Moving On Day

After the women carried the last tote bag into the loft and gently tossed it into the empty bedroom sans the king- sized bed Millicent put together the day she moved in, she slid in her socks  on her vinyl plank flooring and flipped open her laptop which was sitting on the kitchen island. 

Millicent or Millie as her friends called her, tapped a few buttons and in an instant her new third floor apartment overlooking the pool was filled with Marvin Gaye’s Got To Give It Up. 

That signaled the start of the celebration.

Lisa let out a ‘hey there nah’ as she opened the cupboard over stove to retrieve the purple, Solo cups from the shelf and opened the packaging. 

She shook her hips to the beat causing the other ladies in the loft to either giggle or shimmy. Brenda took a cup and rinsed it out before she went over to the refrigerator to press the automatic ice maker.

“Look Mill, you finally got your ice maker.” Brenda mentioned as she reached for one of the bottled beverages placed in a decorative bowl on the island.

The air in the loft hung heavy as Carol and Keisha gave each other knowing glances. Brenda intercepted the glance and said, 

“You two cut it out, Millie knows I don’t mean no harm.”

Millie shimmied past them and she continued to slide over to her patio door to slide that open as well. The loft filled with air that was crisp although it was cloaked with the syrupy scent of honeysuckle. 

That’s when Lisa, cup in hand took a sip while looking out of the patio door overlooking the pool. She noticed a rather sculpted, statuesque, chocolate man taking off his shirt to dive into the pool. Lisa quickly shimmied back into the loft, walked over to a chair by the island and grabbed a box of menthol cigarettes and a lighter out of her purse and swiftly sashayed herself out onto the tiny balcony and sat down on one of the chairs. She commenced to light a cigarette as she yelled over her shoulder, 

“Aye yo Mill? How late your pool open tho?” Lisa semi cackled as she continued to ask, “Nah, I’m for real tho Mill!!!”

At this point, Keisha had lit a cigarette in the apartment and yelled over to Lisa, “Girl, if you don’t bring that cigarette up in here and stop all that yelling before Sam hear you.”

Lisa laughed and came back in the apartment for a minute to grab a cup full of somethin and to giggle.

“His name Sam huh Keisha? Ain’t chu murried Keisha?”

“Been murried just as long as you have, Leeeesa” Keisha quipped back sharply yet and still letting her best-friend’s name hover in the air like a song. 

“And Carol ain’t too far behind us. The only one who’s available is Ms. Millicent over there and she slow walkin her ass.”

“Oh, no Kei, tell me you didn’t?” Carol asked whipping her head back and forth between Keisha and Millie.

Millie nodded, “Carol, she did.”

Keisha stood up with her cigarette and walked into the kitchen where there was an amethyst ashtray on the counter next to the paper towel holder and flicked her ash.

“I ain’t do nothin obvious. I wouldn’t do my sister like that, but you know how fussy she can be so one day when I was droppin somethin off to her I decided to take out her trash and boom, there was Sam just as happy to take the bag from me and take it to the dumpster. That’s it.”

“And that’s all it’s gon be too.” Millie added as she sauntered back over to her patio to take one last look over the pool before attempting to shut the patio door.

“You ain’t got to do that,” Lisa stopped her. “Even though whoever has them damn honeysuckles is irritatin my sinuses and shit. Leave that door open the breeze is nice. Plus, I guess they keep the pool open pretty late, for um Sam, you say now Kei?”

The girls all erupted in laughter as they took their respective Solo cups into the living room which was strewn with body pillows since the rest of Millie’s  furniture hadn’t arrived yet.

Of course, Lisa took a pillow closest to the patio and the other ladies spread themselves out accordingly while the music played in the background. Brenda giggled as she looked at the cup.

“How did you manage to find purple Solo cups?”

Millie giggled, “Girl Amazon has everything!”

“You ain’t lyin,” Carol chimed in.

“Just don’t go overboard with the purple n here Mill, it’s gon look like Barney blew up in this camp” Keisha advised.

“Kei,” Carol said through giggles, “You behave, I heard  you took all of  Millie’s furniture choices out of her cart.”

“I did no such thing,” Kei replied, I just simply stated that every woman who gets a lofty earned income credit refund has the leather sectional with the lights.”

“Millie, no!  Say you didn’t!” Brenda gasped causing everyone to look at Millie who was holding her arms out to be rescued by the invisible furniture gods.

“Bren, you see we all sittin on body pillows up in here, so no, I didn’t.” 

Brenda sighed in relief.

Carol interjected while pointing around the open concept loft with her cup, “But this ain’t it…”

Millie interrupted, “Oh c’mon now give me a little fuckin credit. I did actually buy furniture, but it ain’t get here in enough time for our little gathering.”

“Speakin of that, where our food?” Lisa interjected. “I purposely only had coffee this morning cuz I thought we was havin brunch and shit.”

Millie looked at her phone and tapped it a couple of times with her finger. Keisha leaned over and gently took her wrist and looked at Millie’s fingers,

“Oooh gurl, I ain’t ever see your hands look this bad.”

Millie snatched her hand away and replied,

“The food is fittin to get here in bout twenty minutes, Lee, and I know Keish, as soon as I get used to my new surroundings and get my finances on track, I’ll be able to tend to my talons more often, but ain’t like I go out much no way.”

“Which don’t make no sense to me,” Lisa chimed in, “Now that we know the pool is across from the dog park?”

“Is it?” Carol asked as she peeked out the window.

“He gone, chile.”

“Who gone?” Brenda asked.

“Sam done toweled off and left about fifteen minutes ago. And I dunno if there is a dog park up in this big ass complex and neither does she. But what Millie need to do is take lil Nipper over there to the pool and ask Sam’s fine ass ...where the dog park at.”

Millie sighed. “I can’t do that. That ain’t me no mo. I’m too old for rejection.”

“What makes you think you’re gonna get rejected, Mill?” Brenda asked sincerely.

“You right, Bren but, I guess I’d rather get rejected than get robbed.” Millie said dejected.

The whole room sucked in air at the same time. 

Lisa winced and said, look we all know that sucked and we hurt for you when it happened; and I know you got this pretty ass loft now and in time you’ll have all the little trinkets and gadgets you want to make it purdy and efficient. But unless you open up the door. And I’m not talkin bout yo heart chile, cuz, shit that’s askin for a lot. However, you gotta at least open up this apartment door and step outside or else you’ll never be content.”

Just then the lights flickered and chimes rang out signaling that their brunch arrived. Millie opened her door  to find Sam delivering it.