I chuckled at her attitude. Indie was always trying to sound like somebody’s mama.
“Why it gotta be like that? I fucked up in the past but I’m with Sage now. Can’t get no better than her. What you think?”
She scoffed. “You really don’t want me to answer that.”
“Damn!” Kale cut in, laughing at her. “Indie, if I ain’t know better I’d think you were jealous. Why Ink can’t get him some cutty from Sage?”
With her hand in the air, Indie held it in front of Kale’s face and sucked her teeth.
“MiKale, don’t go there with me. You know I don’t give a damn ’bout y’all getting—” She curled her nose in disgust. “Cutty, if that’s what you wanna call it. But if Ink is trying to settle down with somebody, especially someone who will need to be a role model to his daughter, I don’t think Sage is it.”
Amused, I watched them in action. They always went at it like brother and sister. It was funny as hell to watch. Some chick behind Kale shot me googly eyes before blowing a kiss. I ignored her and leaned forward to grab the glass of brown liquid in front of me, preparing to take it straight to the head.
“Why not?” I asked out of pure curiosity. Indie had never before been this determined to prove to me that some girl wasn’t right for me. She usually said little stuff to let me know where she stood but the more we discussed Sage, the more upset she seemed to become.
“Because she has no idea about anything real. She’s been rich her entire life. Everything has been handed to her. What do someone like that and you have in common?”
“That’s not true,” I replied back. “She didn’t have it as good as you may think. Her mother was her father’s side-chick and Sage was never accepted by her stepmom. Boarding schools raised her. In a lot of ways, our paths are the same. We never had nobody around who really had our backs like a parent should. We raised ourselves.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Indie rolled her eyes. “It’s easy to raise yourself when you have an unlimited budget at your disposal.”
“So what you’re saying is, she’s not good enough for him because she’s rich? Hell, he’s rich, too.”
“That’s not what I’m saying.” Indie rolled her eyes again. “Ink needs someone who knows his struggle and can identify with it. Someone compassionate, not trying to use him for his money or to be in the limelight. Kind, honest, hardworking…”
“Well, tell me this, Indie. Who is good enough for Ink?” Kale asked with a smug smile that said he was up to some bullshit. “Because I’m feeling like the woman you’re describing is you.”
My eyes widened slightly as I looked from him to Indie, watching the expression on her face. For some reason, I was curious about what she would say.
“What?” She almost gasped. “No!”
The color seemed to drain from her face and then suddenly return. If I didn’t know better, I would say she was blushing under her ebony brown cheeks.
“All I’m saying is that…” She shook her head, growing increasingly agitated. “You know what? This ain’t my conversation so keep me out of it!”
That said, she snatched up her phone and placed it back in front of her face. Her pinched expression reminded me of the one someone made when they had bit into something sour. It was cute and, though I was tempted to fuck with her for a little longer, I let it go and tried to bite back my smile. Turning away from her, I focused back in on Kale who had a satisfied smirk on his lips, knowing he’d succeeded in stirring up some shit.
“Listen, we all gotta grow up some time, bruh. I’m tired of playing the same ole game I’ve been playing. How much longer you think I can put up with chicks like Brisha showing up, actin’ crazy and shit before Tamiyah ends up reading ’bout it in some blog?”
He ran a finger over his top lip and nodded slowly. “Yeah, you got a point. Don’t need my goddaughter finding out her daddy out here being a whole hoe in these Atlanta streets.”
“Fuck you, man.”
I snorted out a soft laugh and then glanced down at my phone. Sage hadn’t hit me back since the last message. I wasn’t sure if she was coming, but I definitely hoped that she was. I could never predict things like that with her because it could go either way. She wasn’t the clingy type, but we did talk often. We usually talked or texted through the night until she fell asleep. Obviously, she enjoyed my company, no matter how much she tried to pretend that I was just something to fill up the void spaces of time in her day.
“Did you tell Tami that you were coming here?” Kale asked all of a sudden.
I frowned. “Nah, why?”
He nudged his head at something behind me and I felt my chest tighten. I didn’t even want to look because I already had a feeling that I knew who would be there once I did.
“This is some bullshit.”
Once again, Tami was partying it up in the club like she didn’t have a child to watch over at home. Since I had to be out for work, I took off the entire day and spent it with Tamiyah because I wanted to be with her but also because I wanted to give Tami a break to do whatever she wanted before I had to leave out that night. Even after doing that, she still couldn’t stay her ass at home.
“She looks drunk as hell,” Indie said, shaking her head.
I was pissed off.
Tami was twerking up on one of her homegirls like she was the one getting paid for a show instead of the bottle girls standing around. A nigga came up behind her the second she turned around and started grinding up on her ass. Looking back at him, she smiled like she had sex for sale and began working up against him like he had flashed her his black card.
“Ink… hey.”
My brows shot to the sky at the sound of her voice. Pulling away from the sight of Tami shaking her ass like it was a pair of dice, I turned to the voice and my temper cooled somewhat the second I saw Sage’s beautiful face.
“Damn, you made it.”
She bent her brows low. “You aren’t happy to see me?”
“Of course, I am.” I ran my hand over my mouth and then cut a quick glance to Tami before bringing my focus back. “Just didn’t know for sure if you were coming or not.”
“It was a surprise.” She smiled wide. “After you said that you were pretending to have a good time, I’d already made up my mind. I was already close by and didn’t have anything else to do.”
She shrugged and I allowed my eyes to drop, taking in her swag. She had on a tight-fitting tee with a pair of little ass shorts that had me thinking all kind of nasty things. Her high heels matched her top as well as the bag she held at her side and, for a change, she had her long hair curled in ringlets, hanging down her back.
“Damn, you look... right,” I said, not wanting to come on too strong. Honestly, I wanted to say that she looked sexy as fuck.
She giggled. “I look right?” she repeated. “That’s new.” Turning towards Kale, she waved. He nodded and then leaned over to shake her hand.
“How’s that crazy ass friend of yours doing?”
Sage laughed and shook her head. “Lola is the same as always. You already know.”
From there, her eyes scrolled over to Indie who had her head bent and her eyes glued to her phone as if she were in her own world.
“Hi, Indie. It’s nice to see you again.”
She took her sweet time lifting her head. “Oh, hi... It’s Sage, right?”
I narrowed my eyes at her, wondering why she was acting like she didn’t know Sage’s name although we had just been talking about her.
“Yes, that’s right,” Sage said slowly, like she didn’t quite believe that Indie’s question was innocent.
“Why don’t you come up here and sit next to me.” I patted the space I was referring to.
As soon as I said it, I could feel Kale looking at me and I could’ve sworn I heard Indie suck her teeth. She was still focused on her phone, but her body language was saying it all.
“Nigga, is you crazy?” Kale mouthed but I waved him away. Tami couldn’t
say shit to me when she was on the other side of the club shaking everything her mama didn’t give her, but my bank account paid for her to get.
Sage slid into the booth right next to me, in a way that told all the chicks around staring that she was my woman. She even cut her eyes at Indie who, thankfully, didn’t catch it. I couldn’t blame her. She was probably reading her body language, which clearly said she wanted Sage anywhere but there.
The more I watched, I laughed a little to myself. In our conversations, Sage was always trying to play it like she wasn’t feeling a nigga as deeply as she was but every now and then, she couldn’t help but let it show. Especially now. She was posted up next to me with an expression on her face that said she was staking claim.
Her possessive ass.
It was funny to me, but if Tami caught her sitting there, she would start some trouble.
“Aye,” I said, leaning over to speak to Kale as Sage bobbed her head to the beat of the new jam the DJ was spinning. “I need you to do me a favor.”
“Yeah, I got you,” he replied. “What’s up?”
“Go over there and tell ole girl that you gon’ take her home. She’s drunk as hell and I don’t want her starting drama.”
Kale nodded and then looked over to Tami who was letting some nigga pour a shot in her mouth while others stood around watching. Cameras were flashing all around her. She was putting on a hell of a show.
Narrowing his eyes, Kale stood. The look on his face showed that he was as irritated as I was. We’d all grown up together and he had known her as long as I had. He thought of Tami as his little sister so I could see why he was feeling some kind of way about how she was acting. It didn’t look good and Tami had to be doing it on purpose. It was no coincidence that she was showing her ass in the same damn club where I was doing a paid appearance.
“Yeah it’s time for her to go,” he said. “She’s officially doing too damn much.”
Kale pushed by me like a damn linebacker, bolting past like he was ready to shake some shit up. Initially, I thought it would be better to send him because he would’ve been calmer than me, but now I wasn’t so sure. From where I stood, it looked like he wanted to choke the life out of Tami’s ass about as much as I wanted to.
“It’s time for me to go, too,” Indie announced, grabbing her bag.
She cut her eyes at Sage who was looking the opposite way, still dancing as she mouthed the words to the song. I felt like she was catching Indie’s negative vibe but was choosing to ignore it. Indie, on the other hand, was on some other shit.
“Wait… what?” I frowned. “Indie, it’s like that?”
Ignoring me, she snatched her sweater from behind her and pulled it on. This wasn’t the same Indie I knew. What was her problem? I slid over to her so I could speak without yelling over the music.
“Yo, I hope you don’t think I feel any kind of way ’bout what Kale was sayin’ earlier. I know it’s family between you and me. He was playing and it was a bad joke. We good, fam.” I held out my fist for dap and she frowned, glaring down at it. After a few quick seconds passed, her expression relaxed and she began to nod slowly.
“You know what? You’re right,” she said, returning my dap. “That’s exactly what we are… family. That’s what we will always be.”
Before I could respond, she stood up and darted away, leaving me wondering what the hell I’d said wrong. I rose to my feet, about to go after her, but stopped when Sage grabbed my hand.
“Do you know this song?” she asked, moving her body to the beat. “It’s really good! Reminds me of the one the D.J. was playing that night at the other club.”
“Yeah…” I replied and then turned back around. But that quickly, Indie was gone.
“It’s nice here. I’ve never been to this club before.” Sage snapped her fingers to the music and then signaled for the waitress. I took a seat and put all of my attention on her so that she could give me hers. She didn’t seem to be at all aware of the fact that my wife was in the same building and I wanted to keep it that way.
“You’re looking good as hell tonight,” I told her, licking my lips as I looked her up and down. “Good enough to eat.”
She rolled her eyes and smiled. “Don’t play me when you know you’re not ready.”
I frowned. “I never said I wasn’t ready. I only said that I wanted to take it slow. Do things right.”
“Exactly,” she replied, giving me a pointed look. “So in other words, you ain’t ready for me.”
“But I’m making moves to be.”
“Oh yeah? What moves have you been making to settle the issue of your wife?”
She put emphasis on the last word and cut her eyes behind me in the direction of where Tami was.
Ah shit. I didn’t have time for any more drama.
“Why would you have me come out here if she was here?”
“Listen, I can handle my—”
I stopped when I saw Sage’s facial expression change. She was still looking behind me but her eyes had widened and her lips parted, forming a circle of surprise.
“Oh my God... something is happening over there.”
I stood to get a better look, my ears picking up on raised voices. I heard Tami’s clear as day. It wasn’t like her to go off on Kale, but she was drunk so I couldn’t put it past her. But when I focused in on the source of the yelling, it wasn’t him that she was shouting at. He was there, standing not too far from her as she held an envelope in her hand and snaked her neck, jerking it back and forward while spouting a slew of four-letter words at a man standing in front of her who I hadn’t seen around her before. Once she was done giving him a piece of her mind, she pivoted around, and her blazing eyes met mine.
“How dare you!” she said. I couldn’t hear her, but I could read her lips clearly.
Before I knew what the hell was going on, she took off in a mad strut across the room, heading directly towards me. The crowd around her parted to allow her room and I stood to my feet, my composure calm and my expression blank, even though some ratchet shit was fast approaching.
“So, this is how you do me?” she yelled and tossed the envelope at me like a frisbee. It hit me square in the chest and the papers inside flew out, spraying all around the V.I.P. booth.
“The fuck?” I growled back, looking from the papers up to her. “Listen, you need to take yo’ drunk ass home.”
“You obviously don’t want me home because then you couldn’t publicly embarrass me!” She spat. “You planned this whole thing, huh? Had them send me the message on Instagram telling me to show up here for a paid appearance only so you could have me served with divorce papers?”
I narrowed my eyes at her, confused as hell. “What the hell are you talking ’bout, Tami? I ain’t have nobody ask you to be here or serve you with no papers. Are you crazy?”
Folding her arms across her chest, she cocked her head to the side.
“You really want to tell that lie when the papers from some lawyer are right there in your face?”
Still not completely grasping what she was talking about, I leaned over to grab the paper closest to me and my frown deepened when I read what was there.
“I don’t know who the hell sent this but…”
Brisha.
Only a fake ass wannabe attorney would send some fake-ass shit like this. Brisha was feeling some kind of way about me not wanting her but, being that she had been gone for a while now, I thought she was over that. Apparently, she wasn’t.
“Tami, I didn’t send you this shit so—”
“And who is this new bitch? Oh, this some real bullshit!” she said, leaning over to the side so that she could get a good look at Sage who was still sitting behind where I stood. “Don’t try to hide now! I see you, hoe! I guess this bitch is the reason you’re talking about divorcing me now? You’re trying to get legit to be with this green-eyed hoe? Well, guess what? Not happening! I’m not going nowhere! And even if I were, you already know who would be coming wit
h me.”
I began to get heated and my hands clenched into fists at my side. I hated when she brought my daughter into shit.
“Um… I’m not tryin’ to get in the middle of no drama,” I heard Sage saying, followed by some shuffling as she began to move. “So I’ll be on my way.”
“No, bitch! How ’bout you stay? Don’t act shy now. You obviously don’t have no problem fuckin’ a married man!”
The alcohol had her mad as hell. She was going in so hard on Sage that she wasn’t even focused on me anymore. Her drunk ass wanted to start a fight and Sage seemed like an easy and obvious target.
“And you don’t have any problem being a married woman in here shaking your ass for the next nigga, so what’s your point?”
Well, damn!
Sage was in rare form. I cut my eyes in her direction and I immediately saw the fire in her eyes. She wasn’t no chump and that was for sure. It was a nice surprise for me but I knew that Tami hadn’t expected it. Even so, it wasn’t a good look having my possible girlfriend fighting with my current wife so I had to step in.
“Tami, don’t start throwing around this wife shit. You know we ain’t like that. And you also know I wouldn’t serve you no divorce papers in public.”
She continued to glare at me but didn’t respond. Even drunk, she knew me well enough to know, for a fact, that what I was saying was true. That wasn’t like me but it was also dumb. Why the hell would I send somebody after her ass while she’s in the same damn club I was in?
“Aye, Kale, do me a favor and take her ass home, man.”
Tami cocked her head back and scowled at me. “I don’t need anybody to take me home!”
“You may not but I got you,” Kale said before walking up to Tami’s side. He whispered something in her ear and slid his arm around her waist in a way that showed how comfortable he was touching her. They looked more like a couple than she and I did.
“Let’s go,” he then said in an authoritative way that she didn’t argue with. He grabbed her by the arm to lead her away and she allowed him, although she made sure to keep her eyes lasered in on me.
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