#BlackInkChi: Jess Comes Back From Across The Pond, Immediately Clashes With Kitty
Last week on , Charmaine has a false alarm when it came to her pregnancy, but now she has another issue this week, she is not feeling what she is seeing at her shop.
The second episode in Black Ink Crew: Chicago’s latest season opens up with Charmaine and her new pregnancy diary to help us keep with 2nd City Ink’s owner while she is stuck at home on bed rest. Charmaine thought last week that her mucus plug came out, and Baby Nola was on the way, but that was not the case. Unable to tend to day-to-day business at the shop, Charmaine left Kitty in charge. Based on what she sees on social media, Charmaine is not too happy with Kitty’s performance and feels that former brand ambassador now the manager is dropping the ball.
Former 2nd City Ink employee, Draya, is secretly hanging out with current employee Prince. Draya reveals that she and Phor have created a networking event for Black tattoo artists in Chicago. Draya hopes that Prince and Plg can convince Charmaine to allow 2nd City Ink to work with 9 MAG on the upcoming event. Draya also wants to bury the hatchet with Charmaine following the big blowup when her former boss found she ditched 2nd City Ink and to join Ryan and his crew.
Speaking of Ryan, we catch up with the owner of 9 MAG at an event that he and his mother created called Ava Day to honor Ava and Pear Novah. The event is a day of pampering for mothers who have lost their children. Rachel reveals that her and , Nova, were very close and were even pregnant together at the same time. Rachel named her business after Nova because she was like a sister to her.
Ryan spoke on his relationship with Rachel and states they are in a good place and that co-parenting is going very well. Don and Phor are also there and are the object of desire of all the cougars in the building.
We zap back to 2nd City Ink, and there is some trouble brewing with the new artist Star. Kitty is fed up with her being that she is on a trial period and is currently late, leaving her client waiting. To rectify the situation, Kitty enlists Plug to do Star’s client tattoo since she isn’t at the shop.
During his home confessional, Plug calls out Kitty for being a hypocrite, being that she is always late getting to the shop too.
Star finally shows up apologizing for being so late. Kitty immediately confronts her to tell call her out about being late. Star gets upset when she finds out that Plug is now tattooing her client taking money away from her that she says she needs. An argument ensues between Kitty and Star. Kitty tells Star she needs to get her act together immediately.
Over at 9 MAG, a possible romance is on the horizon. While working on Phor’s event, it’s clear to see that Bella has feelings for her coworker. While not directly saying it, Bella is shooting subliminal shots at Phor, and he kinda knows it. Phor reveals it’s time to settle down and have some kids. Bella feels he shouldn’t be single because he is a great catch, and that Phor needs to be with someone who is he friends with first. Basically, she is pitching herself to Phor.
We link back up with Charmaine, and Draya finally reaches out to her about the networking event. Charmaine thinks the event could serve as an olive branch to mend the issues between herself and Draya. Charmaine voices her frustration with Kitty again after shes the person she left in charge dancing with 2nd City Ink employees in a Tik Tok video.
Speaking of Draya, we learn more about 9 MAG’s newest employee. During a tattoo session with a client, Draya reveals that its the anniversary of her mother’s death. Draya details how her mother’s mental issues led to her abusing drugs, subsequently leading to her taking her own life. Draya also describes being pregnant and losing her daughter a week before her mother took her own life.
Not being able to get closure, Draya sees herself in a similar space with Charmaine, who also tragically lost her mother without really having a chance to say goodbye, and that’s why she wants to make peace with her former boss.
Draya gets her chance to bury the hatchet with Charmaine at her networking the event. They both show growth in the situation, Charmaine even apologizes for how she handled the news of Draya working for Ryan. Charmaine does get irritated with Plug and Kitty because they are not at the event, but she is pregnant and all.
We later learn that Kitty opted to pass on the event out of fear of the growing number of people being infected with the coronavirus in Chicago.
After Charmaine and Draya make peace, there is beef between two other people at the event. After Bella gets a few drinks in her system, she attacks Star because she feels the 2nd City Ink artist is getting to close to her crush Phor. Bella calls Star a two-dollar hoe and has to be separated from each other.
Following the event, Draya decides to link up with a medium in hopes to get the closure she always wanted. The medium accurately describes what happened with her mother and claims that her mom is telling him that suicide was the only option she had at the time. Through the medium, Draya’s mother apologizes for what she did and wants Dray to know she’s okay. The medium also tells Dray that her daughter is with her mother.
Just hearing that brings Draya to tears giving her the confidence knowing that both her mom and daughter are together.
Finally, the episode ends on a very spicy note. Due to Charmaine’s lack of confidence in Kitty, she reaches out across the pond to Jess and apologizes for how things went down and ask her to come back. Jess accepts and surprises everyone at the shop, and the crew is happy to see she is back, well everyone except Kitty.
Kitty believes that Jess is back just as an artist, Jess reveals that is not the case and that she is back in her old managerial role. The two clashes with each other, and Jess explains that she is only back because Kitty isn’t doing her job correctly. Kitty storms off, telling Jess she needs to be quiet and just be the hired help she is supposed to be.
You can peep the reactions to tonight’s shenanigans in the gallery below.
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Photo: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz/VH1
