Legend’s Legacy

Legacy Rose Reese

“ G irl, the last thing I want is to be going to that studio.”

“Honey, I’m trying to get that fine nigga Rastafarian to let me see something,” my best friend, Josephine “Josi” Braxton, professed.

“Girl, that nigga’s name is Raahinya,” our other friend, Mauri Alexander, corrected her.

“Ain’t that what I said? Rastafarian,” Josi argued, rolling her eyes and twisting her lips.

“Girl, you’re stupid. Just because that man wears dreads and his name starts with an RA doesn’t mean his name is Rastafarian,” Mauri countered.

“Heffa, it ain’t my fault his mama named him after a religion,” Josi declared.

I looked at Mauri in the rearview mirror and shook my head. “Why are you arguing with her? You’re just as bad as she is,” I pointed out with a giggle.

“Please, Lacy.” Josi called me by my nickname. “Let’s just roll past there for ten minutes, and then we can keep rolling,” Josi pleaded.

I sighed, rolled my eyes, and busted a U-turn in the middle of the street. “I swear, if this nigga thinks that I’m up there spying on him, it’s your fault.”

“Legacy, please. Ain’t nobody thinking about your old crusty ass nigga. He needs to get over himself. Shit, he should be glad that a bad bitch like you is checking for him,” Mauri declared.

Pointing at Mauri in the back seat, Josi nodded. “Now that shit I can get with. You done put that designer pussy on that nigga and got him sprung. He thinks more highly of himself than he ought to,” Josi declared in a high-society voice that she had just adopted.

“Josi, how much did you have to drink before I picked you up and before we just hit the club?”

We had been to one club, and we were heading to a bar to chill for the rest of the night.

Mauri was depressed because her boyfriend had just broken up with her, and she wasn’t in the mood to party.

I was tired and just wanted to curl up in my bed.

But Josi wasn’t ready to go home. We compromised and agreed to go to a bar for an hour before we headed home.

My best friend sucked her teeth. “Bitch, I drank enough to make sure to have fun for your dull ass. Because we all know that you’re not drinking a damn thing with your bougie, boring ass.”

“I’m not boring, Josi. I’m the designated driver. Hell, if it weren’t for me, you couldn’t drink your ass off tonight.”

She shot me a look as I pulled into the parking lot of the studio where my boyfriend, Regal, was probably recording.

“The hell you say. Yes, the hell I would. Have you heard of Uber? That’s what a drunk bitch would be riding home in.

That or somebody’s dick tonight,” she stated loudly, laughing as she pushed the door open.

“You sure you want to let her go in?” Mauri asked as she climbed out of the back seat.

I sighed with resignation. “We’re here now. What can I do?”

“You’ve got a point.” Mauri agreed as we tugged at our short dresses and tried to catch up to Josi, who was walking better in her stilettos than we were, despite how many drinks she’d had.

We rushed inside the building to escape the light sprinkles that had just started coming down when we pulled into the lot.

“Whoa, slow down, ma. Where’s the fire?”

“Heyyy, Rastafarian. How you doing, baby?” Josi greeted the six-five producer with a smile and grabbed onto his large arms, stroking them down before she patted his chest.

He smiled graciously back at her and then looked at me. “You looking for your man?”

“Not really. My friends just wanted to drop by before we headed to the club,” I explained.

“You might not make it back out of here looking like that, if Regal sees you. But if you’re looking for him, he’s in Studio C.”

“Thanks, Raahinya.”

“You still looking for a baby mama, Rastafarian?” Josi asked, pushing up on her heels to get closer to his face.

I saw the way his face scrunched up, and I knew he caught a whiff of the liquor on her breath.

“No, baby girl. I’m good on all that wifey and kids shit,” Raahinya answered.

I headed to the back, where he indicated Regal was, but he called out to me and stopped me in my tracks. “Hey, baby girl, before you head in there, you want to sing back up on one of Regal’s songs?”

I glanced over my shoulder. “No thanks. I don’t think he wants that anyway.”

“Man, you need to get your singing ass in the studio. That nigga’s shit would take off if he had you on there.”

“I’m good on that. My voice may be my gift, but my passion is law,” I countered, laughing.

I could sing, but I only did it in the shower or while driving and cooking.

“A’ight.”

We headed down the hallway to the studio, with Josi complaining that her feet hurt. I pushed the door to the studio open and stopped in my tracks.

“The fuck!” I shouted.

“Oh shit,” Mauri murmured.

“Your future baby daddy got a new baby mama, Lacy,” Josi declared.

“Legacy, what you doing here, baby?” Regal asked, trying to push the woman’s head off his lap.

The woman glanced up at me, but she kept that neck bobbing all crooked with that tired ass wig on her head. I was tired of this same old shit. No matter what I would say or do, he would be back to the same thing tomorrow night or next week.

I turned in the doorway, and Mauri and Josi were right behind me. “Legacy! Baby, wait. I swear it ain’t what it looks like!” Regal shouted.

I removed my shoes and took off running.

Josi and Mauri were on my heels. I wasn’t surprised that Josi’s drunk ass managed to keep up with us and get into the car.

I didn’t want that sorry ass nigga following me and trying to explain a damn thing.

It was always the same excuse, and there was no room in my life anymore for excuses and sorry asses.

By the time I jumped into my car and started it, he was just running to the door. I pulled out of that lot so fast that my tires squealed.

“Shit. Can a bitch get her seat belt on?” Josi asked in a panic.

“You’d better get that seat belt on while she’s driving,” Mauri advised from the back seat.

“We’re still going to Groove Theory?” Josi asked.

“Hell no. We’re going to Smoke ‘N’ Chill.”

“Oh snap. A bitch is mad,” Mauri stated from the back seat.

Smoke ‘N’ Chill was a bar owned by Frost King .

Unlike his bar Groove Theory, which was mostly co-ed, Smoke ‘N’ Chill was a man’s bar.

Women weren’t prohibited from visiting like they were at The Smoke Hour , but more men usually hung out there to chill than women because of the smoking that was permitted and the sports lounge vibe.

Tonight, that held truer than most nights.

On Saturday nights, everyone was at the hopping clubs. We had been at Smoke ‘N’ Chill for a little over an hour. I had turned my phone off as soon as Regal started blowing it up.

“Heffa, what was the point in coming here if all you’re going to do is sit and mope? You could’ve done that at home,” Mauri stated.

Josi had left us upon entering the bar. She found a man to kick it with no sooner than her feet hit the door.

Mauri had been talking to two different men, but she had come back occasionally and checked on me.

For the most part, I’d been sitting by myself.

I had turned down three men who approached me.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Holla at one of these niggas hollering at you.”

“I wasn’t attracted to them.”

“Mm-hmm. Your ass ain’t attracted to nobody but that ugly ass nigga who is screwing other bitches every chance he gets.”

“That’s not true. I’ve been attracted to other men.”

“Name one other person you’ve found attractive since you met his ass. Just one,” she challenged. I struggled to answer that for a moment, until she shifted sideways, crossed her arms over her breasts, and declared, “I’ll wait.”

“Him.” I pointed to a man sitting at the bar, vibing to the music.

He was gorgeous, with caramel-colored skin, pouty lips framed in a perfectly groomed goatee, long eyelashes, thick eyebrows, and beautiful curly hair.

The only problem was the tattoos on his neck and hands.

I usually didn’t go for guys like that, but he was too gorgeous for anyone not to find him attractive.

Also, he was a pretty boy, the exact ones who I stayed away from.

“Approach him.”

“What?”

“Approach him. Ask him for a dance, offer to buy him a drink. Hell, throw the pussy at him.”

“What?”

“Regal out there snatching up throats to fuck; go throw your throat out or, hell, your pussy out for some nigga’s use tonight, seeing as how he don’t appreciate either one.”

“Mauri, have you lost your damn mind?”

“No. Girl, go do it.”

“I don’t know that man.”

“Like I thought. You want to sit and cry over that sorry ass nigga.”

“He’s a pretty boy. Pretty boys are usually fuck boys.”

“Except in Regal’s case. He’s definitely the definition of a fuck boy, and there ain’t nothing pretty about that ugly ass nigga. You’re scared he’ll turn you down. That’s why you won’t do it.”

That lit a fuse in my ass. Pissed, I crossed my arms over my breasts, mimicking her posture. “He won’t turn me down. And you think I won’t do it?”

“I know your ass won’t do it,” she declared as Josi walked up.

“Won’t do what?” Josi asked.

“Approach that nigga. Fuck another nigga just to spite Regal or, hell, even as a distraction from her heartache.”

Josi waved her hand. “Bitch, please. That ho ain’t about to do shit with her boring ass. You my day one, and I love you, boo, but I know yo’ ass ain’t about to do shit.”

“You really have no faith in me?” I asked my best friend, pouting.

“I love you, girl, but no, boo.” She kissed my cheek and sashayed away from us.

“Bet, I’m going to go fuck a nigga tonight.”

“Mm-hmm.” Mauri tossed her drink back and walked away.

I looked at my friends in disbelief, finished my drink, and headed to the other end of the bar.

“Hello.”

He slowly turned those pretty, russet-brown eyes my way and smiled.

“Well, hello, gorgeous.” Two big diamond studs twinkled in his ears, and a nice Cuban link chain hung around his neck.

It wasn’t too big, but definitely not too little, and it gleamed perfectly against his neck, a nice contrast against the royal blue shirt that he wore.

I bit my bottom lip and then looked away briefly before I looked at him again. “May I buy you another . . .?”

“Macallan,” he answered with a smirk, holding his drink up. “Sure . . .”

“Legacy.”

“I’m Legend.”

“Look at that, Legend. We’re destined just based on our names alone.”

He smirked and tipped his almost empty glass at me. “To our names.”

I giggled, and I waved the bartender over and ordered us both another drink.

When I went to pay for it, he placed his hand on mine, shook his head, and handed his credit card over.

We chatted for about fifteen minutes, when I finally drummed up the courage to ask, “Do you want to be my distraction tonight, Legend?”

He chuckled. “You married, beautiful?”

“Hell no. I don’t play those games.”

“You got a man, Legacy?”

“No. I’m on a rebound. I’m looking for the perfect distraction tonight to get over this two-year thorn in my side.”

“A distraction?”

“Yeah. Not a love affair. Just a good, hard fuck for one night.”

“You don’t want to do this, ma.”

The sting of rejection flowed through me, and I felt my face grow warm. “Fine. I’ll find someone else who will.” I slid off my stool, but he grabbed my wrist.

He glanced around the bar before he replied. “I’ll take you up on your offer. The Regency across the street?”

“That works for me. Let me tell my girls goodbye.”

I rushed away and found Mauri and then Josi. I told them where I was going and who I was going with, and Mauri made sure my location was on.

“Text me your room number, ho.”

“I will.”

I walked back to where Legend stood waiting for me. He grabbed my hand and led me out of the bar and across the street. I stood beside him at the counter as he got us a room and paid for it.

I took the time to check out the way the light blue jeans fit his body, specifically his ass, which looked like I could take a bite out of.

He was fine as hell. Roughly six-one, muscular, but not overtly so.

He had the muscular build of a baseball player, not too tall like a basketball player, and not too big like a football player.

He was somewhere in between the two, and I loved that.

When we arrived in the suite, he grabbed the phone.

“What are you doing?” I asked nervously.

“Chill ya ass out. I’m just ordering room service. With all that liquor you drank, ya lightweight ass needs something to counterbalance it.”

I breathed a sigh of relief before I dropped down on the couch beside him.