walking through the airport doors looking like three luscious divas, all curvy, tall, medium, and short. That is, until the cold air hit them and they all started scurrying, tripping on icy spots in their heels, running in baby steps, Willa holding the hood over her braids with those long nails. Sydney shaking her stubborn head at the wind like she could make it stop. And Rhea shuffling her short legs as she pulled her bag, the scarf wound so far up her face all I could see was her dark brown eyes and sculpted black brows.
They threw themselves into my car with a whoosh of loud laughter and commotion. The sound of their combined voices and clattering luggage brought a smile to my heart.
“I have so freaking much to tell y’all!” I shouted.
At this, they cheered.
“Everyone buckle up!” Syd-Lo shouted. “The roads are frozen. I ain’t trying to die today.”
Willa smacked her lips. “What does my buckling up have to do with preventing you from dying?”
“Girl, don’t play,” Syd warned. “You could be thrown into me.” The two of them bantered and cackled in the back until Rhea shushed them.
“I need to hear the tea!”
“Ooh, yes.” Willa clapped her palms together. “Spill. Starting with when you were at that club in Philly.”
“It wasn’t a club! I swear,” I laughed. “It was the hotel!” I began telling them all about Shawn Fowler and his troop of Marines. They laughed and made inappropriate sounds in all the right places.
“Share the road!” Syd screamed at the nearby taxi as it got close to us on the bridge.
“He can’t hear you,” Willa told her. “But my eardrum can.” She rubbed her ear. Lanes were narrower than normal with the snowbanks all around.
Next, I got to the part about going to see face-tattoo guy last night. Damn, I’d already forgotten his name.
“Tell me she did not leave you like that.”
I glanced back at Willa, whose eyes were closed like she was barely holding it together.
“Eyes on the road, bish!” Syd shouted, and I cranked my head straight forward again.
“She swears she called a taxi and it got cancelled but she didn’t see it until later. I believe her.”
“Mm.” Willa made a sound of disbelief.
“That’s not right, boo.” Rhea rubbed my arm. “I know you were scared as shit. What’d you do?”
“I…texted Shawn and he got me a ride.”
Rhea’s hand tightened on my forearm in shock as the whole car squealed, demanding more details, which I was more than happy to verbally relive.
“You are feeling him,” Willa said.
“I am,” I admitted. “But I know I shouldn’t be. That’s why I’m trying to date. In fact, I have a date tonight and I need y’all to come with me ‘cause his friends will be there too.”
A round of applause rose up and I gave them all the details of what we were doing. Thankfully they were on board with no qualms.
When a truck sped up and cut me off, making me tap the brakes, Sydney screamed and grabbed the oh-shit handle. “Honk at that mother fucker!”
I never honked. I was the only one in Jersey who didn’t.
“Why you trippin?” Willa asked her. “You act like you never had traffic in Miami.”
“It’s not like this there! There’s traffic, but people here tryna give me a heart attack!”
“Close your eyes,” Willa cooed. In my rearview mirror I saw Sydney glare as Willa tried to pet her and I snorted.
“Are you two sisters?” Rhea asked, shaking out her black waves and rewinding the scarf around her neck and face as we pulled up at the apartment. The street parking was all taken, so I pulled into a small lot behind the Chicken King fast food place. A couple of dudes were standing at the corner, but they all lifted their chins when they saw us. We waved. It was a funny thing. Everyone on our street seemed to know about the apartment of flight attendants. And nobody ever messed with us.
We held our jackets close against the bitter cold as we rushed across the lot and street, stepping over piles of gray snow and bypassing shiny black ice. We all shivered and shook out our arms when we punched the code and got inside the dingy old lobby of mail boxes that led up the narrow stairway.
“Would it kill them to get an elevator?” Willa griped as she hefted her bag, careful of her nails.
“Where would they put an elevator?” Sydney asked, following behind her with her own luggage.