PARADOX

PDX35

Amina cackled, "A bob and a pants suit—they gon' know you mean business." She spoke, Chalyn nodded her head in agreement.

"And a brief case, I don't know if it can get any more serious than that." Chalyn spoke, causing them both to laugh. "Now that we going to Blue's tonight, I might have to skip the sauna, I just did my hair." Amina spoke as she subtly stroked her bundles. She was now sporting a fringe bang along with 26 inches of sleek virgin hair, of course she snuck a few blonde highlights in.

"You two seem like so much fun." Chalyn's pedicure tech chimed in. She was an older lady, Amina assumed she was in her late 40s. A cute little Hispanic woman with a warm inviting smile. Chalyn and Amina looked at each other with smiles on their faces, "Can you believe she ain't wanna be my friend at first?" Chalyn spoke, Amina chuckled.

"Girl—that's not what happened." Amina playfully waved her friend off. "Maybe next time Cha." Chalyn parodied Amina, causing her to laugh.

"Did I tell you I hired somebody to pump my gas?" Chalyn spoke as she reached for her drink, Amina lightly chuckled. Chalyn was the epitome of high maintenance, anything that she could hire somebody for—she was doing just that. "Really?" Amina questioned, Chalyn nodded her head yes.

"Absolutely." Chalyn replied, "I refuse to do shit like that, all that strong black woman shit is for the birds, especially when you're dark skin. People try anything to make you seem masculine, I'm a princess and my only concern is running my cute little cupcake shop." She went on. Amina nodded her head in agreement, being dark skin herself meant she felt Chalyn's sentiments personally. Colorism was sadly a part of their everyday lives.

"And what about security?" Amina questioned. Her friend's safety was on her mind more and more these days. Although the experience was scary, she grew anxious thinking about what Dell would've done to Chalyn if he got to the other side of the door and Amina wasn't there. "I had somebody hired—but I'm honestly gonna get me a gun, a cute lil pink something that can fit in all of my purses." Chalyn replied.

"So when we out this summer and I reach into my bag, bitches gon' scatter like roaches." Chalyn added, causing Amina to laugh. It was very obvious that her friend was feeling the mojitos at this point. "This my first summer being single, we outside MiMi—that's if you don't get pregnant." She added.

"Pregnant? In the summer? You drunk foreal." Amina chuckled. She always imagined it to be miserable being pregnant in the summer time, especially with how hot it gets in Texas. "Im just making sure we poppin bottles and not making them." Chalyn joked, causing them both to laugh.

January 22nd 2023
Dallas, Texas
12:26 am

Amina walked into to Blue's and immediately looked around. As always, it was super busy. So busy that there weren't any open seats at the bar, which meant the duo had to step out of their norm and sit at one of the circular tables. Amina sat facing the stage with one of her legs crossed over the other. She slowly bobbed her head to the music that was playing, When You Touch Me by Brandy, a personal favorite of Amina's.

Footsteps sounding against the stage caused her to snap out of her daze and look up, she caught eyes with Cass. A scowl dressed her face as she eyed Amina, her mouth was twisted up as if she smelt something that wasn't so pleasant. This reminded her of how Pandora was grilling Yvette in baby boy. Amina smiled as she sent her a cute, yet shady wave. Cass rolled her eyes as she grabbed the microphone and tapped it twice, to gain the attention of everyone. "I'll be right back." Amina notified Chalyn before getting up and heading towards the bar. For the most part, Amina tuned Cass out, but from what she could hear she was reciting a poem.

Amina stopped at the bar and slightly leaned over as she waited for an available bartender, both were busy and she didn't want to interrupt. "Amina?" A feminine voice called out to her. Amina looked in the direction that the call came from and instantly grew hot. In front of her stood her old best friend, Niecey. She still looked the same, the only noticeable change was her weight gain. Which wasn't a surprise, the girls were knocking on 30's door and didn't have the same metabolisms they had when in high school. Besides that, she looked exactly how she did the last time Amina saw her.