~6~

I watched as the woman helping out the host reached for her cape and smoothed it down while smiling. She was paying a compliment to the dark, round sheepskin material, ending in chinchilla fur. Wynter’s chin dipped nervously. Her batted lashes thanked her before the words left her glossy lips. She was shy about her new lifestyle, my wealth. This was something I didn’t get. She had to know what she’d signed up for, likely fantasizing about and plotting on it since she was a girl.

Why be bashful about it now that you have it legally?

“Mr. and Mrs. McKinnon,” the host’s chin lifted and eyes brightened, “this way please.”

I waited until Wynter was at my side before following him through the restaurant. My eyes stayed trained to the back of the host’s head as we followed him across the restaurant and into a curtained off section where I asked him to leave them open. It was laid back in terms of energy. I was sure all around me were suits and stiffs. This was that type of restaurant, but the food was pretty decent. The walls were a brick red with gold accents, tall vases in the corner and along the walls, and white linen-lined tables and booths all around. He stopped at the double doors and directed us into a small, well-lit room with a table set for four. Before Wynter made it to the chair I invited her to, he was pulling it out already.

“Someone will be in to take your order for drinks shortly,” his accent was thick. He nodded before leaving.

I stood over my place at the table, waiting for her to settle in her seat. When she looked up at me, I dipped my chin, questioning her. “Ready?”

Wynter’s lashes fluttered again and her eyes wouldn’t settle on me. “Who are we meeting with?”

“You’ll see soon enough.” I sat in my chair. “Whatchu feel like drinking?”

“Ummmm….” She hesitated, but I didn’t look at her. “Maybe wine?”

In my periphery, I could see someone walking into the room. A menu was placed in our hands.

“Actually,” I spoke up after a few seconds, “we’ll take a bottle of Martin Schaetzel 2013 Kaefferkopf Grand Cru Gewurztraminer, a red blend, dry, and a bottle of Mauve.” I handed back the menu before the waiter could even speak. I also peeped Wynter’s deer eyes caught in headlights. “You good with that?”

Her attention shot from me back to the waiter, who smiled. Then she nodded. I shrugged with my brows before pulling out my phone. Of course, she was with it.

My attention went to my emails. I had three accounts, and my business inbox stayed in the thousands. Clearing it was my favorite pastime when I wanted to ignore the room. It was the way I shut down and shut everybody out. And that’s what I did for the next few minutes while we waited. I noticed when a drink was put in front of me. I thanked the waiter, nodded at whatever he said about waiting a few more minutes until the rest of my party arrived, then went back to scanning and deleting emails.

“This place is nice.” The softness in her chords snatched my attention, catching me off guard.

I lifted my head, finding her holding a wine glass inches from her mouth as her eyes swept across the room. I almost got lost in the sight of her full lips, pouting in anticipation of the glass. They were puffed, hiding her straight teeth beneath. Yup. I noticed that about Wynter and more, but I never let myself get too carried away. Like now. Her eyes were on the details of the room. Of course, they were. This was an exclusive restaurant, feeding the world’s elite. That coincidence had my face going back to my phone.

I hope tonight works out…

“Hey! Hey!” a feminine voice announced.

It was Kennedi, leading her husband into the room by the hand. Lord tramped in behind her with spread legs in his signature all black, as to not step on the back of her high heels. He used his other hand to pull up the waist of his jeans by the gold buckle of his Hermés belt. Looked like she was dragging him in.

Cute.

I stood from the table, smiling from ear to ear.

“My G, you tighten them jawns, you’d be able to keep up,” I teased him as Kenny walked toward me. When she made it, I extended my arms to wrap around her. “Hey, baby.”

“Ugh! You smell so good!” she shared when pulling back. Kennedi even sniffed me again. My head fell back and I cracked up. “Oh, my goodness! Did you buy this for him—well,” she questioned Wynter, but her eyes met mine. “…you always smell good, Raj. So maybe this is all you.”

I laughed, pulling her back into my arms, even widening my legs to drop a little to get closer to her. I threw my eyes over to Young, teasing him while he stood on the other side of the table.

I tossed my chin his way. “Dawg, you ain’t wearing that Rage I sent your way for your born day?”

Kennedi pulled back again, slapping me in the chest. “Oh, quit it, Raj,” she mumbled, not liking me shaming her husband. “He smells good all the time, even if by way of me rubbing all over him with my Ragee for Women.” She tossed her chin over her shoulder and winked at me. “Thanks for the birthday gift, by the way. It’s one of my favorites that quickly—Ohh!” She clapped her hands, noticing the table. “You ordered our favorite wine!”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” I offered, still laughing as I walked over toward her man to give him some love.

I tossed him a cocky wink.

“You got me fucked up,” he spoke low, shaking his head before embracing me. “What’s good, akhi?”

“Ah, man,” I breathed as we pulled away, gripping each other’s palm until they slid to our fingers and snapped away. “Tryna live. You know.”

He tossed his chin to Wynter, who was looking crazy uncomfortable in Kennedi’s arms, being rocked left to right. “That’s more than living, akhi.” My chest ached, but I refused to show it.

“You right,” I spoke, watching until Wynter pulled away from my little sister. “That’s surviving,” I spoke low purposely.

“What’s that?” Young asked.

I turned back to him with big eyes, realizing I was blowing this already. I brushed the back of my head with my fingers. “Nah. Nothing. It’s been crazy. You know…with ending one leg of the tour before going into the other.” My hands waved toward their chairs. “Have a seat. Let’s get some food ordered.”

“Ooooh! Food, yessss!” Kennedi agreed, hopping to her seat where Lord held a chair out for her.

Her quick actions let me know I’d done a good job at changing the subject—for now.

“Y’all been here before?” I asked while taking my seat.

“I was here a few months ago with ya peoples, Divine Jacobs,” Lord answered while looking over the menu with narrowed eyes.

“Oh, word?” I froze.

Azmir Divine Jacobs was one of many trying to reach out to me since the fake wedding.

The waiter came in to take our order. Kennedi and Wynter couldn’t decide what they wanted. I was surprised. Wynter hadn’t seemed to be a picky eater since I met her. She could put away a packed plate from what I saw at the fake wedding and on her forn porn pictures on social media.

“Can we let the chef set the menu?” Young asked the waiter, something I’d seen him do before. “Unless we have any allergies…” His eyes went to Wynter; everyone else had eaten together before to know there were no restrictions. Wynter shook her head, almond shaped fluorescent eyes turning down as she bit her lips together. That’s when her hidden dimples came to life.

It’s also when I turned away from her, angry all over again.

Not tonight.

“You are gorgeous!” Kennedi beamed. “But of course,” she nodded over her crossed arms as Young went for his glass of Mauve, “my brother, Raj, has exquisite taste. I’m sure you’re familiar with his divo. So particular and poised, this guy!” She giggled and Wynter joined her. Kennedi controlled her laughter enough to share, “Now, I must admit to having a penchant for…hood dudes, so take what I say with a grain of salt. You would never know Ragee was from New Brunswick unless you pissed him off. Do you know he flew out to L.A. this summer just to take me shopping for cufflinks for Isaak and matching earrings for me!” Her eyes blossomed and chin dipped. “Can you believe that? He’d just flown in from Australia and got right back on a plane!”

Wynter snickered nervously, her penetrating eyes making their way to me. When mine landed on the mole on her bottom lip, I realized she wasn’t wearing lipstick. But the brim of her eyes and lids were colored, her cheeks were shimmered. Maybe because I didn’t tell her where we’d be eating or who we’d be eating with, she didn’t overdo it with the makeup? But now, looking her dead in the face, I was reminded Wynter didn’t need heavy enhancements. In fact, she didn’t need makeup at all.

“Earth to Raj!” Kennedi waved her palm in my face, snatching my attention.

My face swung forward. “Huhn?” I asked her.

Kenny pointed to Lord, who’d just put his tumbler on the table as he swallowed.

“Why here?” he sounded to have repeated his words. “Why not DiFillippo’s or at the crib? We could’ve pulled up.”

My eyes fluttered at that question. How could I say it was because DiFillippo’s didn’t have the herd of paps swarming around with their cameras? No way I could tell my real friends I was using them to legitimize my fake marriage.

I sat back in my seat, one arm hanging over the back of my chair and swallowed back the rest of my brandy. “Because I heard their dessert menu tops everybody’s.” I shrugged.   

“Yeah, right. I’ll be the judge of that,” Kennedi rolled her neck as she spoke. “Nobody’s anything tops DiFillippo’s crème brûlée!”

Two waiters were carrying in trays loaded with appetizers and I sat up, happy to see the food come out so quickly and to have the course of the conversation changed again. We dug in right away, everyone seemed to be happy to have something to grub on. Kennedi filled in dead air by whispering her thoughts of everything to Young as she filled her plate and his with two of everything. Wynter was quiet as a mouse as she bit into her sample.

“This is soooo good,” Kennedi breathed.

“Mmmmhmmm…” Wynter agreed, focused on her plate next to me.

“Okay,” Kennedi spoke with a full mouth after dropping her fork. “Can we address the neon yellow elephant in the room?”

I shrugged with my face as I chewed. Food was good, but I’d had better appetizers at DiFillippo’s.

“The fact that we not only didn’t get an invitation to the wedding, but didn’t get notification of you having a special lady in your life.” My face fell, and before I could speak, Kennedi raised her hand in the air, shaking her head. “No. I mean, I know we happened kind of fast,” she swung her index finger between her chest and mine. I let go of all the air holding in my lungs. “but we happened. I thought we were cool—tight! You call me your sister, and you know you’re my brother. I just thought—”

“Kenny!” Lord warned.

And for some reason, that didn’t provide relief.

“I told you I would bring this up.” She challenged him with her eyes to say different.

“Yeah, but we ain’t even get to the main course yet,” he argued.

“But it’s been on my heart.” Kennedi turned to Wynter. “I’m so glad to finally meet you because although my husband has the attention of, it seems like, all of the music industry, that’s not my industry and I don’t try to befriend people like that. I think it’s my job to provide an escape from that world for him. Have you read that book I sent in your wedding gift packet?” she asked with narrowed eyes and I dropped the fork in my plate. “I included a book, Tending to the Man Who Governs the Masses: How to Protect What He Values Most. It’s by this prolific author and therapist out in California, Twanece Edmondson, whom I’ve met recently. In the book, she goes over how to flourish in a marriage with a man who is…”

Shit!

As Kenny rambled on, I realized Wynter didn’t even know about the crazy amount of deliveries sent to my apartment, because they were all re-routed to my estate in Sparta. The concierge had marching orders. I didn’t want wedding gifts. There was nothing to be congratulated on! Why should I accept people celebrating me trying to make my dreams come true?

Nah…

Kennedi’s voice going up an octave woke me out of my head. “And I’m like, ‘How is it my husband’s best friend gets married and I don’t—’”

“Whoa…whoa…whoa!” Lord shouts with raised palms.

At the same time, I warned sweetly, “Easy, Kenny.” I tried throwing her a grin to ease the blow.

“What did I say?” Her innocent eyes scanned the table.

“Corny ass Kennedi,” Lord breathed, shaking his head.

“What?” Kenny demanded.

“You don’t go giving out that title with his lady sitting right here,” Lord advised, pointing to Wynter, but looking at his wife. “That may be his best friend.” Then his hand hit his chest. “I know I got a best friend I wouldn’t wanna offend by throwing that title around.”

Kenny turned back to look at Wynter and me. I caught Wynter biting her lips to fight off a giggle, and I understood why. I didn’t get the whole best friend thing as far as I was concerned, but it was clear Lord was saying Kenny was his. Kenny had been checked.

Kennedi’s cheeks squeezed and nose lifted as though she couldn’t help herself. “So, Marye Island? You know Isaak took me there for my undergrad graduation. Right, Raj?”

Lord shook his head, letting out another deep breath.

I chuckled, grabbing my glass for another sip. “Nah. I ain’t know that.” I gulped back the brown juice, suddenly realizing how good it was to be in their presence.

It felt like I hadn’t been around real people in some time. Young and Kenny was just that to me. They left pretention and expectations out in the parking lot—well, except for the expectation of me hollering at them when I got married.

Oh, God... This is effed up!

“Oh, yeah!” Kennedi kept going. “It was beautiful! We didn’t stay in the biggest suite there because it was a last minute reservation, but he was able to score us a gorgeous one with a view of the ocean. Which one did you guys stay in?” Her eyes were big, smile prepared to blossom.

And my stomach turned into knots as I looked over to Wynter. Her eyes were already on me.

“Well,” Wynter tried, “Raj won’t remember much of it; it was such a quick—and busy—stay, but I don’t believe we had the biggest suite there either.” She turned back to me, and her next few words were spoken slowly as she came up with them. “We knew when we were going to tie the knot, but didn’t have the deets settled, and passed that responsibility over to his handlers, something I regret.” What does that mean? Her eyes brushed back and forth against mine as she shared that. Then they moved over to my friends. “It was so short, it really didn’t feel like a honeymoon at all.”

“Damn.” Lord faked a choke on his drink. “The fuck you puttin’ down in the bed, Raj?” he clowned me.

Shit.

If only I could speak that one word of truth.

“I’mma let you answer first. Any little Kennies on the way?” I tried changing the conversation. “Baby Lords?”

“Here you go,” Young groaned before going back to his plate.

“We have enough kids.” Kenny went for her drink. “Trust me. Look at now...” She took a quick gulp. “We only have three hours to hang out with you guys. Three. After dinner, we have to run to Paterson to pick up the girls from their mothers’ then catch a red eye to Colorado to pick up Martin—”

“Colorado?” I asked.

Lord shook his head while chewing, his eyes flew up to the waiters, bringing in more food. “Got my soldier in boarding school,” he garbled.

“Boarding school?” I repeated even louder.

Kenny shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I could never send my baby to boarding school. He’s been gone for six weeks and I’m sick without him. He’s my protector when Daddy’s away.” She punched Lord in the arm. “He’s in an astronomy camp in Boulder. Very competitive and comprehensive.”

“And he hates it,” Lord added.

“He doesn’t love it, but he stuck it out and admitted to learning a lot. He earned a scholarship to go, so Dad here didn’t have to cut the check.” She smiled proudly before going back to her food.

“Don’t let Kenny make a sucker outta my little G, Lord,” I warned.

“Too late,” he shot back and Kennedi punched him again, chewing a mouthful, so she couldn’t speak. Lord grabbed his chest where her little hand landed, laughing. “Nah. Young Martin know what time it is. She keep them in shit to expand their minds. He actually wanted to go until he got there and saw there was nothing but lames there.” We cracked up. Young smoothed down his black tee as he held his stomach. My eyes thoughtlessly went over to Wynter simply because she was next to me. I caught the humor in her eyes even though she didn’t know Young’s kids to appreciate the conversation. “But he likes the curriculum, though, and he thugged out the six weeks,” Lord slowed his laughing to share.

“That’s what’s up.” I used my fork to break off a shrimp dumpling. “But you never answered my question.” I popped it in my mouth. “Y’all making a baby together anytime soon?” My eyes went to Kenny first.

Her face fell to her plate. “I’ve got a ways to go with law school, Raj.” Her tone was too tender and short to mistake as a happy answer.

I looked over at Young, who shook his head through his eyes. With that, mine went back to my food. Something was up. I ain’t like feeling like I’d just stepped on a domestic minefield. Kenny stayed upbeat. She made optimism contagious. We didn’t talk every week, but there was always ministry in her energy. No way was I good with how, now, her eyes were still to her plate and while Young moved to the new platters laid at our table, she still traced her plate with her fork. I wanted to know what that was about.

If Young fucked around on her…

“Wynter,” the blaze in Kenny’s eyes was lit again as she spoke. “you plan on having a family? I think Ragee needs one. He’s such a loner.”

From my periphery, I could see Wynter’s fist fly to her mouth as she choked on her food. It felt to me Kenny was trying to change the subject. When did Kennedi ever run from a topic? I could’ve pushed, but we had an outsider at the table, who I wanted to keep out of their business.

“You okay?” Kenny asked with humor in her eyes.

“Nice work, Kenny,” my tone was dry. “Yo, man. Lemme holla at you for a minute.” I pointed to the door while speaking to Lord.

Kennedi’s face fell and I ignored it while watching Lord wipe his mouth before leaving the table.

I walked farther to the back, near the kitchen, before stopping just past the bathrooms.

“Yo,” I ducked my head and scratched my chin. “I know we’ve been outta touch…busy with work and all, but…you got something to tell me?”

Lord’s head jerked back and brows tightened. “Other than congrats on the extended world tour and getting married and shit, nah. That’s about it.”

I took a deep breath, swiping my teeth with my tongue, clearing my mouth of the food. My eyes fell to the floor as I pulled my jeans up.

“Raj, man, you got something to say to me?” Young asked with one brow in the air. “All I’m saying is I thought we was cool—”

“We are cool,” I spoke over him. “That’s why I wanna know if you fuckin’ around on Kenny?”

His chin dropped, but hard eyes stayed on me. “You ain’t holla in two months, but wanna accuse me of trippin’ out on my girl?”

“She ain’t your girl, man!” I lowered my voice and glanced around, remembering where we were. Lord and I had a special friendship. In no time, we were able to form a bond I wasn’t used to with people. I’d never shared the deepest of secrets with him, but had built with him on a regular. We’d become so tight, Kenny and I blossomed a friendship right alongside ours. They actually meant something to me. Lord was still new to the music business and everybody was after him. The industry would turn a priest into a prostitute with how accessible sex was. I hoped in the past two months I had been away, getting into my shit, Lord hadn’t slipped. “She’s your wife. You have a wife.”

“And so do you, my nigga. But you ‘on’t see me down your throat with crazy ass accusations. I don’t creep out on my lady, never have.”

“Then why did she almost just break down in there when I asked about more kids?”

He turned away from me and scratched his head, chuckling dryly. “Maybe because that’s a major issue between us right now.”

“For real? Like what?”

“Nothing that major, man.” He waved it off. “Nothing you won’t go through now that you’re married.”

And there it was… Another opportunity to bring my friend in from the dark. I couldn’t do this.

“It ain’t what you think.” I pinched my bottom lip as my eyes swept the floor to come up with the right words.

“What?” Lord turned to me fully.

I took a deep breath, looked over my shoulder. “It ain’t what you think. This thing with her”—I swung my head toward the other end of the hall where the girls were—“it ain’t real.”

Lord stepped closer to me. “Then what the fuck is it?”

I scratched my eyebrow. “It’s a ruse…an arrangement,” I whispered, disgusted some shit like that could come from my mouth.

“I saw the pix online,” Lord’s voice was low, but filled with confusion.

“Manufactured.”

“Yo, who the fuck you got my girl in there with by herself?” His finger pointed down the hall.

“You know my shit’s thorough. Wynter’s just a regular chick from Garfield. She ain’t no special ops personnel. She was picked to help my image for the movie studio to give me a chance at a lead role.”

He looked away, nodding with a balled mouth, adding it all up. It was a topic I shared freely with him, my Hollywood dilemma. “Kenny’s a regular girl, Raj.” His voice had calmed, but I saw the betrayal in his eyes. Young was “regular” two minutes ago in industry years. “She ‘on’t know about this Hollywood bullshit.”

“I get it. I had this thing pushed on me, so it ain’t all figured out, but I don’t want Kenny to know.”

“Why?”

Because she’d be disappointed…

“She don’t need to. It would only upset her.”

“But you invite us on a double date. You’re rubbing my baby’s nose in your foul shit, Raj,” he growled, teeth gritted. Then he straightened. “That why you chose this place to meet at? That’s why the curtain’s open to the private room?” My eyes fell. “Fuck, Raj!” he turned away again.

“I ain’t been out since all this went down. They said I needed to be out with her more…” I looked around again, lowering my voice. “To make it look real. The sell to me was being around my people again.”

“The sell to Kenny was finding out why we wasn’t invited to the wedding or even hit up about ol’ girl.” His head cocked to the side. “You know how fucked up all this shit sounds?”

I swallowed hard, feeling defeat cover my whole frame again. “A whole lot less than what I feel every day.”

His head whipped to face me. Young studied me hard and for a long while he didn’t say anything. Too long. I looked away.

“This is your weird shit going on again. Didn’t I tell you I’d fuck with you as long as you kept it trilly with me?”

My hands slowly went into the air. “This is me doing that. I fucked up about the marriage thing, but Lord, you know I’mma real one.”

The thing with Young Lord was unlike other people I’d come across in the business, I wanted to be cool with him. Usually, I’d work with people and keep it moving. But Lord had an authenticity about him I hadn’t seen in years. He was a gully rapper from Paterson, not yet diluted with the politics of industry. Even with L.I.T. Music trying to court me through him, he stayed real. We kicked it about poverty, illegal hustle, and the lack of opportunities in our communities. We shared about things we could do to give back and remain true. And despite risking the rumors over his head, he hung out with me, made music, and even brought me into his family with Kenny and the kids. Crazy as it sounded, he was the first connection I made with someone new in years. I had a clean slate with dude.

Young rocked back and stepped off, heading toward the room. I was on his heels, feeling more anxious than I did before telling him. The girls—well, Kenny—seemed to not have missed us at all based on their conversation that never broke when we stepped into the room. We took to our seats and I saw the main entrees were on the table. I tried eating again to calm myself. This was really fucked up.

“Oh, my god!” Kennedi shrieked while chewing. Her fork turned down and index went out, pointing at Wynter. “You’re reminding me of the first time I met Raj.” She turned to Lord, sitting mad close to her as he ate. “You remember that? I was so intimidated. I think you were the first person in the industry I’d had a meal with. Everyone else before then was just a shoulder-brush at an event. But I actually had to add to a conversation with you.” Her finger came to me. “And I really didn’t do it until at the end of the meal. Please don’t do that,” she begged Wynter with a pout as she finished chewing. “No need to be afraid to loosen up around us. We’re just everyday people.”

“I’ve gotten that impression,” Wynter offered a crooked smile, telling me she was warming to Kennedi’s naiveté.

My guilt tripled.

“Well,” Kennedi held that index finger in the air. “Let me speak for myself. I’m a regular girl in a fairytale world, thanks to my best friend.” She nudged Lord, who rolled his eyes, chowing down.

“So, you from Gfield?” Lord tossed his chin to Wynter.

She nodded, putting her glass back on the table. “All my life.”

“What’s y’all…Boilers, or some shit?” He pushed a stuffed mushroom in his mouth.

Wynter snorted. “Boilermakers. Weird, I know.”

“What’s that?” Kenny asked.

I wanted to know, too.

“You said she ain’t been talking. Maybe we ain’t been asking the right questions.” Young’s eyes rolled over to me. “How old’re you?”

She glanced over to me before answering. “Twenty-eight.”

 “Twenty-eight,” he repeated. “You’re the class of…”

“Two thousand seven,” Kenny answered for him.

“Five,” Wynter corrected quickly. “I graduated two years early.” Her eyes skated over to me. “I got skipped.”

“Hmmmmm…” Young thinking brought my attention back to him. “Who ran Garfield back then?” he asked himself, staring at the ceiling. “Them Polish niggas, pushing dust and heroine went to charter schools.” He was still thinking.

“Are you really doing this?” Kennedi asked, light-weight upset.

“Roggy!” Young snapped his fingers, ignoring her. His eyes were on Wynter again. “Roggy and Lipito.”

Wynter’s face ghosted. “You know those low lives?”

Unbothered, Lord answered. “They were my colleagues. Them Spanish dudes had heart. They constantly went to war with the Polish over turf. The solution was to have different inventory. But before they made it to that agreement, Roggy’s uncle, Manuel, called their Paterson suppliers for back up.”

I watched as the O in her lips grew wider. I didn’t know if she realized Young was testing her authenticity or revealing his street credibility.

“Manuel’s dead,” she almost whispered.

“Yup. Found him behind the Shoprite in Clifton with two holes in his chest,” Young confirmed.

“Now, that he’s got you talking,” Kennedi rolled her eyes. “What do you do? Did you go to school? I tried staying away from the blogs until I at least spoke to Raj.” She rolled her eyes at me this time.

“I did.” Wynter wiped her mouth. “I went to Rutgers.”

“Oh!” Kenny piped up. “What did you study?”

“Psychology.”

“Ewwww.” Kenny’s nosed turned up.

At that, Young’s confused expression was my reaction, too.

“I know,” Wynter breathed. “Deadlocked, but I was determined to finish.”

“How did you make out with the degree?”

“I didn’t, of course. Not much you can do with a Bachelor’s in psych.” Wynter smiled. “I applied for the Sociology graduate program and got in.”

“Well, seems like you stayed in the region of thinking with and for people,” Kennedi assessed. Her mind never slowed. Wynter nodded in agreement.

“What do you do again?” Lord asked. “Kenny couldn’t slow for your answer. Nosey ass.”

Kenny smiled, rolling her eyes and Wynter giggled.

“I’m actually between jobs right now, but I worked for the Department of Corrections for years, counseling.”

“Counseling who?”

Yeah…

“Residents transitioning. I worked for a residential community release program.” She picked up on their empty faces. “When they’re released and transferred to a halfway house, they automatically enroll into a grant funded program where they receive mentoring, counseling, interviewing skills…learn how to complete education applications and such. Our program was unique, in that all state convicts are eligible.”

“Oh!” Kenny breathed, eyes in the corner of the room as she processed it.

“So, you done came across some crazy mutherfukas with unbelievable ass circumstances, huhn?” Lord asked, eyes sweeping over to me.

Wynter’s face tightened for a quick second before straightening. “Yeah.” She nodded. “I guess I have. What’s crazier is I really miss it. I feel so…empty now without having meaningful work.”

Yeah. Fucking. Right.  

“My godmother recently got engaged to the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections.” Kennedi blushed.

“Oh, wow.” Wynter’s forehead stretched. “Small world.”

I’d just learned more about my wife tonight than I had in the two months we’d been wed.

“Do you know him?” Kenny asked.

“No. I’ve never met him.”

“I’d be glad to introduce you two. They’re having us over for dinner when we’re done with winter break in L.A.,” Kenny shared. “I’d love to invite you two with us. Maybe he can point you in the direction of a new opportunity—”

Oh, no.

“Time to go.” Young tossed his napkin on the table.

“Wha— Wait.” Kenny’s face fell. “We still have time.” She went to her phone for the time.

“Nah.” Young stood from the table and stretched. “I just remembered something I gotta pick up before we head to Paterson.”

She turned to me with apologetic eyes. I could feel Wynter’s eyes on me, too.

“No sweat. We gotta go, too.” I stood to look for a waiter while pulling my wallet out.

“Oh, we have it, Raj,” Kenny offered about the check.

“Nah, baby. This on the McKinnons.” Young’s hand was at Kenny’s shoulder.

Her eyes bounced between us, confused and angry.

“Yeah,” I moved again. “I got it. Give us a minute so we can walk y’all out.” I handed my card to the waiter without seeing the bill.

“You mean walk with us?” Young’s eyes were empty on me.

Shit…

He was mad.

And I can’t blame him…

“Give us a minute, Isaak,” I more or less demanded, using his government. My eyes were loaded on him.

The next few minutes were awkward as Kennedi tried filling the wait time with small talk with Wynter. When my card and receipt came back, Wynter stood as I signed it.

“Let’s go,” I said low, but clear enough for her to hear.

Young already had Kenny out of the room. As they walked to coat check, Kenny tried talking to me.

“So, you’ll be in L.A. when, Raj?”

“Not sure, baby girl. So much is in the air before I leave the states in January, but I’ll let you know,” I tried responding as I texted the driver to meet us up front.

“Okay,” she spilled from her lips, she was out of breath from having to keep up with Young. “Let me know. We come back January second. We can come by if we don’t see you guys before then.”

“That’s what’s up,” I answered as we waited for our coats.

Mine and Wynter’s were brought out first. After we put them on, I pulled out my pinging phone.

Mike: Yo. That fuckin blog got it popping again. I’ll be at the crib tonight. Got another plan.

I took a deep breath as I put the phone in my pocket, my jaw tightening. Kenny’s giggles caught my attention. Lord was helping her with her coat, whispering something in her ear. Wynter was in her phone as she waited.

When Young’s peacoat was on he tossed his chin to me, motioning to leave. I softly took Wynter at the small of her back. “Show time,” I whispered in her ear, not realizing I’d be hit with a flowery scent.

The moment we hit the curb, the cameras flashed from a distance and near.

“Don’t forget our bet about the Kings,” I warned after positioning Wynter next to Kenny, so they were in the middle of Young and me.

“What bet?” Kennedi chewed on her lip with narrow eyes going between Lord and me.

“With both of us being big Kings fans, we hope to make it to the Super Bowl this year. I have no doubt we’ll win, but Young here thinks just because it’s not likely for a team to make it to the Super Bowl two years in a row, we definitely won’t win. But I told him our number one QB is a praying man that so happens to attend the same church as me, and we’re taught about the one and only God with supernatural powers. TB wants it, so guess who’s going to and win the Super Bowl?”

Young shrugged and went back to his phone.

“So what’s the bet?” Kennedi repeated, this time being smart.

“If we win, Lord’s gotta hit up church with me in February. No delaying it. It’ll be just in time for our annual men’s conference, too.” Even though it was foul for me to take this opportunity to bring it up, it was a true bet.

“I’m a man of my word,” Young made clear while in his phone.

“This is us,” Wynter nudged me.

“All right. It was good finally meeting you. I don’t know why it took so long, but let’s not repeat that. Okay?” Kennedi was hugging Wynter at this point, so I had no idea what her response was.

I waited until they were done before I grabbed Kennedi up in my arms, giving her strength I couldn’t by way of words.

“Please keep in touch,” she whispered next to my ear. “Even if it’s with just Isaak.”

That broke my heart. Why would I leave her out? I didn’t respond, though. When we broke away, I moved on to Young, who had his arm ready.

We slapped palms and he pulled me into him. “I’m checking her out now. I gotta connect in Garfield. I’ll let you know if I find something. In the meantime, clean that bullshit up. We ain’t Hollywood, nigga; we changing it.” He pulled back.

I used my thumb to scratch my mustache as my eyes rose somewhere over his head. Taking a deep breath, I nodded before turning to Wynter, who was not too far away. She let me take the lead when I passed her as cameras flashed.

The driver had the door open, waiting for us. I let her get in first then climbed in myself.

 The moment we pulled off, I heard, “You couldn’t tell me we were meeting with them?” There was mad bass in that question.

I turned to my left and found hot coals, burning into me.

“Why did I have to tell you? This is business. You signed the damn contract.”

“For one because a little notice on having dinner with Young Lord would’ve been appreciated. Two, those are…real people! Kennedi is a regular girl, like she said!”

“And so are you.”

“You’re damn right I am! I’m also a human being, who deserves the common respect of full disclosure!”

“Aren’t you getting what you deserve? What you signed up for? You got dinner with a mega music figure. Be happy, sweetheart.”

“No! I had dinner with your friends. Your friends, Ragee! I don’t put on shows. I’m not a damn act. That’s who the fuck you are!”

“Well, I’ll be damned,” I muttered. “You sure are getting paid to be one.”

“Fuck you,” she hissed.

I snorted, wanting to say so much more, but having never been the type of man to argue with a woman. I did that with my cousins as a kid. They didn’t even get that anymore. I had bigger fish to fry as I grabbed my phone. Mike mentioned the blog. There were hundreds of them, but I knew where to start and went to IG.

It’s been over two months and still no marriage certificate is available for Ragee McKinnon!

Spilling That Hot Tea had been on the come up for a couple of years now. I knew the chicks who ran the page. Mike had them investigated when they ran a story on one of my classmates in high school coming into their DM with a story of me speaking to the guidance counselor about being raped. The story was a headliner, but with no proof. I’d never gone to anyone saying I was raped. But the article accurately mentioned facts about the social groups I was in and high school friends I hung out with. From there, we knew the authors of the page had some teeth. They were known to pay for credible gossip, and back then, I was their target. We learned about the fingers on the keyboard.

One was a big mouth graduate student from The Bahamas, studying abroad, Meks. She worked with a low-key partner in crime, who went by PawKid. That’s all the team Mike hired could come up with. Meks had the balls and drive while her sidekick had the brains to pull up files that weren’t public record. Meks had a temper, too, but stayed on top of shit.

In the comments of this post, someone asked her why was she so intent on convincing the world I was gay. And in her usual quick clap back nature, she cleared the air.

First of fucking all to make clear to all the dickheads like you Ragee ain’t gay. I told yall that a couple of years ago. We BEEN past that. That’s them other fake ass blogs still running with that fake ass rumor. What I’m saying now is he ain’t married. I don’t know why he lying about being married. But guess who gone find out?

“What’s Mike saying about this gossip blog’s post?” Wynter’s voice snatched my attention from the comments.

I took a deep breath and slid down into my seat. “We ‘bout to find out.”