Page 9 of Don Caselli

She had a few travel vlogs, one of which was one of her eating those damn lemon sherbets that Stevie was obsessed with on our last family vacation. Her hair wasn’t in braids, it was out and curly, and she wore sunglasses as she ate the sherbet and spoke into the camera. The quality of the camera was fucking perfect. I clicked out of that video and then went to one where a sneaker brand had sent her their new sneakers and she styled a few outfits around them.

Her niche was being the girl on the Brooklyn stoop next door. She was laid back, chill, and had many hobbies and interests, and the brands that she mostly posted about understood that. She wasn’t trying to be like every content creator chick; she was being her, and it fit her vibe so well. Even in that dress she wore earlier, I could tell that wasn’t really her vibe.

Being head deep into her kindle was the first giveaway that Tiny’s wasn’t her vibe. While Greene had a drink in her hand talking and greeting everyone, Navy was ducked off, praying no one approached or even noticed her.

With the good came the bad, and I landed on a few videos of some people saying they didn’t understand the hype around her, and how she was so boring because she never spoke about her personal life with her boyfriend.

After digging deeper on her other pages, her personal page came up. Her boyfriend, the one she couldn’t see forever with, was Antwan Lockett. Between Jaiden Cooper and Antwan, those were the names that were all over the media when it came to who was being drafted to the Sonics.

She had a few pictures of her with him, and then one with his college jersey on. There were a few videos of when she must have visited him on campus, and she was smiling with her face.

Her eyes told another story.

Another account of hers popped up and I smiled when I saw her wearing a pair of glasses, her hair pulled up in a big ass puffy bun, and she held a book in her hand. She was reviewing the book, holding it to her chest and started hollering about how the male character was her man and she was willing to fight behind him.

Turning the computer up, I listened to her video. “This character was so good. The author literally touched on how every woman wants to be loved. A man who is intentional and wants to love you. Men these days act like it’s a chore to treat their woman right. The female character didn’t get on my nerves like some of you said. I understood her fight in wanting to be loved but getting the wrong parts of love… come on, we gotta be leery.”

She went on to explain the book, held up her kindle, and I laughed as I put on a YouTube video of her attending one of her family member’s graduations. She and Greene were smiling in the camera while teasing him, as he towered over both of them.

Ken: Want to pick me up?

I looked at the text message from Kennedy and suddenly I didn’t want to leave the house.

Me: I’ll send a driver.

Ken: Pick me up or I’m not coming.

Her message had me fucked up. Ken had me going out like a sucker with the way she demanded shit, and how I supplied her with my time whenever she asked. When she went ghost and decided not to respond to a text message for days, it was cool. The minute I returned some of that same energy, it was a whole commotion, and she was throwing a tantrum behind it.

Removing my shirt so I didn’t further wrinkle it, I got comfortable at my desk, kicking my feet up and continuing to watch Navy Bleu’s vlogs while eating my popcorn and polishing off the rest of my drink.

2

Kennedy

“You like those heels,or do you think they look too hoe-ish?” Maki, my best friend, asked, as she tried on a pair of overly high heels.

“Where is this date again?”

She looked through her phone. “Some fancy restaurant on the Upper West Side. It’s exclusive, so you know it’s going to be a bunch of rich basic bitches.”

Maki worked for Case House, too, and she had a client’s dinner tonight. “Ditch the heels. You’re going somewhere classy, and Jeffie will get on our asses if a client complaint comes to her again. You already on thin ice with the way you took your wig off when he took you swimming while in Seychelles.”

“Myass. You don’t even work for Case House anymore… not since you want to go and find you a good rich man.”

I looked down at my engagement ring that I had just slid on my finger this morning. When I saw Landon walk into Tiny’s the other night, I quickly slipped it off my finger to avoid him seeing and asking questions I wasn’t ready to answer yet.

“Alex doesn’t want me working anymore and wants me to focus on just being his wife.” I sat on the couch as Maki switched shoes and then went to stand in the mirror to check them out. “Much better and gives classy. You’re a Case House girl now, Maki. You need to clean up that image… Menace isn’t some pimp who tosses women out there. We’re an investment to him and he makes sure we feel and see it.”

“You don’t even have to sound like someone is trying to kill you. Alex was a great client, so I’m sure he’ll make a great husband, too. You never complained about him, Ken.” She lifted the same heel in a different color. “I feel like I cannot be myself around these men.”

I blankly stared at her. “We’re not being paid to be ourselves, Maki. They are paying us to be who they want us to be. Does it suck? Not really, because the money is better.”

“And about Alex?” She found a way to bring the conversation back to discussing Alex when that wasn’t what I wanted to talk about.

“He was screwing me when he was married to his ex-wife. I wouldn’t say he would make the perfect husband.”

Alex Dass was loaded rich, and money was never an issue. The amount of money he dropped to spend time with me when I was working at Case House was enough to be the president’s salary. He spared no expense to treat me well, and make sure that his loyalty was with me.

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