I had to add my two cents just so she knew it wasn’t just Trav disappointed in the city.
“Got me ready to shut this shit down for the day and it’s eleven twenty.”
She was cackling and I ain’t see shit funny. I’d been without my girl for three days and already the pressure was building. It was building when the wheels went up but was getting worse daily.
“Y’all been gone away from home too long.”
“Not the NFL’s favorite WAG trying to tell us we out of touch, City. Say it ain’t so.” Travis loved fucking with Lyric that she was Hollywood. Any time she was touted as couple goals or had them folks at the league office bending over backwards to kiss her ass, he would just laugh at them not realizing they were shaking hands with a menace.
“Don’t get me angry so I gotta be reckless.”
“Reckless about what, L?”
Me and Travis cracked up hearing Grant question Lyric about what she was about to get into. Knowing that man he wasn’t about to let her do something and he not be right in the thick of it. Lyric’s husband was as calm as he could be until you thought you were gonna say or do something out the way about her. Then the square disappeared and the grown ass man named Grant came out. I called his ass a square thug but really Grant was just a fucking man. He ain’t need bravado, to raise his voice or anything like that to prove he was a man. He handled his business; he took care of his people, and made sure a muthafucka suffered the consequences for playing with him. So again, just a man.
Even he was irritated when people heaped praise on him for defending Lyric against her ex because in his head there was no other way to react but to stomp that man out.
“Lord don’t have Grant getting upset behind his wife. She ain’t about to do nothing, bruh. Chill.” The last thing I was going to do was have the two of them at odds before they left the country.
“How y’all gone talk around me like that?”
“Cause when you married him I told him he had to do whatever was necessary to make sure you were good. So if that means doing something crazy, so be it.”
“But it ain’t gone come to that. Everything is good,” Travis chimed in to calm the situation because Grant was the definition of a geek about his. There was nobody better in my eyes for Lyric than him.
“Y’all going out tonight?”
“Yep. Gone see Lil Homie later.”
She knew that meant Yacouba since we never named names especially not over the phone. I ain’t care how high tech these shits were, some habits we’d never change.
“Tell ‘im I said what’s up.”
I nodded cause that was a given but I appreciated the way she still showed respect. “Will do. Y’all be easy.”
“We will. And make sure y’all find somebody. We can’t be letting Texas show up home like this.” There were three artists in development that we were working with in the Texas office. Frankly, I was happy to be working with them because it meant I could go home to Porsha every night. I understood why Lyric didn’t hesitate to put Atlanta in her rearview when she found her one. I was feeling the same way.
“We’ll do our best, boss.” Travis saluted to her spoiled ass even though she couldn’t see him.
“That’s bosslady.”
I could only laugh because she was still the bratty teenager that had come out of her shell all those years ago. “Some shit never changes.”
“Facts. Anyway, y’all go back to what you were doing. I’ll check in with y’all later.”
CITY
“WHAT’S GOOD, CITY?”
Yacouba walked into the section and I stood along with Travis to dap him up. Despite not being in the thick of things, I was still going to show respect for the man whose family helped us get where we were. Despite him being a college boy and me wanting to shoot his ass the first time he showed upon the block, I could tell immediately he was about his business. He and his old man offered us protection because they knew the man we were dealing with was getting ready to turn on us. With the intel they gave us, we stayed out of jail, expanded our territory and inadvertently help Lyric before we knew her. I was indebted, but their actions were altruistic. Another reason the Millers had earned our respect and loyalty all this time.
“Not too much, Yacouba. You out and about tonight?” We sat back down and he glanced at the bottle on the table before pulling a blunt out of a case he kept on him. I knew he had a rule that he never drank out of bottles he didn’t personally bring. Even opening that shit in front of him wasn’t good enough because he had too many people who would try to catch him slipping. His words, not mine. It was one of the main reasons that he rarely went out to places he or his people didn’t own. That’s why when I saw the familiar bottle get placed next to his foot I wasn’t shocked.
The club we were in was busy but nothing too crazy since it was a Wednesday night. It was a typical Atlanta club and wewere only here because Travis knew the man who owned it and we were able to keep it low-key.
Yacouba smirked, flashing his diamond covered fangs as he lit his blunt. “Yeah my lady kicked me out the house and told me I needed to find some business. My folks and hers had to flip a coin to see who got my son for the night so Jazzy baby went out with her wild ass sister.”
“So that brought you to the A?” Like me Travis was confused because that man didn’t normally let his wife out of his sight. If she was out with her girls he was in a different section making sure shit was copacetic.
