Page 40 of Are You Going to Love Me

Maximus mused over the effortlessness Eden exuded just to be her. To walk like she walked, talk like she talked, be herself regardless of the room and the beings that filled it. Sure, the pretty face she held, toned body, rounded ass and portioned hips were attractive but her being herself – alluring.

He lost track of time from when she left his side and disappeared through the side entrance. It wasn’t until Mama appeared that he was reminded where he was. In the middle of Midnight and wasn’t shit sweet about what this place when the cameras turned off. The streets of Trae Way made him a man, but Midnight snatched his innocence.

“Today must be a fucking two for one special. You can’t come and check in?” Mama queried as she wobbled over to Maximus. “All that studio equipment I bought you is collecting dust.”

He studied her. Compared to the softness that just left his view, Mama was a harsh reminder of what Trae Way could do and be if you didn’t guard your soul. He steadied himself. Long gone were the days when she could command anything from him. After all, she hadn’t even been sure to make sure he was good. Not like all the other times before when she kept his books stacked when he was in county jail. Things were different this time around – he was different this time around. There wasn’t space on his calendar for anything other than making it.

“Not sure what that means,” Maximus stated as he leaned forward slightly.

Mama smirked, looking over her shoulder as if Eden was going to reappear. When she turned back to him, she observed him. His come up. Long gone was the dusty nigga with the worn black air forces, overgrown facial hair, and unkempt braids. No black flag present to show his affiliation with the Trae Way Gangstas, but it was evident. The 3W tattooed on his left temple.

“You don’t fuck with family no more?” Mama questioned. “You blowing up and can’t put Trae Way on the map? Can’t pay it forward.”

“Trae Way is on my back. Everyone who knows something about me knows I’m 3Way through and through. Why am I explaining shit that’s already understood?” Maximus posed, ignoring her comment about the studio equipment, he was sure to pay her back for when he got released from county years ago. “But that ain’t even important.”

“Oh, no?” Mama mused.

“Nah. But off that bullshit.” Maximus swayed his head and stood to his feet. “Who the fuck is supplying my mother?”

He hadn’t brought himself to return to his mother’s house after putting Augustus through the porch, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have his ears to the street.

Mama smirked. “That bitch ass nigga she let move into her house. I’m tempted to make you pay his debts.”

Maximus scoffed bitterly as if the confirmation was going to make the reality any less chilling. “I’m not paying another thing for that nigga. I already took four years on the chin. Him, nor you, are going to get shit else from me.”

Mama smiled coyly. “Don’t speak too soon, nigga. You don’t have enough heart to put down your brother.”

Maximus tilted his head to the side. The few tattoos he had were on full display to her. “No heart?”

“That’s what I said,” she challenged.

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”

“When I say shoot, you’re going to do it.”

He gleamed. “Nah. You and I don’t have no more business. You can’t even keep your top soldier in line. You definitely can’t tell me what the fuck to do. I don’t need you no more."

“You’ll always need me. I’m Mama.”

Maximus looked around, pieces of his vision becoming clearer. “And this is all you’ll ever have. Take care of yourself, Ma.”

With that, he stepped away, heading to his trailer parked in the back parking lot of Midnight. Like Eden, he had wardrobe shit he had to handle. The further he moved away from Mama and the smell of tobacco that rested on her skin like melanin, he knew he wasn’t returning. Ever.

Back inside his trailer with a tight chest, he found the wireless JoyBeats headphones wrapped in graffiti art. He sat in his chair and played the rehearsed lines he’d read with Eden on a loop until anxiety wasn’t an issue.

More and more, he found Eden to be a balm to the wounds he didn’t acknowledge. Whatever she had, he was beginning to feel like he needed more.

eighteen

. . .

That momentshe shared with Maximus, alone in complete comfort, was the last of the calm moments. They’d shared in company and conversations on set and between scenes, but it was either always surrounded by their castmates or someone from the crew. Every so often, she found herself annoyed with having to share. The moment the feeling rose, she quieted it with the truth. Maximus wasn’t hers to possess. He was just someone along the path of her experience, and once these days of filming wrapped, there wouldn’t be anything to hold on to for real.

For three days, they were shooting scenes back-to-back between Midnight and the apartments nearby. Morning calls were early, and shooting went on well into the night.

The final scene was minutes from being shot. She was standing in the small apartment kitchen watching all the moving parts before that magnetic presence pulled her in again.

“I got this bag in my trailer with all that frilly shit, that was from you?” Maximus questioned in a tone only she could hear.

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