Lela and Tonya had claimed the first Saturday of each month as their monthly holiday, L & T's Ladies' Day Excursion. As usual, their first stop was Golden Beauty Salon.
Lela's V-neck, rhinestone logo, South Pole hoodie allowed her breasts to nearly spill out of her shirt, causing every man she came in contact with to do a double take. When they passed Fred's Barbershop, two locally-known ballers, Mufassa and Contraband, came rushing out the door trying to push up on them.
"Ah, yo, yeah you...bring yo' fine ass back ova here," the tall dark-skinned brother sang out to Lela. The grill in his mouth was so big he could barely talk.
"What--ever!" Lela replied as she teased them with what they would never have by sashaying right on past the brothas. Her fitted rhinestone-designed blue-jean covered behind was a sure tease. She was about to marry the best thing Opelika had going for it, and there was nothing any other man could do for her.
Tonya, on the other hand, followed her friend's lead only because she knew the two men didn't make enough money to hold her attention. "Wannabes get on my last nerve," she told Lela, while flipping her long tresses over her shoulder and continuing her stride toward Golden Beauty Salon.
Since Tonya only needed her long, blond-streaked tresses curled, she was the first to get her hair done. In the meantime, Lela mulled over whether she would get a curly weave or wear her natural hair.
The words Tyrese plunged into her soul with last night helped her quickly decide. Today is a new day. "Give me a long curly weave, Quetta. I already washed it, so all you have to do is braid and stitch," Lela told her longtime beautician and friend after she had finished with Tonya's hair. She walked over to the case that held the different hair tracks. "I want this color."
"A weave? And with bronze highlights at that? What has gotten into my African Queen Au Naturale." Naquetta stood in shock that her friend had decided to go from a weekly hair pressing to a weave.
"Yes, girl, I'm ready for something new. Plus, you know I have to keep it hot for my 22-year-old fiancé." Lela raised her hand to show off her engagement ring once again. Naquetta had been one of the first people she told of her engagement last week.
"I heard that. Where is Tyrese's fine self anyway?"
"Girl, watch your mouth." Lela put her fist up and then laughed it off. They often teased each other about taking the other one's man.