God Don't Like Haters 2 (9 page)

RealNiggas Stay Anonymous:
Coras Bane got
shot. That’s what I heard.

Trillyoung Sav:
No, it was his producer.

Coras or Gee got shot?!
I immediately
put my phone to my ear to call Coras.

"Who are you calling?" Archie asked.

"There was a shooting at the Sprint Center,"
I said frantically. The call went to voicemail. I redialed. "I'm
trying to find out what happened."

"You’re calling Coras?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I just told you why!"

Archie let out a hard sigh through his nose,
the same way a rodeo bull clears its airway in preparation for an
attack. But he didn't stop me from making my call. There was no way
he could have.

Monifa Chavis:
 I bet that'll be the last
time you kiss another bitch in the studio. Don't fuck with my
heart. #SprintCenter

Chapter 12

Andre "Coras Bane" McDougald

"Kirbie's on her way up here," I warned Ashleigh. We
were sitting in the waiting area of Truman Medical Center's ICU
wing. Ashleigh had a magazine in her lap, but she was flipping
through the pages too fast to actually read anything.

"Why are you telling me that?" she said with
an attitude.

"So you'll know. I don't want you to start
nothing with her."

"I don't understand why you even accepted her
call and told her Gee was up here. She doesn't deserve to be
here."

"Gee is her friend."

"If she was a friend, she wouldn't have
canceled on us like that. She should have been there."

"If she was there, it could have been her in
ICU instead of Gee."

Ashleigh shrugged one shoulder curtly and
started flipping through more pages as if she would've preferred
that alternative. This was one of the only times I wanted to smack
Ashleigh. Instead, I leaned back in my seat and loaded up The Site
on my phone. I began responding to comments people were making on
my page about Gee's welfare. People were showing him overwhelming
support. I responded to and Liked as many comments as I could
before I was interrupted.

"Hi, Coras," said Kirbie.

I looked up. My future wife had tears in her
eyes.

I quickly set my phone down and stood up and
hugged her. She threw her arms around my shoulders and cried into
my chest. She smelled like Mexican food. For some reason it was the
best scent ever.

"Is he gonna be okay?" she sobbed.

"I don't know, Kirbie. Doctors haven't come
out and told us anything yet."

"I'm so sorry, Coras."

"Nothing to be sorry about. This was my
fault."

I heard Ashleigh slam her magazine shut. I
turned my head and saw her giving me incredibly wide
why-are-you-still-holding-her eyes. I turned back into Kirbie's
embrace, and not until another long moment of consoling did I let
her go.

We settled into our chairs, Kirbie and
Ashleigh on either side of me. Ashleigh wrapped my arm within hers,
leaning me closer to her side.

"How long is she gonna be here?" Ashleigh
whispered to me.

"Probably until we find something out. Why
are you so worried about her?"

"We'll talk later," she said icily.

I was concerned. She couldn't have known
about the reason me and Monifa fell out, could she?

"No, let's talk now. Wussup, Ashleigh?"

"I don't want to discuss private matters in
public. Especially not in front of that ho because I might lose my
cool."

"I can hear you," Kirbie said suddenly. "Keep
them ho comments to yo'self."

Ashleigh leaned forward, peering around me at
her. "Ho, you need stay out of my conversation," she said, jabbing
her finger in Kirbie's direction. "And what are you even doing
here? I thought you quit."

Kirbie shot to her feet and so did Ashleigh.
I got between them, but they were still poking their chests out at
each other.

"I'm here for Gee, bitch!" Kirbie hollered.
"If anybody shouldn't be here, it's you! You don't care about Gee.
You're only here because Coras is here!"

Other visitors were watching. It was late
into the night so there were only a few people here to stare.

"I do too care about Gee!" Ashleigh flared.
"The only person I don't care about is YOU!"

"I don't know why," Kirbie said back. "I
didn't do shit to yo uppity ass!"

"You've been trying to fuck my man since I've
met you!"

"Really?! That's the delusional side of you
thinking that."

It was getting harder and harder to hold
Ashleigh back. But I was separating them for her sake.

"No, bitch, I'm stating facts!" Ashleigh was
raging. "You were kissing Coras in the studio and Monifa caught
yall asses red-handed! So don't sit here and act like you don't
want the dick!"

Fuck!
 I thought. 
She
knows. But how did she find out?

I started to deny it. "Ashleigh, me and
Kirbie never—"

She smacked me. "Shut the fuck up with the
lies, Coras! What is this then?" She shoved her phone in my face
and I saw Monifa's Site profile on her screen. I didn't get a
chance to read the whole status before she smacked me again. "Gee
wouldn't even be here in the damn ICU if it wasn't for Kirbie
trying to spread her legs for you all the damn time. And I'll deal
with you later, Coras. Move out of my way so I can deal with that
ho."

"You keep calling me a ho but you're the one
sleeping with somebody else's man!" Kirbie hollered. "I don't share
men. 
Monifa's man
 came on to me!"

Oh fuck!
I thought.

"People, please!" It was the doctor that
interrupted us. He was walking our way in his white lab coat, his
brow scrunched in either concern or shame that we were causing a
commotion. For the moment we were all calm in his presence, and I
was thankful.

"Good news?" I asked.

"He's going to survive," said the doc.

We all breathed sighs of relief. Kirbie
uttered an almost silent 
thank you 
and I
instinctively put my arm around her. Then my common sense kicked in
and I removed it. I patted Ashleigh on the back to be fair.

"But," he began, "after he leaves the ICU
unit he's going to need rest in order to recover. He lost lots of
blood. He's very weak right now."

"When can we see him?" Kirbie asked.

"I'm not clear on that, but not tonight."

"Tomorrow?" I asked.

"We're going to have to play it by ear. You
can't put a time on health. Everybody's body is different. And Mr.
Gerard Higgins's insides are ... at risk." Doc crossed his arms.
"Does Mr. Higgins have a dependence on alcohol?"

We all looked at each other. Of course Gee
had a drinking problem. He had just gotten through puking up blood
before the shooting. I told the doctor that, yes, Gee was an
alcoholic.

"I ask because he had an unusually high blood
pressure for his age. We also found suspicious inflammation in his
pancreas and early signs of liver disease. These symptoms can
eventually become just as fatal as the gunshots he sustained." The
doctor handed me a card. "When he gets better, I think it would be
beneficial to have him give that number a call. The more
encouragement he receives from friends and family, the better
chance he has of overcoming his addiction."

I looked at the card. It listed a company
called First Call located in south Kansas City. First Call had
programs that educated you on alcoholism. They also had
technological solutions to help stop abuse. I knew this because I
had given Gee this card before.

Gee had torn it up then, and I knew he would
now.

Chapter 13

Kirbie Amor Capelton

I left the hospital first because I didn't want
Coras having to choose between me and Ashleigh. I knew he would
have picked, and it wouldn't have been the girl with the
short-cropped hair who sang her heart out for him and didn't ask
for shit in return but respect and couldn't even get that because
he was too busy sleeping with—

I stopped myself. I was rambling. Ashleigh
was more important to Coras than me. And that was fine. No
shade.

I had my man. I was engaged.

Archie looked over at me and asked, "Is he
gonna make it?"

"Gee? Yes, he's gonna pull through. But he's
gonna need to get his alcohol use under control. The doctor said he
could die if he continues on the same path."

"Aren't you glad you weren't at that concert?
That could've been you."

"I know. I can't believe it."

"That's just another sign that you made the
right decision. The music game is getting more dangerous than the
dope game."

I couldn't tell Archie that what happened to
Gee had nothing to do with music or drugs. Gee got shot because of
jealousy. Monifa ran her mouth to her brother Milo and he sicked
his dogs on my team—well, my ex-team. But I still felt obligated to
do something for Gee. I would need to talk to Coras about it first,
though. I knew he had some kind of retaliation plan in the
works.

All sorts of thoughts were bouncing around in
my head as Archie drove us back home in our rental car. I was
thinking about what marriage would be like, if it would be any
different than it was now; I was thinking about the cocaine we'd
dropped off in storage, how fast we'd be able to get rid of it; I
was thinking about Gee and his health, and Coras and his
contradictory bullshit-fake feelings for me. I was also thinking
about taking Ashleigh and Monifa by the backs of their heads and
smashing their dumb brains together. I was thinking about doing the
same thing with Milo and a red brick.

I was tired.

Whenever my thoughts got crowded like this, I
would try and turn it into a song. But I wasn't a writer anymore.
My singing days were over.

I closed my eyes and put my hand on my
forehead, as I sank against the window.

"What's wrong?" Archie asked.

"Everything," I said, eyes still closed.

"Not everything. We got kilos to turn into
cash and we got love that we need to make legal. It's that music
life and all that came with it that's bothering you. Let it
go."

"I need to write."

"No, you don't."

"I'm not saying I'm going back to music. I
just need to make these thoughts disappear."

"Just do what normal people do," he said.
"Drink vodka."

I'm not normal then,
 I
thought.

My phone made a noise and I finally opened my
eyes. Checking it, I was more frustrated than anything that Coras
had sent me a message through The Site. From the one-line preview
of his message I could tell that he'd sent me an apology. I stared
at my phone for a while, brooding. But there was no point in
sitting here acting like I wasn't going to see what he put. I was
anxious. I clicked the link with my thumb to read the whole
message:

Coras Bane:
 I in no way shape or form
want you to think that you were responsible for what happened to
Gee. Ashleigh was just talking shit. Everything was my fuck-up. I'm
sorry for how she acted. She tries to accuse everybody else of
being ghetto but she got that shit in her too. If I find out
anything new about Gee's condition, you'll be the first to know.
Hit me up if you need anything or just wanna talk to me. You're
still Swope Records, you’re still my nigga whether you like it or
not.

I read it three times. And though it was a
nice message, I hated him more for it. 
Eat my pussy and
asphyxiate on the juice, you
game-running
 
nympho—
that's what I wanted to type in
response. But instead, I decided not to reply at all. I pressed the
"back" button on my phone to exit out of his comment and I was
about to browse my newsfeed, but below Coras's comment box was a
message I had forgotten to finish reading.

It was from a person named Sundi
Ashworth.

I clicked the message.

Sundi Ashworth:
 Hello, Kirbie, my name's
Sundi Ashworth (A&R) and I'm sending you this message in
regards to my interest in your musical talent. I'm a representative
of a major record label, and I think you and your voice have the
potential to become one of the biggest artists this industry has
ever seen. This is not spam. This is for real. My profile page will
confirm my authenticity. If you would like to further your career
and become a household name, please reply as soon as possible. I
look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

I came alive so fast that my whole body
started shaking. I could barely hold my phone. I couldn't remember
who Sundi Ashworth was the first time I checked this message, but
now it was very clear. This was the A&R for Mount Eliyah ENT,
the biggest hip-hop label on the planet!

I managed to steady my thumb long enough to
check to see if her profile page was authentic. And it was real! It
was Site-verified!

"Oh my God!" I shrieked.

Archie flinched, looked at me crazy and then
back at the road. "What the fuck happened?"

"I just got a message from Sundi
Ashworth!"

"Who is she?"

"She works for Mount Eliyah ENT as an
A&R. But way before that, she got famous for having an affair
with La'Renz 'Buddy Rough' Taylor, who later killed his wife,
Jazzmine Short."

"How do you know it's really her?"

"Her page is Site-verified, Archie! It's
really her oh my God this is crazy oh my God!"

"What did she say?"

"She heard my music and wants to talk to me.
She literally said I have the potential to become one of the
biggest artists this industry has ever seen."

Archie was quiet for a moment. I couldn't
understand how he could be this calm. Then he said, "I thought you
weren't doing music anymore."

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,
Archie!"