GURRLZ

GURRLZ

What if Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion had met on a playground when they were little kids? ...

The two little girls sat playing in the pea gravel that covered the playground surface. Current wisdom was that the tiny rounded stones would be less likely to hurt the children when they inevitably fell, running from one play station to the next. What the designers hadn’t counted on was the fact that (a) children will eat anything, and (b) cats like the tiny stones for the same reason as the developers — they didn’t hurt their paws when they dug up a spot to do their business. But that’s another story for another time.  

Today Megan and Cardi were playing in the stones. They weren’t really playing together, they were more playing adjacent to each others. Their mothers were sitting on a nearby bench watching their daughters playing, drinking coffee and gossiping.  

Clara liked Cardi playing with Megan. The girls got along so well. And she liked Holly, too. She was a down-to-earth woman with her eye on the future. She was so happy that her daughter had such a nice playmate.

Cardi and Megan continued to play in the stones. Cardi picked up a larger stone that Megan had put on the top of her pile.

“Mine!” said Cardi.

Megan looked up at her, questioning. She moved her chubby little hand slowly towards Cardi’s pile, and reclaimed the stone.

“Mine!” she said laughing.

“No!” said Cardi, swinging her hand towards Megan’s pile, laying waste to it.

“NO!” yelled Megan, anger scrunching up her tiny face. She picked up a handful of stones and threw them at Cardi. "MINE!"

Shocked, Cardi looked at Megan.

“BAD!” said Cardi, picking up her own handful of stones, and throwing them at Megan.

Megan let out a fierce growl.

“YOU BAD!” she snarled, and heaved a double handful of stones at Cardi.

Cardi started screeching, redoubling her efforts to pummel Megan using pea gravel.

Megan returned in kind.

The mothers looked over, not sure what was happening, just understanding that the situation was not good.

Holly ran over to Megan, and hoisted her out of Cardi's line of fire. Clara grabbed Cardi and made her drop the stones clenched in her little fists.

“What is this all about?” Clara asked Cardi.

She still scowled at Megan.  

“Mine!” she said pointing at the bigger rock.

“NO! MINE!” yelled Megan, pointing at the same rock.

Clara looked at Holly, who could only shrug.

Clara bent down to Cardi’s level.  

“Cardi,” she said. “Did you take megan’s rock?”

Cardi turned her head, and threw herself at her mom’s shoulder.

A teeny, tiny “yes” could be heard by both mothers.

“Cardi,” continued her mom. “There are all kinds of rocks here, more than enough for both you and Megan. You need to tell Megan you’re sorry.”

Cardi looked shyly at Megan, and walked over to her.

“Sorry,” she said, and gave Megan a big hug. Megan hugged her back.

When Cardi and Megan were ten, they were in the same grade five class. They were inseparable — they did their hair the same, they called each other every morning to make sure that they were going to wear the same colour clothes at school, and they had the same friends.

Clara and Holly were still good friends as well, and the two families regularly socialized. In fact, the mothers took turns taking the girls to school and picking them up in the afternoon. 

In November, just before Thanksgiving, Cardi caught Megan whispering to Niki and laughing. They were standing in the hall during lunch. She walked up to them.

“What are you two talking about,” asked Cardi, smiling at her two friends.

The two girls just giggled harder.

“What?” asked Cardi, beginning to feel a little uncomfortable.

The two girls just stared at her, trying not to laugh out loud. Snorting noises came out of their noses as they held back their laughter.

Cardi felt her eyes well up, so instead of letting anyone see her cry, she turned on her heel, and walked down the hall, out the door, and all the way home.

When she got home, her mother was surprised to see her.

“Cardi! Why aren’t you at school?” said Clara.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” replied Cardi, turning down the hall to go to her room. 

Clara followed, and before Cardi could shut the door, Clara followed her into the bedroom. Cardi threw herself on her bed, burying her face in her pillows.

“Dee,” said her mom, “What’s the matter?” Her voice was gentle and caring. That calm tone started Cardi crying. Then sobbing. Then wailing. Then when she was spent, quiet hiccups. All the while, Clara sat on the side of her bed, rubbing her daughter’s back, telling her it was going to be alright.  

“Now, tell me what happened,” said Clara once Cardi had stopped hiccuping, and her breathing became regular.

Cardi did. When she was finished, she looked at her mom, and asked why would Megan do that to her. She thought that they were best friends.

“I don't know," admitted Clara. "Tell me about that Niki girl. Do I know her?”

“No. She’s older,” said Cardi. “She’s older, and thinks that she’s some sort of queen. She’s really mean. She tries to turn all the other girls against one another. Last year, she was so mean to Missy, that Missy’s mom took her out of school, and home schooled her for the rest of the year. Then this year, Missy went to another school.” Cardi looked at her mom. “I don’t want to go to another school.”

  She looked like she was going to start crying again.

“You won’t have to, Baby. But, I’m going to go to the school and have a talk with the principal tomorrow.”

Cardi sat up straight on the bed. “NOOO! You can’t do that!” she pleaded. “It’ll only make things worse.”

That evening, after dinner there was a knock on the door. Clara opened it to find Megan standing at the door. Clara gave Megan a stern look.

“Is Cardi home?” Megan said, looking at the floor. “I need to talk to her.”

“You know how much you hurt her, right?”

“Yes, ma’am”

“And you know you’re her best friend?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“And—“

“MOM!” yelled Cardi from behind her.

“Fine,” said Clara. She looked at the time, and looked back to Megan. “Does your mother know you’re here?”

“Yes, ma’am. She’s in the car, outside.”

“Okay, I’m going out to talk to her. You two talk in here.”  

Clara left the house, leaving the two girls looking silently at each other.

Clara went out to speak with Holly.

“So, do you know what happened at school today?” Clara asked Holly.

Holly nodded her head, glumly.

“Megan told me. She said that Niki girl told her it would be funny to just laugh at Cardi, and that Cardi would think it was funny, too.. But, she didn’t, did she?”  

Clara shook head. Holly continued.  

“She brought Niki home after school. What a handful! First she wanted a snack, then she didn’t like what I gave them, then she started whispering to Megan about Grammie.  But Grammie was on to her and her mean ways, and told her to speak up, that there was no whispering in the Pete household. Well, Niki didn’t like that, and sat with her arms crossed, and didn’t speak again until her mother came to pick her up. Nice woman, but she apologized for Niki’s behaviour, and said that she’s been acting out since she and Niki’s dad split. She’s worried that her older brother’s girlfriend is a bad influence on Niki.”

“So,” asked Clara, changing the subject, “did you make Megan come over today?”

“No, once she told me about what happened at school, she said that she was feeling badly for the way she treated Cardi, and she wanted to apologize.”

“Hmmm,” said Clara, nodding. “Let’s go inside and make sure that they’re not killing each other.”

When the women went in, Cardi and Megan were laughing and talking, just like nothing had ever happened.

Later that night, Clara asked Cardi about it. 

“Megan said she was sorry. We’re never going to talk to Niki again. She’s mean.”

It was getting close to graduation, and prom was almost upon them. Cardi and Megan both attended the same high school, and had remained best friends throughout. But neither girl had a date to the prom.

But there was a problem brewing. Both Cardi and Megan liked the same guy, Jay, but neither girl knew the other liked him. Jay was tall, and really cool, and he was a rapper, and he’d played some paying gigs. Both girls were enamoured with him, because both girls wanted to be rappers. They wanted to be just like Queen Latifa.

Together the girls would write songs, and pretend that they were performing in front of an audience. It was their dream. But, wow! Jay was already doing it.

“So, you going to ask anyone to the prom?” asked Megan one night after they had finished their homework. They were sitting in Cardi’s room.

“It’s not a Sadie Hawkins dance!” said Cardi. “But, if I could, I think I’d ask Jay. He is so manly. And he raps. He’s living the life.” Cardi’s eyes were a little unfocussed.

“Jay!” said Megan, a little miffed. “I didn’t know that you liked him. You don’t even know him!”

“I wouldn’t mind getting to know him.” Cardi smiled at her friend, not noticing the annoyed look Megan tossed her way.

“Jay! That’s not right!” said Megan, crossing her arms across her chest.

“What?” said Cardi, confused.

“I like Jay, too!” Megan said, almost angry. “We both can’t like him!”

Cardi squinted at her friend. “I said that I liked him first. You can’t like him. You’ve got to choose someone else.”

“No I don’t. You don’t know that you liked him first. I might have liked him before you.” Megan said, pouting.

“Sure,” said Cardi. “And how was I supposed to know? I’m not psychic!”

While not a complete riff between the two friends, it was beginning to get in the way of their friendship. At school Megan screwed up her courage and started flirting with Jay. They had science together, and she paid Ryan ten dollars to swap seats with her, so she could sit beside him.

Cardi was furious. How dare Megan flirt with her crush! Cardi knew where Jay worked after school. She got a job at the same place. Both girls embarked on an all-out offensive. But Jay didn’t even seem to notice either of them. He was just interested in his music. They redoubled their efforts. Cardi made friends with the girlfriend of Wayne, one of Jay’s buds — that way she could eat lunch them at their table. Megan offered to help Jay with his science project, and set up meetups at the library.

But Jay didn’t ask either girl to the prom. On the night of the prom Cardi and Megan reluctantly went to the prom with their other single friends. They were still aggrieved with each other. Then they saw why Jay wasn’t interested in them. He showed up in a stretch limo. He opened the door and out stepped his date, Bee. 

Both girls realized right then and there why Jay wasn’t interested in them. Bee was stunning. And poised. And glamorous. Way out of Cardi and Megan’s league.

Megan looked at Cardi. Cardi at Megan.

“I’m sorry” said Cardi. We shouldn’t have let some guy come between us. It was stupid.”

“I’m sorry, too,” said Megan. “Sistas before mistas!”

“Forever!” declared Cardi.

They hugged and laughed, and danced the night away.  

After graduation the women drifted apart. Megan moved to the west coast to try and launch her rap career. Cardi stayed in New York, trying to get her own gig going. Both women had a modicum of success in the business, if not in love. Cardi was mixed up with a not-so-nice man, and Megan had a number of short-lived flings. Occasionally one of the women would call up the other, and complain about their rotten love lives. That got Cardi thinking about a new song. The idea stuck with her, over the next few years.  

Professionally, the women were getting noticed, and were considered top draw acts. And their love lives improved. Cardi meet Kiari, a rapper, and they married and had a child. Megan met another rapper, Jordan, and they moved in together, completely in love. Professionally and romantically, both women were at the top of their game, finally.

But Cardi was still thinking about that song, the one when she decided to leave her not-so-nice man.  

On a trip to the west coast, Cardi called Megan, and they made plans to get together for lunch. When they saw each other they hugged, and told each other how great they looked. It wasn’t a lie. Both women had grown into their own style. They both did look fantastic.

They reminisced — the stone throwing episode, the dust-up in grade five, and their teenage crush on Jay. They laughed. And they toasted each other for still being friends.  

“Do you remember when I bailed from that not-so-nice guy I was living with? Just before we started getting noticed?” Cardi asked Megan.

She thought for a moment. “Yeah, I think so. I was complaining about having a whole bunch of first dates, and no second dates.” She nodded. “Romantically, that was a bleak time for both of us.”

“Yeah!” said Cardi. “That’s right. We were definitely not getting the love we deserved.”

Megan agreed. “No, we were not.” She laughed. “It’s soooo much better now!”

“So true,” said Cardi, “So true.” She paused. “Anyway, back then I had an idea about a song — about how if guys can’t love us the way we are, then they need to step off. I’m thinking of calling it WAP.”

“WAP?” asked Megan, confused. "What's WAP?"

Cardi leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“What!” said Megan. “Do you think we could?”

“Sure,” she said. “Who's going to stop us? And I’ve got this great idea for a video …”