Pride by Noire

I heard about your old devilish dick-slanging pops,” Monique said with a wicked glint in her eye. “Papa was a rolling stone, wasn’t he? While you was up in here stripping on the stage, his old nasty ass was tearing up some poon-poon in the pulpit!”
    Nae-Nae’s face fell and she looked embarrassed. “Yeah, well ain’t none of us perfect. We all have our troubles in this life. My daddy was a pastor, but he’s still a man. Hey,” she said, perking up a little bit and pointing down the bar to change the subject. “What’s she doing up in here? She’s from Brooklyn.”
    “Who?” Monique asked as she scanned the row of patrons who were sitting where Nae-Nae pointed.
    “That real pretty Puerto Rican lady in the blue,” Nae-Nae said, and started waving at Salida. “She’s so nice! I cleaned a stupid-sick engagement ring for her about a week ago.”
    “Nah,” Monique shook her head. “You didn’t clean no ring for that trick because she just got out the nut-house two days ago.”
    “Oh yes I did,” Nae-Nae insisted. “That’s her. She waited while I cleaned the ring, and me and her talked for the longest. She’s so damn pretty there’s no way I could forget that face.”
    Monique’s eyebrows furrowed as her mind shifted into high gear. “You said you cleaned an engagement ring for her?”
    “Yep. It was a block of straight-up ice. She said her nephew was getting married out in Los Angeles and she wanted it nice and shiny so she could send it to him.” Nae-Nae shook her head. “But on the real, that thang was sick, Mo-Mo. It made all the tiny shit my father sells look like little ice chips.”
    “Hmm…” Monique was deep in thought. “Are you sure it was her?”
    Nae-Nae glanced down the bar again. “Hell yeah. I can go over there and get with her right now. I know she remembers me because we ran our mouths together forever.”
    “No-no-no- no! ” Monique said, hand-checking Nae-Nae before she could slide off her stool. “I believe you. Did she mention her nephew’s name?”
    Nae-Nae shook her head. “Nah, I ain’t ask her all that. She just said he was getting married in L.A. and that she was sending him his mother’s ring. It was her, though. I swear to God it was her.”
    Monique squeezed her thighs together as she tingled with glee inside. It was a long shot, but she was damn near willing to make a bet on it. If the woman Nae-Nae had spoken to was who Monique thought she was, then she could see why Nae-Nae had mistaken her for Salida. Monique had met her too, and them two pretty Puerto Rican divas looked just alike!
     
    $$$$$
     
    Monique had fixed up her couch like it was a queen’s throne for Salida. She topped it with freshly ironed sheets, four fluffy goose-down pillows, and a thick purple velour blanket that had never been used.
    An insomniac would have gotten a good night’s sleep on that bad boy, but Salida never closed her eyes the whole damn night. And this Monique knew because she’d snuck out into the living room several times to check.
    No wonder G kept her bugged-out ass on lock, Monique thought as she peeked around the fish tank and spied on Salida. That nut was sitting straight up on the couch still dressed in her cute blue dress. She was rocking back and forth and crying one minute, then cursing somebody out real good under her breath the next.
    Yawning and pretending like she couldn’t sleep, Monique walked through the living room in a pair of yellow bikini panties and a matching t-shirt and went into the kitchen. She took a box of instant hot cocoa out the cabinet and turned around and held it up so Salida could see it.
    “Want some?”
    Salida nodded, and Monique spent the next five minutes microwaving two big cups full of hot chocolate until they were steaming.
    After adding milk and sugar to the mix, she carried both mugs over to the couch where Salida sat and put them on the table. Then she plopped down on the purple blanket where her houseguest was still