I probably should have told him I had already found him, but I couldn’t open my mouth to tell him the truth. A part of me was afraid he would be disappointed, and I wasn’t ready to hear his mouth. Of course, I was gonna have to tell him eventually because I was pregnant.
“Ease up a little. I know you love me, but I don’t need a parent. I need my brother, the person I run to when life is hard or I need relationship advice. You make it hard for me to open up to you because you can be judgmental and reactive at times, and I don’t like having barriers between us,” I admitted, knowing I was keeping quite a few secrets from him.
“I don’t want that either. I’ll try to work on my approach and loosen up a little bit. I want you to be comfortable talking to me about anything.”
“Well, I appreciate you for trying. If you keep it up, I might unblock you on IG.”
“Get out of here. I hardly use any of that shit anyway. Plus, I don’t want to see pictures of you and your hoe-ass friends half naked. I have East watching your page, so if there’s anything important going on, he’ll let me know.”
I did my best to hold in my laughter because he had no idea that Essex stalked my pages for his own personal reasons.
“What do you have to give me, sir?”
“Pop the trunk for me,” he instructed. I did what he asked and opened the trunk, watching as he placed the duffel bags inside.
“What’s in the bags?”
“Money. It’s six hundred thousand dollars between both bags.”
My jaw damn near hit the floor. I didn’t understand what was going on.
“Is something wrong? What do you want me to do with the money? I’m confused.”
“Naw, everything is all good. I’ve already made an appointment for you to meet with my accountant this week. The money in those bags is for you and Noodle. I would have given you a check, but Logic brought me the money this morning, and I didn’t have time. You can keep it at the house or take it to the bank. It’s up to you.”
“I-I don’t understand. Why are you giving me so much money?”
“I want to take care of you the way I promised I would. This is a portion of the money Logic and East put up for me when I was locked away. You’ve been through a lot of shit, and I know I can’t make up for any of it, but I want to make sure you and my niece never need anything in life. I know you’re independent and like to make your own money, but when it comes to bills, I don’t want you to worry about anything.”
Again, my mind went to the fact that I hadn’t paid a bill in years because Essex took care of everything. It made me realize how spoiled I truly was because I hadn’t had a care in the world for so long.
“Thank you, brudder. I appreciate you for everything you’ve done for me and what I know you’re gonna do in the future because you’re bossy. You really didn’t need to give me all of this money, but I’m not gonna turn it down. Hell, I might go buy myself something real nice tomorrow.” I rubbed my chin, making him laugh.
“Do whatever you want. Just know that I’ve got you, and nothing will ever change. I love you, Boogie.”
“I love you, too. I don’t care about the money or gifts. Having you home is the greatest gift you could ever give me. Just make sure you never leave me again. I meant what I said. I’ll beat your ass.”
“You have nothing to worry about. The only thing I’m focused on is my music and taking care of my family. Those prison walls will never see my black ass again.”
“I’m gonna hold you to it. I’ll text you when I make it home.”
“I know where you live now, so if I don’t hear from you, I have no problem pulling up.”
I cringed, thinking about him pulling up while Essex was home. My secrets were gonna come to a head sooner than I planned, and I wasn’t ready to face any of them, so I decided to enjoy myself and live for the moment. Hopefully, things wouldn’t blow up in my face.
“What’s going on, young blood?” Gunna greeted me as I stepped into his house. The mansion he lived in was huge, and I admired it every time I came over. Going from the projects to a million-dollar mansion was a huge transition, one that I looked forward to in the future.
“What’s up, G? How have you been?”
We shook hands as he led me to his mancave. He had been trying to get me to come over for weeks to discuss some new business opportunities, but my schedule had been crazy since Keynauri came home. We had been in the studio and getting things set up for his upcoming show. Plus, I had my own businesses to run. I barely had enough time for myself, and I knew my family felt my absence.
Lyric’s sneaky ass had been pulling disappearing acts on the regular. I tried not to trip on her too much because she was pregnant, but I was getting ready to nip that shit in the bud soon.
“I can’t complain, man. I have someone I want you to meet. He was putting in major work in Haiti for years, but he moved to the States and got a work visa. I think the two of you wouldwork really well together. You’re getting ready to move up in the ranks, and you’re gonna need someone to replace you other than Logic. I’m not trying to step on your toes in any way, but Jacq possesses some very unique qualities that I want on my team.”
I gave Gunna a knowing look because he knew how I felt about surprises. Everyone who knew me knew I wasn’t a friendly-ass nigga. I kept the same niggas in my circle from grade school because I didn’t trust a soul. Now he was telling me I had to work with a stranger and let him in on all of my business. How did Gunna even know he wasn’t undercover or an informant? Many thoughts raced through my head as I followed behind him.
“Jacq, this is East. East, this is Jacq.”
