But so far, there are no answers…But before we get into that, let’s discuss the rest of this week’s Love & Hip Hop episode.
Even though she only just hooked up with Peter recently, Tara now seems officially done with the old Gunz and she’s moving on. When she meets with Yandy and K.Michelle, she tells them she has a date with one of the men she met at Yandy’s audition last week. “Tara! You dirty dog,” Yandy says. K and Yandy want to give Tara a super-sexy makeover (in the style of “trashy Heidi Klum”) to celebrate her newfound liberation as a single woman and she’s totally down. The end result:
Since Tara’s date, Aaron, has a twin brother named Andrew, she invites K.Michelle to join her as a wing-woman and help make the situation less awkward. The date is a stunt class, so like, falling and jumping from great heights onto rubber mats. K’s reaction? “Oh, hell, no.” But when it’s Andrew’s turn to take a fall, she does get into the spirit, telling him “You should do it with no shirt on.” She likes what she sees and explains “He got all that up there — I wonder how that sausage looking.”
“I’m sorry, did I walk into the wrong house? I thought Rashidah wanted to talk to me about her wedding,” Tahiry says.
“You post pictures of your ass, not in a tasteful, sexy way,” Rah continues, and as she talks, Tahiry tells her “I’m done,” and starts to leave.
As she walks out the door, Rah calls her a “fake-ass friend.” “You’re nobody’s friend but yourself!” she says. “And you’re not in my wedding no more!”
Rich Dollaz has only one place to turn when things are really bad with Erica Mena: his mother, Jewel. Mama Dollaz always has sage advice, and when he tells her how, once again, life with Erica has gotten complicated, she tells him, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too…She’s a beautiful woman but she’s not irresistible, come on.”
“I’m a creep,” Rich tells his mom, which must make he proud.” She tells him he’s just weak creep, which is hilarious, and tells him to focus up on the business and not let the temptation of Erica become a problem. “Get her out of your head, and get her out of your pants.” Rich is like…
…f-i-i-i-i-i-i-ne.
Rich has decided to try and get some distance from Erica for the time being, which means that even though he thought she would be perfect for a Black Men Magazine shoot opportunity he has with Dollaz Unlimited Models, he opted to use another model, Jessica Santiago.
Rich flew Jessica up from Orlando for the shoot and as he clearly flirts his way through the shoot with her, she reciprocates the flirtation. “I’m the king of messy and I’m trying to clean this s— up,” he tells her.
After sticking his finger in Jessica’s cleavage, Rich explains that he may not be ready to start cleaning his messy ways up yet. “It’s gonna be hard for me not to dibble and dabble in this one,” he says.
When Rich and Peter last saw each other, Peter gave Rich an ultimatum — Erica or him. Peter was no fan of Erica’s especially after she lobbed a plate at his head upon meeting him, and he was not happy that Rich was getting back involved in her career. But Peter missed Rich and the two men get together to make amends. Peter offers his apology first, admitting he should have just left the restaurant rather than letting the fight with Erica escalate. As his own peace offering, Rich offers Peter a DJ gig and then tells him he’s working with Jessica, which causes Peter to raise his eyebrows. “Talk to me, man,” Peter says. “Are we in another situation? Business and pleasure again?” At least Peter has the sense to look out for his friend if he can’t actually keep his own record clean.
Joe is serious about proposing to Tahiry, so he meets with her sister Lexie to ask her permission. “No, no, no,” Lexie responds when Joe tells her his intentions. “You’re asking me for her hand?? Like, whaaat?”
“Anything I needed to get out of my system is out,” Joe assures Lexie. “I just want to spend the rest of my life with Tahiry. I don’t want to be without her for one second.”
Lexie thinks Tahiry will be shocked by Joe’s decision to propose, and Joe swears her to secrecy regarding his plans.
Rich and Jessica are sitting with each other and Erica approaches and after a few subliminal and not so subliminal jabs between Erica and Jessica, Erica walks away and Rich follows her. “Even if she got her weave done, her teeth fixed, and traded her Payless shoes for red bottoms, she still couldn’t be half the bitch that I am,” Erica says. “Stop fooling yourself and get back down on your knees, bitch.” Erica tells Rich to teach Jessica how to play her position as his #2 woman and “respect the breadwinner,” and when Jessica shows up and gets lippy with Erica, that drink manages to find its way from Erica’s hand to Jessica’s general direction.
“Admit you love me and do what you gotta do, or leave me the f— alone,” Erica tells Rich and she hoofs it out. Shockingly, even though Rich is always telling Erica to quit her crazy, spazzy ways, this sparks something in him to “man up” and be the man she’s always asking him to be. He confides to Yandy that he’s in love with Erica and Yandy asks incredulously, “You’re ready to be in a committed relationship with Erica Mena?”
“YUP!”
Joe is just as sure as Rich that he’s ready to commit, so he brings Lexie to his place to pick out a ring for Tahiry. Enter Mr. Flawless, the jeweler who can make this happen.
Lexie asks Joe how’s he’s so sure Tahiry will say yes and he tells her that after nine years off and on, they have nowhere else to go but up. “We’re meant to be together and Tahiry knows that just as much as I do.” He has a big, BIG plan in store.
Rich invites Erica to dinner to tell him the good news: he’s ready to be her man (or, as he puts it “to claim what’s his”).
“I don’t know what to say, Rich,” she says, clearly flustered at his news.
“Typical foolish man,” Erica says. “He wants to offer me now everything he should have given me then.” She breaks down, because you can tell that deep down she still loves him, but she also loves Cyn and now she has some big decisions to make.
The time has come for Joe to pop the question to Tahiry. He’s devised an elaborate ruse to get Tahiry to Times Square, and she thinks she’s meeting Lexie there. Their entire families are there on the sidelines watching, too.
“I just hope that she’s ready for what I have in store for her.”
Joe has assembled a video — way better than Peter’s PowerPoint photo slideshow for Amina last week, I might add — to play in Times Square and as she watches it, everyone on the sidelines (and us) tear up. As it ends, Joe appears onscreen holding a sign:
But will Tahiry have an answer?