God Don't Like Haters 2

by Jordan Belcher

  "Wait. Her and Kirbie fought? Why am I just now hearing about this?"

  "They didn't fight. Me and Gee got between 'em before it got ugly."

  "How did it start?"

  I sighed. Women always wanted details.

  I talked Ashleigh into shaping up my hairline while she quizzed me further. She was pretty good with the clippers, I trusted her. And now she was concentrating more on making me look presentable than the near altercation last night. After she was finished, she put a mirror in front of my face so I could see her handiwork.

  I smiled, rubbing my shaved cheeks. She did good.

  "What if Monifa comes at me sideways like that and tries to fight me for no reason?" Ashleigh asked. "What are you gonna do?"

  "Same thing. I'ma hold her ass back."

  "You better not make me leave like you did Kirbie. Monifa better be the one to go, I know that."

  "Why does it matter?"

  "That'll be disrespectful if you make me leave over her, whether she's related to yo weed plug or not. She had no business being there. I can understand you doing that to Kirbie. But I'm not Kirbie. If you can't stand up for me as your woman, then you better stand up for me as your manager. If not, what am I doing here?"

  I hadn't really thought about how Kirbie felt about me kicking her out until now. Ashleigh had a point. The studio was our zone. That was where we made shit happen. I should have made Monifa leave. I guess I was too caught up in diffusing the situation that I didn't take into consideration Kirbie's feelings. But I loved Kirbie. She knew that, right? She knew why I sent her out.

  I decided I would text her as soon as Ashleigh got out of my face.

  ***

  I was riding in the passenger seat of Ashleigh's fuel-friendly Volvo SUV, on our way to pick up Gee, as I looked over my text to Kirbie. I was checking for errors and trying to read it from a different point of view to make sure it didn't sound insensitive.

  Coras Bane: I apologize if I disrespected you in any kind of way last night. Now that I think about it, I should have made Monifa leave and not you. I wasn't thinking right. You had my mind jumbled all up from the ... you know what (smile). I'll see you in a few. We're picking up Gee, then we'll come pick you up. I hope you're ready. Tonight is the big show!

  It had been a half hour since I sent it and I still hadn't gotten a response yet. She normally hit me back within five minutes or so. I was wondering if she misinterpreted the smile I inserted into the text as being facetious. Maybe I should have taken out that whole sentence.

  Then a reply finally came through.

  Her text back was ... shocking:

  Kirbie Amor: As far as last night, no harm no foul. I already forgot about it. And as far as the concert at the Sprint Center tonight, I'll pass. Me and Archie have plans.

  I wasn't sure if I had read it right.

  "What's wrong?" Ashleigh asked me. "Who just texted you?"

  I guess the bewilderment was written all over my face. "Kirbie," I said to her, as I read the text again. "She said she's not coming to the concert."

  "What?!"

  "I know. That's what I was thinking."

  "Call her now."

  I had already tapped the green-phone icon and was putting the cell up to my ear. She answered on the seventh ring. Anything after four was disrespectful to me.

  "Hello?" she said.

  "Kirbie, I just read your text. What's this about passing on the show? Did you send that text, or is yo boyfriend Archie playing on yo phone again?"

  "I sent it."

  She sounded irritated but I didn't care.

  "Explain that shit to me," I flared. "You can't cancel on a show like this at the last minute. What kind of shit are you on?"

  "I'm not going, Coras."

  "Is it because I kicked you out of the studio?"

  "No. I just gotta start focusing on what's important in my life."

  "Music's not important no more?"

  "It used to be."

  "When the fuck did it change?!"

  "Since I got engaged."

  I was shellshocked. My baby girl ... engaged? Kirbie was supposed to be my wife one day. This was one hellavuh bomb. I couldn't believe it.

  What the fuck was she tryna prove?

  In a fair and calm voice, I said, "Kirbie, I don't know what Archie did to convince you that singing isn't your future, but I'm here to remind you that it is. You're the hottest artist in Kansas City. And I would say hottest artist in the world but the world hasn't heard you yet. And if you stop now, they never will. I need you to—"

  Ashleigh cut me off. "Don't try to convince her to come. If she doesn’t wanna come, tell her to stay her ass at home." Ashleigh said it loud so Kirbie could hear on the other end.

  "See, that ho is one of the main reasons why I'm tired of that shit," Kirbie fussed to me. "She's a fake-ass manager that's been hating on me since I joined the team. And you've been letting her hate on me, Coras. So I'm not sure where you stand either."

  "I have been in your corner and supporting you from the jump. With my own money, with my own time."

  "If you want me to reimburse you for whatever money and time you spent on me, I will."

  "You know I ain't tripping off of that. I just don't want you to quit."

  "Stop begging that bitch!" Ashleigh hollered.

  I pushed my palm at Ashleigh and mouthed, Shut the hell up!

  Kirbie barked in my ear, "Did she just call me a bitch? Tell her to say that shit to me the next time she see me. I'll be the last bitch she ever sees."

  "Kirbie, just come do this show. If you still wanna quit after this, after seeing a packed house of over 19,000 people cheering for you, I'll respect yo wishes and leave you alone."

  "That fucking show is a joke, Coras! I'm only featured on like one song. I'm not your fucking hype man! Don't try to play me like you’ve been playing them other bitches. I'm not Monifa, and I damn sure ain't Ashleigh! I'm done with that music shit. I'm a hustler. That's what I was born to do."

  "So you're gonna sell pills the rest of your life?"

  "No, try cocaine. I'm moving up."

  "Kirbie, that's the stupidest—"

  She hung up on me. I couldn't remember the last time I've been this angry in my life. I wasn't as angry at Kirbie as I was at Archie for screwing up her head. Kirbie was the best thing to happen to Swope Records. I'd be damned if I just let her talent go to waste.

  "Did that bitch hang up on you?" Ashleigh asked.

  "Yep."

  "Forget her. She ain't been nothing but a problem to us since she signed on. I hope she knows there's no coming back this time. We're done with her, right?"

  "Nah, she signed a contract. She ain't going nowhere."

  "What?" Ashleigh was so surprised she almost lost control of the wheel. We had started to cross into the next lane, causing a car in our blind spot to honk at us. "You still wanna keep her?"

  "Make a left right here, Ashleigh. We're going to Kirbie's house first."

  "No!"

  "I said make a left!"

  "No!"

  We passed where we were supposed to turn. I pulled my gun out, a 9mm Walther PPX with a polymer grip. I cocked it back.

  "At this light coming up, make a goddamn left," I said calmly but with no less ego.

  Ashleigh started crying. "Are you gonna shoot me?"

  "Stop being silly."

  "Are you gonna shoot Archie?"

  "Not if I don't have to."

  "Why do you wanna do this, huh? Is it business or is it something else? Tell me the fucking truth, Coras!"

  "Kirbie is my artist, that's it. I'm protecting my investment."

  "Get another fucking investment!" Ashleigh hollered, and banged her hand on the steering wheel once. "As your manager, I have to do what's best for your career. And what's best is making sure you make it to the Sprint Center tonight. As your girlfriend, or side piece or wifey or whatever I am for right now, I won't let you throw your life away for an ungrateful bitch
that you clearly have feelings for. We're going to pick up Gee and then we're going to put on the best show this city has ever seen. And that's final!"

  I was looking down at my gun as I held it in my lap, finger curled around the trigger. I knew if I went to go pick up Kirbie right now I was going to commit a murder. I really wanted to kill that chubby muthafucka Archie, and that right there told me that now wasn't the time to confront him. I had to be smart. I had to be calculating. If I wanted Archie out of the picture, there was a smarter way of going about doing it. I just had to figure out what that way was.

  I took my finger off of the trigger, leaned back against the seat and sighed.

  Ashleigh was relieved. "Please don't scare me like that again," she said.

  A moment later my phone started ringing. I looked at the ID and saw it was from Milo Chavis. Monifa's brother. My OG Tahoe plug. I knew it had something to do with what happened between Kirbie and Monifa at the studio and I didn't want to hear about it right now. So I let the call go to voicemail. I'd postpone that talk until after the show. I didn't need any more distractions.

  "Was that Kirbie calling back?" Ashleigh asked.

  I didn't answer her. I just turned the radio on and zoned out as I practiced my lyrics to the songs I'd be performing later ... songs I’d have to perform without the love of my life.

  GabbyTV: There’s footage circulating on the internet that supposedly shows La’Renz “Buddy Rough” Taylor attacking a bouncer in front of a popular nightclub in New York City on West 25th Street. He proceeds to break the bouncer’s fingers and then waltzes inside the club as if he owned the place. It hasn’t been confirmed that La’Renz is the one in the video, but if it is, I’ll be the first to tell you that this man is asking to be killed. You heard it from me first.

  Chapter 8

  La'Renz "Buddy Rough" Taylor

  "Why did you rent a hotel directly across the street from Mount Eliyah ENT?" Sundi asked with laughter in her voice. She was standing at the window, looking down at the Manhattan streets. Then she closed the curtains and turned toward me. "Have you gone mad, my friend?"

  "Not mad," I replied, as I looked under the bed for the Swope Park Gritter Vol. 2 mixtape. "Just determined. Where the fuck is the fucking CD case at?! Goddamn!"

  I stood up and put my hands on my hips, frustrated. I turned my head left and right, looking around the room for where I put it. There was a pile of CDs on the floor I had searched through twice. I was starting to wonder if housekeeping found it and pocketed it. Maybe Eliyah knew I was staying in this hotel after all and he sent housekeeping (or a spy unrelated to this hotel) to retrieve what I had stolen from him. But why didn't they take all the CDs, and not just Kirbie's?

  I looked up at Sundi as she crossed the suite toward me. Did she contact Eliyah last night and alert him that I had a potential artist named Kirbie Amor that I was looking to sign? Is that why she didn't want me to come here in the middle of the night? So Eliyah would have time to send somebody in here and steal the mixtape?

  Sundi grabbed my face in both hands and shook me a little bit. "Pull it together, La'Renz," she said. "Where did you have it last?"

  "I know where I had it," I said. "I left the case on the dresser. I don't understand why it isn't still there."

  "I worked with you a long time, Mr. Taylor. You misplace things all the time. We just have to backtrack."

  "I misplaced things when I had a drug problem. I haven't used cocaine in years. I know where I left the fucking case!"

  "Baby, calm down."

  "Let me see your phone," I said to her.

  "Huh?"

  "Let me see your damn phone if you don't have anything to hide."

  She let my face go, searching my eyes for an explanation. "I don't know what you're excusing me of, and I don't think I wanna know." She reached in her purse and pulled her cell phone out, then grabbed my hand and forced me to take her phone. "There, it's yours, do what you want with it. I'm going to finish searching for that mixtape."

  She bumped my shoulder as she brushed past me and began searching the hotel dresser drawers behind me. With one hand still on my hip and the other holding her phone, I looked over my shoulder at her. There was a time, a long time ago, when I had suspicions that she'd been deceiving me. I thought she was sleeping with one of our artists, Yayo Love. This was before Eliyah stole him, before the tape leaked that revealed me and Sundi's affair. Bloggers had gotten ahold of a photo of Sundi sitting on Yayo Love's lap in a popular Miami nightclub. He was captured kissing her on the cheek and she was smiling at the camera. The popular blogs, mainly GabbyTV, spun the picture as a love connection, and over the course of a few weeks the story started to gain ground.

  I questioned Sundi about the rumors when we were having sex at Hotel d'Angleterre in Geneva, Switzerland. I had her bent over an enormous bed in our upscale suite, fucking her in her then 20-year-old pussy from behind. I didn't like what I was feeling. Her walls felt looser.

  "Is he a better lover than me?" I had asked her then, right in the middle of sex.

  She turned and looked at me with her brow creased in a fierce mask of sexual confusion. I was still pounding her as she stared and moaned.

  "Answer me," I said.

  "You asked me a question?"

  "Yes!" I thrust inside of her harder. "Is Yayo Love better than me? He must not be if you're still taking this dick!"

  Angry, she tried to break free from our sex position. But I managed to get a few more pumps in before she was able to twist her body and knock my hands off of her hips. She stood and smacked me across the face.

  "Don't you ever talk to me like that!" she yelled at me, pointing her finger in my face. "I am not a whore!"

  "You're not?"

  She tried to smack me again but I grabbed her wrist.

  "Let me go!"

  "Are you fucking Yayo Love or not?"

  "I won't dignify that question with a response."

  I squeezed her wrist harder and she winced. "Answer me!" I ordered. "Did you fuck him?"

  "No!" she screamed.

  I let her wrist go, and she pushed me. I wanted to punch her right in her pretty little mouth, like I had done Jazzmine once, and ruin her purple MAC lips that she'd probably swallowed Yayo Love's cum with, but I couldn't pull myself to swing on her. I didn't know if she could take a punch like Jazzmine could.

  "I'm not a whore, La'Renz. If I'm sleeping with you, then that means I'm only sleeping with you. I may be young, but I still have my dignity."

  "You can't have too much dignity," I replied. "I'm married and you're still fucking me."

  "Because I'm in love with you!"

  She stormed off, heading for the bathroom. I caught up with her and grabbed her arm and spun her naked body toward me.

  "What did you just say?"

  "I'm in love with you!" she cried, as tears poured down her cheeks. "I can't believe you, of all people, who knows those blogs are full of shit, are actually feeding into that crap about me and Yayo Love."

  "If you're in love with me, then what were yall doing in that club together, huh? You were on his lap, he was kissing you ..."

  "You assigned Yayo Love to me as an artist, La'Renz! Does the cocaine have you that gone?"

  "I wanted you to build his career, not his sex life."

  "Listen here, you arrogant son of a bitch. Yayo Love personally asked me to come to that club to celebrate his birthday with him."

  I scoffed. "He didn't ask me to come."

  "He doesn't like you and you know that."

  "Clearly he likes you."

  "He does. And when that guy asked to take a picture of us in VIP, Yayo pulled me onto his lap and kissed me right before the snapshot was taken because he was drunk. I smiled even though I felt uncomfortable as hell. But I never slept with him." She was trying to stare me down, but her eyes were so full of tears she couldn't stop blinking. "I thought you would be glad that the media suspected me and Yayo of being involved."

  "W
hy the hell would you think that?"

  "La'Renz, if they think I'm seeing him, then they won't see what's really going on between me and you."

  Because of my pride, I still threw her out of my suite that day. I actually pushed her in the back of the head on her way out of the room and slammed the door before she could get her lick back. We didn't have sex again until after she did an online video interview for GabbyTV that finally put the rumors to rest. She did the interview of her own volition. She denied ever being romantically involved with the rapper Yayo Love. "He's just an artist I represent as his A&R and we were having fun," she said. "I'm actually in love with someone who I wish not to name."

  And now, seven years later, my doubts about Sundi Ashworth's loyalty were starting to surface again. As the image of her and Eliyah's snuggly Site pic danced in my mind, I felt like I'd been stupid to believe Sundi was on my side. Eliyah slept with my wife for God's sake, so it was only fitting that he bed my mistress too.

  I unlocked Sundi's phone with the swipe of my thumb, as I heard her behind me searching the room for a mixtape that was probably already in Eliyah's hands. I scrolled through her call log to see if she had made a call to anyone last night, particularly Eliyah Golomb. There were none. No incoming and no outgoing, at least not within the hours we'd been at her place. But that didn't mean a thing. With today's technology, she could have sent an e-mail or made a video call or tipped him off through an inbox on The Site. There were myriads of ways to communicate nowadays.

  "I found it!"

  I turned around and saw Sundi holding up the CD.

  "Where was it?" I asked.

  She pointed to my laptop bag. "It was stuffed in the side pocket, you idiot."

  Now I was really feeling stupid. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

  She sauntered up to me, wagging the CD in the air. She was throwing her hips forward as she approached, a walk that used to be sexy by stage performers in the 1960s. I laughed.