Chapter Twenty-Two
Channing
I’d been listening to these niggas talk about Raheem’s disaster of an album release all fucking day, and I was over that shit. It had been four days. Everybody that came into the studio wanted to discuss what took place over the weekend. They were pulling up videos and reading comments out loud and shit.
Fans were eating him up.
They called him stupid for cheating on Rhythm with Imani. Imani was beautiful, but she couldn’t hold a candle to Rhythm. The niggas in the room shared the same sentiment.
“Did you see how bad shorty was? I’d keep her in the house my-damn- self.”
“Hell yeah. A woman that fine needs to be at home. Ain’t nothing but niggas lurking for space and opportunity to take yo’ bitch.”
“Y’all see how she disappeared, right? I guarantee somebody took her home that night. You know women and their get-back game be strong.”
“Damn, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall, watching her thick ass.”
“Can y’all shut the fuck up!” I finally snapped. “Goddamn. Y’all are way too invested in this shit. Give it a fuckin’ rest.”
They all looked at me like I was crazy.
“Damn, man,” Theo said. “We’re just joking around.”
“That’s y’all problem. Too much talking and not enough working.”
The sound of my phone going off alerted me of an incoming call. Pulling it out, I saw it was Rhythm.
“I gotta take this. When I get back, I expect y’all to have this conversation wrapped up.”
I stood from my seat and left the room. Walking a little ways down the hall, I answered the call.
“Hey, baby.”
“Hey, you. Are we still on for lunch?”
“We are.”
“I miss you.”
“I miss you too, love.”
“You sound frustrated.”
“I am. All anybody wants to talk about is Saturday night.”
“Can you blame them? It was a shit show.”
“I mean, I get that. But then they started talking about you, and I was ready to take a fucking head off.”
She giggled. “Please don’t fight anybody on my behalf. I promised your mother there wouldn’t be any drama.”
“It’s bound to be drama, baby.”
“I know, I know.” She sighed heavily. “He’s been calling me from his mother’s phone today.”
I frowned. “For what?”
“Trying to explain shit. At first, I answered because I thought it was her. I have no beef with his mother. She’s a sweet lady, and she’s always been good to me. When I answered and heard his voice, I hung up. He called five times in the span of thirty minutes before I had to block the number.”
“Block his ass every time. I’d really hate to have to act a fool in here. He knew what he was doing. Ain’t shit to explain.”
“Exactly. Anyway, I’ll see you at lunch. I want hibachi.”
“I got you. I’ll see you in about an hour.”
“Okay.”
We disconnected the call, and I turned to head back into the studio. Much to my surprise, there stood Nate, one of Theo’s homeboys that sometimes sat in on sessions with us. The look on his face told me he’d been listening to my conversation.
“You got something you wanna say?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nah. Nah, man. You got it. I was just going to the bathroom.”
He brushed past me and darted around the corner. I just knew he was going to run his mouth, but honestly, I didn’t care. Who was gon’ check me about shit? I headed back into the studio. For the next forty-five minutes, we actually got some work done. Every so often, Nate and Theo looked over at me but didn’t say anything. The two of them had been on their phones, and if I had to guess, I’d say they were talking to each other about what Nate overheard.
By the time we got ready to break for lunch, I was over the day. I grabbed my shit and dipped out of the studio. I took the elevator down to the parking garage where my car was and prepared to make the short trip to pick up my lady. Things between us were going well, even though it had only been a few days since we agreed to see where things would go.
She’d spent the last two nights at my place, and I had to admit, I enjoyed having her there. It wasn’t just because I could wake up at three in the morning and slide in that pussy if I wanted to. I genuinely enjoyed her company. She was a chill female that didn’t require much.
All she wanted was quality time. She’d lay up on me, and we’d talk or watch movies. At night, she damn near lived in my skin because she slept right up under me. I didn’t complain because I found I loved that shit. There was something about her that was different than the women I kept around for sex.
Honestly, I think it was largely due to her being part of the caregiving team for my grams. I got to see a softness in her that I didn’t look for in other women. She went above and beyond for one of the women I loved, and for that, she could get parts of me that no other woman could ever say they had.
Rhythm was waiting outside when I pulled into the parking lot. She smiled as I rolled up to the curb and stood back as I got out to let her in.
“Hey, baby,” I said, pulling her in for a hug.
“Hey.”
I cupped her chin and kissed her, giving her ass a generous squeeze. She giggled as she swatted my hand away.
“We are right in front of the glass!” she said dramatically.
“So. I’m sure everybody in there done grabbed a lil ass before.”
For good measure, I grabbed her ass and lifted her into the air. I’d driven my truck today, so it was as good of an excuse as any to put her inside. She laughed as I placed her in the passenger seat. I pecked her lips before closing the door and heading around to the driver’s side. Once inside, I headed to the hibachi spot she’d told me she loved.
We pulled into the parking lot about ten minutes later, and I got out to help her. Hand in hand, we headed inside. Surprisingly, it wasn’t packed. We were able to get a table right away. Once seated and our orders were placed, she turned to me.
“How was it after we got off the phone?”
“It was straight. I made it clear that when I got back, we were going to work. Nobody said anything else about it. At least not to me. I’m sure one of them overheard our conversation, though. I turned to go back inside, and he was standing there.”
“Did you say something?”
“Nah. Ain’t shit to really say. I’m not hiding anything. I could never be ashamed of you, love.”
She smiled. “So… my dad called this morning.”
I grinned. “What did he have to say this time?”
“He was just calling to check on me and make sure Raheem wasn’t causing me any trouble. He asked about you.”
“Oh, really?”
“He wanted to make sure he didn’t have to bust a cap in your ass either.”
“While I’d never give him a reason, I need Pops to know that if push came to shove, I’m not going out easily.”
“You have to ignore that man and his ignorance at times. I think he will like you. He and my mama are supposed to come out here for a visit in two weeks. He said they needed to lay eyes on me.”
“Maybe we could do dinner or something? Does your pops like basketball?”
“He’s sickening about it. I bought him a season’s pass for the Carolina Rippers for his birthday last year, and he dragged my mama to every home game. She was so sick of that man.”
I chuckled. “Mama being a hater. She just doesn’t understand the love of the game. It’s a home game coming up. Maybe I could take you all to it. I have floor seats.”
“Look, you’re gonna be his best friend after that. I’m not even gonna tell him. I’ll let you surprise him.”
She looked at me with a smile on her face and grabbed my hand. Cupping my chin, she pulled my face to hers and softly kissed my lips. Our faces lingered close to each other as we gazed into each other’s eyes.
“What was that for?” I asked.
“For being peace every time I’m with you. I needed that. My thoughts were so jumbled for the longest. I was torn between choosing me and choosing the man I loved. I don’t feel like I’d have to do that with you.”
“You wouldn’t. I’ll always make sure you choose you. If you aren’t happy with yourself, we can’t be happy together.”
“You’re right.” She fingered my beard and smirked. “I bet I can make this grow.”
I laughed out loud. “You wild, man! Don’t come for my beard.”
“I’ll just cum on it then.”
“Don’t get your ass bent over something in this restaurant.”
She giggled as our cook approached the table with his cart. We watched as he did all the flips and tricks with his utensils as he cooked and plated our food. The service was good, and the food was even better. By the time we got ready to leave, we were stuffed.
Hand in hand, we walked out of the restaurant and back to my truck. I helped her in then climbed in myself and headed back to The Baker Method. As I drove, my phone vibrated in my cup holder. I looked to see that it was none other than Raheem sending me a text.
At first, I ignored it. Then he called me. Rhythm looked over at me then back to the phone.
“Are you gonna answer?” she asked.
I sighed and answered the phone on speaker.
“Hello?”
“You busy?” he asked, sounding distraught.
“What’s up?”
“I fucked up, Channing. You told me to get my shit together with my lady, and I was trying, man. I really was.”
“Raheem, I’m really not the person to talk to about this shit.”
“But—”
“For real. You just gotta take that L. Ain’t no coming back from that.”
“Nah, she loves me. I just gotta give her some time. Imani didn’t mean shit to me.”
“It didn’t look that way. She wouldn’t have called you out in front of all those people if it was nothing. Frankly, I’ve had to hear enough about that shit at work the last four days. I’m not trying to hear it again. I gotta go.”
I didn’t give him a chance to protest before I was hanging up in his ear. I looked over at Rhythm who was stifling a laugh.
“What’s funny?”
“The fact that he called you about me and I’m sitting here with you.”
I shook my head. It was ironic that he was seeking advice from me about her, still not knowing the parameters of my relationship with his ex. I was just counting down the moments until somebody went running their mouth to him about us. The feeling in my gut told me that it was going to be soon.
My grandfather always said if you give a nigga a rib, they will tell everything. Nate couldn’t wait to tell Theo what he heard, and I was sure that when I walked out of the session, he’d told everybody else too. The thing was, I didn’t give a fuck.
Nobody was gonna check me about a single woman.