The Next Girl by Tawanna Sullivan  Raina is my best friend—and I hate her. We've known each other for over ten years. If there was anyone who would have my back, it would be her. Everything was fine until Raina started dating my next girl. The next girl is the woman you have your eye on while you’re trying to break up with your current girl. Jelisa Friday is a goddess. I'm not just talking about her smooth velvet voice or her delicious chocolate curves. She's the kind of woman who can smile at you and all of your worries just fall away. She's smart, sexy, and should have been mine.I had been laying the ground work with Jelisa for a few weeks. I still had love for Stephanie, but things hadn't been working out for a while. Going home to her was like going into a war zone. I had timed it so that the transition from Steph to Jelisa would be seamless. Now, let me set the scene for you. Stephanie and I are at the Allegro to cheer on one of her co-workers in the Mr. Gay USA competition. The house lights are down low and dude in a thong is on stage flexing his muscles. Suddenly, Jelisa walks into the room and it's like the whole world stops. Yes, even the men all paused. I didn't hug her as usual—I'm not going to disrespect Steph to her face—but I made space for her at our table. That's when I turned around and saw Raina beside her.Neither announced they were on a date, but their actions proved it. Throughout the whole evening, there were sly touches on the arm and whispers. Jelisa loved the attention. They barely acknowledged our presence at all. After Mr. Gay USA had been crowned, Raina took her to some dark corner to do God knows what.I couldn't believe it. My best girl had stolen my next girl and there was nothing I could say about it.
Raina is a notorious playa; no woman can hold her attention for long. So, it didn’t surprise me when cracks started appearing in their relationship. We were back at the Allegro playing pool. I had just finished a new version of my Stephanie-is-getting-on-my-last-nerve rant, when Raina finally dropped the bombshell. "Jelisa is starting to move a little too fast for me." Then she leaned over and ever so gently tapped the 3 ball into the right corner pocket.I stepped back, took a sip of my whiskey sour, and nodded for her to continue. "She gave me a set of house keys," Raina complained. "She's expecting me to give her a key, too. My mother doesn't even have the key to my place." She tossed down a few peanuts and with a bank shot sunk the 7 into a side pocket. "Narcia, this girl is talking domestic partnership. I'm just trying to make it to a 6 month anniversary."It was clear that Jelisa was about to get her feelings trampled on and I, Narcia, didn't care. Served her ass right for not being patient and waiting for me. Since I didn't say anything—hey, I'm not Dr. Phil—Raina kept "processing" her feelings. Shot after shot, she whined about how she was nervous about settling down. "Honestly, I'm not trying to run away this time." At the end of the game, all Raina had to do was hit the 8 ball into the right back pocket. Anyway, that's the pocket any normal person would have chosen. A few other women had gathered around to cheer her on and she wasn't about to disappoint her fans. She pointed her cue at the front left pocket. “Eight ball in the corner,” she announced and everyone oohed and aahed on cue. When she slid the stick behind her back and winked at me, I looked away in disgust. Next thing I knew, everyone was clapping and Raina had a mini entourage escorting her to the bar. That's when I started thinking about how Raina never missed an opportunity to humiliate me. She's a better pool player than me, so why the fancy shots? Just because she could. Raina knew how I felt about Jelisa and had no business stepping to her like that. She could have had any girl she wanted, but she had to take my next girl.As you can see, that shit started eating me up on the inside. The idea hit me on the cab ride home. Why should Raina always have it her way? What if she was the one who got dumped? Even better, what if I stole Jelisa back…  |