Lyric shuffled over to me with her arms still folded. Once she got close enough, I took a moment to really look at her. She was dressed in pajama shorts and a tank top. Her hardened nipples caught my attention, but I shook those thoughts from my mind right away.
“Open it.” I nodded toward the safe.
“I don’t know the code,” she sassed.
“It’s your birthday,” I revealed. Her eyes widened briefly, but she shook it off and proceeded to open the safe. She peered into the safe, then whipped her head in my direction.
“What is all of this?” Lyric asked, running her hands over the stacks of bills piled up in the safe.
“This is the money you and Symphonee made in the last two weeks. It’s forty bands. There’s another shelf in your room behind your shoe rack with about sixty bands in there. I don’tlike repeating myself, and you know that, Lola B. You and my baby girl will never have to worry about shit, whether I’m alive or six feet under. Symphonee has more money in her bank account than all of the bitches you hang with and the ones who hate you too. There’s a reason I work as hard as I do, and it’s because I never want my family to go without. Our poverty days are over.
“Since you already fucked up a nigga’s sleep, we might as well head to the store so we can get the shit you need.” I pulled out a few stacks of money and handed them to her, then closed up the safe and placed it back in the closet.
“Watch my princess while I take a shower,” I instructed as I turned the lamp on my dresser to the lowest setting, so I could grab what I needed for my shower.
“I can just take her to my room. It’s almost time for her to wake up for her bottle anyway.”
“You can wait until she gets up on her own. She ain’t on your time, you’re on hers. Ours actually,” I informed her.
“You do know she’s my child, right?”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean to me? She’s still my baby, and I said what I said.” I shrugged, walking past her with my clothes in hand.
In the shower, I let the hot water beat against my skin as I prepared for the day. Gunna wanted to meet with Logic and me about expanding the business. Right now, we were supplying drugs between Liberty Heights and several other cities and states. We didn’t touch Jonah Hills since that territory belonged to a nigga named Dreaux. It didn’t stop the money flow, but Gunna wanted us to expand to guns. We were no longer the little niggas selling work on the streets; we were the niggas people bought the work from wholesale.
Some would call me a plug, but I honestly didn’t care about those titles. As long as a mothafucka gave me my money and myrespect, they could call me whatever. Logic wanted to go over all of our new business ventures as well, and I knew it was time for me to find a real accountant. My homie Lips recommended Justice Graham, so I planned to meet with him. He worked with individuals with legal and illegal businesses, which was exactly what I needed.
After I got out of the shower, brushed my teeth, and applied lotion, I slid on my boxers, sweatpants, and a fresh white T-shirt before heading back to my room. The first thing I heard was the sound of my baby girl crying. She was a little spoiled, and I took responsibility for my part in it.
“Yeah, bring your ass in here,” Lyric called out when she noticed me peeking inside my bedroom. She held a grumpy Symphonee in her lap as the two of them sported matching frowns.
“What’s wrong with daddy’s baby? Huh? What yo’ ugly ass momma do to my princess?”
“Ugly? She looks just like me, so if I’m ugly, what does that make her?” Lyric challenged as I took my baby from her arms. Symphonee’s cries turned into soft whimpers in a matter of seconds.
“You must be trippin’. She might have a few of your features, but she looks exactly like me. See?” I held Symphonee up with her chubby cheek pressed against mine. Lyric burst into a fit of giggles with her petty ass.
“East, you are delusional, and it’s getting worse by the day. She is a copy-and-paste version of me.”
“Whatever. Maybe it’s your funky ass attitude that is making it hard for me to see it. All I know is that daddy’s baby is the prettiest girl in the whole wide world. Ain’t that right, stinka momma?” I smothered Symphonee’s face with kisses as she squealed with laughter.
I never knew it was possible to love someone as much as I loved Symphonee. She might not have been mine biologically, but she was mine in every other way that mattered. The moment I watched her momma push her out, and I cut her umbilical cord, I vowed to be everything she would ever need in life.
“Yeah, okay. I know how you get when it comes to her, so I’m not even gonna bother tryna argue with you. Your daughter has outgrown her clothes, so we need to grab her a few things. Plus, she’s been on a sweet potato kick lately, so I need to get some more for her.”
“Say less. Go put some clothes on so we can head out. I want to take her to get her ears pierced while we’re out.”
“Alright. All I need is twenty minutes because I took my shower this morning. I have her clothes laid out, too.” Lyric reached for Symphonee, but she clung to my shirt tighter.
“Little girl, are you seriously gonna act like this? I gotta get you dressed.” Lyric fussed and made another attempt to grab baby girl. When she started to cry, I had to intervene.
“Why don’t you bring her clothes in here? I can clean her up and get her dressed. Then you’ll have more time to focus on yourself because you know you take forever,” I suggested.
“You and your spoiled princess can go to hell. I’m so tired of her mean butt anyway. I pushed her out, but she acts like she can’t live without you. Yuck.” Lyric rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hide the smirk on her face.
“She ain’t the only one who can’t live without me. Now, hurry up and get my baby’s shit so we can go.”
“Nigga, please. When I get my own place, you and your child are gonna have a rude awakening.”
