Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 74450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“Ohhhh, that sounds pretty! I bet—”
“Hold up! I need to get something off my chest! My brother Legend said Caspian said you some type of empath, psychic lady or some shit, and that you can read mothafuckas. I’m having trouble in my relationship right now, Azure. My man is an older East coast Italian son of a bitch who fucks me silly, keeps my bills paid for months at a time, but has a controlling streak, and I’m ’bout to break his fucking neck. I’m an independent woman and I like my space, but I love him. So what about it? Can you help a bitch out or what? Tarot? Crystals? Hell, something?”
The table suddenly became quiet, then everyone burst out laughing.
“Mel, why are you like this?!” English snorted.
“What?” Melanie threw up her hands. “I’m just askin’ what everyone is thinking. Is this lady psychic or what? If so, I want to use her services.” The woman rolled her eyes at her friends as if it were a no-brainer.
“Okay, Caspian is exaggerating, first and foremost,” Azure raised her finger in the air, “but a bitch can pick up on things, okay? I’ve rarely been wrong about my gut instinct. I don’t read no tarot, no shit like that, but I’m kinda good with astrology and energy. Vibes.”
“Ohhhh! Okay. My man is a Gemini,” Melanie offered. “And I’m a Libra, on a Scorpio cusp.”
“Oh, no!” Desiree shouted. “Even I know that’s a match made in Hell!” The table began laughing all over again.
“Melanie is half demon. What astrology sign is that?” English chortled.
“We all have good sides and challenging sides. Your relationship can work, Melanie, but it’s a challenging pairing is all. What you need to do is…” Before Azure knew it, they’d eaten a mountain of appetizers, drank too many alcoholic drinks, and laughed their asses off. Two hours turned into three, and she was over the moon with giddiness.
“English and Desiree, I have a question for y’all.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes?”
“…Don’t you find it a tad bit peculiar that Legend, Caspian, and Axel all met and married Black women within the last five years?”
They all looked at one another, as if not sure how to answer.
“Don’t you find it interesting that Desiree here looks the most physically like this teacher all three of them speak so highly of—Mrs. Florence I believe her name is? And English here has many of her same interests? Then you take me… and my personality is a lot like hers, according to Caspian. That doesn’t strike y’all as… odd?”
English shook her head. “I never thought about it, really.”
Desiree cleared her throat. “I have. I thought about it again after Axel was on the phone with Legend, saying how much you talk like Mrs. Florence. This was right after they met you at the restaurant.”
Melanie stirred her drink, sipped it, then gazed around the room.
“I know you didn’t ask me, Azure, but yeah, I found it strange that these White men, Caspian and Axel, my brother being half White and half Puerto Rican, all met and married Black women within a short period of time. Now, in fairness, Axel always dated Black women. He didn’t discriminate. He dated White women, Asian women, whatever. Legend dated mostly Black women his entire adulthood, so him being with Desiree wasn’t surprising at all. But Caspian?” Her eyebrow rose and she shook she head, then laughed.
“I think you’re the first Black woman I have ever seen him with romantically. Like, ever. I didn’t think about the teacher component to it, but you’re right. Mrs. Florence had an overwhelming influence on my brother, Azure. I think he’d honestly be back in prison for life, or dead, if it wasn’t for her. Axel was practically in love with her, and Caspian kept himself very guarded but confided in that woman. That’s practically unheard of for him. I think you might be onto something, but hey, as long as y’all are happy, I couldn’t care less.” She shrugged.
“What if I told y’all that we’re pawns in a game and all hand selected by a ghost? What if Mrs. Florence herself hand-picked us and brought us to our fiancés and husbands so they could fulfill their promises to her?”
The women turned to one another, confusion on their faces, then looked back in her direction as if she were nuts.
She burst out laughing and beat on the table, and they joined in.
“Azure, you are a hoot!”
Mmm hmmm… sure I am. A real hoot… Y’all ain’t ready for that discussion. Ain’t shit I said a lie, but y’all go on ahead and swim in the pool of denial. I’ve got life jackets. Eventually, you will have to go towards the deep end.
“Hey, y’all wanna go out and see that new Jordan Peele movie?” English offered.
“What about the kids? The babysitter ain’t supposed to be there but for another forty minutes or so,” Desiree responded.