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"Si m te gen zèl tankou yon zwazo, m ta vole al keyi zetwal nan syèl..."
Mikaben_Haitian singer
Norabel
"Are you even listening to me?"
Keisha snaps her fingers twice in front of my face bringing me back to reality. I come down to earth abruptly registering the chatter coming from the students sitting all around us inside the cafeteria. I zero in on Keisha chewing on the crusty dough of her pate kòde* across the table.
It's not the first time that I've seen her today but I suddenly notice that she's got a new hairstyle. Her light brown crochet twists are gone replaced by black box braids styled in Bantu knots. Her edges are slick as always. My best friend does not seem happy that I zoned out while she talked to me.
"You're slaying that new hairstyle," I tell her with an apologetic smile hoping to get back in her good grace.
"O,h so you did notice. This morning when you said nothing I wondered if your eyes were broken."
"My bad, it's just..."
"N,o it's alright. I saw that look of pure ecstasy on your face and wondered if you got some exciting news and you were waiting for the right moment to tell me."
What look of pure ecstasy is she talking about?
I try to review quickly the memory of us walking together in the hallways this morning headed toward our respective departments. I don't recall anything in particular that would have caused a change in my expression.
"Are you finally ready to spill the tea?" Keisha ask expectations and wrote all over her face.
My eyebrows knit in confusion. "Spill the tea about what?"
Keisha lets out an exasperated sigh before putting down the now-empty brown paper bag that wrapped around her food. She stares right into my soul with her signature no BS stern gaze.
"You've been daydreaming for half an hour and missed my very important speech about how I told Kadrick that it's not normal for his groupies to send him pictures of their pussies. So spill it. What's going on?"
I look down to my plate the food mostly untouched, before looking back up to Keisha. Might as well tell her everything now, maybe she'll help me decipher those confused thoughts spiraling inside my head.
"I think Ethan and I have become friends," I say. I'm not sure it's the correct way to begin but that's the first thing coming out of my mouth.
Keisha stares. She doesn't say a word.
I realize that my very cunning best friend did not see that one coming and I can't help but smile. She recovers quickly from her stupor and begins her not-so-surprising interrogation.
