Skylar

I flexed my feet in my black work boots handing off more drinks wishing the night could be over. The Coyote Ugly Club was drowning in warm bodies. Bellies were filled with alcohol and the DJ kept the music flowing. I just supplied the drinks and kept the cash flow coming. 

"Let me get a lemon drop, shawty," Ryan asked leaning against the counter and swinging her butt-length braids.

"Where you been at all night, huh?" I asked ignoring her use of the word 'shawty' and continued to make her lemon drop shot.

"You can't rush perfection." Ryan swayed her body to the slow Kendrick Lamar song playing.

The group of men next to her whistled, "You sure can't."

I placed their cold beer bottles before them and turned, "How you paying babe?"

Ryan placed her loose cash in my hands, "Still a penny-pinching ass bitch. Sooner or later you're gonna be the one buying drinks."

"I ain't going nowhere," I spoke pouring more drinks and flashing a fake smile at drunk customers.

"Yes, you are."

Keeping my workstation clean I leaned against the counter wiping away the residue with a cleaning cloth, "I been here for the past two years-"

Ryan cut me off immediately, "This is just an era in your life. Next year, you're gonna be in Paris or whatever dancing."

The bell at the end of the bar dinged as more bodies swarmed the space, "Gotta go. Wait for me until I get off."

~

I sat up hearing my phone buzz illuminating the dark room with a flash of light. I rubbed my eyes thinking my brain was playing tricks on me. However, the phone continued to buzz. 

"Hello?" My voice sounded rugged and strained, unfamiliar.

"It's noon. You still sleep?" My oldest sister, Genevieve, asked crunching on whatever she ate for lunch.

I pulled the phone from my ear looking at the time. It was noon like she had said. How long was I sleeping?

"I worked until three in the morning. Not everybody can have a nine-to-five Mrs. Doctor." I felt my eyes closing the more she talked dragging out her tone. 

"I need you to pick up Raymond from the barbershop today. I know you hate going there but I'm working late, again." Genevieve whispered trying to keep her coworkers from listening.

"Okay."

"No questions for me, Sky?" Genevieve questioned ignoring the beeping from her call machine.

"Nope. I'll never miss an opportunity with my nephew." I smiled trying to lighten the mood.

It was true. I loved my nephew. I'd been working so much that I nearly jumped at the chance to see him.

"Okay. Just let me know when you get Raymond and take him straight to Mom's."

"Okay, you better go before one of your patient's codes or something."

"Girl! Goodbye!

I looked around my studio apartment which was small yet chic stretching my aching muscles. My dark red curtains shielded me from the light outside. I felt like a vampire that had risen from the dead. Groaning I laid back down covering my face with my duvet.

~

I opened the door to Chaz's Barbershop hearing the rap music filter through the speakers and the singing of a bell over my head. The energy was still the same since the last time I had been here all those years ago. Before Honey died. Before Chaz sold the shop.

"Raymond!" I called to the little boy looking in the mirror smiling at his fresh braids.

The ten-year-old boy spun around smiling showing his missing teeth, "Auntie!"

He crashed into me making my chain belt jingle against my body. I ran a hand over his fresh cornrows, "Looking sharp baby boy."

The men in the barbershop seemed to quiet at the sight of me. I turned to his barber Quentin and waved, "How much?"

Quentin leaned against his leather chair smirking, "Free if you let me take you on a date?"

"Aren't you old enough to be my daddy?" The patrons inside ooh'ed after eavesdropping on our conversation.

Quentin laughed, "Seventy-five, shorty. You playing me in front of my employees."

I handed him a hundred dollar bill, "I still love you Quentin just not like that."

"You got it. Let me get change."

I waved my hand in defiance, "It's okay."

I went to open the door but stepped back at the sight of a client coming in. He was tall and muscular. But something about him was very... sensual. He sent me a warm smile holding the door open.

Raymond stuck to my hip as we walked to the door, "Bye y'all!"

The men in the barbershop turned again, "See you later, lil Ray!"

I held Raymond's hand as we exited the shop. I turned slightly to the man holding the door, "Thank you."

I kept my eyes forward clinging onto my nephew admiring how he smiled at me like I was his favorite person in the world, "You hungry?"

Malachi

"Damn bro, you gone stare at her all the way down the street?" Quentin asked wiping his chair down with antiseptic.

I chuckled, "What? She fine as hell. That's her son?"

Eddie, an old head at the barbershop waved his newspaper around, "He's ten that would make her...fifteen."

The men laughed in unison at his joke. Quentin rolled his eyes, "That's her nephew."

I smiled looking out the barbershop windows shaking his head, "What do you need me to work on Quentin?"

~

Skylar

I filled my plate with spaghetti and salad looking over my shoulder at Raymond who sat at the table with my mother, Pamela. He was giggling as she twirled the ends of his braids. Spaghetti sauce sat on his cheeks and his plate was half finished.

"Did you hear back from that recruiter?" My mother asked me as soon as I sat down.

"Dang momma, can I eat first?" I uncapped the ranch dressing pouring a generous amount on my salad.

"What are you going to do? We had an agreement." My mother turned away from Raymond to look at me. I could see the disappointment in her eyes. This was killing her and I knew it.

"I'm working on it." That wasn't totally true but she didn't need to know that right now.

"You can't let fear push you away from your dreams, Sky."

"I know, momma."

Author's Note:

Hey y'alll!

I had this idea last night and will see this book through the finish line.

Please be an active reader! Vote and comment, I love it when y'all interact. 

Peace and blessings!