"These men aren't shit," Xia mumbled to herself as soon as Rachel walked into the main changing room.
Xia was wearing a red strappy, mesh, spandex bodysuit that greatly accentuated her cleavage and curves. The suit had cut-outs and a racerback design. The rich berry lipstick complimented her melanous complexion, and so did the scarlet-glitter eyeliner look she had going on.
"Oh, hey there, Rachel." Xia smiled at her co-worker.
Rachel was highly empathetic despite her aloof appearance. She knew when something was bothering someone regardless if they tried to hide it.
"What's up?"
"Ryker, the guy I'm seeing. He's acting like a lil' bitch." Xia's mouth sat in a firm line.
"Damn," Rachel noticed Xia had a bonnet over her head, which was rare. "Hold on, what's with the hair tonight?"
"I don't know, Rae. I'm all over the place. My run's in twenty and I'm not feeling motivated to go on at all."
"I hear you, it's normal to have days like that. Let me see what I can do to help." Rachel removed her friend's bonnet and made an assessment.
Xia's hair needed a bit of detangling, but Rachel would be able to make a quick, neat style in the time they had. Rachel took a Tangle Teezer out of her bag and gently began to work through Xia's coils.
"Thank you, Rae."
"It's no problem. Mind getting things off your chest?"
"Not at all. Ryker and I are… complicated. Before I moved here from Massachusetts, Ryker and I went to Harvard together. We shared classes together and became friends, you know. We grew on each other's vibe. I think we both knew we liked each other but just weren't ready. Anyway, after moving to Brooklyn, we still kept in touch. We'd call and FaceTime each other frequently, despite the fact that Ryker was still in Mass and I was here,"
"Right, right," Rachel made a clean part with the tail of a comb, and began to flat twist Xia's hair.
"A few months ago we stopped talking. People get caught up in things. I never thought much of it because Ryker came around to wish me 'happy birthday' . After that we started talking consistently again, and he told me he's coming to New York and wants to see me. So… I was like, alright no harm in that. He got here a couple of days ago and I was like 'I'mma take you out on a really nice date. You deserve something special'," Xia shook her head in disappointment of recalling the memory.
"And of course I was geekin' like I ain't have no damn sense. So I picked places to go and the day we were supposed to hang out, I heard nothing. Finally, at like 6PM, he's hitting me with "What's up?" and in my head I'm like "What's Up"!? All day this man didn't talk to me and that's all he had to say. I didn't answer for like a half hour and he started calling me. Then he proceeded to tell me that he was out bowling with his friend for his birthday. After that, I just hung up." Xia's expression was hot with anger.
"That's a lot, I know that's hard to manage. You were anticipating a good time together and carved out the day for him, and he hit you with that." Rachel sympathized.
Xia sighed, "And my thing is, you made it sound like you were coming to New York to see me. I have no problem with him going out with a friend, but he didn't communicate that to me. Even if he told me plans would have to wait until another day or something I wouldn't be as mad. No sense of urgency whatsoever. Non-committal. I even started picking places which should have been his job since he suggested taking me out."
"It's frustrating. I'm guessing you guys had a special bond you were looking forward to nurturing?"
"Yeah. Maybe he's just different now. I mean, college was so many years ago. He would hate to find out I danced at a club anyway."
Rachel consoled, finishing the second, large twist halfway. She left the lower body of the hair out, and styled it into a voluminous puff.
"Hey, there's no shame in that. You're doing something to keep money going for yourself. Nobody has a say on how you get an income, or how you live for the matter."
"I guess. I don't want to be this, Rachel," Xia lifted her despaired eyes to the mirror, examining herself. "I wanted to be a lawyer, that's what I went to Harvard for. When my mom got sick and lost her battle to brain cancer…"
Xia paused, visibly holding back tears.
"It was too much for dad to pay for on his own. All of the cancer treatments messed up his credit, so he couldn't co-sign a loan. I wanted to get credit cards and take out a loan, but I knew the potential of all of that accumulating into debt with interest. I decided I needed quick money that could get me back in school as soon as possible. I got this going on, and retail on the weekends. I… I'm so sorry for venting." Xia's face cracked like glass, and the tears began to fall.
"Don't ever be sorry for sharing your feelings. They are important, and they serve no place being suppressed inside of you," Rachel gently touched Xia's shoulder.
"I know your mother is so damn proud of you for making ends meet everyday. Going, and pushing, even when you get caught in the whirlwind. You'll make it back to school one day, it will never be too late to accomplish your dreams. On top of that, you'll get a man that is willing to take you seriously. I promise." Rachel reassured, hugging Xia.
"Thanks, Rachel." Xia sniffled and grabbed a napkin to lightly wipe her tears without smearing her makeup.
"Absolutely. And again, don't feel bad for where you are now. I know it's easier said than done, but I'm totally with you on that. I fell off a more conventional career and personal path myself, but we'll get back there. We just need time."
Xia nodded softly in agreement,
Rachel quizzed gently, "Do you need the night off? I'll fill the run for you."
"Nah… I can manage. You go take care of yourself."
Xia, behind the facade of makeup and a sultry outift looked drained.
"You're sure?"
Xia's face brightened into a radiant expression. "Promise. I owe you one. Thanks for the curl therapy."
"It's no problem,"
Rachel smiled, leaving Xia some space before she went on. Rachel venturec to the small room that Cube had cut out for himself.
He needed a break from ass, tits, and pussy flashing everywhere.
Luckily for Rachel, Cube was there, playing Chris Brown music. Rachel never thought of Cube to prefer melodic tunes with a tumultuous undertone, but then again there was so much about Cube that he kept hidden, and that Rachel didn't know.
Rachel greeted her companion.
"G''night." Cube greeted her with a grunt.
Rachel said, "Hey. I heard the guy's out of the hospital. The guy who got assaulted by the crazy person on my first night."
"Good for the bastard."
Rachel caught Cube up to speed with the murder of Cooper. She hadn't been able to talk to Cube in a while, because her nights were getting longer and more draining.
"Sad way for him to go out. He's the same nerd who told me to give you the love letter, right?"
"I'd call it a document of infatuation. But, yeah." Rachel sighed, shaking her head.
She was deep into a mess and she had no idea how she got into it.
"Shit sucks. Wonder who's the pretentious fuckbrain behind allat. No M.O.? Suspects? Leads?"
"Not that I know of so far."
Cube was deeply absorbed into using a surgical hemostat to peel the safety seal from a container of strawberry yogurt. The light was dim and Cube's vision wasn't keen. He was crouching over the yogurt like a vulture.
"Gotta focus," he said with a stern frown.
It was then that Rachel saw the numerous legs of a dead critter on the table.
"I'm guessing you're executing another one of your brilliant ideas?"
Cube irritably paused, gliding a blunt in his mouth. He sucked, then blew a gust of smoke from his nostrils.
"What does it look like to you?"
Rachel replied sharply, "A scam."
With great success, Cube lifted the seal intact from the yogurt container. With the hemostat, he lifted the dead critter by one of its fragile, brown limbs.
Rachel stepped behind a door to swap into her outfit. The mechanism of being an erotic dancer made her equipped to change clothes swiftly.
"Fraud, Cube. Fraud." Rachel repeated with disdain.
"This lil' fucker is my pass out of this rathole," he cautiously inserted the critter into the yogurt, "Activia is worth 2 billion, and the fastest selling in the country as of now. Gotta take advantage."
Rachel crossed her hands across her chest and had a slightly humored smile.
"Don't worry, once I nail it, you'll get a good share." Having triumphantly submerged the critter in the yogurt, Cube enclosed the container with a Ziploc bag— not conscious that his fingerprints closing the seam was evidence.
He carried the package to the fridge, placed it on the first shelf, and put an assertive warning as a label: PROPERTY OF CUBE.
"It's frightening how much of a master of sabotage you are." Rachel commented with a tint of sarcasm.
"Your fans are waiting for you, Mamas." Cube stubbed his thick thumb towards the door to the stage.
Garfield, at his Brooklyn apartment, had J. Cole playing softly in the background, and a blunt rolling between his lips. Garfield had finished a day of processing the area where he found Cooper, and working with another team of detectives to canvas the area for witnesses.
There was no lead yet. Whoever orchestrated this murder did so in a very clean manner. This case was already unfathomable to Garfield; being that he was entangled in it on his vacation. What was even harder, was that even with all that he knew so far; it seemed like he was at a dead end.
Garfield was mindlessly scrolling on his laptop, investigating the mayor — Bill Cypress.
One of his recent campaigns was launching a 6 million multilingual, multi-platform campaign to combat elevated traffic violence in the city. The campaign was designed to diminish dangerous driving behaviors like speeding and running through stop signs, which occurred at high rates over the past two years.
"Slow down," quoted Cypress in the article Garfield was perusing. "Where you are rushing too shouldn't cost an injury or worse to a person. Driving too fast contracts a horrible aftermath which is most times fatal in our communities."
Garfield scrolled through a sequence of photos and noticed that a white man with green eyes was mostly pictured with the Mayor.
Before Garfield could think any further, his phone rang.
"Hey, babe," Garfield greeted Jia.
"Hey, honey," the softness in her voice made Garfield's heart warm.
He smiled, "How are you?"
"I'm okay. Feeling recharged," Her voice was sultry. "I miss you,"
His smile deepended, "I miss you, too, Jia."
"No worries, we're seeing each other soon anyway, right?"
"Soon?" Garfield's eyebrows furrowed.
"It's been a week since we've both been on vacation."
"Oh, fuck," Garfield totally forgot. "Fuck!" He yelled.
"You forgot, didn't you?" Jia pronounced with a bit of annoyance.
"Fuck," Garfield kept cursing as he rapidly began packing his stuff.
The air was thickening with tension, and his heartbeat was weighing heavy in his chest.
"Yeah, I did, Jia, fuck. Missed my fucking flight back," Garfield gritted his teeth, getting more frazzled by the minute.
He had a feeling he messed up just when he might have the chance to smooth over a patch. Garfield asked, dreading the answer a bit, "Where are you right now?"
"I'm in Ohio."
hey yalll. happy update! hope u enjoyed. more coming soon!!!! just stick with me shxjsbdjd. more bbrae is coming i promise, just cruise thru the plot w me pls i beg. loveuuu.