S2

- Chapter 24 -
Rather Be Ya N*gga

I look at the perfectly decorated room of an event space in a Greenwich Village restaurant in satisfaction. I had been working hard for my Shoedazzle collaboration launch and the day was finally here. It doesn't matter if it's not my personal business and just a collab, I'm still very hands on with it. That's why I showed up to the venue early so I can help with the last touches. This was my last partnership of the 2017 year, so I had to make sure it's perfect.

"Can you stop helping and get ready. People will be arriving soon," my new assistant says coming up to me. After having to fire Courtney for letting those guys get into my Love, Garnet office and destroy it, I had to keep hiring temps. It was honestly not a big deal for me to have to answer my own calls and emails anyway, but having someone to help is a plus. I finally found someone who I feel like will get the job done and we get along so it works.

"I'm done, I'm done. All I have to do is change shoes," I say looking down at my feet that have Versace slippers on them. "Make sure they have the guest list at the door. I'll be back," I say scooting across the floor in my slippers quickly rushing towards the back. Once I get to the back room I sit down on the couch then take off my slippers and put on a pair of Tom Ford heels. I stand up putting on my jacket over my sweater dress then go over to the vanity mirror. I fix my hair pushing it over my shoulders then check my makeup. As I'm reapplying my lip-gloss my phone begins to ring, so I answer. "Hello?" I say holding it between my ear and shoulder still trying to gloss my lips.

"I'm here. Outside," the male voice says. I knew it was Jacobi from his voice without looking at the caller I.D. I pull my phone away from my ear to check the time. I was thinking he was early, but he's right on time.

"Okay, I'm coming to the door to come get you," I say before hanging up.

Honestly, me and Jacobi have been good lately. All I needed to do was stop spending so much time with Draco for that to happen. Basically, me thinking about breaking up with him brought us closer. After Draco's photo-shoot I haven't really seen him. I didn't even show up the next day for his shoot with Rihanna and A$AP Rocky even though I made it happen. I can't be at everything regarding Draco and his business. He has to be able to handle things without me. I'm doing my job by setting up all these opportunities and it's his job to make sure he builds a business relationship with these people. I can't baby him all the way through this.

Plus, I have my own things to worry about. Yes, he paid me for my time but I still have my own businesses. I'm preparing to launch new collections for my clothing line and swimsuit line, I have obligations for my charity, and I have to make sure everything for my Love, Garnet clients are done. I'm the busiest during the end of the year and the beginning of the year. The time is ticking for me and my employees to wrap everything for 2017 which ends in a week. We go on vacation for the first two weeks of the new year in January then we come back to work starting all over with new clients. I also have to prepare to have Christmas at my house and meeting my new brother for the first time.

I have a lot on my plate and I only have time to eat my own food, not Draco's too considering I cooked the shit. And honestly, how I see it, Draco is only worried about his plate. He's eating good and not caring about if anybody else is starving. Why can't I? His plate is full from his record label, the clothing lines, and his illegal activities. He doesn't need me added to it.

I invited Draco to this event weeks ago, but hopefully he's too busy with his upcoming fashion show or he forgot and doesn't come. I'm constantly going back and forth with Draco, but I'm really done this time. I have to be realistic with myself and this situation. Draco is not a realistic choice.

I walk outside seeing the security is all in place for anybody trying to get in that's not on the guest list. When I see Jacobi standing outside wearing a navy suit looking oh so fine I motion him over. "He's my guest," I say to the security so they can move from blocking the way of the entrance. When he comes over to me I hug and kiss him. "You look good," I say smoothing my hand over the shawl lapel of his suit jacket.

"Thank you. You always look good," he says kissing the temple of my head as we walk in.

➖

The event is in full motion as more people have arrived making the room busy and loud. I walk away from the group of people I'm talking to passing by the table that has all the shoes I created with Shoedazzle on display. I was trying to make my rounds talking to everyone when my assistant comes up to me. "Ms. Garnet, a woman is looking for you. She wants to speak with you."

"Who?" I ask.

"Her name's Jordan. I believe she's realtor or you've spoken to her on the phone and through emails about houses."

"Oh, yeah, Jordy. Where is she?" I ask looking around the busy room.

"The restaurants balcony." I nod my head then walk away from her. I move through the room not letting anyone stop me even if they wanted to talk. I go through the slide doors out to the balcony being hit by cold air because the temperatures dropped once the dun went down. When I step outside I see Jordan standing there waiting...

"Hey, Jordan. I didn't even know you were here. You look cute. Thanks for coming," I say as we hug.

"No problem. I happened to be in New York, so I decided to show my place. Plus, I wanted to talk to you about this house search." I nod my head. I reached out to Jordy to be my realtor to help me search for my first house. It's about that time I stop living in a penthouse paying expensive ass rent and own my place of residence. "Can we go inside? It's a little cold and I can't afford to get sick. I thought I wanted to talk out here because it's more quiet, but never mind," Jordan says as the wind blows. I agree so we go inside.

As soon as we step inside I grab a drink from the table where they have champagne glasses. "You want one?" I ask her.

"No, no thanks. I'm not drinking."

"Oh, you drove here?" I comment.

"No, just not drinking," she says but I decide to shrug it off. It's not my business and I wasn't going to jump to conclusions.

"So, have you found any houses since the last time we talked?"

"I might have found a few in the New Jersey area like you asked. I think we just need to have a sit down meeting to talk further about what you exactly want. Maybe we'll have more time to sit down and talk specifics. I'm moving to New York soon."

"Really? What made you decide to make the move? Being closer to Ares?" I ask taking a sip from the champagne glass.

"No, we actually broke-up recently." I nearly choked on the drink going down my throat. I felt bad for even bringing it up. It makes conversation very awkward to bring up something sensitive like that on accident.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't even know. Everything is okay, right? You two ended on good terms?"

"Eh, I guess so. I'm just moving to New York because Ares is being stubborn and won't move to California." I furrow my brows. Didn't she just say they broke-up? So why is she moving to be closer to him? "I just want to make sure he's there for all of the doctors appointments. That's it. At least he's finally moving out of his grandmother's apartment. I can't believe I got pregnant by him just for us to end up breaking up," she says sighing as I bug my eyes.

"You're pregnant?" She nods her head as I swallow the rest of the champagne in my glass. All I could picture was Ares and Cordelia smiling all in each other's face at the photoshoot. This made me want to talk to my sister ten times more to make sure she's not messing around with Ares. The list was getting longer of why Cordelia needs to stay away from him. A baby on the way? I'm sure she doesn't want to be a step-mom at 18 or deal with baby mama drama.

I do a fake smile adding, "Well, congratulations! Regardless of if you and Ares are together or not, a baby is a blessing. Plus, I'm sure you two will work it out and be back together before the baby even comes."

"I don't even know if I want to be with him anymore. I lowered my standards to be with him honestly. He was always cheating, using me for money, he doesn't have an actual job, and he lives with his damn grandmother. He's a grown boy. Legally he's an adult, but he still acts like a child. It's all of his brother's fault. They baby him and treat him like a little kid. I'm starting to think he had all the money he did because they gave it to him. Here's some advice...Don't date guys younger than you or who make less money than you. Make sure they're on your level."

"Damn," is all I say while shaking my head. I look across the room at Jacobi who's talking to some men he befriended.

"Anyway, I'm going to get going. I just wanted to come and show support. Call me whenever you're free and ready to schedule your first meeting about house shopping." There's so mucn going on with not only myself, but everyone, that it's hard to keep up...

I sit in the backseat of an Uber as it travels through Greenwich Village towards my location. I didn't plan on going to this event Desdemona invited me to weeks ago, but I decided to go at the last minute. She's always supporting me, so I should do the same even though it's women's shoes. I haven't really seen her since my photoshoot. I know she's busy with her own thing and that's what she told me, but she's been acting weird if you ask me. We went from seeing and talking to each other damn near everyday after we got back from California to her acting distant again.

"We're here," the Uber driver says making me realize we're stopped. I thank him then get out of the car shutting the door behind me. The event started an hour ago, but I have a bad habit of never being on time to things. Shit don't get swingin' until an hour in anyway. Plus, this was one of those boring events where you just talk, drink, and eat snacks. I'm only coming to see Desdemona and then I'm going to leave.

I tell the security my name then he checks the guest list. When he finds my name he lets me in then I go inside. There's music playing and like I expected it's a bunch of women. When I see Desdemona's assistant I stop her. "Hey, where's Desdemona?" She points in the right direction, so I make my way through all of the people. Desdemona is sitting on an ottoman with her back turned towards me. Almost like she could feel me approaching her, she turns around smiling...

I couldn't tell if she was happy to see me or if this was her look happy at all times in public smile. Her smile soon fades then I hear a male voice from behind me say, "They didn't have any vodka left, so I got you gin. I hope that's okay." I'm brushed passed and that's when I realize it's Jacobi bringing her a drink. I glare at Desdemona as she takes it.

"That's fine," she mumbles. "Hey, Draco. I didn't think you were going to come," she says standing up.

"I bet," I say looking from her to Jacobi.

"What's up, bro," Jacobi says holding his hand up for a dap with a big ass fake kool-aid smile. I ignore his awaiting hand like he did to me in the past. I just give him a head nod.

"Germs, my nigga."

"You scared of a little germs? I thought you were s grimy, filthy nigga from the projects. My bad for assuming."

"Don't lie. You know you don't think. I am, but my mother also taught me about germs and cleanliness. I don't touch niggas unless I have to. Unless they need to be touched," I say folding my hands. "Test your luck and it might be you who I get my hands dirty with."

"Okay, fellas," Desdemona says laughing nervously. "Let's just all be nice and get along."

"I'm just trying to figure out why he's here," Jacobi says drinking out of his cup.

"I was invited by ya 'girl'," I say looking at Desdemona. That terms could be used loosely, She looked like she was pleading with her eyes for me not to tell Jacobi the truth. If I was petty I would, but I didn't feel like killing a nigga tonight because he's gonna wanna fight me. If we fight I might kill his ass the way my temper works.

"Well, I guess that was nice that she invited you. Always being friendly to those less than you," he says putting his hand on Desdemona's waist.

I just laugh at his silly, insecure ass. But I guess he has reason to be insecure when he has nothing going for himself. Desdemona got him feeling like he's somebody when he's really a nobody. "I need to talk to you, Desdemona," I say ignoring him.

"Now?" She asks. I just nod my head. She turns to Jacobi saying, "I'm going to to talk to him." He moves his hand off of her waist then she comes with me to the empty balcony of the restaurant.

"Last time I talked to you, you said you were going to break up with that clown," I say as soon as she closes the door behind her.

"I can't. I won't," she says rubbing her arm as I look at her sideways.

"Wow!"

"I made a mistake with you. I was drinking that night in California in your hotel room. We crossed the line, but at least we didn't go too far by having sex. I'm not going to break up with Jacobi."

I laugh because I honestly can't believe this. "You and his goofy ass deserve each other. Y'all can be two goofy, lame mutha fucka's together."

"Draco, you don't have to insult me," she says calmly after sighing.

"I do because you say one thing then do the other. You don't know what the fuck you want. You like playin' with mutha fuckas cause you think you can."

"No, I don't. Why should I breakup with my boyfriend? You've never expressed real, genuine feelings for me. You've never told me what this is we're even doing. You just wanna fuck. I'm not breaking up with him because we find each other attractive and have a little fun."

"You think I'ma ask you to breakup with your nigga just to fuck? I can do that and you still keep ya boyfriend. I'm a good ass side nigga if I wanna to be, but I don't. I thought it was obvious it was more than the physical, but maybe I'm wrong."

"We need to be realistic, Draco. We would never work. We have two different lifestyles. I'm a public figure in the industry. I'm the daughter of a billionaire who's going to inherit a lot of money and a big company. I myself am a multimillionaire business owner who's supposed to be the next Oprah or something. I'm 32, about to be 33 ready to get married and have kids. You're 23 and just a kid. I don't have time to waste on a dead end fling."

"So what am I? The son of a dead, drug dealer and crackhead who comes from a family of criminals? A nigga from the hood who only made it out of the projects from selling drugs and scamming?" She just shrugs making me furrow my eyebrows. "Maybe you're 32 and unmarried for a fucking reason. Maybe it's you. Maybe your problem is that you don't know how to communicate and you rather ignore somebody like you're 15. If you really think you're going to get what you're looking for in Jacobi, you gotta be stupid as hell. Yo dumb ass can't see he's using you for a come up?"

"He's not using me. Just like I helped you get where you're at, I'm helping him. Why are acting upset like you really want to be with me? You don't. You want to use me just like you used your ex and Ares with Jordan. You want me to believe you can be everything I need right now when you can't even be what you need for yourself? You don't even know yourself. You can't even focus on your main goals because you're still out there in the streets!"

"Nah, you not gonna keep making me feel like I'm not good enough. So what I sell a little drugs? You gotta whole STD that I gotta accept."

"Fuck you!" She says loudly pushing me in the chest. "A little drugs?" She says lowering her voice. "You think I'm stupid? You act like you're selling a little weed or something. You're from a whole crime family, a drug cartel. Generations of doing it. I did my research. There's no telling what you're into. I've been trying to give you the benefit of the doubt-"

I cut her off. "Here you go. We're not even talking about that right now. We're talking about you trying to make me seem like some bum ass nigga who has nothing going for himself except selling drugs. Last time I checked, Jacobi is way off worse than me. You a whole suga mama to this nigga. So no, fuck you!" I say harshly before walking off. I don't have time to be arguing with her. If she wants to stay with him that's fine on me.

As I walk through the event I order an Uber on my phone. I didn't need to be dealing with this bullshit with Desdemona anyway. I have bigger things to deal with now that Mr. Ambani is back in town. That night he pulled up on me, I didn't know what was going to happen. I thought he was going to kill my ass, but we just talked. We talked and he made a request that was weighing heavy on my mind...

It only takes a few minutes for an Uber to arrive then I leave.

➖

The uber pulls over and I get out. Instead of going to my apartment building I walk down the block going into Diamonté's building. When I get up to her floor I knock on her apartment door knowing she's home from texting her while in the ride home. Soon after the door opens and she lets me in too busy talking on the phone. She goes straight to sitting back on the couch as I sit on an arm chair. I grab the tv remote from the coffee table turning it on. I go straight to the Netflix app resuming the movie I was watching, but didn't finish when I was here last night. I get comfortable kicking my feet up on the table like it's my apartment seeing as I'm here so much. I look over at Diamonté who's busy talking on the phone...

Ten minutes pass as I watch the movie with deep concentration on the tv. It's broken when I hear, "Yo, wassup with you?" I look at Diamonté seeing she's no longer on the phone and talking to me. "You've come here 5 nights in a row not wanting to talk and just sit on my couch watching tv. Then you fall asleep and when I wake up in the morning you're gone. Is there a reason you're not trying to go home?"

"Home just ain't home really," I say keeping it vague. I knew Mr. Ambani had his people watching me like a hawk. I just needed some time to get my own shit together before having to deal with him again. Before doing what he asked me to...

Diamonté looks sympathetic saying, "Well, you're welcome to stay here if you want. All you had to do was ask, Draco." She gets up from the couch and my eyes follow her as she walks to the kitchen.

"Thanks, but I should be good after tonight." It gets quiet again as I stare at the tv screen. The movie American Gangster was playing as a million thoughts went through my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about all the shit that's been happening lately.

Growing up our people taught us about drug dealers, crime families, the mob, the mafia, and street gangs like they were Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. As a kid we were in awe of the stories about people like Frank Lucas. Now we are Frank Lucas. We are the drug dealers and killers. And just like him, their were young boys who looked up to us who would eventually become us. It's a never ending cycle.

I watch a particular scene in the movie stroking my chin. I know it's a movie and dramatized but it made me think. Frank Lucas was known for cutting out the middle man and buying directly from the source. That's the thought I had by working with Mr. Ambani, but all it did was cause problems. The solution could be to get rid of the source and become the source. In order for us to leave the drug game with no problems is to become the source where the sellers buy their product instead of being the seller in the streets. We need to x Ambani out of the equation, get his product, then start selling wholesale. We'll make more money and we'll walk away not owing anybody, but the other way around instead.

Right now we make about $200,000 per kilo and we could double that income by becoming the source. Because I was working with Ambani so closely for the past year I know how much can be made when you're the source. With a higher profit margin we'll be set for life. We can use the money to buy more properties, start and invest in more businesses, buy stocks, and have generational wealth for our family all the while going straight and legal.

My only problem is getting my brothers to agree with my ideas. Apollo always has to be the opposite. It's his way or no way. I haven't talked to him in a few days, but I heard he's been meeting with the Cubans trying to make a deal for them to be our new distributor. That's a big ass mistake in itself.

I get up from the chair going to the kitchen too as she makes herself tea. I lean against the kitchen counter looking at her. "How did your Pops get out of the drug game?" I ask Diamonté randomly making her eyebrows raise.

"Same thing you're doing. He invested in businesses and saved enough money to where he felt comfortable then moved us from Sacramento. Basically started over like it never happened."

"Why does that shit sound way easier than what I'm doing?" I ask sighing.

"Because your whole family is in it. It's a family business and it has spanned multiple generations. Decades in this shit. My Dad was solo dolo and he only did it for a couple of years when he felt like he had no other options."

From what I know Diamonte's Dad was a star quarterback from high school to college. He went to the NFL he kept getting traded and released from teams. He eventually got injured marking the end of his football career. He needed money to take care of his wife and kids, which lead him to selling drugs seeing as all he knew was sports.

"Why are you stressin'? You're making progress. The label is up and running and your clothing lines are about to launch in a week or two. You're doing great."

"It's not that. I just feel like people are trying to hold me back. That crabs in a bucket mentality everyone in the hood has. You know.."

"I get you," she says understanding. She pauses then says, "What's going on? Maybe I can help you solve the problem. You know I know things.. From my Dad being in that life. That's my OG and he told me all there is to know."

I look at her hesitating. I know her Dad's really about that shit. I've spoken to him several times when I didn't know what to do and he helped. Just because she knows what I do doesn't mean I feel comfortable going into details about what's actually going on. "An old enemy of mine is back in town. I owe him money."

"And you want to get rid of him?" She asks as I nod my head. She sits there thinking as I do too.

People might think I'm too trusting with the information of me being a drug dealer. Desdemona found out by chance and Diamonté knew because her father was in the drug game back in the day as well. One thing I learned from Apollo's father, Ar'mon, is that women are the biggest asset to a man in this life. Men think about solving the problem for right now while women think of a plan that will withstand the tests of time. A plan that will work and you never have to worry about it biting you in the ass later.

"Do everything he asks of you. Everything. The holidays are coming up. Cancel Christmas for all those mutha fuckas then set that shit off on New Year's with fireworks," she says shrugging nonchalantly.

I squint my eyes understanding what she's saying. She goes on by adding, "Make sure Santa and his elves deliver all the gifts and packages. Every body's getting coal this year. They're all bad. They'll be upset, but they'll get over it. They'll be partying with no care on New Year's. The countdown. 3, 2, 1, boom! Simple as that."

"Like 1999 all over again?" I ask. I remember hearing about her Dad sending out product to some niggas he wanted to get rid of. All anybody knows is that when they tried to break it down to put in baggies to sell, it exploded once they touched it. I thought it was one of those stories that was fabricated, but I guess it's not. "How?" I ask because know one knew how her Dad did it. There were no traces of bombs being planted in the kilos of coke, nothing.

"Ether. It's highly volatile and explosive. If you want it, all I have to do is call my Dad and he can give you his plug. That's only if you really want to get rid of this dude and his people..."

I think on it for a second and without hesitation I say, "I do."

"I'll call my Dad right now then." She's about to walk towards the living room, but I grab her arm as she passes by me.

She looks at me confused then I say, "It's late. Call him in the morning."

She looks past me probably looking at the time on her stove. "Yeah, you're probably right. I don't need him cussing me out cause I woke him out of his sleep." She chuckles then stops to look down at my hand that's around her small wrist. She looks back up as our eyes connect and I let go of her arm.

"Thank you. I was racking my brain trying to figure out what the hell to do," I say scratching my head at the awkward moment.

She pushes her hair behind her ear smiling. "It's no problem. I told you all you have to do is ask. Closed mouths don't get fed." She pauses then she says, "And with that being said...Kiss me because I know you want to." I look at her sideways as she adds, "I see the way you look at me. We're friends, but we're also grown, Dray."

We both stare at each other as if waiting on the other to make the first move. Like we're in sync we both lean in kissing one another. She wraps her arms around my neck deepening the kiss and I don't hesitate to pick her up as she instinctively wraps her legs around me. And like my feet have their own mind I head towards her bedroom down the hall.

This chapter is sorta short. What do you think Ambani asked Draco to do? Desdemona staying with Jacobi? Draco and Saweetie? Comment / Vote4️⃣❤️