Instead of responding, Lyric rolled her eyes at me. She could be mad all she wanted, but I meant what I said. The countdown had already started, and I wasn’t playing with her.
Keynauri and I chilled in his home studio, and bro had the shit laid out. It was nice as hell and further proved he was hungry for the hustle. His music was solid, and I already knew it was about to do numbers when the album dropped.
“Are you nervous about people finding out who you really are?” I probed.
When he first told us he wanted to remain anonymous, none of us truly understood where he was coming from, but he was my brother, so I was going along with the plan regardless.
“I don’t know how to feel. A part of me is anxious because I’m not sure how people will receive me, but then there’s another part that’s excited. The label already has my schedule booked with shows and appearances. When I was locked up, I dreamed of the day I would be able to be free and perform my songs live on a real stage. Now my dreams are about to become a reality. It still feels surreal at times.”
I nodded my head in understanding. I gained a lot of respect for Keynauri for the way he handled his bid. Most people would have probably cracked and lost their minds, but he stayed motivated, not allowing his circumstances to hinder him. There were times when I knew he was fucked up mentally, but he only spoke on the positive things in his life.
Every time I talked to him, his main concern was for his daughter, Lyric, and Noodle. Even when I reassured him they were all straight, he still went out of his way to make sure they had everything they needed. Bro was as solid as they came.
“Shit is about to get crazy, but you deserve all of the success coming your way. I know this shit ain’t been easy, but you walked that bid down like a G, and now it’s time for you to reclaim your life. Don’t let anything or anyone get in the way of your success.”
“Thank you, bro. I don’t mean to get sentimental, but I truly appreciate you and LJ holding me down. Outside of Keyami, Lyric was my biggest concern. I was more stressed about her on the outside than I was about myself. Y’all held shit down and looked out for my family, and I’m grateful.”
“We’re family, so it’s nothing. I know if it had been me, you would have done the same.”
“No question,” Keynauri replied before his phone started going off. He declined the call, but it rang again. I chuckled at the irritated expression on his face.
“Woman problems?” I inquired, knowing only a woman could bring that level of frustration.
“Man.” Keyz huffed. “Between my baby mama and these other bitches, I’m over it. I’ve only hooked up with a couple chicks, but Tiana found out about it and has been giving me hell ever since. She’s acting like I was making jailhouse promises to be a family, and that was never the case. I considered her family on the strength of our child, but she has been showing her ass. Then these bitches are messy as hell. You can’t even get your rocks off without a bitch trying to take a picture of you to prove they were with you. Shit is crazy.”
I chortled, knowing exactly where he was coming from. It was one of the main reasons I cut a lot of women off when I was out there doing my thing. It didn’t matter how many times you told them you weren’t looking for anything serious; they would still try to pull some slick shit. When they started messaging Lyric, that was when I knew I had to put an end to things once and for all. They didn’t know how to stay in their lane, and I couldn’t have anything messing up my home, even when we weren’t official.
“Yeah, it’s crazy out there. Social media has made it worse because these broads want everyone to know what they are doing and who they’re fucking. I had to fall back from bitches as a safety precaution. The last thing I wanted was for someone to post a picture of me in their bed and one of my opps catch me slipping. Hell, that’s how Seven got killed. His girl posted them at Denny’s, and his opps slid on him and shot the place up. Theyhad to put his girl in the crazy house because the guilt sent her spiraling,” I told him.
The story was all over the local news, many blaming his girl for being careless. I got on Lyric about it when that happened because I didn’t want to risk them ever being in the line of fire. Now, she only posted her location after she had already left. You could never be too careful, and I would paint the whole state red if something ever happened to my girls.
“Damn, she’ll probably be fucked up for the rest of her life. My team has been on me about using my security, but I’ve been pushing back for the time being. I’m not sure how things will go after my show, but for now, I want to live as normally as possible.”
“I get where you’re coming from but prepare for this shit to get crazy. Your fans already love you, but once they find out who you are, privacy will be in short supply. They are gonna be searching every part of your life to get to know you. You might as well get ready,” I warned.
“I’m already knowing. I begged Tiana to keep Keyami off social media as much as possible, but since I couldn’t tell her the real reason, she thought I was trying to control her. Jay-Z and Beyonce are billionaires, and the internet still ripped their children apart. I don’t want that for my baby girl. Plus, I ain’t wrapped too tight, and those mothafuckas will be ready to cancel me after I finish with their asses,” he voiced.
“Naw, you can’t do that. Honestly, I think that’s probably gonna be one of the hardest challenges. As a celebrity, you’re expected to behave a certain way, even when people are disrespecting you. You can’t handle shit the way we do in the streets, because there will be millions of people watching.”
“Fuck yeah. I guess all I can do is pray for the best because I can’t predict how I’m gonna act.”
“You gotta get prepared. People are going to want to get close to you. Family and old associates will be coming out of the woodwork to get access to you and clout off your name. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ari popped up, wanting to get that old thing back,” I teased him.
Everyone knew Keynauri and his former best-friend-turned-lover Naiari were supposed to be married with kids by now, but life got in the way. When they finally decided to make their relationship official, Keynauri ended up getting arrested for murder. He never gave us very many details, but one day, he told us that they were done, and he didn’t want anyone to reach out to her. We were confused at first but decided to respect his wishes.
Logic was dating her best friend, and when the two of them went off to college, we lost touch with them. I never bothered to look for them afterward, but I still wondered what happened to them. He carried her the same way I carried Lyric, so I knew the love between them was deep.
“Naw, I doubt it. I’m sure she still hates a nigga, and I can’t even be mad.”
“You don’t think the two of you could rekindle things now that you’re free?”
“It honestly hasn’t crossed my mind. When I made the decision to let her go, I made peace with the fact that she would never be mine again. Naiari is the type of woman a man marries and settles down with. There was no way in hell I was going to waste her time by asking her to hold me down. I’m sure she’s probably engaged to a lame cat with a trust fund. Hell, that’s what she deserves. A soft life with no drama.”
“And you don’t think you could have given her a ‘soft life’, as you put it?” I asked, trying to get a better understanding of where his head was at. Over the last seven years, he nevermentioned her, but I knew my friend well enough to know he still loved her.
“I can’t say. When I broke up with her, I was looking at a life sentence, so I wasn’t tryna hear anything about her holding me down. I also never expected my music to take off, so there were a lot of unknowns. Truthfully, I’ve tried my best to keep my thoughts of her to a minimum, because if I didn’t, I would have been ready to break out of that mothafuckin’ prison and go find my woman.
“Lyric offered to look her up, but I didn’t think I could handle it if I saw her happy and living the life that was meant for us. I would rather not even open Pandora’s box and let her live her life in peace. Besides, as much as I loved that girl, I know if I found out she was happily married with some lame, I would be ready to make his ass disappear and raise their kids as mine from my new cell. I don’t even want to set myself up for another bid.”
