Page 46 of The Perfect Verse
“You ready to show the ATL how we’re bringing it?”
“Dread Man, I’on know.” Lanky went to the edge of the stage with crossed arms. Security stood in front of him, but he shooed them away. “Oh, I thought y’all wasn’t feeling us.” He looked over at Donovan. “They feeling us, Dread Man. I think my wife out here, too.”
Donovan chuckled, but on the inside, he was torn, hurt even. Chaney had done more than not answer his calls. She’d changed her number. He decided that he’d be on the first plane in the morning, heading to Miami. Luckily for them, they had a day in between before their next show in Charlotte, North Carolina. He had plans to drag her bald-headed ass back with him because he’d come too far to let her slip through his fingers.
“I see you.” Lank winked, then looked at Scooter and dropped his head. The beat dropped, and the crowd screamed so loudly, he could’ve sworn he felt the damn building shake. As he and Donovan took turns spitting lyrics about the life they lived, the struggle, and how it shaped them, Scooter did his best to stay focused.
Serita had not only convinced Donovan to cop a spot in the room with Lanky and Gucci, but she’d had a damn glam squad show up to help her prepare. She whipped out her cellphone and went live, shouting out to her family back home about how her man had finally made it.
Scooter made himself scarce, eased out of the hotel room, and finally booked a separate one. He slipped the bellhop two hundred dollars to gather his personal items and have them in his room. He also paid the front desk five hundred dollars not to share his information, not even with Donovan. Unlike his cousin, he didn’t have room for error.
If anyone knew his cousin was over Shay, he did, but he was sloppy and blinded by a loyalty that wasn’t loyal. He knew Sashay wouldn’t stop until Chaney was out of the picture so shecould resume sitting on his cousin’s dick. If asked, she wore that bid like a badge of honor, but there was no honor in being stupid. It was an invisible chain to a dead-end, fucked-up situation.
“Hold those fucking cells up!” Donovan belted as the room grew dark. The crowd was feeling the new joint, and when Scooter told him they had a hit, it proved they had when he stopped the music, and they rapped along. He wished Chaney were there to see it, tears welling up in his eyes. All the while, she was at the home of her ex-girlfriend, his greatest fear.
Chapter 21
Verse Twenty-One
“Go inside. I’m coming.” The boys walked slowly past Chaney, taking peeks at her out of curiosity. They didn’t have to know her to know that something happened, as she sniffled and dabbed underneath each eye.
Kaleela sat in silence while the woman who once held her heart stood before her in pain. She was torn because the old her, the one who would put a bullet in someone’s chest for even upsetting her girl, would have done just that. She was hard when it counted, but even softer when it counted too, especially when it came to Chaney.
She wasn’t hers anymore, though. That meant neither were the tears she’d once wiped away. She sighed, waiting for her to share what led her to her doorstep. They hadn’t been within two feet of each other in close to a year and a half, and, honestly, she didn’t even crave her anymore. Scooter’s attentiveness and patience had her hooked on any and everything tied to him.
Chaney stood with crossed arms as she second-guessed herself. The longer she did, the more antsy she became. She threw up both hands, tilting her head back while tears rained down her cheeks.
“I don’t even know what I’m doing here.” She laughed, but Kaleela didn’t reply. She didn’t need to. Chaney was no longer her concern.
“You can go,” she offered. Chaney’s eyes stretched, wondering if it had really gotten that bad. “Come on, man. I can’t with the tears, Chaney. Speak your peace so at least you got it off your chest.”
“Fine.” She gritted her teeth. “I fucked up again. I can’t understand why I keep choosing people that can’t seem to let their past go. No matter what I do or how committed I am, I still come fucking last. And no, not that you asked, but I’m not trying to run back to you. I just needed a place to just vent.”
“Good, ‘cause you can’t. See how simple that shit is?”
“Still the cold-hearted bitch who dismisses everyone who’s hurting but protects her fucking self.”
“Naw, I’m the bitch that finally decided to put me first, love me first. I thought loving me was having a bitch everyone wanted on my arm when I didn’t even want me. Come to find out, she didn’t either.”
“It wasn’t like that, Kaleela. I was telling the truth. I was ready. It’s just that when you were ready, he and I had already connected, but when you showed up and I felt it was real, I threw caution to wind and decided no matter how crazy this bitch is, at least she’s crazy about me.”
“Aye yo, Bootsey! Look who’s coming!” one of the boys yelled out as they stepped down the porch and walked down to the sidewalk.
Kaleela was hood royalty. She had more heart and ran more dick through a pack of women with her strap-on than the average man. She was a beast, and when she showed up, everything and everyone stopped to render her respect.
Once she pulled up in front of her house, Kaleela watched Chaney suck her teeth, but she didn’t move. She knew better.She may not have been feeling her since their last fall out, but she wouldn’t dare dismiss her in front of the hood like she wasn’t fucking with her.
When Kaleela pulled up on the sidewalk, she rolled her window down. After surveying the scene, she motioned for Chaney to come to her. By then, Chaney’s mother was at the door, smiling. All she saw was more dollar signs.
“Mama, un uh. Go inside. Dang,” she whined, pulling her shorts down. She was wearing her purple and gray Nike short set and slides, her thighs wrestling with each other, although thick and firm. Her hair was shaved on one side, the other side hanging just slightly over her eye in layers with lilac highlights. She was fucking beautiful.
When she made it to her truck, Kaleela unlocked the door and threw her head the other way, gesturing for her to slide inside. When she did, she felt the cold mouth of her nine-millimeter against her temple.
“Give me one reason I shouldn’t smoke your dumb ass, Chaney,” Kaleela released, her trigger finger twitching. “Just one.”
“I-I, ummm,” she stammered, unsure of what was going on.
“Here. Swipe this once, and I do mean fucking once.”
