“Took you long enough.” His little brother Blue greeted him as he stepped foot onto their private plane. Blue was only younger than him by two days, but Dru loved to drag it. Their father had been moving recklessly and had his side chick and his wife pregnant at the same time. Dru was born August 2nd, and Blue, whose real name was Amijay, was born August 4th. They were real-life ghetto twins.
“I got caught up at the office.” Dru stepped onto their private plane. He wasn’t the type of nigga to cower away from things, but he was dreading telling his brother about Janel.
“Hold up. Where is Janel? Why ain’t nobody on time today, shit?” Blue looked around the half-empty plane before settling on Dru’s face. He stared at his brother strangely, trying to gauge what was going on. They’d spent enough time together to be able to read each other without saying a word. Blue was not only his brother but his best and only friend. There were no secrets between them. When they were in the streets, the two of them had become so successful by being able to communicate with each other without words.
“What the fuck then happened, nigga?” Blue questioned. Dru let out a sigh. He hated to give his brother the bad news before his trip, but he couldn’t shy away from the truth. He’d made his bed when he crossed the line all those years ago and slept with Janel. It was the rule he preached heavily to his brother, and he had disobeyed it.
“Janel quit,” Dru blurted, attempting to causally move past his little brother and to his seat, but he was stopped by Blue’s hand on his shoulder.
“Nah. What you just say, nigga?” he questioned.
“Janel quit, and I promoted Dani.” He shoved Blue’s hand off his shoulder and pushed past him. Blue followed him as he knew he would. No matter how much Dru wanted to brush this shit over like it wasn’t a big deal, he knew it was. Without Janel, a lot of things wouldn’t run smoothly. That girl went above and beyond her title as A & R.
“What you mean Janel quit?” Blue stopped him again. His voice was just above a whisper. This time, Dru stared into his brother’s smug face, dreading what he had to say. Blue was always talking shit about how him fucking Janel was bad for business. Dru wasn’t trying to hear him, though, not after all the shenanigans Blue had pulled before meeting his wife.
“She wanted me to put a title on our situation.” The look that washed over his brother’s face told him he was about to be on all bullshit.
“I told yo’ ass, nigga.” Blue broke out in laughter as Dru pushed past him again heading to his seat. Blue was about to drag it.
“Don’t mix business with pleasure! Don’t go around fucking our business partners. Stop thinking with your dick! You remember all those things you preached to me, nigga, while you were fucking our secretary!” Blue shouted comically. Dru glanced around the plane to see who was listening.
Blue’s son and daughter, Iman and Imani, sat in the back, playing on their tablets. Blue’s sister-in-law, Taylor, was snapping selfies. Everyone else was outside the plane, talking. Dru shook his head at his brother. He wouldn’t give his silly ass the satisfaction of seeing him laugh. Dru had told his brother all those things. He couldn’t even defend himself. It was different, though. Before Blue had met his wife, Kay, he’d been putting his dick in any and everybody. They’d had to fire so many people because Blue had fucked them and ignored them the next day. Dru had made sure that he only fucked women that didn’t work for him in any capacity, except for Janel. She’d been the exception.
“Aye, you done?” Dru’s tone was sharp and dismissive.
“You might as well call her up and be with her, nigga, because we need Janel.” Blue sat down on the couch next to his brother. Dru couldn’t lie; the thought had crossed his mind on the car ride over here, but being with Janel just to keep her at the label would be foul as fuck. Dru was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a deceitful person. Any girl he fucked with, including Janel, knew he was unavailable for anything but dick and a few gifts.
“You know I thought about it, nigga. I ain’t that foul though.” Dru made himself comfortable on the sectional sofa that wrapped their private plane.
“I bet yo’ ass did. What’s so bad about being with Janel, nigga? You have been fucking her all this time.” Dru didn’t turn his head to his little brother. He was the one person in this world that knew all his secrets. He didn’t have to say anything. Blue knew the answer to his question.
He had seen his heartbreak firsthand both times it had happened. The first time was when his father introduced him to a brother who nearly shared his exact birthday. The second time was when he’d shown up at his brother’s doorstep in tears over two twin boys who weren’t his and their mother. Dru’s heart was a cold-case file. He had always been a mean nigga but after the heartbreak that Marli had caused him, he was unlovable. It was why he couldn’t give his heart to Janel or any other woman. The one time he’d been ready to commit, Marli had practically shitted on him and his heart.
“You already know what I’m about to say.” Blue took out a cigar from the arm of the sofa.
“Yeah, so don’t say it,” Dru replied, even though he knew Blue was going to say it anyway.
“You gotta heal from Pop, nigga. He wasn’t perfect, but he was a good dad. Ma has done her healing and forgiven Dad for his faults. You gotta do the same. It ain’t healthy, and maybe it’s time to forgive Marli too. Y’all weren’t together when she got pregnant, and she was honest with you about not knowing who the father was. Yes, she held the results for two weeks, and that was foul. But you always knew the possibility that the boys weren’t yours. Besides, none of this would have happened if you would have put a title on y’all situation from the jump.” Dru chose not to respond.
Blue was always telling him he needed to heal and forgive, and, in his eyes, he had done that. He had spent his entire life around his father, following in his footsteps and doing as he was told despite the heartbreak he had caused him. Shit, he had been able to still be around Marli and not wring her fucking neck out for that foul shit she’d pulled. Was that not healed?
Dru watched his brother light up a cigar as the rest of their family boarded the plane. This trip was supposed to be a joyous occasion. It was supposed to be relaxing. He’d been looking forward to seeing his brother and sis walk down the aisle and renew their commitment to each other, but now Janel had turned his trip into a working one. He didn’t trust her to make this transition smooth. Her judgment was cloudy.
Pulling out his laptop, he got to work. He would need to go through all of Janel’s caseloads and familiarize himself with everything. He also needed to remove her from all their bank accounts.
“What we gon’ do without Janel?” Blue pulled on the cigar. Those were Dru’s thoughts exactly, but he wouldn’t dwell on it. He knew his business.
“I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out. She said she’ll train Daniel while we’re gone.” Dru took the cigar from his brother’s hands.
“You trust that? You know how a bitter female moves.” Dru was already hip. He hoped that Janel could move on without trying to be foul, but he wasn’t going to get caught slipping either.
“Naw, that’s why I got my laptop.” He pulled on the cigar, allowing the smoke to fill his lungs. He didn’t realize how badly he needed to smoke.
“Let me get mine. I can help you while we on this plane, but once we are in Turks, I can’t do shit. Kay gon’ have my head if she sees me working on this trip. Do me a solid: Don’t tell her Janel quit until after the wedding.” Blue stood and walked to the back of the plane.
“I already know, bruh. Don’t anger sis. Y’all deserve to enjoy this.” Dru responded just as laughter filled the plane. Dru’s head turned toward the sound. He watched as Kay and her twin sister, Marli, sauntered down the aisle. The two of them looked like night and day. Kay was always natural, and Marli was always made up. He didn’t fuck with Marli, but he couldn’t deny her beauty. Her confidence exuded from her skin. She never had a hair out of place; it was the thing that had attracted him to her.
Dru loved a fancy woman—hair, nails, makeup, everything did. It was his weak spot. Eyeing her intensely, he admired her caramel complexion and how it complemented the orange hair she had flowing down her back. They could have been perfect together, but back in the day, Marli was too busy trying to prove that she didn’t need a man to see that. Dru licked his lips before turning his attention to his sister-in-law.
“Sup, sis!” He greeted Kay. He noticed the expression on Marli’s face. She couldn’t stand the fact he chose to ignore her every time they were in each other’s presence.
“She the only person you see?” Marli shot back, but Dru ignored her. She knew he didn’t talk to her ass. He had to see her because his brother was married to her sister, but he didn’t have to speak to her. Marli’s neck rolled in his direction as she stormed off down the aisle. It took every bone in his body not to watch her fat ass bounce away. Marli was the thickest woman he’d ever fucked with, and he knew her ass was sitting up nice in those legging shorts she had on.
“Can y’all be cordial, just for this week, so I can have the wedding of my dreams, please!” Kay’s voice invaded his thoughts. He focused his attention on his sister-in-law.
The last year had been hard for her after she and Blue had miscarried. He wanted nothing more than for her to have a peaceful trip. Over the years, he and Kay had become close. He often found himself just calling her to get her opinion on shit. She was truly his sister. Inhaling another puff of the cigar in his hand, he smiled up at his sister.
“I got you, sis.” Dru held up his arms in surrender.
“Thank you.” Kay moved to her seat. Dru’s eyes found Marli again. She was too busy on her phone to even notice he was looking. Taking a deep breath, he set his laptop on the seat next to him and moved toward her. He could tell she felt his presence because her head lifted quickly in his direction.
“What’s up, Marli.” He greeted her. Her mouth dropped open. This was his first time greeting her respectfully in four years. He could tell she was speechless.
“I call a truce, for the trip. They deserve it.” He didn’t need a response; he was good either way, but when Marli nodded her head, still speechless, he walked back to his seat. A small weight lifted from his shoulders. Not talking to Marli had been hard. It took a lot of energy. As he sat in his seat, he glanced up at her. All the love he had for her flooded him at once. It was almost like talking to her had opened the Pandora’s box that was his heart. Dru sighed as Marli and his eyes locked on each other before she quickly looked away. Dru lowered his head to his computer. He had a lot of work to do.
Three
