Her ears started to ring as everything around her became blurry. The last thing she remembered was someone screaming to call an ambulance before she succumbed to the darkness.
Something wasn’t right.
Mahari could feel it from the way his soul felt extremely disturbed.
He was trying to concentrate on the artist in the booth, but his mind was elsewhere. Everything was telling him to call Aspen and check on her.
“Aye, you good?” Justin asked, tapping Mahari’s shoulder.
“Nah. I need to step out and make a call.”
“Go ahead. I got it.”
Mahari dapped Justin up and excused himself from the room. He stepped into the hallway and heard a bunch of commotion coming from the front. With his phone in his hand, he headed to see what was going on. As he got closer, herecognized the voice that was yelling and carrying on. Mahari rounded the corner to see one of his guards arguing with Lance while Santana stood off to the side with her hand over her heart.
Just as Mahari opened his mouth to speak, he and Lance made eye contact. Lance knocked the security guard out the way and darted toward Mahari. The blow that landed on Mahari’s jaw caused him to laugh. When Lance swung again, Mahari dodged it and shoved him.
“Aye, mane. What the fuck is your problem?” Mahari questioned, side-stepping to dodge another one of Lance’s swings. Chuckling, Mahari warned, “Let another land on me.”
“Fuck you!”
Once again, Lance charged at Mahari. Since it was evident he wanted smoke, Mahari gave him a right hook to his jaw, sending Lance flying back. Mahari walked up on Lance who was scrambling to get up. The kick Lance sent to Mahari’s leg made him stumble, giving Lance a chance to tackle him.
The two wrestled around for a minute before Mahari was able to get him into a headlock. They were both out of breath, but Lance wasn’t trying to let up.
“Chill the fuck out, Lance!” Mahari demanded, squeezing tighter. “I don’t know what’s on your chest, but this isn’t what you really want. Either calm down and talk to me like a man or go to sleep.”
“What are y’all doing out here?”
Justin rushed over and broke them up. While Mahari had no trouble backing off, Lance kept trying to charge at Mahari until Justin hemmed him up by the collar.
By then, a small crowd had formed in the lobby. Mahari was livid that Lance had come into his place of business showing his ass, which in turn made him do the same. Most people wouldn’t think much of it because they knew they were family, but toMahari, that didn’t matter. There had never been a problem before, and it wasn’t about to start.
“If he can’t calm his ass down, he can get out.” Mahari pointed toward the door with his nostrils flared.
Lance pushed Justin off him and pretended to walk away but pivoted and ran at Mahari. Justin caught him just in time to hold him back.
“Lance! Chill, mane!” Justin yelled.
“Fuck that! That nigga fucked my girl!” Lance announced, and everyone around them gasped.
Mahari thumbed his nose. He should’ve known all the hostility had something to do with Aspen. Lance had no other reason to come at Mahari sideways. Knowing the truth, Mahari couldn’t even be mad at him.
Justin whipped his head and bucked his eyes at Mahari. “You did what?”
To Mahari, there was no point in lying, so he admitted, “It was months ago. We were drunk and shit happened.”
“That’s not even the worst part.” Lance broke free from Justin and mugged Mahari. “That bitch?—”
Lance couldn’t even finish his sentence. Mahari’s fist connected with his mouth, and blood immediately poured from it.
“Watch your mouth when speaking on my girl, Lance,” Mahari warned in a calm, even tone.
“Your girl? Aspen?” Justin questioned, and Mahari nodded.
The truth was finally coming out, and even though it wasn’t the way Mahari desired, he knew it was for the best. He wasn’t sure how Lance found out, but from the way he was talking, Aspen had told him. Mahari needed to hear her side of things.
Spitting out blood, Lance glared up at Mahari. “You’re one dirty bitch, you know that, right? You go behind my back, your own blood, fuck my girl, and possibly get her pregnant.You’ve been walking around here all this time, going to her appointments and shit, knowing you were showing up for your own selfish reasons. That’s why you were always in our business. You were waiting for me to fuck up so you could swoop in and take her.”
