YaYo #2
Looking back, there had always been a certain level of investment in me that went beyond business.
At the time I just thought he saw potential.
Turns out the nigga had been looking out for me longer than I knew.
The fact that Yuki was his wife didn’t help none of this shit either.
Ysis had filled me in on the decade-long confession Yuki finally decided to unload on everybody, and if I was being honest, I wasn’t surprised by a damn thing.
At this point I was over it. Fuck Yuki. Fuck her secrets.
Fuck this crazy-ass family tree that seemed determined to keep growing branches every time we turned around.
The only thing I was cool with was the fact that somehow all this dysfunction had resulted in me gaining brothers who understood my particular brand of bullshit and finesse.
A baby sister who was as prissy as they came but had a mouth that would make you want to drop-kick a nun through a stained-glass window.
A fine-ass woman who could do absolutely no wrong in my eyes.
A mother figure who fed us, fussed at us, and loved us whether we wanted her to or not.
Then somehow, in the middle of all that chaos, I ended up with a business partner who had accidentally become family.
“What’s good, old man?” I asked, stepping into the open doorway of Majeston’s office. The man sat behind his desk counting money like he’d personally invented the concept.
“Ain’t shit youngblood. What’s good?” He replied, without even looking up.
“Shit. Got the Vaelorians down here from Vegas handling some business.”
“Yeah?” He finally finished his count, set the stack aside, and gave me his full attention.
“Let me rap with you about some shit real quick.” He had my interest. Long as it wasn’t about his wife, I was open to listening. I took a seat across from him, lighting a blunt.
“I know shit been popping up on you and your sister left and right,” he started. “But I’ma tell you what I told Kade. Had I known about what Yuki did, hell, had I known what she was even up to back then, shit would’ve been different.”
He paused to pour himself a drink before continuing. “Isaiah, I’ve known you longer than what I’ve told you.”
The nigga proceeded to explain how he’d crossed paths with me years ago—different moments, different situations, different ways he’d quietly been in the background while life was busy kicking my ass around the city.
Some of the stories I remembered. Some of them I didn’t.
By the time he was done, I found myself sitting there trying to process information I wasn’t sure what to do with.
“To me, you were always like a son. You grown now, so a nigga ain’t trying to rewrite history or nothing, but know young nigga, you’ve always had people in your corner who gave a fuck about you.
You just also had a mother too selfish to see that.
” He shook his head, scoffing at the thought, taking another sip.
“Anyway, just know anything you need, you got it. Real nigga shit, I ain’t never gon’ treat you no different than Ysis.”
I sat there for a minute staring at him, taking in what he said.
Truthfully, I didn’t know what the hell to say.
Part of me wanted to tell him to save all that after-school-special shit because I was twenty-nine years old.
A nigga wasn’t sitting around searching for a daddy.
The fuck? But another part of me couldn’t ignore the fact that since meeting Majeston, the man had been solid.
He never overpromised and he never disappeared when shit got difficult.
So the last thing I wanted to do was take what I felt about Yuki out on him.
Because from where I sat, Majeston wasn’t the villain in this story.
He was just another casualty. Another person who got caught in the web of lies, betrayal, and bad decisions Yuki and Marius managed to create.
So I did the only thing I could think of in that moment.
“Much respect, nigga. Appreciate the honesty, but at this point it is what it is. A nigga ain’t got no momma, never had one, never will. Now let’s talk about this money.” I replied with a straight face.
He shook his head and smirked, like he knew this side of me all too well.
“Bet.” He said before going over our quarterly reports.
I spent the next couple of hours smoking, talking business, and running through reports while we discussed a few projects that had caught our attention.
The money wasn’t really the issue anymore. Truthfully, I was getting bored.
Once you hit a certain level, the chase stopped being about survival and started becoming about stimulation.
A nigga needed something new to keep his attention.
By the time I glanced at my watch, it was a little past two in the morning.
Downstairs the club was still alive and kicking like the city had collectively decided sleep was optional.
“Aight,” I said, standing from my chair. “I’ma get up out of here before Kayla crash out on a nigga.”
“Smart man.”
“I’m trying to stay alive.” We laughed and shook hands.
“I’m gon’ get up with you later about those plans.”
“Say less.”
As I headed for the door, I couldn’t help but shake my head.
Life was weird as hell. A year ago I was dodging bullets, managing chaos, and trying to keep my businesses from imploding every time somebody decided to start a war.
Now I was leaving a business meeting with a nigga who was the closest thing I could call a pops.
And somehow...that wasn’t even the craziest thing that had happened this month.
I made my way downstairs, weaving through the crowd and stopping at the bar.
“Let me get a shot of Hennessy.” Remi’s fine ass pursed her lips at me but did what I asked anyway, sliding the glass my way before walking off.
Once upon a time she might’ve flirted or said something slick, but after witnessing the public service announcement me and Kayla put on, her ass wanted absolutely no parts of that smoke.
I ain’t give a fuck—if nothing else, it proved how Kaybae had walked in and stepped all over shit.
After knocking back the shot, I made my rounds to let my niggas know I was heading out.
We chopped it up for a few more minutes about Vegas, future plans, and all the money we intended to make together before I finally started toward the exit.
Unfortunately, Princess and Russia had other ideas.
Both of them appeared out of nowhere like they had been waiting for me.
“Well, look who trying to sneak off.” Princess said, folding her arms across her chest.
“I ain’t sneaking nowhere.”
“That’s exactly what somebody sneaking would say.”
“Baby I’m grown, and you ain’t tall enough to ride this ride. Y’all move.” Russia laughed as Princess stepped directly into my path, backing that ass up something crazy all over my dick.
“Yayo, you know you want it.” Princess purred, grinding into me even harder.
“Princess.”
“No?”
“See this why your brothers be threatening people.”
“They threaten people because they love me.”
“They threaten people because you annoying. Now stop playing. Your brothers gon’ have me catching a case if you keep this shit up.”
“They ain’t gotta know, Daddy.” Princess smirked, turning back to lean into my ear.
“Most men would be grateful for this kind of attention.” Russia purred behind me.
“Most men don’t value their lives.”
“Boy please.”
“I’m serious. You got three brothers built like comic book villains and a mama who prolly got snipers on standby.”
“You scared?”
“Of y’all? Hell nah.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
I looked at both of them, laughing and shaking my head. “The problem is I happen to like sleeping peacefully at night. Besides, this dick already spoken for. But drinks on me tonight, go wild and stay outta trouble.” I slid them gently aside, making my exit.
By the time I reached the parking lot, I was still laughing. Truthfully, if Kayla wasn’t permanently occupying ninety-eight percent of my brain, things probably would’ve gone a lot differently, her brothers be damned. But I ain’t have time for all of that. I was on a different mission.
Me, Kade, and Cassian had been sitting on Marius’s location for a month, watching, waiting, and planning.
The closer we got to handling business, the calmer I found myself becoming.
Funny how that worked. Some people got nervous before major life events.
I got focused, ready to pay that old nigga a visit and wipe him off the map once and for all.
Speeding home, I pulled into the driveway and headed inside.
The house was quiet and peaceful. Exactly what I needed after a night of people, music, and business.
Peeling out of my clothes, crossfaded from the weed and liquor, I slid in bed next to sleeping Kayla.
She was naked and knocked out, completely wrapped up in her dreams and unaware of the chaos currently living rent-free inside my head.
I couldn’t help but kiss her back. She stirred a little but didn’t fully wake up.
Sliding closer behind her, I lifted her leg in the crook of my arm and slid into the depths of her soul.
She groaned in her sleep before throwing it back at me.
Even unconscious, this girl somehow found me.
She was the perfect dose of sleep I needed. Especially with what I had planned.
***
I woke up to a cold wave of water hitting me in the face and for a split second I genuinely thought a nigga was drowning.
“What the fuck!” I shot upright coughing and blinking water out my eyes while trying to figure out what level of hell I’d just been dragged into.
Standing at the foot of the bed was Kayla holding an empty pot with murder in her eyes.
“What the fuck is this, Yayo?”