“Of course,” I stated with a sarcastic smile.
“Thank you. It should only take a few minutes.”
Nervously, Celeste walked over to me with her arms wrapped around herself. She looked beautiful in the cream colored jogging suit she wore. Black gym shoes from her shop completed the look. Her hair was in a ponytail and she had on light makeup. She was so damn fine without trying hard.
“Hey,” she damn near whispered.
“What’s up? You like your rings?”
“Shane, don’t do that. These rings are the last things I care about and even he knows that. I’m just ready to leave so I can get to work.”
“I feel that. How’s work goin’ anyway?” I quizzed, intentionally changing the subject.
“It’s going good. I hired a new employee and he’s doing better than I expected. I’ll be doing inventory today and that’s my least favorite task.”
“Yeah, but it’s necessary. That’s like when it comes to music. I love making beats but I can’t stand the editing process. That shit is time consuming and annoying, but it’s vital. It’s always the things we least like that makes a huge difference in our crafts.”
“That’s true. I’m just tired of doing it. I feel like the day comes quick every month. It’s whatever though. I’ll put on music and power through. Or I’ll just call you, if you aren’t at the studio, and you can keep me company over the phone.” She laughed.
“What’s up, cuz? What you up to?” Deontay said from behind me.
I was so into what Celeste was saying that I hadn’t felt him walking up on us.
“What’s good?”
“Not shit. About to head out of here and take care of this business. How you doin’, miss lady? You’re Spinna’s girl, right?” he asked with a brow hiked.
“Yooo, she good on the questions. Gon’ head and get up out of here. You got business to handle, my guy,” I cut in.
I wasn’t sure how much of the conversation he’d heard, but I knew he was being funny by asking that question. I already didn’t fuck with the way he moved just being my cousin, but him playing with Celeste would surely send me over the edge. Putting his hands up in mock surrender, he looked between the two of us with a sick smile before turning to leave.
“What was all that about?”
“Nigga a goofy. Don’t trip though. I’ll beat the fuck out of him if he tries anything slick.”
“That’s Dennis’s son. Meaning he’s your cousin, right?”
“Yeah, he is, but blood don’t mean shit when you’re a snake. That cousin word ain’t shit but a bloodline title. That nigga is nobody to me,” I admitted.
Deontay’s ass had my blood boiling and I had to silently calm myself. By the time my thoughts were no longer on violence, my uncle and Spinna were coming from the back.
“I’ll call you tonight when I get home,” Celeste said just before they fully approached us.
I nodded in acknowledgement and was thankful this meeting was being brought to a close. I wasn’t a person who could phony kick it or smile in someone’s face I really didn’t fuck with. I had no respect for Spinna and I wanted his woman. There was no need to fake the funk when I knew I’d have her bouncing on my dick the first chance I got. Respectfully, of course. When the two of them finally left, my uncle gave me his attention.
“Thanks for tending to Celeste. When it comes to money exchanges, I like to keep that between men if there’s a woman involved. Call me old school, but a woman should never have to bring her purse out of the house if she’s with a man.”
“I feel you. Same shit your big brother instilled in me.”
“Yeah. I gotta see him in a few days. He never wants us to come visit, so I know it has to be an important matter. I spoke to the lawyer this morning, but like always, there aren’t any updates,” he expressed.
“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that. Is there any way we can look into getting a new lawyer on the case?”
“I’ve been looking into it, nephew. You focus on music and possibly taking over the shop. Let me deal with the lawyers and things. I got him. We gonna get him home,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder.
About half an hour later, I was leaving the shop and heading back home. I had a few tracks I needed to listen to, but was now free for the rest of the day. I hit Tripp’s ass up to see if he wanted to play ball, but he was out of town on business. I thought about popping in on my mom, but decided to give her a break today. Once I made it home, I washed the dishes in my sink and put a load of laundry on before rolling a blunt. Sparking it, I settled into the chair of my home studio and got in my zone. I was so caught up in what I was doing that I hadn’t realized how much time had gone by until my phone rang. The number flashing across my screen didn’t look familiar, but I was in a line of business that caused this to happen frequently.
“Hello?”
