Free Cheaper to Keep Her (part 1) by Kiki Swinson presents Unique Page A

annoyed the hell out of me. She was my BFF, but the hatorade was killing me.
    “ Well Diamond, you were the one telling me to get with him . . . so why the change of heart now?” I snapped at her. Diamond was quiet for a few seconds and then she came back at me.
    “ I only wanted you to go out with him and get him to pay a few of our bills,” she stated. “I wasn’t advocating for you to move into his place with him and fall all in love. But do what you want, I’m just saying to be careful because once you give a nigga your all and he doesn’t give you his ain’t no turning back then.”
    I was getting madder by the minute so I wanted to cut our conversation short before me and my best friend had yet another falling out. “Trust me, I have everything under control, my feelings for Duke included,” I retorted.
    “ A’ight, I warned you.”
    “ I’m going shopping with the stack of cash Duke left me and then I’ll be by to pick up some of my stuff. Like I said, it’s probably best that you start looking for another roommate!” I snapped back. Diamond was quiet. “Hello?” I said into the receiver.
    “ Good luck, Lynise . . . that’s all I can wish you dealing with that dude,” she said spitefully.
    “ Diamond, let me go. Like I said, I’m a grown ass woman and I am dealing with a real man. I got this under control. I will be dropping off my keys today. Talk to you later.” Then I cut the call off.
    I wasn’t going to entertain Diamond’s ill-feelings or ill-thoughts. I told myself she was hating on my new man and my soon-to-be lavish living. She chose Brian and I was sorry her life sucked. But I was glad she had convinced me to give Duke a chance. It had to be all uphill from here. From my viewpoint, life could only get better.
     
    Cheaper to Keep Her Unique
    Chapter 9—I Know What Girls Like
    I took a cab to the club and picked up my car.
    I looked at my little beat down ride and knew that the first thing I was going to get me when I moved up to wifey status with Duke was going to be a new car. I drove to my old apartment and was kind of praying that Diamond wasn’t there. I didn’t want to see her just in case she started acting all stank and looking sad and shit when I took my stuff.
    I went inside the apartment and took arms full of clothes and shoes. There was nothing I had as exclusive and expensive as what Duke had bought me so I grabbed that shit first. It took me several trips and my little car was packed with my stuff. I decided to go to the mall to buy me some sexy lingerie and maybe some hot shoes with the money Duke gave me.
    I couldn’t have been happier. I raced around the upscale mall like I owned it. I picked up La Perla underwear and lingerie. Then I tried on almost twenty pairs of Brian Atwood, Christian Louboutin and Giuseppe Zanotti shoes. I finally settled on another pair of Louboutins. There was just something about those shoes that said sexy and sophisticated. It felt so good to go to the register, ring up my shit and pay with cash. It also felt good getting the little arched eyebrow surprised looks from the salesclerks inside the store. I wanted to just scream out “Yeah bitches, I can afford it because my man provides!” I didn’t though. I was quiet and I held my head high like a sophisticated lady would. In my mind, I wouldn’t have to pretend to be a sophisticated lady because I was on my way to claim that title.
    I literally shopped until I felt ready to drop. After a while, I drove back to the condo and started the tedious task of unloading my new and old shit into the condo. It took me at least twenty trips with arms full of stuff to finish unpacking my things. Initially, I put everything in the living room. When I had everything inside, I flopped on the couch, put my feet up and rested for a minute. I looked around again at the condo and its beautiful furnishing and couldn’t believe it was all mine now. “Ewwwweeee!” I sang and kicked my feet in a joyous