Page 96 of Perfect Rhythm
“Not shit. Yo, Mecca need to get his shit together. I almost left his mother without a child last night.”
“Yeah, I know. He’s got a lot going on right now.”
“Oh, I know. That shit has been all over the blogs. But that’s what his bitch ass gets. Why in the hell is he out here screwing bitches raw? Especially Brookia’s ass. Every nigga in the industry done hit that.”
“Man, you know how niggas get when they start mixing business with pleasure. They lose all common sense.”
“Well, don’t nobody need to lose a damn thing when it comes to her. I can’t believe somebody thought they could turn that hoe into a housewife.”
I shook my head. “Yeah, that shit is crazy.”
“Hell yeah, it’s crazy. Her called off engagement is breaking the damn internet,” he said. “Oh, and speaking of engagements, I thought your girl Nyx was done fucking with ol’ boy.”
I frowned, confused by what he was referring to. “What are you talking about? Who’s ol’ boy?”
“Eli,” he replied. “Have you not seen FDL this morning?”
“No, I haven’t. Feel free to fill me in though.”
“Shit, according to the front page, her and Eli are engaged.”
“What?”
“Hell yeah. I saw pictures and everything. She doesn’t look too happy in any of them, but it definitely looks like a celebration. Maybe an engagement party or some shit.”
A slow burn flared in my chest.
Is that why she needed fucking space?
Why didn’t she say anything when we talked?
“Aye, I gotta go. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Hold up…you straight?”
“Nah, I’m not fucking straight. But I’ll holler at you later.”
“Alright, let me know if you need me.”
“Will do.” I ended the call and turned to Trace, jaw tight. “Tell Antone to get the car ready. Oh, and figure out where the fuck Nyx is. Now!”
38
NYX
“Hey, Daddy. You busy?” I asked as I peeked into his office.
“Not at all.” He slid a stack of papers to the corner of his desk and waved me in. “How was your workout? You were going pretty hard when I checked on you a few minutes ago.”
“It was good. I had to blow off some steam.”
“Oh yeah?” He gave me a puzzled look and folded his arms over his chest. “I thought you’d be walking on air after Eli’s big proposal.”
“Actually, that’s what I came to talk to you about.” I sat down across from him, the wooden chair cool beneath me. There wasn’t an easy way to say what needed to be said, and truthfully, I didn’t want to say it at all. But I couldn’t let things linger for too long. The truth was going to come out, and I would much rather my parents hear it from me. “Is Mom coming by today?”
“No, she’s out shopping with a few friends, and there’s no telling when that will end.” We laughed. My mother was the perfect definition of shop ‘til you drop. “So, what’s going on? Did you and Eli have a disagreement or something?”
“We had more than a disagreement. We broke up.”
