box with a pretty purple bow on the top. 

  " A cake?" I stare at it confusingly. I reread the note attach to the box one more time. It only has one word on it which is "Congrats". Who the freak sent me this cake? But, the big girl in me is like, eat the cake since you did not have pie. I cut a small piece from the cake. The cake is two layers, at the center of it has a leaf sticking out of, decorated with purple sprinkles at the and covered with creamy off white icing. The cake looks delicious as everything, except for the leaf. Inside of the cake its a bright purple. Hmmm, between the purple bow, purple cake mix and purple sprinkles this cake has to be sent to me from someone who knows my favorite color. My mind immediately goes to Tyrell, I told him that my favorite color is purple and about my promotion. On our date, Tyrell gave me a purple tulip and said he will do his best to incorporate as much as possible. I relax at the thought of knowing who sent this cake to me. Before I take a bite, I sniff the slice. Hmmm, does not smell weird at all. Yeah, I know its weird to sniff food but it is out of a habit. My nose is so sensitive I can pick up on different smells such as common poisons put into foods. A moan escapes my mouth as I chew on a piece of the cake, it taste so familiar like I have memories attached to it yet different. Then, everything goes in slow motion for a second. I can not move at all, almost as if I am in a state of paralysis. I take in my surroundings, nothing triggers this moment. Why am I having a deja vu moment? I have not dream about this moment at all, yet it is something that my tastebuds and nose is acquainted with. I feel a tug in the pits of my stomach, and this only happens when I have a premonition about something is bound to happen. So, what or who is it that have subconsciously made my body at ease but my mind on edge?