The Johnson Sisters by Tresser Henderson Page B

at the mention of the price. We used to think paying fifty dollars for shoes was a lot.
    But I couldn’t be mad at Vivian. She’d worked hard to get to where she was and rightfully deserved to buy whatever she wanted. Next, I would expect her to be stepping around in Giuseppes and Christian Louboutin. That’s if she didn’t have any already. Knowing my sister, she did. “I wish I could buy expensive shoes like you.”
    â€œYou can,” she quipped.
    â€œGirl, I’m comfortable in my sneakers. I’m not trying to break my neck in shoes like that.”
    â€œBeauty is painful sometimes. I twisted my ankle last year, and it killed me to let my heels go for two months. Don’t get me wrong; I do enjoy my sneakers, but I like to dress up sometimes too, unlike yourself,” Viv said.
    â€œI dress up,” I defended myself.
    â€œWhen?”
    â€œWhen I go to church,” I retorted.
    â€œAnd when was the last time you did that?” Vivian asked, reaching into her cabinet and pulling out a bottle of spice. She took the cap off and shook it into the pot.
    â€œOkay, enough with the interrogation. What do you have in the pot?” I asked, trying to change the subject.
    Vivian knew what I was doing, eyeing me skeptically, but she went along by answering, “I made some gumbo. This is my first time making this, so I hope it’s going to be good.” She picked up a spoon and dipped it into the liquid, brought it to her lips, blowing it slightly, and sampled it. “It tastes good, but I feel like it’s missing something. Come over here and taste it,” she said, putting the spoon she used to taste her food in the sink.
    Vivian retrieved a fresh spoon out of the drawer and dipped it into the pot, lifting the mixture to my lips. I blew it, holding my hand under the spoon so none of it got on my clothes, and then I consumed it. “Mmmmm. Girl, that’s good. I should have known you couldn’t mess up anything.”
    â€œBut doesn’t it need something?” Vivian asked.
    â€œMaybe a little bit more salt. Other than that, I think it’s great,” I said, taking the spoon out of her hand and licking it before putting it into the sink.
    Vivian pinched some salt into the pot and stirred it some more. “This is going to be as good as it gets,” she said, turning off the eye under the pot and moving it to one that was cold.
    â€œI see I’m the first one again,” I said.
    â€œYes. You know you are always the first one, unless Sheldon is here.”
    â€œIs Sheldon coming tonight?” I asked, hoping he was, just so I could stare at his fine behind.
    â€œNo, not this time. He had plans,” Vivian said.
    Sheldon was Vivian’s best friend, and damn, he was sexy as hell. Tall and dark like the deepest of chocolates, and built like a stallion. You could see his six pack through the fitted shirts he wore; his body was so chiseled. To top it off, he had dreads, which he kept looking and smelling nice all the time.
    I thought I loved a man with a bald head, but damn, after seeing Sheldon with his locks, he made me take a second look at brothers with them. Every time I hugged Sheldon I dove my face into his tresses. He looked even sexier when he pulled them back off his gorgeous face. The man had a smile to die for, with the whitest teeth I’d ever seen on a man and a dimple in his left cheek. I swear Sheldon was one man that could make me cheat on Corey.
    I always wondered how Viv and Sheldon became such good friends, and most of all why my sister hadn’t taken that fine specimen of a man as her own. For a minute I thought he was gay, but Sheldon let it be known real quick he was a ladies’ man. I then had to wonder what the hell was wrong with my sister for not jumping that man’s bones. I then questioned whether she was gay. One day I asked her, and she damn near had a heart attack.
    â€œHell no,” she