The Black Effect 2, page 17
Sherman looked as if he had caught a sudden sickness. His brown tone was burning red. The vein in his neck was protruding, and the sweat beads had turned into what looked like raindrops.
“I can’t believe this,” he said with his eyes casted down.
“I know it’s hard to digest but you have no choice at this point. You are dismissed. Please tread lightly from here on out.”
The warning Domino had given him was more of a threat. It meant that if Sherman went around running his mouth about us that he would be killed; no questions asked. With a heavy sigh, Sherman rose from his seat and leisurely exited the conference room.
“Damn. that was satisfying.” I smirked.
Domino shook his head. “Could you imagine us working with that man on a long-term basis?”
“It wouldn’t have been no us, Domino. I would have let you handle him all on your own.”
Domino snorted. “And here I thought you were my guy.”
“I am, I just don’t fuck with him.”
“Hey, how is Amai doing? I still have my men with their ears to the streets. No one is saying a word yet.”
“She's doing better. She's not in as much pain as she was. Did you look into that nigga, Canton, for me?”
Because I was still suspicious of Canton, I had Domino see about his whereabouts the night of Amai’s attack.
“I had his social media pages checked, and there’s a video of him out at some club. Some of my people reported that he was at The Timeless Lounge the night it happened. I had the owner show me proof and sure enough, he was there.”
“That doesn’t mean he didn’t set her up though.”
Domino nodded. “No, that doesn’t rule out that possibility, and I still have eyes on him.”
That wasn’t the news I wanted to hear, but I let it go for now. He was still a suspect in my eyes, but until I got proof, I would chill on him for now.
“Are you still trying to retire?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah.”
“Why are you giving up all of your power?”
“Because it’s time to live my life now. Plus, my sons want in, and I'm going to allow them the opportunity to take over.”
“Which son have you chosen to step in your place?”
Domino released a dense breath. “That’s the hard part. I don’t know who to go with, and they're already fighting over the position.”
I laughed heartily. “You’ve got your work cut out for you.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s going to be the most difficult decision of my life.”
“You're going to make the right one, though.” I stood. “I'm about to go home. I’ll holla at you later.”
“Alright.”
I made my exit out the conference room and left the building. Cass was waiting for me in the car as I slid into the passenger seat.
“Aye, Jaide called. She sounds upset and wanted me to let you know that she needed to talk to you.”
I rolled my eyes, not even open to the idea to call her back. I was still angry at her for calling my mother over that day. We hadn’t spoken since then, and I wasn’t going to start now.
“I’ll see her when I get home,” I said dismissively.
“A’ight,” he concluded and started the engine.
We drove toward my estate in silence as I closed my eyes. I was tired as hell. Between my business, Amai’s attack, and trying to keep the women in my life from fighting, I was mentally drained. Sometimes, I even questioned if I had made the right decision to continue the tradition of being married to multiple wives. I had enjoyed it when things were good, but now that I had divorced one wife and was going through hell with the other one, I wondered if this was the lifestyle for me.
It pained me to think that way, but I couldn’t help it. I needed to have a conversation with my pops before I exploded and did something else that I regretted. Me and Ali hadn’t been conversing that much since I was avoiding Lena, but I needed my father’s advice and made it my business to give him a call once I settled later tonight.
After a while, we pulled up to my home. Cass let me out at the front door and pulled off. It was a little after seven when I entered the home. The first thing I spotted was multiple bags near the foyer. My eyebrows crinkled, wondering what the hell was going on. Jaide then appeared carrying another bag and stopped in her tracks when she noticed me.
“What the hell is all this?” I asked, sliding my hands in my pockets.
She gave me the nastiest look I’d ever received before she threw the bag she was holding on the other ones.
“Jaide, you don’t hear me?” I asked.
She positioned her hands on her hips and stared at me. “Why didn’t you call me back?”
“I was in a meeting.”
“Okay, why didn’t you call me once you left the meeting?”
I huffed instantly. “Because I was on my way here. Now tell me why you have bags packed?”
“You need to make a choice,” she shot, folding her arms over her busty chest.
I approached her personal space. “What are you talking about?”
“You need to choose between me and Amai.”
I rolled my eyes before I groaned loudly. “Are you serious right now?”
“Hell yeah, I'm fucking serious!” she hollered.
“Aye, you better calm your ass down and stop screaming in my house,” I warned. “Fuck is wrong with you?”
“No, fuck that. You brought this bitch here to destroy us, and I want you to make a choice. Either she goes or I go. I refuse to stay here with her all because she got her ass beat. She doesn’t belong here and as your wife, I want her ass gone.”
“Why are you giving me an ultimatum, Jaide? Amai will be gone once she is healed. Do you think she would really want to stay here? She wants to be gone just as badly as you want her to leave. But you have to understand that I can’t throw her out on the street when she’s been shot.”
“Why not?” she hissed. “You're not her fucking husband anymore. You're not her savior. Tell her to call someone else because you no longer belong to her.”
“Listen, I'm not built like that. You know what kind of man I am, so I don’t know why you acting like you don’t know what I'm about. I spent all those years with her, so naturally, I'm going to want to make sure she's okay. Why don’t you understand?”
“Why should I understand that? I don’t give a fuck about that bitch and neither should you. I don’t know what it is, but Amai has this hold on you, and I don’t like it at all. She's old news, and she should be treated as such.”
Jaide had thrown me off guard with this random-ass ultimatum. She was going crazy with Amai being in the house, and I understood that she didn’t like her, but what I didn’t comprehend was this sudden hate Jaide had for her.
“So, you're really about to give up our marriage because Amai is here?” I asked just to be clear.
“Yep.” She snaked her neck. “You need to figure out who’s more important. Me or her.”
I stared at her, not believing that our marriage had come to this. When I married each of my wives, I never envisioned our unions ending. I always knew that they would be permanent fixtures in my life. We would all be together forever and if we ever had any disagreements, we would work it out with each other. That was a dream, but my reality was displaying how distorted my thinking had truly been.
In the past, I always told myself that I would fight for my wives. My pact was that I would never allow them to leave me. I would do whatever to keep them in my life and would spare no expense. Now, I was tired. Not only physically, but I was emotionally empty. I had no fight left in me when it came to the women in my life. I couldn’t hold anyone hostage, and I refused to do it. I had let Amai go, and I wouldn’t do anything differently with Jaide. So, if she wanted to leave, I would oblige her request.
“Leave my key on the table. I’ll have someone pack up your room for you.”
Jaide stepped back on her right leg as if someone had knocked the wind out of her. Her lenses held tears as they widened at me. I recognized the pain in her eyes since in a way, I was feeling the same emotion. This marriage shit had broken me to the point where I didn’t have any fight left. I couldn’t hold onto Jaide, especially with the shit she had said to me.
“Really, Nadir,” she sniffled. “You're choosing her over me? You're not even going to fight for me?”
“There’s nothing to fight for. Besides, I'm not choosing shit; you are. I didn’t come in here and make you leave. So, if you want to go, I'm not going to stop you.”
“I can’t believe you're choosing someone, who doesn’t love you, over me. I've given you everything of me, even Zain, and you're just going to allow me to go.”
My head tipped back as I closed my eyes. Jaide was stressing me the fuck out, and I had made a promise to myself that I would never lay another finger on a woman. I had fucked up royally by roughing Amai up, and that was still a regret I hated I had to live with. But Jaide was fucking testing me, and I wasn’t going to let her provoke me.
“So, you're okay with me and Zain not being here?” she cried.
That shit got my attention quickly. “My son is not going nowhere. If you want to leave, then bye, but my son will remain in the home he’s always been in.”
Jaide rushed into my face and poked my chest with her finger. “You can’t keep my son from me.”
“But it’s okay to uproot him all because you have an attitude though?” I countered.
“This isn't a fucking attitude. This is real life, and you won’t keep me from my baby.”
“We’ll set up a schedule for you to see him, but you're not taking my son out of this house. He will live here with me and that’s fucking final. Now, get your shit and go if you're going to leave.”
I took off for the stairs, not willing to keep participating in this scene. Jaide began to weep loudly as if I was the one that had hurt her. She had come to me with all this bullshit, and I couldn’t understand why she was acting like I was the one who had dumped her. I went to the room where my nanny kept the kids and opened the door. Zain and Nasir were on the floor playing with puzzle pieces while Michelle was tidying up the place.
“Psst,” I said, trying to get the boys attention.
They both looked up at the same time and jumped to their feet. Nasir ran over to me while Zain took his time since he had just started walking.
“Daddeee!” Nasir yelled, jumping in my arms.
I grabbed him and Zain and picked them up. “Y’all missed me?” I asked, kissing them both repeatedly.
“Yes, can I have some ice cream?” Nasir asked.
“Mr. Black, he’s had so many snacks today that I told him maybe tomorrow,” Michelle informed me.
“You're trying to get over on me?” I playfully bit Nasir.
He laughed and Zain joined in as well.
“A’ight, I’ll tell you this, if you help Michelle clean up, I’ll let you have some ice cream.”
Nasir slithered out of my arms and quickly began to put the toys up. I was still holding Zain as he chewed on his fingers. I looked at him, wishing he didn’t have to grow up without his parents together. I never wanted this for my kids. I always wanted to mimic the foundation my father had built, but I didn’t have total control over my situation. Besides, the dynamic of me and Jaide had been strained for a while. I just wished my son didn’t have to suffer in the process.
I kissed Zain again before I put him down and watched him run to Michelle.
“I’ll be back in a minute, so we can go eat some ice cream, okay?”
“Okay!” Nasir replied, still cleaning up.
I closed the door and entered my office. I was stressed, and the only person that would understand me in this state was my father. So, I pulled out my phone and quickly dialed his number.
“What do I owe the pleasure of this call, Nadir?” he answered.
I smirked as I took a seat in my chair. “Pops, I'm so stressed out. You're the only one that could relate to my life, and I need you to tell me shit is going to be good.”
There was no need for me to act tough anymore. I was fucked up internally and that little boy inside me needed the assurance from my father. He always seemed to know what to do, and he usually had all the answers to my problems.
“What's going on, son?”
“Jaide left me.”
“Why?”
“Because Amai is here. I came in here tonight and Jaide gave me an ultimatum. I didn’t necessarily choose Amai, but I told her if she wanted to go, then I wouldn’t stop her.”
“Oh, my. This is bad. What did she want you to do?”
“She wanted me to kick Amai out when she can barely fucking move. She expects me to be this fuck boy that would put somebody out on the street, who has suffered enough.”
“I think I have an idea why she feels that way,” Ali revealed.
“Why is that?”
“Your mother has been in her ear. I caught her on the phone telling Jaide she needs to demand that you put Amai out. I had no idea she was doing this, and I did reprimand her. I think Lena has already gotten in Jaide’s ear, and she has her feeling threatened by Amai and even Raye.”
“That explains why she has this sudden hate for Amai. I knew it was something. You need to get in mama’s ass.”
“Oh, I did. She's been out of line for a while now, and it was time for me to finally put my foot down. I apologize for not checking her sooner. I didn’t think her impact on your family was so severe. I also didn’t know that she provoked that fight with Amai by spitting on her.”
“How did you find that out?” I asked.
“When we met with our lawyer, Amai’s lawyer threatened to show a video of her spitting. It was then that she confessed to doing it. I was so got damn pissed at her for making a fool out of me. I don’t know what's going on with Lena, but she's changed, and I don’t know what to do.”
I snorted. “She's getting messier by the day. I don’t even want to deal with her if she's going to be acting like she is. I don’t understand mama felt it was necessary to try and ruin my marriage. Shit, I'm down to one fucking wife and I hate it.”
I never envisioned myself being married to one woman ever. Now that I had experienced being in a union with multiple wives, I didn’t think I would ever want to add another woman into my life.
“What are your plans, Nadir?”
“As far as what?”
“Jaide.”
“I'm going to dissolve our marriage contract and pay her ass. Then, I'm going to focus on my sons, Raye, and my business. I can’t worry about someone who doesn’t want to be here.”
“And what about Amai?”
I somehow didn’t have an explanation for her. The only thing I wanted for Amai was for her to get better physically. There was no us anymore, so that was something I didn’t need to worry about.
“I'm just gonna make sure she's good. That’s pretty much it with her.”
“Can I ask you something and I want you to tell me the truth?”
“What?”
“Do you still love Amai?”
“I’ll always have love for Amai. That’s the reason why she's here because of my love for her.”
“Do you believe in fate?”
“I don’t know. Why?” I asked, wondering where he was getting at.
“Because sometimes, I feel like Allah puts things in place that we don’t quite understand until there’s a certain moment that occurs. He can take a damaging situation and make it into something great. Sometimes, he pulls things apart, so there can be a learning experience that needs to be taught just to bring it back together.”
I smirked instantly. “So, what are you trying to say, Pops?”
“Well…”
I could tell he was smiling.
“All I'm saying is… open your eyes and see what Allah is doing in your life. Things may seem bad, but then they may not. Just be open.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“And Nadir, I've raised you to be this strong man, who should always have control of your life. It’s okay to be down and say that you don’t have all the answers. This storm you're going through is going to be a blessing in disguise. Just know that you're stronger than this situation, and you're one of the smartest men that I know. If Jaide wants to leave, let her. If you want to make sure Amai is safe, then do that. Do what's on your heart, and if you're able to sleep at night, then you know you’ve made the right decisions.”
My head was hanging low as I received my father’s words. I had longed for our talks and I also missed seeing him. I hated that Lena had made me keep my distance because I truly missed being in Ali’s presence. He was always filled with wisdom and knew just the perfect thing to say to me to get my spirits lifted. I appreciated him to the fullest.
“Good looking out, Pops. I needed to hear that.”
“Of course. That’s what I'm here for. Let’s set up some time later this week to catch up. I can come to you if you're more comfortable.”
“Alright. I got you.”
“Okay, son.”
Once we hung up, I placed my phone on my nightstand and laid back on my bed. That talk with Ali had just put a lot into perspective for me. My priorities were no longer the same. Before, keeping my wives happy had been my main objective, but now shit had changed. I couldn’t stress myself out over Jaide anymore. She didn’t want to be here, and I wasn’t going to fight for her to stay. This would be on her and not on me.
I was riding through the city, smoking on my blunt while bobbing my head to Lil Baby’s “Heatin Up”. I was vibing out, becoming lost into my thoughts before my phone rang. I glanced at my screen and noticed my mother calling. I pressed the button on my steering wheel to answer.
“What’s up, Mama?”
“Hey, where are you?”
“I'm driving on the west side. Why?”
“Because you have a visitor here.”
