The four of them had to keep it a secret. Aliyah loved the idea of using her house for their music video, but only on one condition. Nobody could tell her boyfriend.
The song dropped last month, and the studio just signed off on the project. The label didn’t provide much of a budget, but Tiffany said she could make it work. She organized everything on her tablet: locations, equipment, cost, alternatives. No wonder her nails were acrylic.
The production needed a lot of extras. Aja wanted to shoot the video at a house party while Maicy wanted the club. The track belonged on a dance floor, she argued. The others reminded her that the budget didn’t allow for a venue.
The three women worked in the kitchen. They gathered around the island with her tablet between them. Tiffany scrolled through light fixtures to compare prices.
Across the room, a bald man with a big head set up for dinner. He tucked his apron in instead of tying it behind him. The strings didn’t reach. The collar barely fit around his neck. He disappeared into the pantry then reappeared witha stack of skillets.
He was wiping down the counters when they arrived. The granite shined like he recently waxed them. Not one speck of dirt touched his kitchen. A massive vent hung over the island with the same luster. No dust bunnies scurried across the floor. No crumbs hid between the stone tiles.It looked like something out of a magazine. Aliyah must’ve had a thing for log cabins.
A run-of-the-mill Lumber Jill. Maicy smirked. That’d make a good rhyme.
“We shouldn’t need lights outside,” Tiffany said, “Not if we line up the cars along the driveway. We can make it gritty, like a street race. I can call some girlfriends. We also have those skaters.”
Aja clicked her tongue. “Are those guys really gonna do it for free?”
“Oh yeah. They owe us.”
Maicy yawned, fiddling with her bangs. She styled her afro into a mohawk that morning. Better known as a fro-hawk. It took her like thirty clips to pin it up. Her bushy curls always put up a fight.
“I love your boots, by the way.” Tiffany nudged her. “Those pumps are fierce.”
“Alright. I figured I needed the inches around you two.”
“Nothing wrong with being short,” she said, flipping between tabs, “You’ve got plenty of inches elsewhere. With those measurements.”
“Are you flirting with me? Cause a sister could have a thing for long legs.”
“I just appreciate good taste, and those zippers got teeth.”
The joke went over her head. Maicy wore a pair ofknee-high boots that zipped up the sides. Her crop top matched with a zipper running down the front. She liked to adjust how much skin she could show. Most of her music revolved around her body and what she did with it. A butterfly tattoo stamped her lower back.
The tablet dinged. A notification popped up on screen that read, “Front Gate.” Tiffany tapped into it, bringing up the feed for their security cameras. A green Miata was waiting to be let in. She hit, “Accept,” then swiped back to the light fixtures.
“Hold up,” Aja said, “What about that, your cameras? That shot could work, right? People could be partying in the street or rioting to get in?”
“Yeah, I like that. You know, Aliyah had a similar idea. It could make for some good B-roll.”
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Another message appeared on her tablet afterward. “Emergency,” it read with several exclamation points.
She cursed. “I’m sorry, ladies, but I gotta go.”
“Everything aight?”
“Just work. Nothing I can’t handle. Let’s be done for the night. We made good progress today. If you think of anything to add, don’t hesitate to let me know.”
She left in a hurry, taking her stilettos with her. It was a shame she didn’t dress more for the party. Such nice legs deserved to be in something shorter than a pencil skirt.
Maicy pulled out her hair-pick. “So, let me get this straight. She gets to use her phone, and the rest of us get, what, mugged?”
Aja pushed her. “Hardly. You’ll get it back. Li just likes her privacy. Her parties are old school like that. No phones mean no pictures. No pictures, no leaks. In case something goes down, nothing gets out.”
She slid her comb back into her pocket. That made sense.
“Speaking of something going down.” She pointed to the liquor cabinet. “She did say we were done for the day.”
In the far corner, an old wardrobe had been refurbished into a hutch and stocked with drinks. The cubbies were full of bottles, making for a cute wine rack. A line of appliances sat along the main shelf. People could mix cocktails, pour shots, blend smoothies. The last person to use the blender forgot to rinse it. A lime wedge lay beside the bowl of lemons.
Aja grabbed a shaker and spun it in her hand. She tossed a bottle of rum behind her, catching it by the neck. “Daiquiri, right?”
“What is this?”
“You didn’t know?” She scooped some ice into a martini glass. “This is how I paid for my first album.”
“Oh, that’s right. No, I see it. Take out them cornrows, and I bet you killed it.”
“As long as I didn’t smile at anyone.”
While she made their drinks, a couple people joined the big man in the kitchen. Jamal, that was his name. He just finished setting up the stations. They all hit the ground running, calling out everything in code with the occasional, “Behind!”
Aliyah and her boyfriend walked in a moment later. They held hands, giggling about something. The guy kept at heel like a puppy.
“So, what’d we decide?” she asked.
“The fish,” Jamal said as he sprayed the skillets, “Fish and tofu. I figured we’d do a buffet, like a build-your-own wrap with the veggies. We got the flatbread for it if anyone wants seconds.”
“I love it.”
Back in the corner, Maicy felt her stomach growl. She sipped her daiquiri, watching them over the rim of her glass.
“That’s the guy, huh? Li’s boyfriend?”
Aja hummed. “Don’t get any ideas.”
“I ain’t. I’m just asking. He’s cute, but I like more meat on my bones.”
She hummed again. The ice clattered in her drink.
“You said you battled him? I looked him up, but I didn’t find nothing about him rapping.”
“Nah, he doesn’t make music. He just does it for her. It’s kinda corny, but she obviously likes it.”
“Do you think she’d let me battle him? I’ve been itching to get back in the ring since coming out here. I miss it.”
“She’d probably be down for that. Unless you got a boyfriend we don’t know about.” She chuckled to herself then added another lemon wedge to her whiskey. “Just don’t say anything about the video.”
Smoke billowed from the stove. The pans sizzled with fresh cuts of fish, tofu, and vegetables. The smell of garlic filled the room.
“Yo, Li,” Aja hollered.
Her boyfriend turned around first. Maicy raised her glass to say hi. He lit up like a billboard when he saw them. The two headed over right away, glued at the hip.
“Ladies, how’s the bar?” Aliyah asked, still giggling about something, “Is that a daiquiri? Without strawberries?”
“I know, right. I’m allergic.”
“Oh, no, how tragic.”
Maicy shrugged then squeezed a lime wedge into her drink.
Her boyfriend introduced himself the second he could. “What up, May-May? I’m Kelvin. I heard you on the radio this morning. You and Aja. That new song is so sick.”
“Alright, Fido, settle down.”
“Do you think I could get an autograph? Doesn’t have to be now. Just sometime tonight?”
“Yeah, that ain’t nothing.”
Aja elbowed her. “Don’t go so easy on him. He had to battle me for mine.”
He scoffed then pointed to his eyebrow. A small scar split it down the middle. “Yeah, and I got punched in the face.”
She snorted, and Aliyah shoved her.
“Nah, I don’t mind. It ain’t gotta be like that.” Maicy leaned against the liquor cabinet. “I was hoping to borrow him, though. I wanted to see if he wanted to battle me tonight. Nothing serious or nothing. I heard you two brought the house down last time.”
His ears perked up. “You wanna battle?”
“If it ain’t interrupting nothing.”
“Nah, we can battle,” he said, holding back his excitement. Not. His pitch rose about an octave. “She wants to battle. We can battle, right?”
Aliyah shoved him, too. “Of course, you can battle.”
“Yeah, we can battle!”
On the stove, a fire roared in one of the pans. The flames shot as high as the vent. A guy at the island jumped back to protect his hair. His dreadlocks stuck out every which way. Jamal apologized then placed a lid over the blaze. The guy noticed them by the liquor cabinet afterward. He furrowed his brow like they weren’t supposed to be there.
“Yo, Li, what’re you doing here?”
“What do you mean? It’s my kitchen.”
“No, I’m just saying. Your interview dropped. They’re playing it in the theater.”
A hint of panic flashed across her face. She masked it well, relying on her acting, no doubt.Her boyfriend didn’t have a clue.
“Your interview?” he asked, “What interview? Can we watch it?”
She fluttered her lashes, laying it on thick. “Of course.”
Nobody said she couldn’t act.
Tiffany rushed into the kitchen as the four of them headed out. She spotted them over her shoulder and did a double take. Her body language spoke for her.
That must’ve been what the emergency was about.
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