Chapter 23 #2
I cut my eyes at him before going back to yoking him up against the wall. This time I had my hand wrapped around his throat, and he looked scared enough to piss himself.
“Now you fucking playing with me, Kareem. I’m not giving your drunk ass thirty racks.
You gone take the three thousand dollars I have here, sign this fucking contract, and get on the next bus, plane, or fucking scooter to get to Louisiana.
I don’t never wanna see or hear from your drunk ass until you got your shit together. ”
I struck fear in my father, some shit I never thought would happen.
When my mother died, it was like she took the order of our family with her, and now shit was all screwed and fucked up.
He nodded his head and took the contract.
Quanni handed him the pen, and he signed his name on the dotted line.
I shoved the money into his hand, and like he always did when I threw money at him, he smiled with all 32 of his teeth.
He handed the contract back to me before stuffing the money I gave him in his pocket. “I’m gone get right down there in Louisiana. I promise you, son.”
“Stay down there. You come back to the city on bullshit, and I’ll put you down right next to Ma.”
He gulped down a little before nodding his head. I was done with the constant back and forth with my father. His ass was never gonna get right, and I was done getting my fucking hopes up.
“You think he gone make it out to Louisiana?” Quanni asked me as we walked back to my car.
I shrugged. “Not my fucking business. I got the house. That’s all that matters to me.”
I hugged Quanni and thanked her before pulling off the block. I wasn’t too far from my baby’s boutique, so I rolled through. She had been trying to get out of her little funk about the club being shut down, so she was working more at the boutique.
As I pushed through the door, I was greeted by the boutique manager, Lyric. “Hey, Ahkeem! Your wife is in her office. Beware: she’s being a raging b-word.” She whispered the last part, prompting me to laugh.
“Damn. That bad today?”
“Yup. The manufacturer for the loungewear sets she designed fucked up the shipment, so she’s fuming. Tread lightly.”
“‘Preciate the heads up.” I dapped her up before pushing through the boutique. I bypassed a few customers before I got to Jazzy’s office in the back.
When I entered, she was leaning against her desk with her office phone wedged between her ear and shoulder. “I don’t pay you guys all this money for you to fuck things up! Fix it and fix it fast!” she ordered before slamming the phone down on the receiver.
“Damn. If I knew you were this pissed, I wouldn’t have shown up empty handed.”
She looked up at me before her face softened. “I’m sorry, baby. They sent me the same color swatches for the loungewear collection. Who the fuck does that?”
I smirked as I wrapped my arms around her. “Exactly. Who the fuck does that?” I mocked her.
“Ahk, it’s not funny!”
I caught her hand before she hit my chest. “I’m just fucking with you, Lovey. You got on their ass and rightfully so. They’ll fix it.”
“They better. What you doing here?”
I craned down and pecked her lips a couple times before responding. “Ya man can’t pop up on you?
She giggled as she draped her arms around my neck. “He can. Is he gonna take me out to lunch too?”
“Of course. As long as he get some pus?”
She interjected me with a mean mug. “Do you ever fucking stop?” She dropped her arms from around my neck.
I laughed and kissed her lips again. “I’m playing. I pulled up on Kareem’s ass today.”
“Really? How that go?”
I let out a heavy sigh as I thought back to my father. “Had to chase his ass down two blocks. I got him to sign the contract, though. He claims he’s moving to Louisiana.”
She screwed her face up just like I did when my pops told me. “The fuck?”
“Same shit I said. I don’t give a fuck anymore. Long as I got my mama’s house, he can do whatever the fuck he want.”
“I guess everything worked out.”
I nodded, agreeing with her. “It did. I’m gonna start with getting the house cleaned. We ain’t been there since my mama died. I know that shit gone be hard.”
Her hands went to my face, and she caressed it. Her touch alone made all the tension in my body roll off.
“You’ll get through it, and if you can’t, I’ll handle it. But maybe we can postpone that for a little.”
“Why?”
“I have to head to Miami for a little while. Since Club Reign is shut down out here, I might as well tap in on my next popping club,” she explained.
I always thought my baby would prioritize fashion as her main career, but the club industry was where she succeeded the most. I couldn’t hold her back even if I tried. Luckily, I didn’t want to. I rubbed my hands together with a smirk.
“I can use a little trip to Miami. I got some people I need to link with and some business I need to take care of.”
A little wary of the look in my eye, she side eyed me with her hand on her hip. “What people and what fucking business, Ahkeem?”
“Don’t worry about it. You’ll see when we get there. You think your brother will let us use his jet? He still not fucking with me after I rammed my car through the gate.”
She threw her head back in laughter. Priest had been ignoring the fuck out of me. He looked right past my ass at Sunday dinner. I even sent him the money for the gate, and he still wasn’t fucking with me. “You got the H.O.A. on his and Britain’s ass. But I’ll ask. He never says no to me.”
“Spoiled ass.” I pinched her thigh lightly.
Miami was a go. Last I heard, Silas was ducked off out there calling shots for his minions to come at me out in the city. Miami wasn’t my stomping grounds; however, I knew a few people out there who I was gonna tap in with to make sure I was straight. This shit was about to be a fucking movie.