Anyone could go giddy by only shopping with people like Praise and Tracie. They were pretty crazy. They always wanted to buy everything in the mall. Aside from Vicki and the rest of my family, they were my best friends. Though they could be so annoying sometimes, they were the best friends anyone could ever wish to have. We had been friends for about twelve years, so I understood them a lot.
Praise was the eldest. She was twenty seven, and was married to a black English man. They had a pretty two year old girl, and were hoping to have a baby soon. She was tall, had beautiful dark skin, and was very beautiful. Since she was an American, her husband and she decided to settle down over here. That was good for me. At least, I wouldn’t have to miss her.
“Oh, that’s the curling cream!” She hurried over to the shelf which had a couple of hair products. I rolled my eyes, knowing that she had been dramatic when she had screamed out that loud. She grabbed the cream, turned to me. “I’ve been willing to do my baby’s hair. Glad I found this.”
“Yeah, yeah. Can we get some clothes now?” Tracie said. As usual, that apathetic tone lingered in her voice.
Well, Tracie was different from Praise in a way. She wasn’t so dramatic. She was the youngest, and had gotten married two months ago. She was going to have a baby in a few months. To be honest, sometimes, I couldn’t help but feel like an outcast. Both my friends were married, and I was the only one left. If Ralph had been sensible, I would probably be planning to get married soon.
“I’m so happy!” Praise exclaimed, throwing the cream into the cart, as we made our way to the cloth section of this mall.
“Guys, we shouldn’t spend a lot of money on clothes. I’m trying to be careful with my expenses,” I stated.
Tracie chuckled. “Yeah, whatever. You’re always conscious of money. That’s the reason you don’t have a car yet.”
“Yen, yen, yen.” I hissed.
We grabbed a few clothes, put them in the cart, made our way to the jewelry section. I hadn’t bought any jewelry in months. As soon as we got there, I felt the need to get my ass off here. The jewelries were so expensive, their prices totally exceeding my budget.
“Damn, this is so pretty.” Tracie put her finger on the glass which displayed the gold necklaces, her eyes beaming in excitement. “You think we should check them out?”
I chuckled weirdly. “No, I don’t think so. I can see that that costs fifteen hundred dollars. That could pay my rent, you know?”
“You’re just too funny.” Praise laughed.
“Whatever.
For a while, they both argued on whether or not to purchase the jewelry. But, when Praise texted her husband and asked him for a suggestion, he told her that she shouldn’t try to purchase something that expensive. After all, he was the one working hard to get the money.
“We should get going,” Tracie said.
“Hm.” I nodded in agreement.
Pulling the cart towards me, I spun around, only for my body to clash against someone’s. A few clothes fell off the cart, and I hurried to grab them. Raising my neck to see who I had bumped into, I widened my eyes on seeing this bratty chick, Sherri.
I stood up. “Sherri?”
She scorned. “Now, my day’s gonna be bad, only because I had to see you.”
“What now?” I rolled my eyes, totally aware of where this conversation was going.
She took a step close, faced me. “Heard what happened. Can now see that it’s obvious that you’re trying to get my man.”
I sighed. I needed to be calm. “What’s your problem? Are you this obsessed with Ryan? What makes you think I like him? I mean, it’s crazy.”
“You’re the crazy one.” She shot glares at me. It was pretty obvious that fury was swimming through her. “You had the guts to go on a date with my man? Don’t you have any self-respect?”
“Hey, that’s enough.” Tracie interfered. She stood in between Sherri and me, quite glaring that she was angry. Well, Tracie and Praise didn’t like Sherri. I knew that. But woah, If they interfered, things would go crazy.
“Who’re you?” Sherri cocked a brow at Tracie.
“She’s a woman, obviously.” Praise interfered as well. Oh, this wouldn’t go well.
Sherri sighed out loud. “Ladies, I don’t know you. So please, get your asses off here. I’m trying to speak to the lady behind you. This is none of your business.”
Tracie scoffed. “I despise you. I’m only seeing you for the first time, but, I swear, I feel like breaking your bones. See, if you try to sputter some crazy words, we’ll make your life seem fucked up.”
“Do you know who I am? If you dare mess around with me, I can make you miserable,” Sherri threatened.
“Go on.” Praise poked Sherri’s arm. “We love “miserable”. We can deal with that, okay? In fact, we’re both miserable.”
I bit my laugh. Noticing that a ruckus could occur anytime soon, I tapped their shoulders. When they looked at me, I blinked to beckon I was fine. I knew they were worried about me, but I was definitely fine.
“Please, guys,” I whispered.
They glanced at each other, then nodded in agreement. When they stepped backwards, I faced Sherri who was glaring at herself.
“See, Sherri, before you blame me for doing crazy things, confront Ryan first. That dude knows how it went. He kind of—”
“You think this is a joke?” The look on her face was plainly threatening. She linked her arms on her chest, her teeth gritted. “This is a pain. Pure pain. Ever since you’ve been working with him, everything’s gone down for me. Don’t know what you’re doing to him. But please, stop it. Stop seducing my man.”
“Hey, you—”
“I can turn out to be very dangerous. I know Ryan isn’t serious with relationships. But, if I keep yearning to have him, and keep being loyal to him, he’ll eventually have some time for me in the future.”
I slammed my palm against my forehead. Her craziness was tiresome. “Please, stop speaking in such a vile manner. Take him. I’m not interested in him at all.”
“This is your last warning. Rather than chase my man, what’s stopping you from getting a man of your own?” She continued. Could she just shut her mouth up?
I shook my head at her. “You annoy me.”
“It’s going to be hard for you. Anything, absolutely anything, can be done in order to get him,” she blurted out.
“Leave.”
“Ryan’s mine, lady. Back off before it’s too late. And yeah, I leave in peace. Hopefully, it’ll remain peaceful, Serene.” With that, she turned around, walked away.
I knew her words weren’t supposed to have an effect on me, but how crazy could it be to get blamed for doing absolutely nothing? This was so annoying.
“Girl, it’s fine, huh?” Tracie stood in front of me, tapped my shoulder. “We’ll deal with her. You’ve always told us how crazy she is, but today, I saw it myself. And, I’m ready to do something weird to her.”
I shook my head, smiling weakly. “It’s fine. Please, don’t do anything. I-I don’t think that’s important.”
Slowly, her lips curled in a smirk. What was that for? “Hm… you’re sure you don’t want us to do something weird? Cause, literally, Praise isn’t behind you anymore. She’s gone to create a commotion.”
I gasped. “No, no. Tell her to return. We’re mature adults. We can’t keep on doing those—”
“Ah!” The loud scream of a woman’s voice, made my head go blank. My heart jumped to my throat, and I gulped. Oh, goodness, what had these women done? They could be so crai-crai.
Tracie smirk widened. “Next time, she wouldn’t deal with women like us.”
I ran past her, turned to the other side of the mall. Immediately I got there, I gaped in shock.
Sherri was at the center of the mall, yanking at her neat hair, also running her hands from her waist to her hips. She was hopping around, seeming like a complete lunatic.
“There’s a cockroach in my panty! Someone, help! Oh my gosh!” She cried at the top of her voice.
Confused and dazed, I just kept staring at her, as well noticing the crowd which were rushing towards her. This would be so embarrassing for her. Was this a good idea after all?
Tracie leaned close to my ear, and whispered, “This has only gotten started. She won’t ever forget this day. Assholes like her deserve this.”
I bit my smile. Yes, this was a good idea after all. I loved my girls.
—
(Hey, guys! Don’t forget to leave a comment/review! Your comments are usually encouraging. Thanks for reading…)