Page 3 of Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming

She turns around and stares at the white lady like she’s on something stronger than meth, crack and heroin combined. Because that’s the only way this bitch is asking something so out of pocket on a plantation tour.

The tour guide, a sister, looks at Lyric like, “ Sis, did you hear what this heifer just said ?”

Suchi looks at the ground, shaking her head while Bridget and Aimee look at each other and smirk, knowing what’s coming.

The tour guide can’t say anything, but Lyric can. “You’re taking a tour of a plantation. A place where enslaved people were brutalized for centuries, were you expecting Disneyland?”

“No, but I wasn’t expecting to be made to feel bad, either.” The white lady snaps. “My ancestors didn’t own slaves.”

“Then why do you feel guilty?” Bridget adds.

“Oh, I can explain that. You see, Bridge, this woman believes that she’s an ally.

And being reminded of something so horrifying in our nation’s history makes her uncomfortable.

She recognizes that she, and others like her, still benefit from slavery’s existence.

This is forcing her to reflect on how much of an ally she really is, and she doesn’t want to do that,” Suchi interjects.

“Dr. Brown coming with some heat.” Bridget smiles at her.

The white lady turns red and looks at the map the tour guide gave them when they first arrived.

The tour guide glances at the ladies and mouths, “Thank you.”

Lyric nods at her in acknowledgment.

An hour later, they are in the back of an SUV on their way back to the hotel for some rest. They want to relax and sleep in before going out on New Year’s Eve.

“Aims, we never got a report on green eyes from the coffee shop last week.” Bridget says.

Once they arrive at the hotel and get on the elevator, Aimee replies, “His dick game was on point, but afterward, he was talking about ‘when can we see each other again?’ I literally said, ‘this is not meant to go beyond tonight’ when we hooked up. How hard is that to comprehend?” Aimee rolls her eyes.

“After what happened with Wes, I’m in no hurry to be in a relationship.

And I thought all men wanted was pussy, what is with these dudes? ”

“Girl, you know you got that good good.” Lyric jokes. “Remember that sorry brother from school who practically camped out right outside our dorm?”

“Kelvin!” the other ladies say at the same time.

“God, I want to know what you did to that poor man, Aims. He had it bad,” Bridget says.

“Who are you telling? That fool still sends me DMs. Damn, I can’t wait to become big time like you, Bridge. Then I’ll hire an assistant to deal with these men. This shit is starting to happen more than me being tagged in negative reviews.”

“I’m not that big time. Hell, my fifteen-year-old daughter is still my assistant at conventions.”

“I’m glad we did our girls’ trip early. It’s going to take me a minute to recover. Doing New Orleans and then San Fran Rom Fan Con would have been exhausting,” Aimee remarks.

“Speaking of exhausted, I’m calling a masseuse, then heading to bed. I’ll see you kids tomorrow,” Lyric says.

“Send him to my room when you’re done!” Aimee calls out.

Lyric looks at her with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face. “Miss ma’am, you just said you’re tired of these clingy-ass men.”

“Send him to my room for a massage, Lyric.” Aimee waves her away.

Suchi and Bridget laugh at their antics.

It’s New Year’s Eve, and the ladies walk around the French Quarter with Lyric’s arm looped with Bridget’s and Suchi’s looped with Aimee’s behind them. The ladies all instinctively swivel their heads to the left. They see a psychic shop called Gifts from Gaia.

The ladies look at each other.

Lyric addresses her friends. “What do you say, girls? We did say ‘Be more adventurous.’”

“Let’s do it,” Aimee replies.

“Yeah, it sounds like fun,” Suchi says.

They all look at Bridget. She shrugs. “What the hell. Let’s see what lies ahead for us.”

The women enter the shop.

Lyric is hit with the smell of sandalwood, incense and palo santo.

There’s a young woman at the register. She positively beams when she greets them.

“Good evening, ladies. Are you ready to learn what the future holds?”

“Ready and waiting.” Aimee answers.

“Great. Do you want to go in as a group?”

“Yes, please.” Lyric says.

“Okay, for a party of four, a twenty-minute reading would be best.”

“Sounds good.” Lyric nods.

“Excellent. That will be two hundred dollars.”

“For twenty minutes?” Bridget exclaims.

Her shocked expression makes the woman at the register laugh.

“I assure you it’s worth every penny.”

“It’s fine, Bridge. Big Head is paying for it.” Lyric chimes in.

Lyric hands her Big Head’s company credit card.

After the transaction goes through, the woman smiles.

“Thank you. Now, please follow me.”

She leads them down a hallway.

Lyric spots a room where the wall is covered in pictures and postcards.

“Is that a wall of success stories?” she asks.

The woman turns and nods grinning. “Yes. We call it the miracles manifested room. Every postcard and picture are of someone who found their true loves or got new jobs. They all experienced new and exciting changes in their lives.”

“Those were a lot of pictures. I guess that’s a good sign.” Suchi remarks.

The woman turns and faces them with her back to a closed door. “It is. This is where I leave you now, ladies. Remember to go in with an open mind.”

The woman walks back to the front of the shop.

Lyric reaches for the door when it opens.

A beautiful, young dark-skinned woman with long straight hair smiles at them.

“Welcome. I am Ukweli. Please do come in.”

The ladies sit around Ukweli’s table.

The room is small but manages to accommodate a table and chairs for the ladies and Ukweli to sit down comfortably. A linen showing constellations matching the décor of the room covers the table. Crystals are placed throughout the small space.

“What are these crystals?” Suchi asks.

“Amethyst geode to focus my intuition and quartz unicorn to help clients take in the message. How may I help you ladies today?”

“We paid for a twenty-minute group reading. We want to know what the new year has in store for us.” Lyric answers.

“Perfect. That means five minutes for each of you. Which of you would like to go first?”

Lyric raises her hand. “I’ll go.”

Ukweli pulls out a tarot deck and shuffles the cards. She fans them out on the table.

“Pick two.” She instructs.

Lyric pulls two cards and flips them over.

“The two of cups and the emperor.” Ukweli says sounding impressed. “The two of cups represents love and the emperor represents someone who is ambitious and strong-willed. It represents security and stability. According to the cards you pulled, you will find love with a very powerful individual.”

“Oooo, Lyric. I wonder who it is.” Suchi teases.

“What if it’s that one guy who hit on you last week.” Aimee suggests.

“What if it’s—” Bridget begins.

“What are you heffas talking about? I don’t want love. Do it again, Ukweli.” Lyric complains.

“Sorry, but your five minutes are up. Who’s next?” Ukweli grins.

Lyric pouts.

“I’ll go.” Aimee scooches closer.

Ukweli takes a picture of Lyric’s cards before taking them and reshuffling the deck.

She fans the cards across the table again.

Aimee picks two cards and flips them over.

“The two of cups and three of cups. You will find love with a friend.”

“Oh, God. Please don’t be Wesley.” Aimee pinches the bridge of her nose.

“I mean, Wesley is your ex, not really a friend.” Suchi addresses Aimee.

“We did say we’d try to be friends after the breakup.” Aimee shrugs.

“Please, we all say that. No one actually means it.” Bridget waves away her worries.

Aimee shakes her head, “I honestly have no clue who it could be.”

“That makes it even more fun.” Suchi cheers.

“For whom?” Aimee laments.

“I’ll go next.” Suchi volunteers.

Ukweli repeats the action of photographing the cards before rejoining them in the deck and shuffling them again.

She fans the cards out and Suchi chooses two. She flips them over.

“The two of cups and hangman. You will look at things from a whole different perspective. This person is going to turn your world upside down and will make you see things from a new angle.” Ukweli explains.

“Um, turn my world upside down?” Suchi’s brow furrows with worry.

“Yeah, it’s not so fun now is it, Sooch?” Lyric teases her.

Suchi squints at Lyric prompting her to blow Suchi a kiss.

Ukweli takes a picture of Suchi’s cards and shuffles the deck.

She fans them across the table and Bridget picks one.

“I figured it out. I’m picking one card at a time. That’s the mistake you ladies made. Ya’ll were in too big of a rush and you all got that love card.” Bridget schools them.

She flips the card over and it’s the strength card.

“Yes! That’s what I’m talking about.” Bridget cheers.

“For the strength card, you must feed your inner lion and find your footing,” Ukweli tells Bridget.

“Great! That’s what you ladies told me I was doing already.” Bridget smiles.

She rubs her hands together and picks the second card then turns it over.

“The two of cups!” Ukweli excitedly announces.

“What? No! Oh, c’mon cards.” Bridget mopes.

“The two of cups is following you ladies. There’s no sense in running. Love is coming for all of you.”

The group doesn’t look enthused.

“Sorry, Ukweli. It’s just that the dating pool in LA is full of caca.” Lyric explains.

“It’s not too much better down here.” Ukweli nods. “But the cards are telling you what’s to come. It’s up to the four of you to listen.”

Lyric takes in her words and can tell her friends are doing the same by the thoughtful looks on their faces.

Ukweli continues, “thank you for visiting Gifts from Gaia! Make sure you grab some free swag on your way out, ladies, and don’t forget to leave a Yelp review when you find your loves.”

An hour later, the foursome sit in a restaurant booth eating their dinner.

They went to one of the most recommended restaurants in New Orleans, and the aroma coming from their table is mouthwatering.

Lyric ordered crawfish fettucine, Bridget ordered the gumbo, while Aimee ordered shrimp creole, and Suchi is having red beans and rice.

“You all think there may be some truth to Ukweli’s prediction?” Suchi asks.

“Pffft, nope,” Lyric answers. “I don’t want to take the negative route, especially with a sister, but how do we know she didn’t have multiple two of cups cards in that deck. Face it, we got swindled, Sooch. Live and learn, I guess.”

“Technically, Big Head got swindled,” Bridget adds.

“And it was on his company card. He can just write it off anyway.” Aimee shrugs. “Oh shoot, it’s almost time for the countdown, girls.” She cheers.

The ladies order a bottle of champagne and count down from ten together.

“Ten.”

“Nine.”

“Eight.”

“Seven.”

“Six.”

“Five.”

“Four.”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One. Happy New Year!”

They embrace, take pictures and pop the champagne.

As they finish, Suchi spots someone admiring Aimee. “There’s a very handsome stranger looking yourway, Aims.”

“He’s going to have to keep looking. You gentlemen ready?” Aimee asks Roc and Pete.

“Yep,” Roc answers.

“Ready and waiting.” Pete grins.

“Great!” Aimee gets up and loops her arms in each of theirs. She turns around and smiles at her friends. “I’ll let you ladies know which one is the love of my life.” She winks.

“She said it would be a friend, Aimee.” Suchi calls out to her.

Aimee turns around grinning, “whatever do you mean, Suchi? Pete, Roc and I are very good friends, aren’t we boys?”

“Damn good friends.” Roc winks.

Lyric, Suchi and Bridget laugh as Aimee sashays away with Roc and Pete.