All Pink Everything

22 - Put Family First

"A PATRÓN BOTTLE!" Candy was livid when she heard the news. In her hurry to get out the door, she had almost declined Imani's call. "Ain't this a bitch? Greg wants to wait until I take my name off the VIP list to start sneaking in the good stuff."

"Candy, this is serious!" Imani cried. "Jacoury was really hurt."

She checked her reflection again in the mirror. In a black dress that was short enough to be a pop quiz and red lipstick that made her lips glow from a mile away, she was going to make sure that Alex never had a reason to go back to his wife. Over that dress, she had pulled on a camel-colored trench coat that would aid her in getting down the steps and out the door without facing a multitude of questions from the folks. "Well, who could have wanted to hurt Jacoury? I've never known him to have enemies. He's harmless."

"I was in such a hurry to get away from Ralph, I was halfway out the door when it happened. No one saw a thing. I guess it was too dark."

"Or maybe everybody was too drunk off premium tequila," Candy said almost regretfully. "You and Ralph had a fight?" she asked softly.

She could hear a deep sigh on the other end of the line. "Candy, he's still selling drugs."

She shook her head in disbelief, although, it should not have been a surprise to her or anyone else. Despite Latrice and Bunny's involvement in the matter, Ralph was responsible for his own actions. It was becoming more and more difficult for her to feel sympathy for him. "To think, I was happy about him getting released. At this point, they can throw him under the jail."

"It won't matter to me. I'm done with him," she said sadly. "We broke up."

"I'm sorry, Imani."

"It's okay. To be honest, I'm surprised Bunny and Latrice haven't already told you about this."

"Yeah, about that." Candy laughed nervously. She had been avoiding the conversation for as long as she could, but tensions between them had become too strained to keep forcing friendship with those girls. "I'm not friends with Latrice and Bunny anymore."

Imani paused for a moment. "When did this happen? They haven't said anything about it."

"It happened the day after Ralph got arrested. I knew that something had to have happened to have you confessing about Jada and Sydney at a time like that, so I asked them about it. I know all about Bunny blackmailing you to keep that secret. That wasn't cool and I don't trust her, nor do I trust Latrice for taking her side. Why didn't you tell me, Imani? I would have understood and I would have protected you."

"I just felt so guilty. Latrice was already mad at me about the whole Jacoury thing, and then Bunny decided to waltz over and threaten to expose me if I didn't shell out for her Winter Ball dress. What was I supposed to do?"

"You miss them, don't you?" she asked of Jada and Sydney.

"I do, but I miss you even more, Candy. I understand that it would be hard for the four of us to hang together, but I feel like you're avoiding me too. We're still friends, right?"

Candy pressed two fingers over her temple. Imani was being real with her about everything, and here she was being just as fake and phony. In her mind, Imani was going through too much personally to be hit with more bad news, but in her heart, allowing her to unknowingly associate with traitors made her a bad friend. "Imani, I've been seeing Mr. Lazo."

Imani had never been so silent. "What?" she finally said.

"It's all been happening so fast. I wrote my phone number on one of my homework assignments, and before I knew it, we were talking on the phone. I'm on my way to see him right now."