“Hank’d never do that to you,” Al y returned.
“I know that,” I shot back.
“Then what’s your problem?” Al y enquired.
My body got tight. “What’s your problem?” I asked back.
“You’ve been in a bad mood al day. You upset Stel a!”
“Wel , excuse me. But I’m beginning to understand where Shirleen is coming from with al this shit. My brothers and my friends got a load of shit on their plate on a regular basis, mind you. They don’t need Rock Chick shit thrown at them al the time. It’s getting ridiculous.”
“Just you wait until it’s your turn, Al y Nightingale,” Ava, being a Rock Chick, went on the defensive.
“It isn’t going to happen to me. No f**kin’ way,” Al y retorted.
“What makes you so sure?” I asked.
“Because there’s only one left, not including Darius, who doesn’t f**k white women and who’s like a brother to me,” Al y answered. “And nothing is gonna happen between me and Hector, ‘cause I’ve known him since we were kids.
He’s like a cousin or something.”
“So, what you’re real y saying is,” Jet came up to our huddle and entered the conversation, “that you’re pissed off you aren’t gonna get your shot at a Hot Bunch guy.” I smiled at Ava and Ava smiled back.
Al y turned angry eyes to Jet. “No, what I’m saying is, I wouldn’t get myself into a shitload of trouble. And, if I did, I’d take care of my own business. I wouldn’t let some guy stick his nose into said business. I wouldn’t put up with that shit for a second. Some f**kin’ macho badass tel ing me what to do and f**king with my life and my head. I wouldn’t play those games. Some guy tried to do that to me, I’d put an end to it, pronto.”
I couldn’t help myself, I laughed. So did Jet. So did Ava.
“Seriously, chickies, not gonna happen,” Al y said into our laughter.
“I cannot wait for some guy to rip into your life and make you eat those words,” Ava told Al y.
“Not gonna happen,” Al y repeated.
“You are so going down,” I said to Al y.
Al y turned to me and snapped, “Can we stop talking about this?”
“Sure,” I replied breezily.
“Who do you think it’l be?” Jet asked Ava.
“We’re not talking about this anymore,” Al y reminded Jet.
“That Eric guy is hot,” Ava remarked to Jet.
“Fuck you,” Al y said to Ava and stomped toward the espresso counter. We watched as she stopped halfway there, saw Uncle Tex grinning at her like a loon then she turned on her heel and stomped into the books.
We al looked at each other and burst into laughter.
We didn’t have time to enjoy our hilarity. The bel over the door went and Tod stormed in, eyes wild.
I didn’t have to guess why Tod looked wild. He was Indy’s official y unofficial wedding planner and it was T-minus five and a half days to nuptial takeoff. Because of this, Tod was clearly in a state.
“Do you think, because you’re al the possible targets for murder and mayhem, that you can get out of this wedding business?” he screeched upon entry just as Stel a, Daisy and Indy came back up front. Tod’s eyes narrowed on Indy and he went on screeching, “Girlie, there’s shit to do! ”
“I know, Tod, calm down,” Indy replied.
Tod threw up his hands. “Calm down? I wil not calm down! We need to confirm numbers with the catering company. We need to finalize seating arrangements. We need to box and bow the handmade truffles for wedding gifts. Somebody needs to learn cal igraphy in, like, an hour so we can handwrite the place cards.”