Chapter 7 #2
“Lord, please don’t get her started,” AJ fussed. “You know your daughter ain’t wrapped too tight.”
“You ain’t lyin’!” Amir said. “I saw Regine the other night and she ran the other way. She won’t even look at me.”
“Next time one of your little girlfriends goes upside your head, don’t call me if you’re gonna judge me for how I handle the situation.” I argued. I didn’t even do that much, just put her head between the washer and dryer like she tried to do my brother.
“I’m just saying, you didn’t have to knock the girls tooth out.”
“That was an accident,” I shrugged. “It’s not my fault that my hands are heavier than hers! She shouldn’t have swung back!”
“A whole lunatic,” Amir said, throwing his hands up in the air.
“I’m not that bad.” I rolled my eyes.
“You kinda are, sis,” AJ said.
“Y’all got one more time to talk about my baby before I start going upside niggas heads,” my dad chimed in. I smiled sweetly at him because he always had my back.
“And we wonder why she is the way she is,” AJ teased.
“You got a lotta nerve!” I quipped, pointing a forkful of mashed potatoes in his direction. “You gon’ sit here in front of the family and act like you didn’t put that boy in the hospital back in ‘03?!”
“Man, hold up! That was completely justified!”
“Hospital?!” Kadence asked as she looked at him in pure shock.
“That was an accident. I mean yeah, I beat him up, but it wasn’t supposed to go that far. He stumbled off and ran headfirst into some lockers, trying to get away from me.”
“I come from a whole family full of crash-outs!” Amir waved his hands dramatically.
I rolled my eyes at him. The only reason he never had to fight was because he came from a family of crash-outs.
His slick ass mouth had us beating people up on his behalf since he was able to string together a sentence.
“No, back to this hospital story,” Kadence said, hands under her chin as she eyed him curiously. “Daddy, why would you do that?”
“Because he put his hands on my sister,” he snarled.
Another reason why I could never tell my family what really happened between me and Malcom.
They could call me the crazy one all they wanted, but it ran through the Lewis blood, and my mama’s family was a whole different beast. I wasn’t the worst by far; I was just the quickest one to set it off.
“He touched my butt,” I said, winking at Kadence and giving her the ammo to turn and stare down her father.
“Gottdammit,” he mumbled under his breath as he reached into his pocket and handed Kadence her phone.
She and I slapped hands under the table as we continued eating.
Maybe Cali wasn’t so bad…
“Girl, this is nice,” Joce sang as she grabbed another cocktail from a waitress passing by, damn near drinking the whole thing in one gulp.
“Joce, we are networking. I swear if you get drunk, I’m leaving your ass here,” I scolded, knowing I was lying.
We were back on the West Coast and had snagged an invite to an exclusive brunch for black women.
In the short time we had been there, we had met everyone from Senators to celebs and social media influencers.
I knew Joce wouldn’t purposely do anything to tarnish the brand, but I also knew her ass was still a little green.
At the age of twenty-six, she had just started drinking…
and fucking… and living for herself. Her parents kept her sheltered as a kid, and when she got older, they tried everything in their power to control every aspect of her life and turn her into the perfect trophy wife.
After she graduated college, she decided enough was enough and finally started going through life on her own terms. I wanted her to enjoy herself but still remember that we were out here on Kyle, Roy, & Associates dime.
“I swear, I won’t,” she promised as she took her drink to the head.
I laughed, rolled my eyes, then turned back to speak to my new friend.
Money Mani was a female rapper that I could easily see becoming one of the GOATS.
She had crazy talent and was cool as hell, she just needed better handlers because it was painfully obvious that her label had been playing in her face.
“Is she good?” She laughed, flipping her ash-blonde buss-down over her shoulder as she looked back and forth between me and Joce.
“She’s fine, she just doesn’t get out much.”
“Oh, okay,” Mani said with a nod before returning to our previous conversation. We were having such a good time, and I had met so many potential new clients, all while managing to keep Joce on a leash.
“So, you’ve been out here for how long?” she asked, sipping on her nonalcoholic drink. She was a wild child, like me, only all her antics were done with a completely sober head—that thought scared me a bit, because she had been into some wild shit.
“Two months on and off,” I shrugged. I had usually been spending Monday through Thursday in L.A.
and a three-day weekend at home. This was my first weekend staying in Cali, but it wouldn’t be my last because it was kind of a vibe.
We were also set to start the trial in a few days, so I know it might be a bit more difficult to commute every week.
“Okay, so what’s tea? You met any niggas out here?” she inquired, wiggling her brows at me.
“Girl no, I been working so the only niggas I’ve seen are the ones with court dates, and that’s gonna be a no for me.
I’m not against it, though. I would love to meet somebody cool that I can kick it with when I’m here.
” I shrugged. It would have to be something casual, because I lived halfway across the country, had no plans of relocating, and didn’t want anything beyond some good sex and head.
“So, what type of men do you like? Maybe I can find someone to hook you up with,” she teased with her brows raised.
“No rappers!” I laughed. I knew enough to know that was not my ministry. “Other than that, I’m not too picky. Just somebody that can keep up with me.”
“Well my celebrity crush is Mr. President himself! That man is so damn fine. I would risk it all just for one night with him,” Mani said with her tongue stuck out.
She wasn’t wrong, I had just watched a press conference that morning that could have doubled as a porno.
He had to know that the way he licked those lips and rubbed his hand over his beard when he was in deep thought was enough to have beans being flicked throughout the nation.
“Girl, I’m sure you’re not the only one. Unfortunately for us, he’s taken,” I laughed.
“Nah, that lady don’t even seem like his type. He needs something with a little more edge.” Her tongue was back out, making me laugh. Once again, I agreed with her, he seemed like he needed someone who could challenge him, I just didn’t know if he would go as far as to pick an entertainer.
“There’s that bitch right there!” I heard from behind me, not even turning around because it wasn’t my business—except I quickly found out that it was my business when a finger tapped me on the shoulder.
I turned around to find none other than Chanel King standing behind me.
She was just as gorgeous in person as she was on tv with her smooth, blemish free, caramel colored skin, big brown eyes and head full of wavy, bronze hair.
I knew for a fact that she had gone under the knife, but she had a good surgeon because her body was tea.
None of those mental compliments helped the fact that she stood there frowning at me like I snatched the last jar of pickles from her in the grocery store.
“Um… can I help you?” I stepped forward, not letting the fact that she called me out of my name slide even a little bit. If she wanted it, I had it, professionalism be damned.
“No, you absolutely can’t,” she said, looking me up and down in disgust. “You know… I would expect this from someone else, but as a fellow Black Woman, you foul as fuck for what you doing.”
“Mmhmm,” her sidekick chimed in. I remembered her face, but not her name, some G-List rapper that had one season on a reality show and was reduced to doing tax infomercials to barely make ends meet.
“Chanel, You should really chill the fuck out.” Mani stepped forward and I gently held my hand up and pushed her back.
“Nah, remember what we just talked about,” I scolded.
Mani had been in enough public bullshit, so I didn’t want to add any more to her on my account.
Plus, if anyone got to swing on Chanel’s ass, it was gonna be me after she called me a bitch.
Mani pouted, then crossed her arms in acceptance, knowing that she didn’t need the bad press of getting into it with a peer in public.
“What exactly am I doing?” I chuckled, turning back to her with my brows raised in amusement.
“How could you help him and try to get away with what he did to me?” I could tell by the way her voice elevated that she was looking to start a scene. As much as I wanted to knock the fillers out of her ass, I had just got on Jocelyn about behaving, so I did my best to keep it cute.
“I’m just doing my job,” I said with a tightly forced smile on my face, making a note to send Chase an extra invoice for the bullshit, maybe two.
“By tearing down another black woman? By defending a fucking abuser?! Bitch you ain’t shit!”
I didn’t answer because I was too busy counting down from ten in my head. It didn’t work. The moment I stepped out of my body and stretched my arms out to bless her, I felt a hand on my arm and Joce’s face pulled me back into character.
“Remember what you said… we’re networking.” Now all of a sudden her ass wanted to be sober and professional like I hadn’t just stopped her from twerking on a buffet table. I cursed under my breath, then pulled the veil back down.
“Again, Chanel, I’m just doing my job. This is my career. I’m not at liberty to discuss the matter any further with you. Enjoy your brunch.”
I grabbed Joce and Mani, turned and walked away before she could say anything else to piss me off because if I flashed out again, I knew I would end up in somebody’s cell.
“You good?” they asked in sync once we were away from any potential triggers.
“I’m fine.”
“Girl I gotta get the fuck outta here. There are way too many fake bitches and I don’t wanna end up with another court case for smacking a hoe!
” Mani threw over her shoulder loudly, making me chuckle.
Though I didn’t necessarily need it, it felt good to know I had backup, and I knew Joce was on whatever I was.
I made sure to get Mani’s number since we planned to link up soon and she headed out.
We enjoyed at least another hour of the party without incident even though I could feel Chanel’s hateful stare burning a hole through me the whole time.
I really didn’t understand what her beef was when she was suing him.
Did she really expect him to not find representation?
We were about to head out, but I took a pit stop to empty my bladder before we got caught up in the never-ending traffic. I handled my business, and right as I got ready to walk out the sounds of the door bursting open and heels clacking made me pause.
“Girl fuck him and her! Fat bitch! I know he’s fucking her!” My hand froze on the lock before I exited the stall because I knew that voice. I wanted to pop out on her ass, but my better judgement told me to chill, so I did.
“Ew. Why would you think he’s fucking her, Chanel? You look so much better than her… and she’s big.” I rolled my eyes in disgust and maneuvered my body so I could peek out the crack in the door.
“Because he’s not fucking me, Jewell, and this ain’t like him! Usually, no matter how mad he gets at me, if I call him, he comes. That’s why I know there has to be someone else.” I watched as she impatiently scoured through her bag, huffed, then hastily dumped everything out on the counter.
“So that’s why you’re doing this?” Jewell asked as she plucked a tiny glass vial from the contents littering the counter. “Because you think he’s with someone else?”
“Yes! If I can’t have my nigga! Nobody can have him!
I made that motherfucka’! When he met me, he was nothing!
I elevated his life, and if he thinks he can quit me for that potato lookin’ bitch, he has another thing coming!
” As she ranted, she sprinkled some of the contents of the vial onto the back of her hand, then skillfully snorted it all up, not wasting a bit.
I couldn’t tell if I was more shocked at the fact that she was just out here incriminating herself without even checking to see if the fucking bathroom was empty, or the fact that America’s favorite singer like to ski the slopes.
“I thought you said he left you because he wanted you to stop partying and poppin’ pills and shit?” Jewell asked as she snorted a line for herself.
“No bitch! That’s what he said, but he always says that!
I keep trying to call him to tell him that I’ll drop the charges if he takes me back, but he won’t answer.
If he doesn’t come to his senses quickly, he’s gonna lose everything and I know that bitch isn’t worth all that!
Let’s go J!” she snapped as she threw the last of her things in her bag and they stomped out.
I made sure the coast was clear before I tipped out, washed my hands, grabbed Joce, and got the fuck out of there to go discuss a few things with my client.