Les Tales

by Nikki Rashan, Fiona Zedde, Fiona Zedde

Genres: African American Urban; African American Women's Fiction; LGBT Lesbian

Synopsis

Three Urban Books authors join forces to entertain listeners with erotic tales of forbidden lesbian love.

Since childhood, Temple has idolized her favorite actress, Ursula Moore. She is stoked to find out that Ursula will be a guest at the Atlanta convention she’s attending with fellow fangirl friends Cree and Nia. To Temple’s surprise, more savory options than just getting an autograph are presented.

Taryn’s and Nina’s lives unite in an intense and fiery connection through their one common link: Layne, the woman they both loved. Taryn, a reserved wife, is unaware of her own astounding beauty and lurking alter ego. Nina is Layne’s tempting mistress. With their damaged hearts, they challenge the unacceptable and cross boundaries into a disturbing affair that pushes the limits of erotic gratification and exploration. Secrets are exposed, hidden agendas are revealed, and the line to the forbidden is erased.

Chloe hoped that when she went away to college, her desire for her mother’s friend Kai would go away, but when she returns home, she finds that her attraction is stronger than ever. When she runs into Kai at a local fair, the sparks fly between the two women in a way that cannot be ignored. Chloe becomes determined to seduce Kai, vowing to have the older woman, no matter the cost.

Release date: May 27, 2014

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 288

Sample

Everybody has one—that one celebrity they grew up idolizing. It could be someone from a television show or a sports figure. Either way, you wanted to be them or be with them. You plastered cutout posters from magazines on your walls. You could sing every lyric to their songs, or you watched every episode of their television show. You dressed as them for Halloween and got angry if someone tried to talk bad about them. You dreamed of the day you could meet the person and just let them know how much they meant to you.

Most grow out of that stage. Some realize that celebrities are just people like you and me. Others play it cool when it comes to the person, but deep down they are still just as excited as the first time they ever saw the person. At some age people are brainwashed to think that they aren’t supposed to show love to the people who bring them joy in their life. Fanboys are considered weird, whereas fangirls are labeled groupies.

No matter who you are, there is at least one person who makes you wonder, What would it be like if I met this person? You might even dream of more. What would it be like if I could hang out with them for one day? Or even better, What would it be like if I could have just one night with them?

My dream became a reality. This is the story.

I could feel my girlfriend’s hands rubbing against my thighs. I frowned as I twisted my body, hoping she would stop. Not only was it four in the morning, but also her hands left much to be desired. I couldn’t understand why she thought crusty, callused hands would feel good against my skin. I knew that the state of her hands came from throwing boxes overnight at FedEx, but couldn’t she at least wear gloves if she was going to put those paws on me?

“Babe, I do have to be at work in a few hours.”

“I thought you didn’t have to be in until eleven.” She paused, giving my skin a much-needed break.

“Overtime. Remember?”

The grunt she let out let me know she remembered and she wasn’t happy about it. Nothing about my upcoming trip made her happy, and I knew denying her sex would be an argument I didn’t want to have in the morning.

I placed my hands on top of her head, which she had laid on my thigh. I rubbed the waves in her short hair. I knew she loved it when I rubbed her head. I felt her hand making its way back up my leg. I bit my lip as her fingers opened my lips. I closed my eyes, ground my body against her mouth as she worked her tongue on my pussy with an unusual intensity for after-work sex. Before I knew it, I was actually turned on.

“Let me strap up, okay?” She stopped mid-lick to ask the question.

I hesitated. A little early morning head was one thing, but strapping would require actual energy on my behalf.

“Why are you so energetic? You just got off work.” I looked at her big eyes, which were now staring directly at me.

Ciara sat up on her knees. “Can’t I just want to please my woman?”

I sighed. It never failed; the studs always had to be dramatic. “Ciara, I have to be up in three hours for work and . . . ” I couldn’t finish my statement before she was off of me and heading into the bathroom. “Ciara . . .”

“Don’t worry about it, Temple. Go back to bed.”

She slammed the door behind her. I knew I had a day of attitude to look forward to. I made a mental note to pick up a new video game for her after work and went back to sleep.

Hours later my cell phone’s alarm clock buzzed, making me jump out of my deep sleep. This was why I hated when Ciara woke me up when she got off from FedEx. It always threw off my sleeping pattern. I silenced my alarm clock. I needed a few more minutes, but I knew if I closed my eyes, they weren’t going to open back up soon, not even for an aggravating alarm clock.

I sat on the edge of the bed. I turned around and looked at Ciara, who could always sleep through my alarm clock buzzing. I smiled. This was the way I liked her the most. The sun’s rays beaming in through my bamboo shades lit tiny pieces of her honey-brown skin. I studied her toned arms, which still were one of my favorite parts of her body. Since she’d picked up the second job, her arms had become even more defined. If it wasn’t for the beeping of my reminder alarm, I would have stared at her all day.

I took a quick hot shower and threw on a pair of jeans and a cute purple button-down shirt. I opted for wedge flip-flops, even though I knew that flip-flops were technically against company policy. I didn’t care. If they were going to send me home over my shoes, I would gladly oblige as I still had a lot to do before my trip.

I grabbed a premixed smoothie out of the fridge, which I had prepared the night before. I had been juicing with various fruits and vegetables for a while, hoping to boost my immune system. The last thing I needed was to develop “con crud,” which was the name given to the contagious illnesses that people got while attending large conventions. It was inevitable for many, since being in packed areas meant lots of germs in the air. On a friend’s advice, I had started taking a daily dose of Airborne.

I walked back into the bedroom before heading out. Ciara was still sleeping. I thought about waking her up. Maybe a taste of her own medicine would help her to understand why I wasn’t a fan of the sex wake-ups. Then I realized an argument would ruin the moment, my chance to watch her sleep. I headed out of the house, closing the door behind me as quietly as possible.

“Temple.”

I jumped when I heard someone calling my name. I turned around to see one of my coworkers, Jasmine, staring at me from the seat next to mine.

“Sorry. What’s up?” I turned my chair around toward her.

“Where were you just then?”

I smiled. “Girl, my mind checked out of this place an hour ago.”

Jasmine shook her head. “You and this damn trip. You better check back in before you get fired before your trip.”

I nodded my head. She was right. I had only an hour to go, but my mind was racing. I had so many last-minute things to do before I left town the next day.

“I still don’t have the right earrings for an armband.” I picked up my to-do list. I had no idea how I was going to get it all done before I caught the Megabus to Atlanta. “Maybe I should just drive myself to Atlanta. That would give me more time to get everything done.”

“Yeah, I’m probably not the one to ask, since I honestly don’t understand anything that you are doing. I do know the whole purpose of you taking the bus was so you could rest and not have to worry about parking and stuff when you get to Atlanta.”

“Atlanta?” Another one of my coworkers, Tina, walked up. “When you going to ATL, girl?”

I never could completely focus on her face, due to the variety of crazy hairstyles she sported on a weekly basis. Today there was some type of giant braid wrapped around her hair with an array of colors braided into it.

“Tina, I have been talking about this trip for months. I’m going tomorrow.”

“Oh, for LudaDay Weekend.” Tina smiled. “Temple, I have so much more respect for you now. I never thought you would attend LudaDay Weekend.” She nodded in approval.

I just stared at her, then said, “I’m not going to LudaDay Weekend. I’m going to something much bigger and better.” I smiled. “I’m going to Dragon Con.”

Now Tina was staring at me.

“It’s a weekend filled with amazing cosplay and celebrities and parties unlike any you have ever seen before,” I explained.

Tina’s staring continued. Whenever I started talking about the convention, I received the same confused expressions from my coworkers. I was definitely a different type of girl. While my coworkers saw Labor Day weekend as a weekend to barbecue and party, I considered it a weekend to meet with over thirty thousand other geeks who loved everything from comics to alternative history. I had attended the convention only one time before and had had the best time of my life.

“Temple, you are so weird. I love it.” Tina walked back to her desk.

“So, what is Ciara going to do all weekend, while you are at Nerdi Gras?” Jasmine asked as she scrolled through her Facebook app on her phone.

“Hang out with her family and friends, I guess. I’m not really sure. She pissed me off last night.”

“Why?”

“Because she just doesn’t support me or this trip, and I get tired of her calling me names all the time and mocking me because of the things I like. My two friends I’m meeting up with there are so glad she’s not coming. I think my friend Cree is a badass, and she might have beaten Ciara up if she said anything crazy while we were there.”

“I’m sorry, hon. It probably is just hard for her to understand.” Jasmine finally looked up from her phone. “I mean, it’s hard for me to get it, but I can tell you really are into it.”

“Yeah, and I get that. But as my partner, I expect her to act more like you do. You don’t have to understand it, but you don’t have to mock it, either.” I sighed. “I tried to explain it by saying, ‘What if there was a convention that you could go to and meet Michael Jordan and LeBron James?’ I told her I knew she would wear one of their jerseys to show her support. Well, I’m going to get the chance to actually meet the person who was my idol when I was growing up.”

I was already stoked about my trip when they announced that the three main stars from my favorite TV series, Olympus, a show about the ancient Greek gods and goddesses, would be there. I knew the second they announced that Les Harrison, who played Zeus, Mason Kyles, who played Hercules, and Kirk Mission, who played Aries, were going to be there, I was going to attend. I started planning my costume and decided on a Greek goddess look until I saw the last-minute addition of Ursula Moore. For a young lesbian, there was no one more heroic than the Amazon goddess Ayela. I remembered running home from school to watch the show about the gorgeous, scantily clad warrior who kicked ass in every episode. As an adult, I watched her every week as she plotted evil schemes and had amazing sex as Athena on Olympus. I immediately changed my costume idea: I gave up the goddess look in favor of making a replica of one of her famous gowns from the TV show.

I lost Jasmine during my geek rant when her phone rang. I turned back to my desk. I glanced at the to-do list again, realizing that I had way too much to do. I knew the day was gone. I punched out on sick time and headed out the door.

I made a mental note of all the things I needed to get done before I caught the morning Megabus to Atlanta. I knew that I had one more Skype session with my friends who were heading to Dragon Con. They were also dressing up as characters from the TV show. Ever since I met them, we had talked every day about the upcoming trip. Nia was an Atlanta local I met on a Facebook group about the convention. She was known for amazing cosplay and was also a die-hard Olympus fan. She introduced me to Cree, who was by far the biggest fan of all. They met when Nia bought an outfit from Cree on eBay. Both women made me look like a bad fan. While I got my costume made, they watched eBay auctions daily to win actual costumes from the show. Nia was going as Athena, and Cree was going as Aphrodite.

I decided to drop by my house first to pick up my costume. I wanted to make sure any jewelry I found matched the red I was wearing perfectly. I pulled up to my apartment to see my girlfriend’s car in the driveway. She was supposed to be at work. Immediately, my body started to tingle. I had a bad feeling. I thought about turning around and leaving, but something told me I needed to go in the house.

I could hear music blaring from our apartment. It wasn’t her usual Lil Wayne and Jay Z. She was blasting Trey Songz. I slowly put my key in the door and turned the knob as quietly as I could. The smell of sweaty vagina and incense hit me the moment I walked in the house. My body started to tremble. My hopes of finding her sitting in front of the living room television, playing her video games, faded. I took off my heels, because I knew I needed to be quiet. I tiptoed to the back of our apartment, and there I could hear the shower going.

I walked into our bedroom. The bed was a mess. The sheets were clinging to the edge of the bed but were mostly on the floor. Clothes were scattered around the floor. I picked up one of the shirts. It was the same uniform that Ciara wore, but much smaller. My heart began to pound as I heard the water stop in the bathroom. I could hear two people laughing. I wasn’t prepared for this. All types of ideas flooded through my head. Was I going to play it cool, yell my ass off, or just commence to kick ass in the house?

“Just get yo’ ass back in the bed . . .” I heard my woman say as the door to the bathroom opened. Unable to decide what to do, I just sat on the edge of the bed as I watched the two naked women walk out of the bathroom. Their bodies both froze, and then they stared at me as I sat on the edge of my bed.

“Temple.” Ciara’s voice cracked. “Temple.”

“I think this belongs to you.” I threw the uniform shirt to Ciara’s naked coworker. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. Standing in front of me was Kelly, Ciara’s funny-shaped, trailer park-trash white coworker.

“Temp.”

I stood up, walked to the closet, and grabbed my garment bag with my costume in it. “Be out of my apartment by the time I get back.”

I couldn’t breathe. I had to get out of that apartment. I walked as fast as I could to my car. I slammed the car door closed and called Nia.

Her usual happy voice answered on the second ring. “Hey, chica!”

I couldn’t speak. I just started to cry. Before I knew it, she had called Cree and had us on three-way.

“What the hell is going on, girl?” Cree’s voice was much more forceful.

“In my house, in my bed.”

“What?” Nia tried to decipher what I was saying. “What happened in your house?”

I continued to cry. It didn’t take long for them to figure out what was going on.

“Please tell me you didn’t find Ciara with someone in your house.” I could tell it was hard for Nia to get the words out.

I cried harder.

“Oh, hell to the naw!” Cree snapped. “I’m going to kill that bitch! How far is Memphis from Atlanta? Where the fuck is my gun?”

The two continued to console me through the phone. I heard someone yelling my name and saw Ciara running out of the apartment.

“She’s coming to my car.” Suddenly Cree’s spirit jumped into my body. I left the two girls on the Bluetooth speakerphone as I hopped out of my car.

“Temple, I’m sorry,” Ciara said.

“How the fuck could you!” I proceeded to punch Ciara in her arms and chest.

She tried to block my attacks. “It just kinda happened. Please, baby.”

“Why is that bitch still in my house?”

“Oh, hell no, that bitch is not still in the house!” I heard Cree yell through the speakerphone.

Ciara became still. “See? That’s why this happened. You so busy trying to go be with those girls and that weird shit that you can’t even take care of home.”

“What the fuck did she just say?” Cree questioned.

“I can’t hear,” Nia replied.

“That weird shit?” I took two steps back. I threw my hands up. “You know what? Fuck you.” I walked back to my apartment.

I walked in to find Kelly standing in the corner. She formed her mouth to say something but quickly changed her mind when she saw the expression on my face.

“Get the fuck out of my house!” I said, and she quickly ran out, following instructions.

I went into my bedroom and grabbed the few things of Ciara’s that I could find in the drawer I had given her. She walked into the room after me.

“Temple, please.”

“Take your shit.” I threw the clothes at her. As she tried to collect them, I grabbed her keys out of her pocket. I pulled my key off of the key chain. “Get the fuck out of my house and never come back.”

“Fine.” Ciara picked up her cologne off my dresser and walked out of the room.

I followed her out of the house and walked to my car, which was still running.

“Since that’s what you want, go be with her,” I yelled as I watched her get into Kelly’s old Kia.

“Yeah, have fun with your weirdos!” she yelled as Kelly drove off.

I sat in my car and slammed the door. I was fuming; I couldn’t think straight. I knew it had happened, but I just didn’t want to believe it.

“Honey, are you all right?” Nia’s voice filled my car.

It hit me that it had really happened. I started to cry again. “I can’t come. I can’t.”

“Oh, hell no, you are coming!” Cree said, jumping in. “Fuck that ugly bitch. You deserve better. You are going to meet us in Atlanta, and we are going to take your mind off of her mud duck ass.”

“Yeah, girl, you need your friends, and we want to be there for you. In fact, I think you should go ahead and take that bus out tonight and come on.” Nia was much more sensitive.

“Yeah, I’m flying in tomorrow, and before you know it, you won’t even be thinking about her,” Cree added.

“But I don’t want to ruin you guys’ weekend,” I sobbed.

“Please! You are going to meet Ursula. Trust me, once you see her, nothing else is going to matter,” Cree said.

I thought about what they were saying. I had been preparing for this trip for months and had spent hundreds gearing up for it. This might be the only chance for me to meet my TV idol. I looked at the clock in my car. I had one hour to get to the bus station to catch the last bus to Atlanta.

“Fuck it. I’m gonna catch this bus. I’ll talk to y’all later.” I hung up to cheers from my friends. Nothing was going to make me miss meeting Ursula, not even a cheating girlfriend.

The bus ride was just what I needed. It was a good thing there were only about ten other passengers on the bus. I got a good seat at the front of the bus, one of the few seats that had a table connected to it. I put on my iPod playlist of emotional songs and spent the whole seven hours crying on and off. We made our final stop in Birmingham before arriving in Atlanta. I knew I needed some time to myself, so I hopped on Hotwire and reserved one night at the Westin Hotel in Atlanta, one of the hotels hosting the convention.

It was unusually cool for a summer night in Atlanta. I walked into the Westin to see WELCOME DRAGON CON signs hanging everywhere. It was like a ghost town in the hotel. I knew that in a few hours the hotel would be filled with costumed men and women, all ready for the convention weekend to start. I was happy for the quiet. I didn’t unpack my bags. I took my clothes off and headed to the famous Heavenly Bath the Westin was known for. I got in the shower and let the water hit my hair. I didn’t care about letting my natural curls show. I dried off and put on the robe that was hanging in the closet. I sat on my bed and closed my eyes. I just wanted to sleep and forget about my day.

I heard my phone blaring. Cree and Nia were chatting it up in the group FB chat we shared. I turned the notifications off. I knew that starting tomorrow, my overprotective friends weren’t going to let me out of their sight. Just as I was putting my phone down, it began to ring. Ciara’s face popped up on my screen.

I pressed ACCEPT. I couldn’t speak. I held the phone.

“Temple.”

Hearing her say my name broke my heart. I struggled to respond. “What?”

“Why won’t you answer the door? We need to talk.”

“I’m not home.”

“Where are you?”

“That’s none of your concern anymore.”

“Temple, please. I just want to apologize.” Ciara almost sounded sincere.

“You already did that. Anything else?” I could feel the anger starting to set back in.

Ciara sighed. “You really want to act like that?”

“Hey, it is what it is. Obviously, you did what you did because you wanted to. There isn’t anything to talk about. So, like I said before, you go be with her and I’ll be here in Atlanta with my weirdos.”

“You’re in Atlanta?” Ciara was shocked.

I didn’t respond.

Ciara then let out a chuckle. “Well, then, have fun. I won’t bother you.”

I hung up the phone. I knew there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t wrap my mind around why she would chose to cheat, and with someone of such low quality, just because I was into things she didn’t get. I was a geek and a fangirl, and I didn’t think I needed to apologize for that. I knew it was something she didn’t get, but I had never expected her to cheat on me because of it. I got angrier when I thought of all the things I had put up with from her. I hated the smell of weed, but I had let her smoke it in my house. I didn’t understand the fascination with watching every basketball game that came on TV, yet I had constantly watched the smaller bedroom TV when my shows came on, because she needed the fifty-five-inch for her games. I had never made her go to see movies with me, yet I had always found myself at action movies, which I couldn’t care less about.

It hit me that I was in a one-sided relationship. I could give and give, but she wasn’t willing to give in return. I hated that I had just wasted ten months of my life on a person who didn’t deserve ten minutes of my time. I opened the Facebook chat.

I put my phone on silent and turned the TV on. I flipped through the channels until I saw a familiar face. There stood Ursula in her Greek attire. It was a rerun of one of my favorite episodes of Olympus. I knew then that I was where I needed to be. In a few hours I was going to finally meet Ursula, and all would be right in the world again.

The sound of a man yelling “Whooo, whooo” in the hallway woke me up. I heard someone knocking on my door. I dragged myself out of the bed and cracked the door open. I saw Nia standing there, looking like Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. I couldn’t help but smile. This was my first time actually meeting her, and she was as flawless in person as she was in her pictures online. The dress was identical to the one in the actual cartoon movie.

“I heard that a little girl was in need of some beignets and a kiss from a prince.” She smiled and held up a plush frog version of Prince Naveen. I grabbed the frog from her and walked back in the room. I climbed back in bed, holding the frog.

Nia sat on the edge of my bed. She put her hand on the covers, right where my leg was.

“You okay, sis?” Her soft voice was comforting.

“I’m all right. I guess I should be getting up and heading to registration.”

“Yeah, it’s crazy out there. I already checked into our room at the Marriott, so we can head over and take your stuff. I can’t believe you got this room just for a few hours. You totally could have come to my house.”

I forced myself back out of the bed. I gave her back her frog and headed toward the bathroom. “Well, I needed a little bit of alone time.”

“I understand. Well, Cree just touched down a bit ago, so by the time we get over to the Marriott, she shouldn’t be too far behind.”

I popped my head out of the bathroom. “Cool. I might as well take my shower here and at least get some of my money’s worth out of the room.”

I showered, put on my travel clothes from earlier, and grabbed my bags. We headed out of the room to find the elevator area already crowded with people. Immediately people wanted pictures with Nia in her costume. I snapped photos of her with guys dressed like the Mario Brothers. We got in one of the elevators, which quickly filled to capacity. I looked around to see the Mario Brothers, a fairy, and a guy in full metal armor from the Halo video game.

I started to laugh. “Only at Dragon Con would I be in this type of elevator.”

The crowd in the elevator laughed, knowing I was right. I knew the weekend was going to be great.

It took longer than expected to walk from the Westin to the Marriott Marquis due to the crowd and the number of people trying to have their photo taken with Nia. I joked that I was her assistant as I held her bag while she posed like she was an actual Disney princess at Disney World. We finally made it to our room, where I set my bags down and proceeded to pull out my Princess Jasmine costume. I knew that the major costumes would be saved for the big panel with the Olympus cast tomorrow.

I was working on my Jasmine ponytail when there was a knock on the door. Nia opened it, and I heard a squeal as Cree ran in and dropped her bags on the floor.

“Oh my God. I just saw a bunch of Roman gladiators. I am in heaven!” She hugged Nia. “I’m so excited.”

“Oh, that’s nothing. Wait till later, when they are all out at the after-hours parties,” Nia said as she picked up one of Cree’s bags. Cree was the only one of us who had never been to Dragon Con before.

“Hey, girl,” Cree said as she hugged me. “You okay?”

“I’m good.”

“Well, you look good. Shit. You are wearing that Jasmine costume.” Cree started to open one of her garment bags. “Well, since we are doing Disney today, I guess I’ll get into this.”

We both were shocked and ecstatic to see that Cree actually had a Pocahontas outfit. She had fought us like crazy about doing anything else girlie besides Aphrodite. An hour later we were all dressed as Disney princesses.

We headed toward the registration area, which was at the Hyatt. The convention was being held at a group of hotels in the downtown area of Atlanta. We got stopped by other con goers, as well as by others in town for various events on Labor Day weekend. Not only was it Dragon Con, but Atlanta was also holding host to LudaDay Weekend, two major college football games, a baseball game, gay pride weekend, and countless family reunions. Guys in college jerseys called out to us, trying to get our attention, as we walked to the Hyatt. We made it to the end of the line. Cree was shocked by the line, which wrapped around the side of the building. We quickly let her know that it wasn’t as nearly as bad as it would be tomorrow.

The one thing you knew to expect at conventions was lines. Even with the long line, time flew by as we took pictures with other con goers. Cree and Nia made sure to take as many photos with hot guys as possible. It was a little odd being the gay girl with the straight girls, but they made sure to make me feel as comfortable as possible by pointing out all the attractive women they thought I should try to talk to.

After an hour and a half of waiting in line, we finally made it through registration. We got our laminated cardboard membership badges and purchased lanyards to replace the little clips that were provided with the badges. We walked to the lobby of the hotel and sat down to rest a bit before heading back out.

“Did you guys know Billy Dee Williams is going to be here too?” Nia said as she flipped through the schedule book. “Would it be crazy for me to go to the panel just so I can hold up a twenty-dollar bill and ask him if he’s gonna make my arm fall off?” We all laughed.

“I think he would welcome questions about anything other than Star Wars. Let’s add it to our list.” I pushed the star on my official app for the convention to add it to my program on my phone.

“Can we discuss something that’s actually important, like the fact that I am going to finally get to be eye to eye with Les?” Cree’s face was very serious. She was the fangirl of Les more than anyone else. She followed not only him as Zeus, but also a show called Liason, which was about being an assassin and which had had its final season a few months earlier. “I can’t wait till he sees me in my Lexi costume.” Cree was in impeccable shape. On top of winning an actual costume from Olympus, she had also won an auction for one of the bodysuits worn by a woman on the show.

“I can’t wait to see his reaction, either,” Nia added. “We should probably head back to the room so you can get into your costume for his solo panel today.”

“I can’t wait for the panel tomorrow. OMG, I’m going to see Ursula.” I was giddy again.

“Yep, tomorrow is going to be epic,” Cree added. “Now, let me go get ready for my man.”

As we stood up, my phone began to ring. I looked at it and saw Ciara’s face again. I sighed. Cree saw my expression and grabbed my phone. Before I could say anything, she had pressed ACCEPT.

“Temple is busy right now,” Cree growled. “What do you want? I don’t really care. Look, you sorry excuse of a woman, you don’t know my ass. I am from Detroit, and I will come to Memphis and rain hell on your ass.”

I grabbed the phone from her.

“What?” I said.

“So you gonna let your little friends talk to me like that? You don’t even know those girls like that.”

“Ciara, what do you want?”

“I’m coming to Atlanta. We need to talk.”

“Don’t bring your ass here.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Oh, yes, please bring your ass here. Please do.” Cree was pacing back and forth and throwing her hands up as she talked.

“We need to talk,” Ciara said.

“Damn it. You have already hurt me, and now you are trying to ruin my weekend too. Don’t come here. And I’m not answering your calls anymore, so stop calling.” I threw my phone on the chair and stormed off.

Cree and Nia caught up with me. I didn’t want to talk about it. I let the convention consume me as we walked back to our hotel. Cree and Nia played along, not bringing up what had happened. I didn’t care that I didn’t