Chapter 8 #2
“Are these jeans too tight?” I asked, turning around so that he could see my ass.
“You look sexy as fuck. He’ll love those,” he said, winking when I turned back to face him.
“Be serious, Ian.” I pouted.
“It’s hard to be serious while you’re acting like this. Come over here. I have something to help take the stress off.”
“We are not about to have sex at a time like this.”
He threw his head back, laughing. “I’m talking about marijuana, woman.”
I had to laugh at myself. “Oh.”
“You know I can’t let you do that other extra special thing that I know will make me feel one hundred percent better while I have this flesh-eating disease.”
I burst out laughing. “That’s the exact same thing your agent called it last night.”
“You met my agent last night?”
“Yeah. I got up for a drink, and he was in the kitchen.”
“Probably drinking coffee.”
“I don’t know how you knew.”
“He never sleeps. Usually, I get up and kick it with him.”
“He seems kinda cool. I can’t see how he puts up with you.”
“We balance each other. He’s used to me.”
“He sounds like a saint.”
“Maybe he is.”
A knock at the door caught my attention. My nerves went into overdrive. This was it.
“Come on,” Ian called to the door before looking back at me with a devious smile. “My agent is actually about to bring us breakfast.”
“I thought your dad was bringing us breakfast.”
“How you feeling this morning, baby boy?” I looked up to see Sebastian coming in carrying a platter of food.
“Good morning, Sebastian,” I spoke, relieved that it was just him.
“Morning, Jrue.”
“I’m good. I’m feeling a lot better since my baby came and nursed on me,” Ian revealed.
“Too much information. I’m just making sure your contagious ass is still locked up in here. I’ll make sure somebody delivers your meals to you in here. We don’t need you spreading that Ebola all over the house.”
I howled at how serious he was. It was good to see somebody giving it to Ian just as much as he liked to mess with everybody else.
“I’m keeping him busy,” I assured his agent.
“You’re a strong woman, Jrue. He’s lucky to have you because I love him to death, but if he comes within arm’s reach of me with that shit, I’m laying his ass down.”
“Old man, shut up. You know you ain’t got it like that no more.”
“I would sure hate to have to show you.”
“Aye, Pop, I tried to scare Jrue about meeting you, but she says y’all already met last night.”
“Yeah, we did. All your snoring was keeping her up.”
“Wait a minute. Sebastian’s your dad? How old are you?” They both burst out laughing making me feel like the joke was on me. “Y’all fucking with me, aren’t you?”
“Nah, he’s not clever enough to make up nothing like that. Unfortunately, I am the father. I have papers on him to prove it.”
“Go to hell, old man.”
“I’m so sorry. It’s just that you look kinda young to have a thirty-year-old son. They do say black don’t crack.”
“You don’t have to apologize. I actually get that a lot. I’m not all that damn old. I had no business having a son at fifteen.”
“And another one at eighteen,” Ian interjected.
“Shut the hell up. I don’t need your help, boy. Y’all kids, eat up. I’m out for the day. Let me know when you finish reading over those contracts and selecting your tour dates. You should have plenty of time on your hands.”
“Damn, I can’t get a hug, Dad?”
“Boy, you almost made me tell you something in front of this lady,” Sebastian said, shaking his head.
“You know you love me.”
“Yeah, you know it too. It was nice meeting you, Jrue. Hopefully my son doesn’t get on your nerves too bad, because I’m about to turn my phone off.”
“I hope you’re about to finally get some pussy for a change!” Ian yelled right before the door slammed.
“Why in the world didn’t I know your dad was your agent?”
“I guess I never told you. He’s a sports agent, but he is the only one I trust to make sure my business is handled right.”
“That’s what’s up. So, he’s Eamon’s dad too?”
“Yeah, but my sister Sage has a different dad. Sebastian raised her too, though. When my mom tried to send for her, she wouldn’t go.”
“Damn, that’s crazy.”
“She had been gone a whole year before she called saying that she was sending a bus ticket for Sage. Dad didn’t want her to go, but he knew he couldn’t just keep her. She said she wasn’t going. She didn’t go, and Ma never came to force her.”
“That’s crazy, Ian.”
“Hell, tell me about it. Let me get my ass up. When I’m sick, my dad always makes me pancakes.”
“This is a WIBB exclusive. We have an interview with Jrake Peterson. The former business partner of the rapper known as Supreme is dropping some hot allegations against the rapper. Tune in tonight at eight.”
I almost slammed on brakes when the DJ made his announcement.
What the hell was my brother up to? I pulled into the first parking lot I came to.
Once I was parked, I picked up my purse and searched for my phone.
As soon as I found my brother’s number, I hit send.
It only took a couple of rings for him to pick up.
“What the fuck are you doing, Jrake?”
“I’m kicking it with my partners right now. Why, what’s up?”
“You know damn well I’m not talking about you and your musty ass friends. Why the hell are you doing an interview talking shit about Supreme?”
“It’s time I let the people know that their boy is a fucking rat.”
“Don’t start spreading that shit, Jrake. He says that he didn’t set you up, and I believe him. Just because shit went wrong doesn’t mean that it was his fault.”
“That nigga watched me go down while he went on to fame and fortune, and you think I’m supposed to be cool with that?”
“It’s not his fault you went to prison.”
“Believe what you want to believe. You’re na?ve as fuck. That nigga is using you to get to me, and if you don’t see that, you’re a damn fool.”
“Fuck you, Jrake.”
“Be honest with yourself, Jrue. What the fuck does a rich and famous rapper want with you? Let me guess. It’s just something about you.
Do you know how many hos I tell that shit?
No pussy is so good that I don’t think I can find a bitch better and badder than the one I got.
Don’t let him play you. I taught you better than that, lil sister.
I don’t like to see how that nigga playing with you. ”
“You taught me to think for myself, and that’s what I’m doing. If you get on the radio with that baseless bullshit you keep spitting, then I can’t stand behind you.”
“You don’t have to stand behind me. You better not be standing by that nigga when I see him,” he said, ending the call.
Since I knew there was no talking to him, I didn’t bother calling back. Instead, I called Ian. The call ended before it even started to ring on his end. I wasn’t sure if the call went through, so I called again.
When I got the same result a second time, my heart sank. Maybe he had already heard about Jrake’s interview. I needed him to know that I didn’t have anything to do with what my brother had going on.
Ian hadn’t given me a reason not to trust him. My big brother had lied and even stolen from me over the years. I couldn’t just accept what he said at face value. If Ian said he didn’t set my brother up, right now, I had no choice but to believe him.
My phone rang, and I didn’t even pretend not to be excited when I saw that it was a video call from Ian. My chest tightened as I sat back and swiped the screen. The sight of his wide smile seemed to settle my nerves.
“Hey, beautiful. What’s wrong?”
“I called you a couple of times. I thought maybe you were busy.”
“I think we were missing each other. I was trying to see your face for a second before I went into this meeting.”
My cheeks warmed at his revelation. “Oh.”
“Look how pretty you are. I missed you, Choc.”
“How are you feeling? You look a lot better.”
“I’m feeling a lot better, too, mostly thanks to my favorite nurse.”
“That’s good.”
“I wanted to talk to you before these shows I have to do tonight. They say that your brother is doing a so-called exposé on me. I know that they’re going to ask me about him. I don’t plan on saying too much. I’m not sure how this is about to go, but I’m not going in with intention of bashing him.”
“Thank you for that. I’m so sorry he’s doing this.”
“Don’t worry about it, Jrue. This ain’t on you. You didn’t even know I knew him.”
“I know.” I pouted.
“Well, let me run in here. I just wanted to see that pretty face for a minute.”
“Good luck.”
“Thank you, baby. I’ll call you when I get a chance,” Ian said before ending the call.