by Nako
“Babyyyyyy,” he was filled with joy.
She felt the love and celebration oozing from his pores.
“Thank you so much,” he exclaimed.
She closed her eyes, as they hugged. Carmen believed in her heart that she was doing the right thing.
Love won.
Twenty-Two
Trust me at the top, it isn’t lonely - Drake
Nia asked P, “Did you leave something here? Did Mahogany leave something?” He never came to her house if it wasn’t for a social gathering or event. Nia was confused when the security at the gate told her a Mr. Porter Bavay was asking for permission to enter the estate.
“Nah, I’m here to see East. I told him I was going to stop by this week if I had time.” His hands were stuffed into his trousers. He was tired as hell so he wouldn’t be here long.
“Ohhhh okay,” she said slowly as she closed the door and locked it behind him.
East ran down the steps and came into the foyer.
“What up bra?”
They dapped each other up and Nia motioned her hands between the two, “When did this happen?”
She was out of the loop.
East shook his head, “Gone on.”
He rarely had company.
“P, can I get you anything?”
He shook his head, “No, thank you. I’m good. I got dinner at the house waiting on me.”
Nia ambled away and East told Porter to follow him into his man cave which was quite impressive.
“This is nice as shit,” P said.
East sat down, “What’s been up with you?”
When you spent the majority of your time at home…shit like a man cave wasn’t anything to brag on.
“Work and more work. How is everything going with Nas?”
The word spread all over social media and because he was still well-respected, people were praying and expressing their sympathy.
“He’s going to be alright.”
P was happy to hear that.
“I’m not gon’ hold you…but I came up with an idea,” P remained near the wall.
East looked up at him, “What?” he had no idea what he could possibly be talking about.
“What if you come on the road with us? We’re revamping Neezy’s entire team. He wants some real niggas around him…and I know you did that favor for me a while back…”
Nia asked her husband, “Did P call you?”
He looked at her with a crazed look on his face. He was rolling a blunt when she walked into their bedroom.
“Call me for what?” he didn’t talk to none of them lame ass niggas.
“He asked me for your number, I don’t know.”
He’d told her about that several times.
“Let me guess, you gave it to him without asking me?” he already knew the answer.
“What’s the big deal? He’s like a brother to me.”
She didn’t get him sometimes.
She really didn’t.
His phone rung and it was a number that he didn’t recognize.
“This your brother right here,” he was being sarcastic.
East clicked, “answer” on the screen.
“YO.”
He couldn’t have sounded any more uninterested than he did. Nia rolled her eyes and continued into the bathroom to undress and shower.
“What up, this is Porter…Bavay. I know you know me—"
He wasn’t trying to sound cocky however it made East chuckle.
“Sure, I do.”
“How you doing?”
East didn’t need the pleasantries.
“What up?” he wasn’t beating around the bush.
“Yeah…okay. I don’t know if you knew Money. He got shot a minute ago and his lil’ brother got sent to Rikers… I wanted to see if you could put a word in for me.”
When it came to people that he cared about, Porter would go above and beyond to ensure their safety.
“Who would I put the word in with?” East was fuckin’ with him.
“Your people.”
Porter wasn’t no pussy ass nigga. East knew who the hell he was talking about.
“I knew Money. I’ll let my brother know to keep a look out for him.”
P sighed, “Good looking.”
East processed the offer for like three minutes before he asked him, “What would I be doing?”
He’d traveled the world already. A few times actually.
“Road manager would be your title. It won’t take you long to catch on…and I know you got a good ear for music, so we’ll be doing sessions in every city. I just think that this would be kind of cool,” Porter seemed ecstatic.
“Like Ty-Ty and Jay!” he added, excitedly.
“Yo, you corny as fuck dawg,” he held his stomach as he chuckled loudly.
P laughed too.
“Shit, nigga say yes. Let’s hit the road!”
East liked the sound of doing something new. He needed it.
“I’m in.”
P walked over to him and dapped him up, “I’ll get your email and get the paperwork processed. Neezy is going to be happy you said yes. When I dropped your name on the table, he was like hell yeah!”
The lil’ nigga had some bars; East wouldn’t deny that.
He walked Porter to the door.
Soon as he turned around, he spotted his brown skinned thing at the top of the stairwell.
“What you doing nosey?” he smiled at her.
She wasn’t stunting what he was saying. Everything about him was her concern. The main one at that. Nia was curious as to when did her man and P became so buddy-buddy. She’d been out of the loop, apparently.
“What was that all about?” she wanted to know.
He told her, cockily, “A job offer. I’ll be going on the road with one of his artists.”
Nia was delighted.
She had to mask her happiness.
“Really? You told him yes?” she was going to act like she was mad about it when really it was the best news she’d heard all week.
“Yeah, I think it’ll be good for me. Get me out this house.”
She wanted to back flip over the stairs and sing God’s praises but instead, she nodded her head.
“Certainly.”
She questioned, “When do you leave?”
Nia was going to miss him but knew that he really needed this.
East’s depression had a lot to do with lack of productivity.
“Soon.”
η
It wasn’t even his niece that had an attitude with him. It was her ghetto ass momma and that’s what ticked him off. He was done biting his tongue. Today, she was going to see the real him.
“Yo, if you don’t get your crusty lip ass out my face. I’m going to forget my morals and slap the fuck out of you.”
Carmen’s eyes got big.
“Babe,” she put her fork down and began to rub his arm.
That did nothing for him.
He jolted to his feet, “The disrespect has been at an all-time high since I got out of prison and shit, before then. I’m done with your shade. I’m not my brother. You’re going to respect me.” he let her know straight up.
Lira stood up as well and told her uncle, “Please, not today.”
It was her big day.
She’d finally graduated. The journey wasn’t an easy one, yet she made it happen.
Lira crossed the stage for her daddy. No one else.
She looked at her mom and said, “I don’t even know how to drive so why would you ask him why didn’t he get me a car?”
Lira loved her mother like no other but sometimes she could do too much.
She was embarrassed in front of her friends, uncle and his famous ass girlfriend.
Tesha rolled her eyes, “Don’t let him leave you out of nothing,” she’d been drilling that into her head ever since her Uncle started blowing up.
“Why would I do that?” Neezy shook his head. The trick was de
lusional. He would never turn his back on family.
He literally hated everything about this hoe.
“Babe, okay let’s go,” Carmen decided that she’d had enough of this.
“Lira, congrats baby. I hope you like the gifts we got you. Don’t forget our spa date tomorrow,” she reminded her.
Tesha chimed in once again, “See what I mean. I’m the mama y’all didn’t think I needed a damn massage and facial? Who y’all think made sure her ass went to school every day?”
It was Lira’s turn to look at her mama like she was crazy.
“Not you!”
Her mama was crazy.
“Wowwwwwww, how quickly do we forget.”
Tesha added, “Tsk, Tsk.”
Her daughter must’ve had amnesia.
“Carm, let’s go.”
He told Lira, “Do you have enough money on your card to pay for everyone’s food?”
Carmen said, “We can pay the tab at the bar.” She knew that would be best.
Lira was grateful.
“I appreciate y’all coming and celebrating with me…thanks for everything.”
Support was what’d gotten her thus far. Her uncle stayed on her ass and he never let up. It used to get on her nerves but today, she finally saw that it was worth it.
Tesha even hated the little fake voice her daughter used when she was around her uncle and his wanna be boujie girlfriend. The hoe didn’t even look like Neezy’s type. Truth be told, she always had a lil’ crush on Money’s brother, which was why she often gave him a hard time.
She was also mad jealous of her only child. Lira had the brains and the beauty. Tesha just had good looks and they hadn’t gotten her too far. Money was the best thing that ever happened to her. She’d hit the jackpot when she trapped his ass.
“I appreciate y’all coming and celebrating with me, wah, wah, wah,” she mocked her.
Neezy had to keep walking because if not Tesha’s teeth would be on the floor.
She was a sorry, pitiful excuse for a mother.
In the car, he apologized for his outburst and his lady told him, “Now I see what you mean,” she didn’t blame him at all.
“Money loved Lira, you know that was seed he ain’t have no choice but to put up with her shit but I’m not my brother.”
“I don’t get why you still fuck with her,” he shook his head, loathing.
He knew that his brother was too young to understand.
“She’s the mother of my child. What do you want me to do? Kill the bitch?” he chuckled.
Actually, Neezy didn’t think that was a bad idea and the look on his face told him that.
“Yo, you crazy. Who raised you? Who are your peoples?” he teased him.
Neezy told his big brother, “If I ever have kids I want them by one woman and we gon’ live together and be a big happy family. No hood hoes for me and definitely not baby mama drama,” he was shook.
Money nodded his head, “That’s what any nigga wants but shit happens.”
He couldn’t turn his back on his seed. Money made the ultimate sacrifice by dealing with Tesha off the strength of him wanting to be in his daughter’s life forever. He would never let another nigga be able to say that they fed Lira. Over his dead damn body.
“I’m a man and I take care of what’s mine. Unfortunately, until Tesha gets on her feet that includes her ass too.”
It is what it is…
He also had loot and a lot of it. So, what did he look like being fly as hell and his daughter popping but his baby momma looking dusty? That’s not how Money rocked. She lucked up. Period.
“I don’t see how you do it,” Neezy mumbled under his breath.
“Don’t see, know it’s strictly for my baby girl.”
She said, “Well, she’s technically grown now. Bye, bye baby momma.”
And boy, was he relieved. His brother was a stand-up guy. They didn’t make niggas like Money no more. He was truly the last of a dying breed.
He dropped Carmen off and went to check on his mom dukes. The plan that she’d set in stone made him optimistic. He had to make his brother proud and he knew that the money or the fame wouldn’t do it. Him seeing about his mother and making sure she was in good hands was what would satisfy his ancestor.
Neezy grabbed the fresh roses from the passenger seat and hopped out the car. His mommy loved flowers. She used to try to keep a garden but never really knew what she was doing. Last night, Carm was showing him the Pinterest board that she created for their home and when he saw the rose garden he shared with her that his mom used to love planting flowers.
Carmen told him that she had a green thumb. That was something she had to look forward to once she came to live with them. Her and Neezy’s mom could bond in the garden. He also told her that she always wanted a daughter and she really believed that God truly did everything for a reason. She was looking forward to seeing His promises be brought to fruition. Carmen had been screaming crazy faith from the top of her lungs ever since she listened to Transformation’s podcast. One thing she loved about her group chat was they didn’t send memes and gossip all day, which was cool but for the most part their messages consisted of lifting each other up. At any time, she could click the group chat and be fulfilled with daily affirmations, articles on finance, cooking recipes, and podcasts to listen to.
She’d texted him and told him that Kniko had just got there and that she loved him.
Neezy sent her a blue heart emoji back before dropping his phone into his pocket. The next two hours would be spent catching up with his main lady.
He spoke to the woman at the front desk while checking in and then walked down the hallway to her bedroom.
She spotted him instantly and smiled.
“Nehemiah, did you wash those dishes?”
It’d been a while since she recognized him. Despite him almost cracking his brother’s baby mama neck, today was going to be a good day.
Neezy spoke with pride, “Yep, shol' did. I got you some roses, too.”
Her face lit up, “My favorite!” she told him as she got up to hug him.
She then kissed his cheek and then rubbed the side of his face.
“You look just like your father.”
She rarely mentioned the man so that came as a surprise.
“Oh yeah, where he at?”
His mom used a voice that he hadn’t heard in a long time, “Shiddd, hell if I know.”
He erupted into laughter. This was his Queen. This was the side of her that he remembered the most.
Neezy cleaned her room because the nursing home didn’t do that good of a job. He kept a basket of cleaning supplies in the back of her closet, where they couldn’t find them. He mopped, swept and made the bed. He then scrubbed her toilet, sink and shower.
“Ma, where the trash can at?”
She pointed to a corner. She was big chilling today. Eating her caramel popcorn, smoking a cig and drinking a diet coke…mommy was good.
He put the stories on for her and even had some jazz playing lowly on his phone. Every so often he would hear her hum and snap her fingers.
“Boy, you don’t know nothing about this right here!” she was feeling grand.
After he was done, they had lunch in the cafeteria. She barely ate and so did he.
“You know what I got a taste for?” he pressed her with a lazy smile on his face.
She moved her plastic fork around the Styrofoam plate.
“What?”
“Some peach cobbler and ice cream,” he rubbed his stomach dramatically.
His mama’s favorite dessert was cobbler. Any kind.
“I haven’t had a good cobbler in a long time,” she shared with him.
This was the longest she’d stayed with him and didn’t go back into la la land.
“Let’s go then lil’ lady,” Neezy rushed to help her out of her seat.
“I have to put my red lipstick on, I don’t know who I’ll see,” she panicked.
&nb
sp; He told her, “Okay, okay. Let’s go get it.”
His mommy was so prissy.
They rode with the windows down and the sunroof open.
He found a pair of Carmen’s shades in the compartment drawer and handed them to his momma.
She felt like a diva being chauffeured around the city. Although, she didn’t know what kind of car her son had, it was shol’ plush.
She was happy and he was too.
They ended up being all over the town in less than two hours. When he pulled into the parking lot of the facility, she was in the back seat, knocked out.
Because he was feeling so good today, he decided to make another stop and get a reading once he made sure she was checked back in. It had been years since he’d had one. Many, many years. As he headed to the place where he mainly got the readings done… he couldn’t help but to reflect on one of the last conversations he’d had with his big brother.
Neezy sped out of the suburbs and headed towards the hood, where no matter the weather or his mood, everything would be all good.
He pulled up to the curb and his brother hopped in.
“Lafiya,” he greeted him in an African language that he sometimes used when talking to his people.
“How it go?”
He didn’t even say nothing, he shook his head and turned the music up as loud as it could go.
Twenty minutes into the drive, he remembered something.
“Guess who I saw today?”
His brother was texting so all he said was, “Who?”
“That nigga, P! Styling and profiling.”
“Young God, how is he?”
One thing about them was that they weren’t no haters. The brothers believed in the advancement of all mankind.
“Good, I couldn’t help but tell him I was proud.”
“He made it out, bra…that can be you,” his brother encouraged him.
He sighed, “Yeah I know.”
Not only had his moms been on him to figure something out but lately, his brother had been too.
For what reason? He didn’t know.
Neezy had interests, hobbies and he was passionate about a few things. Truth be told, he was a well-rounded nigga. A Renaissance man if you wanted to give him the title.
However, when it came to the streets…he could do it with his eyes closed.
It was like…the hustle was embedded deep into his cognac colored skin.