“Naw. I usually record late at night, so that could be why. Damn, it’s a small world.” Que was talented as a producer, but he behaved like a bachelor whenever I was around him. For a moment, I felt bad for Cocoa because she deserved better. Then I remembered that I was single, and she wouldn’t be with him much longer.
“Well, from what I’ve heard in the streets, he’s a piece of shit. A couple of my homegirls have fucked him since they’ve been together.”
“Wait a minute. Why didn’t you tell me that she lived here? Have you seen her since back in the day?”
“No, I haven’t seen her. I didn’t know they were together until the night of the show because he tagged you and her on the same post. My friends told me he had a girlfriend, but I wasnever interested enough to look her up. When I saw the tag on his page, I started investigating and saw he posted her all of the time. They have kids together and everything.
“What?” My stomach turned sick at the idea that Naiari had started a family with another man, especially someone who didn’t appreciate the jewel in his life.
“Yeah, they have twins, I believe. I only saw their backs in the photos I looked at. Honestly, I was halfway drunk last night, so I didn’t get a good look at her, but he wished her a happy birthday. I believe he has a few kids with some other women as well.”
“Uncle Nauri, can you open my juice?” Symphonee held up her juice pouch for me to open, so I gave her my undivided attention until my phone rang.
“Yo, what do you need?”
The moment her name popped up on my caller ID, I expected nothing but bullshit to follow. Years passed, but Tiana hadn’t changed one bit. If anything, she grew worse.
“Is that the way you talk to the mother of your child? I thought we were better than this?” Tiana whined into the phone.
“Naw, we aren’t. Aren’t you the same person who threatened to call the cops on me when I tried to take my daughter for the weekend?”
I pulled the phone back in disbelief. Tiana wanted to play mind games, but I refused to. Ever since I got released from prison, things between us only seemed to get worse. When I first got locked up, Tiana held me down. She made sure I got to talk to my daughter every day and even kept money on my books. I’d admit some of our conversations took a sexual turn, but a nigga was surrounded by men all day, so I welcomed the distraction.
Once I started doing music, things began to shift between us. I always loved rapping, but Tiana insisted I needed to focus my attention on a real career. When I was free, I put my dreams on the back burner to provide for my family, but being locked upgave me more free time. I would spend hours writing lyrics and perfecting my flow. My cellmate fucked with my music and even gave me some tips I found helpful.
By the first year, I wrote over thirty songs, and Logic pressured me to start recording. It started with me recording myself on a tape recorder, but after a while, Logic came to me with another idea. He and East were still on the outside getting money, so he booked studio time for me. They gave me a portable microphone and an adapter so I could record my music on my phone. It took some finessing, but we were able to clear up the quality and create some records. Logic hired a producer named Spinz, who worked with me to create beats for my songs, and we took off from there. My first mixtape was completed within three months, but when I tried to tell Tiana about it, she completely shut me down.
When my music started going mainstream, I decided to keep my identity hidden. A lot of people thought it was because I wanted to be mysterious when, in reality, I didn’t want anyone to know I was locked up. Logic and East disagreed with my decision because they believed it would increase my support, but I wasn’t sold on it at first. Plus, since I was attempting to appeal my case, I couldn’t risk anything going wrong.
Tiana would go on and on about this up-and-coming rapper named Bankroll Keyz, not realizing it was me. Part of me wanted to tell her, to show her she was wrong, but instead, I let her continue fawning over the man she failed to believe in. I knew it probably killed her inside when she found out the truth. She had been blowing my phone up since last night.
“I don’t understand why you have so much hostility toward me. You’re the one who kept a secret from me for all of these years. Don’t you think that was a little shady?” she asked.
“Naw, I don’t. You made it clear you weren’t gonna support my little rap career, so I left you out of it. What did you call me for, Tiana? Is something wrong with Keyami?”
Tiana scoffed, but I paid her no mind.
“I can’t believe you are acting this way. You can’t blame me for being concerned. You were facing a lot of charges, and I thought you needed to keep your focus on that.”
“Yeah, alright. I have a few meetings I need to get to, so what’s up? I’m only gonna ask one more time before I hang up.”
I tried to hide my irritation, but it was easier said than done when it came to Tiana.
“Well, my girls and I bought tickets to attend your concert at the Garden Stadium next month, and I was wondering if you could upgrade us to front row seats. If I had known my baby daddy was one of the biggest performers, I would have asked a long time ago.” She huffed. I chuckled in disbelief at her audacity.
“Are you serious right now?”
“What do you mean? Why would I sit in the nosebleeds when you’re in the show? I don’t see what the issue is. I'm sure you can pull some strings to get us in the front row, since I’m basically the only family you have outside of Lyric.”
“I have some business to attend to. When I have some free time, I would like to come and pick up my daughter. I assume you’re gonna be in a better mood this time.”
Tiana refused to let me pick up Keyami for our last visit because I turned down her advances. She assumed that when I came home, she would be my first choice to get my rocks off, but to be honest, she was the last person I wanted to lie with. When I tried to explain to her that I only wanted to be there for my daughter, she threw a fit and threatened to call the police. It blew my mind that she would even stoop so low when she knew what I had been through, but I decided to leave and keep the peace forthe moment. My lawyer was on standby if we continued to have issues with visitation. I missed too much time with my child, and I had no intention of missing out on any more.
“I would never keep her from you, but I don’t see why you can’t spend time with her at my house. All of her things are at my house, and I think you should start off slowly. Keyami needs time to get used to you all over again.”
“I’m not tryna hear any of that bullshit. Anything she needs can be purchased for my house as well. I don’t want to sit around someone else’s house to spend time with my child, and I’m not going to. I’m not in prison anymore, and no one is gonna stop me from seeing my daughter. I’m giving you the respect and courtesy of coming to you first to make sure we are on the same page, but if there is an issue, we can let the courts handle things from here on out. I’ve been through enough bullshit over the years; I won’t be fighting with you over Keyami,” I warned in order to make my intentions clear. Tiana had the upper hand because of my incarceration, but it was fair game now.
“Court? Don’t you think you’re taking this a little too far? All I wanted to do was make sure our child was comfortable. There is no need for threats.” Tiana tried to play innocent, but I meant what I said. Peace was mandatory in my life, and I refused to go without it. If she couldn’t get with the program, she would get left behind.
