The Personal Trainer's Ex-Girlfriend

Sisterhood and Real Music

Blake

Resting the side of my face on my palm as my elbow supports my weight, I stare lovingly at the photos that I still have of Tessa when she was a baby and now that she's about to go on her first date with that punk on Sunday, severely devastates me as a father because you really want to protect them from boys breaking our princess' heart. Some boys are heart-breakers and I'll be pissed if that punk breaks my baby's heart!

"Blake, sweetie, why are you looking like you are in the blue funk?" Mom queries while she rubs my shoulder. Taking a gulp of water out of my water bottle, I sit my water bottle on the island and turn to face my mom. "It's about Tessa."

"Why? What's wrong with Tessa," Mom inquiries. "She's about to go on her first date tomorrow with this boy that copped a feel of her butt during gym class yesterday." I tell.

"Pffft! You know how puppy love is. Your Cousin Steven used to do the same thing to a girl when they were little and the little girl's brother punched him in the ear, making him near deaf in his left ear." Mom professes. I guffaw at the story.

"Daddy?"I turn to Theo Bear, who is pulling at the hem of my shirt. "Yeah, Theo Bear?"

"I'm hungry." Theo Bear rubs his stomach in a circular motion. "The tater tots will be done in a minute and I'll make your fun nuggets in the microwave, okay?" I assure them. "Okay, Dad." Kelly and Theo Bear reply at the same time.

"When are we going to see Big Sis and Kehlani again?" Theo Bear questions. "We'll see them tomorrow," I answer and consider for me to bring Kelly and Theo with Kehlani and Tessa for our daughter's first date, so that I could teach Theodore about chivalry and first dates.

"Good because I don't how I'd survive without toys just like Tessa. All she has are video games, board games, a table with chairs, and a television. When are Theo and I going to get a TV?" Kelly shrugs.

"You'll get a new TV when I have enough money, okay, kids?" I vow and they nod understandingly. Since Phedora is at work right now, it is just me, the kids and my mom. I stand up from the chair to make a plate for the kids in addition to using an oven mitt to take a tray of tater tots out of the oven, placing it on top of the stove prior to getting a bag of the dinosaur sized chicken nuggets out of the freezer and getting a microwavable safe dish for me to put the chicken nuggets just before I place the plate in the microwave for two and a half minutes. "Speaking of cooking, I enrolled Phedora for cooking classes at Elegant Eating in Smithtown. That girl needs to learn a recipe or two instead of buying fast food you and the kids every day. It's all right to eat fast food sometimes, but the kids need to eat healthy food mostly, so they can grow just like my big grand-baby." Mom tells me and I admit that is a good idea, so Phedora can try to cook meals for us and the kids because fast food are not home cooked meals. Besides, fast foods are the type of food that is ready to eat.

"Since Tessa's birthday is coming up this month, why don't you take Kelly, Theo, and Tessa to a restaurant?" Mom helpfully recommends.

"That's what I was discussing with Key at work, but Tessa thinks she's too big to go to Chuck E. Cheese's." I mention, causing my mom to start cackling. "You can never be too old to go to Chuck E. Cheese's!" "That's exactly what I said! I'm thinking about taking them to Friday's or Chili's or even Friendly's." I consider. The microwave goes off and I make plates for the kids, placing them in front of them before we begin to say grace. "God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen." The kids begin to dig in their food.

"You can never be too old to go to Chuck E. Cheese's!"

"That's exactly what I said! I'm thinking about taking them to Friday's or Chili's or even Friendly's." I go through the refrigerator to take a bag of honey BBQ chicken strips, pouring seven of them on my plate and putting them in the microwave for two and a half minutes. After that, I add some tater tots on my plate and sit between the kids as we watch Arthur, which is recorded on the DVR. I really hope and pray that Tessa's first date wouldn't pull any moves on her because I will break his arms just like Martin Lawrence's character in Bad Boys 2. I swear. I wish time could slow down because Tessa is already having an attitude like some preteens and teenagers are having and her lady cycle is along the way from now. I'm not ready for one of my princesses going through that.

Kehlani

Sorting the cheese puffs in a platter along with other snacks while the song "Sunshine" by Lil' Flip featuring Lea plays in the background. "Finally, you're playing real music," Tessa sighs out of relief. I turn my head, facing her with furrowed eyebrows. "Tessa, what do you know about real music?" I query, laughing.

"Real music is about getting paid and going out on a Friday, economics, the world, making people happy, falling in love, friendships, heartbreak, girl power, and songs of inspiration. And now, we have music with artists that are singing about beefing with other artists as well as using auto tune in their music as if a robot is recording with them. It's like they can't sing while the auto tune is enhancing their vocals. I should've been born in the nineties since that decade was the coolest all thanks to the best movies, TV shows, fashion, food, music, and events that some are controversial." Tessa supposes.

I laugh. "The last time I checked, you were born in a generation of real music, too. You ought to be glad just like I am when I gave birth to you ten years ago." I remind. "Mom, why was dad tripping outside of our apartment yesterday?" Tessa asks with her face in a puzzling state. "Oh, you know how dads are. They're only this way because they feel as if they need you protected at all times and your dad loves you." I reason just as "Uh Huh" by B2K comes on the TV.

"Now, that's real music," Tessa comments, praising the music by clapping her hands as if we're at an amphitheater for an occasional performance or at church. "Mom?" Tessa begins.

"Yes, honey?" I take the pizza out of the oven and place it on the counter.

"Am I prohibited to hold hands with Chester tomorrow?" Tessa asks. "No, why would you ask me that, sweetie?"

"It's because," Tessa stands behind the counter, facing me while she's eating her fruit snacks. "I was watching this video on YouTube and the dad was saying when a boy and a girl hold hands or rubbing their hands together, a girl would end up getting pregnant." c*****g my head to the side while a smirk is about to threaten into a laugh, I surrender by sputtering laughing as I ponder on the thought of whether I should tell my daughter that's not how females conceive or not. Yet then, I consider not to.

"We'll discuss that later on," I giggle and Tessa begins giggling with me as the two of us sneak some of the cool ranch flavored Doritos from the bowl. I turn on my phone to go on the w*****d app to read some of the stories that are containing interracial romance, resulting in reading If I Was Your Woman by @chvnel_demon . Four minutes have pass by when a quick knock on the door catches my attention. I stand up from the couch and walk to the door, hollering, "Who is it?!"

"It's us!" I hear Giselle eagerly squeal just as excitement flutters in my stomach. "Tessa, your aunties are here!" I announce as I hear rapid footsteps hitting the floor behind me around the same time my hand grasps onto the door knob as the door opens for me to face my five besties and their kids. "Wassup?!" I greet them with the famous catchphrase from Scary Movie. My arms swathe around each and every friend of ours as they enter our apartment with gifts and a birthday cake since today is not only our friendship anniversary, but Adriane's twenty-sixth birthday also. "Happy birthday, Adriane!" I welcome her in a one arm embrace since she's holding her birthday cake sealed in a plastic box.

"Thanks, girl!" Adriane squeals and closes the door while they place their gifts on the couch since my gifts for them are in the corner of the living room under the side table beside the right side of my couch. I hug the kids before they begin playing with Tessa and Harper. I go to the kitchen to get the drinks out of the refrigerator. "Oh, ladies!" I call and the girls walk to the dining room, picking up the martini glass.

I pick up my glass as I speak, "Ladies, it has been twenty one years since we formed a friendship... a bond... sisterhood in 791 Grand St around the summertime of 1996. Our moms regularly hang out at my old apartment everyday while they were hanging out and getting their hair done, carrying on a conversation, and listening to music. Anyway, in the years of our sisterhood; we have gone through the good, the bad, and the ugly from fighting over boys to me and my family moving to Long Island to solving issues and to be here to celebrate this moment. In this first twenty one years of friendship; we've watched each other grow as friends becoming sisters, mothers, and aunts. And just like sisters; we encourage, support, bless, and strengthen one another because we may not be biologically sisters, but we're sisters by heart. May God continue to bless us in the journeys of our lives along the way and happy friendship day." I declare.

"Happy friendship day!" The ladies and I raise our glasses at they make a clinking sound simultaneously before the ladies take a sip of the drink. I place the rim of the glass between my lips as I savor a fusion of cranberry juice, a tart flavor from the blue Gatorade, and lemon and lime from Sprite.

"Dang, KeKe!" Laia exclaims, observing at the glass of drink and smacking her lips. "What did you put in this drink? It tastes hella good!"Laia compliments.

"Thanks, Lay-Lay! I actually made this drink with cranberry juice, sprite zero, and the blue-flavored Gatorade that I looked up on Pinterest." I answer, taking a sip of the drink again.

"Thank goodness for Pinterest!" Sasha comments, taking a drink. After drinking for a while before we, including the kids start to sing Happy Birthday around Adriane. She then blows out the candles and I go to the kitchen to get the knife and I make the plates for everybody just in time when someone knocks on the door. I walk to the door and ask, "Who is it?"

"It's Gracie and Charlotte!" Charlotte yells behind the door. "Finally! The rest of the girls are here!" Chaiza whoops, dancing in the living room. I open the door to let them in and receive a hug from Charlotte and Gracie with gifts in their hands. As the commotion goes on, I admire at my best friends having the time of their lives while they're dancing to Color Me Badd's "All 4 Love" just before Giselle gestures for me to join the rest of our friends in the living room. I accept her hand and we begin doing the "Roger Rabbit."

**********

Right after we exercise from dancing too much, it is now time to give each other gifts. "Oh, my goodness!" Adriane gleefully gasps as she picks up the gift set I had purchased from Bath and Body Works about a month ago. "KeKe, thank you so much!" Adriane wraps one of her arms around me for a hug and I pull away.

"You're welcome and it happens to be one of your favorite scents at Bath and Body Works," I smile and take a bite of the cake as we listen to Xscape harmonizing in the background. "Thank goodness, Gracie and I are out of the house and having a blast with you guys. All of you throw the dope parties whenever you come out here on Long Island!" Charlotte sips her drink.

"Ay!" Chaiza cheers and begins twerking. "Ooh! Guys, do you remember the lie my brother told?" I begin laughing because I do with the help of my blessing gift of remembering things and events. "Hell, yeah! Raul is still going to get his butt kicked all over again for instigating such lie." I laugh.

"No doubt about it," Giselle giggles. "What lie?" Charlotte questions.

"Chaiza's brother, Raul told the six of us that B2K would come to our school and perform there and that was, like, fifteen years ago. Adriane was in the middle school and the five of us were still in elementary school. Do you know B2K?" Sasha queries. Gracie and Charlotte shake their heads and Sasha turns on her phone to play "Bump Bump Bump" by B2K featuring Puff Daddy. Laia begins snickering. "Whenever I listening to that song, Chaiza's mother used to say, 'The only bump, bump, bump they're going to get is a bump, bump, bump, bump to their damn heads!'" Laia imitates Chaiza's mother, Mrs. Ferreira's stern Brazilian accent. The rest of us start guffawing at Laia. "That's exactly how my mom speaks!" Chaiza laughs, giving Laia the knuckle bump.

"Yeah and we all told all of the girls in school that B2K would come to our school since we attended the Ps 132 the Conselyea School. So, on that particular Friday; we were all waiting for B2K to come to our school and two hours have passed, the girls attacked us in the bus. When the bus stopped at the bus stop sign, our mothers were distraught and furious at whoever caused us harm. Chaiza exclaimed that the reason we were jumped on was because Raul told us that B2K was coming to our school and her mom spanked the s**t out of him with her shoe for lying to us before she wears Chaiza out for bragging." I recall.

We then rummage through a photo book of us when I become aware at the picture of us when we were in our sophomore year and Adriane was in her senior year in high school and we dressed as the singers in the nineties. "Yo! Look at us!" Giselle gasps with thrill in her voice. In Halloween of 2010; I was dressed as Aaliyah, Giselle was Selena Quintanilla Perez, Adriane was Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice, Chaiza was Lil Kim, Laia was Jennifer Lopez, and Sasha was Whitney Houston or Wiggy Houston. A smile forms on my face as Chaiza points out, "Oh, snap! That's the picture with Sasha as 'Wiggy' Houston!" The rest of us laugh in the living room and I notice Sasha rolling her eyes as well as grimacing before she gives in giggling.

"That's because I didn't know which side is which!" Sasha giggles. "We do look cool in those pictures," I chuckle. "Guys, I have to tell you somethin'." I begin. They turn their heads to my direction.

"Whatever you got to say, KeKe, spill the tea for us." Giselle encourages and the ladies agree with the clamor of "Yeah!"

"Tessa is about to have her first date tomorrow because a boy named, Chester felt on her butt and likes her and Blake is already tripping. Chester's mother called me and wants Blake and I along with her husband to chaperone their first date." My topic causes the girls to sit up as they are eager to hear the story. "Good, he should be losing his s**t for putting up with Phe-Whora's bullshit," Charlotte scoffs.

"You mean that thot pocket Blake left you for—" Chaiza begins, but I stop her sentence with a nod. "Mhm and he shares two beautiful and sweet children with her." I turn my phone on to go to Blake's profile on f*******: to show them his picture of him and his children.

"She does not look mother material at all based on her reputation," Giselle disapprovingly groans before we move on having the night of our lives before something clicks in my head. "Oh, Chaiza?"

"Yeah, KeKe?" She responds. "I saw Steven at the supermarket yesterday and he was asking me when you were coming out here again because he misses you." I mention. She sucks her teeth. "Yeah, right. He didn't miss me since I sneaked a peek at the messages multiple girls left on his f*******: profile." Chaiza shakes her head.