Page 15 of F*ckin' With Me
Rissa walked over to Simonette. “By the end of this weekend, I’m going to have you using curse words to tell those women off. They’ve played in your face far too long, and it’s clear you never had anyone to stand up for you. Well, guess what? With this little fake relationship came real support.”
Time ForDinner. . .
The nerve of my mother and sister earlier would’ve been beyond belief if I didn’t expect it. That was the story of my life. It seemed like they turned it up a notch since Daylen was here. I wasn’t sure if it was their goal to embarrass me in front of him.
There was no telling how the weekend would go, but I could already tell, by the end of it, I would potentially walk away with real friends. I loved Rissa so much for how she stuck up for me. The last friend I had was in the fifth grade. She moved away at the end of the school year when her parents divorced. We liked a lot of the same things, and everyone thought we were both weird. It was not so hard to be considered weird, having a weird friend by your side.
By the time I was in high school, my little sister was already a spoiled nightmare. Our mother hated that I wanted to be with our father more than I ever wanted to be with her. When our father was home from his business trips, I wanted to be with him only. My sister was the opposite because she wanted to be with our mother. She wanted tobeour mother.
From the moment Lanette got engaged, it was all about her as if it wasn’t already. Her wedding cost our parents—well, our dad, because my mother didn’t have a job to make money, but the wedding cost him almost $120,000. The only reason I knew that was because I popped up at their house one day, and they were enthralled in a massive argument about it. Our father had no idea how much was being spent on the wedding until he got a call from his credit card company about the abnormal spending. The cards were cut off, and Simone Brand had a whole fit.
I hid in my bedroom because I was too nosy to not listen to the details of the argument. My father put his foot down and told her that he would only pay for the flights, cake, and her dress. My mother was mortified that she would have to go to the Everlands to ask for money. That couldn’t happen, because then it would look like we were broke. My father didn’t care and told her to deal with it. Deal with it, they did. My sister was approved for credit cards and maxed them out. That was why they were so tight on any additional penny.
“You look amazing, girl!” Rissa hyped me as we walked from the villa to the dinner venue. I absolutely loved the outfit that she styled me in because it fit me. She didn’t try to put me in things I felt uncomfortable in.
I blushed. “Thank you so much for making me feel beautiful.” She was right; yellow was my color. I wore high-waisted, wide leg trousers, with a black camisole under a floral-print blazer. If you asked me, the best part of my outfit were the black Mary Jane heels.
“It wasn’t hard at all.” Rissa gushed. “I’m lowkey happy that you let that steam sweat out your blowout because these curls are everything.” She picked at the tresses that hung around my face.
Rissa could do it all. She styled me, did my hair and makeup. She covered the mirror in the room so that I couldn’t see myself until I was completely dressed. I stood in the mirror for almost five minutes. What felt more amazing than seeing a side of myself that I didn’t realized existed was Daylen’s reaction to me. Earlier that day, he told me I needed to drag my nuts because I was beautiful. He said that to me when I was regular Simonette.
When he saw me made up, it didn’t make me feel like he only saw me when I was society’s version of beautiful. In college, I remembered he asked me why I dressed the way I did. He made the comment that I was too pretty to hide under baggy clothes. For the rest of that day, I walked around campus with the biggest smile like a crazy lady. He never said it again, but I knew that he saw me, and that was enough for me.I guess it’s time to grab my nuts.
“You ready to do this?” Rissa asked while we stood outside the door of the restaurant.
Am I ready?It was something that I knew I had to do, so it didn’t matter if I was ready. It was ajust do itmoment.Come on, Simonette. Drag your nuts!“Yes, I’m ready.”
Rissa pulled open the door, and we walked in. We let the hostess know who we were, and she took us to the private room that the dinner party was being held in.
The lively conversation ceased when we entered the room. All eyes were on me. “Good evening, ladies.”
Rissa pointed at the two empty seats that were next to each other. We headed that way. I felt eyes scanning me from head to toe. Once we were comfortable in our seats, I introduced all the ladies. “Ladies, this is Rissa. Rissa, you’ve met my mother andsister. These are her other bridesmaids, Jessica and Christina. Samantha is her matron of honor.”
Rissa smiled. “It’s nice to meet you ladies. How do you all know the bride?”
My sister turned her nose up as only she could. “Samantha has been my best friend since I was ten years old. Christina and Jessica, I met in college, and they are my sorority sisters. Rissa, are you familiar with sororities? You don’t really look like the college type where sororities are.”
One thing I would always commend my mother and sister for was their persistence and determination. They knew that Rissa had no issue going toe to toe with them, yet they still made the foolish decision to poke the bear. Samantha and Christina giggled, but I noticed Jessica rolled her eyes.
Rissa laughed heartily. “You’re so funny. I was never interested in the institution of sororities. I did attend college and graduated with a degree in fashion merchandizing. I’m also a licensed cosmetologist and aesthetician. I currently work as a celebrity stylist, makeup artist, and hair stylist.” She ran down her credentials with a smile.
Jessica was the only one that seemed impressed. “Oh, wow! That is amazing. I wanted to go to college for fashion, but my parents refused to pay for it.”
“As they should have,” my mother said. It was a shame that she thought she could control everyone. “I’m sure being a stylist doesn’t pay as much as one would think.”
Rissa’s head tilted. She leaned toward me then whispered in my ear. “I apologize in advance for what I’m about to say.”This is going to be bad.“Mrs. Brand, what exactly is it that you do to earn a living? I mean, besides sucking Mr. Brand’s penis to have access to his checkbook.”
Mrs. Everland spat out the drink that she’d just taken. I closed my eyes and dropped my head for a second. Jessica’shand covered her mouth to stifle her laughter, while the other girls looked mortified. Before anyone could react further, a host of waitstaff came in with the first course. My mother’s intense stare didn’t leave Rissa.
Once we were alone again, my mother leaned forward. “You are an exceptionally vile woman, like your disrespectful brother. I don’t care how much money he has. Nothing can cover up who you are as a person.”
I tittered because she couldn’t be serious. Eyes fell on me. When my mother asked me what was funny, I picked my salad fork up. “How about we get through this dinner? I would really love that.”
It wasn’t that I was scared to engage at this point. I just didn’t see the need to, and something told me Rissa wasn’t done just yet. It didn’t take a lifelong friendship to know her mouth couldn’t be tamed.
“Mrs. Everland, I’m surprised that this is the type of woman you would want your son to marry. I wouldn’t even want my son to lay with her for fear of getting fleas. Dog ass bitches tend to have them.”
Mrs. Everland didn’t respond. There was something in her eyes that told me this wedding might not have been as wanted by the Everlands as I thought.
