Long As You Know Who You Belong To (13 page)

I rolled my eyes as I watched the screen of my iPhone
6 light up. This was the third message that I’d received from
Nakami in the last twenty seconds. I hit the ignore button and went
back to looking over the numbers from last night. By no means did I
think that my club would be anything less than popping, but it had
far exceeded my expectations. In the last couple months, South
Beach had hosted three fashion shows, forty celeb birthdays, twelve
after parties, and six album release parties. South Beach had
become the hot spot in LA, and I was bringing in so much money that
I had to come in on my days off to sort through it.

Hustling for Hero, although stressful as fuck, was
also lucrative. The amount of drugs I had floating around Cali, as
well as Arizona and Nevada, had my pockets overflowing. We’d taken
over the universities and the block, and we’d even busted up in the
corporate world. But I was still having the same damn problems with
Hero and his crazy ass daughter. I was at my wit’s end. The plan
was already in motion, but it was a slow burn and I was starting to
lose patience. I wanted them gone! The fact that Nakami had the
nerve to fucking threaten me like some hard-headed child made me
want to lay hands on her on her last night for real. She had no
clue how close she had come to being a victim on the First 48. She
was just lucky that the drive home was able to calm me down and
that she was knocked out when I got home. Because if she hadn’t
been, I would’ve been more than happy to rock her ass to sleep. My
annoyance with her started to resurface when I heard my phone going
off for the fourth time.

“If this bitch don’t fall back…,” I mumbled.

A light knock at the door attempted to further annoy
me. If this was Nakami, I swear before God…

“Hey, boss. I know you said no interruptions, but she
said it was urgent.” My club manager, Trickie, poked his head
through the door. I started to protest until he opened the door
wider and revealed that was Blu and not Nakami. Surprised, I stood
up to greet her.

“You good, bro. She can come in.”

Trickie nodded and stepped back, letting Blu through.
She smiled shyly and waited for Trickie to close the door.

“What’s up, Blu? Whatchu doing here?”

Blu and I were cool, but I wasn’t sure why she had
just popped up at my club. She was a dope little chick and much
more level headed than Nakami, but her and Kimani hadn’t been
fucking with each other for a few months. It’s not like I was
bothered by her presence; I was just curious.

“Hey, Grey,” she said as she nervously wrung her
hands.

Now I had never known Blu to be nervous. During the
many times that I’ve been around her, I had witnessed her be bold,
brash, unapologetic, and forward. So this timid and shy Blu had me
thrown for a loop.

“You want a drink or something?” I asked her.

“No, no. Uh, do you mind if we step outside, though?
I…I…” she started fanning herself and turning a little pale. I
didn’t know what was going on with her, but she looked like she
might pass out any second. So I rushed around my desk and walked
her out to the patio of the club. Blu inhaled deeply several times
before she turned to me with a weak smile.

“You good, ma?” I asked, genuinely concerned after
that little episode.

“Well… I’m pregnant.”

My breakfast came flying out of my mouth in liquid
form as soon as I got to my car. Never had I been so hurt that it
actually made me physically sick. But I guess hearing your best
friend tell your fiancé that she was pregnant would do that to you.
Fucking bitch! How could she do that to me? She knew how I felt
about Grey, and she just couldn’t help but shake her big ass all up
in my man’s face. I knew she was a gutter ass hoe, but I befriended
her anyway. In the past few years, I’d starting having a gnawing
feeling that she wasn’t feeling my booming business, my luxury
condo, and my fresh-off-the-showroom-floor whip, but I honestly
thought that putting her on and having her manage the strip club
would squash all that. Apparently her jealousy was more deep rooted
than I could imagine. 

I tried to push thoughts of her fucking my man into
the back of my head, but then I remembered; the warning about Grey,
her not wanting to commit to Kimani…the fucking Arbor Mist. THE
FUCKING ARBOR MIST! This bitch had been coming for my man the whole
time! But it wasn’t just my man that she wanted. She wanted my
life, and she was willing to do the grimiest shit she could think
of in order to plop her fat ass in my spot. She one upped me. She
was going to have my man’s baby before I could even attempt to get
pregnant. My best friend was having my fiancé’s baby.

Having that thought pass through my brain caused me
to gag. This time I was able to catch myself before the rest of the
contents of my stomach came spewing out, and I quickly hopped my
ass in my car. This was unacceptable. I could feel the wrath
brewing inside of me as I turned the key in the ignition and
skirted off. I didn’t know what the fuck I was going to do about
the situation. But whatever I decided on, these primary color named
mothafuckas were going to regret fucking over a chick like me.

“You are? That’s great, sis!” I grabbed Blu up in a
hug and spun her around. Thoughts of her about to pass out a few
minutes ago entered my mind and I quickly put her down.

“My bad, yo. But damn! I’m going to be an uncle.
That’s dope!” I was genuinely excited for her and my brother. But
the look on her face told me that she still hadn’t come to terms
with the situation.

“It
is
my brother’s baby, right?” I asked with
a little more anger in my voice than I had intended.

“Of course it is!” she shouted. “I just… I don’t
know…” she stuttered.

“You don’t know what, ma?”

“Kimani and I aren’t really speaking right now, and I
don’t know if he’ll be as excited about this baby as you are.”

“I understand you’re nervous about telling him. But
if that’s his kid, he has a right to know, Blu. Fuck all that
lovey dovey shit ya’ll been mad at each other about. Regardless of
whether or not you want to be in a relationship with him, Kimani
needs to know.” I grabbed Blu up around her shoulders and brought
her close to my body.

“I know my brother. And I know he’s hurt because he
really loves you. But he’s going to take care of his kid, no matter
what ya’ll are going through.”

Kimani and I were raised by a single mother who held
down jobs like a Jamaican to make ends meet. Our low-life daddy
only came around to hit and quit my mother on a semi-regular basis.
When that nigga was done busting one, he walked out the door
without even acknowledging our presence. He never claimed us,
touched us, hugged us, or provided for us.  As kids, we
couldn’t understand why. So I knew that Kimani would never leave
his own seed out there without a father if he was alive and able to
be there. That just wasn’t a part of his make-up.

“I hear you, Grey. I do. But I don’t know how to do
this. I love him. More than anything or anyone I’ve ever loved in
my life. But I just can’t give him what he wants.” Blu sniffed as
tears dropped like rain drops from her eyes.  “I’m going to
tell him, but I can’t face him yet.”

“Whatchu mean?”

“I’m going to go away for a little bit, just a few
weeks at most. I
need to get my head together, wrap my mind around the idea of
having a kid, and think about how I want to approach this for the
sake of our child.”

I let go of Blu and looked at her, confused.

“Go away? Man, what the hell is that going to do?
Ya’ll women, I swear.”

“It may not make sense to you, but it’s all that
makes sense to me. Please? I promise I won’t leave Kimani hanging
for long. I just need some time.”

I stayed silent for a moment. I never kept anything
from my brother, even though we weren’t as close as we once
were.  But looking at how distraught Blu was, I was willing to
allow her some time to pull it together…especially if it meant that
my brother would get another shot at the girl he was in love with.
I’m a thug with a heart…what can I say?

“Yeah, man. I won’t say shit. But you’ve got two
weeks. Kimani is already going to lose his head when he finds out
you dipped, but you can’t have me lying to my brother. Get your
thoughts together and bring your ass back here,” I warned.

Blu nodded her head, and I could only hope that she
was taking me seriously. I had eyes and ears everywhere that I
needed them.  If she violated, I would not hesitate to drag
her ass back to the city.

I currently had a plan. It was shaky at best, but it
would have to do because it was all that I had. In the end, I still
wanted Grey to be my husband. Fuck the bullshit, my hoe ass friend
and that bastard baby. I had never loved someone as completely as I
did Grey, and I wasn’t going to let that go just because my
so-called bestie didn’t know how to keep her vagina to herself. She
would pay dearly for her fuck-up. But first, Grey would need to
learn a lesson.

I pulled the rented Nissan Altima into Kimani’s
driveway and parked. I was relieved to see that he was home.
Quickly, I exited the car, dropped a few eye drops in my eyes, and
shook my head. I approached his front door and knocked. I took a
few deep breaths and shook the jitters out of my system. He opened
the door with a shocked look scribbled across his face.

“Nakami, what are you doing here?”

“I… I…I don’t know what to do!” The waterworks were
in full effect, as I grabbed him and cried on his shoulder.

I could feel his body tense up against mine, and I
smiled to myself. This was going to be fun.

“What’s wrong? What happened, ma?”

“He… I…,” I fake stuttered.

“Hey, hey. It’s ok.” Kimani pulled me into his house
and closed the door behind me. “C’mon.” He led me into the living
room of his beautiful home. The black Italian leather sofas, rich
mahogany wood fireplace, and cherry wood floors made the living
room look masculine and expensive. You could tell that he’d hired
an interior decorator by the style of the plush grey rug on the
floor, the patterned throw pillows, and the odds and ends that
littered his coffee table and bookcases.

I sat down on the couch and attempted to wipe the
tears away. He noticed and hopped up.

“I’ll get you some tissue. Hold up.” He jogged out of
the room and returned a few seconds later with some Kleenex. “You
want something to drink?” he asked.

I sniffled for effect, glad that he offered. “Yeah,
I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

He walked off to the open kitchen and roamed the
refrigerator. “All I have is milk, bottled water, and wine. Unless
you want something stronger than that.”

“After the day I’ve had, I’ll take something dark on
the rocks. You might want to make yourself one too. You’re going to
need it,” I said, hoping that he didn’t decline.

A few moments later, he returned with two glasses of
what smelled like Hennessy. I took one from him as he sat down next
to me. I observed him move, and I could understand the appeal. He
was prettier than I normally like my men, but there was no
mistaking his good looks. The tattoos that traveled from both his
arms to the base of his neck added a much needed edge, and his
sparkling green eyes looked like exotic oceans that any woman would
gladly take a dive in. Although I was purely here on a mission, I
smiled inwardly at the pleasure I was going to reap from the pain
that had been caused.

“So what’s going on, ma? Talk to me?” Kimani looked
at me over the rim of his glass.

“I don’t even know how to put this into words.” I
started the tears back up.

“C’mon, stop crying. Just tell me what’s going
on.”

“Blu’s pregnant,” I blurted.

Kimani’s already pale face turned damn near clear
once those words came out my mouth. Unsure of what to do with
himself, he lowered the glass to the coffee table, then raised it
back towards his lips, then finally placed it on the coffee table.
Abruptly, he stood up and walked away from the couch with a
confused looked painted on his face.

“I know you’re her girl, but what does that have to
do with you?”

“It’s Grey’s baby.”

The look on Kimani’s face almost made me want to cry
real tears. His face dropped down to the Maison Margiela shoes on
his feet, just as I imagined his heart did.

“What did you just say?” he muttered.

“Please, don’t make me say it again,” I clutched my
stomach, as if it pained me to speak on it.

Kimani bolted out of the room and up the large iron
staircase.

“Kimani!” I shouted.

I got no answer, so I took that time to initiate
phase two. I reached into the pocket of my light trench coat and
pulled out the bottle of prescription sleeping pills. Inside, I had
an already crushed pill that I dumped into Kimani’s drink. I used
my finger to stir the contents and quickly took my seat on the
couch after hearing Kimani come back down the stairs.

He was frustrated. “She’s not answering the phone,”
he huffed.

“Did you think that she would? Grey told me ya’ll
weren’t talking before you found out, so why would she answer now?”
I countered. 

“Does she know that you know?” 

“No.” 

Kimani paced in a small circle. “Man, what the fuck?”
Suddenly I could see the fire in his eyes and, before I could stop
him, Kimani grabbed his car keys off the coffee table and headed
towards the door.

I hopped up and ran behind him. “Where are you
going?” 

“To find Blu!” 

“She’s gone!” I screamed. Kimani stopped in his
tracks but kept his back to me. “I went by her house before I came
here. I sat in the car for a half hour trying to talk myself out of
killing her, and she came out with two suitcases and hopped in her
car.”