gumbo can solve any problem. Then again, with her cookin’, it probably could.
“It seems you’ll have to retire that nickname once and for all,” I tease, a small thrill of triumph strikin’ through me.
“Nah, we’ll just have to switch Heavenly out for something else. Hellish, perhaps?” she tells me in thought.
“Hell’s Bells,” Daddy supplies jovially around a full mouth of food.
Mama’s eyes light right up. “That’s it, Love Spuds! Hell’s Bells!” she announces excitedly.
I groan. Honestly, what kind of day is it when findin’ out you’re a supposed demon isn’t the worst part, but the nickname that comes with it, is?
I need a stiff drink or ten, and I need it pronto. Good thing I’ve got plans with the girls tonight.
9
“Yes! Medley is on a mission tonight!” Kiara shouts before slammin’ down her shot of tequila. She winces and shoves a lime in between her plump lips before she tosses back her long black braids.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” AnnaMae whoops in agreement as she nudges her shot my way and sips on the rum and coke she ordered instead.
I give her a look. “AnnaMae, don’t just keep orderin’ shots and then passin’ them off to us. You gotta do your due diligence too. It’s only fair.”
AnnaMae rolls her pretty blue eyes. “I did a shot already.”
“Psh. You did not,” Kiara fires back. “You poured it in my damn drink when you thought I wasn’t lookin’.”
AnnaMae giggles and stirs her drink. “Tequila makes me have indigestion.”
“No, it turns your Ho settin’ on,” Kiara replies with a wicked grin.
“Hey!” AnnaMae flicks her wet straw at Kiara, but she doesn’t deny it. I smother a giggle.
Kiara and AnnaMae are opposites when it comes to looks; Kiara has dark skin and black braids to AnnaMae’s pale skin and platinum blonde bob, but their personalities couldn’t be more alike. The three of us became friends in elementary school, bondin’ over our mutual dislike for learnin’ the multiplication tables. I kept in touch with them even after I moved away for middle school and college, and we picked right up where we left off when I came back home.
Like me, Kiara and AnnaMae are single, though AnnaMae just ended a year-long relationship. She’s been on the rebound for a few weeks now, and Kiara ain’t wrong about the tequila. It’s like a button for AnnaMae to hike up her skirt and grind on the nearest body of the opposite sex.
I shrug and down the shot, hopin’ somehow it’ll kickstart the others I’ve already taken and I can finally loosen up, but nothin’ really happens. Still. Maybe dancin’ will help. Get my blood movin’ and all that alcohol travelin’ around, that should have me feelin’ way more light and free than I currently do.
“Let’s go dance!” I say, my voice raised so they can hear me over the music.
AnnaMae holds up her finger for us to wait while she starts suckin’ on her straw to finish her drink before we walk away from the table. We may have driven over to Colletville for the night, but the city ain’t that much nicer than Sweetgreen. Sure, this club has flashy lights and a stainless steel bar, but it’s still a honky-tonk beneath it all, as is evident in the country music that’s playin’ outside where they have the beer kegs and mechanical bull set up.
“Come on, girl, I know you can suck better than that,” Kiara tells her with a mischievous grin, and AnnaMae chugs the rest down, makin’ sure to hollow out her cheeks and shoot the next table over a wink when she catches them gapin’ at her straw suckin’ abilities that should be innocent but just looks downright lewd.
“Done!” she says proudly, a smile curlin’ up her lips as she slaps the cup down. “Let’s go grind and sway, girls!”
With another laugh, I step away from the table, followin’ my favorite drinkin’ buddies as we head for the dance floor. The flashin’ lights surroundin’ the DJ up ahead mess with my depth perception. Or maybe that’s the six shots and two drinks I’ve had finally kickin’ in? I sure hope so.
My mind is still reelin’ with everythin’ that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours. When AnnaMae called, beggin’ me to go out, it seemed like a good idea at the time. But now that I’m actually out, I kinda wish I’d just stayed home.
I should be blitzed right now, but I feel sober as a nun, and I’m discoverin’ that clubbin’ while sober and