Cheesecake and Teardrops Read Free Page B

working girls should keep their legs shut and their eyes and ears open? Anyway, who says he’s even available? A man like him probably has them lined up around the block,” Charisma said as she sipped her drink.
    â€œMaybe. But if he were available, would you be interested?” Tangie asked.
    Charisma thought for a moment before speaking. “Nope.”

2
Heather
    Heather Grey drove down Merrick Boulevard to her favorite cosmetics and skin-care shop, When We Were Queens. Her atrocious eyebrows looked like two bushy caterpillars plastered to her forehead in need of waxing. She was more than overdue.
    Thank God Cinderella was in, and they were delighted to see one another. As usual, Cinderella greeted her with a warm embrace, kissing both cheeks. “Now queens,” she said to her other clients. “Say hello to Queen Heather.”
    â€œHi,” they all said in unison.
    â€œYou look fantastic, my darling,” Cinderella told her.
    â€œI lost five pounds,” Heather whispered.
    â€œThat’s wonderful. Call the cops!” Cinderella smiled. “Let me guess.” She laughed. “You need your eyebrows done.”
    Heather nodded. “Uh-huh.”
    â€œLet me finish Anita’s, start Queen Ethel’s, and then put wax on yours,” she told Heather, keeping track of everyone.
    It was well-known that Cinderella did the best makeup and eyebrows in Queens, and she was the premier choice for many a brides. By this time, four more customers had walked in and all for their brows. Cinderella’s assistant helped out. Heather was glad she came when she did. Cinderella worked her magic and handed Heather a hand mirror to review her work. Heather glanced at her reflection, pleased with what she saw until her eyes landed smack-dab on her nose. How could she miss it? She hated the sight of it, from its hideous bump to its flaring nostrils. It was probably the only thing standing in the way of her lifelong dream of becoming a model. That, and the extra pounds that enveloped her girth prevented her from even being a plus-sized model. She quickly looked away and returned the mirror to Cinderella. She was stuck with that curse until she hit the lottery or at least until she saved up enough money for a nose job. All her extra funds were being saved for her plastic surgery. In the meantime, she’d just have to deal with what she called her bowlegged nose. She spent another hour with Cinderella and left with a bagful of much-needed cosmetics.
    â€œWithout God and you we truly could not survive,” Cinderella told her as she headed out the door.
    Heather rented the basement apartment of her mother’s Laurelton home. She headed home, anxious to get out of her tight clothes. She always slipped into something more comfortable after she came in from work as a librarian at the main branch of the Queens Library off of Jamaica Avenue.
    It was funny. Heather Grey loved heather gray. She had a drawer full of heather gray T-shirts, leggings, and sweats. She practically lived in them during her downtime.
    It also amused her that she was a little black, a little white, and a Grey. Could she be any more colorful?
    Heather surveyed herself in the full-length bedroom.
    There goes that nose again. No amount of makeup could camouflage it. Lord knows she had tried. If she ever hit the lottery, look out, world. Between a nose job and liposuction, she’d reinvent herself. Why diet and exercise for months when a skilled surgeon could whittle her down in a matter of hours? She’d save herself a lot of stomach growling.
    That’s for sure. Yet, she still got hit on by the fellas. Some men just liked ’em extra thick. Or maybe they were just greedy. They wanted their share and someone else’s too.
    Heather headed for the kitchen. It was Thursday evening, and she didn’t feel like cooking. She popped a frozen dinner into the microwave and poured herself a glass of diet 7UP. It