Brooklyn Bombshells: Part 2

“I figured it had to be about him. What did he do to you? Y’all broke up or something?” she asked sheepishly.

“No.”

“Mecca, just talk to me. I’m here for you. You know you can tell me anything. I got your back.”

Mecca looked at Chanel with teary and troubled eyes. “I thought Pyro was going to propose to me. I was so sure about it. But he hasn’t yet. And lately, he’s been acting distant. Like, we haven’t had sex in two weeks, and every time I call him, he’s busy. I mean, c’mon, Chanel, he’s supposed to be my man and suddenly he doesn’t have time for me?”

“Mecca, you know he’s a busy man.”

Mecca shook her head. “Bullshit. That’s not an excuse.”

Chanel replied, “I know.”

Mecca dried her eyes and looked at her friend. “Chanel, I want you to be honest with me . . .”

Shit! Please don’t ask me if I’m fucking Pyro.

Chanel didn’t want to lie to her friend, but she was bracing herself for the inevitable.

Mecca cont

inued with, “Is Pyro fucking somebody else? Does he have another bitch in his life? Have you seen someone else over there? And please, don’t lie to me. I need to know.”

“Mecca, you know I don’t want to get involved with y’all business.”

“You’re my friend, Chanel, and Pyro is Mateo’s friend. Your loyalty is to me. I need your help—your advice.”

“Why don’t you just sit down with Pyro and tell him your issues? He loves you, I know it. And I assure you, there is no one else in his life. If there was, I would definitely tell you,” Chanel said.

“But I don’t get it. Why is he suddenly so distant from me?”

“Why did you think Pyro was going to ask you to marry him?”

Mecca shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought I was reading his signals correctly, but maybe I was wrong.”

“Sometimes we want something so badly, that we make ourselves believe it will come true. And I’m not saying Pyro’s not going to marry you, because I know he loves you, but maybe just give it some time and it will happen.”

“I love him, Chanel. He’s my world and I don’t know what I would do without him—or if he was fucking someone else. I would die if that was the case,” Mecca uttered.

Chanel sighed. “He’s not. I know he’s not.”

Mecca stared at her friend and replied, “I guess you would know, right? You’re always with him.”

And what that’s supposed to mean? Was Mecca hinting at something?

“But you’re right, Chanel. I will talk to him about our future. I can’t assume anything anymore; it needs to come from the horse’s mouth,” Mecca said.

“Right.”

Again, Chanel thought Mecca was implying something, but she couldn’t jump to judgment. Her friend was upset and wasn’t thinking rationally. So, she decided to leave it alone. Unless Mecca came at her directly about it, it was useless to bring the issue up.

Chanel spent most of the day with Mecca. They continued to talk, but it wasn’t about Pyro. It almost felt like the old days when Chanel would visit Mecca to escape her hellish home life. They talked about old friends and old times, the neighborhood, and even Claire.

“I know it must be hard, Chanel, but if you ever need me, I’m here for you,” said Mecca.

“Thanks, Mecca. You always have been.”

Chanel didn’t leave Mecca’s place until late that night. As she was walking to her SUV, her cell phone rang, and it was Pyro calling her. At first, she didn’t want to answer, feeling it wasn’t right for Pyro to be calling her instead of Mecca, but she couldn’t resist.