Chapter 7 #4
Nyrobi looked at her attorney for a second.
“Last chance to tell me I'm crazy.”
Her attorney smiled.
“My job isn't to decide for you. My job is to make sure you understand what you're agreeing to.”
“And I do…yes.”
Nyrobi looked down at the signature line. Kaizleigh was so damn still beside me I could practically hear her trying not to breathe. Nyrobi signed her name. One page at a time until it was done and then she dropped the pen.
“Whew.”
Kaizleigh immediately covered her mouth.
Nyrobi pointed at her.
“Don't you fucking do it.”
It was too late though.
Tears were already coming.
“Kaizleigh.”
“I can't help it.”
“Ain't nobody pregnant!”
“I know!”
“Then what the fuck you crying for?”
“Because you signed it.”
Nyrobi looked at me. One would have thought we’d known Nyrobi our whole life. The vibes came so natural.
“Come get her.”
“You agreed to carry the baby. She your problem now too.”
“See, that wasn't in the contract.”
Even I laughed.
Kaizleigh got up and hugged her and Nyrobi hugged her back.
I sat there watching them and realized my wife had already ignored everything I'd said earlier about boundaries.
That wasn't a business hug. Kaizleigh cared about this girl.
And judging by the way Nyrobi's face softened when Kaizleigh whispered something to her, the feeling was becoming mutual.
I wasn't sure if that was a good thing yet. Our attorney handed Nyrobi her copy.
She opened the folder again and looked at the compensation page.
“Two hundred and fifty thousand fucking dollars.”
I shook my head.
“You gone keep saying it all day?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I ain't never had my name next to no shit saying somebody owe me two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
Kaizleigh smiled.
“You earned it.”
“I ain't earned shit yet.”
Her phone vibrated on the table and she immediately got this weird look on her face. She picked the phone up, read whatever was on the screen and locked it.
Kaizleigh noticed too.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
Nyrobi shoved her phone into her purse.
“I gotta get to work.”
Kaizleigh frowned.
“You're going in now?”
“Hell yeah.”
“Nyrobi, you just signed a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar contract.”
“And?”
“And you can't take the rest of the day?”
Nyrobi laughed, but it didn't reach her eyes.
“Girl, this paper say two-fifty. My bank account don't.”
That shut Kaizleigh up.
Nyrobi stood and put the folder underneath her arm.
“My landlord don't take contracts. My light company don't either. Until some of that shit hit my account, I'm still regular broke Nyrobi.”
Something about the way she said landlord made me look at her harder.
“You having problems with your apartment?”
Her eyes came straight to mine.
“I'm handling it.”
“What kind of problems?”
“Billion.”
There she go saying my name again.
This time I definitely noticed.
“What?”
“Please don’t start counting my problems?”
“I asked a question.”
“And I answered it. I'm handling it.”
Kaizleigh looked like she wanted to say something.
I beat her to it.
“Alright.”
Nyrobi looked almost surprised that I let it go.
“Alright. That's what I said,” I repeated.
She narrowed her eyes.
“I don't trust that.”
I smiled.
“You don't have to.”
“See.”
“Go to work, Nyrobi.”
“Gladly.”
Kaizleigh hugged her one more time.
Nyrobi told her she was doing too damn much, grabbed her purse and headed for the door.
Right before she walked out, she turned around.
“Wait.”
“What?” Kaizleigh asked.
“When do I get my first payment?”
I laughed.
“I knew that shit was coming.”
“What? I signed. I'm just checking.”
Her attorney answered her.
Nyrobi nodded.
“Okay. Just making sure y'all ain't got me out here pregnant on layaway.”
“Get out,” Kaizleigh said, laughing.
Nyrobi smiled and disappeared through the door.
The room got quiet once she was gone.
Kaizleigh sat back down.
“I hope she's okay.”
“She said she is.”
“You believe her?”
“No.”
“Me either.”
I looked at the door.
I wasn't about to chase behind a grown woman who had already told me twice to stay out of her business but I knew what struggling looked like. Money changed the clothes people wore and the places they struggled in. It didn't change the look.
Nyrobi had it.
Whatever was happening with that apartment was worse than she was letting on.
My phone vibrated.
Dad again.
DAD: Everything signed?
I typed back.
Yeah.
His response came immediately.
Good. One step closer to the next Stylez.
I stared at it for a second before locking my phone.
Kaizleigh leaned against me.
“What he say?”
“Same shit.”
“Legacy?”
“Always.”
She smiled a little and rested her head against my shoulder.
I looked down at the signed paperwork still spread across the table.
Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. And a whole nine months of dealing with another woman besides Kaizleigh.
All this shit we had put in place to make sure everybody was protected. And what none of us knew was that while we were sitting in that office making plans for Nyrobi to carry our future…her present was already falling the fuck apart.