PARADOX

PDX34

"How'd you get into photography?" Amina questioned, curious to know. In Amina's opinion, she couldn't see him doing anything outside of the arts. His aura exuded ingenuity. "You know what's funny? All up until a year ago I was running my family's business, and was in line to own it in a couple years." Ro spoke, Amina raised her eyebrow in surprise.

"What's the business?" She questioned as she lightly shook the remnants of her drink to move the ice around, hoping to at least get one more full sip of the agua fresca. "Hair extension enterprise." Ro answered, truthfully shocking Amina.

"I bought a lil ass digital camera off eBay and carried it around with me for a year straight, just dry getting footage of random shit, and the outcome was so raw—I started shooting for my friends and the rest was history." He added, Amina nodded her head as she listened.

"It's so crazy how your passion will always find you." Amina spoke while closing the to go container her food came in. "You still wanna run the family business?" She questioned, Ro shook his head no.

"My folks actually took it well when I told them I didn't want to anymore—they always understood that their kids aren't their shadows and we have our own lives." Ro spoke. "How did extensions become the family business?" Amina asked, still stuck on when he announced that.

"That's how my folks met actually—my mama wanted to start a hair business, and this was when the only way to contact Indian suppliers was to go to the factories in Chennai. My dad just so happened to be the supplier she was meeting." Ro elucidated.

"Oh wow." Amina chuckled, "That's actually really cute—I know she was fuckin the competition up with them low prices" She added, causing Ro to chuckle as well. She grabbed her phone to get a quick glimpse at the time. 1:50 pm. She had a sew in and wig install left on her schedule before she could conclude her work day.

"Your mama a hairstylist?" Amina questioned, Ro shook his head no. "She a hustler—my mama always try her hand in everything that'll bring in revenue." He explained. Amina stood up and let out a good stretch before gathering her trash into the bag that the food came in.

"I got it—I'm heading that way, anyway." Ro announced, "I forgot your suite was by the trash shoot—I honestly think that's why nobody stays after their lease is up." Amina laughed, Ro kissed his teeth as he shook his head and let out a small chuckle.

"It ain't that bad—my suite rent cheap as hell cause of that, I'm good." Ro replied. Amina walked over to the door and opened it to eliminate the pungent food odor. The two said their goodbyes before before Ro's departure from Amina's suite.

January 18th 2023
Dallas, Texas
9:45 pm

Rashad swung the door to his Cadillac closed before, grabbing the key out of his pocket to lock the doors. Although they locked manually, he still felt like you couldn't be too sure. His intuition abruptly urged him to look up, he narrowed his eyes at the white van slowly rolling by. Shit, Rashad thought to himself. White vans only meant one thing in his world, he was being watched, even with him moving clean and strategically. Rashad wasn't stressed or upset about it—he took it as a sign to change shit up, and his first order of business was talking to all the boys that ran for him.

Rashad walked in the club to see the staff getting things ready for tonight. The stage was bare since there wouldn't be any live music tonight, only spoken word. Rashad found himself behind the bar fixing his signature drink. He grabbed a mini can of coke, a glass cup, and a couple slices of fresh lime.

"It's gon' be packed as hell tonight—somebody made a TikTok about Blue's." Samir announced as he took a seat at the bar. This was news to Rashad, he had an account for Blue's but rarely posted on it. He appreciated people liking the club enough to spread the word though.