On the ride to my spot, I stared out of the window, taking in the city I loved. Briar was lowkey, never too much going on. Pops grew up in Watertown, the area they considered the hood. When he was older, he bought a home in Lower Briar. Moms had just told him she was pregnant with me when he decided it was time for a change. My mother was originally from Chicago but went to school here. For years she went back and forth before she settled with Pops. It was almost like when she settled, she became ill. My mother died when I was eight and that shit changed myfather... It aged him. Of course he loved me, but she was his reason for existing, even though she didn’t deserve to be.
A little bit after she died, we’d ended up back in Chicago, with him looking for a place that made him feel closer to her. He ended up staying until I went to school, then he returned to Briar South and settled into a suburb on the outskirts of Briar. I didn’t finish college, because it wasn’t me. Pops was good in tech and it made money, so he wanted me to do it as well. It wasn’t my motion though. I took up boxing at nineteen and I was good at it. My father believed in me something serious and was sure to let me know that. That was why even when he’d told me he wasn’t my real father on his deathbed, it didn’t matter.
By the time I made it to my spot, Jordyn was standing in my doorway with eyes of pure judgment. She was about to give me a nice ass lecture. She always did. She wasn’t only my publicist, but also my best friend and everything above. Shorty handled everything for me, and for that, I was eternally grateful. She had always been like a sister. When we first met she let me know in the door that she didn’t look at me like that and I accepted her honesty. We had been thick as thieves ever since. Her family represented me, from my manager to anything else I needed. I was their first client, their only client at a point. It was a good talent agency I also had a little bit of stake in.
“I thought we were done with Marissa.”
I chuckled, going for the food she’d probably had the chef cook for me. Next to it was a green smoothie I knew either tasted like apples or dirt. “Didn’t say I was with her.”
“You’re right; you didn’t. Who were you with? Is this something I’m gonna have to spin in a few days?”
I shook my head. “Keeping it a buck, it was some spur of the moment shit. When I woke up, she was gone. Left me a napkin with the word thanks.” I was seated in front of my meal aftergrabbing a few bottles of water from the pantry. I didn’t like my water cold.
Jordyn laughed. “Damn, really? Point one for her.”
“Damn. It’s like that?”
“Yeah. Every time you mess with somebody, they’re attached to you like a freaking glue stick. This one left without any of your items and said thank you. Hmph. A legend.”
I chuckled. “Nah, I helped her out.”
Confusion filled Jordyn’s features. “What does that mean? Shit, do I even want to know?”
I ended up explaining last night while I finished my food. By the time I was finished, she was mugged up.
“So, she had sex with you after finding out her man cheated on her?”
I nodded, half expecting her to say some crazy shit.
Out of nowhere, she laughed. “If she hadn’t run off on you, I would have loved to meet her. She sounds like my type of girl. She got her get back.”
“Yeah whatever, man.”
“Well she does, but let’s talk shop while I’m thinking about it.” She set down her version of my smoothie and moved to her journal and planner sitting on the island a few inches away.
“Alright. After your training, you have a flight in the morning. Rehearsal for your brother’s wedding. You will be in Chicago for all of three days. Bigs will be with you when you’re out, that is non-negotiable. If you have a problem with it, take that up with Journee.”
I chuckled. “Uh yeah, I ain’t doing that. Bigs is cool; he doesn't be all in my shit.”
She laughed. “Okay and when you get back here, you have a few photoshoots and a commercial for cologne. I’ll also have a sample of the scent for you by the time you get back.”
“Yeah, ’cause you know I’m not pushing anything that stinks.”
“Yes, I know. Besides the obvious other things, these are the most pressing. Chicago should be good for you. I feel like you need some family time.” She smiled.
“Yeah aight. You say that, then you be ready to beef with me ’cause I have been there too long.”
She giggled. “No, I’m serious. I know we’re also your family here, but they’re your blood. I see how you are with them. It’s like when you’re with them you don’t carry your parents’ secrets so heavily.”
We shared a brief silence before I nodded. She was right. Two days before my father died, he’d told me that he wasn’t my father by blood. Of course, that didn’t matter as he was the only father I had ever known. Then he also told me my mother had slept with her sister’s husband at the time. The two people I knew as my cousins were actually my siblings, not to mention the twins. I had grown up as an only child wanting siblings. Shit, the closest thing I had to siblings besides my cousins were the Atkinses. When I was here with my pops, I was with them, and when I was back in Chicago, I was with my cousins. All in all, I think Pops told me so I knew I was never fully alone.
“I feellike you’re distracted. Are you good?” G asked, eyes on me as we stood in the groomsmen line. We had been at this damn hall rehearsing for this wedding for the last three hours. I was about to get ghost on them, because not only had I landed and come right here, but I hadn’t eaten. I was starving.
“Yeah. I’m tired as hell. Ready to go somewhere, order room service, and get some sleep.” I cut my eyes at Jade who was rehearsing our asses into the ground.
“It’s my wedding and I second that shit,” Reminisce’s loud ass said from the altar. It was easy for him to say seeing as how he’d stood in one spot the whole evening.
“Suck it up. We wouldn’t be in this mess had you not promised my mama a big wedding. I was fine with telling her next year for several years in a row, but no. Leave it to the son-in-law of the year to overpromise the woman. Now we have to pay up.” Karim walked up the aisle with rolled up paper in place of the bouquet with her arm looped in her brother’s. She was visibly pregnant and over the evening.
