Teyanne Sully
I was driving back to Houston when I got a call I most definitely wasn't prepared for. "Hello? Oh wassup, Gia?"
"Tey, ion know what way to put this. My friend was collecting my money after I performed on stage and we both overheard something while I was talking to him." I listened in curiously as I made a left turn. I knew that Gia worked at a strip club and that she heard a lot of drama that filtered from Christiano to Houston because of the club's location and its messy inhabitants. "Ight, so?" I let my words trail off.
"I don't even know where the rumor- or if it's a truth -started but some girls was talking about the big scandal down at Christiano Church and I immediately thought of you, or at least your mother. They were saying how some girl's family was trash talking you and how y'all got kicked out and this and that."
"Damn," I mumbled, trying to slow down my speeding heartbeat. "Hold on, ima pull over."
"I wouldn't've told you this while you were driving, my bad Tey Tey," Gia told me sincerely. "It's Ight," I told her, pulling in at what looked like a closed event hall. "What was the girl's name? Lilliana?" I prompted her. I could hear something clacking in the background. "I don't know her first name, just that her last name was Morst. I don't know if they're a well known family in Houston or something, but they're definitely going for blood with some of these remarks."
"But why? Lilliana and I hardly had anything together. Did you hear anybody say she was saying some stuff too?" I asked Gia. I felt wounded.
"Nahh- well actually yes, but the way gossip works is that some of it is untrue. I'm willing to bet the way they talking about babygirl and people in the LGBTQ+ community is that they're really...everything phobic," Gia laughed bitterly. "I think her family is targeting her and you. You should probably try to meet up with her and see if you can smooth things over. What's your mama saying about all of this?"
"I haven't heard anything from my family yet. But her and I did get into an argument yesterday, that's why I'm heading back to Houston," I explained.
"If I was you I'd stay at that fancy house of yours wit ya Jag, because yeah, people might look at you different in Christiano and they may have known you for awhile, but people in Houston are knowing you for the first time. People are gonna be in your business, saying 'Oh I saw Tey here' and 'Was that Tey at the party' or 'Tey was drunk and said this'. I think Christiano is the safest bet, Tey," Gia rambled on.
I took in a deep breath that did little to calm me.
"I really am a celebrity huh?" I asked her bitterly.
"I had a few clothes to stay the night somewhere, and I'm on the outskirts of da H already. What should I do?" I asked my friend helplessly.
"Hope like Hell nobody recognizes you immediately and stay somewhere discreet," Gia suggested.
"Damn, you acting like these people da cops. What about...at your place?" I asked her with hope in my voice. "Tey, I live in da hood. People talk here. You wouldn't go unnoticed. Especially with that car and, don't quote me on this, but especially with your looks," Gia told me.
"You think I'm sexy?" I asked her, smirking.
"I think your lisp is cute and you know your way with women," I could practically hear Gia rolling her eyes.
"I think ima just turn around and ask Lilliana to come to Christiano for a talk?" I told her, stating it as more of a question because I still wanted her advice.
"Well, we know she's not in Christiano. Or is she?" Gia asked. "Nahh, she was...kicked out like the rumors say," I sighed, feeling the guilt ease in.
"Well, she's most likely in Houston. Is she from there or does she have family there?"
I nodded then remembered she couldn't see me. "Yea. She mentioned it before," I said. "It wouldn't make sense to make her travel all the way to Christiano. I think y'all should find a nice location in a quiet part of town near Houston that's accessible to both of you, or at least more so her. You probably den broke the girl's heart, and you den got her kicked outta college. The least you can do is work this out with her and make the meet-up spot more accessible."
"Do you think she started this?" I asked her.
"I don't know, Tey. I would like to think not, and the way the rumors were spun it doesn't seem so, but still be careful."
"Ight," I sighed. "I suppose it won't be too hard to get her number and contact her."
"Ight, I gotta go. If you need anymore advice my drive to the club is thirty minutes so I'm here," Gia told me, then hung up with a feathery light "bye".
"Lilliana, what are you out here doing?" I mumbled to myself, turning out of the empty lot and getting back on the main road.
I found Lilli's Instagram and was immediately bombarded with nasty comments under each of her pictures. I frowned, trying to keep my eyes from watering up as secrets were spilled and tea was served. She didn't deserve this. Lilliana couldn't be behind this. I wasn't absolutely sure, but I wouldn't think...
I text Lilliana, hoping she hadn't blocked everybody or deleted her IG by now. Gia was probably already at the club, so that left me with no advice. I didn't really wanna talk to anybody else about this because I didn't need more mess spreading around. I just wondered how her own family could do this to her. But then I thought about my own mother and grandmother and my heart turned to steel.
I waited for Lilliana to text me back as I multitasked between driving and texting. I knew it was wrong, but this situation was important to me right? I'd just drive to a location and wait there, and see if Lilliana would turn up. I frowned as I saw people's eyes on my car. Perhaps I should have left it in Christiano.
Welp, nothing I could do about that now.
LillianaDaa_GOAT: what do u want?
Me: I'm not texting u to be mean. We should meet up and talk.
LillianaDaa_GOAT: about what?
Me: don't play dumb, I've heard the gossip. Yo fam bein nasty n ion like dat. Do u not see the comments under yo posts?
LillianaDaa_GOAT: I c them I'm not stupid Tey unlike u
Me: I was tryna be nice but if u want people encouragin u to kill yo self around u then that suits me
LillianaDaa_GOAT: ion got times fo tricks. Why do u rlly wanna meet up?
Me: to talk. Either come or dont.
The app shut me out of IG randomly and I decided to put my phone away since the app didn't wanna work. I hated when it did that to me. I started driving towards our meet-up spot, knowing that Lilliana would see me when she got there for sure.
I gotta get this stuff handled or I was gonna have to move out of state, I thought tiredly. My phone began to ring and saw that it was my mother. I guess she had finally caught wind of what was going on. A small part of me hoped that she didn't think I created all of this mess to get back at her for yesterday. Because I definitely didn't.
"Don't come back."
"Mom-
"That's Rianna Duston to you."
"Well Rianna Duston, this is all your fault. You're the one who kicked us out of Christiano, and you're the one who threatened to start rumors about her. Now that other people have caught on, this wildfire was started by you," I told her angrily. And to think I was gonna be civil with her?
"But I never made due on my promise to spread rumors about the whore," my mother- no, Rianna Duston scoffed. Why did she even have her last name still? I thought snidely. Weren't all "good" Christian women supposed to take on their husband's last names when they married as well?
"You know you started drama with her family. Did you make them spam her and me?" I asked.
"Teyanne, I had nothing to do with this."
"Then who? This drama didn't come out of nowhere, and our family was the only people who knew about Lilliana and I."
"Maybe the girl told her family and things backfired, who knows," my mother said to me. "But I want this cleared up before the end of the day. I'm too embarrassed to even show my face in town, much less the church. Now I'll have to tell your grandmother about my failure of a daughter involved in this," my mother said with distress.
"Well go ahead, and make sure to tell her you-
My mother hung up in my face and I stared down at the device in anger. About twenty minutes later, I saw a car with Uber taped on the back of it passing by me. The vehicle abruptly stopped as I saw a hand point out at my car. I heard talking that I couldn't discern as Lilliana stepped out of the car and nodded at the person.
She started walking up to my passenger's side and without checking to see if it was unlocked, pulled at the door then got into my car wordlessly. "Hey," she told me with a dull tone.
"Hey," I said back, now unemotional.
"So how did this all start?" I asked after awhile of silence. I wasn't here to sit around and enjoy her company, I was here to get down to business.
"I've came to the conclusion that it was my cousin Naé," Lilliana sighed. I glanced over at her and saw a puffy face and her hair in an attempt at a bun. "What did you tell her? And why's your family being...like that?"
"They're über Christian," she sighed. "And über conservative. I got a lot of African roots," she told me. Lillian looked down at her lap. "I told my cousin a lot of vague stuff, the only revealing thing I really told her was your name. And not even your last name," she shrugged. "I guess she...I don't know."
"So when did you see this cousin? How long do you think these rumors were spinning?" I asked her.
"I only saw her again yesterday. She said she was coming from Atlanta and was down here for some shmoney," Lilliana smirked with tears in her eyes. "She had said sumin bout 'Teyanne sound like a girl I'd like' but I hadn't thought too much of it when we was talking."
Lilliana perked up and turned to me. "Maybe she's an ex of yours or sumin."
"Ion really got no ex's. Mostly fuck-and-dip's," I shrugged. A personal look of defeat rang in Lilliana's eyes. I wished I could reassure her that she wasn't one of those, but I wasn't quite so sure myself. "Does Dahnée ring a bell? Dahnée Morrison?" she asked me.
I shook my head "no". I usually remembered unique names like that. "I mean, did she seem off to you?" I asked her.
"Look Tey, what happened in the past is the past. What we gotta focus on is what's happening now," Lilliana exhaled. "I'm sorry about my family being asses and I'm sorry if it messes with your Christiano lifestyle or wherever you live. Honestly, talking to my family won't calm them down so I'll just let the rumors run wild. Eventually it will die down but I'll continue to work and make my way in this world. I'm moving away from Texas, I'm not gonna do this bull-
"Wait what? You're moving away," more emotion seeped into my voice than I had planned.
"Tey, I can't do this. All this 'keeping up with appearances' for certain people. Shit, the only person I should be tryna impress is the person who put me on this Earth, whatever being or person or creature that may be," she told me.
She was right, but that didn't mean I wanted her to leave. My heart strained, imagining her so far away. Why did I let things get like this? "I'm sorry Lilliana," I apologized softly.
"Yeah, but that doesn't fix things," she shrugged.
"Maybe we could fix things," I turned to her, holding in my breath as my chest swelled with hope.
Lilliana looked at me, I mean really looked at me. Taking in every inch of my face and my body. "We'll see about that, Tey," she told me in a strained voice. "Right now I need to start heading to work."
"I'll drive you," I offered.
"That's fine," Lilliana sighed wearily, leaning back in her seat.