God Don't Like Haters 2 (10 page)

"It could be a scam. Did she ask for upfront
money?"

"No!"

"I still wouldn't trust it."

Archie was killing my joy. I needed to think
this through with somebody that would be just as excited as me.

I needed to talk to Coras.

Chapter 14

Andre "Coras Bane" McDougald

We argued the whole way. Ashleigh even tried to slam
the door on me as I followed behind her into her Olathe home.

My forearm stopped the door from smacking me
in the face.

"Ashleigh, be reasonable," I said.

"Be what?!" She swung her purse at me and I
let it hit me in the shoulder as I blocked my head. "Kissing Kirbie
was the ultimate disrespect! I'm done, Coras. I'm fucking done with
you!"

"I didn't kiss Kirbie."

"Well what was Monifa's status about then?
What other bitch did you have in the studio?"

"There was nobody. That's what I've been
trying to tell you but you won't listen."

"Because I don't wanna hear what bullshit lie
you tell me."

She took her heels off one at a time, and I
thought she was about to hit me with them but she just tossed them
aside and they clattered into the corner of the foyer. She turned
and stalked off. I caught up with her before she reached the steps,
grabbing her arm. She pulled free and stormed up the steps.

"Get out of my house!"

I knew she didn't really want me to leave or
she wouldn't have driven me here. "Where am I gonna go?"

"I don't care. Go back to hustling out of
hotel rooms where I found you."

I started mounting the steps to catch up with
her but she hurried into her room and slammed the door. As soon as
I grabbed the knob I heard the lock click. I jiggled it anyway.

"Ashleigh, fa-real? You gon’ lock me
out?"

"Leave me alone!"

"I'm sorry, okay. Even though I didn't do
anything, I'm still sorry."

"You never admit when you're caught, Coras.
You always lie and never fess up to your bullshit. When you're
ready to tell the truth, I'll let you in."

When I put my ear to the door, I heard the
covers rustling. She was climbing in bed.

I spoke through the door louder. "Ashleigh,
this is what happened. No bullshit. Me and Gee were in the basement
and he had one of his females in there with us trying to impress
her with all of his studio equipment. Monifa came down and she
automatically assumed the bitch was mine because she was cute. She
got all upset and tried to fight the bitch, and me and Gee held
Monifa down on the ground." I listened for a response. Ashleigh
stayed quiet. "Ashleigh," I called out.

"That's not the truth!"

"It is too, baby. Kirbie was never there. It
was Gee's girl. You know Gee's females all look remedial. So of
course Monifa thought the cute one was mine." I listened to see if
I could get a laugh out of her. I heard her crying. "Ashleigh,
that's the honest truth. Monifa made that post up about me kissing
somebody in the studio. She made it up so she'd have a good story
to tell her brother. That's why Gee got shot. She lied to make it
look like he manhandled her. But you know Gee is the nicest person
ever to all women, even the ratchet ones. Monifa is a liar, c'mon
you know that."

I still heard the sobs. So I paced over to
the hallway bathroom and snatched open a drawer, grabbed a bobby
pin. I stuck it in the keyhole under the knob of Ashleigh's room
and kept twisting it and bending it until I heard the
right 
tic
 sound. In my teens, I did this type of
shit all the time.

I turned the knob and slowly pushed the door
open halfway, then stepped inside and just as slowly closed it
behind me. Ashleigh had the covers over her head; her frame was
trembling underneath as she wept. Her dress was on the floor so
that meant she was down to her panties and bra. When I took off my
shoes and my pants and climbed in bed with her, I found out I was
wrong about the panties—she was wearing a thong.

Even better.

She was laying on her side. I cuddled up next
to her from behind, after adjusting my jock so my undershaft would
fit neatly within the breach of her cozy butt crack (I still had my
boxers on, for now). Her hair was long and brown, winding down into
spiral curls that were dip-dyed into a lighter hue of hot toffee. I
put my arms around her and she cringed.

"I so fucking hate you, Coras."

"No, you don't."

"When are you gonna be done with the
bullshit? I can't do this anymore."

"I'm tired too, Ashleigh."

She flipped over, facing me. Her expression:
confusion, pain, and self-pity. "You're done with Milo and Monifa,
right?"

"Milo texted me."

"Fuck his text."

"He said he apologized for what happened,
said it wasn't supposed to go down like that."

"What would Gee want you to do? Would he
still want you fucking with Milo?"

"No. But I kinda need that nigga Milo until
my rap career takes off. His hand feeds me. Feeds me good."

"What if you never make it, Coras? Does that
mean you're never gonna leave Monifa and be with me
exclusively?"

"Don't think like that," I said.

"You need to think like that!"

I stared at her for a long moment.

She turned back over in an abrupt spin. I
tried to put my arms around her again but this time she pushed me
away.

"Can I tell you something?" I asked.

"No."

"I'm done with Monifa and Milo. I was just
messing with you, girl. You know I wouldn't fuck with either one of
them after what happened to Gee. That shouldn't even have been a
question."

She was silent, and even though I was staring
at the back of her head I knew she was smiling. She said, "Coras,
stop messing with me. Now is not a time to play."

"I'm serious. You're my one and only now. No
more Milo. And definitely no more Monifa."

I reached down with my fingers to remove the
cotton crotch of her thong but she grabbed my wrist, squeezed, then
tossed it away like waste.

I said, "C'mon, let's celebrate, Ashleigh. I
just wanna put the head in. Please? You fell for that before."

"No, Coras."

"Let me eat it then. Give you some terror
dome." I stuck my tongue out at her even though she wasn't facing
me—but she could still hear the
throaty 
ah-la-la-la-la
 sound I made as I wagged my
tongue in and out. "That's all I wanna do to it. Liquefy it."

"I went from side chick to main chick. But
Kirbie has graduated to side chick. That's not something to
celebrate."

"That Kirbie shit is bogus, Ashleigh."

"Just leave me alone, Coras. I need time to
think about if I still wanna be with you after all you put me
through."

I knew if I persisted I could get her to open
those legs up, but my phone made a chiming sound and I wanted to
find out if it was Kirbie replying to my Site message. Sure enough,
it was. I tapped the link and read every word she wrote to me. I
was so excited I jackknifed up in bed.

Ashleigh looked back at me over her shoulder.
I had startled her. "What happened?"

"You won't believe this."

"What?"

"Kirbie just forwarded me a message from
Sundi Ashworth, the A&R at Mount Eliyah ENT. Sundi wants to
fuck wit' Kirbie!" I stood up excitedly. "This is it, Ashleigh!
Once Kirbie gets her foot in, we're in too!"

Ashleigh sat up. She looked strangely
concerned. "You don't believe that, do you?"

"What? The message from Sundi? I know Kirbie
wouldn't make that up."

"No, I'm talking about Kirbie getting her
foot in and coming back for us. She doesn't care about us.
She 
never
 cared about Swope Records. It's always
been about her. That's why she quit on us so easily."

"Nah, Kirbie is a loyal person. She just got
tired and Archie got in her head. She wouldn't have sent me this
message asking me what to say back if she planned on ditching us."
I started pulling on my pants.

"Kirbie was just bragging. Coras, where are
you going?"

"She wanted me to meet her in the studio and
get some of her music on a compressed file just in case Sundi wants
to hear more."

Ashleigh slapped her hands down on the
mattress violently. "No!" she screamed. "Not at this time of
night!"

"What are you talking about? I'm always in
the studio at this time of night. It's not even one yet. This is
early."

"I don't want you two in the studio by
yourselves."

"Why not?"

"You know why!"

"Ashleigh, you're being jealous for no
reason."

"You just said I was your number one now. I
don't have that right to make you stay home?"

"Nobody has that right."

"I'm going then," Ashleigh insisted.

"No, you're not."

"I am too. I'm the manager!"

"I thought you wanted to be alone."

"I'm going!"

"You know that's not a good idea. We won't
get anything accomplished because yall will be fighting each other
the whole time. Nah, I'm not gonna let either one of you fuck up
this opportunity."

I was tightening my Gucci belt and heading
for the door at the same time.

"Coras, if you walk out of this room, I'm
never speaking to you again! I promise you it'll be toast for your
black ass!"

I didn't even break stride. I was down the
steps, had grabbed her Volvo keys out of her purse and yanked open
the front door before she could finish telling me how sorry I'd
be.

Chapter 15

Kirbie Amor Capelton

I let myself inside Gee's house with a spare key
he'd given me a long time ago. Coras had one too. Gee had given us
both a whole set—home key, car key, liquor cabinet key—to hold
because he always misplaced his. He'd get drunk and completely
forget what happened to them. Like, 
really
 have no
clue. Sometimes he found them later in his coat pocket, or under
his car seat, once inside the toilet beneath a layer of floating
vomit, but more often than not he had to call me or Coras.

Ashleigh didn't have a set.

Inside his home, I closed the front door and
locked it behind me. I used key number two to open up his liquor
cabinet. Gee owned just about every popular liquor known to man,
even a few rare and vintage bottles. It was hard trying to choose.
I was still overexcited about the Site message from Sundi Ashworth,
and I needed something strong to calm me down. I didn't think
anything could, but I was about to try.

I went for the Bacardi white rum and added
some Coke to it. I was sipping as I made my way downstairs to the
studio.

I clicked on the lights.

For some reason, all of the equipment before
me seemed more important to me, more prestigious than it had
before. This room played an enormous part in aligning the stars so
Sundi could contact me. A 'hood-based basement studio. I ran my
fingers across random knobs and buttons on the digital mixer,
thinking about Gee and all the hours he put in to learn every input
channel and built-in effect that this machine had to offer. He
taught himself how to engineer. If this deal worked out with Sundi,
I was going to try my hardest to get him to produce as many songs
on my album as possible.

Behind me, I heard someone coming down the
steps.

"What'chu drinking on?" Coras asked me with a
smile, as he sipped from a glass filled with an alcohol similar in
color to mine.

"Rum and Coke," I said.

His smile widened. "Me too," he replied.
"Great minds drink alike."

"It's 
think 
alike."

"That too." He raised his glass. "To a
wonderful career in mainstream music, filled with millions and
millions of dollars in cash money."

We clinked glasses.

"Have you figured out what I should write
back?" I asked him anxiously. "I don't wanna mess this up."

"All you have to do is tell her you're very
excited to talk to her and then leave your number."

"What if I mess up on the phone call?"

"You won't. Sounds like she wants to work
with you just as bad as you wanna work with her. Just don't mention
anything about her being a celebrity. Talk to her like you would
any professional."

I took another gulp of rum, smacking my lips
at the bite in the aftertaste. I handed Coras my phone and asked
him to type in whatever response he saw fit. He did, and handed me
the phone back.

"Now what?" I asked.

"We wait."

And while we waited for Sundi to call, Coras
started turning on the studio equipment one button at a time. I had
no idea how to operate any of it. Coras had been around Gee long
enough to learn a thing or two, but to me it was all still foreign
and complex. Using the wireless mouse, Coras attached some solo
songs I'd completed—as well as a couple joint tracks and a few
instrumentals too—to an email that he forwarded to me and CCed to
himself. We were prepared to showcase more of our talent if need
be.

"I'm so excited, Coras. I can't believe it.
This is what we've been waiting for." I was holding my drink with
both hands now because I was afraid I'd drop it otherwise. "I told
Archie about the message and he thought it was a scam."

"Does he know you're here?"

“No. I snuck out after he fell asleep. Do
they know you're here?"

They
—Ashleigh and Monifa.

"Ashleigh does, Monifa doesn't."

"Did you tell Ashleigh about Sundi's message
to me?"

He paused to sip his drink, and that said a
lot.

"What'd she say?" I asked. "I can't believe
she let you come here."

He said, "Let's just say I might not be
welcome in her house after tonight."

"I didn't mean to get you in trouble. I just
didn't have anyone else to run this by. This is big."

"I'm happy to be here. Happy to celebrate
this moment with you. Fuck what either one of them is talking
about."