Things We Lost In the Fire

The Way It Will Be

October 22, 1999

Scarborough, Toronto, ON

Aside from the temperature drop, it felt good to be in Toronto with my girls. The four of us haven't been together since Morgan's wedding and a lot has changed in that small amount of time. We figured this would be the perfect time to have a girls weekend and celebrate because not only have I gotten engaged recently, but Naima's beau Michael popped the big question two weeks ago. An E.R. physician he is, nice guy, clean cut. When she sent pictures of the two on a cruise I wasn't surprised by his appearance. Baby girl's been down with the swirl since the sandbox days.

We all stood shoulder to shoulder at the mirror in Naima's bathroom getting ready for tonight. Securing the last bobby pin in my high bun, I almost stabbed my skull when Tori hip-checked me. "Long or short?" My confused stare met the similar ones plastered on Morgan and Naima's faces in the mirror.

Naima looked past me, cut her eyes at Tori and blurted out, "Did you really just ask her if his dick was big or small?"

Tori kissed her teeth as she double-dipped her nude lip gloss. "You didn't let me finish my thought dumb ass. I meant long or short engagement."

"Sure you did Victoria."

"Bite me Naima." Morgan and I simultaneously rolled our eyes at their bickering. One minute they're inseparable, the next they are going at each others throats.

Pointing her mascara wand in Tori's direction, Naima condescendingly stated, "See that's why you're still single, that nasty mouth of yours. Maybe if you spoke in a classy manner as much as you suck dick, you'd be dating a doctor rather than going to see one at the clinic every month."

Naima is still as petty as can be, but then again it runs in our bloodline. Tori pinched the bridge of her nose before looking up at the ceiling. "Lord, you know I'm trying to do right...but give me a pass so I can beat her ass." The instant Tori attempted to push past me, Morgan held her back.

As they spit words back and forth, I stood in between them and yelled. "Hey! No one wants to listen to y'all going at it! I thought we decided to have a good time this weekend. You know, no bullshit? God..." I thought we were all mature adults now. Sometimes their arguing is entertaining, but over time my tolerance has lowered when it comes to drama.

Slowly raking the mascara wand through my lengthy lashes, Naima almost made me stab myself in the eye when she nudged my shoulder. "Speaking of bullshit, how come I'm always the last to know things? And then out of all people, Prince?! Oh I'm sorry, The Artist."

Here she goes again. She's just upset because Morgan and Tori knew about P before her. I told her it wasn't on purpose because (A) if it wasn't for Morgan I would have never met him, and (B)technically Tori found out on accident. If she wasn't in the room when Morgan and I went at it, I wouldn't have told her until...probably right about now. I just felt that this was something I should inform her about in person.

Let's not even get started on her reaction when I told her the news. I'm glad Morgan told me to bring polaroids of us because the look on her face was sheer disbelief. Once that initial faze dispersed, that's when all the questioning began. 'He's a rockstar? What do you two have in common?'  Really? I feel like that's a loaded question. How would she feel if I asked her that? Michael is a doctor and she graduated with a bachelors in sociology after six years and works as a teacher, what do they have in common? Hell, what do Bobby and Whitney have in common? 

I was ready to diffuse the situation before she went on another tangent. "Don't take it personal Nai—"

"I can't help but take that shit personal, I thought we were closer than that."