Page 95 of Until the Ink Dries

With several pieces thrown across my arm, I rummaged through the racks. The bell above the door rang and I heard Shirah greet the customer.

“Welcome to Honey and Hue where— oh hell no. Bitch, get your ass outta here!”

Immediately, I placed the items in my hands on a bench and rounded the wall separating the sections. My eyes landed on Tierra, standing there with a crazed look on her face.

“Tierra, you better get the fuck on,” Shirah said, coming around the counter.

“Is that any way to speak to a paying customer?” she sassed. “I have money.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a few crumpled bills.

“I don’t care. You aren’t welcomed here.”

She glared at Shirah before turning her gaze to me.

“Oh, but she is? The whore that’s fucking my baby daddy is welcomed but I’m not?”

I sighed. “Tierra?—”

“Don’t speak to me, bitch!” she screamed at me. “I never could stand your ass. I don’t know why everybody always liked you so much.”

I crossed my arms. “Tierra, baby, you have to let that high school shit go. We’re pushing thirty.”

“I’ll let it go when you give me my man back.”

“Benjamin isn’t your man, and he never was.”

She laughed. “That’s what he told you? He was my man long enough to make a baby with me.”

Shirah cackled. “Girl, you know y’all were just fucking around.”

“You know all about fucking around, don’t you? Loose ass pussy.”

“Bitch, you got me fucked up.”

Shirah started at her, but I held her back. Tierra laughed wildly as she started pulling clothes from the racks. She swiped a pile of jeans onto the floor, then grabbed a blouse and started ripping it to shreds.

Shirah stormed over to grab it from her, but as soon as she reached for it, Tierra shoved her hard into a display, causing it to topple over. From there, she just went on a rampage, knocking shit over. Shirah and I tried to grab her, but the bitch started swinging. I’d always heard that people on drugs had a crazy amount of strength when they were high.

I didn’t want to put my hands on her. All I wanted to do was restrain her, but when she hit me in the mouth, all bets were off. I started swinging back, ducking and dodging her attempts to claw at my face in the process. Shirah didn’t spare her like I tried to with the body shots.

She was throwing punch after punch, hitting Tierra in the face. It didn’t seem to phase her. She ate those licks and kept coming back for more, all while screaming like a mad woman.

“I called the police!” someone yelled from the door.

We were so busy fighting that we didn’t even hear it open. When she heard the word police, Tierra kicked Shirah in the stomach, causing her to hit the floor. She shoved me into the wall and made a break for the door, damn near knocking over the woman who I now knew was Shirah’s cashier, Imani.

“Are y’all okay?” Imani asked, quickly locking the door, and running over to us.

Shirah and I nodded as we gathered our bearings and steadied ourselves on our feet.

“Who the hell was that?” Imani asked.

“A bitch that’s getting her ass beat on sight every time I see her,” Shirah spat.

“Where the hell did she even come from?”

“I don’t know, but she had to have been watching us to know to find you here. I can’t believe you got me out here fighting a crackhead,” Shirah said, straightening her clothes. “That bitch had super strength. Look at my shit!”

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