I retrieved my phone to send a message to Fatima before powering it off. I needed to disconnect from the world before I flipped out.
“Come here.” Ari tried to pull away, but I grabbed her by the arm. She could be upset all she wanted, but we weren’t about to let Golden’s bullshit fuck up our vacation.
“I’m not feeling you right now,” she whined.
“I know, and I’ll let you have your moment, but we are on vacation, and ain’t shit changed. We are here to relax and escape from the real world. All of the bullshit going on right now will be there when we get back. Now, come on. Let’s get these kids fed and dressed so we can enjoy the rest of our vacation,” I urged, locking our hands together.
“Why aren’t you flying off the handle and freaking out? Your dick is out there for the world to see. Are you not worried about what will happen next?” she questioned.
“Naw, I’m not worried at all. Eventually, this will all blow over, and even if it doesn’t, I’m still not gonna stress about it. I have you, my kids, and my music to focus my attention on. I won’tstand by and allow the internet to paint you in a negative light, but outside of protecting you and my kids, I don’t give a fuck. Folks can think what they want, but we know the truth.”
Her face softened as I held her tighter. I leaned down, peppering her face with kisses until she begged me to stop. We stared into each other’s eyes until she poked her lips out for a kiss. I obliged, sucking on her bottom lip until she moaned out.
“I knew it was a bad idea for you to post our picture. Now I’m really gonna need some damn mace and a razor blade to fight the bitches off. Ugh! You’re a porn star now. The bitches have probably already saved the video to help them sleep at night.” She whined while rolling her eyes.
“Naw, I didn’t do anything wrong. You are my woman, and I’m allowed to show off the person who makes me happy. I’m not thrilled about my shit being all over the internet, but it is what it is. Like I told you last night, they can look, but they’ll never know what it’s like to experience the real thing. Hell, I’m sure it was the reason Golden reacted the way she did. It’s one thing to get dumped by a real boyfriend, but I know it must have crushed her ego to be dumped by a fake one and barely get the chance to even sample the dick.” I shrugged, choosing not to let the situation get the best of me.
Two Weeks Later
Keynauri seemed cool as a cucumber, carrying on as if nothing had happened. When we got back home, he went right back to work, and he didn’t seem to care. Against Fatima’s wishes, he posted a photo dump of our vacation with the family, along with a throwback of us when we were young. The public was eating it up. I gained over two hundred thousand followers in the last four days, and the number was growing rapidly.
With the love came a lot of hate, but I tried my best to ignore any of the negativity. Some people wanted to paint me out as the bad guy and as much as I wanted to defend myself, it wouldn’t change anything. I spent countless nights stressed about it untilKeynauri forced me to stay off my phone. He promised he would handle things so I decided to let him do so.
Nova suggested I use the buzz as an opportunity to promote my business, and it worked well. Keynauri insisted I have security at my suite because he was concerned about crazed fans showing up to my place of business. My calendar was booked up for the next six weeks, so I wasn’t complaining. It helped that my loyal clients were in the comments cosigning my work.
I hated riding around with security all the time, but if it meant protecting the ones I loved, then I would do what needed to be done.
“Where are we going, baby? I thought we were going home,” I questioned once I realized we were turning onto the opposite street.
“East sent me some cryptic ass message telling me I needed to get over to Lyric’s house. I need to see what’s going on. It shouldn’t take very long.”
I nodded, then glanced back at three sleeping children in the back seat. Keyami was still with us after her mother threw a fit about us taking family pictures together. She went live on IG and basically told the world that since I wanted to be a step momma so badly, I could raise her myself. I told Keynauri that when Keyami was born, Tiana never wanted to be a mother. She thought that if she got pregnant, it would solidify her spot in his life. He fucked up by entertaining her while he was locked up because it only fueled her fantasy of them being together.
Keyami cried for days when her momma wouldn’t answer her calls, and I vowed to never allow her to feel unwanted. She and the twins were always treated as equals, but I worked even harder to make sure she felt welcomed.
“What the fuck is going on?” Keynauri whispered as he parked the truck on the curb. When I glanced up, I saw East arguing with another man while Lyric pulled on his shirt. Symphoneewas crying, and I could tell Lyric was too. I had a feeling this wouldn’t be a simple stop like Keynauri made it out to be.
“Stay in the car,” he instructed. I didn’t like the idea of him telling me what to do, but I decided to listen. Reaching over to the glove compartment, he retrieved a gun. It was in that moment that I grew worried. I sent Nova a message and asked her to call Logic. I gave her a brief summary of what was going on.
I peeked around to see if there were any neighbors outside, and luckily, there weren’t any. It didn’t mean no one was watching, though. I rolled the window down so I could listen to what was going on. The other man’s back was toward me, so I couldn’t see who it was. It did nothing to stop me from being nosy, though.
“I’m tired of you getting in the middle of what I have going on. You’re upset because I was the first person to break that little pussy in, and you know deep down she’ll never truly be over me. I live rent-free in your head. That’s why you keep trying to keep me from talking to her,” the other man taunted. I paused for a moment, recognizing his voice.
“Pussy ass bitch, I keep you away because you’re a fucking pervert. You don’t give a fuck about your daughter. That’s why you barely know her name or how old she is. I told Lyric to stop taking money from you because she doesn’t need you or your hush money. I bet your cockeyed wife has never even laid eyes on your daughter, but you want to stand here making demands with your chest out. Nigga, fuck you!”
In all the years I had known East, I never saw him get angry or raise his voice. In fact, Nova and I always joked about how unusually quiet he was in comparison to Logic or even Keynauri. The veins in his forehead were protruding, and it was only a matter of time before he snapped.
“Somebody explain to me what the fuck is going on. Why the hell is your old ass standing outside of my little sister’s place? I know damn well this isn’t Symphonee’s father. Lyric, what the fuck!” Keynauri roared.
I was still stuck on the other man’s voice, debating on whether I should disobey Keynauri’s orders and get out. Something in my gut didn’t feel right.
“Youngblood, this is none of your business. Lyric is grown, and we are the only people who should be talking. None of you were there when I was fucking that tight virgin pus—” Keynauri clocked the man right in the jaw. East broke free from Lyric’s hold and began beating his ass right along with Keynauri. I knew the police had probably been called, and they would be showing up soon.
Lyric tried to pull them apart to no avail. When Symphonee fell to the ground, I jumped out of the car to grab her.
“Daddy! Daddy!” She wailed. I noticed her calling East daddy while we were on vacation, so I knew exactly who she was crying for.
“Come on, Noodle.” I cradled her in my arms, then placed her in the truck with the other kids. I stood by the truck but never got back inside. Logic pulled up on two wheels and hopped out of the car with Nova following him. I had no time to question them because everything was happening so fast.
