Page 123 of The Last Man on Earth
A few beats pass before she speaks again. “You honestly think she loves you?”
“Yeah. On that island, I ain’t have shit. She loved me anyway.”
“Bullshit. You had good dick, and obviously, you was givin’ it.”
I chuckle. “Obviously.”
“You’re so fucking selfish,” she spits. “You only give a fuck about yourself.”
I know that’s the pain talking, so I let her cook.
“And you’re way too immature to date a grown ass woman.”
I shrug. “Maybe she brings out the man in me.”
She goes quiet again.
“I’m glad we had this talk,” I say. “We’ll co-parent, you’ll leave Ari the fuck alone, and hopefully you find a nigga that loves you like you deserve.”
“Whatever.”
“We’ll talk soon.”
I hang up, let out a long breath, and stare up at the ceiling. The chaos isn’t over, but I feel like I took a big step forward.
I text Ari.
I took care of it.
For the first time since I’ve been back, I sleep through the night.
I wake up to a million texts and emails.
Bash, my manager, is texting me about doing interviews. It has to be done, I just don’t feel like it right now. She gets ignored.
Sharif’s parents texted me a thank you for taking care of the homegoing. I respond to that one.
A gang of book agents want me to write about my time on the island. They get ignored.
The A&R rep from my label wants to have lunch. Them niggas see dollar signs already. That, too, has to be done, but not today.
Tiana, my attorney, reached out about suing Echelon. I don’t know how I feel about that yet.
And on and on. Everybody pulling. Everybody tugging. Everybody wants a piece.
I set my phone face down and start my day, feeling weighed down and stressed out already, and it ain’t even ten a.m. yet.
Ty texts me right when I’m packing up my shit.
Asst Ty
The Roundtable is talking about you
Wait. That’s kinda notable.
The Roundtable is the most popular podcast out right now. Hell, I been on that shit before. Sarai, Keenan, and Thor are good people.
Still, I’m lowkey nervous.
