Money #2
He had me thinking when all I wanted to do was relax and let go for a while.
My life had been tightly controlled for years.
I had to step up and help when my pops died and become the man of the house.
My mama didn’t force me to, but she shouldn’t have to endure his death on her own.
Emotionally, we’d been there for my younger siblings together and tried to handle our grief behind closed doors.
I knew my mother would go into mama mode instead of taking time to be sad for herself, so I never really processed that pain the way I probably should.
There were moments even now that his loss struck me in the chest and took my breath away.
I knew some of what I was doing right now was probably linked to a lot of unresolved shit in my past, but I wasn’t going to delve into that right now.
I knew he was probably up in heaven, that peaceful look on his face saying ?Aye ombe!
?Qué lo que? (What’s going on?). Just thinking about him made me want to tighten up because the idea of disappointing him after all he’d sacrificed for me was painful.
“I hear you. But damn, can’t I have one last hoorah or whatever before I gotta think about all this again? I can already tell this bitch is going to ramp up her bullshit and I need to be prepared for whatever she throws at me.”
“I hear you. But we’re friends and shit besides just being teammates. Don’t let this shit get you down. Do what you need to, I can look out for now.” He waved his hand around the room discreetly showing that he would keep the people away.
“I got a paid babysitter and shit. I promise I’ll be fine.” I nodded toward the security that was standing roughly six feet away and had kept everyone but my teammates from being around me.
“Yeah, but that’s someone who doesn’t know you well.
I’m your boy so do whatever you need to and then get your head right.
We both got a point to prove so get this shit out your system now so that we can come back stronger than ever.
” He raised his bottle and I picked up mine before we clinked them together.
“Good lookin’. One for the road.”
Marcel nodded with a smile, “One for the road.”
I woke up and immediately pitched to one side looking for the trash can.
My stomach had to be the reason I was woken up out of my sleep and I hurled into the trashcan I’d been smart enough to put by my bed.
The stomach acid burned as it came up from my throat and the lack of food on my stomach made this shit hurt even worse somehow.
I flopped back on the bed hating that I’d forgotten to close the blinds in my bedroom.
The townhouse I lived in was in a decent community and it was set in a way that it was mainly excluded from others in the subdivision.
I was thankful for that type of solitude because there was always so much attention on me when I was out. I needed my time at home to recharge.
When the world stopped spinning around I was thankful that I had nothing that was pressing for the next few weeks. I was sure I would need every hour of them in order to get myself together.
I rolled around on the pillow trying to find a comfortable spot because my body was running so hot I felt clammy.
With my arms over my eyes to keep reality out, I inhaled several deep breaths to calm down my stomach.
I had to get my mind right. Beyond the legal shit that would be coming up when I sued the fuck out of this girl for lying about me, the biggest issue was that I needed to get back to working on my fitness.
I could admit that I’d done a lot of partying and despite only letting loose once a week, it meant I was still taking too many days away from my responsibilities and I needed to shift that.
I wasn’t even sure if I could do the normal giving back in my town this year because this bad PR could impede it.
Realizing that just sitting here wasn’t going to do anything for me but further depress me, I rolled to my side with my eyes still closed, using my hand to reach around blindly for my phone.
When I felt it buried beneath the pillow on the other side of the bed, I pulled it toward me and attempted to crack open my eyes again.
It took a minute for them to adjust to the light.
Once it didn’t seem like my eyes would fall out from the brightness, I held my phone up to my face and my mood immediately plummeted again.
There were dozens of notifications, so many that I shot up in bed, ignoring how dizzy I was and glanced around the room to make sure I was still alone.
One look at the hardwood floors revealed only my clothes covering them.
I calmed my breathing and listened to the silence that was surrounding me.
My ears were keyed up to hear if someone was walking around my place.
When only silence answered I tried to release the knot that had formed in my stomach.
I turned back to the phone in my hand seeing all the notifications.
I bypassed everything from everyone and immediately went to the one from Billy.
Billy Briggs was my agent and had become like family to me since I didn’t have my people out here.
She gave me the kick in the ass that I needed to get my mind right and her husband helped me acclimate better to being in the league and on the team.
Coby and the group of men I was proud to call my friends had seen it all and I knew the lessons they gave me kept me from bullshit.
I knew they were wondering where they went wrong with my ass based on how this shit was going.
I scanned the words on the screen and I had to wonder what she was talking about. Instead of questioning it I explained I’d been asleep. Her response made my irritation flare again.
So much for no more drinking.
I didn’t get a chance to call her before her face was on my screen. Not answering meant she was going to come and find me, so I picked up the call to get this over with.
“Money—”
“Nah, I’m cool. Set the test up, Billy. I don’t care what it costs, I’m ready to get this shit done.
She’s not gonna keep this dark cloud hanging over me.
I've got goals at work that I won’t let her be a distraction from.
” I ran my hand down my face wishing I could hop a flight to LA and go see my people.
Although my ass ran for a living, running away was never my thing.
“I’ll reach out and see how soon we can get it scheduled with our lab. For now, just stay in the house.” Billy’s voice was soft yet firm and I knew her advice was more of a command.
I huffed because there was no way in hell I was going out with this fresh pile of bullshit trying to smear my name.
“If I’m not coming to you or Stew’s I’m staying in.”
“Thank you for following instructions. I promise you no matter what I've got you, Money.”
“My shit can wait until Monday. Enjoy your weekend with Murda and the babies.” Although she didn’t work as much as she used to, Billy always dealt with most Desperados players immediately. Our issues could affect her husband and nobody was going to do that on her watch.
“This is my job—”
“And you know I’m not about to have that man beat my ass because you got pulled away from family time.
This is something that’s been going on and she can wait.
I promise.” This girl with this claim was already wrecking my life.
I wouldn’t let her do the same for my people.
I glanced around my room my mind on what I was about to order since I couldn’t leave my house.
“First thing Monday then.” Her giving in so easily wasn’t normal, so I was taking my win and getting off the phone.
“That’ll work. Thank you, Billy.”
“Always, Money.”