17. Chapter 16
Marcus was already irritated before he even made it downstairs. He was running late and one of the promoters kept talking his ear off through his Bluetooth headset about missing liquor inventory while Marcus walked through the massive living room buttoning his watch around his wrist.
“Yo just handle the shit till I get there,” Marcus muttered. “I’m not doing this shit over the phone.”
He ended the call and stepped outside.
Cool air hit his face while the lights surrounding the property glowed against the long driveway leading toward the gates. Everything around him looked polished and picture-perfect like always.
Then Marcus stopped walking when he noticed the sight before him. “What the fuck?…”
All four tires on his truck had been slashed.
Every window was shattered. The windshield looked like somebody took a bat to it over and over again until the glass spiderwebbed from corner to corner.
Deep scratches covered both sides of the truck.
One headlight dangled halfway out the front.
And somebody had spray-painted LIAR across the driver's side door in huge white letters.
Marcus stared at it for a second like his brain couldn’t fully process what he was looking at. Then all hell broke loose.
“YO!”
He stormed toward the truck while the promoter still yapped through the phone. Marcus snatched the headset from his head and cursed loud enough for two women getting into their car nearby to turn around.
“Ain’t this bout a bitch?…”
Marcus looked around the property trying to figure out who the fuck would've done it.
Then he completely lost his shit. "WHAT THE FUCK YO???!!!!"
His voice echoed across the driveway. "ARE YOU FUCKIN SERIOUS?!"
Marcus was fuckin livid. "What kind of broke, miserable, pussy-ass mothafucka would do some shit like this?!"
He kicked the flattened tire hard enough to hurt his own foot. "FUCK!"
“Marcus, you good?” the promoter’s voice crackled through the headset. “What happened?”
“Somebody fucked my shit up!” Marcus barked into the microphone. “That’s what the fuck happened nigga!”
He paced around the Escalade furiously while running a hand through his beard. The scratches were deep too. It wasn't no little accidental scrape either. Somebody intentionally did that shit.
The other line went quiet. Marcus looked toward the cameras mounted near the garage.
"Marcus, you there man?" The promoter asked.
“Yeah, nigga” he muttered darkly. “And when I find out who did this shit, they gon wish they never touched it.”
"Yo, who the fuck would do some shit like that?" The promoter asked.
Marcus pointed at the truck like the man could somehow see it through the phone.
"I don't know." Marcus dragged a hand over his face. "But best believe Imma find out."
"So you still comin' to the club?" The promoter asked.
Marcus looked at the destroyed Escalade and laughed without humor. "How the fuck I'm supposed to get there? You think I can drive with my shit looking like this?"
The promoter let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah... you right."
Marcus ran his hands through his hair. "Yo, Imma just order a Lyft. I'll see you when I get there."
"Aight."
Marcus ended the call and pulled up the Lyft app on his phone and ordered a luxury ride.
A few minutes later he was climbing into the backseat still pissed the fuck off.
The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror before deciding not to say a word.
Marcus stared out the window replaying the damage over and over in his head.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
By the time the Lyft pulled up outside Heaven's Door, he was ready to fuck somebody up.
Across town, June sat across from Mercedes inside a seafood spot picking through crab legs while the two of them laughed over margaritas.
Mercedes was cracking the fuck up. “I’m telling you, the bitch was drunk as hell, sis. She slid right off the pole and almost fell on the damn tables.”
Mercedes had tears coming out of her eyes from laughing. June reached for a napkin and handed it to her.
“I’m serious,” Mercedes said. “That bitch really thought she was gon finesse the crowd tryna do her big one knowing she was at the bar throwing shots back like water twenty minutes before she went on stage.”
June burst out laughing. “See? That’s exactly why I don’t drink before going on stage.”
Her phone started ringing and she saw that Marcus was calling her.
June glanced down before answering. “Hey baby.”
“You with Mercedes?” Marcus snapped.
June frowned hearing the anger in his voice. “Yeah. What happened?”
Marcus' nostrils flared. “Somebody vandalized my fucking truck.”
June sat up straighter. “What?”
“My whole shit.” Marcus started pacing again. “All four tires slashed. Every window busted. Spray paint all over the damn door. They tore my shit apart.”
“Damn…” June's face went blank. “You serious?”
“You know how much money this gon cost me?” Marcus barked while pacing his parking lot. “Motherfuckers really think I’m the one to play with.”
June glanced over at Mercedes before lowering her voice. “Did you call the police?”
“Nah. Fuck them. I need the camera footage.”
June sighed. “Just try not to go off on nobody tonight.”
Marcus cursed under his breath again. “I’m already irritated. And now I gotta walk into this club dealing with more bullshit.”
“Well don’t take it out on your staff,” June muttered.
Marcus finally let out a dry laugh. “I’ll try.”
After they hung up, Mercedes looked over curiously. “He good?”
June shook her head. “Somebody tore his truck up.”
Mercedes eyes widened. “Oh yeah… he definitely about to be on everybody ass tonight.”
By the time Marcus stepped inside Heaven's Door, his mood was already terrible.
And things only got worse once he walked inside.
Staff crowded around the main bar while security tried calming down two angry customers yelling over missing bottle service. Marcus pushed through irritated already feeling a headache building behind his eyes.
“What the fuck happened now?” he snapped.
One of the bartenders turned toward him looking stressed. “The register short.”
“How short?” Marcus asked angrily.
“Almost six thousand.” The bartender replied.
“What?” A vein popped out of Marcus' neck.
“One of the girls said the system started glitching during bottle service,” the bartender explained quickly. “Payments disappeared. Some transactions not showing up at all.”
Marcus snatched the tablet off the counter and started scrolling fast through missing tabs and incomplete charges. His face darkened more with every swipe.
“This don’t even make no fuckin sense.”
Meanwhile upstairs, two VIP guests were screaming at security because bottles they already paid for somehow got sent to the wrong section again.
One customer threatened to dispute every charge with his bank while another promoter yelled about dancers refusing to work certain sections because tips were missing.
Everything around Marcus started piling up at once.
That tight feeling in his chest came back stronger this time. Then June finally walked through the front doors looking pretty and unbothered beside Mercedes. Marcus spotted her right away. And just seeing her face made him relax just a little.
June walked over quickly once she saw the look on his face. “Baby what happened now?”
Marcus rubbed his forehead tiredly. “I swear somebody trying to push me over the edge tonight.”
June rested her hand against his chest gently. “You gon get through it.”
Marcus looked down at her while problems piled up around him from every direction.
Right now, June felt like the only thing keeping him from snapping completely.
Leon Thomas's new album played on the speakers in Marcus's bedroom while the heavy rain tapped against the windows.
The room was completely dark except for the candle burning on his dresser and the soft light coming from his bathroom.
June had to basically force Marcus to eat.
He had been on edge for days now and the only thing that made him feel better was a blunt and a bottle of Dusse'.
Now Marcus sat at the edge of the bed shirtless while June kneeled behind him working her hands slowly into his shoulders. And his body was tight as hell.
June sucked her teeth. “You stressed the fuck out.”
Marcus let out a tired groan while her fingers worked deeper into the knot near his neck. “You think?”
June smiled faintly while massaging his shoulders slower. “You been walking around pissed off for days.”
“Cause every day it’s some new bullshit.”
June decided to stay silent to let him vent.
“The club still losing money,” Marcus continued. “Niggas acting weird. Staff moving sloppy. Then your foster mom popping up on top of all this other shit?” He laughed tiredly. “I feel like I can’t even think straight lately.”
June’s hands slowed slightly against his shoulders.
“That bitch is not my foster mom,” she muttered quietly. “She just happened to own the house I got stuck in.”
Marcus glanced back at her a little. “Why you never told me about her?”
June looked away for a moment before answering. “Cause I ain’t wanna talk about that shit no more.”
Marcus let June's words resonate for a moment. He didn't want to open up another sore spot, so he just remained quiet until she was ready to talk again.
June kept massaging his shoulders slowly. “I already lost my parents. Then I got thrown into that house with somebody that treated me like I was trash every day.” She shrugged lightly. “Once I left, I left all that shit behind mentally too.”
“You ain’t never wonder if she’d come looking for you?” Marcus asked.
June laughed under her breath. “Honestly? No.”
Her fingers moved slowly down his back. “I figured she hated me too much to care where I ended up.”
Marcus shook his head. “Nah. That ain’t hate.”
June nibbled on her bottom lip. “What you mean?”
“That woman look obsessed with you.” Marcus replied back.
June didn’t respond back right away. Instead she worked her thumbs deeper into the tension sitting across his shoulders. Marcus finally let his head fall forward a little.
“Damn,” he muttered. “Where the fuck you learn how to do this?”
June chuckled. “YouTube University.”
A smile had spread across his face for the first time all night.
“You need to relax baby,” she told him. “Your blood pressure is probably through the roof”
He flashed her another smile. “You sound old as shit.”
“I’m serious.” She leaned down slightly. “You been ready to snap on everybody lately.”
“Can you blame me?” Marcus asked
June looked at him through the mirror across the room. She really couldn't blame him cause everything around him really was falling apart little by little. But she just kissed the side of his shoulder instead. “You got too much on your mind.”
Marcus reached back grabbing her wrist gently before pulling her around toward him. June stood between his legs while he looked up at her. The candlelight bounced across her face making her skin glow warm against the darkness in the room.
“And then my birthday comin' up on top of all this shit man,” he muttered.
June sighed. “I know.”
Marcus sucked his teeth before letting her wrist go. “I don’t even feel like doing shit for it honestly.”
“Why?” June asked.
Marcus laughed without humor. “Cause I’m not even happy right now. Look at everything that has been happening lately. How the fuck can I smile on my birthday knowing all this shit done took place?”
June couldn't wrap her head around it.
He had all that money.A big ass house in a nice ass neighborhood.A poppin' ass club in Philly.And a thorough ass reputation.
But yet he was still miserable.
“That’s probably why you SHOULD do something boo,” she said. “You can’t just drown yourself in problems every day.”
Marcus looked down shaking his head. “It's hard not to when it feel like somebody always waiting on me to fall.”
June gave him a sympathetic look. Marcus was now laying on the bed with his back against the headboard looking like he had the world on his shoulders.
“And now I gotta walk around looking over my shoulder because of Loretta crazy ass too now.” He put his arms behind his head. “I walked in at the right time cause that shit could’ve went left real quick.”
June looked at him carefully after that. Then she got up on the bed and curled up beside him. “But it didn’t,” she whispered softly near his ear. “That's all that matters.”
Marcus reached up resting his hand over hers.
And for a little while, they got lost in each other while Leon Thomas kept playing through the room.