I raised an eyebrow. “Old friend?”
He pointed at me immediately. “Aye, bruh.. don’t even do all that. I done said enough.”
I laughed, already knowing how he was. Kordai always talked to women, but he kept that part of his life locked tight. He never brought anybody around the family or let anyone get too comfortable in his business. If he shared anything, it was in pieces and usually only with me or Khloe.
“So let me get this straight,” I said, teasing. “You’ll give Khloe full details, but you quick to shut me down?”
He laughed, shaking his head. “It ain’t nothing like that, big bro. It’s just… some shit about women that you’ll never understand like Khloe will. So yeah, sometimes I ask her stuff.”
I stared at him. “You realize that’s my wife, right?”
“And?” he shot back. “That’s my sister. And guess what—anything I’ve ever told her was never repeated.”
We both laughed.
“Man,” I said, “that was one time.”
“One damn time too many,” he replied, pointing at me.
I already knew where he was going, so I just laughed.
“I was sixteen,” he continued, “talking to you know who. All I did was ask you for a condom. You got so damn excited you went and told Kendrix and Kross.”
I groaned. “I was proud of you!”
“Proud?” He laughed. “Them niggas made a thousand jokes about me. I ain’t even wanna fuck no more after all that.”
I laughed so hard I had to catch my breath. “That’s not fair.”
“It’s very fair,” he said. “That shit was traumatizing.”
“But nah,” he added, quieter. “Khloe cool people. Always been. She listens without judging and that’s rare.”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah. She’s special.”
“I’ve been talking to Pops about something new I’m trying to get into,” he said.
I lifted my head. “What?”
“Trading.”
I blinked. “Trading?”
“Yeah,” he said, pulling out his phone. “You know I came home to loaded bank accounts. I been thinking about doing that day-trading shit I keep seeing everybody talk about.”
I nodded slowly, listening.
Kordai wasn’t wrong. When he came home, he came home set. During the years he was locked up, Pops made sure money went into his account like clockwork. My brothers chipped in, and I chipped in heavy. I wanted him to step back into life without that panic most people feel when they get out and without that pressure that pushes men right back into the same shit that landed them behind bars in the first place.
Hell, if Khloe ever found out how much I’d been putting in there monthly, she’d probably lose her damn mind. But that was something she’d never understand as an only child. Big-brother shit.
“Yeah, I been seeing folks do that trading stuff,” Kordai continued. “Flipping money from their phones. It seems interesting. I don’t wanna rush into anything, but I don’t wanna just let my money sit either.”
I leaned back in my chair. “I mean… It can be good. But that shit ain’t just pressing buttons and watching numbers go up.”
“I figured,” he said. “That’s why I’m trying to learn first. Pops said the same thing. Do the research. Find the right people. That’s why we’re meeting up today to make some calls.”
I nodded. “That’s smart. You gotta have mentors. People who actually know what they’re doing, not the social media gurus.”
