Page 4 of Are You Going to Love Me

When the pair arrived at the club, they came through the back entrance, void of security and patrons looking to get in and see the sights. Down a long red lit hall, Maximus scanned the area for Priya, needing to talk about the bullshit she left behind. Following his brother’s steps, they stopped at Mama’s office.

The shouting and cussing could be heard through the door.

“Bitch, what the fuck I tell you about my muthafuckin’ money?!” Mama shouted, the sound of something whipping through the air and hitting skin resounded.

Augustus chuckled. “She fuckin’ one of these bitches up.”

Maximus didn’t find shit about that funny. Their father, along with the string of boyfriends who called themselves UncleJohn, all had a habit of putting their hands on their mother. It was always for bullshit – asking him for money to take care of his kids, threatening to tell his wife about his second family, or telling them she was going to stop dealing with them.

“I’m sorry, Ma!” the woman shrieked. “I’ll get it. I’ll get it.”

“You fuckin’ right you are. Take your ass upstairs, you gon’ be on your back and your knees the rest of the fucking night. You won’t see the pole as long as you keep coming up short. Get the fuck out my fucking face, bitch.”

The door flew open, and the young girl flew out of it. At the threshold, Mama stood with a scowl, a blunt hanging out of her mouth, and a belt in her hand. “You niggas is late.”

“My bad, Ma,” Augustus said with a smile.

“Don’t fuckin’ smile at me. I got shit to do,” she huffed, watching the men walk in past her. “MB, it’s good to see you. Got out and couldn’t come say hi?”

“Been adjustin’,” Maximus replied simply.

“Nigga, relax, it was six damn months. The way I look at it, you made me have to pay twice for some little nigga who didn’t know what he was doing,” Mama stated with a scoff, closing the door and moving to her safe behind a portrait of her.

Maximus hated that portrait. It was a naked portrayal of her, maybe a hundred and ten pounds ago, with her thighs open and a panther sitting between them. Tasteless, but who was he to judge? He was a drug dealer with rapper dreams.

“Ten ki’s,” Mama confirmed, dropping them on the corner of her desk. “Break it down, get my money back in two days. Don’t fuck with me.”

“Now, why you have to look at me when you said that?” Augustus questioned with a furrow of his brows.

“Because you think ‘cause you handsome and your dick long you can talk your way out of anything. Have my money back inmy fuckin’ hand on time. I whip niggas too. Turn them all into my bitches.”

A frown covered Maximus’ face. Mama was, at minimum, two hundred and ninety pounds with a mustache and a beard, and chain-smoked like it was the air she breathed. Augustus bending her over was repulsive. That was if Augustus was actually the one doing the bending. Anything was possible with Mama.

Kilos tucked away under his sweatshirt, Maximus walked out of the office leaving Augustus and Mama to talk about whatever business they had. He roamed to the dressing room, leaning on the side of the wall, waiting for the cluster of women to walk out. In the mix was the woman from earlier – Poppi's girl. At least that’s how his mind had categorized her in rebellion against what he told it to do. Earlier in the day, she was covered up in a pair of oversized dark colored sweats. Now that she was on display, she seemed out of place. Nothing about her looked like she was supposed to be in a place like this. The belly of the beast –hell.

About five feet five inches. Soft features and a body untouched by surgery, no blemishes, no tattoos, just smooth, milky-chocolate skin. Off her features alone, it was confirmed she wasn’t made for a place like this. Behind the cluster was Priya, ending his silent musing. Big titties, big ass, tattoos and more than enough showing. When Maximus met her, she wasn’t so – filled with plastic. She had dreams of being a celebrity hairstylist, of getting out of Trae Way. But the popularity of being a stripper seemed to make her lose sight of that.

The moment Priya was in his line of sight, he stopped her.

Priya went to scoff and yank away before realizing it was him. “Oh, hey, babe. Came to make it rain on me?”

Maximus pushed her back into the empty dressing room and pulled out the pregnancy test. She didn’t look six monthspregnant, which posed a major problem for him. He’d seen plenty of pregnant women in his day, and this wasn’t a woman carrying his seed.

“What the fuck is this shit?” he gritted, holding up the test.

Priya snatched it out of his hand and cut her eyes at him as if he’d made an offense to her trust. “Why were you going through my shit?”

“Your shit was all over the fucking bathroom counter. Not to fuckin’ mention, I’ve been locked the fuck up for six months. You ain’t showing, so what the fuck is it?”

“My fucking business,” she hissed, attempting to push past him. “I got to get to the stage.”

“Nah, you ain’t goin’ nowhere until you tell me what the hell this is? You pregnant?”

“Obviously.”

“Whose is it, Pri?”

Swallowing the lump in her throat, her eyes darted around before landing on the door.

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