Always Unique by Nikki Turner

trying to get upstairs?” he said back to her.
    “Yeah, but I’m actually a guest. Now, let me by and stop acting like the Statue of Liberty.”
    He sucked in his stomach, took a half step to the right, and offered an apology as Tyeedah scooted by.
    After navigating the human minefield, she made it to the other side of the lobby. She was happy that the security guard blocking the elevators recognized her and let her get through to the elevators with no problem. Tyeedah pushed one of the buttons that controlled the elevators to the tower she wanted. To her surprise, the six shiny gold-plated doors opened immediately. She stepped in and hit the button that would take her to the twenty-sixth floor.
    As soon as the doors closed, she exhaled, knowing good and well that she was going to have to listen to Unique bitch at her for being late. “Girl,” she could already hear her best friend’s voice in her head, “why the hell you always got to be on CP time?”
    And Tyeedah would answer the same as she always did. “Because I am a colored person, bitch.” Then they both would fall into laughter. That was the beauty of their friendship. They had no problem finding the humor in everything and they accepted each other’s flaws—and lateness was definitely one of Tyeedah’s shortcomings.
    The elevator glided through the shaft without interruption, heading to the twenty-sixth floor. Finally, she was where she needed to be to begin the process of getting glammed up for the fight. Her hair was already in check; it was the makeup and wardrobe that needed to come together. She and Unique had been looking forward to this big night. Unique was excited that the fight would bring lots of success to her man’s business and that things would get back to normal with her and Kennard. Tyeedah was excited because she knew Kennard would make sure that Unique and her would have a nice time, along with nicer seats. The ringside seats would give Tyeedah a bird’s-eye view of the major players and put her in immediate proximity of them, which was just up her alley. After all, she wasn’t the one damn near married. Tyeedah was single and ready to mingle.
    The elevator ding ed when it reached the penthouse floor. As she stepped off the elevator, disorder was all around her. If the lobby had been a circus, then the twenty-sixth floor was nothing short of a madhouse. Along with guests standing around trying to get an eyeful of whatever had caused the commotion, Tyeedah saw the NYPD, hotel security, and some other toy cops trying to control the parade of nosy folks.
    If this place ain’t running neck and neck with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, my name ain’t what it is. Hell, if it wasn’t a mixed crowd, I would have sworn this place was the UniverSoul Circus. What in the hell is going on here? She thought about stopping so she could give the scoop to Unique. If she came with gossip, then that might excuse her tardiness. Since time was of the essence, she decided to mind her own business and keep it moving to get to where she was supposed to have been thirty-five minutes ago.
    However, all the chaos seemed to come from the same direction she was headed. When she rounded the corner, her heart dropped when she realized that all the hoopla was coming from the end of the hall, focusing on suite 2649, the same suite in which her best friend and partner-in-crime was staying.
    “What the fuck?” she muttered under her breath. She put the pep in her step and started running toward the room, pushing her way through the throng of people.
    She made her way past the bystanders, but was stopped dead in her tracks at the door by an officer of the law. “Sorry, miss, but you can’t go in there.”
    “This is my sister’s room,” she informed the officer. “Unique Bryant. She’s a registered guest in the room.”
    The cop paused for a second as he wondered if he should let her go. “You have to wait out here, miss.”
    “What?”