17. Dynastie
What a difference a day made. Last night, the shift in Major’s mood threw me for a loop. It wasn’t as if I expected us to never have any problems, but his attitude toward me changed out of nowhere.
In my younger years, I probably would’ve cried and begged until he told me what was wrong. As a woman in my thirties, I wouldn’t cry or beg for shit when I knew I’d done nothing wrong.
When Major wasn’t forthcoming after I asked him what was wrong a few times, he didn’t have to worry about me asking again. Either he’d tell me, and we’d smooth things over and move forward, or he wouldn’t, and I’d move forward. What wouldn’t happen was me losing a second of sleep over it.
I was half asleep when he called this morning, but I could still tell by the tone of his voice that he regretted his behavior the night before. Not long after my call with Major ended, my phone rang again. I answered quickly, thinking it was Major again, but to my surprise, it was Jordan.
“Yes, Major,” I answered.
“Major. What the fuck does that mean?” Jordan questioned angrily.
“Jordan? What do you want?”
“I want you to stop acting like a childish-ass brat and come home so we can work this out.”
“First of all, I’m working. Secondly, there’s nothing to work out. You got a little too aggressive for my comfort, physically and verbally, and I’m not sticking around to find out if there’s more where that came from.”
“You’re gonna let almost two years go to waste for a few—”
“I sure am. Please lose my number.”
I ended the call before he could say anything else. He called me twice more before I could block his number. After dealing with him, I was no longer sleepy and decided to start my day.
I took care of my morning hygiene, then went to the kitchen to make a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and toast. While I was cooking and eating, I sent a text to my family chat to check in.
I’d only seen them a few times since I’d been in town, but we still communicated regularly. They weren’t used to having daily access to me, so they went about their lives as if I were still in Onyx City.
When I finished eating breakfast, I went to Major’s office to research memoirs and begin the outline for the one I’d been hired to co-write with him. He wanted to focus on specific parts of his life, beginning with the incident that introduced him to boxing.
I worked on the outline until midafternoon. After eating a light lunch, I curled up on the couch to watch one of my shows and fell asleep. The notifications on my phone from my security system woke me up. When I unlocked it, I had a text from Jordan’s work number.
J’s Work Phone:
If you don’t come back, your condo will look much worse than this.
Two pictures followed the message, and I screamed when I saw the damage he’d done to my condo. I took a screenshot of the message and downloaded the pictures before blocking the number.
I thought I was dreaming when I went to the security app and saw a video of Jordan in my condo, tearing through it like a tornado, ripping pictures off the wall, turning over furniture, breaking dishes, and more.
The more I thought about the situation and all the damage he’d done to my place, the more pissed off I became. I was fuming when I made it to the airport and had to calm myself down because there was nothing I could do for the next few hours.
Everything happened so quickly, I’d forgotten to call my parents and brother. While I waited to board, I called my mother, then merged my father and brother into the call.
“Baby girl, are you okay?” my father asked.
“Yes, Daddy. I’m fine.”
“Do I need to come check that big nigga?” my brother questioned.
“Umm, did you forget that Major is a heavyweight champion boxer?” I asked.
“If he screws you over again, his championship title won’t mean a damn thing to me,” he threatened.
“Calm down, Son, and let your sister tell us why she needed all three of us on a call,” my mother said.
“Thanks, Ma. I’m at the airport, headed back to Onyx City. Jordan let himself into my condo with an extra key he made and damaged a lot of my things.”
“What time is your flight? I’m on my way,” my brother offered.
“No, Seem. Major is in Atlanta for business and is gonna pick me up from the OC Airport. He’s probably already on his way.”
“I told you I didn’t like Jordan. I knew he was on some bullshit. Sorry for cussing.”
My brother’s mouth had been horrible since before he was a teenager. When he became an adult, he’d accidentally curse in front of my parents so often that it was pointless for him to try to avoid it. His intention was never to be disrespectful, so he was always apologizing.
“Did you properly break things off with him?” my mother asked.
I hadn’t shared the details of our breakup, and no one had asked about him since I’d been home. If I shared with them what happened right before I left, all three of them would be on the next flight.
“I did, Ma, but even if I didn’t, that’s no reason for him to do what he did.
He called today, trying to convince me to come back and talk to him.
Our relationship was pretty much over after the way he acted when I told him I didn’t want to move in with him.
The day before I left, things got a little heated, and I officially ended it. ”
“What do you mean when you say things got a little heated, baby girl?” my father asked.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle. He got the message, and I took my key back before he left, so seeing him in my apartment was the last thing I expected.”
“That’s some real weak nigga shit. I’m glad you’re done with him, but I still got my eyes on Major. I’ll let him handle Jordan’s corny ass since he’s already on his way. My bad for cussing,” Naseem said.
“I’ll let y’all know when I land and keep y’all posted. I hope he didn’t ruin all my things and that there’s no structural damage.”
“Okay, sweetheart. Don’t wait too long to let us know what’s going on.”
“I won’t. Love y’all.”
They returned the sentiment simultaneously, and I ended the call.
“Hey, baby,” Major greeted, wrapping me in his arms and burying his face in my neck.
“Hey. I hope you weren’t waiting long.”
He lifted his hand and kissed my lips before responding.
“Nah, we just got here. Let’s go.”
He took my backpack and helped me into the passenger side back seat, then went around to the other side to hop in beside me.
“Hey, Brax. Hey, Jrue.”
“Wassup, Dee?” Brax greeted.
“Long time no see, Dee. How you been?” Jrue asked.
“In general, pretty good. My current situation is pissing me off, though.”
“Yeah, Major told us a little about what’s going on with your ex. What’s your address?”
I told him my address, and he entered it into the GPS before pulling away from the curb.
“Has he reached out anymore?” Major asked.
“No, but I didn’t mention something to you earlier.”
“What’s that?”
I went to the screenshot I’d taken of the last message Jordan had sent me and gave Major my phone.
“Why didn’t you tell me this shit earlier, Lovie?” he asked in an angry tone.
“I didn’t want to make you more upset or worried. Swipe to the left to see the pictures he sent.”
“What the hell? I can’t believe you were about to try to handle this shit alone. There’s no telling what he’d do if he gets you alone.”
He shared what the screenshot said with Brax and Jrue, and they suggested we let the police handle it.
“Fuck that. The police can handle it after I beat his ass,” Major said.
“We can’t let you do that, Major. You got too much at risk, and too much money to lose,” Jrue reminded him.
“I tell y’all what. If he shows his ass up while we’re there, I don’t give a fuck about none of that shit,” Major warned.
“Dee, you might want to talk some sense into your boy,” Brax said.
“Major—”
“Lovie, chill, baby. This is out of your hands now. I’m prepared to deal with the consequences of whatever actions I’m forced to take.”
A notification sounded from my phone, which Major still held in his hand. We looked at the screen at the same time, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw that it was my security system.
“Did you have any idea he was crazy?” Major asked.
“No.”
“Some men wait a few months to show their true colors. It’s good you found out early,” Brax said.
“We dated for almost two years, and he’s never shown signs of being crazy until recently.”
“Damn! Two years and no signs? He’s a calculated kinda crazy. My sister almost married somebody like that. One day, she did something simple, and it rubbed him the wrong way. He snapped, and me, my brother, and our Pops almost killed his ass,” Jrue offered.
“Which is why you should understand why I’m gon’ lay hands on this nigga,” Major said.
“Nah. We ain’t have shit to lose aside from you firing us. We won’t let your career end by suspension,” Brax said.
“Not to mention all the shit you got planned after you retire,” Jrue added.
Major didn’t respond to his friends, but his expression said it all. He didn’t give a damn about what either of them said. If there was an opportunity for him to choke Jordan out, he would take it.