March

It was a Friday night, and Leandra was going out.

Going out wasn’t usually her thing. She wasn’t much of a homebody – she went out when the opportunity presented itself – but nightlife was definitely something that she didn’t spend much time indulging in, except that night, which was different. That night she was standing in the middle of her matchbox studio apartment, pulling on one of the few going out outfits she had – a black bandeau top and a very high waist, knee length skirt, that hugged the silhouette of her cocoa brown body snugly and seemed to be the most appropriate for the outing that was ahead of her. She had already done her makeup, but squeezed her way back into the small confines of her bathroom to style her hair in the mirror. With fingers made deft from a lifetime of practice she carefully unwound the twists in her hair, fluffing and coaxing until it framed her oval face in a mane that made a smile pull at her full lips. All she was missing was shoes, her jewelry and her purse, and they were easy enough to round up; she was completely ready by the time her phone rang with an incoming message, alerting her of the arrival of her ride downstairs.

It didn’t take long for her to lock up her apartment; soon she was making her way downstairs, the heels of her black strappy shoes tapping dully against the concrete floor in the hallway as she went. She lived in a small building, only three stories, with no elevator; she descended the stairs for the second floor as quickly as her shoes would allow her without falling and emerged from the building and into the cool night air, heading towards the Altima parked on the curb.

“That’s my girl.” The voice greeted Leandra before she could see the face as she opened the passenger side door. “On time as usual.”

“If I wasn’t, you’d bite my head off,” Leandra retorted with a smirk, dropping her body into the passenger seat.

“That is not true!” Leandra rolled her eyes at Ehrielle Davis, her friend of three years, as she closed the car door behind her.

“That is true,” Leandra shot back. “When it’s time for you to get out and be seen, you’re the queen of being on time.”

“You mean to tell me you’re not excited for this of all outings?” Ehrielle demanded, her honey brown eyes wide in her caramel brown face as she turned to look at her. “If you tell me no I’m leaving you at home right now.”

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