In our last episode, Messy Meeka came at Tami with all types of wrong, causing Tami to tap into her inner Rosa Parks so as not to beat her down with a polo mallet. This episode, the secret word is "healing." Everyone say it with me: healing.
We start out with Messy Meeka explaining to Suzie that while she may have been wrong in her interaction with Tami, she doesn't really care, and Tami needs to "keep it movin." What is this, 1995? Who still says that?
Coincidentally — wink wink, nudge nudge — all of the Basketball Wives are going to be in New York, except for Suzie and Royce. Tami's there to get her daughters' sangin' career sparked; Evelyn is headed to the Boogie Down for a confab with her moms and pops while also trying to convince her daughter to attend Project Runway College; and Messy Meeka wants to hook up the newly ex-Mrs. Eric Williams' Teeth with a blind date. (Speaking of Eric Williams' teeth, can he loan my boy Alexander O'Neal a couple of bicuspids? BET Awards viewers, I know you're feelin' me.) Shaunie's coming through too, hoping to win a Nobel Peace Prize by settling the beef between Evelyn and Tami.
In New York, Tami takes her daughters to a recording session with a couple of producers, whose only qualification is that whatever they record, "it's gotta be hot." Tami soon finds out that her cousin Shauna, who had the hook-up with the producers, also hooked herself up by ousting Tami as manager and installing herself. That didn't sit well with Tami, who blows up.
Enter Tami's momma, Nadine, who comes through to put a little grandma 'tussin on the situation. Nadine is as sweet as can be and settles the matter with a little "be a shoulder to cry on" advice for Tami. More Nadine on-screen, please!
Meanwhile, on a rooftop somewhere in New York City, Jenn is on a double date with Meeka and Speedy. Her blind date's name? Eric. This Eric has 50 percent fewer teeth than her ex, so Jenn is a bit flustered. Eric is a 27-year-old and seems nice enough — not much of a conversationalist, though. She'll probably never see him again.
Over in the Bronx, Evelyn is meeting up with her moms, and they go over the pros and cons of Evelyn's daughter heading to Cali for school. It's gonna happen. Then the convo turns to Evelyn's papi, Nengo, who apparently is the source of all Evelyn's man problems.
Nengo was always "I go" when Evelyn was a child, as in he was never around. Nengo speaks no English, so moms translates for Evelyn, who obviously speaks Spanish. Que … ? After a bunch of tears, Nengo gets on his knees, begs 'Please baby please,' and Evelyn forgives him for his transgressions.
Evelyn must have been in the forgiving mood because we end the ep with Shaunie bringing her, Jenn and Tami together for drinks. These women never miss a happy hour, so after a few drinks, Tami suggests as a compromise that Evelyn make her money back from the notorious T-shirt sales and then stop selling them. Surprisingly, Evelyn agrees. Shaunie's plan works! Shaunie then agrees to settle the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by giving the enemy an offering of Suzie and Royce, respectively. OK, I made that last part up.
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Lawrence Ross is the author of the Los Angeles Times best-seller The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities. His newest book, Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race on America’s Campuses, is a blunt and frank look at the historical and contemporary issue of campus racism on predominantly white college campuses. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.