Kenya

Kenya laid sound asleep with a smile on her face.  She’d had quite the evening. It all started with a party at Catastrophic, the most prestigious club in town. The party was by invitation only for some girl named Laylah that Kenya had randomly bumped into in the elevator and politely informed that her skirt was tucked into her panties.

“Oh my, God! Gurl!!” Layla had exclaimed. “You just saved me from total Instagram humiliation!  Here’s a pass to my party tonight! Hope to see ya there!” She’d pulled the flyer from her purse and exited the elevator so fast that Kenya hadn’t had time to read it, but it didn’t matter.  She didn’t need all the time in the world to know that this party was exclusive, and oh how she loved being on the exclusive side of things. Talk about luck. She had needed something to do that night.  Something that would allow her to blow off some stress and ignore her inhibitions.

The party had turned out to be just what she needed, and it ended with her hooking up with Phoenix.  Oh, yeah, Phoenix. Her friend slash sexual soul mate. They get along fabulous in bed but not so much outside of it.  But last night that hadn’t mattered to Kenya. In fact, she’d done exactly what she always said she’d never do. I will not drunk text a dude at 2am when I’m lonely and about to leave the club cause that’s what thirsty chics do!  Buttttttt last night, that’s exactly what she did.  She sent Phoenix a simple text, “ Meet me at my house in 20 minutes. You know why.”  He’d replied with the thumbs up emoji a lot quicker than she’d anticipated. Five minutes later she saw him exiting the club next to Catastrophic and realized he must have been having the same drunken thoughts she was. Dang it! She thought.  If I would have only waited longer he’d have called me first!  Thirty minutes later, he was knocking on her front door.  

She wanted to be angry that he hadn’t gotten there in twenty minutes but when she opened the door, he was standing there with his beautiful smile, sexy dimples, and two bags from the Waffle House.  Kenya decided he was forgiven since he’d answered her stomach’s prayer. She only had bread, cheese, eggs, and bacon in the fridge and she was saving that for breakfast in the morning. She knew Phoenix had a thing for her bacon and egg sandwiches.  

He joined Kenya in her living room and together, with minimal conversation, they devoured the food as if it had just been invented. Afterwards, they each let out a few moans of satisfaction and then Kenya gave Phoenix the eye.  

“You ready, already?”

“Of course! What? You thought I called you over to watch Netflix and chill?”

“Do you even have Netflix?”

“Nope!” she laughed turning off the lights and heading to the bedroom.  Phoenix followed shaking his head and smiling. He knew just like Kenya did that they were both in for a mind-blowing end to the night.  

Now, at 7am the next day, Kenya found herself awakening from her marvelous evening and feeling the effects of her ten Tequila shots.  OMG! Why do I always do this to myself?”  Slowly, she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.  Aspirin!  I need aspirin!  Finally, she found the Aleve in her medicine cabinet and prayed it would alleviate her headache as quickly as possible.   Now, to the kitchen. Her stomach felt like she hadn’t eaten it months. Didn’t Phoenix and I eat last night; she asked herself as she pulled the eggs and bacon from the fridge.  Yeah, we did.  Right before heading to the bedroom.  Kenya scrambled the eggs with a smile remembering the great night she and Phoenix shared.  Uh-oh, Ken-Ken!  You like him. No, I don’t.  Phoenix is just a friend…with benefits.

Sure, that’s what her mind said but as she stood there in the doorway of her bedroom, holding their breakfast, and watching him sleep peacefully, she couldn’t help but notice how damn fine he was.

“Nix, wake up.  I cooked breakfast.

Kenya nudged him in the side with her knee before plopping down on her lavender, Egyptian sheets.

“Leave me alone, Kenya” he mumbled before rolling over on his stomach and placing the pillow on top of his head.

“Nix! wake up!  You know you love my bacon and egg sandwiches, plus I have to be at work soon.”

“Dang, so that’s how you do your Nigga?  You get you some, fix him breakfast, and then tell him to get out?  That’s cold Ken, real cold.”

“Boy, bye.  You know how we do.  Wake up and eat this sandwich before it gets cold.  I spent a whole 10 minutes preparing it for you.”

He finally sat up and rested his muscular back against the mahogany headboard.

“Here you go,” Kenya said shoving the paper plate in his hands.  

“Thanks,” he said taking a huge bite of his sandwich and pulling out his phone.   

Kenya watched intently as he scrolled through his recent matches on Tinder.   All of them were thick with fairly light skin and natural hair. The complete opposite of Kenya who was the color of coffee, with no shape and inches of Brazilian hair strolling down her back.  

“If you’re going to disrespect me by laying in my bed and looking at other chics, you could at least make sure they’re attractive.”

“What are you talking about?  These females are attractive. They have natural beauty.”

“Natural beauty?!” Yeah, okay.  Whatever, Phoenix. That’s what niggas say when they trying to be nice and don’t want to call a chick ugly.  But that last chic’s profile pic was ugly. She barely had any hair.”

“Wooowww, Ken you really hating on a chick you don’t even know just cause I liked her photo?”

“I am definitely not hating on her ugly ass. Plus, I don’t really care who’s pic you like. I was just trying to look out for you, but I see ugly is your type.

“Must be since I’m here with you.”

“What did you just say?”

Kenya was standing now with her hands on her hips.  It was one thing to look at other chics but to call her ugly was a no-no.

“I said. I must like ugly since I’m here with you.”

Phoenix showed no hesitation in repeating himself.  It was clear to him and Kenya both that this was the reason they could never get past the bedroom.  In short, her insecurities made having a conversation with her impossible.

“You sure weren’t treating me like I was ugly last night!”

“Of course not, you’re a lot more beautiful with your mouth closed,” he said rummaging through the sheets and covers looking for his clothes.

“Nigga…I’m a dime whether my mouth is open or not.  And if you hate the sound of my voice so much. How bout you never come back to hear it again. ”

“Fine! I’d rather talk to one of these chics anyway.”

“Of course, you would Phoenix.  Because they have light skin, big boobs, and big booties, which are probably fake anyway.”

“You really are a trip! I don’t like their pictures because they’re thick or light skin.  I like them because they’re confident and real. Real hair, real nails, real bodies, and real confidence.   You should try finding the latter, then maybe you wouldn’t be so threatened by another female’s picture.”

“Whatever, Phoenix!  I am not threatened. And I have a lot of confidence Screw you!” she yelled as he exited her bedroom, slamming the door and knocking down the shelves that showcased her designer bags.

“Ugghhhh, you better not have damaged my new Gucci!” Kenya yelled after Phoenix although she knew he was long gone.  

She inspected the bags for damage and saw that there was none, but there was a hole in the wall from where the shelves had detached.  Great, Kenya thought to herself. Now, I have to figure out how to get the wall fixed. All because of Phoenix’s dumb ass. Shaking her head, she headed for her bathroom to get ready for work.  Fixing the wall would just have to wait.

Kenya works at her parent’s real estate firm and they hate when she’s late.  It’s her job to arrive before all the realtors and set up for the morning meeting.  This requires brewing coffee, setting out muffins, printing each relator’s schedule, and of course making sure her mother’s talking points are freshly typed, free of grammatical errors, and sure to make her look like the Mother Theresa of all real estate firms.  As usual, Kenya finished all her task in record time and had at least an hour to spare before her parents arrived.

She sat down at her computer and typed “Natural Hair Styles” into Google.  She had to admit that there were some really cute natural hairstyles out there, but she wasn’t sure she could pull them off.  I’m so skinny and dark.  Most of these chicks are thicker and lighter.  I need to be thicker and lighter.

Kenya closed her natural hair search and began a new one for Brazilian butt lifts.  She told herself that she would look into skin bleaching later, but she may be looking into it sooner than she thought because all the Brazilian butt lifts are super expensive.   

Her Google search revealed that the minimum amount she would have to spend on a Brazilian butt lift would be $3500.00.   Dang it! I’m going to need a part-time job or a loan to pull this off.  

Umph, if only Kenya was more like her big sis, Jade. She’s financially successful and her husband, Dominic, makes a few 100k a year too. Kenya thought to herself about what her life would be like with Jade’s bank account.  I’d be able to afford this Brazilian butt lift with no problem.  I wonder if Jade would be willing to lend me the money?  Maybe, Kenya thought, if I ask her at the right time, in the right way, and at the right moment, she’ll agree to fund my butt lifting experience. After all, it’s for a great cause, and it’s not like she’s using her money for anything else.  All she does is work at her catering business and go home to her husband and their huge empty house. With this recollection, Kenya had convinced herself to text Jade and invite her to lunch so that she could strategically implant the idea that Jade should pay for her butt lift.

Kenya rolled her eyes as she read Jade’s text.  God!  Is she serious right now?  Why does she always have to be so hateful?

Kenya threw her phone down on her desk and went back to her Brazilian butt lift research.   She couldn’t believe Jade, telling her that she didn’t need to change her body. Umph, easy for her to say, Kenya thought.  She’s already thick, and it’s easy for her to manage her money cause she has so freakin much of it! Sometimes Kenya really resented Jade’s perfect little life. Especially now since Kenya thought Jade was entirely wrong about her not needing the butt lift. I need to look like all the sexy thick girls that Phoenix admires on Tinder.  Not that she was doing this for him.  No, of course not. She would never admit that she cared what Phoenix thought, especially since all he clearly saw her as was a bed crawl. I don’t care what he thinks, but I know I would look better than those girls because some of them don’t even have cute faces.  At least my face is cute. That’s how I know I’ll look incredible after the Brazilian butt lift. But I am still furious at him and Jade.

Kenya got up from her desk and went to pour herself a cup of coffee.  In her anger, she slammed the coffee pot down to hard and coffee splashed all over the counter and onto her sheer purple blouse.  Great, this is exactly what I need ten minutes before Mama arrives.

“Good Morning, Kenya.”  

Oh, great! Today, Mama wants to be early.

“Good Morning, Mama.”

“Well, I see you didn’t wait long to make a mess.”

“It was an accident, Mama.   The coffee pot slipped as I was placing it back on the burner.

“I’m sure it did, Dear.  You’ve always been a little clumsy, unlike Jade.”

“Right, because Jade was always your perfect child,” Kenya mumbled dumping the soiled paper towels in the trash.  

“What did you say?’

“I said that I’m cleaning it up now.”

“Well, I can see that, Dear.  The point is the mess shouldn’t have been made in the first place. When Jade worked here, she never made messes like these.

“Or, maybe she just made them when you weren’t around and cleaned them up before you arrived?

“Not likely, you were always the messy child.  Jade was always neat and efficient. We didn’t even pay her when she worked here.  She interned.

“I know, Mama. You’ve told me before.”

“And yet, you continue to take your paycheck from your parents?”

“Mama, I told you.  This is only temporary.”

“Temporary is a few months, Dear.  You’ve been here three years.”

Kenya was well aware that she’d been at Home Reality for three years, but in her defense, it really was supposed to be temporary.  Just until she figured out whether to go to design school or business school. Kenya had a natural instinct for business, just not the motivation to trust those instincts, and she could dress her behind off, or at least she could to everyone else except for her mother.  

“You, know what else Jade wouldn’t have done?”

Unbelievable! No, Mama, I don’t know but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.

“She also wouldn’t show up to work in a see-through blouse.”

“It’s made like this on purpose, Mama.  So you can wear a different color cami under it, which is exactly what I’m doing.”

“Yes, I see. But yellow and purple don’t look good together regardless of how well your 5-inch stilettos—which are entirely too tall for work—match your outfit.  Now, hurry up and finish getting up the mess you made before the others arrive.”

“Yes, Mama.”

Mrs. Monroe headed into her office closing the door behind her.  Kenya continued to clean up the spilled coffee. She wiped the counters down and brewed a fresh pot.  All the while wondering how she got stuck with a non-boyfriend that had called her ugly, a sister that refused to lend her money to beautify herself, and a mother that didn’t like her at all.   Screw Phoenix, Screw Jade, and Screw my MAMA! I don’t need any of them.  Kenya tossed her hair over her shoulder and returned to her desk.  I will do it!  I will raise enough money for my butt lift and then I’ll quit this place. Mama can just stay here with her precious Jade.  She’s the only daughter she cares about anyway.

 

By: Kima LaToya for Fitmelle @KimaLaToya on IG