Page 30 of Intentional Foul
How about you accept the fact I love you? Stop hiding in your room and talk to me about our future.
Me
There is no future.
Malcolm
Right now, you’re dealing with shock and anger. I recognize your feelings, and I will not take your rejection personally.
I lifted my hands in the air and allowed them to drop hitting my thigh.
Tyrus
The record label wants an answer within forty-eight hours.
Me
What do you think about the deal?
It took my manager five minutes to respond as the three dots entered and exited.
Tyrus
I’m not a fan of this agreement. You shouldn’t have to fake a relationship.
Me
The answer is no.
Tyrus
They threatened to shelve your album and keep your masters. I have our lawyer looking into it.
“Why is this happening to me? Whyyyyyy,” I screamed.
Malcolm
Music Note, what’s wrong?
Malcolm
Unlock the door.
I threw air punches at Malcolm’s text message. He wasn’t taking any accountability or listening to me.
Before I could respond, Papers called, and relief flooded my body.
“Tell me you got something,” I said.
“Jhae, for the first time in my PI history, I don’t have anything to prove this marriage is a fraud. Put it this way—if you wouldn’t have told me about the club, I wouldn’t have known you were there. I can’t find you on any damn cameras from the time you left the stadium until you showed up at the hotel. I hacked the GPS from the car, and it was wiped clean. I found your marriage license, which led me to the chapel. I hacked their cameras, and I couldn’t find the footage. The officiant scheduled for the night disappeared. He’s been gone for months. Chasity does show up on the club footage doing some questionable things.”
“We were together,” I said.
“Not according to the video footage. The tape is fucking flawless. Shit! Your marriage license is gone. What the hell? Jhae, I’m not going to charge you because I don’t have anything to show you. Someone went through a lot of trouble to make sure you couldn’t claim this as fraud. I need the name of the computer hacker.”
“Thank you,” I said and hung up, but I dialed the last number I had for Chasity.
She was with me the entire night. Hell, we ordered shots together on her card.
