Chapter Five
Rhythm
A Week Later I sat outside of the airport, waiting for Nique’s plane to arrive. I was too happy to have her here. I needed her good energy to keep me from becoming my own worst enemy. My grandmother always told me that an idle mind was the devil’s playground. In my case, it was true. The more time I spent alone, the more time I had to think about Raheem. The more I thought about him, the more I searched his name on social media and hurt my own feelings.
While he’d been blowing my line up, asking where I was at, he wasn’t so concerned that it kept him away from Imani. They were still seen out and about, or she was posting pictures of them in the studio, looking cozy and shit. Fans were suspecting them of being together at this point.
“They definitely fucking.”
“When’s the wedding?”
“Y’all need to stop capping.”
“Hip Hop’s power couple!”
Those were only a few of the comments. I read to the point of pissing myself off and calling him to curse him out. He was every son of a bitch in the book and could barely get a word in before I hung up on him. Last night, I’d cried my eyes out. I wasn’t one of those females that went to social media to blast their ex. I didn’t go crying to their parents, although I was sure Ms. Cole would lay into his ass on my behalf.
I could take my L’s in silence. I was already embarrassed. There was no need to publicize that embarrassment. I prayed that Nique being here would lift my spirits. I hadn’t seen my bestie in six months, and I desperately needed a hug from her.
When the doors opened and I saw Nique step out and look around, I hopped out of my car. My feet couldn’t move fast enough to get to her. When she saw me, she abandoned her suitcase and ran to me, jumping in my arms. She shed tears of joy as we held each other tightly.
“I’ve missed you so much!” she declared.
“I’ve missed you too!”
For a solid five minutes, we shared an embrace. I just needed to soak up all the love and good energy radiating from her. Finally, we released each other, and she ran back to grab her suitcases before we headed to my car. After throwing her bags in the trunk, we climbed in and eased into traffic.
“It’s so good to see you, boo,” Nique said, grabbing my hand.
“It’s good to see you too, Nique. You have no idea how bad I’ve needed to be around you. I almost booked a flight home.”
“Well, I’m here now, and I’m determined to pull you out of this funk.”
I smiled softly. “How long are you here for?”
“I’m not sure yet. I asked for a week and a half, but I can extend it. Are you still at the hotel?”
“I am. It had a king-sized bed, so you have plenty of room.”
“We are long overdue for a sleepover. As a matter of fact, stop by the liquor store. We are getting tore up tonight by ourselves. It’s a fuck that nigga kind of party.”
I giggled as she twerked in her seat. Damn, I missed her.
After stopping by the liquor store, we headed back to the hotel. The moment we entered the room, Nique changed into her bathing suit and poured us up some drinks while I changed into my bikini. Every room on this floor had a private pool on the balcony. It was sunny out and the perfect day to lounge about and do nothing.
Nique grabbed the Bluetooth speaker from her bag, and we headed outside. She connected her phone, and soon, the sounds of Glorilla and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Wanna Be” came through the speaker.
“That’s my shit!” Nique declared, bending over to twerk her ass.
I didn’t hesitate to join her. We danced through Megan’s part before finally descending the steps of the pool and wading in up to our waist, liquor in hand.
“Why can’t South Carolina ever have weather this perfect?” Nique complained.
“Because our weather is bi-polar as hell. I can’t lie, I’m missing home right now. I would kill for my grandma’s sweet potato pie or some fatback. I need to visit soon.”
“Have you told anybody what’s been going on?”
I shook my head. “No. My mama would just tell me to come home. It’s not that easy. I have a whole business out here now, and it’s doing great. I can’t just up and leave.”
“I get it, boo.”
“Besides, I actually like L.A. It’s more expensive than back home, but it’s been a great experience… well, aside from the obvious.”
“We can jump that bitch, you know. Raheem’s ass too.”
I shook my head. “I’m not fighting over no man, Nique.”
“You wouldn’t be fighting over him. From what you’ve told me, that bitch has gotten slick at the mouth with you before. And him… I just wanna deck him one good time and remind him of who he is. He needs to humble himself. Nigga came from the sticks of South Carolina and has let Hollywood boost his ego. We remember him when he wore secondhand clothes and dirty shoes. And that’s not a dig at his struggle. That’s the truth of the matter.”
She was right about that. Raheem had his share of dusty days. Kids used to talk about him but never said it to his face, because he was known to fight. It wasn’t until high school when he started hustling to help his mom did his wardrobe change.
He’d seemingly changed over the summer. When he came back to school our sophomore year, he dressed better. He took pride in his appearance. He always smelled good. Girls started looking at him, and the niggas that used to talk about him all of a sudden wanted to be his friend. I’d always thought he was cute. Even when he didn’t have the means to look the part, he’d always had the potential.
I turned up my glass and downed my drink.
“I’m moving out,” I announced.
“You decided?”
“Honestly, Nique, I think my mind was made up when I left. The man didn’t even notice I was gone until the next day, Nique. Like, seriously. The bitch was only gone an hour, and Jodeci was in the fucking desert crying in leather about her ass.”
Nique burst into the obnoxious laughter that only she could do.
“I’m sorry! I don’t mean to laugh, but that was funny and completely accurate. But I get it. If you love me, I want you to be sick about my absence. You need to be on some ‘Feenin’ shit to get me back. Take my money, my house, and my cars, too, type of shit!”
It was my turn to laugh.
“Now don’t be one of those bitches that moved out only to move right back in,” Nique warned me.
“I’m not. I’m gonna stick to my guns… at least I’m gonna try.”
“Don’t try, just do it. Sweet nothings will always be sweet nothings if ain’t no action behind those words. If it’s one thing I know, you can never trust a nigga’s words. Show and prove, baby.”
I sighed heavily. “I don’t wanna talk about Raheem anymore,” I said. “You’re here. I wanna enjoy your company before you have to abandon me and go home.”
She rolled her eyes. “Dramatic much?”
Turning up her own drink, she guzzled the contents.
“You know what? Fuck Raheem. We are going out tonight. We’re gonna find a fine ass man to buy us drinks all night, and you are gonna forget that nigga ever existed. What did the song say? Fuck my ex, you can keep that nigga. That’s our theme song tonight. Hey, Siri! Play ‘Keep dat Nigga’ by Icandy!”
“Now playing ‘Keep Dat Nigga’ by Icandy on Apple Music.”
The beat dropped, and she raised her hands in the air and started twerking in the pool. I laughed as I fell into rhythm with her. Yeah, Nique being here was exactly what I needed. Night had fallen.
Nique was absolutely what I needed. With her here, I couldn’t be on my sad girl soapbox. She was just a ball of energy, and I missed having her around. Since she got here, we’d been sipping on drinks, lounging around in the pool, dancing, and having fun. Currently, we were sipping wine and failing horribly at copying Beyoncé’s “Formation” dance.
“Bitch, my knees!” Nique screamed in laughter as she fell to the floor. “Damn, I’m getting old!”
“Nique, you at two years shy of thirty.”
“Tell that to my back. But what can I expect, carrying all this ass around?”
She rolled over onto her knees and started twerking. I laughed as a hard knock came to the door.
“That’s probably the people next door. We were kind of loud, Nique.”
I turned the television down and walked over to the door. Without looking through the peephole, I opened it. My eyes widened as I stared into the face of Raheem, with two of his security team members behind him.
“Why are you here?” I asked, frowning. “How did you even find me?”
“For one, Nique left her location on in her Snapchat.”
I looked back at my best friend. She’d posted a lot of our little turn-up session on her Snapchat story.
“My bad, girl,” she said, getting up from the floor.
“That doesn’t explain how you got my room number, Raheem. I hope whoever gave it to you knows they are getting fired.”
“Ain’t nobody getting fired. I know you love this hotel, and when I saw the pool, I knew what floor you’d be on. It was just a matter of knocking on doors until you opened it.”
He pushed past me and into the room.
“Excuse you!” I exclaimed. “Get out!”
“So, this is where you been held up for the past week?” he asked, looking around. “You’re really that mad, Rhythm?”
I ignored him.
“Get him out of here,” I said to his security.
They remained on the other side of the door.
“Now!” I yelled.
“They don’t work for you,” Raheem reminded me. He leaned against the bed with his arms crossed.
Seeing that they weren’t going to move, I slammed the door in their faces. Nique looked at me as though to say, Bitch, what are you about to do?
“You done with this hissy fit?” Raheem asked.
“Hissy fit? I packed my shit and left because you and that bitch disrespected me, and you think I’m throwing a hissy fit?”
“I think you’re overreacting.”
“And I think you are full of shit. You didn’t even know I was gone until the next morning, Raheem. What? Were you too busy laid up in your studio to notice?”
He jumped to his feet. “See, that’s the shit I’m talking about. You always jump to conclusions. You just think I’m out here doing you wrong.”
“You’ve done a hell of a job in proving me right!”
“Where is the evidence? The cold, hard, factual evidence that me and Imani have something going on?”
“Look at the way you move with her! That bitch told me I seem to love claiming ownership of things that don’t fully belong to me. The only thing she could be referring to is you.”
“I’m not fucking with that girl, Rhythm!”
“Then you already have!”
He looked at me with angry eyes. He didn’t confirm it, but he didn’t deny it either. After an intense stare off, his face softened. He sighed heavily as he pushed off from the bed and came to me.
“Why are we doing this, Rhy? I love you. I don’t wanna keep fighting with you. We been at war for weeks now, baby.”
“We are exactly where you put us.”
“We can fix this—”
“There is nothing for me to fix. You’ve made it perfectly clear where we stand.”
“Look… just come home and let me fix this.” He looked over at Nique. “We can talk in private.”
Nique scoffed. “Now you wanna be private after flaunting around town with your whore?”
“Nique, mind your business! Damn. You always have to be in shit. Ever since we were kids, you just had to be involved.”
“Fuck you, Raheem. Don’t make me humble your ass.”
“Why are you even here?”
“I’m here because my best friend needed me, and she couldn’t depend on her so-called man.”
“So-called? I’m every bit of a man. Been that.”
“These days, you ain’t been much.”
“Coming from someone who doesn’t even have a nigga, I can’t take you seriously.”
“Muthaf—”
“Enough!” I yelled, cutting into their banter. “Raheem, leave.”
“Come home.”
“No. I think you and I need to take a break.”
“A break?” He shook his head. “A break until when exactly, Rhythm?”
“I don’t know. I would say until you decide where you wanna be, but I’m not a consolation prize. Pick me the first time, or don’t pick me at all.”
I walked over to the door and opened it. Security stood on the other side, pretending they hadn’t been listening.
“Leave.”
Raheem looked at me in disbelief. Again, he shook his head. He made his way to the door, stopping briefly in front of me. He leaned down and kissed my cheek.
“This isn’t over… We aren’t over.”
Without another word, he walked out of the room. I closed and locked the door behind him. I looked back at Nique, who stood shaking her head.
“Fucking asshole,” she mumbled.
I pressed my back against the wall, fighting back tears. I didn’t want to cry over him. I’d shed enough tears.
“Forget him, Rhythm,” Nique said, coming over to hug me. “You did the right thing.”
“Then why do I feel like this?”
She shrugged. “You love him. The feeling will pass.”
I prayed that it did because, right now, I felt like my heart was in shambles. No matter the circumstances, I loved that man. Those feelings didn’t just go away overnight.