Page 163 of Are You Going to Love Me

“Heard that.”

“Now with all that, why you heavy, nigga?” Julius questioned lowly.

“You know how the streets come knocking and you answer?”

Julius scoffed bitterly with laughter. “That last knock I got was after my cousin set me up at my own label launch with my lady in the function.”

Maximus looked over at Julius, the ribbons of smoke dancing. “My brother shot at her, then sent one right through my shoulder.”

“How that end up?”

“With his end,” Maximus quietly admitted. “At that point, blood didn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t. I think about that day every fuckin’ day. Every time I look at her and our oldest, I play it back. If anything touched her, I would have to take that nigga to his end myself. When it comes to them, blood don’t matter. Your gang don’t matter. All that matters is that right there. You can’t let that shit drive you crazy. Trust me, I’m crazy, nigga. Like with papers.”

Maximus chuckled. “If I got my head checked, I probably would have papers too.”

They laughed and quieted.

“MB, you solid. You getting everything you sacrificed everything for. Don’t let them anxious thoughts or them vultures chip away at the one thing you can control.” Julius tapped his temple. “You control this, everything follows, nigga. You gon’ have your wings in the sky and feet on the ground. You gon’ be aight, nigga.”

“Heard you. ‘Preciate it.”

Keon stalked up the steps with a look of relief on his face. “I hate to break up y’all sentimental moment. Rudy played someshit for Zaim when we were in GH. I got the verse, we need to get in the studio tonight.”

Maximus and Julius shared a look.

“That sound we needed to wrap up this album?” Maximus asked, with excitement growing in his voice.

Keon nodded. “Hell yeah.”

“Let me call Don. He somewhere around here,” Julius stated, and started off into the house. The rest of the men followed after putting their respective blunts out.

“Uh oh,” Eden hummed. “They got that look.”

“Y’all are about to leave us for the studio, aren’t you?” Daysha posed.

Julius smiled. “Y’all trying to come through?”

Donna shooed them along. “Them babies ain’t here yet, and I got these two. Go.”

“Definitely need you there,” Maximus muttered against Eden’s face.

“You don’t need me, you want me.”

“It’ll always be both.”

fifty-four

. . .

Eden,Staysha, and Daysha were happily held up in studio A helping their men and artists tweak and create a record that was going to set the streets on fire. After a day of recuperating, Maximus was out with Keon and Staysha, handling business. Eden had a day before she was to report for Get Richer. While she had security off her neck and her man occupied, she was heading to Peaceful Meadows Healing Center to see the woman responsible for some of her man’s trauma. If Maximus was never going to have this conversation with her, she’d do it for him and hopefully jumpstart the healing process. She would never have her mother, but Maximus could at least have what was left of his.

In the waiting room, she took in the oasis-like vibe of the facility. Everyone employed by the company wore embroidered polos or teal scrubs, easy to detect amongst the guests and their visitors. A woman with a large smile approached Eden.

“Mrs. Burton?”

Eden shook her head. “Sage. Girlfriend, not wife.”

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