Chapter 36
thirty-six
A fresh haircut, new clothes that fit the massive muscles he’d developed during his time away, and settled in Dania’s chair getting his hair braided, highlighted the remnants of who he’d begun to evolve into before getting locked up.
He didn’t fight his reentry, he couldn’t.
Especially when no one around him would let him.
While Dania parted his thick hair, she smirked. “I see you were using the shampoo and conditioner I sent you.”
“Yeah, I had to break a jaw or two, so niggas would keep their hands off my shit,” Cairo stated, looking at her in the mirror. “So you gon’ tell me?”
She raised a brow. “Tell you what?”
“How she doing?” Cairo asked. “You gonna make me say her name?”
“I’m not going to make you do anything. How she’s doing isn’t my business to tell,” Dania informed, making him kiss his teeth.
“Everybody’s business is your business to tell,” Cairo rebutted.
“Not hers. And not yours. You see my friend, that’s called duality. And I’m not sending my friend back into a spiral behind you. So that’s your shit to figure out,” Dania shared. “And before you get all crazy, you blocked her.”
Cairo groaned. “I was fucked up.”
“This is true; a lot of shit happened that day,” Dania replied. “We all hold a shared weight. I swear if I could’ve, I would’ve helped her.”
Dania finished the cornrow and placed her hand on his shoulder. Cairo placed his atop hers and shook his head.
“None of that is on you,” he grumbled, pulling in a deep breath. “Anyway, how is my niece?”
“You should come by and see her when you get back from the festival. She knows the Ekho album through and through,” Dania said with laughter.
“You know good and damn well her little ass shouldn’t be listening to none of that,” Cairo replied with a laugh of his own. “That’s why she bad.”
“She’s not bad, a little sassy maybe. And considering her daddy is a hellraiser, she’s in good company,” Dania joked, starting the next braid. “Give me your plan for the festival. Are you looking for an artist, looking to get signed…what’s the deal?”
“I feel like if I find a label and have an artist, it gives me a leg up. I gotta see what the vibe is when I get there.”
“You going solo?”
Cairo nodded. “Yeah. Fahaad is back in Port East with Ekho working out some label shit. All goes well, I’m working on the second album.”
“You know how to speak it. God hears you,” Dania stated.
Cairo grew silent, acknowledging that much to be true.
Home with a fraction of his time served with no papers and still unsure of who that made that happen.
Only one of the accounts he’d looked at had more money than he knew what to do with.
And the house, too big for him. Outside of the clothes, he ordered another laptop and some up to date equipment.
There was one thing missing and figuring out how to bring her out of wherever she was hiding would be the task.
But when it came to bringing her out of her hiding places, whether her shell or a house she didn’t belong in, he knew the exact level of crazy to embark on.
After Dania was done with his hair, he stood and handed her a roll of hundreds, and she waved him off.
“I’m your favorite dealer. The first one is on me. Keep that, tip the girl up front; she’s going to OSU,” Dania stated. “When you leaving?”
“Grabbing my shit from that big ass house and flying out around eight. I’ll hop into the mix tomorrow,” he stated.
“Okay, good. Don’t be alarmed. You have a housekeeper that comes twice a week to keep that big ass house to your standards.” Dania’s back was turned to him now, cleaning her station.
“Who is paying for that?” he asked with a frown. “I can clean up behind myself.”
“Might be true but you don’t have time. Cairo, accept your blessings and go, it’s already six and you’re flying L.O.X. Give your nutty ass some time to get through security. And keep your gun at home, felon,” Dania joked.
“You got jokes. I’m not giving them no reason to cart my ass back off. And furthermore, Dania, I haven’t blown shit up,” he toyed, making her spin around and put her hands on her hips.
“Yeah, nigga, ‘cause blowing up a prison is federal damn offense. Had you done that, you would’ve never seen the light of day again. The mere fact you said that lets me know given the opportunity, something will explode,” Dania huffed rolling her eyes.
“You know the owner of the taco place went bankrupt and QaMeesha does the Dougie in the middle of 46th and Avalon everyday around noon.”
Cairo shrugged. “I’m supposed to feel sorry about that?”
Dania snapped her fingers. “And that right there verifies that you are still nutty as hell. If not more than you were when you left. Get out here before I’m another accessory after the fact.”
Cairo laughed and started out of the private suite. The receptionist looked at him as if she wanted to gobble him up. That type of attention he didn’t like, instead of giving her a tip, he caught the older woman walking in, grinned at her and said.
“Your hair is on me. Have a good day.”
“Ohhweeee,” she groaned, watching his back as he strolled off. “They don’t make ‘em like that no more.”
By nine thirty, he was checked into his hotel suite outside of the festival.
Fahaad ensured his room was stacked with La Bega’s finest bud, passes to all the events and VIP spaces, club spots and after parties.
There was a list of sets he needed to be at, along with artists he needed to make sure he listened to.
That and a text confirming that Ekho would be ready to record after La Bega Fest was over, and the album needed a record label to land.
Sparking up his first blunt of the night, he sat on the balcony high above the liveliness of the festival and took in the freedom.
He looked to his right, finding the pain of the emptiness Kamilla once filled up and spilled out.
Prison wasn’t hard because he was locked away from the outside world.
Naturally shy and reclusive, he masked it with grumpiness.
It was easy to keep a low profile until someone tried him.
He didn’t tell anyone who he was or what he’d done.
If he’d had to spend the next twenty-five years looking to his right and daydreaming she was there, smiling softly at him, he would’ve.
He blew the smoke out of his nostrils and scoffed to himself. “Yeah, C4, you blew that shit up, didn’t you?”
Finishing off a blunt, ordering room service, Cairo laid on the couch and drifted to sleep. He needed to prep himself for what tomorrow entailed – prep himself for what this new chapter entailed.