Page 104 of Are You Going to Love Me

Keon looked up at him briefly. “It ain’t.”

“Well, what the fuck is up?” Maximus asked, annoyance straining his voice.

Keon and Staysha shared a look before she yielded and let him deliver the bad news.

“I mean it ain’t shit if it ain’t shit, but Urban View Entertainment is fueled by drug money. Which ain’t new to us, but it’s Poppi’s drug money. Money she had hidden, money that was invested, washed, and funneled out to us, investors, and other artists. Like I said… it ain’t shit until it’s shit,” Keon shared.

“Anzel a gangsta?” Maximus asked with a scrunched face.

“Anzel is my mother; she filed UVE under Poppi Sage. Like she’s running the business from the grave, so when – and it’s only a matter of fuckin’ time – the feds come, everything is up in flames.”

“What the fuck?” Maximus blew, dropping his body into a nearby seat.

“Got damn,” Brody blew.

“What’s the plan? I’m not getting caught up with the feds and I’m not going back to prison,” Maximus stated.

Now that he looked at Staysha straight on, he could see the emotions warring on her face. He knew enough about their mother and how their relationship with Poppi was so monumental. Keon took the lead, saving Staysha from speaking about her mother any further.

“I’ve asked Daysha to come on as brand management. Staysha stays in her role, I stay in mine. But the lawyers I had look over this shit didn’t know what to look for. We need a more experienced team to navigate the waves we’re about to hit. You have enough music to satisfy your first two albums. Daysha suggests we keep moving like we don’t know shit. Make the music, drop singles until we get a green light to turn the album in. When the fed’s move in, it’s going to be quick. If she found that in a few days, I’m pretty sure they’re already lurking. We keep this shit clean, we keep it tight; we keep our heads down like we just artists, and niggas from the hood. With access to the legal team Daysha has, you and your masters are protected along with our names.”

Maximus looked at Staysha. “Eden know?”

Staysha swayed her head and pushed her hair out of her face. “No, and honestly, I don’t have the heart to send her back to a place she’s healed from. It was hard for me, but it was five times harder for her. So, until I know something definite, I’m not telling her.”

Maximus groaned and palmed his face. “And I got to keep that from her? I don’t know about that shit, Stay.”

“Not keep, just hold it until it’s the right time. And right now, ain’t the right time. Anzel needs to keep thinkin’ we don’t know shit,” Staysha shared. “Now that’s the bad news.”

Maximus raised his brow. “There’s good news?”

“Yeah, we got the sample tees and BGCs is for sale. The bank just wants what’s owed on it. I ran the numbers, we’ll make it back by the end of the year.”

“Partnership?” Maximus questioned. “How we splitting that pie?”

“Two ways?” Keon asked.

“Make it five. The team is us. All of us eat. I’ll buy in for Eden and Brody.”

“Nigga,” Brody blew. “I can put twenty dollars on it. I’m good for it.”

The laughter was needed to break the tension in the room.

“Keep that twenty and turn it into a stack,” Maximus stated. “We got the license for that?”

“Security license is in. Legally, you the only nigga in the crew that can carry but we all got pistols tucked,” Keon shared, placing the case of Glocks on the table. “The goal is we keep the talent free and out of jail by all means. Even if that means we got to sit down for a minute.”

“Aight,” Brody stated. “Trae Way all day.”

After the mountain of information was dropped in everyone’s lap and Staysha excused herself, the men stood outside, their blunts sparked and frowning into one thick cloud of smoke.

“Imagine climbing up the mountain and thinking you hit the top only for that shit to just be a divot on the side and you got a lot more to fuckin’ climb. You look back and see how far you’ve come, but you look up and see how much further you got to go. That’s what I feel like right now. The happiness that I made itthis far and the fuckin’ anxiety of makin’ it this far. I knew this UVE shit was too fuckin’ good to be true,” Maximus shared.

“The whole thing feels calculated. They blew me up, rolled out the red carpet only to be doing sneak shit in the background,” Keon stated. “If Poppi’s money bought the label, you think Mama’s money is running it?”

“I wouldn’t put it past them. Mama always gets a taste. Whether it’s bending a nigga over, breaking her girls, or fuckin’ up someone’s pockets. Walkin’ away from her seems to be getting more difficult.”

“Nah,” Brody finally spoke up. “You lookin’ at this wrong.”

---