Tales of the Hood by T K Williams-Nelson

for the first time; where Maurice caught sight of Holly at the counter; the beginning of the end of our friendship. We both thought we found the girl of our dreams. Now it just seemed like a place made for shoppers to spend money they didn’t have. We went into this store where there was a dress on a mannequin that Myah thought was nice.
    â€œLook how sexy this dress is! I’m going to try it on,” she said all excited. When she came out of the dressing room she looked like a whole new person. The way the dress hugged her curves and stopped just under her bum made my eyes burn. She honestly looked stunning. I smiled and complimented her on her look.
    â€œHow much is it?” I asked the assistant.
    â€œWell that dress is £400 when purchased with the matching shoes,” she replied.
    My jaw dropped and almost slammed against the ground. “£400, you must be joking! How much is it without the shoes?”
    â€œIt’s £250 without the shoes,” she mumbled.
    â€œWell Myah, we’re hitting another shop because man isn’t paying £250 for a dress,” I said exiting the shop.
    â€œJayden please. I’ll pay for half. I really like it,” pleaded Myah.
    â€œIf you’re paying for half then course but you still aren’t getting the matching shoes,” I said, putting my foot down on the matter.
    She gave me a cute smirk. “I’m okay with that, I’ll just find a different pair.”
    We went to the counter and paid for the dress. The workers seemed to be watching us funny. “Is there a problem?” asked Myah, politely.
    â€œWe just have to watch people like you in our store,” said the worker in a rude tone.
    â€œWell you can see we have our money out so treat us with a bit of respect thank you very much,” Myah replied, twice as rude. The lady shut her mouth and walked off, leaving us to walk out the store. “The cheek of the bitch,” Myah whined. I laughed because I liked it when she was angry. We went into a store that sold suits. I looked around and couldn’t see anything to my taste, but as I was walking out Myah pointed out a white suit hung up at the back of the shop. It had a blue handkerchief in the breast pocket and blue cufflinks. It was perfect.
    â€œHow much is this suit boss?” I asked.
    â€œIt’s the last one like it so it’s £150.” I was shocked. The suit was so nice and yet so cheap. I tried it on and I looked like fresh. It was exactly the look I wanted to have for the night; something to make me stand out but not too over the top. After I paid for it I needed to look for the right pair of shoes but realised I needed to buy the food first just to make sure I had enough money. If I didn’t I had some fresh white shoes at home so I wasn’t too bothered. We went into the butchers and purchased enough meat for the amount of people I thought would turn up, then we did the same in the fish shop. By the time we left the shopping centre I only had £40 in my wallet.
    â€œI’m broke now boy,” I said to Myah.
    â€œWell at least we got everything so now you can relax until the big day,” she said as we walked around looking for our parking spot. She kissed me on my cheek as we loaded up the car with the stuff, but on the way back home I clocked on that Myah was more excited about the party than I was. I don’t know if I was being paranoid or if she really was eager. Either way it was a good sign, wasn’t it?
    ***
    The day was here and everything was set. I got hold of a venue twenty minutes away for free because I knew the owner. Basically everything fit into my budget perfectly. Myah cooked all the food and the boys helped fix up the hall and set up the speakers and decks. I pressed my suit and hung it up for later. Myah was trying to figure out what shoes she was going to wear whilst I stole some of the chicken.
    â€œI saw that!” she said from the