“Yeah, I guess you can say it’s kind of serious,” Charlie said. “I honestly have no idea how it got here, but I’ve never been more serious about something.”
“What do you really know about him, Charlie?” Stassi pushed. “I mean, you’ve known him all of what? A month?”
“I know enough,” Charlie replied.
Conflict tortured Stassi. She wanted to come right out and tell her. Demi wasn’t what he appeared to be. He had an entire family that Charlie knew nothing about. Stassi had seen the photos of Lauren’s son plastered all over her office and the little boy was Demi’s twin. Stassi could see Charlie’s happiness. It was all over her. Whatever Demi was doing, was working. Charlie was glowing. She looked like a woman in love and Stassi wanted to be happy for Charlie, but how true could it be if Demi was lying?
“I heard he’s a dog, Charlie. You need to be careful with him,” Stassi said.
Charlie wasn’t even phased by the warning. She was too caught up in what Demi made her feel to heed Stassi’s words.
“Better stop listening to miserable bitches saying miserable shit,” Charlie defended.
“Charlie, he’s...”
“Not your business, sis.” Charlie finished the sentence. “I don’t care what he’s known as to anybody else. It actually makes hella sense that other people would misunderstand him, call him mean, call him a dog, think he ain’t shit. All those things might be true to somebody else. To me. For me. He’s different. They don’t get the part of him that I get. Nobody gets that part. I don’t really expect you to get us. We get us and that’s all that matters; so, yeah, we not speaking about him because I get real defensive about that nigga.”
Stassi hated that Charlie was stepping so hard over a man who had a whole family in the shadows. If she told Charlie what sheknew and she decided to fuck with Demi anyway, Stassi would be the bad guy. She would be the gossip. She would prove she can’t separate personal and professional and the business she was building... the connections she had made would all be in vain.
“I’m happy that you’re happy. I just want you to be careful and get to know him. I’ve watched you piece yourself back together before. I just don’t want to see you hurt like that again,” Stassi said.
“Demi wouldn’t do that,” Charlie said.
“What is it that you do, Demi?”
Demi rubbed a hand down his goatee as his brows hiked. He had never done this dance before. Been interrogated. Had a girl’s father question him. Not even with Lauren. So, this interaction with Charlie’s father, a father he had a feeling hadn’t treated Charlie the best, was a challenge for him.
“I’m in music. I own a record label,” Demi answered, deciding to walk light. Whatever this tension was that thickened the air in this house was awkward enough. He didn’t want to add another layer to that. If Charlie’s father kept it respectful, so would he.
“And let me guess, you’re filling Charlize’s head with promises of fame to get her into your bed. Playing on her desperation. Charlie’s always been easily manipulated. She’s like her mother. She uses the wrong things to get what she wants. Whoring herself out. I swear it’s in her blood. I always have to save her from a bad situation because she doesn’t use her head.”
If looks could fucking kill.
“What you say your name was, again, man?” Demi asked. His impatience was not to be missed.
“Major,” her father replied.
“Major, Charlie been in my bed since the day I met her,” Demi answered. “No promises were made to get her there. No manipulation needed to keep her there. I don’t know how well you know your daughter, but what she’s using to get her way with me ain’t got nothing to do with sex. I don’t really know what type of niggas she’s brought home in the past, but this thing you’re doing, this degrading her to me, won’t end well for you.”
“Is that a threat?” Major asked, his temper flaring as he pushed back out of his chair. Demi stood too because he had never let another man take a dominant position over him. There would be no towering, no hierarchy. Demi was the head nigga in charge in every room he occupied. It didn’t matter that he was a guest in this house.
“Take it how you want it as long as you take it,” Demi stated calmly, hiking up his pants.
“You need to leave my house!” Major shouted.
“Major!” Yvonne hissed as she entered the kitchen. The sound of footsteps descending the stairs quickly announced Charlie and Stassi. “What is going on in here?”
“This thug! Another one of Charlie’s bad decisions just threatened me in my house!” Major said. “Call the police.”
“Daddy!” Charlie exclaimed.
“It’s cool, Bird. You stay with your family. I’ma slide, though,” Demi said. Charlie shook her head and crossed the room.
“If you leave, I’m leaving,” Charlie said.
“I’m not doing this again with you, Charlize. If you leave this house with another man. If you choose another no-good-ass negro off the streets over me, over this family, you can stay out. Stay in the streets,” Major shouted. His voice was filled with so much judgement that it filled Charlie with shame.
“That’s where she belongs anyway,” Yvonne said.
