Page 17 of The Prodigy 2: Rise of a Queen

“Not much. I talked to your boy today.”

“Oh yeah?” She looked totally uninterested.

“Yeah. He said you ain’t been to see him.”

“Been busy.”

“Well, listen, I ain’t no relationship counselor, but when a man’s locked up, he needs to see his people. That’s what keeps him going.”

Rather than respond to that, she turned to me. “Malika, that’s Dallas Darrington. He’s Terio’s lawyer. Dallas, that’s Malika. She just got married to Jakari.”

“Oh! Congratulations,” he said with a smile.

My mouth was full of spring roll, so I simply nodded my thanks.

“Alright, you ladies enjoy your evening. Jaz, try to get by and see him.”

“Bye, Dallas.”

I watched him leave, then turned to my sister-in-law. “He’s cute.”

She rolled her eyes. “That nigga lame as fuck. You see what he got on.”

“So? Ain’t that how lawyers dress?”

“Not at the damn club.” She angrily ate a french fry, almost taking off the tip of her nail in the process. “He owns part of this place, but still.”

“Okay, but why are you so bothered by his clothes?” I laughed.

“I’m not. I don’t like his ass. Terio shouldabeenout on bail by now. He got the money for it.”

I could see the frustration on her face, and honestly, I was a little surprised by it.

“Do you love him? Cuz last time we talked, you said you were gonna sleep with his manager.”

She rolled her eyes. “No, I said I was gonnafuckhis manager to teach him alesson. I wouldn’t do that if I didn’t love him.”

I tilted my head like Nugget does when he doesn’t understand me, but I still couldn’t make sense of the words that had just come out of her mouth. Jaz logic often had that effect on me.

“Anyways, I ain’t come here to worry about niggas.” She stood and brushed the crumbs off her lap. “Let’s dance.”

We made our way to the outer edge of the dance floor just as a City Girls song kicked in. I wasn’t blessed with the same amount of rhythm as Jaz—a two-step was as good as it was gonna get for me—but Jaz’s energy infected me. I found myself laughing and twerking (trying to) and even backed it up on a couple of guys before the waitress found me and brought me my drink. On the dance floor. Yeah, you couldn’t tell me shit.

“You ladies are looking good tonight!” That was DJ Polo on the microphone. “Shout out to Jazlyn! I see you baby girl. Holdin’ it down out there for our boy Terio.”

Jaz held up her hand as the crowd cheered.

“This for you, Jaz!”

Terio’s song, “Whatchu Wanna Do” blared out of the speakers just then, and it seemed like everybody except for me knew the words. I watched Jaz get into a zone rapping along, with what looked like pride on her face.

Bring it over here

Pop that pussy for a real nigga

Leave your man at home

Cuz I got a itchy trigger finger

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